Database Users

Sprint Versus Verizon data speeds / reception

Check out this article. Verizon's data is WAY faster than Sprint's.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2241...x_the_battle_for_your_smartphone_dollars.html
I thought I read on here some where that talked about the Epic having both LTE and WiMAX chips. Anyone else see that thread and is it true??
EDIt: decided to title the thread to better to describe to the discussion.

If you want to be nickeled and dimed sure go ahead also they have data caps and are easy to exceed with these phones and they don't have a full unlimited plan and their customer service is worse than sprint. Also if you switched just cuz they had faster data your a bonehead cuz you could just use wifi at your house or almost anywhere you go if your really wanting faster data.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

the table showing average download and upload speeds is pretty obscure. I rarely see anything below 4 Mbps in Atlanta.

DjBacon, do you get 4g in Atlanta?
I live down in woodstock and don't get **** for signal or 4g here

jbadboy2007 said:
If you want to be nickeled and dimed sure go ahead also they have data caps and are easy to exceed with these phones and they don't have a full unlimited plan and their customer service is worse than sprint. Also if you switched just cuz they had faster data your a bonehead cuz you could just use wifi at your house or almost anywhere you go if your really wanting faster data.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everything is true except the customer service part. I used to work for verizon, only reason I switched was because of the "real" unlimited plan, and the phone itself. Other than that yes they do have a better data coverage (they always have I think), especially with their LTE service coming up so quickly. but I dont use data as much, maybe more on pandora than anything else. but if you need to be constantly connected for whatever reason, then switch to verizon.

You know what's stupid? So what? Who ****ing cares that its faster. What good is all that speed when your capped at 2gb. Sprint wins. Ill take a slower speed for unlimited data. Not to mention the speeds differ depending on area. Fastest I've gone is 900KB/s. My home connection gets 1300KB/s max. Also I've realized that these phones don't need all that speed. Its become so fast that the phone is the.bottleneck.

To be fair, its true but I'd rather have 3mb DL speed wimax (average speed i get now) at UNLIMITED than 5gb capped 12mb LTE.
Fuuton: Atsugai

Seanc13 said:
DjBacon, do you get 4g in Atlanta?
I live down in woodstock and don't get **** for signal or 4g here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, i have 4g in downtown atlanta (obviously) pretty much everywhere I go and also out at my house out in lilburn area (northeast of atlanta). Also have it pretty much everywhere I go here. And like I said, I rarely see it below 4 Mbps, I consistently hit 5.5+ in my house

I'm on sero so im paying less for 2 lines than I would for one verizon line.. faster or not verizon can kiss my ass..
Tapatalkin' it from my Epic 3g

The only time I've ever had it or hadmore than 2 bars is if I go downtown, which I never do
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Yeah sprint is much cheaper and actually has a TRUE unlimited data plan... besides did you consider that they just released LTE so no one actually owns a 4g device to be pulling from the connection, unlike sprint who sold millions of Evos, some amount of epics, and and 4g network cards... Verizon will eventually slow down I'm sure
I've only used 4g once on my epic and its when I was passing through north carolina, and it was ridiculously fast.

No unlimited data = no business from me. Sprint already ensured my loyalty by my plan discounts but Verizon's LTE is going to be a fustercluck until they're forced to really compete for data dollars. And AT&Teabag is a joke when it comes to 4G right now as well. These tests aren't to be believed anyhow since they barely have anyone on their LTE network as it is. I live in a town with a lot of difficult zoning and get a minimum of 4 down and 1 up, sometimes much more, just about everywhere I go now. The only big tech advantage I see LTE having is better inside building reach and you will pay out your a-hole for that with Verizon.

Enjoy
Sent from Snarf with an Epic

I'm perfectly happy with my unlimited 4g data with speeds of 2-5kbps. Sprint Customer service has been great too, during my difficult times paying my bill while I'm currently laid off.

shook187 said:
I'm perfectly happy with my unlimited 4g data with speeds of 2-5kbps. Sprint Customer service has been great too, during my difficult times paying my bill while I'm currently laid off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is some pretty slow internet

imtjnotu said:
that is some pretty slow internet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. Mbps? ;-)

epicslayer said:
Yes that's because sprint uses wimax version 1 . If sprint switches to wimeax 2.x then it will do 300megabits per second. Lte on verizon is about 40mbs
Lte will be on sprint in 2012 and full deployment in 2013
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually its more because sprint is running wimax of 10mhz while verizon is 20mhz plus in a better frequency...that said even without wimax 2..if they just update to wimax-enhanced which is a minor upgrade..you would get 40% more efficiency (60% more for new towers) and speeds on par with Verizon's 20mhz LTE in only 10mhz spectrum....

Sprint has horrendous customer service, though I dont know if anyone else is any better.
Verizon has better coverage out in the boonies, when you need it most.
Unlimited data is Nice with Sprint, though you have to be a hacker to take advantage of it.
Does anyone know if they throttle?

