Thinking of switching from ATT to Sprint

[zanda61]

Hello everyone,
I have a Cingular 8125 and I'm thinking of switching to Sprint for their data coverage in my area. I've tweaked my phone with all of the treats this site has to offer and I've really grown fond of Stereo bluetooth.

Can anyone here tell me if the Sprint Mogul has A2DP available out of the box or if not, has someone created a workaround? I've looked all over and can't find an answer.

Thanks for your help

[Park City]

I have both a Tytn and the Mogul (Titan).


I will try the BT stereo tomorrow and let you know.

Brad

[mwheeler2]

Where are you located? I recently dropped AT&T (after more than 6 years with them)... My business partner was recently dropped by Sprint (via one of their now infamous letters) after nearly ten years... and we both switched to Alltel.

I can't speak with any authority on Sprint's roaming agreements, but I do know that Alltel has agreements in place with both Sprint and Verizon for data coverage. Which means that EVDO in any market is accessible for me and has been very fast so far (I average 500-800 Kbps on the fringe and 1-1.5 Mbps in the well-covered areas).

If you live in an area that is covered by Alltel, I can't recommend them strongly enough over Sprint. Alltel is a smaller comapny with better customer service (you can get a real person on the phone in less than five minutes) and has better data roaming agreements... but I recommend some research before a switch.

Cheers,

Mick

[zanda61]

Hi Mick,

I live in Southeast Kansas and my area is well served by Alltel. I used to be a subscriber and had excellent service coverage. I jumped because of an "all in" service plan through Southwestern Bell. I would consider them again in a heartbeat, but they don't seem to offer a phone like the Titan (that I can tell anyway). The do offer the PPC6700, but I prefer a phone without the antenna. and I would like a faster processor than my current phone (Wizard) Another factor playing here is that my Brother in law works for Sprint and I might be able to get a discount on my service agreement through him.

All that being said, I would not consider Sprint if they hadn't made their roaming agreement with Alltel. Maybe by the time I make the switch this fall Alltel will have the newer phone too. I recommend Alltel to anyone who can get it.

Thanks for writing :)
Rick

[dcd1182]

whoa, Alltel can roam on verizons EVDO?! or just 1XRTT???

[rambo6]

Hello everyone,
I have a Cingular 8125 and I'm thinking of switching to Sprint for their data coverage in my area. I've tweaked my phone with all of the treats this site has to offer and I've really grown fond of Stereo bluetooth.

Can anyone here tell me if the Sprint Mogul has A2DP available out of the box or if not, has someone created a workaround? I've looked all over and can't find an answer.

Thanks for your help

I've been using a TyTn on At&T's network for 6 months and the Titan (Mogul) on Sprint's for the past month. Before that, I used an HTC Blue Angle, and a Wizard on T-Mobile's Network. Here are my conclusions.

I live in Salt Lake City, Utah where AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon have great 3G coverage. I'm get 600 to 1200 kpbs a lot of the time on both AT&T and Sprint. In the rural areas, all I get is Edge data speeds with AT&T which is 70 to 140 kbps. The funny thing is that Sprint has 3G running in a lot of small towns in Utah. The speed in those towns is unbelievable. Also, when traveling , I notice that I'm getting 3G speeds in many more cities with the Sprint than with the AT&T. The funny thing is that at my home, I have better AT&T service than Sprint. So I keep the TyTN and wait for the Kaiser also.

As far as a comparison of the Mogul and TyTN. The TyTn is heavier and the build quality seems a little better (it may be the TyTN's weight makes it feel better built). I prefer the D pad of the TyTn to that of the Mogul, but the Mogul's works great.

All in all the software that comes on the Mogul is just as fast as any I've flashed on the TyTN. With cabs one can customize it sufficiently until some great ROM chef figures out how to crack the Mogul.

All things considered, the Mogul is a great value (they have a deal going at $299.00) I bought two for my family also.

The only downside is not being able to switch the SIM card from one phone to another.

[Park City]

I've been using a TyTn on At&T's network for 6 months and the Titan (Mogul) on Sprint's for the past month. Before that, I used an HTC Blue Angle, and a Wizard on T-Mobile's Network. Here are my conclusions.

