Database Users

Anyone use Sprint 4G now?

Hey guys. Does anyone have experience with Sprint 4G right now? Speeds? Reliability? I love the EVO and want to know what 4G might be like using this device.

Don't expect much off the bat, to be honest. 2-10mbps, spotty service, etc. It's like 3G was when that was rolled out, it's going to take time to iron things out.

It probably depends on where you live. In Corpus Christi, I can great speeds, up to 20 mbs, in certain parts of town and less than 1 in others.
I have an Intel WiMAX card in my notebook and an Overdrive device. I always get considerably better speeds using my WiMAX card than I do the Overdrive. The WiMAX connects using Clear's service, but it is the same service that Sprint's Overdrive connects to.
Eddie

How is the latency? Is it good for gaming or better for just browsing?

I used Clears WiMax service at home for a couple weeks. The speeds were so so but latency was so horrible that I could not use it for voip or xbox live at all. The best part of it was at midnight or so every night (when I get home from work and need it the most) the service would go down for maintenance for 1-3 hours.
p.s. WiMax is not 4G

march7th said:
WiMax is not 4G
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???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G

Wimax as it stands now is not "4G" in the certification sense. Then again, neither is LTE. The 4G certification stands at 100mbps, Wimax2 and LTE Advanced will have the 4G certs. LTE and Wimax are technically called 3.9G, as the basis of the tech will lead into 4g.
That being said, Verizon and AT&T aren't going to say anything, because they're doing the same damn thing.

march7th said:
I used Clears WiMax service at home for a couple weeks. The speeds were so so but latency was so horrible that I could not use it for voip or xbox live at all. The best part of it was at midnight or so every night (when I get home from work and need it the most) the service would go down for maintenance for 1-3 hours.
p.s. WiMax is not 4G
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You sir have no idea what your talking about. WiMax is Sprint's forth generation technology, you should read a bit more about 802.11m.

You ma'am should read more. The post above you should help you out

It probably depends on where you live. In Corpus Christi, I can great speeds, up to 20 mbs, in certain parts of town and less than 1 in others.
I have an Intel WiMAX card in my notebook and an Overdrive device. I always get considerably better speeds using my WiMAX card than I do the Overdrive. The WiMAX connects using Clear's service, but it is the same service that Sprint's Overdrive connects to.
Eddie
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I noticed that corpus was one of the cities to get 4g. I look forward to it as I am visting at the end of June.
Sent from my HERO200 using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

i am in Ft Worth texas.. it has had 4G/wimax (whatever) as one of the test cities. I got the overdrive device 3 weeks ago.
I live in the suburbs and work near downtown.
at both locations I only get 20% signal strength. And the speed is about double what I get on 3G. well the 3G signal strength was also about 20-30% too!!!
sometimes, i can get 40% and see the speed hit 1.2-1.5mbs. but that is for a very short time, maybe a min or two. 95% of the time i am 20%.. and sometime i loose all signal!!! I have tried to download larger files 100mb or higher, but it fails because, before I can finish the download it will loose signal and I have to start over. So i have no faith in the stability of this tech, at this time. It is good for casual internet stuff, but for work, large files, time sensitive issues, I would not bet on it. They need more towers!!!!!!

4g is great u just have to be withone one mile of a 4g enabled tower in order to get real 4g service

Aridon said:
How is the latency? Is it good for gaming or better for just browsing?
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It seems pretty good. My step son has his Xbox360 connected and plays Call of Duty all the time. He says there is no lag at all. He was getting lag when connected to our Road Runner account.
It does make a difference on where you are and where you place the modem. He puts the modem in the window.

eseelke said:
It seems pretty good. My step son has his Xbox360 connected and plays Call of Duty all the time. He says there is no lag at all. He was getting lag when connected to our Road Runner account.
It does make a difference on where you are and where you place the modem. He puts the modem in the window.
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that is an epic win...

eseelke said:
It seems pretty good. My step son has his Xbox360 connected and plays Call of Duty all the time. He says there is no lag at all. He was getting lag when connected to our Road Runner account.
It does make a difference on where you are and where you place the modem. He puts the modem in the window.
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I LOL'd hard

mrono said:
I LOL'd hard
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I'm sorry, what's so funny with that statement? I find it hard to believe that the latency is lower with a 4g connection, but I donno... I guess I just don't get it.

