[phoneafriend]

I bought two Pre's this week.

Neither work worth a darn -- Data is intermittent and Voice is almost non-existent.

But wait,...

My wife and I life in a swank townhome on the outskirts of a major us city. We are about 15 miles from the city line. The phone works beautifully here.

Problem is, we inherited a home about 1 mile from the city line. We are renovating the house so that we can move in. Hey, it was free, and we don't really like all the association issues in a townhome.

Anyway, closer to the city, in a less affluent area, the phones are garbage. I work down the road about 4 miles away (still, it is right next to the city line). The phone barely works at all at work.

So, my thought is that maybe it is not the phone that is the problem. It is whether or not you live in an affluent (where county or city services/utilities are premium). It seems that all carriers cater to those that can pay the most.

Seriously, every upper middle class area in my city and three adjoining counties have excellent service. It is the lower middle and poor where the signal is terrible.

I don't think the (serve the rich) idea I am throwing out is universal or even the intent. It just so happens that it works this way due to carriers trying to capture "new and emerging" suburban area market share. I also think the downtown areas are probably fine (though I haven't tested this). I believe it is the fringe between downtown and elite suburbia that seems to have the weak signals (data and voice). These areas are aging and generally become an economic blight between the regentrified city and the trendy far suburbs.

The AirRave device is fine, but it makes me wonder why so dang many people need it like I do. One could extrapolate that a Pre owner might find it difficult to ever get a signal in a domestic dwelling.

I don't want a device that I can only use outdoors, downtown, or in an affluent strip mall area. I need it for my real life -- middle class and, sometimes, middle of nowhere.

Let me know your thoughts on this. It will help me decide if I am on to something (which means I can't keep my Pre) or just fuming.

[1414H77]

In short:
1) The Pre was released before it was ready for prime time; and,
2) Sprint's network is not as good as people claim.

[teranenrique]

My Pre has excellent signal in Miami, FL. I only lose it inside big buildings (hospitals and stuff like that) so Sprint gets 2 thumbs up and so does my Pre

[sachapman]

I've been a sprint customer for 10+ years and have always had good service almost everywhere I go--even when travelling across country. I made a call from the top of a mountain in the Adirondacks once. Everyplace except home that is. In two different homes over the past 10 years, lousy service at home.

Now I used to attribute it to having cheap phones--obviously not anymore and I'm now paying Sprint way too much (shared data plan since we have 2 phones!) for crappy service that's effectively unusuable. Sitting at the kitchen table tonight my wife tried calling my Pre from her old Samsung. My Pre never even rang. Not that the Samsung was getting good reception, but it seems that the Pre was getting even worse.

After talking to 3 or 4 Sprint support people, the last one was in Retention or "got to make our customers happy dept." or some such and promised to 1) have the networking group investigate and 2) call me back in 1 week. And if she doesn't you can bet I'll be calling again. I was planning on dumping the Verizon phone I use for work, but obviously I can't do that if calls won't come through!

[mr dave is a nerd]

Hello everyone,
I don't have a Pre (yet) but I do have sprint, and live in an area with poor coverage. Fortunately, Sprint allows you unlimited roaming at no extra charge. So basically, just set your phone to roam, and you will have coverage anywhere there is a cmda service available. So even though sprint's network is spotty, the free roaming more than makes up for it. So just make sure your phone is set to roam and your set.

Bill

[mh262]

In short:
1) The Pre was released before it was ready for prime time; and,
2) Sprint's network is not as good as people claim.

Do you own a Pre? --> NO

Are you on Sprint's network? --> NO

in short:
I think that every Pre owner on here that is on the Sprint network would appreciate your iSheep minded thoughts be kept to the mac forums.

Just saying.

Thanks.

[ImNoPrince]

I guess I'm just Lucky . I live right in the middle of their 4G coverage area. I think as they were building it they upgraded all the 3G coverage as well I have had no issues anywhere so far and I keep it on the Sprint only Network as Verizon tries to over power and causes issues with Roam even when I have good bars.

[Kupe]

I only lose it inside big buildings (hospitals and stuff like that)

Ah yes - good old 1900mhz networks.

so Sprint gets 2 thumbs up and so does my Pre

Doesn't work in big buildings = 2 thumbs up? I guess you'd need a lot more thumbs for something that truly worked well.

[jbrowland]

My centro and other palm phones worked in buildings. My pre doesn't. It's not the network.

[farfromit11]

I actually get a little better signal with my pre than my old Katana DLX. The only place I didn't get signal was in a bar at the base of the Empire State Building. Some big Ape must have been blocking the signal

[sheltem]

I definitely get better phone performance than my old phone, the HTC Touch Pro. I just recently had a 10 minute conversation in my office. My brother sounded clear and there was no static. With my old HTC Touch Pro, I couldn't even dial to voicemail without it dropping in 20 seconds.

[bclinger]

And nothing works in the back of Walmart in Kunia, Hawaii. Nothing.

[landscraper]

Also got the new Pre on debut day and have had serious issues with signal strength. Upgraded from Treo 755 which works great and gets good signal (4 bars) sitting right next to Pre that is switching between roam, no signal and 1 bar. I know it is not the sprint network based on experience. I have 8 sprint lines in my company and all work great. I have sprint because most people in my area also do...I live 6 miles from Sprint headquarters in Overland Park, KS!! Network is not problem...Pre is ONLY phone to have problems with calls dropping or "network not available". Pre must have internal isues.
Sprint repair facility claims to have heard no complaints of signal strength... though everyone I know with a pre (only 2) has said they also complained. They did a Prl update but it made no difference. Driving around town I am often roaming! and you can't swith this on the pre.

Too bad, This is an amazing phone... when it works

[leftyman]

Ah yes - good old 1900mhz networks.
Doesn't work in big buildings = 2 thumbs up? I guess you'd need a lot more thumbs for something that truly worked well.

you do realize the Pre is dual-band CDMA 800/1900? and Sprint has a roaming agreement with Verizon?

yea..two thumbs up

[Nells]

I finally got my Pre last night!!!

But anyway I'm noticing it got between full signal and 1 bar in my house and most places I have been last night. I haven't had any dropped calls or anything like that yet... But its doing better than my Blackberry Storm did where I it would be on 1X all the time or one bar of EVDO.