So I really like my cellphone service, Ting.

One problem I have had isn’t really with Ting, it’s with Sprint, who Ting uses for their network. That one problem is that as excellent as the reception is everywhere else in town, the worse place seems to be my neighborhood.

Technically, we are in the coverage area, but I have to go outside or stay perfectly still in one corner of my house to keep a call from dropping.

I tried to fix the solution by buying a Zboost Metro which is a powered signal booster that connects to a window-mounted antenna . I think it did not work for me because there are too many obstructions between my house and the cell phone tower. I paid $140 for it.

Thankfully, the solution comes in the form of the Airvana Airrave device. It acts as my own personal cell tower.

I just had to hook it up to my internet in between my cable modem and my router, then called Ting to get them to activate the device for me (activation was free).

The cost of a brand new Airrave is around $200. You can buy it from Sprint for $100 at the time of this writing, but you have to call to order it. A refurbished model at Ting is $120 (its availability varies). I bought mine on Ebay for less than $50. Ting was still very cool about activating for me.

I have had my Airrave for a few months now and I’m very happy with it. I get and make calls in my basement, which was impossible before.

It only takes up about a 12” by 3” spot on my shelf.

One feature some may find annoying is that your phone speaker will beep 3 times when receiving or making a call. That is there to let you know you are connected through the Airrave.

You can use it for VOIP, and there are connections for it, but I have no need for that function, so I have not tried it.

Is the Airrave right for you? If

• your service uses the Sprint network
• you have low reception at home
• and you have high-speed internet

then, yes, you should get the Airrave.

I have already mentioned how I am saving over half what I was spending while with Spring since switching to Ting. Here’s how to save more.

Turn off your data when you are not using it.

I installed this free widget on my phone: Data Switch

It is a simple widget that you tap to turn on and off your 3G/4G data connection. Since Ting charges you depending on how much of their service you use, why use more than you have to?

Sure you could turn off sync, but there are still apps you may have running in the background that may still try to access the internet.

This way, those apps can only access the internet while you are connected to WiFi unless you turn the switch on again. This saves on battery, too.

Last year I switched from Sprint to Ting. The switch did not go exactly as I thought it would, but the result was better than I had imagined.

I saved more than half than what I was paying Sprint and got a new phone relatively cheap.

I hit a couple of snags, but considering how much money I saved, it was worth it.

Get Ting!

I was using Sprint’s Everything Data Plan with 450 “Anytime” minutes which was costing me about $80 a month including the additional fees and taxes. A new contract with Sprint for that same plan is now $10 more.

I first learned about Ting through their parent company, Tucows, who made their name as a domain name registrar. My past experience with another of their companies, OpenSRS was good, so knew Ting was going to be good, too. Ting uses Sprint’s network, so I knew my coverage would not change.

As I looked at the plans and used their savings calculator, I found I could save half of what I spending with Sprint, and I was sold.

The only thing keeping me switching right away was my contract with Sprint, which, at the time, would not expire for another couple of months. Plus, I kept reading on their blog about their Bring Your Own Sprint Device, or BYO(S)D, program which was still under development.

Finally the day came when my Sprint contract had expired, and I was also accepted into the beta of the BYO(S)D program. I had an LG Optimus S (LS670) I was planning on using, but I hit a snag. The BYO(S)D program would only work with inactive devices, and mine was still active with Sprint. I did not want to go without a phone for any amount of time and wanted to keep my number, so the BYO(S)D program was out, but I was still determined to move to Ting.

So I looked at Ting’s device offerings. They had a refurbished Samsung Transform Ultra for $79 which was (1) better than my current LG Optimus S, and (2) so inexpensive, the money I would save by switching to Ting would pay for it in a few months.

So I ordered the Samsung phone, and used Ting’s online service to port my number and activated the phone.

For the past three months of billing, I have not been charged more than $35 for each month. I’m happy so far.

Now that I have a new phone, if I wanted, I think could still take part in the BYO(S)D with my old phone since it is now inactive. So I could have a second phone with my plan for only $6/month more, and they would share the minutes, messages and data.

[big_button color=”blue” url=”http://hecktech.net/go/tingswitch” desc=”Click here to get $25 off the purchase of a device”] Get Ting! [/big_button]

Some things to note before you switch:

Google Voice – I use Google Voice for my voicemail. Ting makes this easy to set up since you just need to enter your Google Voice number as the “Forward if busy” and “Forward if unanswered” number. The only problem I have had so far is I have not been able to get texts to forward to Google Voice as I did with Sprint. The benefit here was that the texts would show up in my email if I was somewhere where I did not have service, but still had WIFI. It was also good for keeping an archive of texts. Since moving to Ting, I solved the archive problem by using the “SMS Backup” app.

Samsung Transform Ultra glitch – If I use the stock SMS app, the date/time stamp on incoming messages is an hour ahead. Using the Go SMS Pro app fixed that problem.

SD card not included – An SD card was not included with my refurbished Samsung Transform Ultra and I don’t think the new ones do either, so I highly recommend you buy one separately.

Battery life is not so great on the Samsung Transform Ultra.

Despite the problems with that particular phone, Ting is still great.

Get Ting!

Connects to wifi just fine, but if I am out of range of wifi or turn wifi off, it does not connect to 3G. “3G” does not even appear in status bar.

Pressed menu button.

Tapped “Settings”

Tapped “Wireless & Network”

Tapped “Mobile Networks”

Unchecked “Data Roaming”, saw 3G reappear. Checked “Data Roaming” and 3G stayed on.

Another way to check your connections is to enter “Settings”, tap “About Phone”, tap “Status”, and scroll to “Mobile network state”. It will say “Connected” or “Not connected.