Anyone know how to force roaming on the Photon Q yet?

[ericcire]

Go into dialer/phone, dial *#*#4636#*#*. This sometimes does not work, so just redial it if anything. Afterwards, go into "Phone Information". On the bottom right corner if the screen, there will be the menu icon (3 squares lined up). Click on it, then choose "Select Radio Band".


3 Options will appear:

USA Band - Does not seem to work
Cellular - This will force roam onto Verizon, US Cellular, etc (all companies that utilize the 850 MHz band)
PCS - Should be Sprint Native signal for the most part. (1900 MHz, so pretty much Sprint)

Note: As of now, this should work as a decent workaround to force Roaming, however, Sprint will be deploying 1x (Voice) over the SMR spectrum, or simply put, the 800 MHz frequency. I am not sure if the phone will connect to Sprint's 800MHz frequency when available, or it if it will connect to Verizon's 850 MHz. This will not only come into play in Network Vision areas, but will eventually impact all of Sprint's network, as all towers will receive Network Vision.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

 

[wintrxtrem]

Go into dialer/phone, dial *#*#4636#*#*. This sometimes does not work, so just redial it if anything. Afterwards, go into "Phone Information". On the bottom right corner if the screen, there will be the menu icon (3 squares lined up). Click on it, then choose "Select Radio Band".<br />
<br />
<br />
3 Options will appear:<br />
<br />
USA Band - Does not seem to work <br />
Cellular - This will force roam onto Verizon, US Cellular, etc (all companies that utilize the 850 MHz band) <br />
PCS - Should be Sprint Native signal for the most part. (1900 MHz, so pretty much Sprint) <br />
<br />
Note: As of now, this should work as a decent workaround to force Roaming, however, Sprint will be deploying 1x (Voice) over the SMR spectrum, or simply put, the 800 MHz frequency. I am not sure if the phone will connect to Sprint's 800MHz frequency when available, or it if it will connect to Verizon's 850 MHz. This will not only come into play in Network Vision areas, but will eventually impact all of Sprint's network, as all towers will receive Network Vision.

Which is the default setting?


Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2

 

[PythonFanTN]

I'd have to think PCS would be the default. But do you have to go back in to the same menu and choose PCS to switch back, or does simply going into normal network settings and changing to CDMA, CDMA/LTE, or Auto reset/override this?

 

[zodiac12345]

I'd have to think PCS would be the default. But do you have to go back in to the same menu and choose PCS to switch back, or does simply going into normal network settings and changing to CDMA, CDMA/LTE, or Auto reset/override this?

From what I understand, PCS will get you back onto Sprint Native signal, so i assume thats the default setting. The CDMA/CDMA&LTE/Auto DO NOT override these settings.

I have only discovered this recently, so I will tell you if I am able to roam on Verizon even if the PCS option is selected.

 

[PythonFanTN]

Gotcha, thanks for the clarification!

 

[whitelightnin3006]

Go into dialer/phone, dial *#*#4636#*#*. This sometimes does not work, so just redial it if anything. Afterwards, go into "Phone Information". On the bottom right corner if the screen, there will be the menu icon (3 squares lined up). Click on it, then choose "Select Radio Band".


3 Options will appear:

USA Band - Does not seem to work
Cellular - This will force roam onto Verizon, US Cellular, etc (all companies that utilize the 850 MHz band)
PCS - Should be Sprint Native signal for the most part. (1900 MHz, so pretty much Sprint)

Note: As of now, this should work as a decent workaround to force Roaming, however, Sprint will be deploying 1x (Voice) over the SMR spectrum, or simply put, the 800 MHz frequency. I am not sure if the phone will connect to Sprint's 800MHz frequency when available, or it if it will connect to Verizon's 850 MHz. This will not only come into play in Network Vision areas, but will eventually impact all of Sprint's network, as all towers will receive Network Vision.

AWESOME job man!

 

[zodiac12345]

Slight Problem With This method

Well, The good news is that this method will allow you to roam on Verizon (and other 800 MHz carriers), but will not you return to the original default setting. What I mean is this, lets say you pick "PCS". Once you lose PCS signal, ie Sprint signal, the phone will NOT look on the Cellular frequency, ie Verizon. You will have to manually go into Dialer every time, and pick which frequency to use. Now, this is not a large problem, but, if you drive through regions where signal varies occasionally, meaning sometimes Sprint has good signal, sometimes Verzion is better, you will not automatically switch between the two. See where the problem comes into play?