I live in Salt Lake City, Utah where AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon have great 3G coverage. I'm get 600 to 1200 kpbs a lot of the time on both AT&T and Sprint. In the rural areas, all I get is Edge data speeds with AT&T which is 70 to 140 kbps. The funny thing is that Sprint has 3G running in a lot of small towns in Utah. The speed in those towns is unbelievable. Also, when traveling , I notice that I'm getting 3G speeds in many more cities with the Sprint than with the AT&T. The funny thing is that at my home, I have better AT&T service than Sprint. So I keep the TyTN and wait for the Kaiser also.

As far as a comparison of the Mogul and TyTN. The TyTn is heavier and the build quality seems a little better (it may be the TyTN's weight makes it feel better built). I prefer the D pad of the TyTn to that of the Mogul, but the Mogul's works great.

All in all the software that comes on the Mogul is just as fast as any I've flashed on the TyTN. With cabs one can customize it sufficiently until some great ROM chef figures out how to crack the Mogul.

All things considered, the Mogul is a great value (they have a deal going at $299.00) I bought two for my family also.

The only downside is not being able to switch the SIM card from one phone to another.

I agree 100%!

I am also in Utah, (Heber City) and am lucky enough to be in one of those small rural areas where Sprint data is much faster than AT&T's.

The main thing keeping me hanging on to my Tytn is that I might want to sell it when the Kaiser becomes available. Intergrated GPS with Sirf III radio will eliminate the need for me to carry my additional ITrek m5+ BT GPS. But Sprint's cheaper data plans can't be beat.

Also I tried the BT headphones today on my Mogul and they worksd fine..stereo and all. It took a while for them to pair but once they did, I could listen to MP3s all day without a problem.

Cheers!

[mwheeler2]

@dcd1182: Yes, Alltel has an EVDO roaming agreement in place with both Sprint and Verizon and I have successfully connected on all three networks. Bear in mind that certain PRL's (Preferred Roaming List's) enable or disable Sprint EVDO roaming... so if you find it necessary to roam on Sprint's network, be sure to load one that enables this.

@zanda61: I'm using a Telus P4000 from Canada (purchased on eBay) and have had little trouble provisioning it for Alltel. I've also successfully used both Sprint and Verizon handsets (including 6700's) on the Alltel network. I found the P4000 for $300, so I took a chance on being able to unlock it (both Sprint and Telus use MSL's to prevent carrier switching).

Now that HTC has issued an update to WM6 for the P4000, I'm much happier about this handset.

I have also talked to my friends that work for Alltel and I'm told that Alltel has already started shipping accessories for the 6800, which is due for release in August.

I hope this is encouraging...

Mick

[zanda61]

Very cool. Thanks for all the info, Mick.

Can you tell me if you are able to use the bluetooth to listen to stereo music on the Titan?

I'm probably waiting till October on this switch (2 year agreement) so I might make the jump back to Alltel.

[mwheeler2]

I used the registry edits listed for enabling stereo bluetooth and have had no trouble listening to stereo music on my bluetooth headphones.

Just one note... if you activate your own handset (i.e. purchase one from an eBay seller), you won't be required to initiate a contract with Alltel.

Good luck in October...

Mick

[bduerr]

I do not use a BT headset for my Mogul but I do use a Shure SE210 e/w a microphone. The one that comes with it is junk! I have connected an ORA adapter that has an extUSB and a 3.5 jack w/ mic. The Ora mic has an answer button on it so when a call comes in I can answer it remotely.

Two Issues I think exist:
1) BT headsets run out of battery, and they do not have a bat life indicator: headset dies mid ride
and
2) I have not found one that has a mic in case a call comes in while you are listening to music

How do you deal with incoming calls? I ride my bike and use the Mogul as an MP3 player.

[mwheeler2]

@bduerr: I use Anycom BSH 100 headphones... they're inexpensive, definitely not audiophile quality (I was a studio engineer in a previous life), but they have a microphone (that attaches via the mini-USB port) for using the headphones as a hands-free device. This makes them useful for listening to music and taking calls because both profiles can be enabled at once...

In short, these are not going to outshine some of the other headsets available, but for the price (around $60 on eBay), they are very hard to beat.

My battery life tends to be at or about 1.5 hours, YMMV...


Hope this helps,

Mick

[letsgoflyers81]

I was able to use stereo Bluetooth headphones with my Mogul out of the box. I applied the reg edits that are supposed to increase A2DP sound quality but I didn't really notice a difference.

[bduerr]

Although BT has it benefits, I am not a big fan. It needs improvements. . .
Per mwheeler2, he only get 1.5 hours on his stereo headset. I can ride my bike for 2 hours or more and if I travel, plane trips go from 2 hrs to over 8 hrs. I have not seen a BT headset that lasts that long.

