EVDO Works on Treo while roaming but not 6800

ragiles

I will literally send MONEY to someone who helps me get this working. Exclamation

My 700p picks EVDO up no problem, but the 6800 is stuck in 1x.

I called support and they had me reprogram and it didn't work, and I also updated my PRL [*228 method] more than once in my home area and it didn't work.

My home area is Montgomery, AL, and I moved to Birmingham, AL, where Alltel does not really have a presence [nearest store is 50 miles or more]. I guess my Treo is leeching off of Sprint's towers.

I love the 6800 but am very, very disappointed that I can't get EVDO on it when I can on my Treo.

Thanks for reading this far!
Reggie

BigSandy995 · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:33 pm Post subject: EVDO with PPC6800

Hello all
I have had my 6800 almost 3 months now and I had the same problem. It would only connect 1X. I called Alltel tech support and the tech told me that all the 6800's came that way - they default to 1X. He talked me through a setup procedure that solved the problem and it has worked fine ever since. I live in NE Texas and typically get 1-3 bars at home where I tether to my desktop. It runs EVDO 80% of the time now, and when it occasionally drops to 1X, I reboot the phone and I get EVDO back. My EVDO runs about 500k down and 100k up most of the time. I have also driven from NE Texas through W Texas to Colorado Springs and returned through Kansas and Oklahoma. We used the 6800 tethered to my laptop and were able to surf most of the whole trip. A lot of it was 1X, but it worked. I've found that when you call Alltel, you MUST ask for a DATA TECH or you won't get much help. Also, some are better than others and if you don't get results the first time, try again.
JH

ragiles · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:17 pm Post subject:

BigSandy995,

Thanks for your reply.

After another 40 minutes (yay) on the phone with a Data Tech, he came to the conclusion that the PRL on the 6800 will not allow EVDO while roaming whereas the Treo has the same PRL as a data card and does allow EVDO.

Interesting -- it sounds reasonable as far as the explanation, but doesn't make any sense business wise or for practicality.

I moved away from my home area -- which obviously presents a problem (6800-wise, anyway) -- and I like Alltel so will stay with them.

I may just take it back the 6800 and get a Treo with Windows Mobile 6 on it so I can have my cake and eat it too. Or at least the icing.

Ya gotta love technology, or the lack of it.

Thanks, again!

damauli · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 17

TRY this

1. Dial ##778, then press TALK.
2. Choose EDIT and use the unlock code: 000000. hit e OK
3. Click on VIEW INFO and choose SECURITY from the drop down list.
3.On the second line titled "HDR AN AUTH Password," highlight the information under setting, then press MENU and choose EDIT from the list.
4. Enter the HEX ESN from the device. ( Be sure to use CAPITAL letters when entering the ESN. Press OK
5. Press MENU and select OK from the list. A window will appear with the message "Press ok to reset the device." Hit OK button in the new window
6.The device will reset.

Hope this will help

ragiles · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 12:09 pm Post subject: Goodbye 6800...Hello 800w?

Thanks, damauli.

This is exactly what the data tech [40 minutes worth] had me to do.
He even had me to take the battery out to make sure the new settings took.

Just to make sure, I did it again, including battery removal, and still get 1X.

That really sucks.

How can the 6800 not pick up EVDO roaming and the Treo pick it up?

As I mentioned earlier, the guy said that the Treo acts the same as data card when roaming and the 6800 doesn't.

Very hard to swallow, but I guess it's correct.

I am taking back my 6800 tomorrow and will hold out for the Treo 800w, I guess.

Anyone know when Alltel will be selling that little jewel in the stores?

I talked to a lady at Alltel who said it's in their internal testing now.

damauli · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 25 Oct 2007 Posts: 17

If you have correct PRL it should pick up EVDO. There is a way to force the device to do EVDO only by doing REG edit but it will be Better to get new device since it does not work after you have complected those steps.

Bigdave · EVDO Addict Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 1068

ragiles, what kind of dl speeds are you seeing on your 6800?

ragiles · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:23 pm Post subject:

I was (I already took it back) seeing my usual 1X speeds: anywhere from 40 - 120 kbps.

It was definitely 1X.

ermax · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:58 am Post subject:

The 6800 has PRL 30029 which doesn't allow Ev roaming. For the life of me I can't get Alltel to explain why the Treo is allowed to roam yet the Q and 6800 can't even though they are on the same data plan which costs the same. Kind of shady biz practice if you ask me.

Anyways.. You need to load PRL 40029 on the 6800 to get roaming to work. You will not get charged anything for this. I have been doing it for about 6 months.

1. Go to www(.)corolada(.)com(/)prl and download 40029.prl and then copy it to your phone some how.
2. Dial ##775 (##PRL) Send
3. Enter the unlock code 000000
4. Click "Update PRL" and then "Edit"
5. Now browse to the PRL file you copied to your phone.

The phone will then do a soft reset and when it comes back up it should be Ev.

Have fun. Smile

Tiggah45 · EVDO Newbie Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

I will confirm that the above procedure works. I've had a PPC6800 with Alltel about 6 months and was very frustrated with it in my home market in the Twin Cities (major Sprint presence, no Alltel at all). I was only able to have EVDO access when I was on Alltel towers using the default PRL of 30029. After many calls to customer service I wasn't able to get out of them the knowledge found in this forum, and gave in to only have EVDO when I traveled.

I trialed a Sprint 6800 this past weekend and traveled into the Alltel region only to discover that the 6800 from Sprint doesn't roam natively onto Alltel's towers either, so it suffers the same problem that the 6800 from Alltel does and needs a special PRL to roam EVDO. I don't know what PRL that is because Sprint locks their phones. I used the same procedure as above to try to change the PRL, but to no avail. For Sprint dial (##775#) Talk, and you'll need a tool to generate the Unlock Code from the ESN number. From there, when you click Edit, nothing happens Crying or Very sad

I'm sure Sprint Customer Service could push the correct PRL to your phone, if you can sweet talk 'em.

Anyway, I was 90% pleased with my Alltel plan and 6800 phone up until now, and now I'm 120% pleased with it using 40029.prl and sucking down Sprint's bandwidth. God bless this forum. Very Happy

Bigdave · EVDO Addict Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 1068

Newest Alltel PRL is now 40036 and Sprint roaming works like a champ on it as well. Of course it's officially still only for Treos and data cards I think so you have to manually load it but it works well and the instructions are all over the forum.

Capt Ron · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:04 pm Post subject:

I tried to download PRL 40036 to my Razr v3m and it blocks it. I thought it may help when I'm away from the house.

Has anyone else tried this? I was using a bluetooth connection to connect to the phone. I can download a picture with out a problem. I wonder what is different?
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Ron

Bigdave · EVDO Addict Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 1068

Hi Capt,
It's a very different process for the Razr. Not sure that PRL will work at all but you need a Motorola proprietary program to even try it. It's called something like mpst or something like that. But I'm fairly sure the 4 series PRLs won't work on anything but data cards and smartphones.

Capt Ron · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject:

I had the Alltel store to check to see if they had the option of updating to the 40036 and their program didn't give them the option. He kind of thought the same thing.

Oh well it was a thought.
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Ron

GraphicWonders · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:34 pm Post subject: 6800 speeds

In another thread, I asked Dave this question, but please post your best speeds using the 6800. I am looking hard at buying a PDA.
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GraphicWonders