Sprint really this slow in the Bay Area?

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zod96

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I just went with Sprint from At&t for the unlimited Data. With At&t I would get about 15 megs download speeds and everything really zipped. I got the Galaxy Nexus for sprint when I signed up. I'm lucky if I get 1 meg download speed with speed. Doing anything related to data over the internet is extremely slow as hell. Is Sprint really this slow or is it just the Bay Area? Luckily I can still cancel my sprint contract since its well under 14 days. I know Sprint is supposed to get LTE here but is that in the next couple of months or is that something like next year?
 
Yeah, ~ 1Mb/s speeds are pretty typical of Sprint and Verizon's CDMA 3G network. Sprint is supposedly upgrading their 3G network in the next year though, along with deploying their LTE/4G network starting this fall (I think is what was last announced by them) or so.
 
you get 1meg down? Damn here in Iowa it was 1meg when i signed up for the evo, now if i get 200k i can almost play pandora which is a lucky day.
 
I get 500 kbps here in NYC on 3G, and at most 3 mbps on WiMax on an Evo4G, which in my experience is slower than T-Mobile's 3G when I had it on an HTC G1.
 
I came *FROM* Sprint, the whole WiMax "4G" thing to boot *TO* Verizon.

I was very happy my HTC Evo, super mod friendly. But it got to the point where watching a Youtube video on 3G was impossible (yes a standard/low resolution video)

Unlimited Text and data is nice -- but what is the point of unlimited if the speed is paltry? It's like someone giving me a Ferrari and telling me I can drive it as much as I want but I have to keep it under 40mph. Vs someone giving me a ferrari and telling me I can drive it 1000 miles and go as fast as I want.


Final bill with Sprint was amazing -- $74 dollars a month after taxes and feed (factoring in my discounts). However it's worth paying $25 dollars more to me and getting 26MB/sec down via LTE.

Double data deal for me, so I have a 10GB limit. And While I hog tons of data via DSL, my mobile needs are pretty tame. I have yet to go above 2-3GB a month. Most of my work days I can't play on my phone. So I'm not sucking down data 24/7

There are two truths to this matter -- you get what you pay for, and at the same time you are going to get screwed SOMEHOW no matter which carrier you pick.

Sprint - slow mediocre network
Verizon - expensive, and a hassle, but some of the best speed/coverage available.
AT&T - will nickle and dime you, terrible customer support.

Let's put it this way -- I left sprint 3 months ago and that was even after them offering me almost $100 off my next phone (i wanted a Galaxy Nexus)

The other thing that rubbed me the wrong way is sprint's general approach of charging you for things you can't possibly use. for two years I paid for WiMax when there was no coverage in my area unless I drove an hour. if I'd have stayed they would charge me again for premium data even when their LTE network hasn't been rolled out.

Finally -- for everyone that swears up and down they are going to move to sprint, what do you think will happen to Sprint's already slow network with an influx of 10's of thousands of people? There is no easy choice because each company generally does not give a crap about their customer base.

Bandwidth might not be truly free, but there is no way a gigabyte of data costs $5 dollars in this day and age.
 
collegeboy69us said:
I came *FROM* Sprint, the whole WiMax "4G" thing to boot *TO* Verizon.

I was very happy my HTC Evo, super mod friendly. But it got to the point where watching a Youtube video on 3G was impossible (yes a standard/low resolution video)

Unlimited Text and data is nice -- but what is the point of unlimited if the speed is paltry? It's like someone giving me a Ferrari and telling me I can drive it as much as I want but I have to keep it under 40mph. Vs someone giving me a ferrari and telling me I can drive it 1000 miles and go as fast as I want.


Final bill with Sprint was amazing -- $74 dollars a month after taxes and feed (factoring in my discounts). However it's worth paying $25 dollars more to me and getting 26MB/sec down via LTE.

Double data deal for me, so I have a 10GB limit. And While I hog tons of data via DSL, my mobile needs are pretty tame. I have yet to go above 2-3GB a month. Most of my work days I can't play on my phone. So I'm not sucking down data 24/7

There are two truths to this matter -- you get what you pay for, and at the same time you are going to get screwed SOMEHOW no matter which carrier you pick.

Sprint - slow mediocre network
Verizon - expensive, and a hassle, but some of the best speed/coverage available.
AT&T - will nickle and dime you, terrible customer support.

