So, recently I saw a post that clear/sprint wimax/4g coverage suddenly appeared in toledo ohio. a couple days later I saw the coverage (although still minimal) had almost doubled. I lived in seattle and now chicago, and not too far from downtown in either place, yet I happened to have an apartment within 4g coverage that was "best outside" meaning that short of setting my phone on a window sill with the window open, I couldn't get a signal. I suppose that's beside the point, but what I'm wondering is... What is sprint thinking? I know sprint owns a significant portion of clear, but do they actually intend to switch to lte eventually? Are they currently deploying their new unified towers and don't mind adding wimax with them? Are they throwing money at clear, who I thought was nearly bankrupt? Can these wimax towers quickly and easily be converted to lte, or have lte added? What does clearwire do besides sell modems and annoy me at the mall? How long does it take and how much money does it cost to put a wimax tower somewhere? Will holes in chicago and seattle ever get patched or is indoor signal lower priority than new markets? Why does there not seem to be any information or leaked roadmap about their plans?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Well For 1
I would be pissed if they discontinued clear/wimax expansion, it's the reason I bought my evo, with that being said I've seen articles that state they will be working out a way to carry lte and wimax, via tower conversions, which some people say isn't possible, others say anything is possible. There are many opinons, but just like any new technolog, money must be invested, and pushed forward. Plus maybe clear/sprint plan on selling the wimax off at a later date, or subcontracting the towers or something like that. If they fail to continue pushing wimax or fail to develop it then that outcome would be much harsher then pushing a technology that may be adpapted or replaced all together. But to push 4g so hard then discontinue wimax development would be suicidal for both companies
Yeah, I can see how they would need to stick with it now, it just seems to be very secretive. I know you want an upper hand on the competition, but if I were a stockholder id want to know the plan. If sprint wants to go hard with 4g, why not just throw several million at clear, give people some jobs, and put a ton more towers up. I guess I don't understand why, if theyre pushing wimax, they don't have a lot more towers popping up a lot more quickly then they are. Even with a recent appearance of a lot of new markets, you'd think they could tell us the next dozen cities, or light it up more quickly.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
wrb123 said:
Yeah, I can see how they would need to stick with it now, it just seems to be very secretive. I know you want an upper hand on the competition, but if I were a stockholder id want to know the plan. If sprint wants to go hard with 4g, why not just throw several million at clear, give people some jobs, and put a ton more towers up. I guess I don't understand why, if theyre pushing wimax, they don't have a lot more towers popping up a lot more quickly then they are. Even with a recent appearance of a lot of new markets, you'd think they could tell us the next dozen cities, or light it up more quickly.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is that this is the reason why all plans are getting the extra $10 charge for data. The added income will allow Sprint to throw more money at Clear and get more 4g towers up more quickly. More money means more workers which means more towers more quickly. Plus that'll give more money to the research and development team to get us quicker 4g.
It all makes sense to me. I think stockholders need to decipher current events and figure it out instead of making the company hold their hands through everything.
If they go LTE I'm going back to T-Mobile. I do not want LTE ever.
What's wrong with lte? I know lte in itself isn't dependent upon a certain spectrum, but i also heard sprint could possibly decommission its iden/nextel frequency and use that for something, and if lte and wimax are approximately the same speed, and there is adequate coverage, who cares what technology is behind it? using the lower frequency for lte and phasing out wimax (or having them coexist) would be fine with me if it meant a lower frequency for better indoor reception. I think google and intel should throw some of their extra money at clear... or are they regretting having invested?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
If you haven't read before, ltd gives carriers the ability to control data 100%. If they want they can make you pay to gain access to things like YouTube.
Sent from my evo 4g
Is there a page somewhere that states what areas are on the waitlist for 4g?
Sprint is planning on using new white space to penetrate into buildings. But I'm sure we will see the wimax / lte combo soon. Especially since Verizon wants to stop sprint from roaming on their census towers.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
There is a new technology that condensed 2G, 3G, and LTE into one base station and antenna ......and it's the size of a rubrics cube. Perhaps they would use those to add LTE.
more Info on phonescoop
Sent from my Evo using XDA App
WiMax can be fairly easily switched to LTE, with a "software update and push of a button" from what I've heard. So putting out new WiMax means they're putting out the infrastructure for LTE later.
wrb123 said:
What's wrong with lte? I know lte in itself isn't dependent upon a certain spectrum, but i also heard sprint could possibly decommission its iden/nextel frequency and use that for something, and if lte and wimax are approximately the same speed, and there is adequate coverage, who cares what technology is behind it? using the lower frequency for lte and phasing out wimax (or having them coexist) would be fine with me if it meant a lower frequency for better indoor reception. I think google and intel should throw some of their extra money at clear... or are they regretting having invested?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Outside of carrier controlled data (one of my greatest fears, as I use my wireless tether rather sporadically and for various reasons) I would have to go with that my Sprint phone doesn't have a LTE chip in it. If sprint switched to LTE exclusively then our Evos would drop back to 3g and we'd still have to pay for 4g. Or, if they switched to LTE/wimax combo, it would give them almost no incentive to upgrade wimax anymore and our speeds would be stuck where they are now.
