coverage compared to Sprint-thinking of moving to T-Mobile - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

right now I'm on Sprint, and whenever I go into a building my coverage goes down to almost no bars. I'm thinking of going to T-Mobile, but I wanna know how coverage is, particularly on their Galaxy S3. I have Sprint's Galaxy S3 right now. What kind of download speeds should I expect on a T-Mobile GS3 on HSPA+? On Edge (also to compare to Sprint's "3G")? How about voice coverage, does it drop calls a lot? I'm still in the 14 day period where I can return my Sprint GS3, pay the ETF, and use the rest of the money to buy the T-Mobile version.

DiamondJay20 said:
right now I'm on Sprint, and whenever I go into a building my coverage goes down to almost no bars. I'm thinking of going to T-Mobile, but I wanna know how coverage is, particularly on their Galaxy S3. I have Sprint's Galaxy S3 right now. What kind of download speeds should I expect on a T-Mobile GS3 on HSPA+? On Edge (also to compare to Sprint's "3G")? How about voice coverage, does it drop calls a lot? I'm still in the 14 day period where I can return my Sprint GS3, pay the ETF, and use the rest of the money to buy the T-Mobile version.
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I came from sprint after 9 years and live in the bay area. I average about 10mbps. Inside building penetration is not so great with tmo. When I'm inside target most of the time I lose signal more quickly compared to to my sprint phone. I too have the sprint s3 but deactivated and can still see a bar where on the tmo i lose all bars. Eventually though the sprint s3 also loses all bars but not as quickly. In some areas like inside hospital I lose all tmo bars but my sprint I get 4 bars out of 6 still. Edge on tmo is max at about 80kbps compared to sprint 3g which I can get up to 800kbps at the highest but avg about 400kbps most of the time. Tmo s3 has a tendency to go to edge alot in areas where I get about 2 bars when on 4g usually at home and work. You can force 4g on the phone by dialing *#*#4636#*#* and it locks to 4g for the most part even at zero bars and can still get about 4mbps. Outside I get better 4g signal and get them most everywhere I go so thats a plus. IMO your best bet is to try it yourself as my results may not be the same as yours unless you live in the bay area. Thats what I'm doing right now. If you buy from Costco you get 30 days return and I have till Aug 5th to decided if I wanna keep it. Buy from costco retail is $389 and get the value plan which will save you more $ during the 2 yr contract vs buying it subsidized but you pay more monthly with their classic plans. I had to pay $110 ETF with sprint as I had 1 more year left under contract but if I go back within 45 days they will reinstate my contract and refund my ETF.
I went with the $64.99 value plan and I added unlimited wifi calling which doesnt deduct from my 500 allotted minutes. You can add the feature via online or the mytmobile app.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

This depends largely on where you live. Where I live in NYC, sprint had a poor signal and sprints LTE is rolling out slowly and not available yet in my area. I didn't feel like paying the extra ten bucks for 4G when I'm not able to use it. They can figure out how to pay for it on their dime, not mine. Inside buildings, I get better coverage with T-mobile in general, for some reason I can even dial inside an elevator, very poor quality but hey if the need arises, it has a better chance of being there. I look at this constantly, it's one of those things I was always curious which carrier would have my back in an elevator emergency. Tmobile won out. Sprint never got a signal but tmobile i get a bar or two. I also have wifi calling so inside buildings I am in frequently, I always switch to wifi and it has beautiful coverage this way. T-mobile's 4G reaches me and it works pretty fast and I'm glad I have it. I keep reading that sprint's LTE will probably roll out in november or december so we'll see.

I'm with aznmode, i jad sprint for over two years,back then there 3g wasn't bad so it work great,now it just plane sucks, I live in Las Vegas and i have been ablw to test this, in the casinos they both suck, there is not way you going to download an app for quick view, walmart target situation, sprint sucks wont load crap, tmobile will load but if you go to electronics section, you signal will get worse and might drop off to edge, having said that i kept tmobile, I dont spent much time in those stores and where i work and live i get between 7-18mbps so the works much better, compare to sprint 500-900kbps, I had att for a while and there network is much better, if you dont care about the price, inside walmart without a hiccup and,no peefect in casinos but much better, hope this helps
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Tmo is way better
Sprint coverage really sucks. I am on Tmobile, and I get coverage in remote areas.

