Database Users

Verizon Network Performance...

What are the forum's opinions on Verizon's network? Especially those of you who changed to Verizon from another network for the Incredible.
I'll be honest. The network has not been bad, I have service most places and 3g is decently reliable and fast. Not really digging that antenna indicator that makes up the bars on it's own, but performance was pretty good.
However, I didn't expect 'ok.' I expected 'The Network.' I expected moving from tmobile, the smallest carrier, and the n1, a phone with horrible antenna problems for alot of people, to get reception anywhere other people had reception. But in my area [suburb of Dallas TX] ATT seems to actually have more reliable coverage. In my house Tmo gets no reception [my house is a dead zone apparently.] ATT gets full reception. So in changing to verizon I checked their coverage map.... full 3g everywhere in my area. 1 bar in my house. 3g in my garage. Better than Tmo but ATT is 5 bars 3g!
And as far cities or major areas... never had a probl with Tmo there, always good HSPA. But leave a city and roll the dice.
Overall I rate Verizons network a 4 for North Texas Area. Tmo 3 Sprint 2 Att 5.

For Boston, my TMobile phones had much better call quality/clarity. I have not dropped any Verizon calls yet, but it is sometimes hard to understand what the other person is saying on the far side of the line.
On the other hand, the 3g speed and coverage has seemed good.

I have noticed the greater 3G coverage. I came from AT&T and this weekend I traveled across the country and spent some time in 6 different states, CA, IL, TX, NY, NJ, PA. Some were just driving through, others were airports. Never once did I notice a lack of 3G coverage. However most of the time I was at 1 or 2 bars, although that didn't seem to effect my experience.
It even worked in the plane at 30k feet, but only when I was above a major city. Gave me enough time to download an app. (yeah I know they don't want you to do that, I'm bad)
Coming from AT&T I do miss one thing, Data+Voice at the same time. More than a few times I was on a call with the hotel or car rental and they asked me for information I did not have handy. It was in my emails, but I couldn't access data to get them while on the phone. So I was put in a position where I had to anticipate what information I needed before a call and pull it up first. Another time I was talking to a friend about where we were going to meet, and I couldnt access Google Maps. It's kinda annoying.

I switched from T-mobile and while I'm gonna be missing my nexus once that 2.2 update comes out, my coverage is amazingly better, and my service overall wasn't that bad to begin with. Verizon has far surpassed my expectations.

Verizon user here who left Big Red, went to Big Orange, and then back to Verizon.
In my experience (here in central and western Pennsylvania), AT&T is hands down faster. This is simply the case with GSM as opposed to CDMA. However, 3G coverage with AT&T is spotty, whereas Verizon is awesome.
I have also noticed a misconception that # of bars is best indicator of performance. A better measuring tool is to check the following:
Menu > Settings > About Phone > Network
Take note of the Signal Strength. Somewhere around 50 dBm is almost excellent coverage while the closer you get to 100 dBm is borderline questionable coverage.

I am back with Verizon after less than a year with Sprint, and I am glad to be back. I had left VZW because of their crippled phones (reduced memory - disabled features - etc.), and not because of their service, which was fine.
I was quickly reminded that no matter how good a phone is, it's not worth a damn when paired with lousy service. Obviously YMMV, but where I live, near the edge of town but supposedly in a perfectly normal coverage area, Sprint is seriously lacking.
Average signal at my desk with Sprint was -95db or worse, and maybe as good as -92 if I went upstairs. Calls would drop fairly often, but even worse were the ones that *didn't* drop completely, and instead just went all flaky with audio cut-outs (with both phones I had on Sprint, the Touch Pro & the Hero). I was always running upstairs anytime an important call came in, just for the few db less signal loss, in the hopes that Sprint wouldn't ruin the call and make an ass out of me again (I can do that just fine on my own, thanks). Data throughput was also pretty inconsistent on Sprint. Sometimes it would work great while I was at some other location such as onsite with a client, but that just wasn't good enough. I need my phone to work where I live.
Anyways, back with Verizon things seem pretty steady for me. I get an average of -90db or better at my desk, sometimes as good as -85db, and if I go upstairs I have seen signals as good as -78db hold for a while. I have only had a single dropped call, and I saw no sign that it was a signal issue at the time. All of my calls have been clear, with no detected or reported audio cut-outs. Real-world data throughput is also much better for me than it was with Sprint. Web pages load consistently where they used to be sporadic, downloads don't stall anymore, and videos buffer just fine that I couldn't even touch on Sprint. No complaints about service here.
I wish Sprint all the best, but they won't be getting any more $$$ from me anytime soon. As for Verizon...well...what can I say except "Hey baby, thanks for taking me back! I missed you."

