Develop Bugs

[Q] Thinking about switching carriers (T-Mobile to Sprint)

Alright. So I've searched the forum with no luck, so I'm asking (if I've missed something, please point me to the right thread and quickly close this one).
I currently have the Galaxy S 4G (t-mobile) and am having second thoughts about my carrier. I found out that I had a discount with Verizon through my job, but even still the plans are ridiculously priced (in a bad way). Since I was exploring an alternative I figured I would check out Sprint. Not only was I impressed by the plan prices, I was very impressed by the Epic 4G Touch (and the Nexus S 4g also). This has me thinking about switching to Sprint.
Now, I live in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. My biggest concern is that I may lose a tremendous amount in coverage and quality of signal. Has anyone here switched from t-mobile to Sprint? And if so, how was your experience? (All of you please chime in, but especially if you live in Norf Cack).

I live in Virginia and I frequently travel to Atlanta and New Orleans. Sprint is ok, but I want to switch to a GSM carrier. My main issue with Sprint is the already installed 3G network. It's the worst of all of the 3G networks and they claim to improve the network in the near future(network.sprint.com). I have been waiting since the EVO for an improvement and everything is the same. The best Sprint phone radio wise is the Photon. The E4GT and the Nexus S 4G has bad radios and I have tested all three. I currently own the E4GT and it's the best looking phone by far, but I recommend sticking with Tmo or jumping to big blue and getting a phone from Craigslist if you want a new one.

knightowl23 said:
I live in Virginia and I frequently travel to Atlanta and New Orleans. Sprint is ok, but I want to switch to a GSM carrier. My main issue with Sprint is the already installed 3G network. It's the worst of all of the 3G networks and they claim to improve the network in the near future(network.sprint.com). I have been waiting since the EVO for an improvement and everything is the same. The best Sprint phone radio wise is the Photon. The E4GT and the Nexus S 4G has bad radios and I have tested all three. I currently own the E4GT and it's the best looking phone by far, but I recommend sticking with Tmo or jumping to big blue and getting a phone from Craigslist if you want a new one.
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One thing everyone must keep in mind is Sprint-Verizon and Att-Tmobile have roaming agreements with each others; if you have a Sprint phone make sure you place it on Automatic and update the PRL, this will resolve your issue, if you can get excellent Verizon signal, your Sprint phone will work; this is something each carrier do not promote to us.

Most carriers (except for verizon) have slow data (Sprint) or spotty coverage (AT&T/T-Mobile). Sprints phones are great if youre in a WiFi area you can make calls and get internet with good speeds.

I recently switch from T-Mobile to Sprint. I used to have the Samsung Vibrant and own the Epic 4G Touch now. So as a previous T-mobile customer and current Sprint customer, I will give you my .02 cents.
I've had Sprint for about a week now, and to be honest, I love it. I wasn't too sure about making the switch, mainly because my friends had sprint phones and my T-mobile Vibrant on 3g averaged around 3mbps download speeds while my friends Epic 4G averages 1.5mbps download speeds on 4G. So thats twice the speed on T-Mobiles 3G, but after playing the the Epic 4G touch, you really can't tell much of a difference. 3G, even though slow than t-mo's 3G, seemed to load up just as quickly, and 4G, even though slow too, actually seemed to load up pages faster. Even when streaming music on Google Music, the 4G connection on my Epic 4G touch loaded up the music faster. Another thing I enjoy about Sprint is that they don't throttle your speed. Last month I went over 5GB on data on T-Mobile and got throttled. First time ever i got throttled. You read about it all the time, but actually experiencing it is a different story. It sucked. One thing i did notice, 4G for Sprint is spotty. I do get it in my house and at my job, but while driving around I seem to lose connection randomly. Another thing is you can't talk and use data at the same time, but I don't really do that.
Another major influence on my switching to Sprint, is T-mobiles murky future. The At&t acquisition wasn't my favorite thing to happen, but it doesn't seem like it'll go through. DT didn't really have a plan B for T-Mobile USA, in fact they aren't really interested in a US market anymore. One possibility for T-mobile was partnering up with cable companies but Verizon's deal with comcast, time warner and brighthouse basically blocked T-mobile from going that route, so T-mobile will probably not have much of a future left in the states.
Like you I was also looking to switch to Verizon, but as you said, prices are ridiculous. It would've been fine for me for one line, but I have a family plan and that just adds up more costs.
So far i'm happy with Sprint. Plus they have 4G LTE planned for the future, so might as well lock yourself in on their unlimited plan before they start follow Verizon and At&t and tier their data.