Related

Should I switch from VZW to Sprint?

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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Foolish to buy Wimax device now?

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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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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

So lost right now!! Which provider??

I totally don't know which provider to choose for the galaxy nexus!!!
Should I pay $750 for the GSM version??
I would be able to
-get the $30 walmart/tmobile plan
-no contract
-able to save $$ overtime....
-Speeds wont be fast as the Verizon model
Or
Get the Verizon Nexus!
-I have LTE in my area
-My bill would be $79.00 plus taxes
If you was in my position, which model would you get?
whats more important to you? speed or cost?
For me, it was a pretty easy choice. I use wifi the majority of my day, at work and home. So I go for cost
Easy decision for me, I'm stuck on Verizon until I get rid of my ~$1100 in ETFs, plus the LTE is fantastic around here. It's nothing to pull 16 Mbps down.
Ez decision. Big red robs you and make you think you like it. Pay the money upfront for the phone and get your tmob plan to make it back in the short and long term.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Well you get what you pay for.
$30 vs. $80.
5-7 mbps vs. 20+mbps
100 minutes vs. 450 minutes
unlimited text vs. 0 text
Is the $50 premium worth it? Do you really need more than 7mbps down? I would say no unless you are tethering. GSM HSDPA+ is perfectly fine for a phone. Nobody needs 20mbps to stream media of any kind.
You wanna be the tortoise or the hare? Lol
I was in the same boat on AT&T after having been bitten by the iPhone 4S bug. After a few weeks, I totally realized I never should have bought it. Battery life is great and all and the apps are well designed, but there is something about having the same phone as my mother that rubs me the wrong way. Verizon's LTE is mighty tempting as well and even though we just launched a few LTE devices on AT&T, none of them caught my eye.
I ultimately decided to go with importing since my monthly bill would be lower with my work discount. LTE is great, but I can't imagine doing anything with it that I can't do on AT&T's HSPA network. Plus with how the launch of this phone has gone, I didn't want to take the risk that this would be Verizon's first and last Nexus phone. Hopefully AT&T does decided to launch an LTE version of the Nexus in the next six months. If not I'll just wait for the next Nexus....
I would also add... if you plan to travel outside of north america get the gsm phone, cdma doesn't work outside of North America (ok china and india?)
also. i've been using tmobile and not at&t which is awesome where I live. (~9mbit/s down). I cannot speak to the battery usage of LTE, but I hear its terrible
I say go with GSM
(note CDMA/LTE version is slightly heavier [15g] and thicket [0.5mm])
It was easy for me.
Got the imported GN. Went into AT&T store renew my contract by getting a iphone 4S for 200 hoping that I would be able to sell it for 500+ on ebay etc. That would help me cover some of damage that importing GN did to my bank. lol.
FastMhz said:
You wanna be the tortoise or the hare? Lol
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Please explain what you can do on the LTE network that is impossible on a 7mbps+ HSDPA+ connection?
I use slingbox, tunein radio and SiriusXM without a hiccup.
How would Verizon make this stream better??
These outrageous LTE speeds only benefit users if you are tethering to download an .iso or something. Outside of that, it's marketing gold.
Discuss.
If I get the verizon lte model I may actually get the Big old Cheese during a wootoff for once with the better speeds and ping.
All of these posted speeds are nice, assuming that for both AT&T and Verizon provides the same level of coverage and network performance as promised. Even though my area is in HSDPA+, AT&T service is crap and isn't worth a damn during peaks times when I need to use my phone. I'd be lucky to get 1MB down if that.
fr4c said:
All of these posted speeds are nice, assuming that for both AT&T and Verizon provides the same level of coverage and network performance as promised. Even though my area is in HSDPA+, AT&T service is crap and isn't worth a damn during peaks times when I need to use my phone. I'd be lucky to get 1MB down if that.
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This is *exactly* the problem. Here are my AT&T HSPA+ speeds on my GSM Galaxy Nexus:
From my house -- 5 mb/s
From random place in the west part of the city -- 10 mb/s
From downtown at 10 PM -- 5 mb/s
BUT, from downtown during the business day, when it matters -- 0.5 mb/s
It's what I call the football game effect. At a football game, AT&T phones get basically zero service, whereas Verizon's CDMA network is capable of normal speeds. Downtown has that same issue during the day, as will any crowded area (shopping mall, etc).
This is the reason why I'm likely going to switch to Verizon if they ever release the phone. Enjoying LTE has less to do with the crazy 50 mb/s speeds than it does with enjoying reasonable speeds even in crowded areas. I'll still keep the GSM phone for international travel, though.
I wanted a GSM device and I didn't want anything a carrier had a chance to mess with. This meant importing. Yeah, I paid about $750, but it was worth it. I get updates prompt from Google, I don't worry about carrier apps that can't be uninstalled, I can change phones whenever I want without having to call or get permission from my carrier, and I'm stuck on AT&T for a while anyway.
I'm very happy with my purchase. Honestly, with the VZW one, you'll be tied in to a contract anyway. You'll end up paying more than the phone's cost over that time regardless. The GSM import is just more up front. And if you can get WiFi fairly often, then it's worth it to go with the cheaper plan.
Also, to reply to the poster above me: I haven't had any issues with speed in Boston on AT&T. It seems pretty consistent. Maybe your area is more of a problem area? I know a lot of people hate on AT&T, but I've found their network to be quite stable.

