Database Users

VZW LTE vs. Sprint WiMAX

So my girlfriend picked up a Thunderbolt, and I have to admit I'm pretty jealous of the 4G speeds and coverage she's getting. In our building, I don't get any Sprint signal at all in the basement (I always roam on VZW), meanwhile she's speed-testing at 18mbps. In fact pretty much everywhere we've gone in the area, she gets LTE coverage both inside and out, much unlike the EVO's pretty-much-outside-only WiMAX coverage...
I've found WiMAX to work pretty well if I'm outside or in my car, and I'm sitting perfectly still. Of course I can't leave it enabled unless I use my extended battery, or else the phone will be dead in short order.
I guess Sprint's 9 months of being the only provider with "real" 4G phones was nice while it lasted, but VZW is really kicking ass now when it comes to 4G speed and coverage, to the point where I'd say they're pretty much the only player in town.

So u saying ur gonna switch to the thunderbolt
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BlueScreenOfTOM said:
So my girlfriend picked up a Thunderbolt, and I have to admit I'm pretty jealous of the 4G speeds and coverage she's getting. In our building, I don't get any Sprint signal at all in the basement (I always roam on VZW), meanwhile she's speed-testing at 18mbps. In fact pretty much everywhere we've gone in the area, she gets LTE coverage both inside and out, much unlike the EVO's pretty-much-outside-only WiMAX coverage...
I've found WiMAX to work pretty well if I'm outside or in my car, and I'm sitting perfectly still. Of course I can't leave it enabled unless I use my extended battery, or else the phone will be dead in short order.
I guess Sprint's 9 months of being the only provider with "real" 4G phones was nice while it lasted, but VZW is really kicking ass now when it comes to 4G speed and coverage, to the point where I'd say they're pretty much the only player in town.
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Click to collapse
Well, yeah, your lady is going to get blistering speeds because there might be 1000 people in your whole city with LTE right now. Verizon says it expects 5-12Mbps on "loaded cells." I just touched 10Mbs in Manhattan -- on a loaded net. Not saying WiMax is perfect; far from.
Here's the thing: it doesn't matter to me if you go to VZW -- in fact you're one less connected user on WiMax, so I'll be incrementally faster. If you're gonna go to Verizon, do so once you see what performance of both the net and the device is going to be -- in real world, saturated network situations.

Realistically even when the network gets loaded itll still be faster than wimax. Just like with twice the users the 3G is better also. It just is what it is.

Im not willing to pay verizons prices...thats all it comes down to for me

zikronix said:
Im not willing to pay verizons prices...thats all it comes down to for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing here. I am ok living with sprints lesser service for the price difference.

The frequencies Verizon has for LTE are fundamentally better than what Clear/Sprint are using for WiMax, at least in terms of building penetration. The higher frequencies do have some advantages, but to me they're *completely* negated by the fact that I go from an "Excellent" 4G signal in the parking lot at work to alternating between "Poor" and "No signal" as soon as I walk in the building. VZW could put Wimax on their frequencies, or Sprint could put LTE on their frequencies, and either way, VZW would win. If Sprint deploys LTE on the Nextel frequencies, we'll have a much more even race.
That said, I like what I pay for Sprint and (especially with the AT&TMobile thing) I don't want to see Sprint fail. I'm sticking with them for now. But 4G on Sprint has been very, very disappointing. There is a point in time -- yet to be determined for me -- when I'll suck it up and pay VZW's prices if Sprint can't improve the 4G network in a major way.

brownhornet said:
Realistically even when the network gets loaded itll still be faster than wimax. Just like with twice the users the 3G is better also. It just is what it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't necessarily true.
As a standard, WiMax has potential for higher speeds than LTE. Significantly higher -- like 30% higher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wireless_data_standards
The question is, implementation, as always. Of course, it may be a moot point, as Sprint may cut bait from Clear (because of their mismanagement) and go with their LTE plans with LightSquared in tow.
My point remains, leaving Sprint now, based on VZW's LTE speeds NOW vs what they may be when fully-loaded might be a grass-greener-on-the-other-side move. And you know how that usually ends up...

