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Cell phone service downtown

Discussion in 'Downtown Hotels' started by surf87, Jan 12, 2017.

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  1. surf87

    surf87 MIA

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    Does anyone have trouble with cell phone service downtown? I have Virgin mobile which is an off-shoot of Sprint and cell service downtown is spotty at best. Sometimes in the Cal casino or Market Street café my signal is dead. Or in the rooms at the Cal sometimes I can get 4G LTE signal, other times I can only get 3G. The 3G signal is very slow and painful actually to wait for pages to load. Curious how others experience cell phone signals downtown.
     
  2. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Verizon here. No issues downtown at all.
     
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  3. squidward

    squidward Probationary Member

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    I've tested all the major providers down-town while attending technology conventions over the years. ATT, T-Mobile, Verizon all are great with full LTE... espicially in the upper floor hotel rooms. Sprint, not so much, your results are the norm.

    I use T-Mobile Unlimited In room for my hotspot tethered connection to my many computing devices with perfect service every-time.

    Some of the Canadians around here should consider this as an alternative to paying for WiFi in their rooms?
     
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  4. surf87

    surf87 MIA

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  5. surf87

    surf87 MIA

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  6. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

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    Ditto for me. I have T-Mobile and I've never had any problems anywhere in LV with phone service. I also use the tethered hotspot for my iPad downtown and it is super fast and very reliable.

    :peace: :beer:
     
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  7. VPDana

    VPDana High-Roller

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    We've always had Verizon and have never had a problem anywhere when we visit Las Vegas - Strip, Downtown, Henderson, Boulder Highway. I now have Consumer Cellular (husband still has Verizon. Fingers crossed that my new server will be just as good during our next trip. We really rely on our phones while there. We usually play in different areas, sometimes even different casinos. We need to stay in touch with each other. Just a thought: how did we ever survive our trips before cell phones?
     
  8. surf87

    surf87 MIA

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    How did we ever manage without cell phones? My dad who is 81 never owned a cell and never will. He says he doesn't want to be bothered. To each their own I guess.
     
  9. gregluvsvegas

    gregluvsvegas Roller

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    Sprint has something called Spark. T-Mobile has something called Extended LTE. Both of these are available in Las Vegas. In order to take full advantage of these newer technologies, you have to have a fairly new device that can take advantage of these newer technologies. For full compatibility on Sprint you need a phone that supports bands 25, 26, 41. On T-Mobile you need a phone that supports bands 2, 4, 12. If you are on an older, or low end device, coverage could be sketchy. If you are on a modern, moderate or higher end phone you should have not problems regardless of the carrier. Check the tool at https://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp. There is an option there that will allow you to enter the model of your phone so that you can see what kind of service you can expect, based on the model of your phone. If your phone model shows iffy, you just need to upgrade to a newer phone that supports the newer bands. Also, you are on what is known as an MNVO (mobile virtual network operator). MNVOs are a discount re-seller of a primary carriers service. Some MNVOs do not have the same coverage and features of the primary carrier. But from what I have read, Virgin does support Sprint Spark as long as your phone is capable.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2017
  10. C0usineddie

    C0usineddie VIP Whale

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    I have noticed this in the past downtown as well but thught it was just my phone.
     
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  11. surf87

    surf87 MIA

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    I have an iPhone 6 plus (no "S"). This is Sprint's 4G LTE data map. I call bull shit on the map. The CEO of Sprint probably had his 3 year toddler color in the map with a yellow coloring pen as best she could. I'm paying $30 a month for a prepaid Virgin Mobile plan so I get it that I'm getting what I'm paying for which is basically crap. In many downtown locations I can't get 3G, nor do I get 1x, but rather I get "no signal." I also pay $10 extra for the hotspot wireless signal thru my iPhone and when I can get 4G LTE the speeds are decent. But when I see 3G on my iPhone and I try to connect my laptop, I basically know it will take about 5 minutes per webpage to load. It can be very frustrating.

    For my next iPhone I plan to go through T Mobile (prepaid) or Cricket (prepaid) which is an affiliate of AT & T.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. gregluvsvegas

    gregluvsvegas Roller

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    I am a Ting customer (T-mobile MVNO). I had full service everywhere. Most of my time was spent at MSS, Fremont and El Co. Ting has an interesting service plan in that you only pay for what you use. I play less for 2 lines of service than I did for one line under T-Mobile pre-paid. Check em out.
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2017
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  13. surf87

    surf87 MIA

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    The worst times are when it is time for me to check in for my Southwest flight 24 hours ahead to try to get the best boarding A or B group. Once I was at the Cal's Market Street café sitting at the counter (not deep inside the restaurant) and had no signal. I had to walk outside the casino to get a signal to check in for my Southwest flight. The restaurant cashier probably thought I was a eat & runner (lol). I must have gotten a B-48 boarding due to missing the mark by a few minutes. I usually wait at my computer or iPhone at least 5 minutes before the precise 24 hour mark to try to get the best A boarding group but this discussion would probably make a better discussion in another thread such as "how to get A boarding without paying the early bird check in fee."