trevorwhopkins said:
Overall I rate Verizons network a 4 for North Texas Area. Tmo 3 Sprint 2 Att 5.
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Att 5, lmao
Try this get speedtest from the market, have your friend get speedtest from the app store, whenever you have the chance post run the test 3 times simultaneously and see how bad att network is. att network is like a ford fiesta, nobody wants it, but some are forced to endure it.
my conclusion on vzw is i am ususlayy getting 1.5-1.75 Mbps down and 600-1000Kbps up all the time at different locations. My friends iphone has never hit more than 1.2 , usually its 400-800Kbps down and up 200-500Kbps
i know different areas have different speeds, but in my area and most areas i have been to, mostly west coast, these results seem to be the norm

VZW coverage has always been great for me. Everywhere I go I ubersexual great reception in voice and 3g. I work in the Nevada desert sometimes and had data coverage where I wouldn't have expected it. And voice coverage was nearly always there. Can't wait for LTE.
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Once I exchanged my phone for another because of something unrelated to signal I have noticed a difference. Before my phone would stick on 1x but now sitting in the exactly the same spot I only get as low as Rev-A. So there was an obvious problem with the radio on my last Incredible.

I've seen a few places where ATT could get out and VZW can't. Usually on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Having said that VZW is always crystal clear where ATT is garbled. I drop a VZW call about every 6 months.

I don't know what the Incredible's deal is with bars for the signal indicator, hut its not accurate. With the MOTO Droid sitting side by side, the DI always have less bars but is you watch the actual dbm, its the same or slightly better. I given on using bars at all. I just check that I have signal. I've done a lot of travelling and I have not lost service yet. some of my travel is in rural Mississippi.
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I had to go with a 4. VZW service is the best I've ever had, but coming from T-Mo, I got spoiled by the voice+data simultaneously. If that somehow became possible on CDMA networks, VZW would be perfect in my eyes.

I live 20 miles out in the suburbs in SC and I get 2 bars and 3G all day long. VZW has the coverage.

I came from AT&T to Verizon last month in NJ. It's one of the states where it's just blanketed in every cell service. Verizon is the best network I have ever seen. AT&T's network was unusable at times. Their data network was complete and utter garbage. I browse faster with Verizon on one bar than I ever did with AT&T with full bars. I'll never, ever go back.

I to am in NJ (NY Metro Area) Signal strength at home is a constant -71dbm, and at work a phenomenal -64dbm, had Sprint(my work),ATT(wifes work),TMobile (Son's current) all were "ok" but data by far is much faster with VZ, and I don't recall any dropped calls.

Super fast 3G outside...Tmobile's was MUCH slower. But seems like T-mobile signal in Atlanta could penetrate any building and the second I walk indoors with Verizon I am jumping around on 1x all the time. Cant get a 3G signal at work and spend 9 hours of my day there. T-mobile full bars of 3G goodness. 1 dropped call so far in 3 weeks so thats really good.

Verizon network is good here in Washington D.C. Metro area and surrounding areas. Ive only seen one dead zone while riding VRE train, its between stafford and quantico. Ive never had dropped calls or bad call quality. Only complaint i have is 3g speeds seem to be a lot slower in the city dunno if its maintenance or just too many people on the towers or w/e. Not even able to stream internet radio sometimes while in the city. speedtest.net app shows between 80kbps and 200kbps while in city. I get up to 4000kbps at my house outside the city in Fredericksburg.

