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>> with Sprint's EVO, you can do voice over the old network at the same time you do data over WiMax,
>> assuming you're in an area with WiMax at the time.

> Are you sure?

I'm sure that Sprint has said so. :) Check out their press release .

Coverage so far for 4G seems really thin..

For now I don't know if I would get a device that supports it, but a mobile hotspot device might be good if you go to one of those areas at all often.

The following is mostly unopinionated and uses actual cited facts.

Of the total cellphone market the iphone is around the 3% mark, although I do not have a source for this. You specifically said *smartphone market*, which according to http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/4/comScore_Reports_February_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share and http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/02/google-makes-biggest-gain-in-smartphone-market-share.ars Apple holds 25 % market share. Now android may be growing fast but it will reach a market saturation point. It is worth noting that at launch, iPhones were $600 and Droids were $200 http://blog.flurry.com/bid/31410/Day-74-Sales-Apple-iPhone-vs-Google-Nexus-One-vs-Motorola-Droid and they had almost identical sales figures in the first 74 days. Granted, that is just the droid and not all android phones, but as my previous citations indicate, the iPhone still has greater market share despite lower priced android based phones on multiple carriers.

As far as your data plan pricing goes http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/plansingleline.jsp?lid=//global//plans//individual for a 3g 'smartphone' you will need the $29.99 a month, exactly the same as an iPhone data plan. Even with sprint http://shop.sprint.com/NASApp/onlinestore/en/Action/DisplayPlans the base plan with unlimited data is $69.99 a month, same as iPhone. Im not going to bother looking at tmobile.

Not to open up a flame war but I need to make a quick point on how useful the ability to tether, use linux and flash, I will keep it to a minimal here. I do not mean just on one smart phone, if you are using you laptop, you are sitting down somewhere which in all likelihood has (free) wifi, mainstream consumers(read: non technically inclined people) have little use with linux(not to fault distros like ubuntu which will serve most users needs but most people do not want to learn something new), and flash is a good way to heat up my computer.

If you want to give citations for your 'better' network, 'cheaper' data plan(inexpensive was the word you were looking for, which I still think would be inaccurate) and 'better' data service, that would be nice. That does not include tv ads demonstrating 3g speed differences, some form of 3rd least biased party, please.

I'm curious but also slightly skeptical...does the 30-day return policy apply to the Evo? I've seen the TV commercials and have read the return policy page on the Sprint website http://www.sprint.com/landings/returns/ but just wanted to double check in case anyone has heard otherwise?

You can try the Sprint Everything Plus Plans (http://delivery.sprint.com/m/p/sprint/epc/epclanding.asp)... The lowest priced is the 500 minutes for $59.99 and gives you: "Everything Data plans give you unlimited data, messages and calls to any mobile, anytime while on the Sprint Network." (More features here: http://shop.sprint.com/en/stores/popups/everything_popup.shtml)

I don't plan on using the wireless hub... so add on the 4G and its $69.00+tax/month (+7.99/month if you had the total protection insurance).

I'm on the SERO and it runs me about $45/month but its time for a phone upgrade so its either this or the TP2 and stay on the SERO

Hopefully, the 'Droid can come out with a version that beats Apple's 4G series that are approaching the market.

Indeed. It's also a wifi hotspot for 8 devices, and can stream HD video out of an HDMI port on the phone, in case you're one of those people who likes to watch videos on something other than your phone.

Nextel was headquartered in Reston, VA and as far as I know it was Nextel who was pushing the 4G network Before the merger. That would explain why the test cities are more focused on the east coast.

You can find the 4G coverage on the sprint site, it just requires a bit more digging.

http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?language=EN

From there open "Data, Email and Multimedia" then click on Sprint Devices with 4G.

As it is, verizon is no longer the absolute leader. Sprint, ATT, even some of the small guys like boost and cricket have competitive products. All verizon can say is they have the premium product, and use the higher fees to maintain the premium product.

Boost: Owned by Sprint
In addition, Boost Mobile, Sprint's prepaid business, is being refocused to compete aggressively for customers impacted by the current economic environment with a lower per-minute rate and other attractive pricing options.

