New Verizon customer with Sprint rooted questions

"John R. Copeland" <jcopelan@columbus.rRr.com> wrote in message news:<vbCOb.21109$f97.9662@fe3.columbus.rr.com>...
> I can't answer your question, but owning both Sprint and Verizon phones,
> I share your concern.
> Unlike Sprint, Verizon works differently in different areas of the
> country.
>
> I try a "611" call to see who is providing service before placing other
> calls.
> ---JRC---
>
> "Colonel Blip" <col.blip@nospambigfoot.com> wrote in message
> news:400ae8fc 8@corp.newsgroups.com...
> > I do not want to be caught using roaming and paying the fees. When a
> Sprint
> > user this was easy - I could set my phone to take only digital signals
> and
> > that way be sure to be on the Sprint network. Since Verizon's "home
> area"
> > includes both digital and analog I can't do this without sacrificing
> greatly
> > on service coverage covered by my home area plan/monthly fee. Does
> anyone
> > know how to prohibit roaming with this service using an LG VX4400B?
> Thanks.
> >

Your post of calling 611 is a habit of mine also, but the problem is
that in some areas, like most of florida,a/c service there is provided
by carriers other than verizon; also I did this in myrtle beach, sc
and got charged for the 611 calls (later reversed).

My older samsung t300 can be programmed notto roam(which is not I keep
it),not sure what features are avaiable on other phones.

I now use verizon for local digital, and keep a sprint account for
travel, and recently added the F&CA, which so far had not charged
anything to roam. The only thing that has surprised me so far w/ the
f&ca, is that since I allow my sprint phone to roam freely, is the
number of roam calls which show up on the billing (no charge) seems as
though the phone seeks out the better signal

I have a verizon *roaming* brochure which indicates what the others
are posting here, but the fine print says they indicators may not
always be accurate; but I believe that others have posted that verizon
is usually pretty good about adjustments--but I have no experience
with that.

 

"CharlesH" <hoch@exemplary.invalid> wrote in message
news:buhhf711f9b@enews4.newsguy.com...
<snipped>
>
> An aside on the SPCS setting: until recently, SPCS had their customers
> equate "roaming" and "analog". All of their native coverage is digital,
> and they disabled roaming in digital mode. So if you were roaming on VZW,
> you were forced to analog mode, even though VZW had perfectly useable CDMA
> digital service in the area.

Not necessarily so. Until a year or so, SPCS did not offer many tri mode
phones. Some phones were single mode 1900 CDMA. All their other lines of
their phones had 1900 CDMA, and 800 Analog, and now most models come with
the ability to roam on 800 CDMA.

Going back to your comment above, just how many areas were there where
Verizon offered 1900 CDMA and SPCS didn't? In addition, if SPCS phones did
not have 800 CDMA capability, why go out and make roaming agreements with
other 800 CDMA carriers, like Verizon, Alltel etc.

> This restriction got relaxed at about the
> same time that they stopped talking about "cellular static" in their ads.

Well, SPCS has always been advertising, since they first came on line, how
calls made on their system would be clearer than those calls made on an
analog system.

> Now SPCS phones are configured roam in digital mode when possible.

And to quote that stock wiz, ole Martha Stewart ... "That's a good thing"
....

Bob

 

In article <TVYOb.15542$q4.11851@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
Bob Smith <usirsclt_NoSpam_@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>"CharlesH" <hoch@exemplary.invalid> wrote in message
>news:buhhf711f9b@enews4.newsguy.com...
><snipped>
>>
>> An aside on the SPCS setting: until recently, SPCS had their customers
>> equate "roaming" and "analog". All of their native coverage is digital,
>> and they disabled roaming in digital mode. So if you were roaming on VZW,
>> you were forced to analog mode, even though VZW had perfectly useable CDMA
>> digital service in the area.
>
>Not necessarily so. Until a year or so, SPCS did not offer many tri mode
>phones. Some phones were single mode 1900 CDMA. All their other lines of
>their phones had 1900 CDMA, and 800 Analog, and now most models come with
>the ability to roam on 800 CDMA.
>
>Going back to your comment above, just how many areas were there where
>Verizon offered 1900 CDMA and SPCS didn't? In addition, if SPCS phones did
>not have 800 CDMA capability, why go out and make roaming agreements with
>other 800 CDMA carriers, like Verizon, Alltel etc.