Improvements: The new cell phones like my Mogul have a good sized screen so why can't I get info on the status of the headset, like battery life, connection stats, etc. and how about putting some controls on the handset for the BT device?

Also, the handset's battery decreases faster with the BT radio on. My Mogul barely makes a day with it checking email every 15 minutes.

When I want to use my BT mono headset, I need to turn on the radio and let the headset sync. If I use my wired headset I can just plug it in and use it. I get notified of status by different beeps that make no sense. Again, why can’t it report these events to the screen?

A friend of mine just purchased a BT GPS, unless it is plugged in to the cigarette lighter (isn't that why we use BT Wireless - wireless?), it lasts only 2 hours. His recent trip from Chicago to Cleveland was over 4 hours, hummmm.

And, I have yet to have the BT connection for Active Sync work consistently. It will sync as a modem or some other device I do not understand but not for PIM (personal information manager).

Wired is definitely more dependable, has a defined quality and never needs to be charged. Not to dis the developers but they need to do a little more on the user’s controls.

[letsgoflyers81]

I have Jabra BT620's and I get 14 - 15 hours of listening time. That's no exageration, they last forever. The sound quality is pretty good too. Bluetooth isn't perfect, but with BT 2.0 EDR and newer headsets and headphones, it's getting better all the time.

[prototypedc]

i have bluetrek BT stero headset and it last for hours ive never listen to it for over about 5 hours but its never died on me yet an the sounds good and thats way longer that 1.5 hours

[mwheeler2]

I described my Bluetooth battery life as 1.5 hours, because (as with any battery that degrades over time) that's how long my headphone battery lasts now. When it was new, my battery in the Anycom headphones lasted ~12 hours. Another solution is to buy a spare battery, which would extend the life to ~24 hours and offer much greater listening time.

As for BT GPS devices, mine (Globalsat BT-338) averages 19 hours of continuous use on batteries and I can also swap the battery if a power source is unavailable. As I rarely drive more than 12 hours in any given day, this has been more than adequate.

On the subject of BT ActiveSync and BT DUN (Dial Up Networking), my handsets (Wizard/8125, Apache/6700 and Titan/P4000) all work flawlessly and I've had no glitches that weren't my own fault.

When considering BT as a wireless connection medium, one must consider that the greatest benefit is convenience and the greatest detriment is reduced security. All BT devices, whether powered by battery or some other auxiliary source, require radio RX/TX with the handset being paired. This does use the handset's battery at a faster rate than it would without the Bluetooth radio enabled... So the question is whether the increased convenience outweighs the shorter battery life, reduced security and setup issues.

For my own use, the pros of Bluetooth devices (in whatever capacity) have far outweighed the cons.

Cheers,

Mick

[B18DelSolT]

It all depends on all you want, the mogul does have stereo sound, and if you also care for internet speed then i would go with mogul just for the fact of rev a witch is coming soon, while at&T is just starting on 3g.

[agoodmn29]

whoa, Alltel can roam on verizons EVDO?! or just 1XRTT???

Just 1X....

[xweaponx]

I had Verizon before and now Alltel. My alltel PPC 6800's stereo bluetooth works great out-of-the box with my Jabra BT8010. The agreement that Alltel has with Verizon/Sprint has EV coverage EVERYWHERE I go. Love it. This was quoted from another forum...

"Sprint today took the wraps off of their new data roaming offerings. PCS Intel first reported on data roaming additions in prior PRL updates, but today Sprint confirmed that data roaming would become a major offering off-network.

Alltel and Sprint have entered into a 10-year agreement to offer shared network services across both their networks. While this will save Sprint and Alltel on voice roaming, it also will offer Sprint and Alltel customers access to each other's network 3G services, including EV-DO.

Sprint data roaming will be available at no additional charge over existing data rates, however, many Sprint customers will have to purchase new phones, as prior devices have been programmed to not anticipate data roaming. Most current phones have a debug toggle option to enable data roaming, which while disabled in-firmware, could be turned on via a firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update.

The agreement between the two carriers will take effect July 1st. This development will also pave the way for Sprint to potentially deploy international data roaming, similar to Verizon Wireless, in the near future"

Also read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alltel

[mwheeler1982]

zanda61 - Just out of curiosity, where are you at in SEKS? I'm in Pittsburg, KS.