All Posts by Paul

What To Do before you Call Virgin Mobile Support!

Paul1 Reply

Virgin Mobile's Most Popular Web Page

1 hour with Technical Support!

Gee thanks for wasting an hour of my time for nothing!  Couldn’t I of done this offline?  This isn’t like it is rocket science or is it?  When I started this trek to fixing my 3G signal, I never knew it was going to be such a big ordeal.  I mean, lets face it it isn’t like I don’t know what I am doing with my Android Phone.  I’ve been getting Error codes like 67, 3000, and 2048.   So i called them and they had me do a bunch of stupid stuff.   Here is what I suggest you do before you call Virgin Mobile.  That way you can at least be ahead of the game:

  • Turn off Cell Phone and if Possible take out battery for at least 15 seconds.
  • Try doing an Activation and Seeing if that resolves your problem!
  • Dial ##virgin# (##847446#) and view or edit your MSID (Mobile Station ID) and MDN (Mobile Number).   You’ll need to verify they are something other than 10 zeros!
  • Check for firmware updates.   On my Kyocera Rise, you can do that by going to System > System Updates.   This might help fix your problem before you even consider calling Virgin Mobile.   No bets though.
  • Last ditch resort!!  Do a hard reset on your Android Phone.   Not recommended but if you do this and you still have problems then it isn’t your phone.   You will need to reactivate the phone once it has been done and all photos, videos, and anything else on the phone is lost.   So it is a last resort.   Do this though, you will need to hold the down key and power button until you see the phone power up.  Using your volume keys select factory reset or something like that.

Although It seems Virgin Mobile is having some major 3g service issues.   I do hope they fix it.  I have tried everything other than just going back to Straight Talk.   This has been the lousiest experience in my life.   Has anyone else had this problem with your 3G service from Virgin Mobile Lately?

Paul Sylvester

My cell phone repair worries alleviated by Virgin Mobile!

Paul

broken phone

The Broken Phone Syndrome!

We have all had those phones that would break.  I recently bought a Kyocera Rise from Virgin Mobile.   I recently had problems with it.   It basically was coming apart from the keyboard to the screen, it is a slide type phone and thus the two halves were just coming apart.   Right now the only thing that is holding my phone together is tape!  So I called their customer Care support number (888-322-1122) and told them the problems. 

I never knew it was going to be so easy!

I really thought I would have to jump through so many hoops with getting a replacement phone.   So when I called them I was prepared for them to fight and maybe even have to pay a deductible for a replacement cell phone.  They alleviated the worries, after looking into my account they noticed I was still a brand new customer less than a year old.   They seem to have a 1 year warranty on their phones.  This seemed kind of unheard of to me.   I am sure most cell phone companies only ever do a 90 day warranty on their phones but Virgin Mobile takes it a bit farther than most.

Waiting on my New Phone!

After talking with them over the problem, they seemed to indicate that I would need a new phone.   I let them go on about getting me set up for a new Kyocera Rise phone.   They told me they would be sending me a new phone in 3 to 5 business days.   So I will have more when it comes but this is definitely something that I am looking forward to writing about even more in the future.   I will keep you posted when I get it but I thought it would be a good little blog post for those who might want to know how easy it was for me to get a replacement for my damaged cell phone.  

I would definitely tell my friends and family about this and how this could save them money in the long run.   I can’t afford to pay another 100 to 200 dollars for a phone if I don’t have to and this seems to be the best possible way for that.

Paul Sylvester

 

Having Signal Problems with your current Cellular provider?

Paul

Cell Signal Booster

So You have a Cell Phone?

Many People Now a days are cutting the cords to their land lines and going strickly wireless phones.   I’ve seen people who have Verizon, Cingular, AT&T, Sprint or some other MVNO Like Straight Talk or Virgin Mobile!  Each One of those carriers has good or bad in them.   I’ve seen some that get GREAT signal and I’ve seen some that just get no signal.  I even bet you researched it and thought that you were in the right area for your service provider.   I hate to say it but not all phones and not all cell towers are the same either.  I have tried so many different MVNO’s lately I can tell you that most of them give higher priority to their contract customers.

Why am I not getting any Bars on my Cell Phone?

I answered this a few months ago to a point about Straight Talk but it wasn’t really complete.  I am sure You have your own reason why but I will break it down to you in a way that you might be able to understand it a little more clearly than before.

