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Hey guys,
I noticed that my address is covered in Clearwire's 4g coverage map--strong coverage too--but it's not covered in Sprint's. Does anyone know how long it will take Sprint to actually extend 4g to my location?
mylasthope said:
Hey guys,
I noticed that my address is covered in Clearwire's 4g coverage map--strong coverage too--but it's not covered in Sprint's. Does anyone know how long it will take Sprint to actually extend 4g to my location?
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Clearwire just came out with a new router that pumps 4g into your house like a mini-tower. It also does wifi. If you have wifi I dont know what you would want 4g, but there it is.
mitchellvii said:
Clearwire just came out with a new router that pumps 4g into your house like a mini-tower. It also does wifi. If you have wifi I dont know what you would want 4g, but there it is.
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Problem with that is you have to pay an extra $35/month, plus the $120 for the new router (or $7/month to rent it).
Here's the truth: Sprint's maps are slower to update, whereas Clear updates theirs almost every day. Also, while Clear might have service in your area now, Sprint won't let you sign on to it until they make the "official" announcement that they're rolling out to your area. Same thing happened here in Sacramento, and right now in my neighborhood.
I wonder if there is a way to hack our phones to be able to use Clears WiMax signal on the Evo........Hmmmmm.......(Im in a 4G area already so its pretty redundant.....but still, this could be useful to somebody.)
drmacinyasha said:
Problem with that is you have to pay an extra $35/month, plus the $120 for the new router (or $7/month to rent it).
Here's the truth: Sprint's maps are slower to update, whereas Clear updates theirs almost every day. Also, while Clear might have service in your area now, Sprint won't let you sign on to it until they make the "official" announcement that they're rolling out to your area. Same thing happened here in Sacramento, and right now in my neighborhood.
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Yeah, I figured. I get good 4g coverage about a block away from my house--I live in LA county and LA's 4g coverage was recently made official. When I look at Sprint's coverage map, my address is almost covered, but I'm still a little away from that sweet, sweet blue. Any idea how long it will take Sprint to make my address "official," seeing as how Clear has already extended its coverage to my house?
I currently have the droid bionic with a iPhone as my back up. Is it worth me switching to sprint to pick up the Epic touch? How's the battery life and reception with sprint compared to VZW? Right now with juice defender I get about a consistent 20 hrs actually using my phone.
Verizons network is better as far as data speeds go. I don't think it's worth the switch for just a device.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Depends on where you are and where you tend to travel to.
I get 2-2.5Mb 3G speeds with Sprint (250 - 300KBytes/s) at home and and work. I also get 1-1.5Mb 3G in the middle of the forest up in northern Wisconsin. All with a lowly Moment.
There is an active 4G tower where I work (according to a friend's Evo) despite it not being on the coverage map.
On the other hand, if you are stuck anywhere where Verizon has the only network, you will have crappy data speeds because Verizon refuses to allow anything more than 1x roaming to Sprint customers. This also applies if you are on the edge of a Sprint tower... Sprint tends to want to keep you connected to a Sprint signal, regardless of its strength. This can get frustrating at times.
If you do go with Sprint, the first app you should download and pay for is Roam Control.
That all depends on your needs...
Sprint's voice and data plans are much cheaper and 4g data is unlimited. 3g is limited to 5gb per month.
If you do need coverage in remote areas, check Sprint's coverage maps and see if there is signal where you need it.
http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp
If you dont use much data and want to spend more to get faster speeds while paying more for voice as well, Verizon is the way to go. I would only hang with Verizon if coverage is an issue.
I had Verizon for many years and switched to Sprint in 2006. I've never regretted making the change.
-logik- said:
That all depends on your needs...
Sprint's voice and data plans are much cheaper and 4g data is unlimited. 3g is limited to 5gb per month.
If you do need coverage in remote areas, check Sprint's coverage maps and see if there is signal where you need it.
http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp
If you dont use much data and want to spend more to get faster speeds while paying more for voice as well, Verizon is the way to go. I would only hang with Verizon if coverage is an issue.
I had Verizon for many years and switched to Sprint in 2006. I've never regretted making the change.
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Sprint doesn't cap data at 5GB for mobile phones. Only on their usb cards.
eakrish said:
I currently have the droid bionic with a iPhone as my back up. Is it worth me switching to sprint to pick up the Epic touch? How's the battery life and reception with sprint compared to VZW? Right now with juice defender I get about a consistent 20 hrs actually using my phone.
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Click to collapse
Pick your provider FIRST, then pick your device.
As stated be sure to not just check a coverage map but to check with friends and coworkers who have Sprint and live/commute/work in your area.
I've traveled the country a little and I have never been without Sprint coverage except in two tiny holes in my home town...where not a single provider has anything but threshold levels of service out doors, indoors you get squat from any of them. These "holes", however, can be deal breakers if you happen to live and/or work in them. Coverage maps help, a little, but asking people (and looking at their signal meters) is far more precise.