Also, I've always been a huge fan of company competition. Sprint/Clear vs Verizon/LTE vs Tmobile, ATT/HSPA+ (if it did stay that way) would mean a plethora of options for us, the consumer. This would keep things like data rates low. What would stop all 4 carriers from charging $50 for data if they all ran off the same network?
I'm also curious if they're working at all on expanding coverage in markets that have some here and there but not all over. For instance Austin has it in a lot of the metro area but it is nowhere near as covered in residential areas.
http://nexus404.com/Blog/2011/02/10...s-to-give-up-retail-without-giving-up-retail/
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
From what a sprint rep told me was that they plan on having 4g to all their markets sometime early 2011. At first I thought she meant major markets but Ive noticed up here in Indiana even some of the smaller cities like Kokomo etc have weak 4g in some spots.
neopolotin75 said:
up here in Indiana even some of the smaller cities like Kokomo etc have weak 4g in some spots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kokomo, Indiana has 4g? fml
a lot of subscribers would be very upset if they dropped wimax.
the lawsuits would be destructive to sprint.
my bbb complaints would get me free service for life.
tgrgrd00 said:
Kokomo, Indiana has 4g? fml
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea believe it or not......you can get a test signal....its not full blown but its there....
I'm in a best indoor/outdoor coverage area near Tampa, FL and can't even get 4G outside in the wide open.
Was quiet the letdown getting my Evo and smashing the 4G button excited that Sprint finally had 4G in my area and getting 'Poor' signal and then disconnecting shortly after.
Verizon shows solid LTE around here, that's next on my list to try. Even if I have to pay out the ass for it.
cutthroatamft said:
There is a new technology that condensed 2G, 3G, and LTE into one base station and antenna ......and it's the size of a rubrics cube. Perhaps they would use those to add LTE.
more Info on phonescoop
Sent from my Evo using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i heard about those, and they seem cool, but i only want wimax. i just want to get it where i live (LA county) so i can use it on my evo. i don't care what they do anywhere else. also how much does it cost to upgrade a tower to 4g? if the richer ppl (myself somewhat included) using sprint donate some $$$ can we get 4g faster? then they get more people joining sprint because they got more 4g, and we got some of our $$$ back? i just wanna get 4g out here ASAP. rumors going around that it's coming out here in march, anyone know where i can check? about to call sprint later and ask.
I tried a T-Mobile hspa+ phone inside my apartment where 4g is mysteriously absent (bad frequency and bad building penetration) and on T-Mobile 3g it got 3000kbps+ consistently! really considering going to tmobile before the end of the day and getting a free g2, just paying the sprint etf and selling the evo.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Related
This is likely a dumb question, buts its worth a shot, do any of you Sprint insiders have any info on some future WiMax cities? I have used 4G going through Nashville and Atlanta, but I would really love it have it here in Louisville.
Its just frustrating that a city with a metro population of 1.4 Million doesn't have 4G, yet smaller towns like Lansing, MI and Wichita Falls, TX do.
It has to do with the way Clear does business. They will go into small cities because there is less competition. Grand Rapids, Mi, for example, gave Clear tax incentives to build their network there. They are in a lot of larger and mid-sized cities, but they are going to go where there is less competition, or some other type of incentive to go there. Sprint is going to have a good amount of say in where Clear builds out since they own a majority of Clear, but Clear still needs to be profitable (which they are not), or at least try.
Sent from my Epic 4G with midNIGHT 3.3 ROM
Sprint is switching to LTE in the near future so WiMax is going away
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
giantmidget said:
Sprint is switching to LTE in the near future so WiMax is going away
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where's your source on this?
obiwrx_3zero3 said:
Where's your source on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent question. Would give you thanks but apparently I'm limited to 5 a day.
I work at a Sprint service & got to listen in on a conference call with the sprint engineers. I shouldn't have said near future cause ETA is 2012 for it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
obiwrx_3zero3 said:
Where's your source on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a topic on Engadget about it. http://m.engadget.com/default/artic...ur-to-six-months/&category=classic&postPage=1
Sent from my Epic 4G
Sooo...if sprint did decide to switch to LTE...would that make us obsolete? I'm assuming I wouldn't get "4g" since my phone is wimax right? If that's the case, there would be some serious hell to pay since 4g and sprints pricing is the only reason I got rid of my 4 year old xv6800 and switched from verizon.
Sent from my baked and emotionless SPH-D700
squshy 7 said:
Sooo...if sprint did decide to switch to LTE...would that make us obsolete? I'm assuming I wouldn't get "4g" since my phone is wimax right? If that's the case, there would be some serious hell to pay since 4g and sprints pricing is the only reason I got rid of my 4 year old xv6800 and switched from verizon.
