Because the coverage at my apartment is pretty much non-existent, I have to force my phone to roam every day when I turn it on. And no, it is not smart enough to roam on it's own because, for some reason, it thinks 0 bars on Sprint's network is fine, even though I cannot make or receive calls at 0 bars. So I'm on the SERO 500 plan and it says that Unlimited Roaming is included. Is it really unlimited? I've read something saying that Sprint will take action if you roam "too much", even if your plan includes unlimited roaming. Is this true? How much is "too much" and what happens if you do roam "too much"? I don't really care that I am roaming -- other than the fact that I have to tell my phone to roam, which is so stupid -- but should I be concerned that all of my minutes, texts, and data usage are on Verizon?
I swear I've read something about this before... I want to say the rule is that your roaming usage can't exceed more than 50% of the total usage in a given three month period. (has anyone else heard this or am I crazy? Larry?) But I've never heard of the rule being enforced.
Here is a story about people getting the boot. Sprint boots 200 American patriots for using their phones | The Register
Wow, what a public relations nightmare! I can see it now "Sprint not patriotic" "Sprint supports Terrorists" he he he
I don't believe that mobile to mobile applies when roaming with sprint service.....other carriers are different though.....
when any company says unlimited they pretty much mean that you wont get charged per minute and you wont be reuired to use a separate pool of minutes when you're roaming...........but there is the rule.......50% or 800 mins.........w/e ecomes first as larry said
It's highly unlikely that the roaming limit will ever be enforced unless it's a chronic thing where someone uses nearly all of their minutes off network.
I think you should be fine, just try to use your phone a lot also while on the Sprint network so you don't roam something like 95% of the time. Whereabouts are you located in Utah? Also remember, like Ryan said, M2M does not apply while roaming.
With my Alltel phone, I try to keep at least at least half of usage with Alltel, just to be safe. Three different reps have told me that they've never heard of excessive free roaming, and I should never get the boot. I'm sure Sprint will allow some above average roaming for some time, but I guess then you can just cut back a little. I'm not sure which carriers are too strict on this matter, and would they give you a warning? Here's my current average minute usage by network over the last 6 months: Alltel.....................................5,000 min Verizon................................4,000 min Sprint...................................750 min US Cellular.........................50 min Carolina West Wireless...50 min (USCC & Carolina West in WNC on special occaisions every few months)
Unless I leave Logan, I am roaming at least 98% of the time. I never use mobile-to-mobile, so that's fine. Nobody here has Sprint. I've used maybe a grand total of 10 mobile-to-mobile minutes since I signed up in June. As long as I still have nights and weekends at 7pm, everything is peachy. It appears that I still do have this when roaming. This is the only "feature" of the calling plan that I care about; it's why I switched to Sprint. I emailed eCare about the crappy coverage and they said that coverage is great in my area (ha!) according to their maps and that I should go to a Sprint store to have my phone tested/upgraded. I went to the Sprint store and the representative agreed and described the coverage as "spotty at best". He said there is only one tower in the area and it is completely overloaded. There really need to be at least two more just handle the current load on the network. No wonders I cannot send text messages and frequently get "Network busy" when I attempt to place calls on Sprint! He said that Sprint has ordered extra equipment to double the capacity of the existing tower, which should be installed within a month. Sprint is also going to build a second tower at a nearby grocery store within the year, so hopefully that will finally fix the coverage problems, but who knows when that will really be completed. Not surprisingly, when I asked the Sprint rep about my 98% roaming, he said that I should be fine even with excessive roaming.
The Verizon tower is a mile away (signal strength = -075 Rx....5/6 bars inside....6/6 bars outside), but the Alltel tower is 3 miles away from me (signal strength = -090 Rx....3/6 bars inside....5/6 bars outside). I like the security for some of those important phone calls, but I don't like to go over 50% roaming. For most of my calls, I like to have at least 3/6 bars, which most places are. I try really hard to keep it balanced. When I'm on the road it's mostly Alltel, but at home, about 55% is Verizon because of the full signal. So in the end, about 50-55% of my total usage is Alltel's native network
That's interesting. I don't think I have ever used Sprint up in Logan, but I know that a lot of people up there have Sprint- I didn't know that their coverage was that bad. I wonder why so many people use Sprint up there then, considering T-Mobile, Nextel, AT&T and Verizon are alternatives. I have heard horror stories about AT&T in Logan so I would not chose them, but I have never had problems with Verizon in Logan. "Network Busy" messages- do they appear on your screen when you attempt to place a call or do you get a "Network Busy" recording once you place a call? Your 7 p.m. nights, etc. will still apply while roaming- everything except Sprint M2M will apply while roaming. You should play around with your field test on your phone- that would give you a lot more info about the towers and capacity issues in your area.