Let's put it this way -- I left sprint 3 months ago and that was even after them offering me almost $100 off my next phone (i wanted a Galaxy Nexus)

The other thing that rubbed me the wrong way is sprint's general approach of charging you for things you can't possibly use. for two years I paid for WiMax when there was no coverage in my area unless I drove an hour. if I'd have stayed they would charge me again for premium data even when their LTE network hasn't been rolled out.

Finally -- for everyone that swears up and down they are going to move to sprint, what do you think will happen to Sprint's already slow network with an influx of 10's of thousands of people? There is no easy choice because each company generally does not give a crap about their customer base.

Bandwidth might not be truly free, but there is no way a gigabyte of data costs $5 dollars in this day and age.
Click to expand...

You need to visit s4gru.com

30mbit LTE, unlimited data, completely new network being built from the ground up.

Old sprint will be gone in no time. Gone are the days of T-1's and horrible data speeds once network vision rolls out.
 
I was getting sub-200k in Houston, its surrounding areas, and back home in Baton Rouge before I finally paid to ditch Sprint. Best decision ever. I get 5-10mb down on the $30 T-Mobile plan. Just hope they don't ever axe it...
 
irev210 said:
You need to visit s4gru.com

30mbit LTE, unlimited data, completely new network being built from the ground up.

Old sprint will be gone in no time. Gone are the days of T-1's and horrible data speeds once network vision rolls out.
Click to expand...

Well, 'no time' is end of 2012 for round 1 markets, and 2013 for the rest. Lets not also forget this is just the 1900 band which has much lower penetration inside buildings. Verizon uses 700. Sprint is going to move to 800 in the next phase (2015?) but none of their current handsets will be able to use it.

And its anyone's guess when US carriers will switch to VoLTE.
 
I am going to call sprint and see if I can get a refund on the $10 premium data fee that they charge me for my iPhone 4s since data speeds are horrendous here in Hampton roads.
I was at Oceana NAS yesterday for a golf tournament and the only way I coud get data was tethering my Spint iPhone with my brothers Verizon Samsung Charge.
 
Yea sprints a joke, and why would you buy a LTE phone if they don't even have LTE, makes no sense.

Sprint is always talking about investing big money into their network, but it never seems to happen. Go back to ATT or get the double data promo on Verizon.
 
MrCrispy said:
Well, 'no time' is end of 2012 for round 1 markets, and 2013 for the rest. Lets not also forget this is just the 1900 band which has much lower penetration inside buildings. Verizon uses 700. Sprint is going to move to 800 in the next phase (2015?) but none of their current handsets will be able to use it.

And its anyone's guess when US carriers will switch to VoLTE.
Click to expand...

Again, you should visit S4GRU.com

You are saying a bunch of inaccurate things. Round 1 markets, depending on the size, are starting to really pickup the pace right now. They are still on schedule to launch their first markets in the middle of 2012. Larger markets that they are currently working on (Boston, NYC, LA, Chicago) will take a bit more time to finish because of the amount of sites.

Sprint is lighting up 1x advanced @ 800MHz right now - there are lots of handsets that support that.

Sprint will be rolling out 5x5 FD-LTE @ 800MHz by mid-2013 and using Clearwire's 2.5GHz TD-LTE network (20x20 aggregated) in capacity constrained urban markets.

The signal propagation difference between Sprint's 800MHz and Verizon's 700MHz is about 3%.

As for Sprint's 1900MHz coverage vs. 700MHz - first off, Verizon isn't adding LTE to every basestation... they don't need to. Sprint is replacing every basestation and moving to remote radio units (RRUs). As a result, Sprint is seeing a 20% improvement in coverage from RRUs and modern antennas. Any place you get native Sprint 3G coverage now, you will get better Sprint coverage moving forward.

By the end of 2012, Sprint will be covering 120 million people or so with upgraded towers. By the end of 2013, most (250 million+) will be covered.

It's actually pretty impressive. I suggest you read into it.
 
Zepher said:
I am going to call sprint and see if I can get a refund on the $10 premium data fee that they charge me for my iPhone 4s since data speeds are horrendous here in Hampton roads.
I was at Oceana NAS yesterday for a golf tournament and the only way I coud get data was tethering my Spint iPhone with my brothers Verizon Samsung Charge.
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I hate to burst your bubble but they won't remove the charge :(

Just remember, every tower they upgrade they are going from a few T-1's that are extremely overloaded to fiber or microwave backhaul.
 
zod96 said:
I just went with Sprint from At&t for the unlimited Data. With At&t I would get about 15 megs download speeds and everything really zipped. I got the Galaxy Nexus for sprint when I signed up. I'm lucky if I get 1 meg download speed with speed. Doing anything related to data over the internet is extremely slow as hell. Is Sprint really this slow or is it just the Bay Area? Luckily I can still cancel my sprint contract since its well under 14 days. I know Sprint is supposed to get LTE here but is that in the next couple of months or is that something like next year?
Click to expand...