My house is small and my work has thin walls, I get awesome 4g speed pretty much all the time. I guess if where your at you don't have the same results switch. You'll probably be happier.

TonyArmstrong said:
This isn't necessarily true.
As a standard, WiMax has potential for higher speeds than LTE. Significantly higher -- like 30% higher. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wireless_data_standards
The question is, implementation, as always. Of course, it may be a moot point, as Sprint may cut bait from Clear (because of their mismanagement) and go with their LTE plans with LightSquared in tow.
My point remains, leaving Sprint now, based on VZW's LTE speeds NOW vs what they may be when fully-loaded might be a grass-greener-on-the-other-side move. And you know how that usually ends up...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea and 10 times out of 10 we will NEVER see wimax speeds that high.. not if Clear is responsible for deploying it. And honestly the grass is greener not only interms of 4G speeds, but coverage and 3G speeds as well. In terms of VZW vs Sprint you pretty much get what you pay for. In terms of data I rarely even use the evo anymore. Turning on my wimax is pointless honestly unless im close to a tower. Even if VZW's speeds get chopped in half, which I doubt, itll still be faster than wimax here. The biggest factor is if you look at how many towers VZW has here as compared to Sprint, it makes sense as to why you can get LTE pretty much everywhere you go in in Metro Atlanta as compared to Wimax.. where once you leave downtown you're not really guaranteed to get it at all.

still love Sprint...
Long time Sprint here my self..
But 89.99 + 20% discount for unlimited 4G with Verizon was only $10 more than what i was paying with Sprint..
I love Sprint to death, but until they use their 800MHz spectrum for 4G then i'll be staying with Verizon..
I mean look at these insane speeds...
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asenduk said:
Long time Sprint here my self..
Verizon was only $10 more than what i was paying with Sprint..
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Click to collapse
I just made this exact post in another thread lol. VZW is NOT that much more than Sprint anymore. Especially since Sprint made the $10 premium data mandatory for all smart phones. And im telling you now, if VZW does decide to make that promo that they ran for the any mobile for the same price, its gonna get ugly.

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novanosis85 said:
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Dont see how its trolling when its the truth. *shrug*

VZW is not much more for an individual user, but with a family plan its a lot more. Total for my 4 smartphones was 60 more a month. Not worth it, especially getting 10Mbps down everywhere I go. 15 vs 10 is just not a big deal to me.

gtkansan said:
VZW is not much more for an individual user, but with a family plan its a lot more. Total for my 4 smartphones was 60 more a month. Not worth it, especially getting 10Mbps down everywhere I go. 15 vs 10 is just not a big deal to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my plan three evo's after tax and 22% discount is 167, verizon for two phones not three after tax and discount was 189!
But like it was said if vzw did anytime any mobile. I might consider it. but then again 90% of people we know are on verizon so maybe it doesn matter.

these are the same customers that complained about the $10/fee
they aint going to pay $10-20 more ...
i agree sprint wimax signal is a joke.. i am in DFW (one of the major oginal wimax cities).. and it sucks!... so much so that I use a ROM that does not even have wimax support!.
i sure hope that sprint has real plans to fix this asap with wimax...not lte.

OP here. I switched from VZW to Sprint for the EVO, so I knew what I was coming from. When we got WiMAX here (DC/Baltimore area) it was at first very spotty, and it's still moderately spotty. I suppose I was expecting to see the same from VZW's LTE offerings, at least for the next year or so, but I was surprised to see how... good it is. I'm sure once the network gets a little more saturated the speeds won't be as good, but still, having 10-12mbps everywhere on VZW is quite different from having 3G in most places and 4G in a few select places like I'm used to now with Sprint.
I'm not saying I'm going to switch back to VZW... I hated the way they nickel-and-dimed everything... I like Sprint as a company much better. I just hope maybe they'll at least increase the back-end WiMAX speeds a little so they can be a bit more competitive with VZW LTE at least with speeds (I know the penetration isn't going to get much better...)