T mobile sucks.

My AT&T contract is about to expire. I thought I would give a TMO monthly 4g a shot. I've driven 700 miles in the last 2 days along I-40, data coverage is non existent.
GNEX stays on G and sometimes R.
Any secret APN settings I need to know about?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
My weekly commute between Austin and Houston is same - almost non-existent data coverage. Once in a major population area, then everything's good.
Too bad at&t break-up fees mostly went to DT, otherwise TMo could really use it to shore up the data coverage.
It would help if you stated where you lived or travel to so people within the same city could provide you a basis of comparison.
Oh man this reminds me of the days I was on Tmo. Its best to just sign back on with At&T or get VZW
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Tmo is really good if you're within their HSPA+ areas...but you can't beat $30 a month with unlimited text and Web (1st 5gb @ 4G) and 100 mins.
babymatteo said:
Tmo is really good if you're within their HSPA+ areas...but you can't beat $30 a month with unlimited text and Web (1st 5gb @ 4G) and 100 mins.
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Exactly. You need to be in a decent size city in order to utilize TMobile. Anywhere outside it's a hit or miss, more likely a miss.
Let's see, you're comparing a PREPAID (no roaming) vs a POSTPAID (roaming).
Of course it's not going to go well if you're travelling down highways in middle of nowhere.
I love tmobile - choose your carrier dependent on your needs. Check a coverage map before signing up.
wonshikee said:
Let's see, you're comparing a PREPAID (no roaming) vs a POSTPAID (roaming).
Of course it's not going to go well if you're travelling down highways in middle of nowhere.
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Bingo. You don't get to roam on AT&T like their Postpaid plans. You kinda had to know what you're getting into with Prepaid.
T-Mo is great in cities, but you're kidding yourself if you think you're gonna get HSPA+ (or even UMTS) on a freeway between cities. Just not how their coverage is.
You could look at Straight Talk, which is an AT&T MVNO. You could probably get a bit better coverage with that. Still doesn't roam but AT&T's footprint is probably better.
It all depends on where you're usually at. For the particular areas in So Cal where I typically travel, live, and work, AT&T is by far the worst of the carriers I've had (T-Mo, Verizon, ATT).
OK, I'll be a little more specific. I took a trip from Little Rock, AR to Knoxville, TN. I traveled along a major Interstate, Interstate 40. I recall seeing "4G", for a reasonable amount of time (maybe 2 minutes worth), in Nashville. I say that's reasonable because I drove through Memphis so quick I guess my phone never had a chance to find "4G" data service.
I spent the entire trip swapping out sim cards, mainly using the TMO. When I would become frustrated with the TMO service, mostly on "G", I would pop in my AT&T sim. Instant "4G" service. One second TMO "G", the next AT&T "4G". Not really sure how this is possible. They both charge about the same for their service, but their service is not the same.
I paid $60 for TMO unlimited talk, text, and data. Only later to find that, with those whopping 46 kilobytes per second download speeds, when I was lucky enough to get data, I would never even get close to my metering limit of 2 gigs. With those speeds I would be lucky to even use up 1 meg of data.
How can they charge so much for their "Nations largest 4G network"?
WHAT A JOKE.
I thought AT&T was ripping me off with their prices. I know feel like I have the greatest network provider on earth.
I did call the StraighTalkSIM folks to ask about data speeds. They were kind enough to let know that the fastest speeds I would see would be equivalent to AT&T's "3G". I can live with that for a cell phone bill that would be about 40% of what I pay now. I'll probably give them a try.
dmappdev said:
OK, I'll be a little more specific. I took a trip from Little Rock, AR to Knoxville, TN. I traveled along a major Interstate, Interstate 40. I recall seeing "4G", for a reasonable amount of time (maybe 2 minutes worth), in Nashville. I say that's reasonable because I drove through Memphis so quick I guess my phone never had a chance to find "4G" data service.
I spent the entire trip swapping out sim cards, mainly using the TMO. When I would become frustrated with the TMO service, mostly on "G", I would pop in my AT&T sim. Instant "4G" service. One second TMO "G", the next AT&T "4G". Not really sure how this is possible. They both charge about the same for their service, but their service is not the same.
I paid $60 for TMO unlimited talk, text, and data. Only later to find that, with those whopping 46 kilobytes per second download speeds, when I was lucky enough to get data, I would never even get close to my metering limit of 2 gigs. With those speeds I would be lucky to even use up 1 meg of data.
How can they charge so much for their "Nations largest 4G network"?
WHAT A JOKE.
I thought AT&T was ripping me off with their prices. I know feel like I have the greatest network provider on earth.
I did call the StraighTalkSIM folks to ask about data speeds. They were kind enough to let know that the fastest speeds I would see would be equivalent to AT&T's "3G". I can live with that for a cell phone bill that would be about 40% of what I pay now. I'll probably give them a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry that T-Mobile Prepaid doesn't have service in your area (no roaming + leave the city = no service)...
Try Straight Talk because it uses AT&T. You still don't get roaming though, so the footprint is smaller than the actual AT&T coverage map. You'll get full HSPA+ speeds where available with Straight Talk.

