The-Cell-Phone-Advisor

How can I improve my cell phone reception?

2006-07-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I bought a new Motorola Q from Cingular after my old phone crapped out. My old phone was a cheap Nokia model, but it got better reception than my new Q does. When I call home from work, I used to
get four bars. With this new phone, I only get 2 bars. I thought a newer more expensive phone would get better reception.

Sam

Response:

Hi Sam,

Unfortunately, purchasing a new, higher end phone does not guarantee better reception.
There's a few reasons for this.

Cell phone manufacturers use different antennas on different models. Typically, exterior antennas can pull tower signals better because they're located outside the phone. Motorola Q antennas are housed in the phone's interior.

Another reason may be the phone's receiver. In simple terms, the receiver is responsible for "receiving" and transmitting your cell phone calls to nearby towers. Manufacturers also tend to vary which cellular receiver they use, depending on the "fit" and function of the cell phone model.

That being said, there are ways to improve your Motorola Q's reception.

Turn on your speakerphone - Your speakerphone will help amplify the audio of the call, and lessen the chance of your network dropping the call because of waning reception.
Try a cell phone antenna or booster - But, don't buy just any one. Choose an antenna or Booster that's tailored for your carrier's network.

A good site to visit?

Try Cellantenna.com. This reseller offers very reasonable prices on their products. An added bonus is the online forum, which can answer even your most difficult reception questions.

Or, SmoothTalker.com a manufacturer of cellular antennas, boosters and other amplifiers.

Warrenty Info for Boost Phone?

2006-07-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

hello,

I purchased a boost walkie talkie phone the model is i875 and it came damaged.The problem with the phone is that when I try to turn it on it goes right off right away I went to the store and told them about the problem but they said I have to send it back to fix with the company.I do not have an address were I can send it can you please email me about further assistance.

Rosa

OUR RESPONSE:

Hi Rosa,

Thanks for your question!

Since all Boost phones are manufactured by Motorola, they are the "company" that will be responsible for fixing your phone.

Here's where you would find out about warranty information:

Motorola iDEN Customer Services 1-800-453-0920 or 954-723-4910

Or visit http://www.motorola.com/iden/support

According to the Motorola web site,

"You will receive instructions on how to ship the Products, Accessories or Software, at your expense, to a Motorola Authorized Repair Center. To obtain service, you must include: (a) a copy of your receipt, bill of sale or other comparable proof of purchase; (b) a written description of the problem; (c) the name of your service provider, if applicable; (d) the name and location of the installation facility (if applicable) and, most importantly; (e) your address and telephone number."

In addition, you can:

find Options for repairing your phone

track the status of the phone's repair,

and find warranty information

The site also explains warranty limitations and exemptions.

Hope this information helps you out. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us again.

Good Luck!

Sandi

Pros and Cons of Cricket Prepaid Service

2006-06-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

what are the pros and cons of a cricket cell phone?

Pilar

RESPONSE:

Hi Pilar,

Here's a breakdown of the Pros and Cons of choosing a Cricket phone.

Pros:

Cricket provides unlimited anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend minutes to its network subscribers. This means you don't need to keep track of the minutes you use, or the time that you call - a definite plus over most prepaid and contract carriers.

And, the price of Cricket plans are very reasonable.

For instance, Virgin Mobile (who also uses the Sprint PCS network) charges $59.99 for only 600 anytime minutes, and unlimited weekends and nights between 7pm to 7am. For $45, Cricket gives you Unlimited local and long distance calls (excluding Alaska) with Voice Mail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Unlimited Directory Assistance (available for a fee) and unlimited text and picture messaging.

Because almost everything comes included in a Cricket plan, your monthly bill will always be predictable.

Cons:

Probably the biggest drawback of owning a Cricket phone is the limited coverage area of the network. As of now, Cricket provides network service to only 41 metropolitan cities in 20 states across the U.S.

To place calls outside the network, you must first sign up with the carrier's Travel Time program. Callingout of network will cost 59 cents a minute, and is deducted from your "Flex Bucket", which is set up with funding ahead of time.

Another disadvantage is the cost of purchasing a Cricket phone. Although the carrier has a better phone selectionthan most prepaid carriers, they also tend to be more costly.
For instance, T-Mobile's" prepaid Motorola Razr is currently priced at $249.99. The same Moto Razr through Cricket costs $299.99.

Thank you for your question! I hope my information will help in your decision!

Sincerely,

Sandi

Water Damaged Cell Phone - What to do?

2006-06-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

i dropped my moto razr in the ocean while fishing. it was floating in the water less than 30 seconds, but now the phone won't turn on. how can i tell if the battery or phone has water damage? will tmobile (my carrier) replace it for free?

thanks,
stephan

RESPONSE:

Hi Stephan,

If your cell phone is truly water damaged, than yes, you'll need to pay for the replacement of either the Razr, or the phone's battery. Unfortunately, even if the phone or battery is under warranty, the warranty is exempt because the cause was "user carelessness".

There are two ways to check if your phone or battery has water damage:

First, take the cover off the back of the phone, and remove the battery. You'll see a dot that's about the diameter of a pencil eraser. If that dot is white, more than likely your cell phone has not sustained water damage. However, if the dot is red, the water has reached the interior workings of the phone.

If the dot is white, the next step would be to check your battery. This can be done by purchasing a new battery and installing it in the Razr. Or, if you have a friend with the same phone, just borrow their battery. If the borrowed or purchased battery works - great! Consider yourself lucky.

However, if the new battery still doesn't power up your phone, you'll need to contact T-Mobile. They'll arrange the shipment of your phone to a facility where a more thorough analysis can be done.

