Friday, May 19, 2017

Wireless with Bravado in Oklahoma

"Bravado" is defined as a swaggering display of courage.  Courage in wireless is required to keep your small carrier competitive, and Bravado Wireless is the new name for Oklahoma's former Sprocket Wireless.  It's great to see a small carrier continue to provide wireless service to their community and a name change confirms that they're committing to the future.  Bravado is part of the Cross Telephone Company who also operates Cross Wireless a few miles down the road.


For some reason, Oklahoma has quite an assortment of independent wireless carriers in a state where Verizon Wireless is not dominant and US Cellular serves one of their largest gaggles of customers.  As a result. we maintain a separate Oklahoma page among the Mountain Wireless Reviews.  Bravado is involved in their community and we applaud their new direction.  The "gear" theme of Sprocket was cool but a name change catches our attention and locals should stand behind them.  Hey, why not change the name of Cross Wireless to Bravado as well?  Too much?

Thursday, May 18, 2017

US Cellular Perks Up Prepaid

A month ago we criticized US Cellular for having lousy Prepaid plans which, in turn, gave their current customers no place to go if they wanted to get a better wireless value.  Well, a few days later Randy and Deanna emailed me to share their new Prepaid plans!  While they aren't the cheapest, they're very good on a very good network.  First, their plan for your Prepaid "Basic" Phone starts at $25/month.  Next, their new Prepaid smartphone plans start at $35/month!  They also have a Prepaid "Unlimited" Data plan for $70/month, that automatically shifts to 2GB speeds when the line reaches 22GB.

                             RELATED: US Cellular Unleashes Unlimited


We are reminded that a "switch" from somewhere else is implied (does that mean current US Cellular customers can't get this plan?), a New Simple Connect Plan is required, additional restrictions apply, and "while supplies last."  Maybe the lawyers asked them to include all that, but what "supplies" will not last?  Plans? Refills? If they want us to get off the fence they just need to say "available for a limited time," but that may not be the case.  We hope it's not...because we need US Cellular to stay in the hunt.

Friday, May 12, 2017

Fix Your Smartphone

I had to fix mine, maybe you do, too.

Fix #1: Delete Old Texts, Call Logs & Emails:
This should be done on a regular basis, not just if you're having problems..

Fix #2: Clear the Phone's App Cache
Remove excess non-essential information that may be slowing down your phone by clearing the phone's app cache. To do this, go to:

  • Settings
  • Applications
  • All
  • Select Apps
  • Clear Cache
Fix #3: Check Your Phone's Memory Card
Your phone may have too small of a memory card.  You may be able to replace it with a larger card, some phones can handle cards up to 32GB. Then, make sure all apps that can be saved to a memory card are saved to the card rather than to your phone.

Fix #4: Delete Old Apps You are No Longer Using
Many apps are using resources even when you're not using them.

Fix #5: Turn Off Your Phone Occasionally
Turn off your phone (and then turn it back on) at least once a week, once every other day would be better, every day isn't too often. Like computers, a smartphone operates better after it has been rebooted. This is especially true if you're entering/exiting your home coverage area.  Data services perform much better after a restart! From time to time it would make sense to pull the battery out, if you can.  This totally resets the system and memory without losing any data.

Fix #6: Don't Keep You Phone in the Fridge
Seriously, phones don't like temperature extremes. Don't leave your phone sitting in a hot or cold car for a long period of time. The change in temperature and humidity when bringing it back into a heated or air conditioned building can create condensation that can cause corrosion and other problems that may damage your phone's internal parts.

Fix #7: Get Better Versions of Your Most-Used Apps
Consider buying the paid version of these apps. The free versions can make your phone slower & battery drain faster due to ads that are constantly downloading and tracking software that may running continuously.

Fix #8: Up Your Apps
Make sure the apps in your phone were created by a reputable developer and have a good rating in the store for your device. Remove any that don't. You may have an app that could be hurting your phone's performance & compromising your security. Avoid using an app with less than a 3 star rating. Also, if you notice a sudden decrease in performance, delete the most recently-downloaded apps.  One of them may be causing an  issue.