Nick_Djinn said:
Sprint has horrendous customer service, though I dont know if anyone else is any better.
Verizon has better coverage out in the boonies, when you need it most.
Unlimited data is Nice with Sprint, though you have to be a hacker to take advantage of it.
Does anyone know if they throttle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is your answer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlkT7gRM0xo&feature=player_embedded
Then again its coming from the CEO of sprint..the same guy who said who said 4g will be as free as TV....

I just wish I had 4g. I would take 4mbps down anyday. I get about 1 to 1.5 on 3g
Sent From My Evo Killer!!!

EVO 4g ever?!?!

Will we ever get 4g for the EVO lol Dont think its fair Sprint makes us pay an extra 10 for 4g but we never even got 4g 3 years later...

Sprint redefined the $10 surcharge to mean "Premium Data." If I'm not mistaken, all Android smartphones (whether or not they have WiMax/LTE) have to pay this $10 fee.

In the beg it was only for the evo 4g most likely bc of the 4g data...if hte evo is not faster than any other phone since its only 3g then why extra 10 dollar charge...

For the amount of data it uses
________________________________
{We are legion, for we are many}
>Sent from my Anonymous DeathStar in the depths of GalaXy S2<
-Coming soon to an Evo4G near you?: [AoSP]EViL-MoD_FReEvO v0.1[Free your phone]-

The charge is for any smartphone . And its for the unlimited data w/o a cap.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

I just saw on sprint website there is no 4g service even in Lousiana?! But why tout the FIRST EVER 4G phone the evo & then never even have 4 G for it?!!?

-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Dude the phones 2 years old why are u crying now, smh some ppl are just clueless
Plus if you read the fine print it says where 4g is available, not available in all areas and etc learn to read and get back in your time machine get outta summer 2010 and come back to the real world
________________________________
{We are legion, for we are many}
>Sent from my Anonymous DeathStar in the depths of GalaXy S2<
-Coming soon to an Evo4G near you?: [AoSP]EViL-MoD_FReEvO v0.1[Free your phone]-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right on dude. Also here in nc we have 4g all over

lol thanx RadDudeTommy Im not crying just trying to get info on wether they plan to get 4G for it...lol

Next one who offends another user will be infracted. Stay on topic. I will not warn again....infractions then ban.

evoer said:
Right on dude. Also here in nc we have 4g all over
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost...I'm in Wake Forest NC (just outside of Raleigh and I don't get 4g coverage at all but I get it everywhere else I go lol
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

Hey,
like a previous post states the $10 charge is for premium data, and it applies to smart phones that do not have 4g as well as those that do. That being said Wimax technology is what your 4g is based on and sprint is going to be switching to a 4g LTE network, and sadly ditching wimax. Lte is just going to be better for the future, so sadly if you do not have 4g not you most likely will not be getting it.

D.O.C said:
Next one who offends another user will be infracted. Stay on topic. I will not warn again....infractions then ban.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen brother!
Sent from the original Swagged Out HTC EVO 4G via Tapatalk

In the beginning it was indeed a 4G charge that was only applied on 4G phones, with the Evo being the only 4G phone at the time.
At that same time they introduced the SERO-P plans so that anyone on Sero could not get an android device. SERO-P was $10 more than SERO. If you had a SERO-P plan you had to pay another $10 to have a 4G device on your SERO-P plan. At that time they were openly telling customers it was a 4G fee. Well, it was quickly discovered that 4G wasn't and wouldn't be everywhere, and as a result Evo SERO-P customers started complaining that they were being forced to pay for a service they weren't getting (4G in their area) simply because they wanted a better (and more expensive phone). As a result of this, Sprint quickly changed it from a "4G fee" to a "premium data fee", yet for SERO customers, it was only applied to 4G devices. Then a year later it was determined that all new android devices would also have to pay for premium data, which is where we are now.
When I got my Evo I was in this boat -- I had to pay an extra $10 for a service I wasn't getting. So, I complained to Sprint and they told me in writing in two separate instances that "there would be 4G everywhere by the end of 2010." well, here we are in 2012, and still no 4G in my area. If they hadn't lied to me, I wouldn't have bought the device I did.
I did figure out a way to not pay the 4G fee, so I only pay $40 a month for my plan. It takes a bit of creativity, but saving $120 a year for a service I'll never get makes it worthwhile for me.

Thank you D.O.C & indagroove I respect both of you & your responses. All I was looking for was stevovanburen & indagrooves responses.
I dont agree with the premium data statement I think Indagrooves hit the nail on the head & it went the way he said. I had both a blackberry & HTC hero b4 my EVO 4g. On both you can get fast 3g service but no 4g however, I was not charged a 10 dollar fee for those but once I got the EVO 4g I started getting charged an extra 10...obviously to upkeep 4g. BTW when is 4g LTE network going to start up & what phones are going to support it? Will it be extra or just the 10$ ?