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/...ng-this-as-a-network-visionlte-city-for-2012/

I would wait six months. There are a LOT less Sprint customers than AT&T in this heavy usage/spectrum constrained market. Over the next few years, Sprint's coverage/speed will continue to improve while AT&T will get slower and slower (unless they can talk Dish into selling their S-Band spectrum).

In ~3 months, you will start to see a lot of LTE coverage. It's not going to be an "all at once" launch - they will launch various clusters as they complete them.
 
If sprint was even HALF of the coverage and speed of Verizon I'd consider going back to them. Sprint was never "bad" per say, but I feel its worth a silly 25 dollars more for service that's hugely better.

At the core of it I got tired of hearing all these great things from sprint but never seeing them. I jumped on the Evo4G bandwagon because WiMax was supposed to be badass here in the DFW area. It was nothing more than a gimmick in the long run who's now dying a slow silent death.

And now - sprint may be lighting up LTE in spots, but even if their roll out in Dallas/Ft Worth is complete, the nearest tower is 20 minutes away from where I live/work/play.

There is something seriously wrong with getting hit with "premium data fee" when you get 100k down on 3G only. It's like some niche electric car provider hitting you with a convenience charging fee when the nearest charging station is 100 miles away. No thanks.

I applaud sprint for finally getting on the LTE bandwagon, but you have to recognize they are somewhat too little too late. Yes, I realize it takes billions to setup the infrastructure, they gambled and lost with WiMax now they are playing catch up. if they play their cards right and build a robust LTE network that is on par with Verizon, I might be willing to give them a shot if they have something operational in 2 years when my contract is up.

Myself (and I'm betting most others) are only willing to sign a contract and go with a provider based on what they can provide right now, not 6 months down the line with no guarantees.
 
collegeboy69us said:
If sprint was even HALF of the coverage and speed of Verizon I'd consider going back to them. Sprint was never "bad" per say, but I feel its worth a silly 25 dollars more for service that's hugely better.

At the core of it I got tired of hearing all these great things from sprint but never seeing them. I jumped on the Evo4G bandwagon because WiMax was supposed to be badass here in the DFW area. It was nothing more than a gimmick in the long run who's now dying a slow silent death.

And now - sprint may be lighting up LTE in spots, but even if their roll out in Dallas/Ft Worth is complete, the nearest tower is 20 minutes away from where I live/work/play.

There is something seriously wrong with getting hit with "premium data fee" when you get 100k down on 3G only. It's like some niche electric car provider hitting you with a convenience charging fee when the nearest charging station is 100 miles away. No thanks.

I applaud sprint for finally getting on the LTE bandwagon, but you have to recognize they are somewhat too little too late. Yes, I realize it takes billions to setup the infrastructure, they gambled and lost with WiMax now they are playing catch up. if they play their cards right and build a robust LTE network that is on par with Verizon, I might be willing to give them a shot if they have something operational in 2 years when my contract is up.

Myself (and I'm betting most others) are only willing to sign a contract and go with a provider based on what they can provide right now, not 6 months down the line with no guarantees.
Click to expand...

Nothing is guaranteed by anyone - look at Verizon getting rid of grandfathered data if you want a new device subsidy.

All we can do is take advantage of all the information that's available and make the best decision for our particular needs. Not everyone needs unlimited data, not everyone even needs a data plan.

The only thing you can be thankful for is that you have a great choice of four nationwide wireless carriers to choose from, all of which offer very different levels of service.
 
Sprint sucks everywhere, I get faster 3g speeds on t mobile then my buddy does on sprints wimax with his evo 4g. The fastest I've got is 5.7mbps download on t mobile 3g.

If you aren't happy switch carriers man, no reason to pay for shit service if you can end your contract and not pay a dime. Verizon lte is super fast and my buddy said att 4g is real fast too. Best deal is t mobile by far when it comes to price per month and speed
 
I'm on Sprint and own 2 smart phones i pay $50 each per line includes 500 mins unlimited text and data

my bill comes to about $110 each month. I live in New England

Can i get similar service at the same cost with Verizon, T-Mobile, ATT ?

i use about 4gb of data each month over 3g

my 3g speeds here are pretty good i can surf and definately can watch youtube videos

Let me know if they do have a similar plan and I will switch

Thanks,
 
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