[VisionAssist]

I've been allowed to try to field issues specific to the use of the Treo 300 but cannot answer any questions about Plans, Sprint Network topology, or Operation of the Websites used

to manage the accounts. Those questions are best answered by Sprint's normal Customer Support organization.

I have a Treo 300 which is fully functional and runs no hacks but I've been asked not to commit to data speeds due to the variables involved. I can share my observations on Sprint
Business Connection and my personal observations on Web Browsing since I use the device both at home and at work.

Also, there is no way to state or paraphrase any Sprint company policy issues because I work under contract in 3rd tier support and am not employed by Sprint. I will, however, try to contribute to all of the other valuable sources of information in this discussion forum. It's getting late out here so I probably need to get some sleep. Gotta work this weekend.

BTW, bobacus, what department are you working in so I don't duplicate your efforts. I didn't notice your location.

[athreya]

1)whats the final official verdict on speeds now? Is it uniform everywhere?
2)Does their own sprint mail work thru push system?
3)Can one see all websites or only certain specified ones?
4)How many mins do u waste by dialing in and checking mail since theres no push mail on sprintmail?

5)How does it work with the corporate email-outlook? does one need to install extra sw for it on the servers at work/school or would it work on its own? does it like the BB automatically update what u delete/ send etc from your treo in the outlook as well?

6)how does it handle attachments?

7)How much does 8/ 20 MB data give in terms of page views or emails?

8)lastly how does the msn/yahoo messenger work with it?

[miradu]

Welcome VisionAssist. We are pleased to have you participating at TreoCentral.com.

I hope that users can use your resources to offer even just a little insight to help people who are having trouble.

Thank you for taking the great amount of time to participate in a Discussion Board.

[fgkay#AC]

Ditto welcome, VisionAssist ... I was told by Sprint that my Vision user name is to appear at the top of my screen on the phone app. I see no such thing, however, my Vision user-name does appear in the Network prefs. page. Can you shed some light on which is correct? Thanks.

[the_homer]

Vision,
Thanks for you offer to help. I am not sure how often you are going to check this board, but I hope you can answer many questions. While you are away, I am going to try to take a shot at some of these questions. Please feel free to correct me at any time if I am wrong. My information is limited to technical information also.

athreya,
1)whats the final official verdict on speeds now? Is it uniform everywhere?
The speeds are true 50-70k average. I have been able to get speeds much greater consistantly, but the average or the average user should be 50-70k. The speeds are planned to be uniform everywhere. With the network just being launched and so many people putting it to work, many more issues are being discovered. The network was designed and rolled out to be uniform coast to coast. There are just too many variables with wireless to guarantee a perfect call every time.

2)Does their own sprint mail work thru push system?
Sprint does not have a push email system in general. They are using push email through Business Connection Enterprise Edition Palm Client. But this is limited to the Palm devices today.

3)Can one see all websites or only certain specified ones?
This depends on your device and its browser. Some of the phones are going to have browser that support HTML much better than others. Web pages that contain ASP or redirect information are not going to be displayed. Web pages that contain scripts are only available on certain phones.

4)How many mins do u waste by dialing in and checking mail since theres no push mail on sprintmail?
Data is not billed by the minute. You are billed with how much information you pass. You will use data to log onto your email system, but how much depends on your device, your email server, how many emails you have, how large your emails are, and what filters you have in place. This is just to get to you email. Then you have to open the email.

5)How does it work with the corporate email-outlook? does one need to install extra sw for it on the servers at work/school or would it work on its own? does it like the BB automatically update what u delete/ send etc from your treo in the outlook as well?
Several email solutions are offered from Sprint today. Each one has its own requirements for installation. Each solution functions differently also, but they all are instant access to your email. Your information should never need to be updated or sync-ed. It should always be real-time access. (except Palm client for BCEE)

6)how does it handle attachments?
Once again, this depends on the email solution.

7)How much does 8/ 20 MB data give in terms of page views or emails?
This varies between pages and emails. The average web page I visit is between 30-60k. I do not have an average email size. My inbox can vary between 40b - 2Mb. Most emails are less than 2k.

8)lastly how does the msn/yahoo messenger work with it?
You've got me with the last question. What do you mean?

I hope I helped.


homer

[cfsully]

I can say that Yahoo Messenger has not been working for me. I have had some success with AIM, however no one I know uses it. I have not tried MSN Messenger.

I did try Business Connect and if you are on a PC based system with no server, it requires your Outlook (I can not speak about other email systems) to be open to push the mail to the Treo. I am on a Win XP Professional OS, I do not know how others OSs work. Business Connect Personal Edition is still really designed for those who are in server based environments where the mail, date book, and contacts reside on a server.

I would really like to see a better solution for home users of Business Connect. Specifically, I would like Business connect to be able to access my information directly from my closed PST file. I would also like it to act as an intermediary between my Treo and my POP3 accounts to push me mail. I would also like to be able to do more than just email the files that I can access on the home system. I would like to be able to, at a minimum, play or view XLS, DOC, PPT, MP3, MPEG, JPG, and GIF files. who knows, maybe even modify them...

