PRL help and advice please!

[steve]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Hi guys,

I'm a Verizon user currently attending school in Tulsa, OK. I have
been free roaming on Sprint's PCS system via Verizon's America's
Choice plan. The service has been rather poor here and I felt like I
had no choice but to live with it until I finish up classes early next
year. I didn't want to change providers.

Now, last weekend I took a trip down to Dallas, TX, and while I was
there, I updated my PRL to 50182.. Upon my return to Tulsa, I was
still in free roam which I didn't pay any attention to until tonite..
When my folks called me and I noticed that Caller ID was working! I
couldn't get to the phone when they called so they left me a voice
mail... Lo and behold, my voice mail alert was working again!! I was
quite amazed because no phone feature has worked under the Sprint
system. Come to find out, I'm now on 800 mhz (which I prefer anyway)
and it's happening on US Cellular's system!! The reason I know this is
that when I dial *228, I get a "Welcome to US Cellular" message.

What I'm leading up to here is that I have looked thru the latest
5018x PRL and even though I'm a novice at reading these things, I see
that nothing has really changed for me in Oklahoma as far as swapping
out priorities for carriers. Why am I now on US Cellular???

I would appreciate it if one of you PRL gurus out there would please
take a quick gander at the list and see if you can verify for me about
any changes which may have occured for my area that I didn't know
about since the PRL update. I'm very happy with the change since it
appears that virtually all of my phone services have returned, even
though I'm still in a free roam mode. But I dare NOT force a *228 on
US Cellular's system, otherwise I may not have phone service at all if
I do!!

Thanks for your help and advice,
Steve

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

You purchase service from VZW,
NEVER use a PRL from another carrier.


"Steve" <skoone@juno.com> wrote in message
news:3sedi0diccpou8cjolvpcml4babuo0on0q@4ax.com...
> Hi guys,
>
> I'm a Verizon user currently attending school in Tulsa, OK. I have
> been free roaming on Sprint's PCS system via Verizon's America's
> Choice plan. The service has been rather poor here and I felt like I
> had no choice but to live with it until I finish up classes early next
> year. I didn't want to change providers.
>
> Now, last weekend I took a trip down to Dallas, TX, and while I was
> there, I updated my PRL to 50182.. Upon my return to Tulsa, I was
> still in free roam which I didn't pay any attention to until tonite..
> When my folks called me and I noticed that Caller ID was working! I
> couldn't get to the phone when they called so they left me a voice
> mail... Lo and behold, my voice mail alert was working again!! I was
> quite amazed because no phone feature has worked under the Sprint
> system. Come to find out, I'm now on 800 mhz (which I prefer anyway)
> and it's happening on US Cellular's system!! The reason I know this is
> that when I dial *228, I get a "Welcome to US Cellular" message.
>
> What I'm leading up to here is that I have looked thru the latest
> 5018x PRL and even though I'm a novice at reading these things, I see
> that nothing has really changed for me in Oklahoma as far as swapping
> out priorities for carriers. Why am I now on US Cellular???
>
> I would appreciate it if one of you PRL gurus out there would please
> take a quick gander at the list and see if you can verify for me about
> any changes which may have occured for my area that I didn't know
> about since the PRL update. I'm very happy with the change since it
> appears that virtually all of my phone services have returned, even
> though I'm still in a free roam mode. But I dare NOT force a *228 on
> US Cellular's system, otherwise I may not have phone service at all if
> I do!!
>
> Thanks for your help and advice,
> Steve

 

[steve]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I forgot to mention, my SID appears to be 166.

Steve

 

[bill]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 22:29:33 -0500, Steve <skoone@juno.com> wrote:
....
>
>I would appreciate it if one of you PRL gurus out there would please
>take a quick gander at the list and see if you can verify for me about
>any changes which may have occured for my area that I didn't know
>about since the PRL update.

I don't believe the company makes that information public.

PRLs are the result of negotiated agreements between companies that
are often active competitors. The industry does not make it a
practice to publicize these agreements.

> I'm very happy with the change since it
>appears that virtually all of my phone services have returned, even
>though I'm still in a free roam mode. But I dare NOT force a *228 on
>US Cellular's system, otherwise I may not have phone service at all if
>I do!!

Well... it's not SUPPOSED to mess up but I wouldn't do it either!!

(What happens when the network gets a phone trying for a download is
controlled by the vendor of the network. They can do almost anything.
I bet testing competitor phones is not in most vendor's test plans....
See why it's not wise!)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

bill@microsoft.com wrote:

> (What happens when the network gets a phone trying for a download is
> controlled by the vendor of the network. They can do almost anything.
> I bet testing competitor phones is not in most vendor's test plans....
> See why it's not wise!)

If US Cellular has a clue, they will deny automatic PRL updates to any
phones that aren't their own customers' phones.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

 

[hotrod]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Did nobody pay attention to what he said? He was in Dallas, downloaded the
latest PRL (from Verizon) and went back to where he used to roam on Sprint
and now roams on USCC. ????

