With Sprint dropping over 60,000 customers from WiMax in November who have phones using it such as the Epic 4G touch, Is it possible to do a custom ROM that will allow the Epic 4G Touch to work on the newer Spark network/4G LTE, or do I use my Epic for a paperweight.
The Epic will continue to work on 3G but Id rather buy a new phone than go backwards with speed.
Anyone have a solution? :crying:
thanks
qanda
qanda said:
With Sprint dropping over 60,000 customers from WiMax in November who have phones using it such as the Epic 4G touch, Is it possible to do a custom ROM that will allow the Epic 4G Touch to work on the newer Spark network/4G LTE, or do I use my Epic for a paperweight.
The Epic will continue to work on 3G but Id rather buy a new phone than go backwards with speed.
Anyone have a solution? :crying:
thanks
qanda
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No. LTE/Sprint Spark requires new hardware. As you stated it will still work on 2G and 3G.
And this is not the Epic 4G Touch sub-forum. This is the Epic 4G sub-forum.
I'm leaning toward a 2015 Moto G CDMA, Moto X Pure Edition, or 2015 Nexus 5. I'll just keep my Epic 4G as a backup probably.
Some news:
Sprint is planning on providing replacement phones to long standing customers at no fee sometime in September that will work on the 4g LTE network. If they keep their word, then nothing lost and maybe a lot to gain with a better phone even if it will most likely be refurbished.
So where do you think they will come up with over 50,000 phones for the customers that had WiMax only devices?
Could be worse.....they could offer us a rotary dial phone.
At least wimax will become spark in that area where it was
?
Related
Is it possible for the Epic Touch 4G to be a LTE phone with software updates or is it limited by it's hardware?
jamice4u said:
Is it possible for the Epic Touch 4G to be a LTE phone with software updates or is it limited by it's hardware?
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Limited by hardware. Doesn't have any lte radios inside.
That's what I figured.
Haha the woman I spoke to in retentions said my Epic 4G (not touch) would work on LTE. I asked what would happen to my wimax phone when sprint drops wimax for lte and she said it would work just fine on the new 4g. Amazing what they will say.
So would Sprint's upgrade to LTE render Epic 4G touch useless for 4G?
Yes... But that point is so far in the future, you'll have a newer phone by then....
Compusmurf said:
Yes... But that point is so far in the future, you'll have a newer phone by then....
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Nope, it doesn't.
Sprint has a deal and contract to have WiMAX (which is the 4G flavor the Epic Touch is running), till sometime in 2015 I believe.
I believe WiMax will be alive for at least a couple of years because full roll out of LTE is going to take time. Someone can correct me if I am wrong here but I think WiMax will certainly be here for the 2 years if you bought the phone on contract
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There are numerous threads about this already please use the search engine... And Google works great also
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DevalB said:
Nope, it doesn't.
Sprint has a deal and contract to have WiMAX (which is the 4G flavor the Epic Touch is running), till sometime in 2015 I believe.
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Phew I was like now i'm like
It renders 4G for me useless for the most part. As I live in a city with no WiMax And the odds of ever getting it are about zero now. Oh well... I just hope we get some LTE love before the next great thing is out. But I'm sure I'll be loving my E4GT for least a year or 2 still.
DevalB said:
Nope, it doesn't.
Sprint has a deal and contract to have WiMAX (which is the 4G flavor the Epic Touch is running), till sometime in 2015 I believe.
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Hence, so far in the future that the LTE network is fully rolled out and the Wimax network shut off which will be more than likely, quite past 2015, yes, at that point, the epic 4G touch will be USELESS on the Wimax network. It can't be upgraded to LTE and at that point, it'll be well past it's useful life as a "high end device" anyway, so, won't matter much.
To the OP, by the time you need to worry, you won't have this phone anyway.
DevalB said:
Nope, it doesn't.
Sprint has a deal and contract to have WiMAX (which is the 4G flavor the Epic Touch is running), till sometime in 2015 I believe.
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+ 1 I was going to say that
ex Army SGT 11C
Does anyone know why Sprint went with Wimax to begin with? Was it so they could get it up faster and claim to be the first 4g carrier? Or was it sort of like when HD DVD and Blurays came out... weren't sure which was going to be better?
shaunymac424 said:
Does anyone know why Sprint went with Wimax to begin with? Was it so they could get it up faster and claim to be the first 4g carrier? Or was it sort of like when HD DVD and Blurays came out... weren't sure which was going to be better?
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Yes, they wanted to be the first 4G network and Wimax was the easiest to deploy quickly.
Sent from my Epic 4G Touch using Tapatalk.
When sprint chose wimax it was definitely the front runner. It had pretty good financial backing from Google and intel. The problem is that it was never designed to be a mobile technology, it was merely adapted for that purpose. There was a revision (802.16m) that would have given it some legs to compete with lte from a power consumption and mobility standpoint but because Sprint is the only carrier that picked it up, all of the hardware makers stopped investing in mobile aspects of the technology. Effectively that makes it impossible to continue, without the radios being refined wimax would continue to be at a disadvantage to lte in the phone arena.