What this means is that the default setting should be "USA Band", but that seems to not work. So, once you use this method, say goodbye to auto roaming. I am sorry for this, and I will try to find a fix for this to get back on the auto part (USA Band). If anyone discovers a way to get back to the "USA band", obviously let us know.

Edit: For anyone concerned about the auto setting, I think I have found a fix. I will post how once I am done testing to make sure it actually works.

Edit 2: Nope, the fix I thought would work didn't.

 

[wintrxtrem]

Well, The good news is that this method will allow you to roam on Verizon (and other 800 MHz carriers), but will not you return to the original default setting. What I mean is this, lets say you pick "PCS". Once you lose PCS signal, ie Sprint signal, the phone will NOT look on the Cellular frequency, ie Verizon. You will have to manually go into Dialer every time, and pick which frequency to use. Now, this is not a large problem, but, if you drive through regions where signal varies occasionally, meaning sometimes Sprint has good signal, sometimes Verzion is better, you will not automatically switch between the two. See where the problem comes into play?

What this means is that the default setting should be "USA Band", but that seems to not work. So, once you use this method, say goodbye to auto roaming. I am sorry for this, and I will try to find a fix for this to get back on the auto part (USA Band). If anyone discovers a way to get back to the "USA band", obviously let us know.

The automatic setting kills batteries in fringe areas which is why I actually like this as I prefer to be on either Sprint Only or Roaming Only, a la Roam Control, which was just coincidentally updated, but the Photon Q is still on the waiting list. http://www.roamctrl.com/

 

[zodiac12345]

The automatic setting kills batteries in fringe areas which is why I actually like this as I prefer to be on either Sprint Only or Roaming Only, a la Roam Control, which was just coincidentally updated, but the Photon Q is still on the waiting list. http://www.roamctrl.com/

I'm not denying that some people may want to choose their frequency/carrier, but I posed a scenario where you can't, or really shouldn't do so. For example, lets say you have to drive in your own car about 200 miles on a trip. On this trip, some areas have excellent Sprint coverage, others are void of Sprint and must utilize Verizon. What are you supposed to do on this trip? Constantly look at your phone to make sure you have signal while driving? Stop every few miles for the same reason? This would post a risk for injury while driving. Battery life has little to no concern when you are driving, because chances are you probably have it hooked up and charging. Leaving the phone on Cellular ONLY at this point may cause another issue, excessive roaming usage.

 

[swintec]

What this means is that the default setting should be "USA Band", but that seems to not work. So, once you use this method, say goodbye to auto roaming. I am sorry for this, and I will try to find a fix for this to get back on the auto part (USA Band). If anyone discovers a way to get back to the "USA band", obviously let us know.

Edit: For anyone concerned about the auto setting, I think I have found a fix. I will post how once I am done testing to make sure it actually works.

%^#% i wish i would have read this before i did it. lol now i cant get back to "normal". grrrr...what are the options now? i chose the USA option and the phone does not pick up any signal.

EDIT- Possily there is an option in QPST to fix this?

 

[zodiac12345]

%^#% i wish i would have read this before i did it. lol now i cant get back to "normal". grrrr...what are the options now? i chose the USA option and the phone does not pick up any signal.

EDIT- Possily there is an option in QPST to fix this?

I'm going to try to figure out if QPST can help. If I find something, I'll post it here.

Edit 1: QPST seems to have done the trick. I am still going to test out if this works, or not, but under "Service Programming" and then under UMTS System, we have seem to have our answer.

When you change the settings from PCS to Cellular, etc, THIS SEEMS TO HAPPEN (look at attached pics)

So, if someone who didn't Force Roam on their phone please post a picture, or at least copy which ones are checked off by default.

Edit 2: Good News Everyone! QPST has the option to change the settings. If you are in the US, and use Sprint, please use the attached picture (Auto Config) and fire the checks under QPST. Click on Write to phone, and bam, should be good as new. Another method, is far harsher, a hard reset of the phone. So, all should be good as new. I have not tested this, but I am getting a Sprint Signal after using this method, so, QPST must have worked. I'll post the breakdown of what I checked and why you should check it off.

Note: Edit 2 HAS NOT BEEN TESTED YET. Chances are though, if you are reading this, you have screwed up the same way I did, and a few others. Take the plunge and use QPST, I will post results of the Auto Config I made and see if my phone does indeed Auto Roam.