4G in Boston Area

Anyone able to get 4G consistently in the Boston area? I was down on Mass Ave. in Cambridge and had it working momentarily, anyone know good spots to go to get a steady 4G connection?

I had good 4g constant at my workplace in Medford, MA. The thing about 4G is that it has a very short 10 sec idle sleep setting. So pretty much if you are not downloading or using the connection it will disconnect. Connect back to 3G and then it scans and reconnects back to 4G.

I also saw it briefly connect last night, but signal strength was low in Central Square.

I HAD full 4G signal in Downtown Crossing but have since lost it. Unable to connect. Scanning, to Connecting to Sprint, to Obtaining IP Address, to Disconnecting and then starting the same process all over again. I can def. say that this started happening after flashing a custom ROM (DC 3.2.3) in addition to Radio/Wimax. Since then I have not been able to get it back. I saw one other member mention the same thing. Is anybody still seeing 4G signal anywhere in Boston Metro area?

Question:
For kicks, in methuen, MA over the weekend, I turned on 4G.
I kept getting a cycle (not exact wording):
Scanning
Found 4G connecting to Sprint
then back to scanning
Is there actually 4G available this far from Boston?
I am in Lowell, MA now and I just get a constant: Scanning...

I know for sure 4G was up and running in Boston a couple weeks ago. I was using 4G constantly. I work in Downtown Crossing and was getting sick connection on 4G. But it seems as though it's gone now. At first I thought it was because I had rooted my EVO and applied a custom ROM but now I'm beginning to think something is up with the 4G as I am seeing the same thing with the Scanning, Connecting to Sprint, Obtaining IP Address, Disconnecting and then back to Scanning. I don't know how far the 4G signal reaches.

I get pretty consistent 4G in the Allston/Brighton area right on Harvard ave.

I am unable to connect in South Boston. It was working fine before, now it will get stuck at obtaining ip address then just disconnect. I think this has to do with the rollout since they're still testing it.

zeuzinn said:
I am unable to connect in South Boston. It was working fine before, now it will get stuck at obtaining ip address then just disconnect. I think this has to do with the rollout since they're still testing it.
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I get a very spotty connection in southie too. some days are better than others

I am also having the same issue in Downtown Crossing, been happening for a week now. It's not a rooting issue as I've been rooted since I bought the phone. It seems to be happening in Providence as well.

Not sure if this is related, but I am now able to connect to 4G after flashing the *FINAL* Official 2.2 rooted update. Not only that, even with the same radio, I am now getting AWESOME consistent download speeds, averaging 6mbps.

Same here...I work in Burlington...SPEEDS are INCREDIBLE....4G is BAAACK

i'll out 4g later on today... does anyone else out there find it sad that our 4g speeds tend to be only a little better than tmo's speeds. My boy has a mytouch slide and he consistently get 3.7mbps - 4.3mbps down

looneylu said:
i'll out 4g later on today... does anyone else out there find it sad that our 4g speeds tend to be only a little better than tmo's speeds. My boy has a mytouch slide and he consistently get 3.7mbps - 4.3mbps down
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Well 4G hasn't even launched officially here yet and they're still optimizing the network even in officially launched markets. Some people are reporting 10+mbps download speeds. It'll only get better.