Pivo187 said:
Thank you D.O.C & indagroove I respect both of you & your responses. All I was looking for was stevovanburen & indagrooves responses.
I dont agree with the premium data statement I think Indagrooves hit the nail on the head & it went the way he said. I had both a blackberry & HTC hero b4 my EVO 4g. On both you can get fast 3g service but no 4g however, I was not charged a 10 dollar fee for those but once I got the EVO 4g I started getting charged an extra 10...obviously to upkeep 4g. BTW when is 4g LTE network going to start up & what phones are going to support it? Will it be extra or just the 10$ ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint and Clearwire are already in the process of converting the WiMAX towers to LTE. The process is also not as time consuming, and I'm sure if you don't have 4G service in your area, you will soon. Or you can write Sprint an e-mail asking for them to consider your area. They will have about 15 LTE equipped phones and other devices coming out Q2-Q3 2012. So far pricing has not been announced, but I do not think prices would increase much.

Umm... Sprint was SUPPOSED to have LTE partnerships with a few companies to make the rollout as quickly as possible. But since LightSquared got shot down by the FCC..
And we see how fast clearwire was able to rollout wimax.
It's going to be a few years before Sprint has coast to coast 4G LTE coverage.
And to the OP, if you don't have 4g now, you will never have it on your EVO. They are not building any more WiMAX towers, and the Evo will not support LTE. None of the current Sprint phones will support LTE.

indagroove said:
In the beginning it was indeed a 4G charge that was only applied on 4G phones, with the Evo being the only 4G phone at the time.
At that same time they introduced the SERO-P plans so that anyone on Sero could not get an android device. SERO-P was $10 more than SERO. If you had a SERO-P plan you had to pay another $10 to have a 4G device on your SERO-P plan. At that time they were openly telling customers it was a 4G fee. Well, it was quickly discovered that 4G wasn't and wouldn't be everywhere, and as a result Evo SERO-P customers started complaining that they were being forced to pay for a service they weren't getting (4G in their area) simply because they wanted a better (and more expensive phone). As a result of this, Sprint quickly changed it from a "4G fee" to a "premium data fee", yet for SERO customers, it was only applied to 4G devices. Then a year later it was determined that all new android devices would also have to pay for premium data, which is where we are now.
When I got my Evo I was in this boat -- I had to pay an extra $10 for a service I wasn't getting. So, I complained to Sprint and they told me in writing in two separate instances that "there would be 4G everywhere by the end of 2010." well, here we are in 2012, and still no 4G in my area. If they hadn't lied to me, I wouldn't have bought the device I did.
I did figure out a way to not pay the 4G fee, so I only pay $40 a month for my plan. It takes a bit of creativity, but saving $120 a year for a service I'll never get makes it worthwhile for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How you pay $40 a month?
Sent from the original Swagged Out HTC EVO 4G via Tapatalk

To make an EXTREMELY long story short, sprints connection is bipolar and ****ty. Im in the middle of a city and have no 4G. 2/4 of NYC has no 4G. Yet the middle of no where has 4G.. Sprint=very bad at radio tower set up.
---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 PM ----------
swagstr said:
How you pay $40 a month?
Sent from the original Swagged Out HTC EVO 4G via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and what he said.. Firstly i pay like $160 a month for only 4 phones.. technically its 60 or 70 a month for unlimited texting and data and like 1200 minutes, and to add another line is 10 more $.. how the f am i paying 160??? ima call sprint

swagstr said:
How you pay $40 a month?
Sent from the original Swagged Out HTC EVO 4G via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM me if you really wanna know.

I mean, it does suck that a lot of areas still don't have 4G. I know my town still doesn't. But I do know that I am getting equal, if not better speed and coverage, with better CS than I did on Verizon.
And my plan is still cheaper with the $10 fee.
It sucks, but I come out on top
Hopefully they figured out the situation from their past with WiMax, and will start to improve it this year.
To me, this has been a year of learning for Sprint. No 4G in a lot of cities, so dedicating the resources needed to start fresh and try to give their customers another chance. Debuting the GNex in a timely manner, unlike it's U.S. debut. Not backing down about their unlimited data, when almost every other carrier seems to be doing just that, because they know that's what people are asking for, and that's their trump card. For now at least.
I would say that the launch of one of the most talked about Android devices launching on their network with their revised 4G should light a fire under their asses. Or you will see customers turning on them.
I can guarantee you that.

Sprint VS T-Mobile or Tmobile and Throttling

So, its just about time to upgrade to upgrade my Sprint Phone (Evo). I got it coming up in May, unless something changes I might be going with the SG2, just looks great and it has capabilities for LTE as well as Wimax.
I just got a new job that lets me get a discount on T-Mobile, and I after looking at their plans, it would save me a few bucks (literally like 4). I have heard rumors that HSPA+ is slighly faster than Wimax but I never compared the two.
So HSPA+ faster than Wimax?
-----------------------------------------------
I use my phone 90% of the time as a router. My college blocks everything so I am always on tether. I just looked it up and used 16GB last month, and that seems to be the lower average. My point is that Sprint's unlimited truly means unlimited with no caps. T-Mobile throttles after 2GB or 5GB according to the plan. How much of a throttle? Is it significant?

It throttles you down to EDGE speeds, so 2g. Around 20kbps, which won't load a black and white smiley face on your screen for 20 seconds. If you're going to use more than 5GB's per month, stick with Sprint.
T-Mobile throttles at different tiers on different plans, from 100MB-5GB
Speeds on HSPA+ seem to be faster for me on T-Mobile than on Sprint in Portland, Oregon. That could be different for you, but T-Mobile's 42mbps HSPA+ Is closer to LTE than WiMax in my opinion.