Each phone has an antenna and each cell tower is broadcasting to a certain distance, and some are broadcasting in a certain direction also.   Most however are just broadcasting omni directional and thus you get a random signal in random locations.   Your also competing with other cell signals from other cell phones for the right to use that tower so your also getting some interference in areas.  

House can be an Interference too!

Even your house which is a dwelling with bricks and wood and some metal pieces can cause you to drop signals in all parts of your house.   I’ve seen in my own situation that I can have 3 bars in one location of my house and no bars in another part of my house so It can be inconcievable that you have the same situation going on where you life also.  So I am here to help you out a little an maybe make you life just a little bit more enjoyable.

Those are just a few that will help you get a better signal and it isn’t as hard as it looks to install these little extenders and boosters.   I will say these are just the tip of the iceburg as to what you can buy to make you cellular experience just that much better.   If I a problem these would be the first I would buy to get that signal strength up.

Paul Sylvester

My Reasons why you should avoid Onlywire!

Paul

Onlywire messes up again!!

When I first started using their FREE service, I thought wow.   I know I won’t need more than 300 submissions for my blog each month.   Heck I am not even doing that much submitting for much more than to make sure people know I am posting content!  So here I am happily using their free service and they do something stupid.

I sent off an Email!

When I saw my 300 submissions not being reset, I sent off an email to Onlywire finding out the reason.  Here is their response.

 

 

Hi Paul,
Great question. Free Trial accounts are now limited to 7 days. So your account has expired. 
It is a more reasonable Free Trial Period. It just made sense!
Previous: 300 Free submissions No Limit
Now: 100 Free Submissions One Week
We found that customers were creating accounts and forgetting about them. One week
seemed like a reasonable amount of time to decide if the syndication service is a good match or not. 

If only wire wanted to let me know, I know they have my email account.  I’ve gotten emails from them from the past.  This just shows me they don’t really care about their customers and thus I wouldn’t trust them with my money even if I had the money to give them in the first place.

Customer Experience is Bad!

As you can see they gave me this great explanation of why they changed it but didn’t give me an option to give me a reason why I would want to stay with them.   Heck even if they offered a 5$ a month plan for life, I would of jumped on that like you wouldn’t believe.   It was the idea that they don’t care and they just wanted to switch and hope people wouldn’t notice or if they did they wouldn’t speak up!  Well I am speaking up!

No warnings about account changes!

Just like not telling me about the free account change, I would be wondering what else they will do to my account if I signed up.   Will they place ads on my social stream without telling me?  Will they not submit my stuff on a timely manner.   Is their servers going to be up a 100% of the time?  

I will be looking for alternatives to Onlywire, in the coming weeks and Probably even tell you which ones do about the same for free.  I can’t make any promises but I am sure i am not along in the endeavor because of how they have burned me!

Did it happen to you? 

Paul Sylvester

How to Tether your Kyocera Rise by Virgin Mobile

Paul

This Changes Everything

It was never Going to be easy!

When I bought this Virgin Mobile Kyocera Rise, I knew they would try to prevent me.  That was one of the reason, I like to have an Unlocked Phone.  I’m went searching through the internet to find the answers to my question.   Some of the common questions, I got where:

Hidden mobile data charges: ethical or not?

Virgin mobile and tethering -charges ?

As you can see these were old post but they did provde me with some very interesting questions about the data usage of tethering and who will be at fault.

The Options!

I am going to give you a few options as to where to look to find the best possible way to tehter your phone to Laptop or Tablet.   I’ve found one or two ways to do it so far and I’ll be more than glad to give you the information that you are seeking for.  Before I begin though:

Information Therein are as IS, The Author will not be held responsible for anything resulting with these applications and services.  You have been warned!

 Some of the Common Applications that I have tried and worked are:

  • Easy Tether CE (Lite) — This one works just as great if you intend to use it as an USB connection only.  I had no problems with surfing the web with this app just as long as I kept it hooked up via USB.  Mobile Stream has several different paid apps that allow you to do so much more.  I am impressed with this one!
  • WiFi Tether for Root Users — I’ve used this on my HTC Inspire so I know this work on other phones but you would have to root your Kyocera Rise to use this App, although free it would probably void your warranty on your phone!

You can search for other Tethering Apps and try them as you see feet.   I just want to provide you with a few ideas on how to use what your already paying for that data plan.  When I find more I’ll be sure to let you know but for right now these are the ones that I’ve used to tether with success.  

Paul Sylvester