BC0 - Band Class 0 (Cellular frequency) - Used mainly by Verizon and US Cellular
BC1 - Band Class 1 (PCS Frequency) - Used mainly by Sprint (also Cricket and Metro, but rarely will you roam over this band). EDIT: Verizon has spectrum in this area as well.
BC10 - Band Class 10 (Secondary 800 MHz band) - This is the SMR frequency currently being deployed by Sprint, it was originally used by Nextel for iDen services. Basically, check this off for better coverage where available.
BC14 - Band Class 14 - Not completely sure if this is meant to be checked, but, description says "US PCS 1.9GHz Band", so lets be safe and check it. Possibly Sprint's band.

Edit 3: PROVEN TO WORK AS A TEMPORARY WORKAROUND. I DO NOT GAURAUNTEE DEFAULT SETTINGS AS NONE OF US HAVE THE DEFAULT SETTINGS.

 

[swintec]

that seems to work. Will be in roaming area to see later. How will this affect international roaming on GSM since none of those checkboxes are checked? I think to be on the safe side we really need a user who didnt do the previously mentioned steps to there phone to take a screen shot of their settings so we know what "normal" is.

 

[zodiac12345]

I do agree this is not the best solution, but it will have to do for now, until someone tries to help out. Basically, if you aren't leaving the US and are only using Sprint + Roaming, this should be fine as a solution.

 

[JamesChilds]

Well, I don't know if this was just a fluke or not but I switched back to PCS, went into airplane mode, came back out and was on sprint. Got to work today and was roaming again WITHOUT switching back to Cellular. Now granted I didn't actually get a data connection but I didn't bother waiting longer than 30 seconds to get a data connection as my service at work is spotty and constantly switches so I can never stay connected to data. If someone else could try and verify we may have a simpler fix

Sent from my XT897

 

[zodiac12345]

Well, I don't know if this was just a fluke or not but I switched back to PCS, went into airplane mode, came back out and was on sprint. Got to work today and was roaming again WITHOUT switching back to Cellular. Now granted I didn't actually get a data connection but I didn't bother waiting longer than 30 seconds to get a data connection as my service at work is spotty and constantly switches so I can never stay connected to data. If someone else could try and verify we may have a simpler fix

Sent from my XT897

Looking at QPST, it is impossible for you to roam over Cellular when you chose PCS. Chances are, however, you were roaming. Verizon does have PCS spectrum and it is used. You were probably roaming over Verizon's PCS frequencies. The reason Verizon's PCS may be better than Sprint's is tower location, where a Verizon tower may be closer to your work place.

If you do roam again, go into Dialer (Phone), and dial ##33584# (##DEBUG#). Go into 1x Engineering. Tell us the channel and Band Class. If Band Class says "US (800 MHz)", then congrats, you found an easier fix.

 

[swintec]

I do agree this is not the best solution, but it will have to do for now, until someone tries to help out. Basically, if you aren't leaving the US and are only using Sprint + Roaming, this should be fine as a solution.

LTE (if available) will still connect with this QPST method?

 

[JamesChilds]

So if I have bars and there is not a blue triangle above the bars, am I on sprint? And if so when there IS a blue triangle it means I am off sprint, correct? Just need clarification.

Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

 

[zodiac12345]

LTE (if available) will still connect with this QPST method?

LTE should connect using this method. You pose a good question really, I do not live in a 4G area as of now, so I cannot test. However, it should. If anything, you might try checking the "PCS 1900" band as well. If you live in a 4G area, please test the device with my settings to see if it connects. If not, play around with it, worst case you restore my settings. We need to find someone who has an untouched Photon Q and see what the default settings really are.

So if I have bars and there is not a blue triangle above the bars, am I on sprint? And if so when there IS a blue triangle it means I am off sprint, correct? Just need clarification.

Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

If you have not changed your PRL and it reads 55008 (as of 10/18/2012), then yes, bars alone mean Sprint Native for the most part. If the triangle appears, you are roaming over Verizon, USCC, etc.

 

[JamesChilds]

Ok well, I switched my setting back to PCS, I currently have no triangle and will be heading to work soon. I will see if it switches to roaming. If it does I will let you know and my phone is stock.

Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

 

[JamesChilds]

I have not switched back to cellular and I am roaming at work, I was on sprint pcs this morning and I switched it to pcs last night.

Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app