Cycling from 3G to 1X
Data service will not lock into 3g but every few minutes jumps between 1X and 3g with attendant decrease and increase in data rates: 1x - 60 to 90 kbps down, 40 to 80 kbps up, 3g - 240 to 400 kbps down, 180 to 320 kbps up, all are average and sometimes much better on 3G during non peak periods. VZ reports no data problems at location and said to contact HTC.
Not a signal strength or reception problem and does not happen on two other phones sitting side by side with INC. INC: -87 to -89 db, Samsung Omnia II: -86 to -88 db, BB 8330: -87 to -89 db. All other phones have solid 3g signal and data rates all the time.
I really hesitate to exchange this phone because everything else appears to be working fine after doing the EVRC-B change to improve voice quality and I don't want to get another one with some other problem. Guess I'll wait as long as possible in the 30 day trial in hopes that either a fix is put out or a later batch of phones won't have the problem.

Re: Cycling from 3G to 1X
Replying to my own message: I now know why I am seeing this behavior. I got a free app "Real Signal" from the Market which displays the CDMA and EVDO signals in db separately. If this app is accurate my INC has a 10 to 20 db difference between the two with the CDMA -87 to -89 and the EVDO -95 to -118. So it looks like my INC has an antenna problem or a radio front end problem for the 1900 MHz band.
Also it seems that the change from EVRC to EVRC-B has not improved my voice quality as much as I thought as all day yesterday I had several calls that were muffled and dropping syllables. I do wish that HTC would get its act together as this is a great device otherwise.

I had iPhone 3G on AT&T in northern VA now with Incredible on Verizon I see huge upgrade in terms of speed and covarage. Its great!! also incredible is far better phone than iPhone.

T mobile vs. Verizon 3G

My samsung vibrant on t mobile
Vs
My wife's samsung fascinate on the nations largest 3G network.
Both pics were taken around the same time and right next to each other, I took the pc of mine from my wife's fascinate, and the pic of hers on my vibrant.
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only see one pic.

My wife's fascinate
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Cool Did you say where you live?

i was pulling down 6Mbps the other night
suck it, verizon

this is the reason i ditched verizon. most places i was hitting .6-.8 mbps and i almost hit 5mbps with tmo on my vibrant.

Verizon's service was a lot slower at times, but I REALLY miss having 3g literally EVERYWHERE
T-Mobile 3G isn't even in every major city here in Northwest Arkansas....let alone the rural areas

Tmobile has the fastest 3g around hands down. I have tried sprint and att. Both are slower, noticeably slower and the thing is t-mobile hasn't even started 4g or lte lol
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant

Tmo does have hspa+ though which can have an impact on data speeds depending on where you live
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Tmo will beat everyone on speed but man good luck on finding it. Sprint was slower but everywhere

T-Mobile is the fastest 3G carrier in the US right now IF you live in a HSPA+ area.

The real question is why does your wife have the outrageously high priced verizon while you sport the more economical t-mobile? Business issued?
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There are two main reasons Tmo typcially tops in speed:
Tmo has the fastest hardware right now. This will change, of course, seeing as both ATT and Verizon are working on their 4G networks and Tmo has no plans to go to 4G for the next two years. It is worth noting ATT and Verizon will have LTE not WiMax.
Tmo has a lot less customers so there is less demand on their towers. Less demand means faster speeds for those that do have Tmo.

T-Mobile is increasing 3G coverage a bunch recently. They just gave Puerto Rico 3G coverage and I've been hearing of other places getting 3G recently.
Verizon 3G is much slower here, you can hit 1.9Mbps but you're usually under 1Mbps like T-Mobile 3G before HSPA+. 3G coverage isn't all that either, EV-DO drops out sometimes at my house but I can't complain.
3G is also slightly on JI2 now that the -dBm reading is more accurate within the Android system. The Vibrant grabs onto a 3G signal much better than ANY phone I've had on T-Mobile. (G1, CLIQ, myTouch, TM506, TouchPro2, Nuron).
This is what I typically see with T-Mobile. Data speed is much better than all 3 of the carriers combined here for me. Still needs work in some areas though! Not going to lie.. but overall, it's better.
You would be lucky to get 500Kbps with AT&T or Verizon during peak hours. The Sprint EV-DO network is taking a huge hit due to the new smartphones on their network. It went from being underutilized to being over used.