In some areas T-Mobile also forcibly compresses all images pulled down in web pages regardless of your data usage and data plan. There is no way to turn this "feature" off.

Well first the SGS2 does not support Wimax and lte...no device does except for a hotspot...
Imho you will be better off not getting the SGS2 and instead using your upgrade on a truly new device that the hardware spec is not a year old almost. That is unless $ is a big factor and you don't want to spend $250ish on a device...
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium

Did some research and found you are right. It is really disappointing because I had a Sprint tech and a Sprint sales rep tell me point blank that the SG2 was Wimax and LTE. Can't trust people nowadays.

Battery consumption is much better with HSPA+ vs LTE.
TheBDub said:
It throttles you down to EDGE speeds, so 2g. Around 20kbps, which won't load a black and white smiley face on your screen for 20 seconds. If you're going to use more than 5GB's per month, stick with Sprint.
T-Mobile throttles at different tiers on different plans, from 100MB-5GB
Speeds on HSPA+ seem to be faster for me on T-Mobile than on Sprint in Portland, Oregon. That could be different for you, but T-Mobile's 42mbps HSPA+ Is closer to LTE than WiMax in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Goes to up to 10.
synaesthetic said:
In some areas T-Mobile also forcibly compresses all images pulled down in web pages regardless of your data usage and data plan. There is no way to turn this "feature" off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
False.

iball8888 said:
Did some research and found you are right. It is really disappointing because I had a Sprint tech and a Sprint sales rep tell me point blank that the SG2 was Wimax and LTE. Can't trust people nowadays.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah no problem, didn't want u going out and buying a device being that misled...
It's a shame when that crap happens to ppl.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium

sgt. slaughter said:
Yeah no problem, didn't want u going out and buying a device being that misled...
It's a shame when that crap happens to ppl.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to be a Sprint store technician, and when the Epic Touch had the Loss of Signal issue (which has long been fixed, officially), Sprint's Tech Support over the phone told me that I should have bought an iPhone because Android always breaks. Word for word. I was like, ok so give me an iPhone, I'll give back the Epic Touch. And they said no.
These days you have to fend for yourself unfortunately. Chances are, if you're an XDA user, you know more than a carrier's tech support.

chrischoi said:
False.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Explain. I suffered this issue for four months and had to switch to AT&T to avoid it.

To the OP. I tried switching to t-mobile twice because IMO they have better phones and prices. but both times I had to switch back. my story: i knew tmobile had the 5gb data cap on teh monthly 4g plan i wanted so I checked my sprint data usage for 5 months and noticed i am only using 2-3 gb a month. I figured great so i went and got the Htc amaze after 6 days by data usage was over 1.5 gb. I went to the store and asked them is it possible that the data reading on the phone and website could be wrong? my setup was the same on my sprint evo and my htc amaze so it wasn't a program that could have been using that much data so i returned the phone. 2 weeks later i went back to the store drooling over the amaze but knew i couldn't get it because i would go over the 5gb easy. I spoke with a rep and he said he uses data heavily and never goes over so i said ok ill try it again maybe it was the phone. this time around i didn't tether at all except for 5 min to test it out. hardly used Pandora and made sure my setup was the same as the evo. this time i gave it 10 days and i was already over 3gb. i was half ass using my phone and still i would have been over. I have searched about this called tmobile and haven't come up with a good reason why this phone was using so much data. a buddy of mine went to att and i told him that he would def go over but after a few days he said no man im good . at the end of the month he called *****ing that he went over the att cap which was even lower than tmobile. until the come up with a prepaid plan that gives 10gb i have to stay away. oh yea and when they throttle you the above comments are correct its edge speed and way to slow for anything but email and light web surfing.

iball8888 said:
I just looked it up and used 16GB last month, and that seems to be the lower average. My point is that Sprint's unlimited truly means unlimited with no caps. T-Mobile throttles after 2GB or 5GB according to the plan. How much of a throttle? Is it significant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this will be the main issue.
When I pass 5GB, I get throttled to EDGE (2G) speeds. For most purposes this is like running out of data. You're going to be stuck at 2GB or 5GB. Email is fine at EDGE speeds - anything else requires too much speed.
Stick with Sprint, as it seems the savings aren't really significant, anyway.

IMO Sprint sucks if you're not in a Wimax area and the Wimax isn't that great anyway.. Sprint's EVDO network is an absolute JOKE. I figured since I'm not covered by Wimax I'd switch my E4GT to Boost to save money, but Boost's(Sprint's) EVDO was nowhere near as fast as T-Mobile's 3G.. It really sucks because my E4GT is hands down the best phone I've ever used, but the internet is almost unusable it's so slow.. I'm putting it up for sale soon to switch back to T-Mobile.