Cricket: Partnered with Verizon
"Inter-carrier agreements such as that between Cricket and Verizon Wireless are necessary for seamless picture messaging interoperability across the country," said Jim Straight, vice president of wireless Internet and multimedia for Verizon Wireless.

Some slimy git on the Sprint BBS is pretending to be ziggy471 that creating the original workaround for this Wm bug and released it here:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=104248
as "Ziggy 2016 fix.cab"
The main thread in the sprint BBS is this:
http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/25879
The impersonator is calling himself Ziggy on the Sprint BBS.
He has changed the file name to "Ziggy 2016 fix final.cab" and is spouting some rubbish about the final version having been fixed so that the problem will not happen again on various other dates in 2010 and 2011!!
HE IS ASKING FOR DONATIONS!!
The real ziggy471 went on the BBS and pointed out that it was his work and he did not want donations but the idiots at Sprint appear to believe the impersonator and have locked the thread and deleted all the messages from the real ziggy471.
I am disgusted.

I hacked into my friend's (disregard that he smokes cock) computer to give him a virus and distribute some movies I just downloaded, but also to say this:

Buy cheap penis-pills from Verizon or I'll make my botnet DDOS your SMTP server with e-mails, you assholes!

I'm the one who cut all those underwater intercontinental fiber lines, by the way, and I did it while using a Verizon phone as a dildo in public to show my hate for the Jews!

Too bad you suckers can't do anything about it, though, because I'm in Iran!

... there, that should be about all of them.

Yes '3G' and OMFG '4G' HOLY SHIT !!!!!111!!11!!1eleven!!!11!!

3G does NOT MEAN ANYTHING!

And yes Verizon has upgrade all of it's towers to '3G'. That is because it is just an extention of their '2G' technology.
They didn't have any large hardware upgrades. It was programming and processing at their sites. ATT/TMoble had to basically install new towers everywhere.

And Sprint's '4G', which I assume is what Verizon will roll out (both being EVDO), isn't really that much faster than ATT 3G. Sprint advertizes 3-6 Mbps, which is on par with ATTs 3.6Mbps HSDPA network.

Sorry for the shitty flash intro: http://now.sprint.com/nownetwork/mbbProductPage.html?id9=vanity:4G
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/technology/3g-umts.jsp

Is anyone nowadays interesting in something more than getting, or providing, the cheapest deal. Is there room left nowadays for an ISP that seeks to provide the fastest and widest piplines for people that are willing to pay that much extra. I know I would be.

Have you even looked at options outside of the typical consumer-level "broadband" providers? There are plenty of options if you really feel like paying out your ass. I'm pretty confident that if you called Sprint and said you wanted a T3 with an SLA and money was no object, they would dig a trench and get you the service. Speakeasy offers dedicated ADSL starting at $150/month. I'm going to guess that you're talking out of your ass, rather than willing to pay.

Typically when I am shopping for a purchase, I look at the most expensive thing, the cheapest thing, and try to shoot for something in the middle. To me, this typically represents the best value. Often the cheap thing is made from inferior parts, with manufacturing tolerances you could drive a truck through. In my experience, cheap things tend to break easily. The expensive thing tends to be only marginally better than the midrange thing - at twice the cost with features I'll mostly never have a use for.

If we're lucky enough to have a choice of residential broadband providers, there really aren't very many "features" to compare them on - except speed and price. ATT has DSL for $15/mo - but then you figure out it is 384K for a cost of about $0.04/Kbps. T/W offers 1.5Kbps for $50 at a cost of about $0.03/Kbps. They mostly all offer things I never use: a free email account or 5, maybe a little bit of webspace, a portal (either their own or in partnership with ie yahoo), and maybe some re-branded AV software. Most of the time you'll get the same crappy tech support.

Once we move to business-class "broadband" we start having more things we can use to compare them: dedicated line, static IPs, SLA, etc.

That depends on if you take your wi-fi with you.

http://now.sprint.com/nownetwork/mifiProductPage.html?id9=SEM_Google_R_Sprint_Mobile_Broadband

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=products_mifi

Wengla02 here from BuzzAboutWireless.com and now the Sprint Community.