After being down for a week and a half, 4G - wimax is back up in Needham - but I am only getting 3.4 down and .4 up

A friend with an EVO says they're in the process of installing the antanea/tower (whatever the correct term is) on top of his office roof in Salem, MA. (As of a week or two ago.) The Clearwire tech said planning a full area launch in October/November, but 4G will be available in some areas sooner.
I'm in Haverhill, and no luck yet.

xdalaw said:
A friend with an EVO says they're in the process of installing the antanea/tower (whatever the correct term is) on top of his office roof in Salem, MA. (As of a week or two ago.) The Clearwire tech said planning a full area launch in October/November, but 4G will be available in some areas sooner.
I'm in Haverhill, and no luck yet.
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Yeah, I know this is kind of off topic but here's a public hearing notice I saw back in January. Clear was requesting to build a tower/antenna at 678 Mass Ave. That's right in Central Square, Cambridge

I work at Copley/South End and it goes in and out. I live at the border of Milton & Mattapan, and i get a faint signal and works for awhile. Even with a faint signal, its still a very fast connection. I have a friend in Lynn who gets good reception.

4 g is here
Hello all,
Just wanted to note that I'm getting 4g both in south Lowell near exit 37 off of Rt. 495 and stronger signal in Cambridge near central sq. I just used speakeasy for a speed test and download was just over 5 Mb. That was with one bar of signal strengh shown on the phone.

Just turned my 4g radio on today for kicks. Was getting one bar on the water in Quincy. 5.3 to 5.6 down and about 600 up. I like it!

Sprint's 4g connection not stable...

Im in the northern chicago area and I'm able to connect to 4g but the connection is slow and unstable...(even with 4 bars). Ive extended the idle time using ##data# but still I have the same issues??? Anybody with a solid connection care to share their ##data# settings? Im thinking the issue might in the settings......
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I'm in Seattle and see similar 4G behavior. Usually 2 bars or so and not great performance (marginally better than 3G). I'd be interested to see if this can be improved by tweaking the settings also.

the 4G antenna in the EVO is half the size of the USB one, I don't even get signal at my house on my EVO, yet I get 1.5MBs on my USB stick. Size matters.

Idk about 4G but i just moved into a new house and i have TERRRIBLE reception no matter where i am. If im not outside, it sucks. Its funny though, as soon as i step out the door, 5-6 bars. Im keeping the phone in hopes that as soon as they get 4G around here (Elmont, NY... Long Island), things will change. =\

sprints 4g is in a horrible part of the spectrum. it's frequency is too high to pass through anything

This thread does not belong here. Take this drivel to the appropriate subforum.

unless you are a running a stock rom with the latest updates, i don't think you can make any of these complaints that you all are unless 4g isn't fully up and running in your city. My girlfriend just got the white evo and we installed the latest updates and she gets a very good 4g signal, i have the black evo running fresh 0.5.3 and i get a pretty good signal myself. Not to mention we live in mpls and 4g isn't even officially here yet. A lot of these problems people are having are user errors, flashing things with no knowledge of what they are doing. I would say go back to stock do to ota update with the new radio and wimax enhancements then tell me what type of 4g coverage you are getting. otherwise you are just trusting the chef that everything is set up right which i would take with a grain of salt because non of them seem to understand exactly how the wimax radio works as of yet. Proof of this is all the problems people are having after trying numerous roms

BB15 said:
I'm in Seattle and see similar 4G behavior. Usually 2 bars or so and not great performance (marginally better than 3G). I'd be interested to see if this can be improved by tweaking the settings also.
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That's not very encouraging, I am very disappointed by Sprint's 3g speeds. I have yet to see over 1mbs, and over the 4th of July weekended saw .2-.7 mbs. Yes, .2 as in 192kbs. This was in Miami.

vespoli said:
This thread does not belong here. Take this drivel to the appropriate subforum.
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I started this thread with the intentions of looking into the settings of the wimax ##data# menu....not too rant about the service. I believe with the good signal I'm getting and the fact that I do connect shows that there's an issue with either the roms were flashing or the setting mentioned above. Anybody care to post their settings?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Changing the wimax idle sleep time from 10 secs to 300 secs could help. My 4G stays on pretty much constantly now instead of switching back and forth between 4G and 3G. You would need your MSL to edit the settings though.