dallas90733 said:
One thing everyone must keep in mind is Sprint-Verizon and Att-Tmobile have roaming agreements with each others; if you have a Sprint phone make sure you place it on Automatic and update the PRL, this will resolve your issue, if you can get excellent Verizon signal, your Sprint phone will work; this is something each carrier do not promote to us.
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I have the roaming setting on automatic and I have talked to Sprint about updating the PRL, but i don't have call issues like I have data issues. I don't talk on the phone that much, but I can make calls. The data is what I was referring too, which happens to be subpar.

I also switched to Sprint from T-Mobile. I'm in southern Texas (Corpus Christi) and I've had zero problems with Sprint. My loaner Evo 4G was great, good 4G coverage around here although the Evo's battery couldn't really handle that; my minimal contact with customer service has been mostly positive. There's nothing fantastic about it (except my amazing phone), but I can't think of any real negatives so far, either. I'm about three or four months in.

I also switched from T-MO to Sprint. I'm in Nashville, Tn. Got the Epic Touch 4G. No complaints so far. Speeds seem pretty decent. My bill is even cheaper with 2 phones than it was on T-Mo.... So far, everything has been flawless.

I just went over 5Gb for the first time. Received the message earlier today. Speed dropped from 7Mb to 56kb.
So I'm looking to switch to sprint too now. Are they still offering any incentives?

very tempted to make switch as well, using a nexus s on a local carrier only paying $56 month to month. Nice thing & bad thing is I can switch phones at anytime. Unlimited data/texting only $14.99, speeds vary anywhere from 1.2mbps to 6 or so. Becoming tired of switching phones every other month, really havent found something that I like.
Sprint receive a discount of 25%, leaning towards the iphone 4s. Android and rooting is just getting old to me. Sprint bill comes out to roughly $62 plus tax. Sprint in the area is pretty solid as well, but there 3g speeds could be a deal breaker.

MerkSession said:
I just went over 5Gb for the first time. Received the message earlier today. Speed dropped from 7Mb to 56kb.
So I'm looking to switch to sprint too now. Are they still offering any incentives?
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Damn, that is a major drop after going over the cap. Check out how Sprint service is before changing though. Many people get no 4g at all. I do and its great but many have never even had a chance to use it
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I'm one of those Sprint users that's never used 4G. But with the E4GT and Sprint's low prices & unlimited data, the supposed slower data speeds are totally worth it.
JohnCorleone said:
Damn, that is a major drop after going over the cap. Check out how Sprint service is before changing though. Many people get no 4g at all. I do and its great but many have never even had a chance to use it
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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E4GT'n & lovin' it

I've been with T-Mobile, at&t, and now I'm with Sprint. I didn't have a data plan on T-Mobile so I won't compare that to Sprints. As far as phone signals and dropped calls I say they're pretty much the same depending on where you live. I just happen to live in a city that's good with T-Mobile and Sprint so I've never had a drop call yet. I get more lost of signal on my Epic 4G Touch (Sprint) but I know that's a popular bug with the Epic Touch so I can't really say how much of the LOS is the fault of Sprints network.
If you want unlimited data go to Sprint. That's true unlimited. No slowing down after 2GB like T-Mobile. But take into consideration you may not get 4G Wi-Max where you live or work. I'm lucky to happen to get it at home and my job.
The only thing I like about T-Mobile over other carriers is they have month to month option. On a major carrier I think that's big. I have no interest going to a carrier made for month to month like boost mobile or virgin mobile. Why? I don't know how good the networks will be. How signal will be. How fast or slow their data speeds are. And they don't have any phones I like.
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nibrwr said:
I'm one of those Sprint users that's never used 4G. But with the E4GT and Sprint's low prices & unlimited data, the supposed slower data speeds are totally worth it.
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I hear all the time that people have issues with Sprints 3G data speed being super duper slow. The 3G is pretty good on my Epic 4G Touch. It's not slow by any means at all. But 4G & Wi-Fi definitely blows 3G out the water.