We hear you - and we have stood up a brand new forum to talk about this topic:

http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/buzzaboutwireless/general/takebackthebeep

Jack Diemer, our Voicemail guy, has also posted some handy tricks out there to streamline your voicemail experience.

Why do we make the prompts so long? We have to work on the assumption that everyone using voicemail is a beginner - but for customers that have some experience with the system and want to streamline their settings, you can follow these tips at:

http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/sprintblogs/buzz-by-sprint/announcements/blog/2009/07/30/take-back-the-beep

It is really cool to see this level of interest - thanks for visiting!

Will England

Wengla02 here from BuzzAboutWireless.com and now the Sprint Community.

We hear you - and we have stood up a brand new forum to talk about this topic:

http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/buzzaboutwireless/general/takebackthebeep

Jack Diemer, our Voicemail guy, has also posted some handy tricks out there to streamline your voicemail experience.

Why do we make the prompts so long? We have to work on the assumption that everyone using voicemail is a beginner - but for customers that have some experience with the system and want to streamline their settings, you can follow these tips at:

http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/sprintblogs/buzz-by-sprint/announcements/blog/2009/07/30/take-back-the-beep

It is really cool to see this level of interest - thanks for visiting!

Will England

I understand it's called Expert Mode. I did it. And it's AWESOME.

http://www.sprint.com/cdma/assets/pdfs/services_guides/calling/spcs_voicemail_ug.pdf

Instructions that I posted here:
http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/20563

      1. Call Your Voicemail
      2. At the menu, press 3 for Personal Options
      3. Press 2 for Greeting
      4. Press 1 to change the greeting.
      5. To enable/disable the instructions, press 3

The store manager was probably wrong about a SSN being required to purchase the Pre, but may have been right about needing one to activate your account in-store.

Call sprint directly at 1-800-sprint1 (verify the number at sprint.com... you shouldn't trust some random joe on the internet...) and speak with someone in sales. Tell them you want to open an account over the phone so you can buy the Pre in-store. They should have lots of options at their disposal to get your account opened without an SSN, including deposits, account spending limits, etc. They can probably run your credit with just your name/address, if you're OK with that.

Good luck!

Palm Pre on Sprint

It's just... it's unspeakably horrific.

Not really. The appeal of satellite radio on car trips is that even when I can't get cell phone service at all, I can get Satellite radio. If you just drive 10 minutes to work in the suburbs near a city, then perhaps your idea is fine.

Well, YMMV, of course, but Sprint's Mobile Broadband coverage is pretty good throughout most of the state of Florida, where I live.

But you're right of course when it comes to cross-country driving. Cellular coverage period sucks throughout the bulk of the U.S., AAMOF. Digital cellular coverage sucks even worse. Of course that's due to the fact that most people don't live in "the bulk of the U.S." ;)
 

Not only is this Sprint early termination fee waiver old news, the article gets all the information wrong. The Administrative Charge is being increased from $0.75 to $0.99 beginning on January 1, 2009. You have thirty days after the change in fees to ask for the ETF waiver, and you have to specifically mention that you are termination due to the change in fees. I canceled my Sprint account back in December and moved to T-Mobile.

Sprint was terrible. The bills were always wrong and I wasted hours each month getting my bill fixed. They would always add unrequested features like phone insurance or international calling. They would extend my contract for bizarre reasons such as buying a replacement phone without getting any rebates or discounts. This is a great chance to get out of an artificially-extended Sprint contract.

Not only is this Sprint early termination fee waiver old news, the article gets all the information wrong. The Administrative Charge is being increased from $0.75 to $0.99 beginning on January 1, 2009. You have thirty days after the change in fees to ask for the ETF waiver, and you have to specifically mention that you are termination due to the change in fees. I canceled my Sprint account back in December and moved to T-Mobile.

Sprint was terrible. The bills were always wrong and I wasted hours each month getting my bill fixed. They would always add unrequested features like phone insurance or international calling. They would extend my contract for bizarre reasons such as buying a replacement phone without getting any rebates or discounts. This is a great chance to get out of an artificially-extended Sprint contract.