May make the switch from the Verizon S3 to T-Mobile S4

I have the S3 with Verizon but am thinking to maybe make the switch to the S4 on T-Mobile, and pay the Verizon etf (8 months into my contract)
While Verizon service has been excellent, the data costs have been getting a little to expensive for me, as sometimes I need to increase my data to 4 or 6gb from my normal of 2gb.
I was looking at the plans and I like getting unlimited everything for $50+$20=$70+$20 per month for 24 months for the S4, if I don't buy it outright.
Right now I'm paying approx. $125/mo. with 2GB data.
I'm also paying $35/mo. to Virgin for there bb2go Unlimited Data 4G Wimax service so I can tether my pc and S3.
Total cost comes to approx $160 now.
Compared to approx. $70 for Tmo service Unlimited.
Not sure of Tmo service in NYC and Florida.
I see that LTE will not fully be implemented until between the summer and the end of the year.
I don't want to get stuck with LTE promises like I did with Sprint LTE promises prior to switching to Verizon.
I'm in the middle of researching and wanted to get some real world feedback on Tmo service in the areas mentioned.
Also, before possibly porting to Tmo from Vz, I'd want to try out the service for the trial period, which means I'd need a new number, but if I liked Tmo, I would eventually want to port my present #. I gotta do some research on that one.
Bump.
Any feedback re NYC voice/data reception is appreciated.
There is Tmobile LTE in NYC, parts of it have yet to be turned on. And I keep reading more and more parts of Florida are seeing better data performance.
I'm in the same boat as you, thinking of leaving version for tmobile and Tmobile keeps looking promising from what I've been reading and seeing.
Sent from my DROID RAZR
I appreciate your feedback.
Thanks
The issue I have is that I don't want to fall into the same carrier promising bs of LTE like I did with sprint.
I'm not saying Tmo is like sprint re this.
I just don't know if the Tmo network is set up in a way that is vastly different than sprint, in that they'll be able to deliver the LTE network as promised.
With that being said, I'd settle for HSPA+ for now.
How is voice reception?
Update:
From my research thus far, it reappears that Tmo is not consistent.
With that being said, it is a shame that only the most expensive, monopolized carriers offer consistent services (Two Carriers to be specific, which is really pathetic)
I'll continue to research, because as long as I get consistent service both data and voice in the areas I'm mostly in, than I don't care about whether there is consistent service in the areas I'm not in.
I am pretty sure Tmobile's LTE rollout will be nothing like Sprint's. And even thought LTE isn't everywhere yet, Tmobile's hspa+ network still offers some pretty good data speeds
Sent from my DROID RAZR
I just switched from Verizon to Tmo for the same reasons (among others). I live in Atlanta and service has been great. I'm actually driving down to south Florida tomorrow, so we'll see how well service is down there. With that said, it's going to greatly vary on your location. I would check out their coverage map as it seems to give a pretty good indication on what to expect from what I've seen. Its not like Verizon's where they just say if you have 3g/4g or not. T-mobile's actually tells you the quality of the signal.
As far as the LTE, I wouldn't worry about it. Their HSPA+ "4G" network are pretty decent in my tests, with download speeds averaging around 5mb/s. A lot of times it's higher than that, but I've never seen anything lower than 1.5mb/s, and that's with 1 bar of service. Again, this will vary based on your exact location. I can't wait for LTE to launch, but until then, I'm content.
As far as wanting to port over your number after the fact, they can do it when you're ready. When I ordered mine online, I didn't do the port then as it could be ported in transit. After I got the phone, I called them up and they had to first activate the phone along with a new number. Once that was fully activated, they processed the port request and that was done within seconds.
