Torque issues
Switched from Nextel iDEN to Sprint CDMA, got a great deal on the new Kyocera Torque, which so far has ALMOST been a great phone.
While otherwise extremely nice phones, both Torques had these deal-breaker issues:
1) In speakerphone mode, I can hear other caller fine, they can't hear me unless I take it out of speakerphone mode & hold phone to my head.
2) Both phones randomly froze up and/or rebooted themselves out of the blue. Two phones, four days, total of eight lockups/random self-reboots.
Took to Sprint store, tech tried for an hour, gave up and swapped them for two brand new Torques. Guess what? Both of the new phones have the exact same defect: Microphone does not work properly when on a regular voice call in speakerphone mode....
(continues)
While otherwise extremely nice phones, both Torques had these deal-breaker issues:
1) In speakerphone mode, I can hear other caller fine, they can't hear me unless I take it out of speakerphone mode & hold phone to my head.
2) Both phones randomly froze up and/or rebooted themselves out of the blue. Two phones, four days, total of eight lockups/random self-reboots.
Took to Sprint store, tech tried for an hour, gave up and swapped them for two brand new Torques. Guess what? Both of the new phones have the exact same defect: Microphone does not work properly when on a regular voice call in speakerphone mode....
(continues)
...
That may well be the next step. We wanted to give the Torques a try, because there are definitely advantages to a "smartphone", but as you pointed out in another recent post, they can be far more hassle than they are worth. If Sprint & Kyocera don't fix these major defects in the Torque, we'll abandon them, likely for the DuraXT.
BTW, one of the brand-new replacement Torques started doing the lockup routine overnight, so apparently it's a deeper problem than just a few bad phones.
Although when it is working correctly SDC is pretty darn close to NDC, our SDC experience so far has been less than perfect like Nextel was. I don't know how much of it might be the CDMA network still not being up to snuff here, or how much of the "un-Nextel-...
(continues)
BTW, one of the brand-new replacement Torques started doing the lockup routine overnight, so apparently it's a deeper problem than just a few bad phones.
Although when it is working correctly SDC is pretty darn close to NDC, our SDC experience so far has been less than perfect like Nextel was. I don't know how much of it might be the CDMA network still not being up to snuff here, or how much of the "un-Nextel-...
(continues)
...
My experience has been positive so far. The scenario you described does not happen that way in my area. SDC to NDC is identical in how it operates while in a Sprint 3G area.
Roaming is a different matter. It takes three seconds to initially connect to another DC phone, then the connection back and forth is instantaneous. The problem with this is we both know how the nine second rule works--wait too long and you must reconnect again. This is problematic while roaming. Roaming call quality is staticy too. Almost like an analog walkie-talkie.
The only thing I dislike about the XT is you cannot hear the sending of a call alert. You hear one coming in, but not going out...just a wimpy little "beep."
I was also disappointed that the DC st...
(continues)
Roaming is a different matter. It takes three seconds to initially connect to another DC phone, then the connection back and forth is instantaneous. The problem with this is we both know how the nine second rule works--wait too long and you must reconnect again. This is problematic while roaming. Roaming call quality is staticy too. Almost like an analog walkie-talkie.
The only thing I dislike about the XT is you cannot hear the sending of a call alert. You hear one coming in, but not going out...just a wimpy little "beep."
I was also disappointed that the DC st...
(continues)
...
jrfdsf said:...
...
The only thing I dislike about the XT is you cannot hear the sending of a call alert. You hear one coming in, but not going out...just a wimpy little "beep."
I was also disappointed that the DC still ties up the phone line and vice-versa. One small plus the Powersource phones had was the ability to beep in while on a regular call. I really wish Sprint had perfected that instead. The ic phones that worked did so very well. My ic602 was very good at everything except photos. Had Sprint added cellular band roaming, those phones would've flown off the shelves.
By the way, were you aware that the gateway between Southernlinc PTT was opened? I can DC a friend who lives in Georgia now with my old i90. U
(continues)
...
Airave Access Point 2nd generation and newer support SDC and will help enhance coverage. Sorry, just read through this and thought I'd throw out the answer. 😉
...
Got it, thank you.