Speeds really depend on where you live. I have spotty 4g in my area but never need it. at my house i have to use wifi but in most places i can stream Pandora without any buffering. everyone always talks about speed but as long as you can stream music and video without and buffering whats the issue? unless you are tethering to your pc and downloading torrents speeds over 250kps will stream just fine.

This is how Verizon does it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDxJoGv3FLA&feature=channel
Now that is throttling right there. They send me a new phone and it does the same. They have lied to me 3 times now, one that was just needed a reset, that I just needed a new phone and they don't throttle. I had only used 12GB and they do that. OK thats BS

itsjefflol said:
IMO Sprint sucks if you're not in a Wimax area and the Wimax isn't that great anyway.. Sprint's EVDO network is an absolute JOKE. I figured since I'm not covered by Wimax I'd switch my E4GT to Boost to save money, but Boost's(Sprint's) EVDO was nowhere near as fast as T-Mobile's 3G.. It really sucks because my E4GT is hands down the best phone I've ever used, but the internet is almost unusable it's so slow.. I'm putting it up for sale soon to switch back to T-Mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gonna be leaving right before the network takes a giant improvement with the network vision deployment set to be complete by end of next year....3G speeds 1-3Mbps....most all 3G coverage blanketed by LTE.....
Check S4GRU.com for some details on the rollout schedule. This isn't the sprint.com/network crap that's shown this is completely different and involves backhaul changes from the ancient T1 based to microwave/fiber based...
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium

T-mobile rocks over Sprint for data, coverage and price
flexte said:
To the OP. I tried switching to t-mobile twice because IMO they have better phones and prices. but both times I had to switch back. my story: i knew tmobile had the 5gb data cap on teh monthly 4g plan i wanted so I checked my sprint data usage for 5 months and noticed i am only using 2-3 gb a month. I figured great so i went and got the Htc amaze after 6 days by data usage was over 1.5 gb. I went to the store and asked them is it possible that the data reading on the phone and website could be wrong? my setup was the same on my sprint evo and my htc amaze so it wasn't a program that could have been using that much data so i returned the phone. 2 weeks later i went back to the store drooling over the amaze but knew i couldn't get it because i would go over the 5gb easy. I spoke with a rep and he said he uses data heavily and never goes over so i said ok ill try it again maybe it was the phone. this time around i didn't tether at all except for 5 min to test it out. hardly used Pandora and made sure my setup was the same as the evo. this time i gave it 10 days and i was already over 3gb. i was half ass using my phone and still i would have been over. I have searched about this called tmobile and haven't come up with a good reason why this phone was using so much data. a buddy of mine went to att and i told him that he would def go over but after a few days he said no man im good . at the end of the month he called *****ing that he went over the att cap which was even lower than tmobile. until the come up with a prepaid plan that gives 10gb i have to stay away. oh yea and when they throttle you the above comments are correct its edge speed and way to slow for anything but email and light web surfing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I picked up my HTC Amaze (a 42.2 mbps device) on T-mobile in early January, and I live in a California city that has T-mobile HSPA+ 42.2 mbps coverage, just to be clear. When I bought my Amaze, I had to re-up my contract and at the time, I was asked to choose between a 5GB plan per month ($25 on top of the monthly $40 value plan) and a 10GB plan per month ($50 + my $40 value plan). So for price, it is impossible to beat T-mobile for the service you get.
I use my Amaze daily to go online, download and upload large files (I am a graphic designer) and watch videos and stream music. For the last 5 months I've had my phone, I've come close to 5GB twice. That is with heavy usage and this last month having a nearly two hour Skype conversation with a friend of mine where I used 2GB in one sitting!!! I also use my phone with the free WiFi Hotspot feature that comes with the 5GB & 10GB data plan as my computer's internet provider. I don't have a physical cable in my house, just my Amaze.
As far as speed, my friends with iPhones on ALL 3 NETWORKS (Sprint, Verizon and AT&T) all get slower speeds than I do. I was challenged by them and shut them all up in contests against google searches, Siri vs Google Voice Search and Speedtest.net. I have also speedtested the nicer handsets by Samsung and HTC running on AT&T and matched or beat them in my city in a few places around town. Sprint's speed was not even on the radar, barely chugging at 1mbps usually. I pull over 12 mbps usually everywhere I go, with upload speeds from 5-8 mbps on average.
As far as data, I have never gone over my 5GB but see how others could, and I bet when T-mobile gets LTE Advance up and running I'll add in the extra 5 gigs.
The greater points I'm making are the following:
A) Sprint's network it a sham. Even when they finally get around to offering LTE in California, which will be who-knows-when, T-mobile will have switched on its LTE advanced release 10 network, with HSPA+ 42.2 mbps backup, nationally. If you're a Sprint user, jump ship now or when T-mobile lights it up in 2013.
B) It's pretty darn hard to use up 5 Gigs per month if your not a power user. I don't know how someone with the HTC Amaze and the Usage monitor that is part of T-mobile's apps and in the HTC phone itself can't determine what was eating up data. That just doesn't make sense. You can easily pinpoint what's using your data by using the included Usage setting on your phone. And if 5GB isn't enough, get 10! But that option does exist.
C) T-mobile may not offer unlimited data speed at 4G, but get a 10GB plan and you will fly over the speeds you get on Sprint and save money while doing it. You could pay one price on Sprint for 1.5 mbps download speed unlimited (SLOW), or you could pay the same, maybe a little less and get 10GB at 4G speeds on T-mobile... and then in 2013 enjoy them lighting up a national LTE advance network that will arguably be the speediest LTE network on the planet.
D) The HTC Amaze is one bad-ass MoFo of a phone.
That is all.