As far as data speed is concerned it's a mixed bag. I came from a line of HTC devices where changing the PRL on-the-go was simple so I used the "00001.prl" a lot. This PRL, essentially, puts you on Verizon's towers, full speed 3G. I can honestly say that while Verizon's speeds tend to be far more consistent than Sprint's that even though I had the chance to get out of Sprint this month (for free) that instead of going to Big Red I used that to upgrade to the Epic Touch without hesitation...The data speeds can drag-ass in a highly congested area at times but unless it's lunch time in a 1-bar area I don't tend to dip below 500kbps and if it is later in the day (or evening) and/or in a sparsely populated area (or higher-income area, draw your own conclusions) I have seen as high as 2.7mbps...my friend lives in a low-population high income area and he may be the only Sprint subscriber for miles, lol, and they get 2.5~2.7mbps all day every day. There are also times/places where Sprint's 3G speed absolutely spanks Verizon's.
...as far as 4G goes it can be blazing fast but you probably won't ever get the signal indoors unless you are in a 4G saturated metropolitan environment. I hear lots of complaints about 4G speed but when I get connected it's always faster than my home internet (6mbps, the most you can get from residential ATT DSL around here), I have seen 15mbps too.
As far as price is concerned Sprint wins hands down especially if you consider the unlimited data and free roaming. Voice roaming is unlimited. There is a "soft" limit of 3G roaming at 300mb, but, that is a floating line. If you aren't usually roaming but happen to travel somewhere that you are forced to roam at worst they will call or send you a letter telling you that if you do it again your contract may be terminated. But as long as it doesn't happen at work or at home they are mostly forgiving...and if not? That's a free out on your contract and now you have a $500-$700 (retail) phone for trade-up or resale to go back to Verizon.
EDIT: Oh yeah, battery life. It's killer. Very very killer compared to a Moment, Hero, Evo 4G and Evo 3D this thing slaughters them all. It's hard to say since I have been using my phone more than breathing these past 2 days, but, considering that I'm very impressed....*very* impressed.
I agree with most everyone here take a look and see what you are using and what you need. make sure you have coverage at home and work and other places you visit regularly. if it works out for you make the switch. You can save alot of money with Sprint depending on your needs and they have a great selection of phones, I just the the GSII and it is awesome about 50% faster then the evo3d it just flies. but all of that power doesn't mean anything if you can't get signal.
I just switched from Verizon because I wanted the GS2 really bad.
I live in Seattle and Sprint has good coverage here so I'm pretty happy. (i've had Sprint in the past as well)
You can always switch and test drive Sprint for 14 days (or maybe it's 30) and if you don't like it, return to Verizon. No big deal.
PS: I had the Droid Bionic for a few days before switching to Sprint. Honestly, I think the GS2 is simply better in every way. That's just my opinion. Couldn't deal with the Pentile display and the camera was quite a disappointment.
If the service is good in the area then go for it. Of not I wouldn't change. If I could do it all over again I would have switched to vz before they started the data caps.
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
I switched about 6 years ago and never looked back. I had voice and data with them for over 10 years, back in the Bell Mobile days. They kicked me off of a BroadbandAccess for using too much data claiming I HAD to have violated the ToS (P2P, video streaming, web hosting) by using over 5GB in a month. Really, that is only 150MB a day and that goes very quickly with just web and e-mail if you use it daily. I work on the road a LOT so naturally, I went over this regularly. I had to explain what I do and that I did NOT violate the ToS, which said NOTHING about 5GB. I didn't do any of the activities it stated. This was back when everything was unlimited with no fine print. They didn't charge an ETF and asked if I wanted to reactivate the account. I declined and moved to Sprint and eventually took voice too. Have been very happy since.
I still consider Sprint to be the best value in wireless. It always seemed that VZW nickle and dime'd me to death. My bill fluctuated month to month by $20 with no changes in service and additional fees. Just "taxes". They charged for web order shipping, activation, and everything they could have.
I forgot to mention I have unlimited data
Bigjim1488 said:
If the service is good in the area then go for it. Of not I wouldn't change. If I could do it all over again I would have switched to vz before they started the data caps.
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
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I wouldn't have switched. As stated below I was on them with true unlimited before they started the caps. Then they terminated the account and offered to reactivate, probably to instate a cap on me. I suspect the same would have happened to you.
When I switched data to Sprint, I asked if they had unlimited data and bandwidth, and got multiple confirmations (with chat transcripts) that it was 100% unlimited. They introduced the 5GB limit a year or two later. And, since I haven't renewed the contract or accepted any new modems on that line, it today is still unlimited and I use 8-10GB (sometimes more) monthly. They've called and tried to get me to renew, which would activate 4G but put a cap on 3G... and I've declined. Until 4G is everywhere I need on the road, I can't do it.
Phones are still unlimited, so I wonder if a cheap phone to tether with an unlimited plan is worth it for tethering only?? Just a thought.
I don't need a phone to tether, just need a bad ass phone that looks great, feels super fast and has great battery life. I also want a great looking display and widgets that are good for social media.
daneurysm said:
Pick your provider FIRST, then pick your device.
As stated be sure to not just check a coverage map but to check with friends and coworkers who have Sprint and live/commute/work in your area.
I've traveled the country a little and I have never been without Sprint coverage except in two tiny holes in my home town...where not a single provider has anything but threshold levels of service out doors, indoors you get squat from any of them. These "holes", however, can be deal breakers if you happen to live and/or work in them. Coverage maps help, a little, but asking people (and looking at their signal meters) is far more precise.
