Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 on Sprint "Preparing Network" bug fix

Those that have known me for awhile know I have a love/hate relationship with Sprint. I've been with them for well over a decade and only stay for the unlimited data. Because, truth be told, ALL of the mobile phone providers have crappy coverage at my house. You'd think living on the top of a hill with line of sight to the various towers would make it have better coverage, but no.

I'll put the story on how I ended up with the tablet after I post what I did to fix it first.

Let me say I love, love, love the Tab 3 device. It's perfect for what I need and the screen is amazing.

Problem/Symptoms:

1. You've had the device activated at a Sprint store or you've activated it yourself.
2. It has a check mark in the upper left corner of the tablet.
3. Notification window says "Preparing Network" many minutes, hours, days, weeks later and it is not resolving.

Steps to fix:

1. First I contacted Sprint support via chat
2. Automatic go-to response for them was visit the Sprint Zone, which is NOT installed on the latest Tab 3 devices
3. Following their instructions I did a cold boot, reset the PRL using the calculator (I'll explain this later) and reset to CMA from LTE/CDMA
4. Performed a data-destroying full hard factory reset

None of those things fixed the issue.

Here's what fixed it, and I'm betting you don't have to go through the others if you try this first:

TRY THIS FIRST: 

1.      At the Home Screen, click on the Menu (it's next to the home screen button).

2.      Turn off Wi-FI

3.      Select More settings | Mobile networks | Network mode and reset it to CDMA mode. This will require a reboot of the tablet

4.      IF your device is NOT activated

a.       scroll down to Activate this device

b.      wait for it to reboot

5.      Once your device IS activated

a.       scroll down to System Update (it's right below Activate this device)

b.      tap on Update PRL, let it finish

c.       tap on Update Profile, let it finish

6.      The "Preparing Network" notification should go away if you are in normal Sprint 3G network ranges.

7.      Verify you can get to the Internet, launch a page you haven't visited in some time or launch YouTube and select a new video. If those work then you have Sprint network access and this is just a cosmetic error.

8.      Once the "Preparing Network" notification and you've verified you can access the 3G network you can switch back to LTE/CDMA mode. You will end up with the cosmetic error of the "Preparing Network" icon stuck in the upper left corner.

 
Hopefully you are now passed the never ending "Preparing Network" issue and are now on the Sprint Network.

So, here's the story of how I ended up with a Tab3, courtesy of our ever tolerant local Sprint Store rep Ash, who has had to put up with my menopausal-fueled fits of rage thru this process.

My Samsung Galaxy S2 nearly got bricked when the Jelly Bean update was installed (by me, following Sprint's instructions...I should've known better). Because my beloved BlackBerry Curve was a Nextel phone and the towers were now removed I couldn't go back to my Curve. So I rode out our contract, with a flaky phone and relying on Google Voice on my Touch or AW laptop (thank you Google!) to get through my work day.

Our renewal finally came up and my hubby talked me into the HTC One Max as my fat fingers and touch screens don't like each other. I fell in love...the HTC One Max fit my hand perfect, it's faster than my S2, love the front facing speakers and the screen is to-die-for! Unfortunately, I had nothing but call quality problems, even with a Sprint Airave (their network extender) sitting right next to it. Much frustration later, and with a heavy heart, I took the HTC One Max in to trade out for a Galaxy S5, which they didn't have thanks to the punks that broke in and stole the majority of their inventory the night before. I settled for an S4.

We gave a lot of thought to switching to Verizon, which also has the HTC One Max, but they would not provide the network extender for free and the end result would be more costly than our Sprint contract due to the way their data plans work. I also checked with AT&T, TMobile, and MetroPCs and none of them would provide the network extender for free as Sprint had because we only have 2 devices. Apparently there's some unwritten rule on minimum device counts to qualify for a free extender when the provider knows their service sucks where you live.

I like the S4, it's bigger than the S2, but still too small for my fat fingers. It's a nice device, and if the Galaxy Mega had the same specs, or matched the S5 specs I would have given serious consideration to the Mega which is fairly close in size to the HTC device.

I went back to the Samsung device lines due to the new, not widely advertised, feature that Sprint and Samsung worked out. If you have the right Samsung model(s), you can now do wi-fi calling (think VOIP) using whatever wi-fi connection you have access too. This is a HUGE help when the airave connection isn't perfect or if the towers are acting up due to weather. The call quality is amazing using wifi, and it's far more stable, so now I can work from home with a reliable, clear calling option.

Still, I really missed the Max. Sprint was running a deal of a $49 tab, with a data plan of course. My hubby decided that it might be a fun toy for my birthday and we didn't have any Android tablets yet. So we bit the bullet and got it. But then I got this annoying "Preparing Network" message and missed my 14 day return window (I was having too much fun playing with the tablet).

Sprint has yet to resolve the issue properly and train the customer service folks who are getting all the cranky customer calls. I will however, stop by the local store, say hi to Ashraf and show him what I did to fix it. And hopefully, customers needing help will find this post and be able to get their device working properly.