It definitely depends where you live. I started with Sprint about 15 months ago on launch day of OG Epic. I had 4g since day 1. I have never had a dropped call and I have full bar service with 8-13Mbps download speeds
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

JohnCorleone said:
It definitely depends where you live. I started with Sprint about 15 months ago on launch day of OG Epic. I had 4g since day 1. I have never had a dropped call and I have full bar service with 8-13Mbps download speeds
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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What phone do you have right now?

I've used them all and I say sprint... But I'm a cheap date...

I had sprint for a few years in college and never had an issue, I'll probably test out my friends iphone 4s to see how it is with sprint. The extra $10 a month for an iphone maybe worth it to me. Although I've been android for the last 3 years, will wait a few months (hopefully) to see what sprints rolls out with the LTE phones, and how the ICS shapes up on nexus s.

I live in LA before coming to sprint I was on tmobile 3g was always fast on my Nexus One every where I was i never worry about coverage. I decided switch carriers for numbers of reasons 1 being that At&t might buy them another was didn't like being throttled after 2gb. sprints plans look better in my opinion but after getting the nexus s 4g wow there is no comparison whatsoever with the epic touch. on the nexus s 4g reception was so bad even wifi wouldn't connect even while standing in front of my router. now when I switched to the Epic touch 4g wifi was good even at the lowest connection 3g is like dial up in my house and 4g is non existing but everywhere else 4g is good 8-13mbps at home is not a bigger deal for me since I have broadband anyway I'm sticking with sprint hoping LTE upgrade is better than wimax.

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?
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It's 14 days now.

daneurysm said:
It's 14 days now.
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Ooo that sucks. It'll probably get ****ty 3G speeds on the 15th day.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

CODteabagger said:
I'd say buy a VZW phone outright and stay out of contract. Their speeds will be faster as well as the reliability. If this were my only phone I would've dove headfirst off a bunk bed.
I have a company Blackberry on AT&T and a regular feature phone on AT&T so I'm covered service wise. To give you an idea AT&T's HSDPA (3.5G) technology is faster than Sprint's faux 4G.
I love this phone but something needs to happen soon or people are going to leave in droves. The phone is awesome but the service is something to be desired.
I'm in Northern NJ by the way.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
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Yea Im gonna have to disagree here, one of my customer just bought a skyrocket from att and my touch destroyed his phones speeds while he was on the socalled 4gLTE hspa+ network and I was only in a 3g area (all of san diego county) there is nothing faux bout WiMax, it is all a money issue when it comes down to it.

Yes I am anxious for LTE-A as well as more power efficient radios. I remember when the first "3G" stuff came out years ago (HSDPA or whatever)...the battery life sucked but within a year or two they got it worked out.

daneurysm said:
...Sprint's 4G sucks... When a rom comes out that doesn't support 4G I don't care at all...yeah, it can be that bad.
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Yeah, it's not anything to write home about.
But I mostly use wifi at home and work so I'm not too put out by the slow speeds.
It is good enough to have a halfway decent skype session, youtube, etc...
I was hoping to get some gaming action though.
That ain't happening unless it's on wifi, at least in my area.

coverage compared to Sprint-thinking of moving to T-Mobile

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.

General opinion of Note II?