As far as data speed is concerned it's a mixed bag. I came from a line of HTC devices where changing the PRL on-the-go was simple so I used the "00001.prl" a lot. This PRL, essentially, puts you on Verizon's towers, full speed 3G. I can honestly say that while Verizon's speeds tend to be far more consistent than Sprint's that even though I had the chance to get out of Sprint this month (for free) that instead of going to Big Red I used that to upgrade to the Epic Touch without hesitation...The data speeds can drag-ass in a highly congested area at times but unless it's lunch time in a 1-bar area I don't tend to dip below 500kbps and if it is later in the day (or evening) and/or in a sparsely populated area (or higher-income area, draw your own conclusions) I have seen as high as 2.7mbps...my friend lives in a low-population high income area and he may be the only Sprint subscriber for miles, lol, and they get 2.5~2.7mbps all day every day. There are also times/places where Sprint's 3G speed absolutely spanks Verizon's.
...as far as 4G goes it can be blazing fast but you probably won't ever get the signal indoors unless you are in a 4G saturated metropolitan environment. I hear lots of complaints about 4G speed but when I get connected it's always faster than my home internet (6mbps, the most you can get from residential ATT DSL around here), I have seen 15mbps too.
As far as price is concerned Sprint wins hands down especially if you consider the unlimited data and free roaming. Voice roaming is unlimited. There is a "soft" limit of 3G roaming at 300mb, but, that is a floating line. If you aren't usually roaming but happen to travel somewhere that you are forced to roam at worst they will call or send you a letter telling you that if you do it again your contract may be terminated. But as long as it doesn't happen at work or at home they are mostly forgiving...and if not? That's a free out on your contract and now you have a $500-$700 (retail) phone for trade-up or resale to go back to Verizon.
EDIT: Oh yeah, battery life. It's killer. Very very killer compared to a Moment, Hero, Evo 4G and Evo 3D this thing slaughters them all. It's hard to say since I have been using my phone more than breathing these past 2 days, but, considering that I'm very impressed....*very* impressed.
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Sprint does NOT offer unlimited roaming.....I found this out while traveling to Florida in August. When I got done with explaining the Ambiguity in their false claims it has now since changed from unlimited roaming to unlimitting roaming on their network. They are such good corporate game players(liars).
Misleading people is what I don't agree with, but they are the cheapest game in town and suffice "if" you can get a signal. That said you get 800 minutes of roaming on their unlimited plan, and what ever your land line minutes are on their lower plans is the amount of roaming you will have before you have to PAY overages. If the overages happen too much they void your contract after making you aware that their is no unlimited. Now before any one starts debating this look at the advertisements and if that doesn't clue you in call and ask what I said.
They advertised unlimited roaming until I got done with them. They had a little fine print in the back of that agreement letting unsuspecting people that went over know that there was no unlimited roaming. Then they try to collect money for it. But, I let them know that ambiguity in contract law goes to the consumer, and that we can all void our contracts based on this lil tidbit of a lie, because many of us joined because of the roaming plan when we lose their coverage, and since it was a hoax the contract was null and void. They have now changed it to read unlimited roaming on their network only. How can you roam on the very network that you reside.
eakrish said:
I currently have the droid bionic with a iPhone as my back up. Is it worth me switching to sprint to pick up the Epic touch? How's the battery life and reception with sprint compared to VZW? Right now with juice defender I get about a consistent 20 hrs actually using my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QWIKSTRIKE said:
Sprint does NOT offer unlimited roaming.....I found this out while traveling to Florida in August. When I got done with explaining the Ambiguity in their false claims it has now since changed from unlimited roaming to unlimitting roaming on their network. They are such good corporate game players(liars).
Misleading people is what I don't agree with, but they are the cheapest game in town and suffice "if" you can get a signal. That said you get 800 minutes of roaming on their unlimited plan, and what ever your land line minutes are on their lower plans is the amount of roaming you will have before you have to PAY overages. If the overages happen too much they void your contract after making you aware that their is no unlimited. Now before any one starts debating this look at the advertisements and if that doesn't clue you in call and ask what I said.
They advertised unlimited roaming until I got done with them. They had a little fine print in the back of that agreement letting unsuspecting people that went over know that there was no unlimited roaming. Then they try to collect money for it. But, I let them know that ambiguity in contract law goes to the consumer, and that we can all void our contracts based on this lil tidbit of a lie, because many of us joined because of the roaming plan when we lose their coverage, and since it was a hoax the contract was null and void. They have now changed it to read unlimited roaming on their network only. How can you roam on the very network that you reside.
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Roaming on their network!? I'm trying really hard to find some way to make sense out of that... my legalese-to-english converter is usually pretty good but I just can't....wrap my....anything around that.
daneurysm said:
Pick your provider FIRST, then pick your device.
As stated be sure to not just check a coverage map but to check with friends and coworkers who have Sprint and live/commute/work in your area.
I've traveled the country a little and I have never been without Sprint coverage except in two tiny holes in my home town...where not a single provider has anything but threshold levels of service out doors, indoors you get squat from any of them. These "holes", however, can be deal breakers if you happen to live and/or work in them. Coverage maps help, a little, but asking people (and looking at their signal meters) is far more precise.