I will never go back to verizon for any reason. I don't really download that much on my phone that I can't do when I have wifi. Since having 4g on pretty much kills the battery, I leave it off most of the time. I love the evo, and if sprint improves things then it's even better.

same here, i have had them both, but sprint has been the best company for me. and where i work i roam the WHOLE time . but when the end of the month comes and that bill is in front of me i remember why im here!! o and of course the EVO !!! FTW

Which Carrier Do You Have?

Just wondering which carrier people are using. I have Verizon, but thinking of jumping ship because of the whole bootloader thing. Unfortunately, it seems like they are the fastest and in the most markets. Here's what I've come up with...
Verizon: Fastest carrier and in the most markets in the US. Unfortunately, bootloader is locked.
AT&T: Second choice because they have 4g deployed in many markets.
Sprint: It's a gamble because they are going through a huge upgrade with their network. Don't have 4g widely deployed, but they say they will in the future.
T-Mobile: Quick speeds, but not widely deployed.
I'd love to get people's opinion and which carrier they have.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1755931

Please DO NOT USE THE POLL!!!
I was stupid and didn't see the other poll. Don't want to duplicate results.
Mods, please remove this. It seems like I can only edit the post and not delete it.
Thanks and sorry about that!

Videotron.

If you plan on making a long-term switch:
Verizon - Verizon will always stay the fastest. They will most likely be first to deploy LTE-Advanced (gigabit/s 4G) on the best spectrum (700mhz). This means fastest speeds + best LTE-Adv coverage.
AT&T - Never considered or would consider. Slow 3G in areas without LTE. I'm not sure about their LTE-Adv plans or what spectrums they currently and will use.
Sprint - Sprint's 3G network is fairly slow in some areas, but can also be up to par with Verizon in others. They use the 1900mhz spectrum but have 3G in most areas so it doesn't really matter. In areas where sprint doesn't have 3G, verizon likely only has 2G or even nothing. You can roam on Verizon's 2G for free if you have Sprint. Basically, coverage is not an issue but you may have slow 3G speeds. Later this year Sprint plans to begin switching 3G to 800mhz, according to wikipedia. This means better speeds which is great and more coverage (although not an issue really).
Now, let's talk 4G. Sprint plans to deploy LTE on the 1900mhz spectrum also which is decent but still means good coverage if they will be able to set up enough towers. Speed would be around what Verizon's LTE offers but probably a little worse. They also plan to move LTE to the 800mhz spectrum in 2014 which means tower range, penetration, and speed on par with Verizon.
I'm not clear on the details and I don't even know if anyone knows yet, but their LTE-Adv. network will supposedly be deployed on 2500mhz which would be terrible and mean no real (non-spotty) coverage unless in huge cities. We know this from sprint's past mistake of putting WiMax on 2500mhz. For reference, 2500mhz coverage is like WiFi but a little more. I'm pretty sure the source I heard this from was wrong and Sprint won't make this mistake again.
What would make more sense is if LTE-Advanced is put on 1900mhz after LTE is moved to 800mhz.
TL;DR: Sprint is the cheapest option and will probably be on-par with Verizon in the future. Samsung bootloaders are unlocked. They have true unlimited data which is also the biggest plus. I'd recommend switching to Sprint.
T-Mobile - Honestly, I don't know enough about T-Mo.

Wow, thank you very much for the in depth and useful information!
I'm still t'ed off at verizon about this whole bootloader locked/encrypted thing. I came from a DX and feel like I missed out on a lot (updates) because of the issues that surround that phone.
So, it sounds like Sprint may be caught up to Verizon in 2014, which is when my contract would end for the s3 with verizon. But then in 2014, who knows what Verizon will have.
I think I'm finally starting to be OK with not having the best or fastest, but something that I will be happy with and get the job done. I use to subscribe to the middle tier for internet, but now thinking of dropping it to the lower one because it's cheaper and same speeds as it was two years ago. I guess as long as I have 20 megabit, I'm happy.