Hello everyone.
I am currently with Sprint, and using HTC Evo 4G LTE phone. While phone is good, Sprint service is not. I consider myself lucky to get 150kbps down. Where I live, we have an LTE deployment, but it's speed is about 4mbps, and requires me to airplane-mode cycle to connect. So I am thinking about switching and picking up Note II.
So, anyone in a similar situation (Evo 4G LTE, tired of Sprint) who switched to T-Mobile / Note II, any feedback? How's the phone? Service? Data speed? Would you stay or go back to Sprint?

Meanee said:
Hello everyone.
I am currently with Sprint, and using HTC Evo 4G LTE phone. While phone is good, Sprint service is not. I consider myself lucky to get 150kbps down. Where I live, we have an LTE deployment, but it's speed is about 4mbps, and requires me to airplane-mode cycle to connect. So I am thinking about switching and picking up Note II.
So, anyone in a similar situation (Evo 4G LTE, tired of Sprint) who switched to T-Mobile / Note II, any feedback? How's the phone? Service? Data speed? Would you stay or go back to Sprint?
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I was shocked when I ran speed tests on every carrier in my primary use case area that T-Mobile was best (faster than Verizon LTE indoors & mostly outdoors) & least expensive with most flexible options.
10-20x Sprint 3G speed @ nearly 1/3 Sprint cost : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35621485&postcount=94 & http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37343584&postcount=115
I'm glad I held out for the SGH-T889 & also set up Talkatone+Google Voice for my best in 2010 EVO "4G" for use over Wi-Fi but barely touch it or think about Sprint anymore..
BTW, Note2 imo is the best current handset until the Note3 or S IV & for my use case the prepaid $30/mo T-Mobile is best (test in your own use case areas with friend's T-Mobile-all carrier smartphones) & I prefer more open GSM over CDMA networks.

well its really fast and everything about it is pretty much awesome including the battery life and screen and i get 17mbps download speeds in new york :good:

Sounds great. I am currently on contract with Sprint, but trying to get out. How's development? Active? With Evo 4G LTE it seems that most ROMs are just small rehashes and not updated often.

Anything is better than the Sprint crap. I was happy with them til they started carrying the iPhones. I went from 1.3mbps, to 1, to .5, to .1, to .02, to constantly roaming on Verizon network around my home.
Location of course varies widely but I get between 3mbps to 20mbps around my home now. I have a GS3 and a Note 2 and I am happy/impress with them both.
I didn't have the Evo 4G LTE for long but man that phone has fantastic build quality.

I have a love/hate relationship with T-Mobile. On one hand, they've been pretty awesome overall (although I worry about this in the long run). On the other hand, to settle issues I've spent lots of time calling and playing CSR roulette. It took a lot of phone calls to get my Note 2's rebate honored - so please be weary of the MIRs. Make sure you dot your I's and cross your T's, and scan/make copies of everything!
Otherwise, I agree! T-Mobile is cheap and their service is usually great, if you get a good data signal. Beware: If you're in a truck stop town, you'll be lucky if you get EDGE. I've even seen GPRS on road trips not more than a year or so ago. In cities, usually it's about the same as AT&T and sprint, but consistently worse than Verizon. Then again, Verizon charges a hell of a lot more than T-Mobile....
Just do your homework when you shop for plans & phones. You can save lots of money if you pick the right plan and find it the right way.

I'm still waiting for my rebate confirmation. Just found out that they rejected my rebate for $100 for the N2! I paid full price for the phone! T-mobile used to be pretty good, now they are just ok as far as customer service is concerned. Their service is excellent in the NYC area. I've never had a call dropped and the data here are pretty fast.
Get the hell out of sprint!

Came from sprint only a few months ago. I was with them for over 10 years. Not sure why it took me so long to leave. I couldn't be happier with Tmobile and the Note II. I don't travel a whole lot a I get great coverage where I live. I'm on the $30 month, 100 mins unlimited text and data plan and it's been great. The speeds run circles around sprints data.
I guess that all comes down to where you live though.

