Sanyo 8200 Force digital Roam?

[robertstony]

I work weekends in an area that has very weak Sprint signal. I know that there is good digital signal in this area because when my phone switches to Digital Roam I get great reception as well as the phone I am given for my weekend work is Cingular and has no problem with poor reception. The problem with the Sanyo 8200 is that if it detects any Sprint signal at all it will drop digital roam and place you into Sprint's network which will not allow a call or will drop with seconds of establishing one at which point it goes back to digital roam and then rinse, repeat. Can you force digital roam only on this phone for this specific situation?

[Moogle]

Nope.

The 8200 is "Analog Only...." only.

This has been a major gripe for me... as I too go to certain areas where my phone will bounce back and forth between Digital & Analog roaming...

The A800/A880 definately support this... I'm pretty sure that the A840/A560 do too.

[robertstony]

Well . . .that wicked sucks.

[Moogle]

Well . . .that wicked sucks.

Yes, it does. lol

That's why before I buy my next phone I'm going in and specifically testing it in "roaming only" mode to see if it goes to digital or not.

[Deval]

well either that, or get a digital dual band phone, which supports only 1900 and 800mhz digital, and no analog at all

[Moogle]

well either that, or get a digital dual band phone, which supports only 1900 and 800mhz digital, and no analog at all

Yeah, but the LG VI-5225 doesn't even have a "roaming only" option... The roaming options on that phone are: "Automatic" and "Sprint Only."

I'm really worried that on the new EV-DO Digital-Only phones they're going to completely remove the "roaming only" mode.

[Deval]

well no, they should still be there...but I guess we'll have to wait and see

[Dan]

Sammy a740 does. got it for this reason :)

Too bad that sprint wont do an update that allows a sprint phone to search for digital roaming when a wear and basically unusable sprint signal is in the area.

[Deval]

well I think thats more of a handset specific thing...my LG keeps a strong digital signal even when there is a sprint signal as well

[Dan]

well I think thats more of a handset specific thing...my LG keeps a strong digital signal even when there is a sprint signal as well


Probably so, that its a manufacturer specific thing. Its too bad really that sprint can not have a certain cut-off on signal meter where the phone just gives up on a weak sprint signal and goes to a stronger roaming one. One can dream :)

[Deval]

well keep in mind, its more expensive to use someone elses network then your own...so that may be the reason...but you dont hear me complaining...I like having full digital roaming with the LG

[Dan]

well keep in mind, its more expensive to use someone elses network then your own...so that may be the reason...but you dont hear me complaining...I like having full digital roaming with the LG


I understand that completely, which is why its a better match for verizon and alltel to use each others networks because they might not end up paying each other as much as sprint pays out for roaming on the 2 of them. I would have to think that in the short term that its alot cheaper than building out a huge network so you dont need roaming!

[Deval]

well Verizon and Alltel both use us as a roaming partner as well...so its a trade off

[Moogle]

Probably so, that its a manufacturer specific thing. Its too bad really that sprint can not have a certain cut-off on signal meter where the phone just gives up on a weak sprint signal and goes to a stronger roaming one. One can dream :)


Which is interesting... Cause friends on Alltel/Verizon don't seem to have this kind of problem... That their phones hang on to the last ounce of Sprint signal as if their lives depended on it... Instead of giving up to the "evil wrath of the expensive Digital Roaming signal."

[Deval]

well I thnk they are manufactered differently...remember Verizon doesnt charge roaming, so the user shouldnt have to worry about it...while people on older legacy sprint plans would need to pay for the roaming