Come on Sprint can't be that bad in Logan. If it is you should have cancelled a long time ago. Here's the map and it shows mostly dark green:
Larry...you never believe when anyone says anything bad about Sprint in Utah. You barely even believe me.
If someone makes a believable statement I will believe it. I certainly believe that OP is having trouble with Sprint and needs to roam in his particular places. But when people are fed up with their coverage they will tend to make generalizations or exaggerations like that. Come on Sprint is not that bad in UT and in Logan they have good coverage for the most part.
You are saying that Sprint is not that bad in UT, nor in Logan but you have never used that system (as far as I know). Now, Sprint has their great areas here, but they still have a lot of bad areas, even though that has been, and will continue to improve with NEXTEL synergy sites, but when I tell you I'd get Cricket service before Sprint if I were looking at coverage in this valley, I'm not lying.
I have found that there are not to many bad spots but I will never trust a map because a carrier says it is good.
I've found Sprint's maps to be quite reliable after studying them and then doing my own testing. But the maps certainly can have their mistakes from time to time.
LOL either way to get back on topic I would say just dont abuse the systme and it will take care of yu.
Larry, I originally signed up for Sprint when I lived in Provo. The coverage is there excellent and includes EV-DO data. I had no problems. My Sprint phone worked in my basement and had fast Internet, neither of which T-Mobile was able to provide. I moved to Logan about a month or two later. The coverage map shows that coverage is good in Logan in general, and that it is great the university. That is NOT at all accurate. I have no Sprint service in living room and can only get 1 bar if I stand by the window in my bedroom, even though my address falls squarely inside the "Best" dark green coverage on the map. Almost the entire campus falls within "Best", when in reality the most signal that can be had is about 4 bars when standing in the middle of the open-field quad. There is no service in the student center, which again falls inside of "Best". There is no EV-DO coverage (which I knew about before hand, but am still disappointed in). In the areas where I do get Sprint coverage, I cannot make or receive calls at night because the network is too busy. I frequently have problems even sending text messages on the Sprint network when I am downtown and have the full 6 bars of coverage, also because the network is busy. Granted, Sprint does have coverage in the "downtown" Logan area, but as said before it is not much use since it frequently gives "Network busy" messages when doing calls or texting. Verizon, on the other hand, has wonderful coverage of the Cache Valley area. My phone even works in the elevator in the basement levels of the cement parking structure. My apartment has 4 bars instead of 0 or 1, the student center has coverage everywhere, and I even get signal in my basement classrooms. I've never had trouble with their network being busy. I know everyone automatically thinks that Verizon has the best coverage and this is certainly not always the case, but it has been my experience that in Logan, and in many areas of Utah, they certainly do. Were it not for the fact that Verizon costs twice as much, I'd be with them in a heartbeat. Contrary to what the map says, I've moved to an area without Sprint coverage. As long as they acknowledge the fact that their coverage sucks here and they let me have unlimited roaming, I have no problem with it (other than the fact that I have to manually tell my phone to roam, which is a minor inconvenience). Or, if they really build the towers they say they will, then that would be fine too and I would no longer need to roam. The Sprint reps here in both of the stores I've visited know that the network is shabby and needs work, and I do believe that work is forthcoming, but apparently corporate doesn't want to acknowledge that Cache Valley really is a coverage sinkhole.
Addendum to Larry: I don't know if this was clear. The reason I am always roaming in Logan is because I set my phone to Roaming Only. If I leave it on Automatic, it will not roam when it needs to (in my living room, like I said, I have 0 bars on Sprint, but for some dumb reason the phone will not roam if it is set to Automatic... if someone tries to call me while I am on Sprint with 0 bars in my living room, my phone won't even ring, and I cannot text, so I need to force my phone to roam). If I had all the time in the world, I could switch to Sprint at the times when I am in places besides my apartment, the student center, or the library, but this is a lot of bother and it is just easier to leave it on Roaming Only where I know I will always have coverage (apart from the fact that I spend most of my time in these places, so there would be not much point in this anyway). Granted, if the Automatic setting worked properly (switched to roaming BEFORE there were 0 bars of service) then I would roam less, but it would still be about 70% of the time.
Nick - I have heard that if you roam excessively Sprint will terminate you. It hasn't happened to me yet though. I have been with Sprint for a long time. I have 3 phones and they are always on forced roam unless I go somewhere where I can trust Sprint coverage. 80% of my minutes are roaming and it has been that way for years. I think you will be alright.
Nick -- you are a perfect canidate for the Airave. Anyone know the offical date yet, I think its around x-mas time.