@steveo11284
Thanks for that info.
Much appreciated
Regarding HSPA+, I'd be happy with those speeds until LTE comes online, as the S4 would be able to handle those bandwidths.
I didn't want to be in the same boat as when I had Sprint and the S3. The S3 was not backwards compatible with 4G Wimax, so if you were not in an LTE area, you were stuck with 3G. In addition, calls were dropping all day long. This was about 8 months ago, so maybe Sprint has their LTE available in more areas, although I was in a NYC sprint store 2 weeks ago, which had no LTE, and the S4 was connected to Wifi. The tech had no idea when lte would be available.
I mention Sprint because I don't want to be in the same boat if I port to T mobile. But it looks like Sprint and T mobile are comparing Apples & Pears, and I'll have a much better experience with T mobile re data, even though LTE is not available yet, HSPA+ is available in a majority of markets.
For clarification regarding delayed porting:
- I can try Tmo without porting, and just get issued a new number to try their service re coverage, data, dropped calls, etc.
- if Tmo doesn't work out, I can return the device within 14 days and pay a $50 return fee.
- if Tmo works out, I can ask Tmo to port over my Verizon number. If this is accurate, does Tmo just port over my existing Tmo number that I was given when I purchased Tmo service?
Obviously I would not port my Vz number to Tmo initially because I want to make sure I have acceptable service with Tmo before terminating the my Vz service and paying the etf, which would be $350 less $80
(8 mos. service) = $270
Yeah I wouldn't really compare Tmo to Sprint. I actually tried Sprint first and ended up returning everything a few days later. I've had 0 issues with Tmo though.
Your first 2 things regarding delayed porting are correct. I'm not sure I understand your last one though:
"If this is accurate, does Tmo just port over my existing Tmo number that I was given when I purchased Tmo service?"
Once you port over your number from Verizon, the number that Tmo gave you will get deactivated and will just go back into their pool of numbers to get used again by another customer in the future. Your account at Verizon will automatically be terminated and you'll receive a bill with your ETF on it.
For clarification, I meant that after using the number Tmo assigned me and I decided to keep Tmo service, Tmo would port my Vz number over, and my originally assigned Tmo number world drop off my account.
As you said, the answer is yes.
Thanks
I may just try out Tmo and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, I'll lose $50, but if it does work out, I'll save mucho dinero on data costs.
When I worked at sprint in launch day in Dallas we thought it was going to have a good launch. Then to find out they put towers around Dallas not in the major parts. It was a horrible launch. I got tmobile before LTE was announced in Dallas. I just got LTE at my home near rockwall and im hitting 40Megs down and 15 up everytime. This is great because the only way to get Internet at my house is through a sloe satellite.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
Sprint LTE roll out is the worst. T-Mobile was the last to roll out LTE and I get LTE now every where I go in California bay area (San Jose, Santa Clara, Cupertino, mountain view, Campbell, willow Glenn, Sunnyvale, even fremont and Hayward). I had sprint for 9 years and left them last year. They still haven't rolled out lte here. They were supposed to start March and should've had it up and running by now. My gf has s3 and she's still yet to see sprint lte anywhere.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
It does look like Tmo is on the ball, and getting to where they wanna be.
A while ago it wasn't like that and that's why I was hesitant.