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Sprint also needed to start doing something with its 2.5 GHz spectrum. Those licenses had coverage conditions that the FCC could invoke to take the spectrum from Sprint to sell or give to another entity that would use it. At the time, LTE was not a ready for commercial deployment, but WiMax was.
So i've been paying an additional $10 a month per line on my phones with 4G capabilities. Initally I had the OG EVO, 3D, and now Epic Touch. Its been well over a year probably close to two and I still dont have 4G not that this is something I need but it is something ive been paying for.
I dont live in some rural area (San Diego) so I dont see why they are lagging. Maybe this whole transition from 4G to LTE but that change was fairly recent.
Of couse when you call sprint they are not going to give you any time frame.
So I guess im stuck still paying the additional $10 on each line for a service I cannot access where I live and havent since day one.
Oh well, hopefully once LTE gets going SD will be one of the first to run it.
Anyone with some inside info care to provide some good news?
Sprint now defines that $10 as a smartphone surcharge and applies it to anything that runs iOS, Android, Bby, or WinMo 4g or not, although I don't think sprint has any current smartphones that aren't 4g.
You would've been better off to fight the 4g battle when the evo came out IMO.
TerryMathews said:
Sprint now defines that $10 as a smartphone surcharge and applies it to anything that runs iOS, Android, Bby, or WinMo 4g or not, although I don't think sprint has any current smartphones that aren't 4g.
You would've been better off to fight the 4g battle when the evo came out IMO.
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True..
At the time when the EVO came out I believe was the only 4G phone they carried so I guess was under the impression the charge was for 4G but I do see it has changed to a general charge for smart phones.
So I guess at this point its just a waiting game.
Techincally the evo was out first, but idunno where you lived, but the Epic was available first here due to false demand scams by HTC... either that or they made them one at a time. Seriously didnt you get enough of this topic in the evo forums?? I know we got sick of it in the Epic forums...
http://s4gru.com/ I found this site online, not sure how accurate their information is, but good to read through.
Al major markets se supposed to have LTE by the end of 2014 but we've all been hearing these ETAs for years with 4G so I wouldn't count on either. I'm in Milwaukee WI and have head we will have 4G by 2011.. never happened lol
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Sprint confirms LTE phones will feature unlimited data.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/03/sprint-lte-unlimited-data-everything-plan/
Also, see the link in my signature.
tylerjames09 said:
Al major markets se supposed to have LTE by the end of 2014 but we've all been hearing these ETAs for years with 4G so I wouldn't count on either. I'm in Milwaukee WI and have head we will have 4G by 2011.. never happened lol
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I live by eau claire wi..... I have no hope for lte....
Got AOKP?
I'm in SD too and we're supposedly in the second list for the rollout which should start sometime soon...
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Bear gri11z said:
I live by eau claire wi..... I have no hope for lte....
Got AOKP?
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im near Milwaukee and I have less hope than you. I know Clear has been putting 4G towers in milwaukee and madison, but I have yet to pick up a 4G signal.
4G LTE...not happening.
Keep in mind, Sprint's 4G LTE is their own, with their own network, own buildout, and own spectrum.
I have read in several places Q3 for L.A. and Orange County and Q4 for San Diego so its safe to say before Christmas you will be rocking LTE
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Best answer to sprint lte is 3 years before most places fully see it. Hell I have been in a wimax test arear for over 2 years and at a sprint store I heard a salesman tell a customer there was no 4g at all but when it gets here it will be awesome. When sprints own staff has no idea 4g is even in their own service area how can I even trust them to put towers up.
Good for you people in great big luscious data driven cities, sucks every where else
I have had several sprint employees tell me that here in Virginia it should be within 2 years.
I have a question of my own. I have had a few people tell me that when LTE comes around we will have to have new phones because the hardware like in the Epic Touch will not work on LTE. Any truth to this?
dohchp said:
I have had several sprint employees tell me that here in Virginia it should be within 2 years.
I have a question of my own. I have had a few people tell me that when LTE comes around we will have to have new phones because the hardware like in the Epic Touch will not work on LTE. Any truth to this?
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Yes if you want lte you will have to get a lte capable phone..... Ie sgs3 HTC evo4g lte , etc .... The hardware in this phone will not work on lte . But until you get lte if you have 4g now there is no reason to change unless you're a phone junkie like me
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This summer I am guessing since that is when they are releasing the Evo Lte, Galaxy Nexus etc. Boston market looks like lte will cover almost the entire state, and if it's anything like how when the original htc evo launch, lte will most likely be already on in boston market.
I understand that the Epic 4G Touch may be released on the Boost Mobile service. But what does that have to do with Sprint's Epic 4G Touch? Yes is technically the same network, But until its actually released on Boost Mobile, shouldn't the ROM Leaks be about the Sprint Epic 4G Touch?