As a former verizon/sprint/att/and uk versions f#ckee, ive never been more happy with a carriers service/price.
Tmo Hpsa ftw ..see sig

98classic said:
Tmo will beat everyone on speed but man good luck on finding it. Sprint was slower but everywhere
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Sad but true. I'm TM all the way, but F#$#, I hate how it's so limited still to a small area. Granted they are still expanding...Anyway, here's my pictures below...
I wouldn't quite knock Verizon...they'll kill TM on coverage on the mainland...but in some areas TM kicks @$$ over all....
Here's the true coverage ranking, hate it or love it, it's real:
1. Verizon
2. AT$T
3. Sprint
4. T-Mobile
Don't get me wrong, I get sick speeds...super fast...but only in certain areas...
My speed test pic is below...

Sprint coverage is way below T-Mobile coverage. 3G yes but I'd like to keep my calls.

heygrl said:
Sprint coverage is way below T-Mobile coverage. 3G yes but I'd like to keep my calls.
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As a trucker having gone through all 48 states with both carriers this is just not true
Well maybe in WU tmo might have slight better coverage

98classic said:
As a trucker having gone through all 48 states with both carriers this is just not true
Well maybe in WU tmo might have slight better coverage
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Roaming on Verizon in most of those states no?
When you lose the signal in a big city you can't just roam the rest of the time because the phone will try to pick up the weakest bit of Sprint signal. Sprint drops out often here. Deadzones in stores where T-Mobile manages a good usable signal? Check. Signal drop outs when driving down the road? Check. Lesser amount of coverage overall? Check. Dropped calls when signal fades and roaming switches over? Check.

heygrl said:
Roaming on Verizon in most of those states no?
When you lose the signal in a big city you can't just roam the rest of the time because the phone will try to pick up the weakest bit of Sprint signal. Sprint drops out often here. Deadzones in stores where T-Mobile manages a good usable signal? Check. Signal drop outs when driving down the road? Check. Lesser amount of coverage overall? Check. Dropped calls when signal fades and roaming switches over? Check.
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Lol must be the vibrant that sucks then cuz in a 1000 mile stretch of road I might get 3g 3 times for a few minutes, and speed is the worse while moving,. Just last night in portland, stopped, in the driver seat I had 3g, if I moved back to the sleeper 3 feet away it dropped to edge. Might be the phone that only gets 3g in wide open spaces like a satellite

What's the worst speedtest speed you've ever gotten on 3g?

So far on 3g I've never broken 1000kbps. yes thats kbps.
I just ran a few speed tests again.
5 out of 6 bars.
3 tests run.
Highest download speed: 26 yes TWENTY SIX kbps.
Upload was the normal 147.
IS THIS THE ENHANCED 3g/4g experience I'm paying for?!?

Sprint 3G sucks pretty badly compared to AT&T and T-Mobile. I've seen AT&T phones get over 1500kbps way more often than not.
With my phone I consistently get under 1000kbps with good signal areas giving me over 1300kbps and up to 2000kbps if I'm lucky.

Yeah, this was one of the major disappointments of coming from tmobile with 2-6mbps dls and not realizing how slow cdma 3g data was..probably the main reason im getting the g2 soon.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Ha, I just got 592 down and 87 up.
Honestly, though, my house sucks for signal quality. My AT&T phones could barely even make a call out of here. My Epic sounds basically like a land line in comparison. But yeah, data speeds suck. It's not the Epic's fault.
Luckily I have wi-fi at home and at work and I'm in a 4G area otherwise.