Sent from my baked and emotionless SPH-D700
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a good question? anyone want to answer this?
davidrules7778 said:
Thats a good question? anyone want to answer this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My best guess would be that the current 4G hardware would be fine. Clear is where Sprint gets their WiMax and Clear has a lot of customers using WiMax for home internet with a lot of equipment and I don't see it being cost effective to try and get everyone on LTE at the same time. Sprint and Clear would probably shift everyone over to LTE at some point, but that would be years down the road after LTE comes out. Kind of like the way the cell providers handled the switch from analog to digital. Just a guess, but when LTE comes out, there will be overlap while they sell out of their WiMax equipment as cheaper phones and sell new LTE equipment as their premium phones and they will support WiMax for 3-5 years longer. This is all conjecture, but I think this is the way it will happen.
Sent from my Epic 4G with midNIGHT 3.3 ROM
Yeah, and lets be honest with ourselves too...by the time this would actually happen across their entire current 3G spectrum, most people would already be on new phones by then anyway, regardless of how happy or not they are on their current one anyway.
giantmidget said:
I work at a Sprint service & got to listen in on a conference call with the sprint engineers. I shouldn't have said near future cause ETA is 2012 for it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I call BS.
While Sprint can/will be able to flick a switch and enable LTE, there is no good reason to do it unless they want to BYOD Verizon phones. Which might be a reason to do it.
WiMAX has done better than LTE across the board. WiMAX comes from an IT background, with it's endless dev cycle and fierce price competition. LTE comes from a telco background, with it's bloat and ponderous plodding.
This means LTE deployments are very slow but work well. WiMax customers are going to suffer through bugs but they will be patched and reved through quickly.
Sprint has never has GSM phones, tho they are more common. Why Sprint would give up there mufti year head start to switch tech is beyond me.
LargePrime said:
I call BS.
While Sprint can/will be able to flick a switch and enable LTE, there is no good reason to do it unless they want to BYOD Verizon phones. Which might be a reason to do it.
WiMAX has done better than LTE across the board. WiMAX comes from an IT background, with it's endless dev cycle and fierce price competition. LTE comes from a telco background, with it's bloat and ponderous plodding.
This means LTE deployments are very slow but work well. WiMax customers are going to suffer through bugs but they will be patched and reved through quickly.
Sprint has never has GSM phones, tho they are more common. Why Sprint would give up there mufti year head start to switch tech is beyond me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to knock anything you're saying but in my opinion, Wi-max isn't really good.
Sure, it has great range. Building penetration however, sucks. 2.5 ghz spectrum is not good IMO. Right now Verizon is testing VOLTE, voWIMAX on phones will be awful. It works well on Clear because most people put their modems in one spot and that's it. For phones, it would call for frequent disconnects.
I love Sprint, but after the froyo debacle, and me playing around with LTE 4G.
I believe LTE is the way to go
WiMAX is an open spec and does not have a frequency requirement. LTE is worse at building penetration then WiMAX, but that is not important. It is about frequency.
Sprint could run WiMax over 800 MHZ just fine. Poof no more reason for LTE.
But penetration, I understand, is not going to be a problem when we get around to 802.16m.
LTE is a closed, expensive, protocol. It is not network centric, it's Telco centric.
Anywhere in louisiana Please
ryno502 said:
Its just frustrating that a city with a metro population of 1.4 Million doesn't have 4G, yet smaller towns like Lansing, MI and Wichita Falls, TX do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that frustrates you?
How about this, Sebring, a city about 60 miles west of me has 4G via Clear. It is only Sebring, not bleed over from a neighboring city or anything like that.
Their population is around 10,000.
Suck on that for a while.
giantmidget said:
Sprint is switching to LTE in the near future so WiMax is going away
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I met a guy that works for ERICSSON which that company maintains Sprint towers here in Austin Texas.
He told me that LTE is more reliable/cheaper than clear-wire 4g. And not to expect anything till 2013/2014.
And he also told me that clear-wire 4g is not making profit.
If this is true ..I really don't know
Personally I think 4g sucks..unreliable
Why you do not want LTE
The thread is long and through. I think I'ma sig it.
If Sprint rolls out LTE in Q2 of 2012, does this mean my promises of 4G coverage takes a giant sized dump?
ET4G
Nobody knows.
I don't think so, they won't abandon WiMax entirely, not for awhile at least. Besides, with Network Vision there isn't much to worry about.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
yeah, looks like unless there is some way the et4g can receive a wimax signal...we are gonna be left on the curve holding our phones and a big handful of nothing!
rather than returning the phone, how about a refund for all the months that i've been paying for 4g services and getting nothing! basically we have been funding a technology that we aren't even going to be able to take advantage of...genius Sprint, absolutely genius.
sounds like a class action lawsuit if you ask me. and sprint shouldn't think it wouldn't happen, they should take a lesson from what bank of america is going through with their over draft fees.