I also want to know is Sprint providing us access to their SMTP servers for our outgoing mail? As an access provider, it is their responsibility to provide POP3 users with an SMTP address for their outgoing mail.

Is the Treo headset jack a stereo jack? I would like to be able to listen to MP3s on my Treo.

How can I send outgoing SMS? It seems like my Treo can only receive SMSs. To reply, I either have to email or call. This seems absurd to me.

To me it seems that the software developers have to catch up to the hardware capability of the Treo. Some of these are not Sprint's responsibility, but they certainly stepped into the arena with their Business Connect Software.

I want:

Better web support pages from Sprint, Claire isn't cutting it...
Javascript Capable 128 bit Browser
POP3 Email with Attachments
Better Multimedia Applications
Instant Messaging
Video Phone

I am sure there is more, but I will let some others speak.

[athreya]

2)Does their own sprint mail work thru push system?
Sprint does not have a push email system in general. They are using push email through Business Connection Enterprise Edition Palm Client. But this is limited to the Palm devices today.

Can you explain that further? We use Outlook at Harvard? I was planning to buy the Treo 300.What specific brequirements does one need to have corporate email pushed to you? BTw my settings dont usually leave mail on the server, so does that mean that each time it checks it will only fetch the new email or will it fetch/ go through each one of the 5000 odd emails that are in my in box?!! Is the treo 300 always on-what exactly does it imply for the user in the 3G context?

3)Can one see all websites or only certain specified ones?
This depends on your device and its browser. Some of the phones are going to have browser that support HTML much better than others. Web pages that contain ASP or redirect information are not going to be displayed. Web pages that contain scripts are only available on certain phones.

I meant with the treo 300?

4)How many mins do u waste by dialing in and checking mail since theres no push mail on sprintmail?
Data is not billed by the minute. You are billed with how much information you pass. You will use data to log onto your email system, but how much depends on your device, your email server, how many emails you have, how large your emails are, and what filters you have in place. This is just to get to you email. Then you have to open the email.

So what is the final damage on the pocket?:)

5)How does it work with the corporate email-outlook? does one need to install extra sw for it on the servers at work/school or would it work on its own? does it like the BB automatically update what u delete/ send etc from your treo in the outlook as well?
Several email solutions are offered from Sprint today. Each one has its own requirements for installation. Each solution functions differently also, but they all are instant access to your email. Your information should never need to be updated or sync-ed. It should always be real-time access. (except Palm client for BCEE)

Can you elaborate further? WHich one would you recommend for us and how much extra would it cost? whats the difference between sprint business and personal solutions?

6)how does it handle attachments?
Once again, this depends on the email solution.

Which one does sprint offer and whats the best available?

7)How much does 8/ 20 MB data give in terms of page views or emails?
This varies between pages and emails. The average web page I visit is between 30-60k. I do not have an average email size. My inbox can vary between 40b - 2Mb. Most emails are less than 2k.

8)lastly how does the msn/yahoo messenger work with it?
You've got me with the last question. What do you mean?

The messenger on treo 300?
I hope I helped.
You did, helluva lot!


homer [/B][/QUOTE]

[paz5559]

if you are going to post the same questions on every thread, could you at least update them based on the answers you have already received, rather than rehashing the same quesions and answers??

[athreya]

Originally posted by paz5559
if you are going to post the same questions on every thread, could you at least update them based on the answers you have already received, rather than rehashing the same quesions and answers??

if you cared to notice not everyones on every thread! thus some duplication..the second set of questions are extensions/specific elaborations of the first not necessarily the same ones. DO you have any answers is whats important!!

[paz5559]

That is the basis of my complaint! I have already answered #3 elsewhere, and yet you continue to post it, appantly in the hopes that you will get a different answer. Blazer, the browser included with Treo, does not fully support 128 bit encryption, and does not support java at all.

It has been suggested that youc an use xiino, a 2rd party app, in its place, but I have not done this yet

So once again, if your question has been answered elsewhere, please don't continue to cut and paste the entire list at multiple threads throughout the board. Believe it of not, some of us might be interested in questions OTHER than the 6-7 you want the Sprint tech to answer.

[athreya]

Hi
if you notice the previous reply to #3 asked me what phone i was using, so one had to repeat it. ALso sprints tech rep hasnt answered ANY of them yet.

[VisionAssist]

Wow, you guys are tough. Ever call a company and feel like you know more than their tech support ? That's what it's like here. My information comes from groups of people that are supposed to know things but often don't or are not up to date. Things are changing quickly. On the other hand, with 2000 posts on this board, you have quite an information source going.

Yesterday was a tough day for 3rd level support but things went well. At least my Treo still works and I hope you guys are doing OK also. Let me say that it's impossible to answer the number of questions on this board, but since ther are lots of duplications at least there are some popular themes. Unfortunately some of the answers may trigger a cyber shotgun blast.

For example "Is the final verdict in on speed yet." Well.... of course not, and it never will be because usage data is being collected and the network will be resized and rerouted as indicated. I'm going to try to put a little more research into the more common questions and avoid shooting from the hip.