arashed31 said:
Sprint 3G sucks pretty badly compared to AT&T and T-Mobile. I've seen AT&T phones get over 1500kbps way more often than not.
With my phone I consistently get under 1000kbps with good signal areas giving me over 1300kbps and up to 2000kbps if I'm lucky.
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You're comparing 2 gsm providers with a cdma provider. Cdma is not real 3g, so their gsm speeds are always better...personally sprint gives me the best service of verizon, usc, or att. My data speeds with sprint are twice what I ever saw with vz and I never had att 3g serviceat home, had to drive into town.
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98 down and 111 up. I upgraded from a Hero that didn't ever drop below 300 up or down.
:-/
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ansong said:
98 down and 111 up. I upgraded from a Hero that didn't ever drop below 300 up or down.
:-/
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My phone rarely drops below 600dl. One of the places I work I get decent speed at 1700 down (still upload capped). The 1 time I got no upload cap, my phone must have been downloading an update from Sprint (DI07) cause I got prompted to install it shortly afterwards. This has to account for something... I'll patiently wait for the fix though as I love the phone and rarely upload anything. E-mails still send fine (no pics, just text for work).

Slow data and dropped calls? Las Vegas

is anyone else here from las vegas? I have noticed bad reception in areas where i used to have great service and full bars. Do you think sprint is doing something to their towers? maintenance/upgrades?

Appears so, slow data speeds nation wide and lots of dropped calls.
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b.s
Yep ..im in the Las Vegas area too and get dropped calls and data is slow .. so I use the verizon hack 00001.prl and get up to 1.8mbps up and 900kbs down. ( before I was getting 300kb up and down).

Goonzy said:
Yep ..im in the Las Vegas area too and get dropped calls and data is slow .. so I use the verizon hack 00001.prl and get up to 1.8mbps up and 900kbs down. ( before I was getting 300kb up and down).
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I was just in Vegas for 8 days and Sprint was the only carrier that worked consistently for me.
I'm rocking an iPhone 4, HTC EVO, and a Verizon MiFi.
AT&T = outright SUCKED
Verizon = 1x the whole time
Sprint = 3G 2mbps the entire time and when on 4G always avg of 6d/1up.

ill have to try that trick, thanks for the advise man

Sprint did announce their new network plan today. Probably encompasses Vegas.
But uh, shot in the dark here: Try out the CM 6.1.2 WiMax Alpha2. Supposedly gets wicked good 3G speeds, WiMax too.

Im not having the dropped call issue.. but my data speed has definitely gone to the crapper.

Neither of these issues on the north side of town for me.

I had some issues in Vegas with my EVO on sprint as well

I live in Las Vegas and have not notice any dropped calls or slow data connection

Make sure you report the dropped call on the automated line so you can receive credit and inform them of the issue.
Sent from my unit.

Im just wondering WTF is wrong with Sprints network. There have been reports of slow data speeds all over the android boards lately.

slooooow data here too in south...maybe its the nasty weather right now across the US?

I'm getting VERY slow 4G in the SF/Bay Area region, usually doesn't even get to 800 kbps with full bars.. Dropped calls too

Vegas local here. I haven't had any dropped calls, but I had the HTC Touch Pro 2 from September 2009 to June 2010 and I noticed a significant drop in data speeds at around the time that the EVO was released. The only explanation that I have is that a lot of people saw a 4.3" 1GHz Android phone with a forward facing camera and either upgraded from dumbphones to the EVO or switched carriers.
On the other hand, I attended CES this year and so many people didn't have data services on the show room floor. The shocker? I did. I had a friend with an iPhone 4 and she couldn't connect to 2G or 3G. On top of that, she was visiting the city and was at the Excaliber; she had no 3G data on the strip, at all.
The population of Vegas jumped 136,000 people last weekend with some of the most tech savvy people on the planet.
So Sprint kind of stood the test of time. Just throwing that out there. Perhaps this is also the reason for some of the slow data and dropped calls the you've recently experienced. Although it doesn't explain if you're still having such problems.
One more thing, we suffer from the same "Death Grip" as the iPhone 4. Want proof? Set up a WiFi connection and grip your phone like you normally would, for right handed people, thumb on volume buttons, palm over the HTC logo and fingers down the left side of the phone. You'll notice that the WiFi notification icon will drop a bar. Then, if you grasp the phone by not covering up the back and just pinch your EVO in your fingers it will regain a bar. I'm unsure if this is a graphical error in the software or a true Death Grip. Just an observation though. This may effect dropped calls for all we know.