Sprint offers this Web 2.0 dashboard after a brief animation.

Sprint's the other US carrier that's a member of the "Open Handset Alliance" (the group behind Android devices, versus the platform) and they made it damned clear that no phone that allows people to place random applications would be allowed on THEIR network. Apparently that's hard to monetize.

Didn't stop them from selling Palm and Pocket PC based phones.

Sprint's the other US carrier that's a member of the "Open Handset Alliance" (the group behind Android devices, versus the platform) and they made it damned clear that no phone that allows people to place random applications would be allowed on THEIR network. Apparently that's hard to monetize.

Didn't stop them from selling Palm and Pocket PC based phones.

Sprint announced back in November 7th of 2007 that they would be prorating their ETF but have yet to do anything with their fees. Sprint's News Release

Yes. http://sprint.com/sero. Enter in savings@sprintemi.com as the reference and you can have unlimited data, text, picture messaging, night and weekends, and 500 minutes for 30 dollars a month (50 dollars for 1250 minutes). Do I get a cookie now?

If you want to outsource the entire problem, try a service like Sprint's "SEPS", which costs $250/month, and works very well. 97% of e-mail to our domain is spam, and SEPS handles it correctly to at least 4 9's. All admin is via web browser and, although it's sometimes slow, it's pretty straightforward. Set up a reject list, put your valid users on it, and save SPAM for a day or so, just in case. Then, you simply point your DNS for incoming mail to SEPS IP address, and collect your mail internally from their mail server instead of yours. A side advantage is that, if your MTA goes down, or you lose Internet service, etc., SEPS queues the mail up for you, and delivers it when you come back online. If you can spend $3000 a year, it's one less headache and worth the cost, IMHO. http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/spamFiltering_tabA.html or thereabouts, to get started.

Unlimited data and text (500min anytime, nights start at 7) with Sprint starting for $30 / month:
http://www.sprint.com/sero
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/680568/

It's $30 including unlimited data. http://www.sprint.com/sero use e-mail address savings@sprintemi.com

You could try to get a USB device to wirelessly get a cell phone connection with EVDO speeds. The two fastest providers are Sprint and Verizon, because they both use EVDO... Cingular and T-Mobile do not use this, so their speeds are slower. I have a PCMCIA one of these Sprint cards, and I get 1mbit down constantly while driving in the car, and I lost my connection only once every 30 minutes or so, for about 15 seconds... Most of them are PCMCIA cards, for a laptop, but they do make some USB ones, such as the Aircard® 595U by Sierra Wireless. Before you get it, you should check if your area gets a signal. Type in your zip code on the side panel at the right, and when the map appears, you must remember to check the box under the map that says "Sprint Mobile Broadband Network". If your area receives no service, you should try to find out if Verizon cards get any reception there either. Chances are, if cell phones using Sprint or Verizon get reception at your house, then a USB card should, too.

Googles Ad supported Video phone After reading about Google : 1) Controlling large amounts of the worlds dark-fiber. http://news.com.com/Google+wants+dark+fiber/2100-1 034_3-5537392.html 2) Google said that it's willing to participate in the Federal Communications Commission's upcoming wireless spectrum 700MHz band auction and pay the minimum reserve of $4.6 billion. http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9747716-7.html http://digg.com/tech_news/Google_s_battle_for_wire less_spectrum 3) Google hires Andy Rubin, founder of Danger and the " Sidekick" http://googlewatch.eweek.com/content/google_produc ts/for_google_phone_rumors_press_1_for_more_google _phone_rumors_press_2.html 4) Google & Sprint collaborate on WiMax mobile Internet services. http://www2.sprint.com/mr/news_dtl.do?id=17560 This all came together in a epiphany I had this weekend. I predict that Google will soon launch a Free Ad supported Video phone some time next year.

What if Sprint [verizon.com] started modifying upstream http-posts to start a more viral ad distribution system?

What if Sprint [verizon.com] started modifying upstream http-posts to start a more viral ad distribution system?

Sprint will let you do this on some (but not all) of their phones:

http://support.sprint.com/doc/sp10490.xml?id16=how _do_I_back_up_my_contacts?