--
All Email is scanned and
declared Virus free by
Norton System 2004
"Steve" <skoone@juno.com> wrote in message
news:3sedi0diccpou8cjolvpcml4babuo0on0q@4ax.com...
> Hi guys,
>
> I'm a Verizon user currently attending school in Tulsa, OK. I have
> been free roaming on Sprint's PCS system via Verizon's America's
> Choice plan. The service has been rather poor here and I felt like I
> had no choice but to live with it until I finish up classes early next
> year. I didn't want to change providers.
>
> Now, last weekend I took a trip down to Dallas, TX, and while I was
> there, I updated my PRL to 50182.. Upon my return to Tulsa, I was
> still in free roam which I didn't pay any attention to until tonite..
> When my folks called me and I noticed that Caller ID was working! I
> couldn't get to the phone when they called so they left me a voice
> mail... Lo and behold, my voice mail alert was working again!! I was
> quite amazed because no phone feature has worked under the Sprint
> system. Come to find out, I'm now on 800 mhz (which I prefer anyway)
> and it's happening on US Cellular's system!! The reason I know this is
> that when I dial *228, I get a "Welcome to US Cellular" message.
>
> What I'm leading up to here is that I have looked thru the latest
> 5018x PRL and even though I'm a novice at reading these things, I see
> that nothing has really changed for me in Oklahoma as far as swapping
> out priorities for carriers. Why am I now on US Cellular???
>
> I would appreciate it if one of you PRL gurus out there would please
> take a quick gander at the list and see if you can verify for me about
> any changes which may have occured for my area that I didn't know
> about since the PRL update. I'm very happy with the change since it
> appears that virtually all of my phone services have returned, even
> though I'm still in a free roam mode. But I dare NOT force a *228 on
> US Cellular's system, otherwise I may not have phone service at all if
> I do!!
>
> Thanks for your help and advice,
> Steve

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 12:51:31 GMT, "HotRod" <rhgolding@eathlink.net>
wrote:

>Did nobody pay attention to what he said? He was in Dallas, downloaded the
>latest PRL (from Verizon) and went back to where he used to roam on Sprint
>and now roams on USCC. ????

That's what I thought he said.

Over time, Verizon and Sprint are parting ways and Verizon is tending
to use USCC, Alltel and others more and more.

Dave

 

[steve]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 09:45:04 -0400, Diamond Dave
<dmine45.NOSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 12:51:31 GMT, "HotRod" <rhgolding@eathlink.net>
>wrote:
>
>>Did nobody pay attention to what he said? He was in Dallas, downloaded the
>>latest PRL (from Verizon) and went back to where he used to roam on Sprint
>>and now roams on USCC. ????
>

HotRod -- Yes, you read it right!

>That's what I thought he said.
>
>Over time, Verizon and Sprint are parting ways and Verizon is tending
>to use USCC, Alltel and others more and more.
>
>Dave


Hi Dave,

It seems that's likely the case here. I have not been happy with
Sprint's poor service. The audio quality and duplexing of voices have
been exceedingly bad, not to mention spotty service around town. The
call made with my folks last night on US Cellular's 800 system however
was much, much better! Frankly, I've held a rather poor outlook of US
Cellular too, but this time around it wasn't bad.. I'll see if this
continues to hold true! Anyway, for what it is worth to anyone else
passing thru the Tulsa area, if you're on a national plan you'll now
get USCC 800 service as FR.

Thanks to those for your insight on this..
Steve

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 09:18:38 -0500, Steve <skoone@juno.com> wrote:

>It seems that's likely the case here. I have not been happy with
>Sprint's poor service. The audio quality and duplexing of voices have
>been exceedingly bad, not to mention spotty service around town. The
>call made with my folks last night on US Cellular's 800 system however
>was much, much better! Frankly, I've held a rather poor outlook of US
>Cellular too, but this time around it wasn't bad.. I'll see if this
>continues to hold true! Anyway, for what it is worth to anyone else
>passing thru the Tulsa area, if you're on a national plan you'll now
>get USCC 800 service as FR.

I've used USCC when I've been up in Maine, parts of North Carolina
(forcing the phone to use USCC over Alltel) and in parts of Western
Maryland and Pennsylvania. At first I thought I'd hate USCC (after
reading Stan Cline's history on how they gouge you on roaming charges)
but since they're an Extended Network partner in a good portion of the
US for Verizon's America's Choice - I'm rather pleased with their
service.

I don't know how well they work for those who use them as a native
cell carrier, but for those of us who "roam" (so to speak) on their
system, so far so good.

I'll have to test the caller ID thing next time I go in to their
territory when I go see my father on Labor Day.

Dave

 

[steve]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 19:34:30 -0400, Diamond Dave
<dmine45.NOSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I'll have to test the caller ID thing next time I go in to their
>territory when I go see my father on Labor Day.
>
>Dave
>
>

Dave --

It looks totally identical to being within Verizon's own network. My
folks have a "blocked" number from being sent over Caller ID, so they
show up as "Private", upper and lower case letters as it should be.
That's the first thing that caught my eye after they called the other
night. Occasionally, when Sprint would work like it should, Caller ID
showed up (that's ALL that somewhat worked other than the phone
service itself) however it would always come up as all capitalized.
But I've had a few other phone calls since last week's discovery of
being moved to USCC's system, and all Caller ID's work now.

Something else worth noting.. Even *86 works!! I can check voice mail
the right way! On the Sprint system had to dial my own number
(including 1 and area code) in order to retrieve voice mail. This is
just like being on Verizon (only it isn't)..

I love it. Things sorta feel "normal" again while being away from
home.

Steve