FG20, FG30 and FG31 have all been tagged with Boost. But I have yet to see any news on any website that deals with cellphone news saying anything about the Epic 4G Touch being released on Boost Mobile. So why is it that the main focus has been shifted from Sprint ROM leaks to Boost Mobile ROM leaks? I'm not going to chance bricking my phone because of a shift in focus. Why in the HE double hockey sticks are the ROM's being posted in the Sprint Epic 4G Touch section anyway?
Well, for starters, the updated modems and base software work.
Some are actually saying that there are fixes compared to ff18.
Others are saying that the "masking" of the releases are to throw the "dogs" off track.
Take your pick.
But isn't that the point? Get a new toy, tear it apart and compare?
Oh, and Boost IS Sprint...
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boostmobile need another 4g phone they only have the evo on the sale site
if they do put the epic 4g touch it eill get then a big boost
The Epic 4g Touch from sprint is the same thing as the epic 4g touch on boost. Only difference is different apps, some tiny changes in MMS and other areas.
That's why the latest leaks are Boost roms. We can put it on our E4GT just fine with minimal problems (roaming / mms but easily fixed) and they are somewhat 'smoother' and may have bug fixes.
Simple question..
I'm a bit confused about WiMax and whether or not it is (strictly) a cellular communications technology embedded in the Evo 4G, such as 3G and 4G Mobile Data Speeds, and how this relates to the Evo's normal wifi connection.
Is there any crossover between WiMax and WiFi?
Or is WiMax simply a mobile data technology not related to the onboard wifi network card?
Thanks
I think the wimax is part of the 4g service...
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WiMax is a type of 4G, with LTE being another type (of 4G)
And yes, neither of those have anything to do with the wifi and there is no crossover involved
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CNexus said:
WiMax is a type of 4G, with LTE being another type (of 4G)
And yes, neither of those have anything to do with the wifi and there is no crossover involved
Sent from my PG06100
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^This. Older Sprint phones like the EVO 4G, EVO 3D and Samsung Galaxy S2 E4GT (among others) use Wimax, which was Sprint's original offering for 4G service. Sprint has since gone to LTE (Long Term Evolution) for their 4G service, although Wimax still works in areas where it's already active. Phones on Sprint utilizing LTE include the EVO 4G LTE and Samsung Galaxy S3. Wifi has nothing to do with either Wimax or LTE, as previously stated. A Wimax-enabled phone cannot utilize LTE, and vice-versa, as they are two completely different 4G standards and operate on different frequencies.
The advice is free....the bandwidth, not so much
It really grinds my gears that there aren't new phones available supporting either Wimax or LTE or Wimax AND LTE. I am stuck in Ohio where the Wimax roll out was thorough, and now there is no info on if/when LTE will come here. Eventually people in ohio will all have upgraded to LTE phones due to attrition and we are paying for data plans that we can't take advantage of. I really want a new phone, maybe the new One that is coming out soon, but the drawback is no 4G in Ohio. Sprint really dropped the ball on this one. I'd take a phone that was a little thicker so they could fit both chipsets in there no questions asked.
thebbbrain said:
It really grinds my gears that there aren't new phones available supporting either Wimax or LTE or Wimax AND LTE. I am stuck in Ohio where the Wimax roll out was thorough, and now there is no info on if/when LTE will come here. Eventually people in ohio will all have upgraded to LTE phones due to attrition and we are paying for data plans that we can't take advantage of. I really want a new phone, maybe the new One that is coming out soon, but the drawback is no 4G in Ohio. Sprint really dropped the ball on this one. I'd take a phone that was a little thicker so they could fit both chipsets in there no questions asked.
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Thats very true. I think it proabably has to do with the extra work of getting the two to play nice while both being available in one phone, and the extra drivers and hardware required to have both
Definitely what you said though, I'd have no problem with a bit thicker phone that features both but since other competitors are moving towards slimmer and sleeker phones, while at the same time having monstrously powerful processors, it probably wouldnt be a smart move on Sprint part
I was trolling the new HTC One forum yesterday, and did notice that the One might be coming with an LTE radio supporting 800mhz and 1900mhz. This is promising as I believe the 800mhz is what sprint rus the Direct Connect system on. That system is avail in my area so maybe they will use it for LTE? #wantLTE
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2158662
thebbbrain said:
I was trolling the new HTC One forum yesterday, and did notice that the One might be coming with an LTE radio supporting 800mhz and 1900mhz. This is promising as I believe the 800mhz is what sprint rus the Direct Connect system on. That system is avail in my area so maybe they will use it for LTE? #wantLTE
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2158662
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I remember hearing or reading something sometime back from sprint that eventually they were going to convert the old Nextel iden network over to 4g lte because of the bandwidth it runs on. I also remember that person telling me that this new lte on this frequency would penatrate 2-3x better meaning better 4g lte signals indoors. It may have been a sprint tech who told me on one of the many phone calls I have made to them over the years.
Sent from my ever-changing OG Evo...
Everything you say is true, just replace the word "bandwidth" with "spectrum". iDen was using lower frequencies which penetrate better. You get slightly lower theoretical max speeds, but the connection is more reliable, and people generally agree that's what's important.
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