Fix #9: Use a Task Killer
You can manually turn off apps, learn how to do it in your phone.  You can also use an Advanced Task Killer app.  Make sure it is properly downloaded and set up correctly. This will kill apps running in the background, improving performance.

Fix #10: Read the Manual
Yes, this may the most painful step to take, but your phone's manual could address issues you may be having and how to prevent other problems.  Manuals can be downloaded online.

Fix #11: If You Still Have Problems, Start Over
If you’ve tried these steps and your smartphone is still acting up, you can do a factory reset. This will clear the phone’s information and switch it back to the original factory settings.  Careful, this will wipe your phone clean of everything you added.  There are online resources to back up your phone directory and critical data before taking this drastic step.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Viya Covers USVI on Combined Networks

Last fall we reported on Choice Wireless of US Virgin Islands acquiring Innovative Mobile.  That looks like a pretty good idea.  Then they changed the name of the combined network to Viya Mobile.  That's looks a pretty good idea, too.


The Caribbean isn't quite as exciting as the mainland markets, but with Choice Wireless expanding by acquisition, it's great to see small carriers getting together in the fight for survival.  This also means visitors to the islands should also have better service.  Viva la Viya!

Monday, May 8, 2017

We Had to Give Back Your States

With so many pages among the Mountain Wireless Cellular Networks (well over 500) we cut back our state review pages because fewer people cared, or seemed to, on such locally-based information.  Then we got a sudden demand for the old pages and found that nobody wanted the new "compact" reviews.


Once upon a time we had a web page dedicated to each state and the cellular carriers that operate in them.  As the carriers consolidated, each state's page began to look like the others.  So we consolidated the state reports into one set of pages, and the actual carrier reports to another.  Suddenly we had readers looking for the entire rundown in their state (or a state where they would be traveling),  not just some generic list.  Our reviews provide some of the only details available for the smallest carriers in the US and it turned out to be a resource still in demand.

I had Scott look in his files for the old reviews but most of them had to be reconstructed.  Some states (like Hawaii) have absolutely no interest, but others, like the Virginias, have quite a bit.  With continuing wireless consolidation, we expect there will be more states looking like Hawaii, but for a couple dozen others they keep on coming...so we'll keep reviewing.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

T-Mobile Has 5G for All of Us

Up until now, the majority of wireless thinkers thought 5G would be implemented on very high frequencies over very short distances.  Now T-Mobile says they'll be supplying 5G for mobile users on their lowest frequencies, over long distances.  A few years ago we would have responded with skepticism but T-Mobile has followed through on so many outrageous ideas, how can we poo poo this one?


Verizon announced last week that they will supply 5G through a fiber backbone to multiple customers accessing the last mile on 5G wireless.  It made sense last week.  Now it seems a bit short-sighted if T-Mobile can supply 5G to all of us wherever we want.  This is a lot of bandwidth on not a lot of spectrum, but the seed is planted, so let's see what sprouts.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Tello's Birthday Party: FREE Stuff!

We're honored to be invited to Tello's first birthday party.  Tello has made it's way into our hearts, and our favored Prepaid List, with their rock-bottom prices and their "Build-Your-Own-Plan" feature.  To celebrate, Tello is offering a 90% Off deal for newcomers, valid between May 4-10, 2017, for any plan of $10 or more.

Tello will also honor its current customers, especially those who have been there since day one. Customers who joined Tello in May last year, and are still active today, get a special, custom-made Free surprise! (Let us know what it is) Also, all existing customers get a 25% off discount for any plan over $15 that is changed/renewed/purchased for the first time between May 5-8, 2017, using the code, 1BDAY.

They're also having a giveaway with Tello’s Facebook contest, between May 2-5, 2017 for a chance to win a FREE iPhone 7. I need to add that we're not being paid for this post but we sure do appreciate having Tello as an advertiser.