for me i switched from t-mobile to boost because of their lack of 3g/4g in my town on t-mobile i was always on edge it is very slow, i switched to boost and i have EvDO now, its not the best of the best but atleast i can open a website now without my screen timing out. :good:

Product F(RED) said:
I used to be a Sprint store technician, and when the Epic Touch had the Loss of Signal issue (which has long been fixed, officially), Sprint's Tech Support over the phone told me that I should have bought an iPhone because Android always breaks. Word for word. I was like, ok so give me an iPhone, I'll give back the Epic Touch. And they said no.
These days you have to fend for yourself unfortunately. Chances are, if you're an XDA user, you know more than a carrier's tech support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know what, they did the same thing to my dad. There was a hardware issue with his OG evo (a great phone during its day) where the speaker was going too quiet. The sales guy basically was telling him how it's because it's an android phone, how much better iphone is, etc.
Honestly I think the reason they are doing this is because they literally bet their future on the iphone. They are guaranteed to be paying apple 16 billion dollars over the next 4 years, regardless of whether or not they actually sell that much money worth of iphones. You better believe that they are going to try their damndest to sell them.
Anyways, I'm thinking of ditching sprint for t-mobile myself. I live in phoenix, which has zero 4g coverage from sprint. Several years back they told me that they would be deploying wimax here shortly. Where are we now? Nowhere.
I called them earlier today to cancel one of my lines, and they kept asking me if I want to use it for a data card, or if I just wanted to hold on to it "just in case" etc. I told the lady that I am thinking of switching to t-mobile, gave her all of these reasons why, and she brings up the "unlimited data" talking point. I kind of chuckle under my breath, and then tell her that their 3g service is really slow, their 4g service barely compares to other carrier's 3g service, and finally, they don't even offer 4g in my area, which is the 6th largest city in the US. She then tells me that they are going to be offering it here soon, so I tell her that that's what they told me a few years ago.
Yeah there are "rumors" that phoenix is due early in their second rollout, however similar rumors kept surfacing about wimax coming to phoenix next an entire year after it finished rolling out everywhere else. Other smaller towns outside of the valley (and I mean like over 70 miles away) got it, but not in the valley area.
In any case, I am on my third "4g" phone, and still have not ever had 4g. Even if LTE came soon to my area, I'm not terribly excited about it, mainly because the LTE gnex has a quarter of the battery life of the HSPA version when both are actively using 4g. I don't care if LTE is 10% faster, it's a huge f*cking battery drain.
Anyways, I'm not a heavy data user, so 4g hasn't been a huge priority to me. What is annoying is how I have to fight sprint's billing department every other month because they always manage to screw up something on my bill and overcharge me. I've been dealing with this for the last 7 years and I am tired of it. Sprint sucks, 'nuff said.
I really want to jump off of sprint, but I am hesitant because I don't know if t-mobile's voice service is more spotty, because according to sensorly their coverage is about 80% of that of sprint in my area. However, t-mobile would save me $40 a month, and because of the company I work for, I will have the activation fee waived.

Sprint coverage is so spotty. According to the coverage map I'm suppose to get 4g in my neighborhood and I don't. 98% percent of the time I'm on slow 3g. With T-Mobile I'm on 4g everywhere I go and its a good feeling to pull out your phone and handle your business with ease and speed unlike sprint.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Do you trust Sprint's LTE plans?

Like many other original Evo 4G owners, I'm now looking for the next phone as my contract is about to be over. And luckily enough, we have 2 new devices coming soon - HTC One X (or Evo One) to be revealed on 4th, and Galaxy SIII sometime soon.
Obviously the next phone will be LTE, but I don't know if Sprint can be trusted to give me coverage. Verizon already has LTE pretty much everywhere and its damn fast. Sprint is losing lots of money, who knows if they'll ever catch up. It's also not known if Sprint users will be able to roam on LTE.

im in the same situation and wondering the same thing. i guess we will have to just wait and see?
---------- Post added at 12:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 AM ----------
I am most likely going to be getting the htc evo one too. never seen such a beautiful phone lol

I trust Sprint's LTE plans.

It is a very aggressive roll out plan. If it does not work the repercussions could be huge.
I know personally I am going to stick with Sprint. If it takes a little while to get LTE in my area I know I still have 3G with a good plan.
I'm debating holding off on a new phone until towards the end of the year so there is time to get the LTE going.

Nope, don't trust them at all. Will believe in their LTE coverage when it's available in my area, already got burned once with Wimax.

According to the release maps, my area isn't slated to get LTE til at least the end of 2013. And that's not even technically my area, just a few cities around here, so I might not even get it at all. I am REALLY considering moving to Verizon next month, even though it will cost me at least 60 bucks more a month. But they do have working 4g everywhere in my area, AND 3g speeds that aren't sprint's dial-up speeds.