As far as data speed is concerned it's a mixed bag. I came from a line of HTC devices where changing the PRL on-the-go was simple so I used the "00001.prl" a lot. This PRL, essentially, puts you on Verizon's towers, full speed 3G. I can honestly say that while Verizon's speeds tend to be far more consistent than Sprint's that even though I had the chance to get out of Sprint this month (for free) that instead of going to Big Red I used that to upgrade to the Epic Touch without hesitation...The data speeds can drag-ass in a highly congested area at times but unless it's lunch time in a 1-bar area I don't tend to dip below 500kbps and if it is later in the day (or evening) and/or in a sparsely populated area (or higher-income area, draw your own conclusions) I have seen as high as 2.7mbps...my friend lives in a low-population high income area and he may be the only Sprint subscriber for miles, lol, and they get 2.5~2.7mbps all day every day. There are also times/places where Sprint's 3G speed absolutely spanks Verizon's.
...as far as 4G goes it can be blazing fast but you probably won't ever get the signal indoors unless you are in a 4G saturated metropolitan environment. I hear lots of complaints about 4G speed but when I get connected it's always faster than my home internet (6mbps, the most you can get from residential ATT DSL around here), I have seen 15mbps too.
As far as price is concerned Sprint wins hands down especially if you consider the unlimited data and free roaming. Voice roaming is unlimited. There is a "soft" limit of 3G roaming at 300mb, but, that is a floating line. If you aren't usually roaming but happen to travel somewhere that you are forced to roam at worst they will call or send you a letter telling you that if you do it again your contract may be terminated. But as long as it doesn't happen at work or at home they are mostly forgiving...and if not? That's a free out on your contract and now you have a $500-$700 (retail) phone for trade-up or resale to go back to Verizon.
EDIT: Oh yeah, battery life. It's killer. Very very killer compared to a Moment, Hero, Evo 4G and Evo 3D this thing slaughters them all. It's hard to say since I have been using my phone more than breathing these past 2 days, but, considering that I'm very impressed....*very* impressed.
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Agreed. Carrier first. A phone shouldn't really be a reason to switch, although this phone is pretty awesome.
Sprint has been AWESOME in nearly all areas. They seem better than VZW for me in rural areas. I live in the middle of nowhere and have EXCELLENT EVDOrA signal.
---------- Post added at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:35 PM ----------
eakrish said:
I don't need a phone to tether, just need a bad ass phone that looks great, feels super fast and has great battery life. I also want a great looking display and widgets that are good for social media.
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Verizon has plenty of phones in that department.. and nearly any Android phone would fill those needs. If you want the best Android phone available right now, this is it.
Also you may want to keep an eye out for the sprint network meeting October 7th. They are going to talk about this new thing called "network vision".
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I switched on Friday and I'm already starting to regret it - I haven't seen a 3G download speed higher than around 90kbps here. The phone is absolutely amazing on wifi and I love the device itself, but out around town it's pretty bad. I tried to download a 2MB or so app at a restaurant where I had a full 5 bars of signal last night and it was still trying to download 15+ minutes later because of how slow the actual download rate was. It's worse than a dial-up modem at time.
I wasn't even thinking about the unlimited data on VZW when I did it too - did I lose that now even if I do a winback?
TabsAZ said:
I switched on Friday and I'm already starting to regret it - I haven't seen a 3G download speed higher than around 90kbps here. The phone is absolutely amazing on wifi and I love the device itself, but out around town it's pretty bad. I tried to download a 2MB or so app at a restaurant where I had a full 5 bars of signal last night and it was still trying to download 15+ minutes later because of how slow the actual download rate was. It's worse than a dial-up modem at time.
I wasn't even thinking about the unlimited data on VZW when I did it too - did I lose that now even if I do a winback?
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I think they are doing something for the launch of the iPHONE. It was never this slow until recently. It had better go back to how it was or I will ditch their asses
TabsAZ said:
I switched on Friday and I'm already starting to regret it - I haven't seen a 3G download speed higher than around 90kbps here. The phone is absolutely amazing on wifi and I love the device itself, but out around town it's pretty bad. I tried to download a 2MB or so app at a restaurant where I had a full 5 bars of signal last night and it was still trying to download 15+ minutes later because of how slow the actual download rate was. It's worse than a dial-up modem at time.
I wasn't even thinking about the unlimited data on VZW when I did it too - did I lose that now even if I do a winback?
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Did you investigate Sprint coverage before you switched? What is signal strength like? Are you metering 90 kbps with SpeedTest app, tethering, or a program like DU Meter?
I'm guessing your PRL is up to date..
I'd also make sure you don't have any background apps downloading stuff.
Also, are you saying 90 kilo-bytes per second or 90 kilo-bits per second. 90 kilo-bytes is almost 1Mbps, and is a low-side average for 3G. That could also vary by network congestion, etc.
90 kilo-bits sounds like 1xRTT and not EVDO.
I'd also check with other users, or try a mobile broadband card if you can.
You will lose unlimited from VZW if you go back, but like I posted earlier, I am surprised they didn't terminate you to get you on limited like they did me.
With all the hubbub surrounding the Clearwire Wimax deal that was signed for the next few years, and the looming launch of LTE (mid-2012?), is it really foolish to sign a new contract and get a Wimax device?
All of the LTE devices I've seen on VZW/AT&T have atrocious battery life at the expense of crazy speeds (20Mbps+). A few coworkers got the Droid Bionic and barely make it to the end of the work day. Old college roommate works for AT&T and he says most of their LTE stuff needs extended batteries in order to be usable for a whole day.