How about everybody chills out, takes a deep breath, steps back and realizes that by time Sprint shuts off the WiMax transmitters our ET4Gs will be obsolete pieces of crap and we'll definitely be eligible for upgrades...?
daneurysm said:
How about everybody chills out, takes a deep breath, steps back and realizes that by time Sprint shuts off the WiMax transmitters our ET4Gs will be obsolete pieces of crap and we'll definitely be eligible for upgrades...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hrmmm I highly doubt it. Once again everything is rumored till officially announce. Saying that the rumors are suggesting for now that Sprint is going to release new phones with both LTE and Wimax radio's. That means Wimax would not be turning off anytime soon. Plus all you really have to do is take good care of your phone, maybe, get a good sturdy case and just sell it later for a LTE variant phone if LTE does become more predominant anytime soon, which I doubt. That's my game plan for now since I am a phone nerd who wants only the best.
Edit:
Sorry daneurysm I read your post wrong. I actually agree with what you say.
ill cross the bridge when it comes. If they switch everything to LTE, they wont just abandon wimax number one, theyve put too much $$ into it, number two who cares. If a LTE phone comes out that I want, Ill just buy a phone that supports it and sell the s2. But for now, im totally happy with the s2, so I say again my friends, lets just cross the bridge when it comes
TheDudeAbides said:
If Sprint rolls out LTE in Q2 of 2012, does this mean my promises of 4G coverage takes a giant sized dump?
ET4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to a bunch of cnet articles, yes, the october 7 announcement will include the end of the clear partnership. In other words, the 4g service you have now is the 4g service you will have for the life of your phone.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Sprint is looking to eventually build out/migrate to a TD-LTE network, which is at least partially compatible with wimax supposedly
The technology is very similar, if Sprint were to just switch to LTE now, as far as I know all that they would have to do is a firmware update. I could be wrong though, I am certainly not an expert. It comes back to Network Vision though, Sprint could easily have both with minimal cost.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Im just wondering if they go LTE what will happen to me? I'm in an area that doesn't have Wimax and never will so what now?
they will probably make it work, i cant see them having a million people with wiimax smartphones look stupid when lte come
LTE & WiMax
I have read multiple places that the underlying layer 0 technology in Wimax and LTE are functionally the same. That most modern WiMax technology can be flashed to support both LTE and WiMax. Clear mentioned this several times in their releases regarding their building of an LTE network. Sprint has said something along the same lines when they announced their deal to build an LTE Network for someone else. It would absolutely result in a class action lawsuit if Sprint continued to sell new WiMax phones without the intention of extending WiMax in to those areas that currently do not have WiMax service, especially when advertising that they were rolling it out nationwide. There appear to already be class action lawsuits winding their way through the legal system for people who are suing over being charged the premium data fee for an Evo when their Anything Data Plan said they were entitled to unlimited data on Sprint's network. It is strongly believed that this is why Sprint changed it to all smart phones, even those on older plans so as to close that gate. I live about 10 miles from the closest WiMax service and it hasn't changed in 2 years. I honestly expect that they will ultimately expand it in to my area because I live along a major California Highway heading north. I sort of new this was coming when I bought the phone so it really means less to me the when I purchased the HTC View as the data plan on my phone allows me unlimited 3G but my View has only 4gb of 3G and that scares me enough to not use it fervently to watch Midget Porn. Midget Porn uses less GBs to stream, takes up less storage space and is formats perfectly for the Epic Touch Screen. Think about it for a second. Yeah it is funny.
Midget porn... yes...
Sent from my PG06100 using xda premium
Today’s Sprint strategy meeting revealed a significant amount of information about the future of the Now Network. Sprint has began the rollout of its new network and the rapid deployment of LTE on their 800 and 1900MHz frequencies. In fact, the “Network Vision” deployment is going so well that Sprint is expecting to be completely finished by the of end of 2013, rather than the speculated 3 to 5 years.
Sprint is investing $4 to $5 billion into “Network Vision,” with an expected net return of $10 to $11 billion by 2017. Sprint is expecting to launch it’s first LTE device by mid-2012 (posibly an LTE EVO device) and close the year with 15 LTE devices in it’s lineup. The agreement between Clearwire and Sprint is set expire at the end of 2012. Sprint will sell WiMax devices all the way through til the end of 2012, but support for WiMax devices will continue for an unspecified period beyond 2012.
Sprint is progressively turning over the Nextel 800MHz spectrum for use on CDMA. The 800 and 1900MHz spectra are owned and operated by Sprint, and will provide for voice, data, and 4G as per “Network Vision.” Pending FCC approval due to GPS interference, LightSquared’s 1600MHz spectrum will also be used exclusively for LTE on Sprint, in addition to the 800 and 1900MHz frequencies. There are no plans to use Clearwire or their 2.5GHz spectrum after 2012. However, Sprint is waiting to see what happens with their network change to LTE.