Actually, later in the day I posted that, our Airave arrived, and the FAQ also states Airave 2.5 supports SDC.
Unfortunately, for some reason it does not prevent the connection latency and sometime refusals to connect that appears to be endemic to SDC, Airave or no.
Actually, later in the day I posted that, our Airave arrived, and the FAQ also states Airave 2.5 supports SDC.
Unfortunately, for some reason it does not prevent the connection latency and sometime refusals to connect that appears to be endemic to SDC, Airave or no.
...
From what I've heard, there are software updates for the airave and and Sprint is working on additional maintenance releases that will address latency concerns.
...
cellphonesaretools said:...
...
SDC on our Torques frequently misses beeps indicating release of PTT button on sender's end, kind of leaves one hanging when one is accustomed to the Nextel beeps telling you know exactly what's going on at any given instant in a PTT call. Frequently SDC takes multiple tries to connect, and frequently it simply refuses to connect, even with perfectly acceptable signal strength & 3G indicator lit up. Also, after a regular CDMA voice call, during which DC is disabled automatically, when the regular call is finished, the DC speaker remains turned off, even though it was turned on before the voice call came in. Very annoying, and unnecessary. It should restore the phone to whatever state the DC s
(continues)
...
I thought the same thing as I traveled over the Easter weekend to the mountains. I was so disappointed my work issued Sprint DC phone was not like my old Nextel. Up there, that old phone never had service. Unfortunately for me, work was able to reach me in a place I had found solitude from technology for years. Thanks Sprint for ruining my holiday. I totally agree with you that roaming over 1X was a horrible idea.
...
It's the opposite for us. Sprint's overall coverage is not yet as good as Nextel's is here. Also, Sprint's network seems to be near the point of saturation, where as Nextel's is still up & running with almost no users any more, so iDEN is currently delivering superb service on both PTT & voice calls, whereas Sprint CDMA right now is lagging.
For Sprint's "3G", we're lucky to get 150 kbps, frequently it is as slow as 30-40 kbps, which is effectively completely useless for data...also part of the problem with the spotty SDC performance.
No 4G even on the horizon here yet.
One can only hope that Sprint (for once) fulfills one of their many network promises and they actually push the "Network Vision" project to completion. In Los Angel...
(continues)
For Sprint's "3G", we're lucky to get 150 kbps, frequently it is as slow as 30-40 kbps, which is effectively completely useless for data...also part of the problem with the spotty SDC performance.
No 4G even on the horizon here yet.
One can only hope that Sprint (for once) fulfills one of their many network promises and they actually push the "Network Vision" project to completion. In Los Angel...
(continues)
...
Wow that probably explains a lot of your issues with SDC connection failures in your area is the low bandwidth you get on 3G. I just did a speed test on my phone and I consistently get around 500kbps - 800kbps down with 3 bars of 3G.
The Madison area might have more towers to balance the load better than your area or the backhaul fiber network in your area might be lacking as well. Hopefully they can bring the entire nationwide network up to decent speeds soon!
From what I understand, once they shut down the Nextel network, that will free up the 800MHz spectrum for CDMA use which should give Sprint service much better 3G speeds and higher capacity of call volume. So we shall see in a couple of months what happens.
The Madison area might have more towers to balance the load better than your area or the backhaul fiber network in your area might be lacking as well. Hopefully they can bring the entire nationwide network up to decent speeds soon!
From what I understand, once they shut down the Nextel network, that will free up the 800MHz spectrum for CDMA use which should give Sprint service much better 3G speeds and higher capacity of call volume. So we shall see in a couple of months what happens.
...
lanmansa said:
...
From what I understand, once they shut down the Nextel network, that will free up the 800MHz spectrum for CDMA use which should give Sprint service much better 3G speeds and higher capacity of call volume. So we shall see in a couple of months what happens.
My understanding is that they will be using some of the Nextel 850 MHz bandwidth for LTE and some of it for CDMA. I have no idea how much of that bandwidth goes to each of those two networks, but there isn't all that much iDEN bandwidth to share in the first place. It all helps, but I wonder how much improvement there will really end up being in terms of coverage and capacity, given that they are splitting up a fairly small amoun...
(continues)
...