Frankly I can live with Wimax's 3-5Mbps if it means I don't have to keep hovering around a charger all day. The Epic 4G Touch is so very tempting but I'm afraid I'm committing to "old" tech and that in 12 months I'll have regretted it.
(current VZW customer off-contract with an OG Droid)
dparm said:
With all the hubbub surrounding the Clearwire Wimax deal that was signed for the next few years, and the looming launch of LTE (mid-2012?), is it really foolish to sign a new contract and get a Wimax device?
All of the LTE devices I've seen on VZW/AT&T have atrocious battery life at the expense of crazy speeds (20Mbps+). A few coworkers got the Droid Bionic and barely make it to the end of the work day. Old college roommate works for AT&T and he says most of their LTE stuff needs extended batteries in order to be usable for a whole day.
Frankly I can live with Wimax's 3-5Mbps if it means I don't have to keep hovering around a charger all day. The Epic 4G Touch is so very tempting but I'm afraid I'm committing to "old" tech and that in 12 months I'll have regretted it.
(current VZW customer off-contract with an OG Droid)
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Click to collapse
First and foremost the spectrum allocated to Sprint's WiMax sucks. It's a razor thin chunk. That is why Sprint's 4G sucks...LTE isn't inherently better in this regard. If LTE was on the same crappy spectrum it would suck too.
When you can connect to WiMax it's fantastic. I used to get 12-15mbps all day long in my area. Now it's in the 3-8mbps range depending on time of day.
That razor thin strip of spectrum allocated to Sprint/Clearwire's "4G" WiMax makes your connection easily disrupted by such disturbances as a closed window or a stiff breeze...seriously. If you aren't in a very solid 4G area (don't ask Sprint or Clearwire, ask people who have the service in your area) I wouldn't bank on getting a 4G signal very often, if at all. When a rom comes out that doesn't support 4G I don't care at all...yeah, it can be that bad.
With that out of the way it should be noted that you likely won't have Sprint LTE coverage in your area for at least a year, likely 2, maybe 3 or 4. Sprint has some rosy estimates flying around right now, but, I remember how their 3G and 4G rollouts went, so, I wouldn't take their word with a grain of salt...I would outright disregard it.
So where does this leave you? Most likely in an area with sparse (if any) 4G and LTE anywhere from 1.5-3 years away and you want a phone now.
Luckily Sprint's 3G service is improving quickly around the country--quicker in some places than others of course. Also the level of improvement will vary wildly depending on many factors, so, don't even bet on the future...especially when it's in Sprint's hands.
My advice? If you want to be/stay on Sprint and are currently satisfied with your service and would also like the ET4G, well, just go get it. By time your contract is up the LTE devices will actually exist and the LTE will be rolled out and WiMax will still be up and running and hopefully the 3G network is up to snuff.
EDIT: As a current Vzw customer you will likely be either disappointed or even horrified by Sprint's current 3G speeds. Ask around, some markets/areas have amazing performance. Where I live is so-so. I'm now getting 600-1000kbps regularly, though last month it was 300-500kbps. However 5 miles away at my friends house I actually saw 2.8mbps and killer 15mbps 4G all the time. Many people here are nowhere near as lucky as either me or my friend, so, ask around....you can never tell.
I'm in downtown Chicago, so I'm sure that it'll be a high priority area for deployment.
My job is 100% travel though, so for a few months at a time I could be anywhere else in the US (Mon-Fri). Typically it's big cities though, like Houston, NYC, Miami, Denver, etc. I just want something fast but consistent. Voice quality/coverage is priority 1, then battery, then data speeds.
I visited two Sprint stores in different parts of the city this week and the web browsing on their 4G seemed plenty fast.
dparm said:
I'm in downtown Chicago, so I'm sure that it'll be a high priority area for deployment.
My job is 100% travel though, so for a few months at a time I could be anywhere else in the US (Mon-Fri). Typically it's big cities though, like Houston, NYC, Miami, Denver, etc. I just want something fast but consistent. Voice quality/coverage is priority 1, then battery, then data speeds.
I visited two Sprint stores in different parts of the city this week and the web browsing on their 4G seemed plenty fast.
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I travel for work sometimes. Chicago is covered in 4G as are most major metropolitan areas.
So far as voice/text ("2G") is concerned you will be well served everywhere. Sprint has pretty thorough 2G coverage and you will roam on Verizon if not. You get "Unlimited" Roaming. If you roam too much they'll give you the boot. I wouldn't worry about it.
So long as you understand all said about 4G and are fine with that 3G is the only real sticking point and is as I described earlier. You will roam on Verizon (at 1x, ick...but we have ways around that if you are forced to roam momentarily), but, it's usually not Sprint's coverage so much as the performance. I personally have never experienced horribly un-usable 3G anywhere...even tethered to my laptop. But I haven't gone on any business trips in the past 9 months when things have gone downhill rapidly--or so the posts here would have me believe.
I'd say buy a VZW phone outright and stay out of contract. Their speeds will be faster as well as the reliability. If this were my only phone I would've dove headfirst off a bunk bed.
I have a company Blackberry on AT&T and a regular feature phone on AT&T so I'm covered service wise. To give you an idea AT&T's HSDPA (3.5G) technology is faster than Sprint's faux 4G.