I was in Vegas for CES and constantly turned on wireless tethering so my buddies with iPhone 4 could latch onto my phone to get on the internet.
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It was pretty bad during CES... at least it worked much better than AT&T.
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Just switched from T-Mobile to Sprint and am getting much worse coverage...?

Couldn't really post my entire question in the title. But what I wanted to finish asking if it this was to be expected? I live in the south Houston region around League City(77573) where the coverage map claims that mostly I'll get optimal performance in and out doors. However my 3G speeds are a joke most of the time. Up at work, where my desk is right next to tons of windows, I get 5-6 bars constantly, but 3G speeds are constantly fluctuating. I recently transferred from T-Mobile and of course am using the Epic flashed with Syn. Frozen.
One test will yield 500-800ms ping, with 200-300 kbps down, 50-100kbps up, and SOMETIMES the upload will be higher than the download.
Sometimes I'll get 1200-1500kbps with about half of that as my upload, with around 100-200ms ping.
At home, in my house, I constantly get 0 to 1 bars constantly, and often enter data roaming. Speedtest results usually report 800ms(if it can even find a server), and about 30-100kbps down and even lower than that in upload.
I honestly didn't expect it to be this bad. Can anyone share their thoughts? I doubt its the device or the towers; I suspect its just a low quality network.

Welcome to the club of Sprints slowness. I kind of regret the switch as well but I had to leave Att. I'm in Atlanta and 4g constantly sleeps even downtown where I'm suppose to have the best connection. And 3g is slower than a Snail.
I hate "Top Flight Security Mods"

I would say your speeds of 1200 to 1500 down should be about average for 3g (I'm in ohio).
However network strength is a tricky subject as 9000 things can be going on at any given time. But I can not speak for your market. Sometimes sprint has the best tower alignment in an area, sometimes t-mobile, verizon, and I guess in theory at&t.
Honestly it sounds like you have 2 separate issues going on. The 3g bouncing around like that is not normal and sounds like something is going on.
Your house however sounds like you just have crappy coverage.
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crazynotion said:
.....Your house however sounds like you just have crappy coverage....
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that is what I am also thinking, Daj don't put 100% on the 3g coverage map it is a joke and the 4g coverage map is even more of a joke like a hit and miss. I been with Sprint 13 yrs so I am already a pro on the areas that have 3g coverage and the limits/cut off signal level down here in S. Tx

I get 5-6 bars at work and depending on the time of day can get 400kbps, to 1.7mbps on 3G. I cannot really complain about the speeds I get...
At home though, I get bad coverage. Called Sprint and complained and they sent me an Airave free of charge. Now I get great speeds at home.

How much did u need to tell sprint to get that?
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When I had sprint for the past 10 years, signal at my house was terrible. In the past year, signal was drastically improved. T mobile has terrible signal at my house even now. It varies but sounds like you need an airave.
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as retarded as this might sound i don't really want to go the airwave route. I just might just return the phone and get a g2. the airwave sounds like a half baked fix; ive NEVER talked to anyone in my life whos needed some sort of external apparatus(in this case itd be like having a hearing aide)to help them with their cell service and quite frankly, where i'm at, there really should be no excuse for the low signal.

Count your lucky stars... at work with full signal I get 50 kilobits down. Sometimes the speedtest won't even run. Halfway home this evening I was next to a tower with full signal again. 29 kilobits down / 90 kilobits up! WOOHOO!! Full 3G signal.
I roam on Verizon 3G quite a bit at work due to the slow speeds

Been a Sprint customer for over a decade and finally canceled service today due to having to put up with painfully slow 3G and spotty to no 4G coverage as compared to my new Verizon 4G LTE phone. Been hanging on hoping for improvement but it's wishful thinking.

If you update your prl and profile once a month to stay current your 3G should be fine. But thrn again some areas just have bad coverage.
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you can get tmobile family plan with 5 phones all with 200mb 4g for about 190 with university discount (google). I'm currently paying $270 for 5 phones with sprint w/ my university discount! i know its a little off topic but just throwing it out there..