You have to subscribe to the service. It's currently $2 per month...

Data from 2005 is outdated; the rollout of 3G in the US has been fast. Verizon has stated in the past that by the end of 2006, they would have "nationwide" 3G coverage, but I haven't been able to find numbers for population covered. They have been the fastest to deploy 3G. Sprint has stated that they have 208 million people covered now and 220 million by the end of 3nd quarter 2007, which admittedly is not 90% of the US population (more like 75%). Sprint has been behind Verizon so far, but they are set to be the first with 4G by aggressively rolling out WiMAX starting this year.

Actually, Sprint offers unlimited data, 500 minutes, nights n weekends (nights start at 7) and mobile to mobile calling for $30. This is however under the SERO plan which no one's heard of. http://www.sprint.com/sero (I think it is open to everyone now... just google for the current email address they want you to use)

Cheers!

Really?

Sprint seems to claim they do http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/e vdoCoverage2.jsp?map=Denver_CO&mrkt=Denver,%20Co

It looks Verizon also claims too, but their site isn't as good.

With the included slide-out keyboard, isn't this a mico-notebook? http://www.sprint.com/business/products/phones/ppc 6700_allPcsPhones.html?origref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.go ogle.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dppc%2B6700%26ie%3Dutf-8%26 oe%3Dutf-8%26aq%3Dt%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%3Aen-US%3A official%26client%3Dfirefox-a

Another factor why the DDoS extortion of today is less profitable than a few years back is the existence of mechanisms to mitigate attacks more effectively. Companies like Arbor Networks and Cisco make products that let enterprises and Service Providers quickly flip a switch to redirect and protect legitimate customer traffic. I helped design the Sprint IP Defender solution, providing Sprint customers both quick notification of a security event AND the option to circumvent the issue. This takes all the control away from the extortionists.

Naturally, being employed in the managed security space, I have a dichotomy of interests that should not be forgotten - yes I want to see DDoS incidents being eliminated BUT yes I work for a company where fear of an incident leads companies to buy services from us which in turn drives up my 401k. There is big business in fear, but hey, if you lose $100k in revenue every 10 minutes your network is down, it only makes sense that you protect that income stream. Anyways, for every one extortionist, there are three script-kiddies hanging out in #l33tddos on EFnet wanting to see the level of damage he/she can impose.......

If the iPhone can't accept installed applications (e.g. a future OpenOffice Mobile for Microsoft haters), I'm shocked and disappointed.

Cool, just need to find that ethernet port on my phone.

That nobody has mentioned Sprint's SERO plan.

You're supposed to get it with a new account, but I switched after being a Sprint customer for four years.

I pay $30/mo. for 500 anytime minutes, unlimited data, video mail, picture mail, nights and weekends starting at 7pm, sprint mobile to mobile, long distance. Its pretty much a full package. If I need more minutes, I get 30 more for $5 up to 800 minutes. The only thing it doesn't have is unlimited text messaging, but I got that for $10/mo.

If you feel like signing up, the email address holiday@sprint.com worked last time I checked.

"This means that chances are highest, than with any other cell provider, that when you call someone's cell they will be on network which doesn't eat minutes since on network minutes are free. "

Minutes? That reminds me of the AOL days when they still charged by the minute. I got hit with huge $300 bills a couple of times.

Now I use Sprint which gives me unlimited EV-DO mobile broadband for $60 a month (unlimited time -- with a two year contract -- which works 98% of the time). And I use MetroPCS for normal cell phone service which gives me unlimited time - unlimited texting (7 days a week, 24 hours a day, with no contract) for something like $52 a month (including taxes).

I believe the low cost local carriers like MetroPCS are the wave of the future. They're local so they give excellent local coverage (better than my friends on Verizon for example) -- without trying to nickel and dime you. The only drawback is that again -- they're only local, geographically I mean (you can make long distance calls just fine), but if you go on an extended vacation or take a business trip -- you're pretty much SOL.

Googled a bit and found that it probably was cellphones with built in GPS tracking. "Babylon uses its GPS-enabled cellphones and supporting software every day to help make work like sweeping streets and filling potholes more efficient." [1]. Maybe they police and the town doesn't want to advertise that there are some 300 phones if to steal if you can get to them (and of course shut down the GPS in them!)