I love this phone but something needs to happen soon or people are going to leave in droves. The phone is awesome but the service is something to be desired.
I'm in Northern NJ by the way.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Lately the Verizon 3G coverage in downtown Chicago and the burbs have been sucking. I have updated my PRL several times and even flashed a different ROM just to be certain.
I get 4g in plenty of places. (I live in the bay area). Sprint just gave clear some money so I'm still good with buying my next wimax phone. From what I see and hear, lte isn't better than wimax just yet. Fastest speed I've seen is on hspa+ 22mbps.
I think its a waste if you live in an area like I do that doesn't have Wimax and never will.
I am coming from Verizon and the Thunderbolt and until phones get better battery's lte is not worth it unless you want 8 to 12 hours of battery depending on your usage(on my wifi and 4g and 3g service with sprint after 16hours of usage moderate I have 33% life left) In a few years when sprint gets lte maybe batterys will be caught up. Or if sprint doesnt ill switch to at&t or Verizon again. But I am happy with sprint. And I love this phone
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
I have known since the beginning of the year when the Galaxy S II became available internationally that that was the phone I wanted to upgrade to. The decider for me to go for the Epic Touch 4G variant on Sprint was the truly unlimited data. I was off contract on AT&T, and even though I was fortunate enough to actually get very good service in my area on AT&T, I liked the idea of never having to worry about my data usage, no matter how I might choose to use my phone.
I don't generally get as good data coverage on Sprint as I did on AT&T, but when I do have service it is generally faster than what I got on AT&T, most especially on 4G. And when it does lose Sprint coverage, it roams on Verizon towers, so I really am never completely without service.
And the phone itself is great. No regrets there.
Thanks. Like I said, Verizon's coverage down here lately seems really lousy. The data speed is "acceptable". My OG Droid is still hanging on by a thread and I am still on an unlimited data plan, though I rarely go over 2-3GB per month.
I'm having trouble finding Chicago Sprint owners to comment on coverage and data speeds, though. Only one or two friends of mine have it and they're not really geeky enough to know what I'm interested in...they see a phone as a phone.
dparm said:
Thanks. Like I said, Verizon's coverage down here lately seems really lousy. The data speed is "acceptable". My OG Droid is still hanging on by a thread and I am still on an unlimited data plan, though I rarely go over 2-3GB per month.
I'm having trouble finding Chicago Sprint owners to comment on coverage and data speeds, though. Only one or two friends of mine have it and they're not really geeky enough to know what I'm interested in...they see a phone as a phone.
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You definitely needs to find someone. You do have a buyer's remorse period you could use.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
CODteabagger said:
You definitely needs to find someone. You do have a buyer's remorse period you could use.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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Yes, the 30 day return period is nice. Would give me a shot at really test driving the thing.
Any suggestions on how to get some real details on Chicago Wimax and voice?
wimax will be around thru 2015 at the least... buying a wimax device now wouldnt be the end of the world.
also.. the first sprint lte devices wont get super awesome. and we wont be seeing the good lte chips(the ones that work on multiple bands) until 2013(sprints 2nd lte gen).
Upgrading to a Wimax phone this year seems fine. And you can enjoy the unlimited data. It will set you up to upgrade in 2013, when new phones will be ready to utilize Sprint's LTE (800MHz/1.9GHz) and Clear's LTE-Advanced (2.5GHz).
dparm said:
Yes, the 30 day return period is nice. Would give me a shot at really test driving the thing.
Any suggestions on how to get some real details on Chicago Wimax and voice?
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It's 14 days now.
daneurysm said:
It's 14 days now.
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Ooo that sucks. It'll probably get ****ty 3G speeds on the 15th day.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
CODteabagger said:
I'd say buy a VZW phone outright and stay out of contract. Their speeds will be faster as well as the reliability. If this were my only phone I would've dove headfirst off a bunk bed.
I have a company Blackberry on AT&T and a regular feature phone on AT&T so I'm covered service wise. To give you an idea AT&T's HSDPA (3.5G) technology is faster than Sprint's faux 4G.
I love this phone but something needs to happen soon or people are going to leave in droves. The phone is awesome but the service is something to be desired.
I'm in Northern NJ by the way.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
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Yea Im gonna have to disagree here, one of my customer just bought a skyrocket from att and my touch destroyed his phones speeds while he was on the socalled 4gLTE hspa+ network and I was only in a 3g area (all of san diego county) there is nothing faux bout WiMax, it is all a money issue when it comes down to it.
Yes I am anxious for LTE-A as well as more power efficient radios. I remember when the first "3G" stuff came out years ago (HSDPA or whatever)...the battery life sucked but within a year or two they got it worked out.
daneurysm said:
...Sprint's 4G sucks... When a rom comes out that doesn't support 4G I don't care at all...yeah, it can be that bad.
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Yeah, it's not anything to write home about.
But I mostly use wifi at home and work so I'm not too put out by the slow speeds.
It is good enough to have a halfway decent skype session, youtube, etc...
I was hoping to get some gaming action though.
That ain't happening unless it's on wifi, at least in my area.
Anybody else living in the inland Empire experiencing horrible sprint service? I've looked at there towers and noticed, they don't have much here. Sometimes 3g data speed is so slow it takes ages just to load Google home page :/ any input would be helpful. I don't know if it's my modem affecting the data speeds or if it's the service.