    Or when I play in the live keno lounge at the Cal, I get no signal as well there. While I'm enjoying the live keno I like to keep updated on emails, text, facebook, etc. but no dice at the live keno lounge.

    In the rooms at the Cal some rooms I can get 4G LTE, some rooms I can only get 3G. However in the rooms I have not had any issues with "no signal."

    I think Virgin Mobile buys the left over data speeds from Sprint and so Virgin Mobile gets the bottom of the barrel speeds from Sprint.
     
  14. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    I have a virgin mobile phone. I'm a dinosaur, I have a flip phone and pay $20 every 3 months for it. Guess I don't use it that much because I never have problems with service in vegas. I'm one of those that doesn't use the phone much and I only give my number out to friends and family.
     
  15. Turtleman

    Turtleman VIP Whale

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    T-Mobile with Samsung Galaxy S5: no problem at all downtown. In fact, Suncoast is the only casino that's essentially a dead zone unless very close to the doors. I've seen other folks using their phones in the casino and can only assume they're on a different carrier. Even in the room (golf view facing north), signal is lost going past the bed toward the bathroom.
     
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  16. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    I found out this last trip the hard way that there are some very dead spots at Sams Town. I was playing VP just outside the bar that has the band and I heard myself being paged by the casino operator. Service (Verizon) was totally dead there! They were trying to phone me and it kept cutting to voice mail. If you stepped maybe 20 feet in any direction it was good again.
     
  17. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Bingo, same here. VM & flip phone. I use the phone at MSS in the morning to call the home answering machine. It sometimes takes two tries to get connected. I leave it on while traveling, but only so somebody can get a hold of in case of emergency.

    Last trip we invited a local to dinner and she never showed. I got a hold of her the next day and WTF? She said she texted me that she wouldn't make it. Nope, don't do that either.
     
  18. marksind

    marksind VIP Whale

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    We've got ATT and get decent reception most anywhere downtown.

    Off topic, but for you holdouts using old style phones there are now some really good deals on smartphones and plans. The past couple of years there's been a big market develop for "second tier" smartphones that cost $150 or less (decent ones can be had for under $100). They are better than top of the line phones from three or four years ago.

    Thanks to the service competition Sprint brought to the market there are very affordable voice/text/data plans. For example, we've had an ATT family plan for four members for years. Costs me $160 a month after a corporate discount. I just switched to Cricket, ATT's wholly-owned subsidiary, and now have five voice/text/data lines (unlimited talk and text, plus 2gb apiece for data, which for us is plenty) for $100 a month all-in. It's the same network, same service. I'm saving $60 a month and the fifth person who joined (who had her own plan) is saving $70 a month.

    I hope this doesn't sound like an advertisement for ATT. I give the details as an example because it's the only network I'm familiar with. Each carrier now has lower cost options for the same or better service than they did a couple of years ago. I wish the same were true for the cable companies!
     
  19. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    This past black Friday I was looking for a smartphone for virgin mobile. The one on sale (was an older model galaxy) went for about $30. Not bad but then the girl at best buy also said that I would have to take out a monthly plan that went for about $45 a month.

    Hmmm, I currently pay about $7 a month versus $45 a month. Since I don't use my phone much it wasn't worth buying it and the plan. Actually I wanted to buy a smart phone for its camera, I didn't care if it actually worked (as a phone) or not. I wanted something that would take better pictures that I could later download. I borrowed my brother's phone for a couple of days (when he went on a trip that didn't have service for his phone) and I really didn't use it very much. I get online at home on my laptop so really didn't have a need for the smartphone, plus my eyes are so bad, I can't really see the things on the small smartphone screen anyway. My friend said to just get the phone and then cancel the monthly contract a month later. He said that he was going to do that with his gf so we will see if it is worth it.

    I don't get on social media much if any so I really don't have much of a need for a smartphone. Actually I picked up the virgin mobile phone so I could use it when I went on trips but I really don't make much calls with it when I'm home. Funny because I am in IT but I don't want to keep up with the new technologies.

    Yes, virgin mobile isn't the best, even at home. I get text messages sometimes hours later and sometimes I don't get the calls when friends call me. But it is enough for me right now. Now, if they had plans for smart phones that went for about $15 - $20 a month I would consider it but so far I don't see many in Hawaii.
     
  20. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Opinionated advice here, but I'm really no beginner when it comes to photography ...

    I might suggest that you look at the newer smaller digital point-and-shoot cameras. They're quite small, pocket or purse size, do a very respectable job for casual photos, and yes, allow you to easily download to your PC. Canon makes some that are very reasonable in price and will put any cell phone photos to shame! Best Buy or any of several other places (Fry's) will have them. I have yet to see any camera-phone which has the optics that compare to even the lower-end cameras from the major brands. (In my not so humble opinion, taking a photo with a cell phone is about as practical as trying to make a phone call with a Pentax Spotmatic!) :)
     
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