I have similar issues in the chicago land area as well. Very frustrating. I am using a stock rooted rom, but I am using an older OTA update. When I'm outside I always have a strong 4G signal. However, as soon as I go in doors I either loose the signal or have a very weak one. Before you say anything about updating, my GF's EVO is completely stock with the newest OTA update and her 4G behaves very similarly. I actually pick up a better signal at times. It just sucks because if the signal was just a LITTLE bit stronger I would be really happy.

Thats just due to the spectrum used for wimax is at such a high frequency that it does not penetrate walls very well. I'm not sure how sprint will try to remedy this problem, I'm not sure but I get strong signals at my work office and thats inside a building. At home I can get 4G if I am outside once inside I cant seem to get it at all.

What's "##data#" ? I would search it but haven't quite figured it out yet on the app. Google didn't help either (surprisingly).
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

jrpointer said:
Im in the northern chicago area and I'm able to connect to 4g but the connection is slow and unstable...(even with 4 bars). Ive extended the idle time using ##data# but still I have the same issues??? Anybody with a solid connection care to share their ##data# settings? Im thinking the issue might in the settings......
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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jr - I am in Gold Coast and recently noticed the 4G signal was junk. It used ot be great inside my 13th floor apartment. I went to the sprint store and they said one of the towers was being serviced (they called a tech. and he said this while I was there). They said end of this week it would be fixed. I was going to give them another week or so and see what the deal is then.

IMO it kind of defeats the purpose of having 4G then. 90% of the time that I want to surf the internet or use 4G I'm indoors, and I would imagine that goes for pretty much everybody. I know this isn't a problem for everybody so it seems, but I think for a lot of people it is.

interesting you say 4 bars of 4g. when i look at my phone i can get up to 6 vertical bars for 3g's signal strength, but with 4g on, and outside i can get 3 "bars" more like "upper wifi arcs" above the 4g signal. and inside my 4g doesn't even register anything, it just shows 4g with no arcs...
however my technique is to put the phone right next to the window and run my micro usb cable from there to my computer. and i then get great data connection...
still experimenting, (had the phone for less than a week) but i think it might work better to go to menu/settings/wirless&networks/ and uncheck mobile network so the phone doesn't use the 3g for data connection when 4g isn't there...
thus if the 4g signal is low, it doesn't drop it to grab the higher signal 3g...
lastly. i'm heading to the store to try to pick up a 2 buck plastic soap dish with a suction cup for the "high tech holding station" on my window. that and a 10 foot micro usb cable i think that will help even more...
best of luck.

I have figured out where in my neighborhood I can get a 4G signal (and I too keep my phone near the window when I want to use it at home). However since the OTA, I noticed that if my 4G signal drops it won't come back unless I toggle the 4G radio. It will just sit in "scanning" and use 3G.
Anyone else noticing this problem?
I would assume that one of the settings/timers need to be tweaked, but I have no idea what my those values were before the OTA.

oreoOozZz said:
Idk about 4G but i just moved into a new house and i have TERRRIBLE reception no matter where i am. If im not outside, it sucks. Its funny though, as soon as i step out the door, 5-6 bars. Im keeping the phone in hopes that as soon as they get 4G around here (Elmont, NY... Long Island), things will change. =\
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4G has nothing to do with 3G. Clearwire maintains the 4G network and Ericsson maintains the 3G/1X network do if your 3G is bad now, it won't be any different when 4G launches unless Ericsson improves the situation.

If I'd got this device predominantly for 4G...Id've returned it in day one...(IN Chicago also). In fact wouldn't have bought it going in knowing what I knew about the spottiness of tapping into 4G frequency wirelessly.

that makes absolutely no sense.
per your words, 4G has nothing to do with 3G as in Clearwire has nothing to do with Ericsson so what would it matter if Ericsson decided to step its game up if Clearwire is the 4G company?
4G is on a whole different frequency not to mention a whole different tower technology and tower location possibly so there's definetly a good chance that I can maintain a great 4G signal once it arrives in my area compared to the terrible 3G coverage I get.
well see what happens... my luck they will never put 4G by me lol.