[1] http://developer.sprint.com/site/global/home/p_hom e.jsp

Of course WiMAX (8026.16e) hardware is not really available yet, but it is too early still. There was a plugfest in 9/2006: http://www.wimaxforum.org/news/downloads/Mobile_Wi MAX_Plugfest_WhitePaper.pdf

Sprint announced they would have trial markets in 2007 and deployments in 2008. Not 2006: http://www2.sprint.com/mr/news_dtl.do?id=12960

> That is just plain not true (16e being restricted only)

I may have oversimplified, but let me explain. There are two components to this: the standard as defined by the IEEE, and the profiles as defined by the WiMAX Forum. The former describes the components of the MAC and PHY layers. The latter describes the frequencies, channel bandwidth, number of tones for the OFDM signal, and other parameters. The IEEE standard 802.16e-2005 is not defined for unlicensed spectrum. The profiles defined by the WiMAX Forum are defined by the Mobile Task Group (MTG), and there are several major profiles:

  * 1A: 2300 - 2400 MHz, 8.75 MHz channels (otherwise known as the WiBro profile)
  * 1B: 2300-2400 MHz, 5/10 MHz channels
  * 2A/B/C: 2305-2360 (corresponding to the WCS spectrum in the US), 3.5/5/10 MHz channels
  * 3A: 2496-2690 MHz, 5/10 MHz
  * 4A/B/C: 3300-3400 MHz with 5/7/10 MHz channel bandwidths
  * 5A/B/CL: 3400-3600 MHz with 5/7/10 MHz channels
  * 5A/B/CH: 3600-3800 MHz with 5/7/10 MHz channels

In the U.S. 2.3 and 2.5 GHz are defined as allocated spectrum (similar for Canada, except with the addition of 2.5 GHz). However, for the last one, this does encompass the 3650 MHz license exempt range in the U.S., but because of the way the FCC defined the rules, it isn't clear how existing 3.5 GHz 16e equipment being sold for licensed spectrum in Canada and Europe will be adapted to the frequency.

> And I would not call 16d "old." It's what most people are using.

16d (or to use its formal name IEEE 802.16d-2004) was ratified in 2004, while the 16e (IEEE 802.16e-2005) standard was ratified in 2005. So it is correct to call 16d the older standard. 16e offers many improvements over 16d, including the ability to scale the number of OFDM tones with the channel bandwidth, support for turbo coding to improve the link budget, and significantly improved authentication methods.

> Every company that I've dealt with is a fixed provider and has bought 16d equipment.
> I don't know any mobile providers yet (they are coming, but I don't personally know of any).

You're correct that in terms of deployed WiMAX today, it's all 16d equipment; 16e equipment is still in the market trial stage, happening all over the world. It is expected that starting in 2007, 16e deployments will dwarf 16d deployments, with 16e growing to 10x the size of 16d. Almost all 16d equipment vendors are announcing plans to try to convert their equipment to 16e, since that's the direction the market is going. The major wireless infrastructure vendors who are doing WiMAX (Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Nortel, Nokia Siemens, etc) are all adopting 16e. This is because the major holders of spectrum in North America are planning on moving to 16e, with the largest being Sprint Nextel. Similarly, note that BellSouth is testing 16e as well. The consensus in the industry is that 16e will be the basis for broadband wireless access, with 16d (as well as the proprietary variants) relegated to niche deployments or going away.

I've found many voice systems that will also accept touchtones for numeric input. Examples include Alaska Airlines and Sprint/Embarq. You can also often hit zero or in some cases, a string of zeros, to bypass the voice menus entirely and queue for a live operator.

Cingular, Sprint and Verizon all estimate 400-700 kbps download speeds: http://www.cingular.com/broadbandconnect_consumer http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/w irelessHighSpeedData_tabB.html http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/b roadband/serviceoverview.jsp

The biggest difference is coverage. Sprint claims EVDO coverage in 220 markets with Verizon claiming 181 metro areas (148 million people). Cingular claims only 63 metro areas for HSDPA coverage.