Many of you have numerous questions such as: “Why is LightSquared paying Sprint to use their LTE network?”, “Where is Sprint getting the money to invest in “Network Vision?”, “What is going to happen to my WiMax device?”, or “How does this effect me?” Keep reading for answers to all these questions.
http://briefmobile.com/understanding-sprints-strategy
My question is why do they need so many frequencys of lte
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
gtuansdiamm said:
My question is why do they need so many frequencys of lte
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it answers spectrum issues while allowing for building penetration when needed.
gtuansdiamm said:
My question is why do they need so many frequencys of lte
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1900MHz will be the primary LTE usage. 800MHz will be used by around 20% of users, and that's mainly deep in buildings and in extremely rural areas. 1600MHz is basically a bonus that came with LightSquare. There is still a chance the FCC might not pass it's usage of the frequency because it is so close to the GPS frequency. It's only 20MHz of spectrum in the 1600MHz realm, so it's no big deal. It's the money that Sprint needs.
Does this mean that our Wimax devices will be worthless? I hate that we have to pay an up charge for 4g devices using a technology that will not be in service in two years and Sprint really dragged their butts in trying to implement in the first place. I will probably upgrade to a new device by this time, but it is really pissing me off that they do this and cancel the one year upgrade.
Not that my Wimax is really doing anything in the first place, whenever I go to a place that has Wimax coverage (per Clearmax's maps) I can get just enough signal for my phone to tell me it has 4g. I get excited and then find out that its not strong enough and this is with two different phones (Epic & Epic Touch) and then the phone gives up on connecting to 4g anyway.
I paid the 3g up charge around 2006 when I lived in a town that did not have 3g coverage. I did not mind as Sprint upgraded their towers and eventually got me 3g. I would be pissed to pay this fee on phone using technology that they will abandon requiring me to buy something else to take advantage of newer technology that I have subsidized through a charge that I have never really taken advantage of.
Thanks Sprint for selling us devices with an up charge for a technology that you will abandon in a few years.
mag44 said:
Does this mean that our Wimax devices will be worthless? I hate that we have to pay an up charge for 4g devices using a technology that will not be in service in two years and Sprint really dragged their butts in trying to implement in the first place. I will probably upgrade to a new device by this time, but it is really pissing me off that they do this and cancel the one year upgrade.
Not that my Wimax is really doing anything in the first place, whenever I go to a place that has Wimax coverage (per Clearmax's maps) I can get just enough signal for my phone to tell me it has 4g. I get excited and then find out that its not strong enough and this is with two different phones (Epic & Epic Touch) and then the phone gives up on connecting to 4g anyway.
I paid the 3g up charge around 2006 when I lived in a town that did not have 3g coverage. I did not mind as Sprint upgraded their towers and eventually got me 3g. I would be pissed to pay this fee on phone using technology that they will abandon requiring me to buy something else to take advantage of newer technology that I have subsidized through a charge that I have never really taken advantage of.
Thanks Sprint for selling us devices with an up charge for a technology that you will abandon in a few years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiMax will be supported for around 2 to 3 years after 2012. I will bet on that.
newalker91 said:
Stop it. You're not paying any fee for 4G, you're paying for having a data intensive smartphone. So tired of hearing people whine about $10 saying it's for a service they don't get. It is not a charge for 4G. Go price a plan on another unlimited carri- oh wait you cant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, corporate double speak from from Sprint. They did the exact SAME THING during the 3G roll out. I remember I had a Samsung A900 phone at the time. You are paying to subside their 4G roll out and I personally don't care about this if they didn't bungle it with this Wimax crap that they are abandoning in a few years.
Data intensive is just a joke after they realized that they weren't going to get 4g into many markets and even the markets that they got into implemented it in the coverage was too spotty.
Anyway If they really wanted to tax "data intensive" phones why didn't they do this earlier, they had phones that sucked up data before this whole charge.
I'm not complaining about the charge itself, I would appreciate it if it was used like the 3G charge. Which I believe helped the speed of the 3g implementation. I have been with Sprint since 2002 moved from a big city to a smaller town since then and was impressed with their service upgrades in the 2006~2007 time period.
mag44 said:
Yes, corporate double speak from from Sprint. They did the exact SAME THING during the 3G roll out. I remember I had a Samsung A900 phone at the time. You are paying to subside their 4G roll out and I personally don't care about this if they didn't bungle it with this Wimax crap that they are abandoning in a few years.
Data intensive is just a joke after they realized that they weren't going to get 4g into many markets and even the markets that they got into implemented it in the coverage was too spotty.
Anyway If they really wanted to tax "data intensive" phones why didn't they do this earlier, they had phones that sucked up data before this whole charge.
I'm not complaining about the charge itself, I would appreciate it if it was used like the 3G charge. Which I believe helped the speed of the 3g implementation. I have been with Sprint since 2002 moved from a big city to a smaller town since then and was impressed with their service upgrades in the 2006~2007 time period.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what if you are? They have to pay for it some how!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
newalker91 said:
Stop it. You're not paying any fee for 4G, you're paying for having a data intensive smartphone. So tired of hearing people whine about $10 saying it's for a service they don't get. It is not a charge for 4G. Go price a plan on another unlimited carri- oh wait you cant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, it's not worth it.