4g connection

I'm in a 4g area and I'm having trouble with the connection even while outside. Could it be my particular phone?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

What kind of issues are you having? Since the update my 4g connection is constantly dropping then connecting again in the same spots i had 4g before the update.
Sent from my EVO 4G using XDA app

The very issue u speak of, except it was also doing it before the update. I really want to keep this phon, but not if the radio can't keep a decent connection
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Are you having the problem just in one place or all over in your area?
I've seen the 4g disconnect and reconnect when I have a really weak 4g signal. When I am at home I have 1/3 bars on the 4g icon when I am inside and it will sometimes lose connection for a minute. I also see pretty slow speeds, usually even slower than 3g.
When I am outdoors or in a part of town closer to the source of the signal I get much better results. It maintains the connection fine and the speeds are great. With 1/3 bars I usually see 1-2 mbps download, with 2/3 bars I typically see around 3-4 mbps. One time I drove around until I found 3/3 bars and ran a few speed tests and it hit around 5.8 to 5.9 mbps consistently, the upload was up over 1 mbps too. I'd like to see less gaps in the 4g coverage, but hey it is a new network.
I'd say your disconnects are just related to a bad signal in your area, but if it happens no matter where you are it could be related to the phone. Maybe try hunting for a stronger signal and then see if you still have disconnects?

I'm in a 4g area per the sprint map. I'm pretty sure that map is none too accurate. Also, if it's 4g though Clear (basically subcontracted service), I think Clear's network is good or bad on a device by device basis. I've had a total of 4 devices at home through the Clear network and only the clear mobile has been any good. 2 home modems, the mobile (Spot), and the Epic. My epic has the same problem as yours and I'm in an official "indoor" area. My wager is that the network is still being rolled out and Clear has oversold some (or many) markets.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

javahead76 said:
I'm in a 4g area per the sprint map. I'm pretty sure that map is none too accurate. Also, if it's 4g though Clear (basically subcontracted service), I think Clear's network is good or bad on a device by device basis. I've had a total of 4 devices at home through the Clear network and only the clear mobile has been any good. 2 home modems, the mobile (Spot), and the Epic. My epic has the same problem as yours and I'm in an official "indoor" area. My wager is that the network is still being rolled out and Clear has oversold some (or many) markets.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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That perfectly describes my situation..I was telling my friends that that map isn't really accurate apparently because I am also in an supposed indoor area..but even if I go outside an walk down toward the main street I will only get one bar..and maybe 2 if I take my hands off of it..so I know the ma is exagerated greatly. I'm in. Different place right now and while I get two bars outsde even with my hands on it..I can't connect at all right now..sucks period.
They should rename their network from the "now" network to the "outside" network..because even my 3g never goes above half strength indoors...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

greengoldmello said:
That perfectly describes my situation..I was telling my friends that that map isn't really accurate apparently because I am also in an supposed indoor area..but even if I go outside an walk down toward the main street I will only get one bar..and maybe 2 if I take my hands off of it..so I know the ma is exagerated greatly. I'm in. Different place right now and while I get two bars outsde even with my hands on it..I can't connect at all right now..sucks period.
They should rename their network from the "now" network to the "outside" network..because even my 3g never goes above half strength indoors...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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same here, its funny though, 2 bars of 4g and ill get random disconnects on the epic. my evo is perfectly stable, so id almost say its something with the phone. i may swing by the sprint store during lunch and see what they say.