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that the SPCS 1900/CDMA+800/AMPS
phones were, from a hardware perspective, really tri-mode phones, but on
which 800/CDMA was disabled in firmware, per SPCS request. That made
them *real* sure that their phones would be useless on cellular CDMA
providers, even if the user could get the unlock code from SPCS. In
any case, it was their explicit choice to have phones specifically made
for them which could not access 800/CDMA, even though existing tri-mode
phones would have met their system requirements.

And they *did* have roaming agreements with VZW, et.al. But the SPCS
user had to access them in analog mode. So the SPCS user would equate
"cellular system" with "static, inferior service".

 

"CharlesH" <hoch@exemplary.invalid> wrote in message
news:buhr5r0246s@enews4.newsguy.com...
<snipped>
> I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that the SPCS 1900/CDMA+800/AMPS
> phones were, from a hardware perspective, really tri-mode phones, but on
> which 800/CDMA was disabled in firmware, per SPCS request.

As you say, you aren't sure. They might have done that with the models a
couple of years ago, but I don't believe they would purposely disable that
feature.

> That made
> them *real* sure that their phones would be useless on cellular CDMA
> providers, even if the user could get the unlock code from SPCS. In
> any case, it was their explicit choice to have phones specifically made
> for them which could not access 800/CDMA, even though existing tri-mode
> phones would have met their system requirements.
>
> And they *did* have roaming agreements with VZW, et.al. But the SPCS
> user had to access them in analog mode. So the SPCS user would equate
> "cellular system" with "static, inferior service".

Well, that might have been a prior marketing deal, but I'm not sold on it
....

Bob

 

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 13:25:35 -0600, Steven J Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:

>Teddeli <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 21:57:36 -0600, Steven J Sobol
>> <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
>>
>>>Teddeli <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> While I don't know how to prohibit roaming on your phone I can tell
>>>> you that if your phone has an ERI PRL and the screen says extended
>>>> network OR on a non ERI phone you have a blinking triangle you should
>>>> not pay roaming charges.
>>>
>>>DEPENDING ON THE PLAN.
>>>
>> Are there different roaming indicators for Local, AC, and Single Rate
>> plans? If so, what are they?
>
>No, but since when do you not get charged roaming for being outside your
>home area on LDC?
>
>If you're outside your home area, you are charged roaming on LDC; as far as
>I am aware, there is no "extended network" on that plan.

The original poster did not say what kind of plan he was on. He stated
he was on AC after my reply. The point of my post was to say that his
phone would have some kind of roaming indicator.

But I am curious. What would the roaming indicator say, if anything,
on a local plan where some home area coverage is not native Verizon?
An example of this would be Maine.

 

CharlesH <hoch@exemplary.invalid> wrote:

>>If you're outside your home area, you are charged roaming on LDC; as far as
>>I am aware, there is no "extended network" on that plan.
>
> Most local plans allow for roaming on ANY provider within the designated
> geographical area, not just the America Choice partners.o

Ahhhh, I was thinking only of areas *outside* the home area. Yes, I know of
some locations where you can roam on other carriers *inside* your home area
too.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
PGP: C57E 8B25 F994 D6D0 5F6B B961 EA08 9410 E3AE 35ED

 

hoch@exemplary.invalid (CharlesH) wrote in message news:<buhigj31f9b@enews4.newsguy.com>...
> Your
> phone will stay on whichever system the call started on, and hold onto
> it until the signal gets so weak that the call drops. So the issue
> effectively never comes up.

