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Sprint Introduces Airave To Help Weak Reception

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Coverage Area?

Silverdale_man

Sep 17, 2007, 3:04 AM
Does this work in other locations? such as japan. Would be nice to take this with me when I leave the country and use the same phone and service with no roaming fee's.
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supremecellgod

Sep 17, 2007, 3:40 AM
Only offered to the two cities mentioned initially. Also it will only work in areas that sprint owns spectrum in. So in other words no it won't work in japan. It would be nice though if sprint could sell these online to people that live in areas not serviced by sprint but where they do own spectrum (rural areas that would have broadband access... I know oxymoronish)
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krum303

Sep 17, 2007, 4:00 AM
T-Mobile's would work in Japan on wifi but of course you have to get a UMA handset. This is a cool direction for Sprint to go in though.
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Rich Brome

Sep 17, 2007, 8:22 AM
NO! It uses the same frequencies as US cell phones, which means it would be illegal (and dangerous) to use it in other countries where those frequencies are licensed for other things (not cell phones at all, or incompatible phone technology).

The box actually has technology to prevent you from using it in other countries. It won't fully turn on if you hook it up in Japan. IIRC, it actually has GPS inside to enforce this.

More info here:

https://www.phonescoop.com/articles/ctia_2007/index. ... »
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BRSprint

Sep 17, 2007, 10:52 AM
We have already recieved our AirRave's in Nashville, so I guess they're going on sale soon nationwide, and from what I've heard/read the AirRave will work any where in the U.S. and P.R. that has a broadband connection. The GPS is only there to ensure that you're inside the US/PR and to recieve Time Zone Updates.
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SprintPCSGuy

Sep 17, 2007, 7:14 PM
Yes... but... in a world where the iPhone gets unlocked in 2 months... this thing may be cracked to run illegally in any country... in no time.
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disland

Sep 26, 2007, 1:59 PM
It is not that easy. First its CDMA so there is no SIM. Second the unit has a radio in it that will only work on US PCS spectrum. You could tear it apart and try and put another radio in it. Good luck. There is hard core encryption in the box so you will not be able to hack into it to get it to authenticate in areas that are not allowed.
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kumbhani

Sep 18, 2007, 7:14 AM
What happens if you live in an area where GPS reception is poor? I live in New York City and there are plenty of areas where my portable GPS unit doesn't get reception. Does this mean the unit will not function unless it gets a GPS signal?
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dublea

Sep 18, 2007, 8:56 AM
no
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BRSprint

Sep 18, 2007, 3:25 PM
if I'm correct, the GPS signal does not have to be constant, it just has to receive a correlative update every 15 min or so to confirm its inside the U.S. and to determine the correct time zone.

Plus, the device actually comes with a large external antenna for the GPS if it has trouble picking up a signal. (there is an internal for those with little to no interference)
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