Where are you? By inland empire, do you mean the great plains of the America (Empire)?
Can you do a speedtest and show what you're getting?
iSkylla said:
Where are you? By inland empire, do you mean the great plains of the America (Empire)?
Can you do a speedtest and show what you're getting?
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Pretty sure it's in California
Yes inland Empire in California. Any of you experiencing bad service? I go to school in Ontario and I get phenomenal 4G speeds. But I'm at school so I'm not always able to do what I want on my phone. After School I go home in Moreno Valley, and the service there is just horrible.. Almost to the point where I want to cancel my 2 year agreement. And I have been a loyal sprint customer for 8 years.
I live in the LA area and i get good speeds everywhere except in my house i dont get 4g and 3g is like dial up for me. Check out my speedtest below. I have wifi in my house so ehh no biggy.
The phone is so awesome
Im willing to wait for LTE to start spreading in LA i still got along time before i can upgrade so in the mean time i can deal wth it sprint unlimited is why im here and no longer with Tmobile.
travel to Long Beach frequently, and my 3g is actually fairly decent. around 300-600 kbps? thats 2x faster than what im getting in phoenix... i hope its not getting bad as part of Network Vision, heading that way in 2 weeks...
I live in the I.E. and yes sprint has horrible coverage in alot of places. That's the reason I got a airwave free for my home,cuz I get almost no service otherwise. If you look at the tower upgrade thing it says my area is gonna get a few enhancements over the next 6 months. So you should check your area and see if moval or the cities/places you frequent have planned upgrades before you cancel
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Alright I will. Airwave? You got an Airwave free for your home? Please explain this.... I'm a little confused, what is that? and 6 months of superrrrrr slow service is a lifetime.. I need my E4GT. :/
I don't think and Airrave will help with data issues.
Do you have good voice reception?
Carbajal3009 said:
Anybody else living in the inland Empire experiencing horrible sprint service? I've looked at there towers and noticed, they don't have much here. Sometimes 3g data speed is so slow it takes ages just to load Google home page :/ any input would be helpful. I don't know if it's my modem affecting the data speeds or if it's the service.
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Ya my wife and I both get pretty crappy service in Riverside. I was just in La this last weekend and was so envious of the 4g and the full bars of 3g I had! I'm lucky to pull 2-3 bars most of the time
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Dalmus said:
I don't think and Airrave will help with data issues.
Do you have good voice reception?
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Yes I get good voice reception, do you mind filling me in on what that is? I usually have data off when I go home. Cause there's no point at all having it on if it takes 5mins to load just the Google home page. When I'm in Ontario I have phenomenal 3g and 4G speeds. But once I hit Moval it just takes a dump. It's very very aggravating..
I live in corona and get ok speed.. Im usually hooked up to wifi .. When im not i get ok speed..
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
i live in the IE and 3g service is alright not as fast as i wish but its not that bad well atleast for me and their is no 4g here but once i step into ontario area or go more west im able to get 4g which the speed is good.
its not dial up so you should try updating your prl, modem
Edit: btw
Cali +1 from the DIEGO to THE BAY no other place like it.
I live in Riverside and I have two bars in my house and around Riverside, Moreno valley and San bernardino I get full bars everywhere and average 1.1 mbps on 3G
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I live in the Inland Empire (Hemet) I am cancelling my Sprint Service because of the ungodly Data speeds. frequently 200kbps or less. I'm moving over to T-Mobile. I called Sprint the other day to ask what my ETF fee would be. The representative started arguing with me about T-mobiles fake 4G and how its not a real solution. I came back with two things first "What 4g? I dont have any 4g where I live. I don't even have 3g. The speeds I am getting are Edge speeds" and then Secondly "T-Mobiles fake 4g is real and tangible now. Its also faster then any 4g speeds I have ever clocked on sprint in Brea, Long Beach, Sacramento, Chicago and Manhattan. The question is, "Fake 4g Now or Real 4g Never?"
My friend has a Comet (Google it, its a pathetic entry level android phone) he is able to get consistent 2.5Mbps down anywhere in my town. Also a Coworker has the Galaxy S2 on T-Mobile. Clocking around 14Mbps on T-Mobiles fake 4g network. I never saw more then 7 on Sprints 4G, Ever.
The Airave is a joke. You essentially turn your internet into a cell tower. think about this.... you pay sprint for service that you provide yourself by using the internet that YOU pay for...... hmmm seems like a cop out for them to offer that as a fix all for their poor towers.
I use to love Sprint back in the days of the Hero. When I could easily get 1.2 Mbps down anywhere I went. I dont know if they are just overloaded in the area, or the towers are in need of some TLC but I just cant take it anymore. GSM here I come.
I
watermoore said:
I live in the Inland Empire (Hemet) I am cancelling my Sprint Service because of the ungodly Data speeds. frequently 200kbps or less. I'm moving over to T-Mobile. I called Sprint the other day to ask what my ETF fee would be. The representative started arguing with me about T-mobiles fake 4G and how its not a real solution. I came back with two things first "What 4g? I dont have any 4g where I live. I don't even have 3g. The speeds I am getting are Edge speeds" and then Secondly "T-Mobiles fake 4g is real and tangible now. Its also faster then any 4g speeds I have ever clocked on sprint in Brea, Long Beach, Sacramento, Chicago and Manhattan. The question is, "Fake 4g Now or Real 4g Never?"