Okay. In any case, if you check the indicator when your call
connects, you'll never be surprised with roaming charges. Well...I
suppose billing mistakes are always possible, but you know what I
mean.

--Darin

 

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 18:44:21 -0600, "Colonel Blip"
<col.blip@nospambigfoot.com> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

>My "fear", since I am on the road using the phone, is it will move into
>roaming while I am on it and before I know it the $$$ mount up.

Billing is determined at the time the call is placed or answered.

 

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 19:33:15 -0600, "Colonel Blip"
<col.blip@nospambigfoot.com> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

>If one does set the system for home area only, since I am on the America's
>Choice plan, wouldn't that effectively keep me from 'rolling' over to
>roaming systems?

It would keep you from leaving your home SID.

 

Thanks. That is helpful. Now all I have to do is get in the habit of looking
before calling. My VX4400 as a triangle for roaming so it should be easy
enough to check.

Thanks also to all of the other replies on this one.


"Loose On the Lead" <dsolk@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:673682ac.0401190546.565b0eb1@posting.google.com
>> "Colonel Blip" <col.blip@nospambigfoot.com> wrote in message
>> news:<400b2861_8@corp.newsgroups.com>...
>>> My "fear", since I am on the road using the phone, is it will move
>>> into roaming while I am on it and before I know it the $$$ mount up.
>>
>> I have been told by CS that if you're not roaming when the call first
>> connects, you will not be charged for roaming for the rest of the
>> call, period. Would that make you feel better? You'd just have to
>> remember to check the indicator at the beginning of the call.
>>
>> You did not ask about this, but similarly, if you begin a call before
>> "night" begins, and part of your call extends past 9:01 p.m., you are
>> charged anytime minutes only for the part of your call that took
>> place
>> before 9:01. I believe this is different than Sprint's policy.
>>
>> (I am assuming you're on AC.)
>>
>> --Darin

--
Colonel Blip
colonel.blip@nospambigfoot.com
Remove "nospam" when replying.
__________________________________





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On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:32:19 GMT, "Bob Smith"
<usirsclt_NoSpam_@earthlink.net> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

>Well, SPCS has always been advertising, since they first came on line, how
>calls made on their system would be clearer than those calls made on an
>analog system.

And that's all it is - advertising. If you're near an analog tower
the call will be "clearer" than any digital call. Just ask Larry

 

Al Klein <rukbat@pern.org> wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:32:19 GMT, "Bob Smith"
> <usirsclt_NoSpam_@earthlink.net> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:
>
>>Well, SPCS has always been advertising, since they first came on line, how
>>calls made on their system would be clearer than those calls made on an
>>analog system.
>
> And that's all it is - advertising. If you're near an analog tower
> the call will be "clearer" than any digital call. Just ask Larry

The interesting thing is that, in 1995 when GTE Mobilnet launched 800 MHz
CDMA in Cleveland, I switched my account from a Nokia 100 AMPS handset to
a Sony CDM-somethingorother CDMA/AMPS handset. I walked out of the store with
my new phone and noticed a HUGE difference.

These days, out in the boonies in eastern Apple Valley, I occasionally end up
in analog if I'm in an iffy spot, and other than slightly more "white noise",
I can't hear any discernable difference between 800MHz AMPS and 800MHz CDMA.

Weird.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
PGP: C57E 8B25 F994 D6D0 5F6B B961 EA08 9410 E3AE 35ED

 

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 23:11:40 -0600, Steven J Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

>These days, out in the boonies in eastern Apple Valley, I occasionally end up
>in analog if I'm in an iffy spot, and other than slightly more "white noise",
>I can't hear any discernable difference between 800MHz AMPS and 800MHz CDMA.

>Weird.

You're using a CDMA handset that can also receive analog. (And they
may have cut the audio b/w on analog cells.) Old analog phones on old
analog cells, when the signals were DFQ, sounded better than wired
phones.