It's been discussed and proven 10000000000000000000000000000 times on this boards.
They're trolls.
They should honestly get a ban for not reading and just trolling.
Korey_Nicholson said:
So what if you are? They have to pay for it some how!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole point is they picked the wrong 4g technology. They decided to charge people for 4g initially, then realized that they messed up and decided to call the extra charge to a "data intensive" fee to cover their butts so people would not complain about not having 4g. And people like me would get labeled as whiners for even bringing up the issue. I travel a lot and even when I am in 4g cities the coverage is spotty at best. Now Sprint has changed paths, along with their upgrade offer, potentially leaving people in the dust with their extra fees.
Like I said in my earlier post I paid the extra fee to have a 3g phone when they first came out, but I would be pissed if they changed to some new 3g technology and my phone lost one of its selling points. I didn't mind that I got no 3g service at first in my home town but it eventually came.
mag44 said:
The whole point is they picked the wrong 4g technology. They decided to charge people for 4g initially, then realized that they messed up and decided to call the extra charge to a "data intensive" fee to cover their butts so people would not complain about not having 4g. And people like me would get labeled as whiners for even bringing up the issue. I travel a lot and even when I am in 4g cities the coverage is spotty at best. Now Sprint has changed paths, along with their upgrade offer, potentially leaving people in the dust with their extra fees.
Like I said in my earlier post I paid the extra fee to have a 3g phone when they first came out, but I would be pissed if they changed to some new 3g technology and my phone lost one of its selling points. I didn't mind that I got no 3g service at first in my home town but it eventually came.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) At no point was it ever labeled a 4g fee.
2) By the time the Wimax network is shut down no one on XDA will have one and most of the rest of the population will have moved on as well.
See newalker91....its pointless.
Its literally the same pointless and rehashed arguments that have been used the last year and a half
newalker91 said:
They have openly stated that the Premium Data fee is to help carry the costs of both 4G roll-out and 3G backhaul improvements. The reason they need to do these things is because of the fact that a smartphone can now burn through 5-10 GB of data in a month without much effort at all. With the increase in data streaming/file hosting/social networking applications, it will only get higher. Add in the addition of the iPhone, the network cannot handle it. People want more than what they pay for, it's a rule of thumb with any service, it just gets really frustrating after hearing it day in and day out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I keep hearing the iphone will take down your network argument but how is an iphone any different than any top line android phone. They run the same or similar applications.
Anyway, I don't think anyone understands my frustration or bothered to read my posts. I DO NOT MIND PAYING THE EXTRA DATA FEE. I just feel used by having to pay to subsidies for some crappy "4g" technology that Sprint is abandoning and changed their phone upgrade policies to screw people who are attempting to take advantage of at the moment.
I have been a Sprint customer since 2002 and like their service for the most part, they provide value that I have not seen with the other carriers. I also love move Epic Touch it is a great phone its just stuff like this that gets me pissed off.
---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 AM ----------
mattykinsx said:
1) At no point was it ever labeled a 4g fee.
2) By the time the Wimax network is shut down no one on XDA will have one and most of the rest of the population will have moved on as well.
See newalker91....its pointless.
Its literally the same pointless and rehashed arguments that have been used the last year and a half
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay not a 4g data fee but a PREMIUM DATA FEE. The 4g was not the total decider but it was a major decision point in their implementation of this fee. And I think that you are missing the point, I honestly don't care about the fee if they were using this to improve their Wimax. As far as phones using more data, they've had plenty of smartphones on the network before they did this, it was the 4g that allowed them to charge people.
http://androidandme.com/2010/05/new...s-mandatory-10-premium-29-for-mobile-hotspot/
Argument is also not "rehashed" as Sprint didn't decide to abandon their technology until this week but reading comprehension is beyond you so I will have to forgive you.
Again not complaining about the fee itself, I'm complaining about Sprints Wimax wasteland. If you read my posts I paid a $10 fee for my Samsung A900 3g and did not care because it garnered results. But here it ends up subsidizing some worthless and eventually abandoned technology. But, I am just a troll so what do I know.
And saying that nobody will have a wimax phone by the time they are phased out is an excellent argument. First, Sprint has changed their upgrade polices so many people NOT ON XDA (I do care about people not on this website) will be stuck on second tier wimax crap. Next, if you have a 4G phone right now you are paying for 4g wimax coverage (Yes you are also paying for the great camera on the phone and your facebook usage but if you read Sprint's statement this is mainly driven by 4g). I know that Sprint's official statements say that this extra charge is to cover the amount of data used by these phones but they decided to wait until their 4g phones were release and their poorly implemented 4g roll out. Its not smart to say its okay because by the time it comes through "we'll all have new phones".
And one more question, "Is the regular user burning through 5~10 GB of Data of their phone?". The only people that I know doing this are people who stream Netflix or something similar, who are not in the majority and Nextflix is not on every phone yet. I understand that there are users using an healthy amount of data on their phones but these people are NOT in the majority.