Just a little info for you guys about lte. When you look at a verison lte coverage map what your really looking at is the data coverage zone,not actual lte coverage. They have been caught doing this several times. Verison will admit that the map you look at is not actual lte coverage but data. Plus who wants a $130 monthly bill and no real unlimited. If you've never had them do yourself a favor and stay away.
Google it, you'll be surprised how they screw you,tell you about it then keep telling lies.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

Being completely selfish here, but Atlanta has great Wimax coverage, so I'm fine if the LTE takes a long time to roll out. That said, I definitely don't believe Sprint (or any tech/mobile company) when they give dates for service/product improvements. Also, I will never go back to a provider with data caps. I use my phone for almost everything. I watch tons of stuff on Netflix, I wifi tether my laptop when I'm out and about (and my wife's Ipad when she needs a wifi connection), GPS Nav, Pandora/Last.fm music, skype video chat, etc. I would hit that 2GB-4GB cap in a matter of days.

Sleestax said:
Being completely selfish here, but Atlanta has great Wimax coverage, so I'm fine if the LTE takes a long time to roll out. That said, I definitely don't believe Sprint (or any tech/mobile company) when they give dates for service/product improvements. Also, I will never go back to a provider with data caps. I use my phone for almost everything. I watch tons of stuff on Netflix, I wifi tether my laptop when I'm out and about (and my wife's Ipad when she needs a wifi connection), GPS Nav, Pandora/Last.fm music, skype video chat, etc. I would hit that 2GB-4GB cap in a matter of days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea 4g coverage is amazing here in atlanta but I never use it even tho I'm full bars on 4g. It kills your battery to bad and I'm always on WiFi and 3g isn't that bad
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

The fact of the matter is; when sprint's 3G is back up and running as good as it used to, it's plenty fast enough for almost anything you will be doing on your phone, including streaming Netflix, downloads, etc. Network vision is supposed to be a major improvement so I would have to assumed that the upgraded 3G on it's own would be more than capable of satisfying most data needs. I say this because right before the HTC EVO was released I was consistantly getting between 2 - 3mb download speeds on Sprint's 3G with the much lower spec'd HTC Touch Pro, Blackberry curve, and even the Palm Pre. Once the EVO came out it was like somebody turned off the light switch and 3G went to total crap overnight and never come back since. Just my opinion. I'm going to wait it out and see how the Network Vision performs before I bail or go to a different carrier with much more expensive and capped data plans. i'd advise others to do the same.

I do. After the less than stellar WiMax move, and them not exactly being in the best position, I expect a strong push. Remains to be seen, but I'm looking for a solid next step.
Sent from my EVO 4G using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

The only thing I trust from Sprint is that my plan will remain 30 dollars cheaper than the other guys. I don't trust any sort of data speed at all from them, haha. If I were rich, I would be on Verizon.

I plan on giving them until May 7th (i can leave ETF free at that point)
If they don't have some decent phone offerings or significant LTE advancement, i'm going to AT&T with my wife. The speeds in Texas are insane and since i've gotten used to using WIFI while on sprint, a 5gb limit on mobile data with ATT should be no problem.

I don't trust them totally. With two different companies that went bust I hope they do something good.

personally i am sceptical, but i think that they should know that a botched LTE rollout would infuriate many customers. A lot of us got screwed with the whole Wimax deal. We got our nice new phones(Evo 4G) and had to pay an extra $10/month for "premium data", not 4G coverage, which never came to most areas. The kicker is if you call sprint and mention anything aboiut their 4G coverage or 3G speeds, they will tell you "go to another carrier". they know damn well they are the only ones offering unlimited and unthrottled data, and they sure do use that to their advantage.
But back to the topic at hand... I think if Sprint wants to stay competative, they MUST stay on track with their 4G rollout.

Well....
Since Baltimore is one of the scheduled first cities, I can't wait! But I will not be surprised if the unlimited plan goes up $10. Despite Verizon and AT&T having LTE first, they still have limitations on usage and data. We shall soon see.

well i hope dis LTE is batter then dis weak 4g

Sprint confirms LTE phones will feature unlimited data.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/03/sprint-lte-unlimited-data-everything-plan/

I wanted to switch to Verizon as they have lte in Bakersfield but my mom pays the bill at the moment so I'm stuck going to att getting the galaxy note. I would switch screw sprint I've been a customer since 2004 and now seeing everyone else with their new phones and 3g that actually hits pass 1meg.... I'm switching
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

dbenney said:
personally i am sceptical, but i think that they should know that a botched LTE rollout would infuriate many customers. A lot of us got screwed with the whole Wimax deal. We got our nice new phones(Evo 4G) and had to pay an extra $10/month for "premium data", not 4G coverage, which never came to most areas. The kicker is if you call sprint and mention anything aboiut their 4G coverage or 3G speeds, they will tell you "go to another carrier". they know damn well they are the only ones offering unlimited and unthrottled data, and they sure do use that to their advantage.
But back to the topic at hand... I think if Sprint wants to stay competative, they MUST stay on track with their 4G rollout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They never tell me to go to another carrier. And they know their 3g sucks as I called and gave them **** over that. I would rather go to Verizon pay a little extra and actually get to use the lte network than being stuck with the slowest network offering unlimited data, you can't even use the damn data it's so slow
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

Thinking about RAZR HD... how's big red?