What about when the iPhone deluge happens to T-Mobile soon?
Currently I get 10-22Mbps (avg ~15+Mbps down ~3+Mbps up) in my primary use area but still usually have access to 75/35 WiFi. Sprint was unenjoyable & expensive, T-Mobile has been great & relatively inexpensive with only limited slow-no zones in my use areas so far..:good:
whatsitsnamenow said:
Anything is better than the Sprint crap. I was happy with them til they started carrying the iPhones. I went from 1.3mbps, to 1, to .5, to .1, to .02, to constantly roaming on Verizon network around my home.
Location of course varies widely but I get between 3mbps to 20mbps around my home now. I have a GS3 and a Note 2 and I am happy/impress with them both.
I didn't have the Evo 4G LTE for long but man that phone has fantastic build quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Smartest move you can make, barring some unforeseen hoopla... hands down the GNII is the best phone on the planet available and TMO will be packin the best LTE punch before to long... yes other phones will be on the market soon but a majority will be barely getting to our level and those that are infact superior, wont be by much, atleast not for some time.. to think the S2 just got ICS... imagine our phone being capable of KLP and "L??" and beyond... 3 years maybe before I would get to be needing an upgrade by my math
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Meanee said:
Sounds great. I am currently on contract with Sprint, but trying to get out. How's development? Active? With Evo 4G LTE it seems that most ROMs are just small rehashes and not updated often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Development is good.

I was with Sprint for 10yrs. I can't believe I stayed that long when realizing TMobiles speed compared to them. Sprint speed is garbage!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

Depends on where you are. T-Mobile works well most of the time in NYC and I usually get several Mbps on HSPA.
---------- Post added at 08:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 AM ----------
awrnsmn said:
I was with Sprint for 10yrs. I can't believe I stayed that long when realizing TMobiles speed compared to them. Sprint speed is garbage!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have chance to taste T-Mobile LTE while I read outgoing performance is good.

Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.

Meanee said:
Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure you shall be happy with T-Mobile in NYC.
I used to have Sprint (Virgin Mobile) and the EV network does not work in Downtown Brooklyn, WiMax can be spotty at times, and LTE* does not exist in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
LTE test was done at corp stores.

Meanee said:
Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint pretty much suck on speed when it comes to Tmobile. I was with Sprint also and on the Evo 4g and only once did I switch to Tmobile and got the Note 2 did I experience heaven. My download speed at my home in Texas is 28 mbs and and upload about 4 mbps. I never go on wifi and I use my phone more than my computer now. Also, their plan is cheaper and I got unlimited everything with no cap, can't get better than that.

Meanee said:
Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Free on T-Mobile? How did u score that?
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whatsitsnamenow said:
Free on T-Mobile? How did u score that?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know someone in Business department of T-Mobile. He's able to arrange Note II or S3 for free if you sign up for a new 2 year plan. Has to be a new activation (new number or port-in). I am not sure if it would violate board rules, but if someone wants it, PM me for contact info.
Basically, I got my activation fee waived, free overnight shipping. GF already has it at home. Arrived few minutes ago.

Im in North Jersey and ran a speedtest to a NYC server. ran 3 tests and got an average of 22mb down and 3mb up

I think the note 2 is a nice looking, fast phone. However at the end of the day, it's still a smartphone. You'll probably use it much the same as you would any other nice enough smartphone

Has anyone here come over from Sprint?

Im in the Los Angeles area and after 10 years of being with Sprint, Ive finally come to my wits end. The data is awful. Ive had a ppc6600, ppc 6700, HTC Diamond, Treo 800w, Palm Pre, Samsung Moment, HTC Evo, Evo3d, Galaxy S2, and S3. Ive been a sprint advocate for years now, probably gotten at least 6 people to switch to sprint. But I cant just deal with the dropped calls and slow data. No, its not my phone, my rom, etc. Its just Sprint. I called cust service to cancel and based on my call-connection ratio, they've decided to let me out of my contract without paying the ETF. I had to bring in my phone for one last diagnostic check, and the tech said its not my phone, its the network, and he totally understands me leaving. Im seriously considering T-Mobile for obvious reasons, but I was just wondering if anyone could share their experience with switching from Sprint. Preferably in the L.A. area, but Im open to hear other experiences. Are you happy? Is the cust service good? Mainly is the 4g data as fast/faster/more consistent?