Although take my words for what its worth I just a troll though I've been here longer than the people who think that I am
newalker91 said:
They have openly stated that the Premium Data fee is to help carry the costs of both 4G roll-out and 3G backhaul improvements. The reason they need to do these things is because of the fact that a smartphone can now burn through 5-10 GB of data in a month without much effort at all. With the increase in data streaming/file hosting/social networking applications, it will only get higher. Add in the addition of the iPhone, the network cannot handle it. People want more than what they pay for, it's a rule of thumb with any service, it just gets really frustrating after hearing it day in and day out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except we were just sold shiny new $600 phones, of which 4G is a prominent selling point... and now the majority of us in the country who don't currently have WiMAX are now hung out to dry for 2 years because we have no hope of ever GETTING 4G unless we want to fork out ANOTHER $600 for a new phone.
If I knew I was going to benefit by eventually being able to use 4G with this device, or even get reasonable 3G speeds in the major city I live in, I wouldn't be resentful of the fee at all. However, I will never be able to use 4G on this phone, and they could triple my current average 3G speeds and I'd be up to a whopping .5mbps.
Dalmus said:
Except we were just sold shiny new $600 phones, of which 4G is a prominent selling point... and now the majority of us in the country who don't currently have WiMAX are now hung out to dry for 2 years because we have no hope of ever GETTING 4G unless we want to fork out ANOTHER $600 for a new phone.
If I knew I was going to benefit by eventually being able to use 4G with this device, or even get reasonable 3G speeds in the major city I live in, I wouldn't be resentful of the fee at all. However, I will never be able to use 4G on this phone, and they could triple my current average 3G speeds and I'd be up to a whopping .5mbps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More like 1.5 mb/s consistently
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Dalmus said:
Except we were just sold shiny new $600 phones, of which 4G is a prominent selling point... and now the majority of us in the country who don't currently have WiMAX are now hung out to dry for 2 years because we have no hope of ever GETTING 4G unless we want to fork out ANOTHER $600 for a new phone.
If I knew I was going to benefit by eventually being able to use 4G with this device, or even get reasonable 3G speeds in the major city I live in, I wouldn't be resentful of the fee at all. However, I will never be able to use 4G on this phone, and they could triple my current average 3G speeds and I'd be up to a whopping .5mbps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the gimmick that is "4g" is that big of a deal to you then sell your phone, go back to whatever phone you had and use that money when the LTE devices are available.
When Sprint Vision is released the 3g will be plenty fast.
Believe it or not, I know Verizon has convinced people of otherwise, you don't need 20mbit/s on your phone.
Or any speed close.
Christ, most people don't even have 20 mbit/s in their home!
Is that a server in your pocket? Didn't think so...
Nice XDAdvertisement, Mr. Nicholson.
k0nane said:
Nice XDAdvertisement, Mr. Nicholson.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe , attack strategy
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I am fine with 400-600KB/s
I must say I'm sad that I bought the ET4g and will never in its lifeget to turn on the 4g radio... seriously though its a little saddening I see both side of the story. When I got my evo4g I had 1.2Mb/sec download which is less than half of verizons 3g speeds on kauai and now in the last 6 months I'm at .3-.2 Mb/sec. Just makes me sad is all. I have a ferrari of a phone with a moped engine of a network hahahaha
mattykinsx said:
If the gimmick that is "4g" is that big of a deal to you then sell your phone, go back to whatever phone you had and use that money when the LTE devices are available.
When Sprint Vision is released the 3g will be plenty fast.
Believe it or not, I know Verizon has convinced people of otherwise, you don't need 20mbit/s on your phone.
Or any speed close.
Christ, most people don't even have 20 mbit/s in their home!
Is that a server in your pocket? Didn't think so...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, 4G isn't a big deal to me... And no, I don't need 20 mbits. You are right.
However, when I'm paying a "premium data fee" and the vast majority of the locations I go in the large city I live in have data speeds of about 15-20 kbytes/s, I get irritated. That's 1xRTT speeds. Three blocks from a tower. How do I know? Because I can force roam onto Verizon and get the same data speeds as I do native on Sprint.
If I lived in the middle of nowhere, I would expect bad 3G coverage, but I don't. I'm three freaking blocks from a Sprint tower, in a top 20 city in the country. I get the same speeds at 4am as I do at 4pm when all the 15 year olds get home from school and play on their phones.
And now, I get to wait until some mysterious time between now and the end of 2013 for them to implement their Network Vision plan in my area. Then my speeds can triple, and I'll get and average of 60 kbytes, which is still slower than Verizon, AT&T, and even Billy Bob's Cellular Emporium.
Believe me, I stay because I get a 25% discount from work, so my monthly bill is far cheaper than anything Verizon or AT&T can offer. But that is the ONLY reason. I generally discourage people from moving to Sprint, which in the long haul is worse for Sprint than if just left for Verizon.
