Has Anyone Noticed a New PRL Since 4.0.4?

[nleksan]

Okay, I don't have the OTA 4.0.4 but rather the version supplied via GummyJar Nexus 1.2.5; anyway, today I decided "what the **ll" and called the *22899 number that I put in my phonebook as "Update PRL" a long ways back...

Much to my surprise, after the call, I have a different PRL!! Now it's like 25809 or something (sorry, phone is in the midst of a full charge via full discharge/charge cycle), I'll get the exact number as soon as I can.

Anyway, I was surprised by this, as I have had the same "PRL" since I first dialed that number less than a month after I got the phone; even though I have tried it a number of times since, it was only this time, the first time I've tried since the OTA went live, that it did anything. I don't know what exactly, but I went for a walk today and around my neighborhood I was averaging -3 to -7 DBM better... Website loading speeds seemed a bit more "spry", as well.

Anyway, just wanted to let y'all know!

 

[SwagTech]

Thanks, going to try now.

 

[SwagTech]

My prl number changed as well. Hope this means I will get a better signal at work. Which would improve battery life....

 

[maineultraclassic]

52809

That's what mine updated to when I called before I got the update.

Steve

 

[Riley]

I thought you could fry a SIM card by trying to update your PRL the traditional way. Isn't LTE different, in that it auto updates the PRL?

 

[maineultraclassic]

That's the rumor, but never heard of it actually happening.

Steve

 

[syndicate0017]

I've heard that manually updating your PRL puts you on a 3G PRL instead of a 4G one.

 

[slider112]

I've heard that also, but honestly I'm still trying to figure out what exactly that means. I don't recall reading many complaints from people who have updated their PRL manually with regards to signal quality, specifically 4G signal. It does not fry the SIM card and not only do they still get both 3G and 4G signal as before, in some cases it's improved for both as well. Honestly, I think there's a whole lot of unnecessary thought and worry put into which PRL's people have, which are 3G/4G, and which are the most "up to date". I have my doubts as to how significant they are on a daily basis to most users. If someone who is more knowledgable would like to chime in I'd certainly welcome it. :biggrin:

 

[rjcapp]

For what its worth I googled and found this.

What is a PRL? PRL stands for Preferred Roaming List and is a database used in CDMA (think Sprint and Verizon here) phones. It's built and provided by your carrier, and used when your phone is connecting to the tower. It indicates which radio bands, sub-bands, and service provider IDs will be searched for, then allows the phone to connect to the correct tower. Without a correct and valid PRL, your phone won't be able to roam outside your home network, and may not be able to connect at all inside the network. The database consists of an Acquisition table, which lists which radio frequencies to search for in which areas, and a System table, which tells the phone which towers it is allowed to connect to, and the preferred order.

Notice we said it connects to the correct tower and not the strongest tower. If you're in an area with weak but steady signal from your carrier, the PRL will connect you to that signal rather than connect to a stronger signal on a different carrier. When Palm released the Pre on Sprint (the first CDMA smartphone with "root" access to the system) people quickly learned how to hack the PRL to force a connection on Verizon towers in areas of poor Sprint coverage. The same thing is done today with certain CDMA Android phones, and usually ends up with the same result -- a letter from your carrier telling you it's been nice having you as a customer, but it's time to part ways. Not all hacking is good, kids, and when it adversely affects the network, it makes the other, good kind of hacking look bad.

The PRL is usually sent as an over-the-air update when needed, but often -- especially if you travel a lot -- it's necessary to manually update it. It's pretty easy to do:

Sprint: dial ##873283# Telus: dial *22803 Metro PCS, US Cellular, Verizon (3G phones only): dial *228

Android phones also have an option to update the PRL in most CDMA phones, you'll find that in the settings pages. If you have a CDMA/LTE phone on Verizon or Metro PCS, your PRL will auto-update as needed, so don't fool with it. Also it's not a good idea to update your PRL while you're roaming on another carrier.

My PRL is currently 15109.