How's the cost on Verizon's plan? I was wanting to go prepaid but lte and Verizon's amazing voice coverage is alluring. I can get a 12% discount through work... our att bill right now on 2 lines is around 120 per month. Should I do it?

2 lines on the new shared plan is about 120+ depending on how much data you want. I pay 160 for 2 lines and 6gbs. I'd do it, its worth it, coverage is awesome and lte speeds are better than my broadband

Youngunn2008 said:
How's the cost on Verizon's plan? I was wanting to go prepaid but lte and Verizon's amazing voice coverage is alluring. I can get a 12% discount through work... our att bill right now on 2 lines is around 120 per month. Should I do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a very saturated 4G availability with Verizon in your area, I would highly suggest it. I have found my pain with big red in areas where there is poor 4G coverage. An example would be a business trip to Salt Lake City for 2 weeks gave me the best experience with my Samsung Galaxy S3. But at home in Tennessee, my phone would give me a NO SIM error 50% of the time when trying to send a text or make a call, rendering my S3 useless. Waiting on an alternate replacement Razr HD now, just need to get one in stock. In the mean time, Verizon sent me a Nexus to use. Long story short, Verizon has treated me pretty well even with all the problems with the S3.

If there's not good 4g coverage, can you turn off 4g on your phone?

Your phone will automatically revert to 3g if you have no 4g signal.
Sent from my JB'd X2

Ironically I live in salt lake city so... Yeah.. Coverage here is amazing. Just last night my brother brought over his spanking new GS3 from sprint. Not only could he not get 4g in my basement, he couldn't get 3g, 1x or even phone service and missed an important call while we sat there. I popped open speed test on the maxx and my lte hit 18mbit. I laughed, he cried, it was good times to be had. He didn't think the $10/month he was saving was quite as appealing anymore.
I travel around the west a lot and anywhere I've been I always have the best reception of anyone I'm with unless they're also on Verizon. They're not perfect by any means but their coverage commercials are no lie.
Sent from my Droid RAZR HD MAXX using the XDA Developer App
---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:50 PM ----------
Also there are apps to disable lte all together if you're in an area you know doesn't have it. Saves on battery if the radio isn't searching.
Sent from my Droid RAZR HD MAXX using the XDA Developer App

Zodwraith said:
Ironically I live in salt lake city so... Yeah.. Coverage here is amazing. Just last night my brother brought over his spanking new GS3 from sprint. Not only could he not get 4g in my basement, he couldn't get 3g, 1x or even phone service and missed an important call while we sat there. I popped open speed test on the maxx and my lte hit 18mbit. I laughed, he felt the fool, it was good times to be had. He didn't think the $10/month he was saving was quite as appealing anymore.
I travel around the west a lot and anywhere I've been I always have the best reception of anyone I'm with unless they're also on Verizon. They're not prefect by any means but their coverage commercials are no lie.
Sent from my Droid RAZR HD MAXX using the XDA Developer App
---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:50 PM ----------
Also there are apps to disable lte all together if you're in an area you know doesn't have it. Saves on battery if the radio isn't searching.
Sent from my Droid RAZR HD MAXX using the XDA Developer App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You guys are selling me. Lol

I just switched over to Verizon with an unlimited data plan and verizon is fast, a little expensive but the speed and coverage is awesome.

leyvatron said:
I just switched over to Verizon with an unlimited data plan and verizon is fast, a little expensive but the speed and coverage is awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wife only used about 200 mb per month with att, me about 2 GB. With the 12% discount I can get through work I think I could get it to be pretty close to around 150 or less. I just hate contracts.

Youngunn2008 said:
The wife only used about 200 mb per month with att, me about 2 GB. With the 12% discount I can get through work I think I could get it to be pretty close to around 150 or less. I just hate contracts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your data is not bad at all and should work well with a Verizon shared plan. Coverage is awesome and I wouldn't worry too much about the contract.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using xda premium

The only worry is if you can hit 2GB per phone on 3g and you're in an area that does have good 4g you can get yourself into trouble really fast. It was worth the $650 for my maxx to keep the unlimited plan.
Sent from my Droid RAZR HD MAXX using the XDA Developer App

Since I have Sirius in the car, I decided against streaming music, and I rarely, if ever, need to stream movies or TV shows as I download decent quality versions of whatever before it's available for streaming... long story short, I don't use as much data as I thought I would. With wifi at home, or in any hotel I stay at for business, I am having a hard time hitting 1 gb of data used. So the bottom tier verizon plan works for me, at around $115 for two phones after my military discount. Your mileage may vary.

I looked at the 2 GB plan and two lines, it'd be about 115 a month after our employee discount not including taxes and fees. Which I'm sure there'll be about 15 bucks worth.