Maybe Network Vision will result in finally getting the same, or at least similar, 3G speeds as everyone else on the planet... I'll be a happy camper. But with Sprint's history of a decreasing network footprint and decreasing data speeds, I'm not going to count on it.
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)
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 14 days now.
daneurysm said:
It's 14 days now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
I was wondering since LTE is rolling out (at least here in Dallas it is), what happens to ppl with WiMax phones? I'm sure we'll still be able to use it, but shouldn't we be able to enjoy the network also? I'm not saying give everybody free phones, but at least make it possible for everybody to get a LTE phone, especially those who have suffered thru these horrible "4G" years. We spend our money on "Data plans" every month, but who actually enjoys their coverage? I know its alot of ppl who agree with me cause i see it all the time in these forums. Anybody have an idea as to whats up with this?
mrbsb said:
I was wondering since LTE is rolling out (at least here in Dallas it is), what happens to ppl with WiMax phones? I'm sure we'll still be able to use it, but shouldn't we be able to enjoy the network also? I'm not saying give everybody free phones, but at least make it possible for everybody to get a LTE phone, especially those who have suffered thru these horrible "4G" years. We spend our money on "Data plans" every month, but who actually enjoys their coverage? I know its alot of ppl who agree with me cause i see it all the time in these forums. Anybody have an idea as to whats up with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're fortunate you actually have 4g... I've been paying for 4g for 3 years, and the closes tower to me is 90 miles away. I have yet to hop on 4g on my epic 4G Touch.
I do agree with you, though.... They should give some sort of upgrade option.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
I was told at the sprint store Wimax will be used for the pre paid services like boost mobile so they too can jump on the 4g band wagon. While the rest of us like yourself who have been waiting for a larger 4g coverage are now forced into a different 4g network. Although LTE is much better by far.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Reply for past threads~
Blitz117 said:
I was told at the sprint store Wimax will be used for the pre paid services like boost mobile so they too can jump on the 4g band wagon. While the rest of us like yourself who have been waiting for a larger 4g coverage are now forced into a different 4g network. Although LTE is much better by far.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mrbsb said:
I was wondering since LTE is rolling out (at least here in Dallas it is), what happens to ppl with WiMax phones? I'm sure we'll still be able to use it, but shouldn't we be able to enjoy the network also? I'm not saying give everybody free phones, but at least make it possible for everybody to get a LTE phone, especially those who have suffered thru these horrible "4G" years. We spend our money on "Data plans" every month, but who actually enjoys their coverage? I know its alot of ppl who agree with me cause i see it all the time in these forums. Anybody have an idea as to whats up with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wiskid15 said:
You're fortunate you actually have 4g... I've been paying for 4g for 3 years, and the closes tower to me is 90 miles away. I have yet to hop on 4g on my epic 4G Touch.
I do agree with you, though.... They should give some sort of upgrade option.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To sum this all up for you as a Sprint Representative that I am.....
-LTE is another ADD-ON of 4G that Sprint is rolling out with called "Network Vision". The addon/change is expected to be completely completed by the END of 2013. All future smartphones will only be LTE compatible. All CURRENT smartphone with WiMax will not be compatible on LTE 4G networks. Along with this, there is to be increased 3G as well (call quality and data speeds and fewer dropped calls and increased coverage overall).
-When 4G first came out there was a $10 charge (before most carriers even had limited data packages) now that other carriers have Limited packages the $10 premium is only required for SMARTPHONES ONLY. Whether or not you have "4G" or not for your Sprint smartphone. You can even have a "non-smartphone" on a data plan and NOT pay the $10 premium as it applys to ONLY smartphones.
-WiMax WILL continue to be with sprint ONLY at this current time. There is NO talk of Boost, Virgin Mobile, etc "other carriers" signing with "Clear-Wire" (WiMax) for their network. They will remain on Sprint's 3G network.
Hope that clears the air about some pondering questions.. Anything else just let me know..
Lately wimax is the only reason I have not hurled bricks through the windows of my local Sprint stores. Thankfully I get a good 4g signal at home and work because 3g has been unusable more often than not the last 6 months. Also in Sept I'm moving to a city (of over a million ppl) that is not on the first or 2nd round of LTE rollout so a phone with LTE would be worthless to me. I will probably be rocking my E4GT for the full duration of my contract.
re
someguyatx said:
Lately wimax is the only reason I have not hurled bricks through the windows of my local Sprint stores. Thankfully I get a good 4g signal at home and work because 3g has been unusable more often than not the last 6 months. Also in Sept I'm moving to a city (of over a million ppl) that is not on the first or 2nd round of LTE rollout so a phone with LTE would be worthless to me. I will probably be rocking my E4GT for the full duration of my contract.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that.. I currently have the Epic 4G Touch. Cause to me having like an EVO 4G LTE or the Galaxy SIII is pointless if I cant use 4G yet sense I'm not in an LTE area yet and the recently released smartphones and future smartphones dont have WiMax capabilities..
Along with that by the time I get LTE there'll be better newer phones..