My friend has a Comet (Google it, its a pathetic entry level android phone) he is able to get consistent 2.5Mbps down anywhere in my town. Also a Coworker has the Galaxy S2 on T-Mobile. Clocking around 14Mbps on T-Mobiles fake 4g network. I never saw more then 7 on Sprints 4G, Ever.
The Airave is a joke. You essentially turn your internet into a cell tower. think about this.... you pay sprint for service that you provide yourself by using the internet that YOU pay for...... hmmm seems like a cop out for them to offer that as a fix all for their poor towers.
I use to love Sprint back in the days of the Hero. When I could easily get 1.2 Mbps down anywhere I went. I dont know if they are just overloaded in the area, or the towers are in need of some TLC but I just cant take it anymore. GSM here I come.
I
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Ya I know what you mean. I have friends here in Moval and they have Verizon and T mobile and they get great service. Haven't asked them on the 4G service though. I did some research on the towers and noticed there aren't many sprint towers here.. They're all towards the west... :/ LA being the best spot for 4G... Wish I lived there.
Ma$etas said:
i live in the IE and 3g service is alright not as fast as i wish but its not that bad well atleast for me and their is no 4g here but once i step into ontario area or go more west im able to get 4g which the speed is good.
its not dial up so you should try updating your prl, modem
Edit: btw
Cali +1 from the DIEGO to THE BAY no other place like it.
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I just remembered that.. I went flash crazy this month.. And forgot to update my PRL. I've always read that it's good to do that after flashing a rom. And about the modem.. I'm on El29. So far that I know it's the latest and "greatest" modem SO far.. Sorry for the noob question.... But what EXACTLY is PRL. And why should we update it after flashing a rom?
Hello G3 people,
I am getting fed up with Sprints lame ass attempt at an LTE network!
I use my phone mostly in the Lafayette, Louisville, Superior and Broomfield area.
(kind of in between Boulder and Denver)
I was hoping to get some feedback from t-mobile users here in Colorado on Voice quality and equally important if not more to me 4G data performance.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. Even if you are not in Co. and have something usefull to add, feel free.
I have checked out Sensorly maps and it would seem t-mobiles 4G coverage is better.
But it would mean more to me to hear from actual network users in my area.
TIA!
The fact that the bootloader is unlocked is a bonus but not the reason for the considered switch.
I'm in Denver and I absolutely love T-Mobile. I'm always up in Evergreen visiting my parents or in Vail, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek etc snowboarding. In all these places I never have issues with signal loss. My Dad has Verizon and I've never run into an issue in which he had signal and I didn't. Even when we are up at the top of Vail I'll even have signal while he has no bars.
My Mom and sister use Sprint and they NEVER have signal. It's the absolute worst and their customer service is horrid. After 2 years of convincing them they are finally jumping on my fiance's and my family plan at the end of this month.
As for LTE, I live in Greenwood Village and always seem to have 4G LTE signal anywhere around here, downtown Denver, or down near Park Meadows.
I was with Sprint for 10 years and finally made a switch and I'm glad I did! Finally don't need an extra device like an "AirRave" to help with data connection in my home to make and receive calls without being dropped. I now have full bars inside my house without any help from a separate device. Sprint can be soo spotty at times when you really need that data connection it isn't there. Good riddance!
Sent from my LG-D851 using XDA Premium HD app
I'm not in Colorado, but I wanted to chime in.
I was in the same boat as you, with Sprint for 11yrs and dealt with their horrible service, dropped calls, congested network and bad call quality.
And then T-Mobile came out with their Test Drive trial and I gave it a run the very first week it came out (last week of June, this year). I was sent a iPhone 5s (never used one before) and given 7 days to try out their network with no limits, everything unlimited.
I ran speed tests day and night on that thing (used Root Metrics for nonstop testings), gave it to my wife to try out at work and used it at all the spots we frequent. We never had a problem, had better coverage than Sprint and with the corporate discount I could get with Tmo, our bill would be cheaper than Sprint's, and we had SERO with Sprint! Our signal was horrible in our home and Sprint gave us the Airave as well, which used OUR internet connection for our calls and data and yet it was still charged to our account as usage and all their admin fee.
No such thing with Tmo, their antenna is right across the street from us and we get -55dbm signal.
I ordered the LG G3, two of them, plus another line for my sister and ported our numbers over from Sprint to Tmo, all within a few weeks of finishing the Test Drive. Haven't looked back. :highfive:
In any case, my point being is that if you really want to see how the network is in your neck of the woods, I suggest you give the T-Mobile Test Drive service a try and you can see first hand how their network is where you are. It's free and just places a hold in the area just north of $700 for the phone on your credit or debit card, but is cleared within a few days of returning the phone back to them, I checked everything out before I jumped on it.
T-Mobile Test Drive Trial
I live in Broomfield, and work in Boulder. Haven't done a speed test, but LTE speeds seem pretty fast. I'll do a speed test and post my results.
---------- Post added at 07:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 AM ----------
Okay so I can't seem to figure ot how to upload my screenshot... These are my results from Boulder, using a T-Mobile server in Denver
Ping: 26
DL: 17.54
UL: 11.71
I've read that some people are getting 30+ mbps DL speeds though. I'll do a test this afternoon when I'm back in Broomfield.