I get the same 4g connectivity now as I did pre IO7. At work here in Southern New Jersey with two bars inside. Sometimes drops to one. Never disconnects. Just ran a speed test inside.
3072kbps down / 1057kbps up
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

4g connection issues

Im sure this has been covered, I searched but didnt find it.
Here is the deal. I have gone from stock ROM, to EE to Syndicate, and in all 3 when I try to use 4g, it will connect, and after about 20-30 seconds, disconnect.
Any thoughts?

your not getting good coverage
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Thats what I thought maybe as well. But St. Louis is "supposed" to be covers very well for 4g, and it doesnt matter where I try in in STL, it ALWAYS disconnects after about 20 seconds or so

thats wierd,if you know someone else that has 4g,get them to meet up with you one day and try it side by side,the only real way to see if its a problem with your phone
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

no problem on my wifes Evo

It's a very weird thing. This past weekend, I was in Las Vegas... and Las Vegas looks like an ocean on the Sprint map, with all the blue solid 4g coverage. I was rooted and ROM'd with Quantum2.0 and then flashed back to stock and STILL had no 4g connections.
I was bragging to my boss about all the 4g I was going to have on vacation, and had nothing to show for it /sadface

By any chance, does anybody know whether the Epic has the same problem the Evo did with lost 4G keys (basically, if the key gets wiped, there's no process for recovering it or generating a new key to replace it)? I'm assuming the fact that we haven't heard about it up to now is probably a sign that it was put somewhere a little more durable in the Epic, but it could also just be the fact that up to now, everyone's largely been in idle mode waiting for 2.2 to drop & there hasn't been nearly as much kernel hacking so far.
IMHO, there's no hard technical reason why a new key couldn't be generated, but the problem is that the key would have to come from Clear, who (despite being mostly owned by Sprint) goes to great (and often petty) lengths to deal with Sprint at arm's length. Clear can't give you a key because you aren't their customer (Sprint is), and Sprint won't get a key for you from Clear because it hasn't occurred to anyone in Sprint management that someone might occasionally need to do it. So, if it happens, you basically have to "lose" the phone and do an insurance replacement, because the phone will never do 4G again. Sad, but true.

Bigirish said:
It's a very weird thing. This past weekend, I was in Las Vegas... and Las Vegas looks like an ocean on the Sprint map, with all the blue solid 4g coverage......
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Same here in Corpus...looks great on the Sprint www, 4g everywhere....but in real life it is a hit and miss I was very upset on the real coverage of 4g compared to the Sprint www 4g coverage page...it does not even come close to what they have on the site

Here in Orlando is also very spotty. I just keep 4g off...

I have a problem almost along the same line. Except my 4g will come and go. It will just lose connection while surfing the web. It says im still connected, but I wont be able to go anywhere. Im in seattle.
Sent from my shoe, I mean....Epic shoe... I mean Samsung Epic! http://mobilehighway.blogspot.com/

In several different 4G cities with excellent signal I always get random 4G disconnects and reconnects--sometimes frequent, other times less so. Sometimes even when the phone is seemingly idle (although I know it's frequently doing background stuff). And sometimes I have to turn 4G off and back on to reconnect. What causes this? Is it a network problem or something on the phone which might be corrected with firmware?

I get sketchy service in Boise, yet much better in Seattle....and both areas are supposed to have full 4G coverage. I can't stand that 4G connects/disconnects constantly, enough that it bogs the phone, so I find myself leaving 4G off more times than not. I did read a thread about someone showing how to basically the phone to only work in 4G, no more timing out, etc...but you'd better make sure you have good coverage before doing it. Sorry I don't have a link.

I get great 4g in my house (Chicago). Makes sense it's the only time I use it because I keep it charging...

I'm also in Saint Louis, and it also disconnections after 20 seconds. But using speed test, I consistantly get 6500-7500 down, and about 1mb up.

In Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, 4g won't do graceful hand-offs if you move more than a mile or two from the tower that gave you an ip... the moment you hit 3 bars from a new tower, it'll forcibly disconnect you. I realized this when I was out mapping w/Sensorly, & gradually realized that half of my disconnects were in areas with rock-solid coverage... often, at the exact point where the signal was the *strongest*.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

So are we talking of a phone issue, or a Sprint issue????? Because I have full bars here in Boston Metro area, MA and I get frequent disconnects, but I'm my house I get 1 bar, but no disconnects .....

Try this solution: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=925898

Jayavarman said:
Try this solution: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=925898
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Tried it, nothing... still keeps connecting / disconnecting every 10 seconds....
Can the 4G radio get flashed?