I've recently had a few trips to L.A. and didn't have any issues with dropped calls or signal strength. The customer service is decent.
You could always go to T-Mobile's website and check the coverage map if your worried about the coverage.
I've had sprint....never going back lol.
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I'm not with tmo, but I have my son on their $30 plan. Also not in the LA area, but some 40 miles north. I can say up here in the desert, tmo is awful. He can't make phone calls inside our house. can't judge data cuz he's using tmo service with skyrocket so only receives edge. Even when we go down to that area for any reason, he has at most 3-4 bars while my at&t s3 has full with lte. Good luck in your choice.

Been w T-Mobile for 13-14 years (since the voicestream days!). Never have had an issue, customer service has always been good to me too. Far far from your area, but I for one have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
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I've been with T-Mobile since AT&T bought out Cingular. In my experience, T-MOBILE service has been great in all large centers I've lived and traveled through including San Diego through to L.A.
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Thanks for all the responses! In the past 2 days I heard negative feedback about t-mobile from radioshack, target, and best buy. They all said its worse than sprint, and that's why they don't carry T-Mobile anymore. I do realize that of course they are going to badmouth the company they don't sell, but I must admit I'm more confused now than ever on what to do.

vinscuzzy said:
Thanks for all the responses! In the past 2 days I heard negative feedback about t-mobile from radioshack, target, and best buy. They all said its worse than sprint, and that's why they don't carry T-Mobile anymore. I do realize that of course they are going to badmouth the company they don't sell, but I must admit I'm more confused now than ever on what to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best bet is to find people around you with tmo. Friends, family, coworkers. Anyone, just ask around.

I had sprint and switched. Sprint's coverage along pch is better than tmo, but Sprint's data sucks ass. By default tmo phones have built in WiFi calling to help with bad coverage in the mountain areas. Without WiFi calling you'll still have good coverage in most populated areas. Tmos customer service is better and their prices are comparable.
Long story short, switch dude. Tmo is better in LA.

I semi gave up on Sprint. By that I mean I dumped them and went to Ting. No, it doesn't change the piss poor data rates but the lower cost makes it a bit more acceptable.
Testing TMo right now, actually its mvno Solavei. Data rates are much better BUT coverage isn't as widespread as Ting (Sprint). For now I'll keep both in case I find myself out of territory on either.

DocHoliday77 said:
Been w T-Mobile for 13-14 years (since the voicestream days!). Never have had an issue, customer service has always been good to me too. Far far from your area, but I for one have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I have had T-Mobile in San Diego. Decent Coverage Decent Data. LA has quiet a lot of coverage from them. I have been with T-mobile for 9 years. I have made others switch to T-mo as well. I will not even think about switching to others.
As to the Radioshack and others crappy feedback, know this, These Sales guys get hefty commission for pushing VZW and Sprint. They don't probably get as much commission from T-Mo. So it is in their interest that you don't switch to T-Mo.
Here's T-Mo's Coverage map. Enter your address and it will tell you what kind of coverage you will get.

Lol! That just reminded me....
Anyone see Verizon's recent commercial? They had the coverage maps and theirs was the only one you could tell was for the US. When they show T-Mobile's LTE coverage it's this tiny little bit, less than anyone else, but you have to pay very close attention! It's not T-Mobile's coverage, it's labeled T-Mobile/Metro PCS!
So their only showing metros LTE coverage, but since T-Mobile bought them, Verizon labeled it with T-Mobile to trick people into thinking they were showing tmo's coverage instead!
To me this says a few things!
T-Mobile LTE is more of a competitor than people give credit for.
Verizon must be getting desperate to resort to tactics like this!
Sorry to go a little OT. But it can be relevant in that the other carriers don't want to show T-Mobile's actual LTE offerings. They have been expanding and upgrading like crazy the past few years, and are continuing to do so. So don't write them off if someone says their service was terrible a few years ago. It may be completely irrelevant now.
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