But if it works for me, I can save approx. $50-60 per month, and have HSPA+ and eventually LTE, but I may get LTE now. I gotta give the S4 a test run.
As I said before, I'm paying on average $130-135 with Vz for 4GB average (varies between 2-4gb, and sometimes 6gb) with TEP + $35 for Virgin bb2go for unlimited Wimax data.
I see that Asurion insurance with Tmo is $11+ compared to Vz Asurion plan for $6.99.
But I just got an Asurion replacement that was borked outta the box, so I stuck with my cracked screen S3. Maybe I'll try Squaretrade.
Just got the T-Mobile M919 S4. I didn't port from Verizon yet as I'm taking the S4 for a trial run, and so far I'm very impressed although it's only been a couple of hours.
Obviously the S4 is a premium device and I'm very happy with the brightness and crispness of the display. But I digress, as this thread is about Tmo.
I have gotten 4G LTE in the locations where I have been so far, and have done side by side speedtests with the S3 on Verizon, and so far the S4 has achieved equal and/or higher speeds in the 3 speedtests.
The dl/ul speeds have been:
Tmo - 16/10, 9/7, 14/8
Vz- 9/13, 5/8, 7/12
I know I'm comparing an S4 to an S3, and don't know if that makes a big difference regarding the speedtests. I was comparing the LTE networks
The speeds are not earth shattering, but what I am happy most about is that I'm getting nice 4G LTE speeds with Tmo, and it's Unlimited for $20/mo.
If things go nicely for the next few days, I'll port over from Verizon and save some nice money monthly, and have Unlimited LTE with speeds that will suffice for my needs. I'll be a very happy camper. I'll also save money by not having to pay Virgin for their Wimax Broadband2go service.
The ironic thing is that across the street from Tmo is Sprint, and their in store S4 is working off their in house wifi network, as LTE is not available yet.
For now, I'm paying the $7.49/mo for the insurance with $175 deductible.
I may switch to Square Trade if I keep the S4, but I'll decide later on.
I'm gonna Root and see how things go.
Update:
Ooops
LTE went bye-bye......
I just have the 4G icon in the tray which must be the HSPA+.
The speeds (cough, cough,) are dl/u:
.79Mbps/.04
2.53/.56
And LTE just came back up
While it appears LTE is inconsistent so far, it is up and running, and this in it of itself won't be a negative in whether I port or not.
Afterall, I think the NYC LTE switch was just turned on recently.
Nyc Tmobile. One bar of LTE. Pic below.
Just hit 17.88Mbps/10.30.....dl/ul
I'll know more this week regarding voice/data/reception/coverage capabilities.
criticalchild said:
Nyc Tmobile. One bar of LTE. Pic below.
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Click to collapse
If that is only 1 bar of LTE, I can't wait to see those data speeds with more bars
Sent from my DROID RAZR
I was sitting at an intersection this morning near the airport in Palm Beach FL and noticed my phone said 4G LTE.... I did a speed test and WOW. 33mbs down and 17 up! I never got that with Verizon, even before it got congested. Things are looking good!
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
Good to hear that about the PBI vicinity
As you can see, things are also looking good in NYC so far.
Considering the 'switches' are just being turned on, and the build out is continuing, I'm impressed with what I've experienced in the past day. Hopefully things will continue to look good and I'll port from Vz in a few days.
Biker1 said:
Good to hear that about the PBI vicinity
As you can see, things are also looking good in NYC so far.
Considering the 'switches' are just being turned on, and the build out is continuing, I'm impressed with what I've experienced in the past day. Hopefully things will continue to look good and I'll port from Vz in a few days.
Click to expand...
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I saw the same when they were rolling out lte in my area and it didn't take long before it was completely on. I would say less than a month.
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