EV-DO coverage / data roaming

There are no plans to put EV-DO in Flagstaff at this time. It's a former affiliate market.

 

You could EVDO Data roam on ALLTEL and 1x data roam on Verizon but there is another thread here on the forums about Sprint apparently cracking up on people who roam too much. Have you considered ALLTEL too or are you looking at switching to Sprint because of SERO?

 

It's not really about being competitive. It's about their priorities and whether or not they want to budget their money doing that or something else that can make them a better return. It's simply a business decision. Eventually it will come but just not in the near future.

 

I thought Sprint has been saying the whole network will be EVDO by end of this year.

 

I hadn't heard that but it's possible. Still have 10 months to go. I don't think the affiliate areas will be ready by then.

 

I was told that EV would be national by the end of the year when I called the direct number for Vision/PV the other night. The bad thing is that call left me with more questions then answers.

 

Rule No. 1:

Never believe anything you hear from someone who works for Sprint because usually it's just speculation and not fact.

 

and have you checked the new and improved coverage maps to see about upcoming tower improvements?

 

woah........now that i check it myself.........only certain areas have the info about towers added in the past 90 days and to be added in 120 days..........those options disappear when you enter in Flagstaff

 

Hi all, there seems to be a lot of smart people on these boards - hope some one can fill me in - I have a new SERO plan with unlimited (power) vision and a Sanyo 8400. Sprint does not have EVDO in my area, but Alltel does. I thought I would be able to data roam on the Alltel EVDO coverage by setting the phone to force roaming, but cannot - - wrote to ecare about this and here is their reply. Can someone tell me if this makes sense? It does not to me. Thanks

"I have reviewed the EVDO service in your area and see that Sprint doesn't offer the service. Unfortunately, since your phone is in an area where you have Sprint coverage, you will not be able to get EVDO speeds, regardless if you set your phone on "Roaming Only" or not. Since there is Sprint coverage, you will only get 1x speed when you access your internet."

 

thats odd because i have Sptin in my area and i force roam when i get into mountains and it doesnt switch over to Verizon right away and i can 1x roam as i please.............maybe its just part of the agreement.....

no Sprint customers can data roam in an area where Sprint already provides some sort of data coverage...maybe???

 

I guess that is what they are saying, though it doesn't make much sense to me - when i force roaming it uses USCC for voice in a Sprint area. If it is roaming for voice I would think it is roaming for data. I am wondering if the PRL just doesnt get to Alltel. I have been searching to find out what is the preferred roaming priority but haven't found anything yet. I did ask ecare but i am not holding my breath on that one.

 

Never ask ecare or customer service about who a roaming partner is in a given area because they really don't know how to answer that.

As far as I know Sprint has data roaming capabilities but it is at 1X only. No EV-DO roaming yet.

 

Alltel turned on EVDO roaming with Sprint yesterday (March 1) for data cards. EVDO capable handsets are to follow in the next few weeks. One of Alltel's techs reported that it works well although the handoffs between carriers are not clean yet. Given this news, it seems likely that Sprint customers will have EVDO roaming on Alltel very soon.

 

i've heard about the EV roaming in Alltel and the 1x roaming on VZW but will we get EV roaming on VZW at all?

any ideas?

 

Sprint customers have been data roaming on Alltel since late last year. Sprint users need PRL 20225 or later. I've been roaming data often with Sprint EVDO card on Alltel network, free and unlimited. Verizon only roams 1xRTT to Sprint and Alltel, not DO.

The combined Sprint/Alltel EVDO network is quite a bit larger than Verizon.

It would be interesting if Verizon/Alltel do a DO agreement, as Alltel would actually have the largest DO network. If a Verizon/Alltel agreement happens, I'd imagine a Verizon/Sprint agreement would happen at the same time, that way all players are equal players (in terms of DO coverage).

 

just so you all know...........i got my account flagged when i was emailing CS about another problem and i tried to update but the frst time it didnt work...........the second time i got PRL 20226 for all who havent updated

 

BTW, one big advantage for Sprint data card users is that they can force roaming and force EVDO if they'd like. Alltel and Verizon users can't do that on data cards. It's actually a huge advantage.

 

Sprint users have been roaming on Alltel EVDO ever since PRL 20225. I've been doing it since December.

 

i think he meant to say that there is no EV-DO roaming on VZW..........and PRLs actually have nothing to do with who you can roam on...........

and is it possible that larry doesnt know something about the Sprint roaming agreements...........is larry out of the loop?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

xenophone, have you been able to data roam on Alltel when you are in an area with native Sprint coverage ? Would it be any different for a phone instead of a card?

 

Yes, you can usually roam DO on Alltel even if Sprint has DO coverage, but not always. On most newer PowerVision phones, you can force DO by dialing ##EVDO#. Forcing roam is usually in some standard menu within phone.

On all Sprint data cards, forcing both is in the Connection Manager standard menus. BTW, this is something Alltel and Verizon users cannot do, which I think gives Sprint users a massive advantage.

 

How about in an area where Sprint only has 1X but Alltel has EVDO service?

When I dial ##EVDO# while on the Sprint network I get a Sprint error msg. When I do it after having enable forced roaming I get a USCC error msg.

 

Are you in an actual Alltel DO area? Need to be in the dark blue areas.
http://alltel.com/business/enhanced/mobilelink_coverage.jsp?state=wi

But yes, Sprint will roam on Alltel DO when in a Sprint 1xRTT only area. You might not be able to roam on Alltel DO if deep in Sprint DO coverage. I was able to force roam on Alltel DO in outskirts of Tampa area, but didn't always work at Tampa airport.

If you try to force roam on Verizon DO, you'll get an error.

You need to have PRL 20225 or newer.

Best way to tell whom you are roaming on is to dial ##DEBUG# (##DEBUG over Go button for data cards), get the SID and compare to this list...
http://www.rainyday.ca/~dialtone/sprint/sp_10035.html

 

Hmm... I'm in St. Louis this weekend and just did a test of trying to force 1xRTT roaming on Verizon. I see Verizon as the SID but get an error when attempting to connect. I was able to force Verizon 1xRTT roam in other cities with Treo 700p and my S720 data card.

Makes me wonder if Sprint doesn't allow forced roaming in areas Sprint is known to have strong service. Or, roaming isn't ready yet in all markets. Dunno.

BTW, Sprint EVDO is strong in this part of STL, consistently getting over 1.5Mbps.

I have had success roaming on both Verizon 1xRTT and Alltel EVDO/1xRTT in many other areas. But not everywhere.

 

Yep, I am in Appleton, WI which is EVDO on the Alltel map (and a friend with Alltel gets EVDO) I have have PRL 20225. Checked the SID - says 4153 on Sprint and 5 on roam. 5 = USCellular. I checked the site and found Alltel is priority 2, but does not list Appleton. Priority 3 is USC and lists Appleton. So if I am interpreting this correctly in my area roam gets me USC and not Alltel. Looks like i will have to wait for Sprint to get EVDO at home. Of Course I could be all wrong about all this.

 

I meant on Verizon. We don't have Alltel here so I wasn't sure if it was available on them or not.

 

I have Sprint SERO in Flagstaff. The only way I can force data roaming on my PPC-6700 is to put the phone in roaming only mode. The ##EVDO# thing does not work for me.

Having said that, Alltel EVDO can be real spotty here. Once in a while a speed test will show around 600 kbps on a 600k download. More often than not the test speeds are as slow or slower than 1X with Sprint.

I wish there was a way for force data roaming only without voice roaming.