Sprint is now offering the newest version of its femtocell in the Airvana Access Point to select customers at no additional charge under the Airave branding. Spokesperson Mark Elliot released the following statement:
"Sprint is offering the Airave Access Point for customers who have specific in-building coverage issues. Each customer situation is reviewed independently to determine whether the customer would qualify and benefit from Airave use. This is an updated Airave model, and does support Sprint 3G (EV-DO) data speeds.â€
The new model is being offered solely on a recurring monthly lease at no additional charge with no purchase option, and must be returned if service is terminated. The Airvana also replaces the Samsung manufactured Network Extender, which we have previously covered in the past and allows for the use of a broadband connection to improve indoor coverage.
Who do you call to see if you qualify? I just called and spoke to 3 different departments at sprint and no one knew anything. One of the reps even said that if you currently have an airave you would have to pay to upgrade to the new one for 99.99. Then I found out that she had no idea that a 3g airave existed. And I thought sprints customer service knowledge was improving. This is unbelievable.
If anyone can give better details on how to get it or get a hold of someone who can at least help us let us know. This way I don’t have to deal with the incompetent employees at sprint.
sprint jus sucks. get wit the best thats who u call the big red.lol my girl got sprint and she got to have this mini tower in our house to give her gud conn.when internet go she cant get no service.i have big red.n pick up full signal all the time anywhere i go. awoh doe ohh.the s in sprint stands for s or slow or sloppy.hahahahahahahaha
in order to qualify for the free airave you have to be in good standing no past due payments or poor payment history non asl and you have to say your going to cancel becasue of poor coverage in your home you have to have more than 1 line as well
@ignorant
How does sprint just sucks? Not every cell phone company will work for every person. I’m glad that verizon works for you but most people on verizon pay a whole lot more than sprint customers for the same service. Plus verizon has the network extender which works just like the airave. So verizon obviously has the same issues as verizon. I have had sprint for years and when I worked for verizon a year ago I had sprint and verizon phones. 95% of the time my sprint phone worked everywhere the verizon phone worked and a lot of times the data on sprint was faster and more reliable than verizon. But I’m glad verizon works for you. As for me, I will continue to have great service and pay a whole lot less and stay with sprint.
@ms alewis,
I spoke with sprint and a lot of people that currently have the original airave will qualify for the updated version. If you currently don’t have one then threatening to cancel will help you get one but having bad coverage in your household will also help especially if you use your cellphone as the only phone and if you have more than 1 line. I hope they give me one.
Has anybody been able to get one?
My signal is okay, but I use an Airave for the unlimited calling. However, my Airave is being sick and will drop calls even if you’re sitting next to it. It just started happening a couple of months ago, but I’ve waited to do anything about it until the Airvana came out.
I just ordered my new EVDO airave from Sprint. Free swap for my non-evdo model.
@rizzo
Did you have to call it in? If so who did you speak with?
all you have to do is ask to speak to account services or dial *2 listen for the option that says other options then select the option that says disconnect service that will take you to account services/retention tell them your going to cancel or you have poor service in your home they will send you a free airave again you have to be in good standing non asl good pay history with more than 1 line i have one it works like a charm works better than the older airaves.. if you ask cust care they will not know anything about new airaves or airaves period so dont waste your time
@JJ
I spoke with account services department . I did not have to threaten to cancel. I called to complain about dropped calls with my new BB BOLD while in my home. It has dropped more calls then any other phone I”ve ever owned. It also gets worse signal reception than what my Centro does.
Thanks. I spoke with customer care several times and your right… none of them knew anything of the new airave. They just kept telling me about the original airave. I will try account services.We will see what happens.
Got my free airave today with all charges waived and it is the new 3g model, it was shipped 8-20-2010 and the rep told me it would only do voice, “there is no 3g model”. Lack of communication at sprint i guess.
To qualify, if you really have bad coverage in your house, just call Account Services and ask for an Airave. While on the line, walk around your house until the signal drops. they call back 90% of the time. (if they don’t call back within 10 minutes, start over). Once they call back explain the call dropped and this is why you want an Airave. Works every time.
Do NOT hang up and claim it was a dropped call, they CAN tell the difference.
Also if you want the new one (I recommend unless you have an old non-3g (1x) phone, just ask for the “New Airave” or the “Airvana Airave”. Don’t use technical terms like EVDO, 3g, ect with the rep. If you do get an old one, complain that your battery life is sh*t because it keeps bouncing between macrocell and femtocell (tower and airave). The old one was horrible about that because the phone would go to the sprint tower for data, thus killing the battery. Or it would be on the tower when you made a call and it could not transfer back to airave.