[VisionAssist]

I had the chance Friday to compare the Treo 300 to the T-Mobile Sidekick. The comparison was done over the phone with a T-Mobile beta tester so from some standpoints there is an argument that their network is not loaded down yet but we know it already gets plenty of use.

Here's what I observed. Time to load google. Very primative test indeed. My page was fully loaded while his was still connecting. Now his was supposed to be an always on device so I'm not sure what their connection was, but the general observation and point is that the Treo 300 on Sprint Vision service appears to be faster. Yes they were cached pages. That points to good caching on the Treo. A search for the word Sprint yielded results in about half the time on the Treo. 144kbs ? No way.

This thread is similar to saying is DSL or a Cable Modem the same speed everywhere. Of course not. Do either ever reach their theoretical limit ? DSL comes closer because much less of it is shared. PCS Vision is much closer in theory to Cable Modem service because the radio portion is shared. Since 0's and 1's don't flow through the air yet an analog carrier is still used so if the signal is weak there are retrys or multiple attempts to access the same data.

The easiest comparison I can make is to the current 802.11B equipment. Look at any wireless connection through, say, a Linksys Wireless Access Point. The further you get from the access point, the lower the speed goes. Shotgun blast.

[VisionAssist]

Homer, Paz, you are providing excellent answers and the more I look, the more of a "sharktank" look there is here. But that's OK and to be expected. Everyone here is paying good money (OK, how much can you really pay for free megs ?) shotgub blast or at least signed up for expensive plans, and you want info now. Good info is being provided, and like all sources of info, you have to sift through the good an the bad. I'm trying to provide more good than bad and it comes at the expense of being careful who I listen to.

Many people are looking for POP3 mail and technically it presented very little challenge for all of the 3rd party apps already out there. The PDA business is already very difficult. It's much harder to screw up your phone, because generally you can't connect and sync it to your PC but there are exceptions and PDAs are a fact of life.

Sprint can, however, stay out of the business of POP3 mail clients there are alternatives. Having said that, there are many other opportunities and enhancements (Instant Messaging comes to mind) that Sprint could take on but why not leave this to the third parties ?

Having said that Business Connection software fills a niche similar to Treomail and some other products that allows the individual user to access his or her mail via the web or the Palm based client. It overcomes some barriers that used to exist and does it well. I'm still looking into the mechanics of pushed mail on the personal edition of Business COnnection because, as far as we can tell, the site is always current so for some reason the Palm Client doesn't always get the message.

Not so with Smart Sync on, however. With smart sync on and push mail enabled, I'm seeing messages delivered in a reasonable amount of time, averaging 1 to 5 minutes. YMMV. The jury is still out on this but I can compare it to the Blackberry that a friend of mine uses and the delay is similar. His company uses the Blackberry enterpriise edition and a pretty complicated exchange server system. The message pushes range from 5 seconds to never.

[MikeDi2002]

Ok, had my Treo since yesterday, still not activated yet. I am thinking it's a problem on the Sprint side.

I get a 1012 data error and get a mesaages saying welcome to wireless roaming when I try and make voice calls, but *2 brings me to SPCS?

Can anyone help?

[VisionAssist]

Gotta go, but even though today is not a good day, power you phone off completely and make sure the time and date are set right. Power it back on and go wireless. If no "out of date message" call *2 and tell them to make sure you are activated on Vision. If they insist you are activated, then do a hard reset. If that doesn't do it, post back but my guess is another call to *2 will be required. Gotta go, I'm taking the day off.

[MikeDi2002]

Ok, tried, no luck, still get the error (it was actually 0x1102) but anyway, no voice either.

Hard reset? I'm new... Do you mean the reset pinhold button ont he back?

[athreya]

Originally posted by VisionAssist


Sprint can, however, stay out of the business of POP3 mail clients there are alternatives. Having said that, there are many other opportunities and enhancements (Instant Messaging comes to mind) that Sprint could take on but why not leave this to the third parties ?

Having said that Business Connection software fills a niche similar to Treomail and some other products that allows the individual user to access his or her mail via the web or the Palm based client. It overcomes some barriers that used to exist and does it well. I'm still looking into the mechanics of pushed mail on the personal edition of Business COnnection because, as far as we can tell, the site is always current so for some reason the Palm Client doesn't always get the message.

Not so with Smart Sync on, however. With smart sync on and push mail enabled, I'm seeing messages delivered in a reasonable amount of time, averaging 1 to 5 minutes. YMMV. The jury is still out on this but I can compare it to the Blackberry that a friend of mine uses and the delay is similar. His company uses the Blackberry enterpriise edition and a pretty complicated exchange server system. The message pushes range from 5 seconds to never. [/B]

SO does one need to subscribe to treo mail at all?whats the diff between the bussiness conn and treo mail? sorry i am confused..waiting for your final reply to my ques so that we guys can hop across to harvard square and get a few treos

[MikeDi2002]

Ok, I did the hard reset but still nothing.

Of course a call to *2 gets me a message that says to call back Monday...

Well, I guess god doesn't want me to have a Treo this weekend...

[paz5559]

Just curious ... how many times do you think you will need to casually drop the word Harvard in a post? Honestly, I for one don't care where, or even if, you go to school there.