Most carriers contract through an independent firm called ATC Logistics & Electronics, which is located in the Fort Worth area of Texas.

Since water damage is one of the leading causes of damaged cell phones, here's a few tips to try if it happens again:

How to Save a Water Damaged Cell Phone

(**Disclaimer: The following tips are taken from an article found at MotorWorld.org Ask-The-Cell-Phone-Advisor does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the following information.)

Pull out the battery immediately! - Don't bother shutting the phone off first. Once the battery is removed, the phone's power will be shut off.

Put the phone in clean water as soon as possible - If the phone was dropped in salt water, rinse the phone immediately, then soak the phone in a bowl of clean water.

Thoroughly dry out the battery - or replace it. More than likely, the battery will have sustained water damage and be inoperable. If you like to try saving the battery, try drying with a hair dryer for the best results.

Disassemble the phone - and clean each part of the phone's components again individually. If you don't feel secure doing this, take the cell phone to your carriers store and ask them to do this for you.

Thoroughly dry out the phone - again, the best and fastest results would be with a hair dryer. After using the dryer, allow the phone to sit for atleast 24 hours. Periodically, shake out any moisture remaining in the phone. This should remove any build up of moisture beneath the phone's components.

Check for any corrosion - if you don't see any, you may be in luck. If there is corrosion spotted, contact your electronic store for a PCB cleaning product.

Reassemble the phone - it's recommended that the original battery is replaced with a new one.

If all goes well, your newly reassembled Razr should now be operational. If not, check to make sure that the phone was assembled properly. If it looks okay, try drying the phone components again with the hair dryer. Wait an additional 24 hours before reassembling the phone and trying again.

According to the article, most water damaged phones will continue to function if you follow these steps.

Good Luck!

Sandi

Best Prepaid Phone for Emergency

2006-05-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

From time to time, I also get emails about prepaid carriers. Here's one I received just recently:

I want to buy a prepaid phone for my 80 year old Grandpa to use for emergencies. He needs something with cheap minutes that works out in the country.
Which prepaid phone should I get?

Thanks,
Hilary

Response:

Hi Hilary,

Since your Grandpa lives in a rural setting, it's best to find a prepaid carrier that supplies roaming to other networks. Just in case he travels out of the carrier's network range.

Many of the prepaid carriers who have joint ventures with Sprint don't allow their phones to roam. So you can exclude Virgin Mobile, Cricket, Venture Mobile, and a few others from your list.

As far as national carriers, Cingular Go Phones can't roam outside the carrier's network. Neither can T-Mobile's To Go Phones. And, Boost phones aren't very reliable in rural areas because of limitations in Nextel's iDEN network. So those carriers are out.

That leaves the Tracfone as your best option.

Tracfone uses its own network for calling, but splices in other networks when roaming. The prepaid carrier also offers the option to purchase a yearly subscription.

A prepaid carriers' yearly service option is generally costs less, often 15 - 20% less than refill cards. They're also more convenient. You don't need to refill them until your year is up or you've used up all your minutes.

A yearly subscription to Tracfone will cost $99 dollars, and provides 450 minutes and a free reconditioned Nokia 1100.

Click here for more information about the Tracfone.

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,

Sandi

Sprint Vs Verizon EV-DO Coverage

2006-05-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Since beginning my web site, The-Cell-Phone-Advisor.com, I've received a hefty amount of email from my visitors asking for recommendations on choosing a wireless carrier or phone.

Since these emails can be beneficial to everyone, I've decided to start a blog in hopes of helping others with the same or similar questions.

Here's an example of a recent email:

Hello,
I own a small business and do a lot traveling. Most of my trips are to major cities. But on occasion, I need to travel to more rural areas.

I currently use T-Mobile as my carrier. However, I've found accessing the Internet incredibly slow, and sometimes there's no coverage. I need Internet access for my business.

I'd like to switch my service to a 3G network, but I'm not sure which carrier has the better 3G coverage. My choice is between Sprint and Verizon.

Any recommendation on which carrier to choose?

Regards,
Richard

RESPONSE:

Hi Richard,

Since you've narrowed your decision down to Sprint and Verizon, your decision may be a little bit easier:-)

Sprint vs Verizon; which network provides better Internet access?

Both carriers operate on a CDMA network and use 1X EV-DO technology for their nationwide 3G service. So you're not going to find a huge difference in connection speed.

And, both carriers have built out their EV-DO network and now include most major cities. However, not all areas currently receive the upgraded coverage. If you're curious which carrier provides EV-DO coverage in your area, you can find both carriers' maps at at this web address.

If you find both carriers provide the upgraded coverage in areas you live or travel, then I would recommend choosing Sprint.

Here's Why:

Sprint's 3G network (known as Power Vision) can be used anywhere, even places that don't have EV-DO coverage. On the other hand, Verizon's 3G network will only work in areas where the company has the network upgrade.

A subscription to Sprint's Power Vision network is also cheaper than Verizon. Typically, the cost for Sprint's slower technology (called 1xRTT and used when out of EV-DO range) will run around $10. You can expect to pay about $15 for the EV-DO service.

Verizon's cost for V-Cast is the same ($15), but downloading content data, such as streaming music videos, will likely cost you extra - anywhere between $2-$4 per download.

And, finally, Sprint doesn't alter their media files. Verizon has been accused of crippling files to force their subscribers into purchasing applications through their BREW technology, which is used in their "Get It Now" and V-Cast networks.

Of course, the choice is yours. But in the long run, Sprint will likely save you more money.

Thank you for asking your question!

Sincerely,

Sandi