If you have good Tmobile coverage in your area...Tmobile would be the one to go with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia5iBxqsjW8
PS. If you enough cash to buy the SGS3 outright without a contract, do it! Im on TMobile's $30/month plan and its been awesome. I've cut my cellphone bill by atleast 60%. I get 100 mins, unlimited text and data (1st 5gb at 4G, then throttled to 2G).

babymatteo said:
If you have good Tmobile coverage in your area...Tmobile would be the one to go with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia5iBxqsjW8
PS. If you enough cash to buy the SGS3 outright without a contract, do it! Im on TMobile's $30/month plan and its been awesome. I've cut my cellphone bill by atleast 60%. I get 100 mins, unlimited text and data (1st 5gb at 4G, then throttled to 2G).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Latency on lte is better tho, that's for sure, but yeah I got tmobile is cheaper for me, i had att, sprint and verizon, if only sprint had lte here I would stay with them, but now I'm happy with tmobile -
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

yousefak said:
If you plan on making a long-term switch:
Verizon - Verizon will always stay the fastest. They will most likely be first to deploy LTE-Advanced (gigabit/s 4G) on the best spectrum (700mhz). This means fastest speeds + best LTE-Adv coverage.
AT&T - Never considered or would consider. Slow 3G in areas without LTE. I'm not sure about their LTE-Adv plans or what spectrums they currently and will use.
Sprint - Sprint's 3G network is fairly slow in some areas, but can also be up to par with Verizon in others. They use the 1900mhz spectrum but have 3G in most areas so it doesn't really matter. In areas where sprint doesn't have 3G, verizon likely only has 2G or even nothing. You can roam on Verizon's 2G for free if you have Sprint. Basically, coverage is not an issue but you may have slow 3G speeds. Later this year Sprint plans to begin switching 3G to 800mhz, according to wikipedia. This means better speeds which is great and more coverage (although not an issue really).
Now, let's talk 4G. Sprint plans to deploy LTE on the 1900mhz spectrum also which is decent but still means good coverage if they will be able to set up enough towers. Speed would be around what Verizon's LTE offers but probably a little worse. They also plan to move LTE to the 800mhz spectrum in 2014 which means tower range, penetration, and speed on par with Verizon.
I'm not clear on the details and I don't even know if anyone knows yet, but their LTE-Adv. network will supposedly be deployed on 2500mhz which would be terrible and mean no real (non-spotty) coverage unless in huge cities. We know this from sprint's past mistake of putting WiMax on 2500mhz. For reference, 2500mhz coverage is like WiFi but a little more. I'm pretty sure the source I heard this from was wrong and Sprint won't make this mistake again.
What would make more sense is if LTE-Advanced is put on 1900mhz after LTE is moved to 800mhz.
TL;DR: Sprint is the cheapest option and will probably be on-par with Verizon in the future. Samsung bootloaders are unlocked. They have true unlimited data which is also the biggest plus. I'd recommend switching to Sprint.
T-Mobile - Honestly, I don't know enough about T-Mo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get 5-10 mb/s on hspa with att. I'd definitely consider that better then slow....
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T-Mobile.
I've posted this before elsewhere but....
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However, I must say that I live in an area that has strong service with all four "big" carriers and many smaller ones.
I also live in a three story house (on the top floor) surrounded by two story buildings...
Throwing bricks since 2008.....and proud of it.

Proud t-mobile customer since the summer of '06
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

yousefak said:
If you plan on making a long-term switch:
Verizon - Verizon will always stay the fastest. They will most likely be first to deploy LTE-Advanced (gigabit/s 4G) on the best spectrum (700mhz). This means fastest speeds + best LTE-Adv coverage.
AT&T - Never considered or would consider. Slow 3G in areas without LTE. I'm not sure about their LTE-Adv plans or what spectrums they currently and will use.
Sprint - Sprint's 3G network is fairly slow in some areas, but can also be up to par with Verizon in others. They use the 1900mhz spectrum but have 3G in most areas so it doesn't really matter. In areas where sprint doesn't have 3G, verizon likely only has 2G or even nothing. You can roam on Verizon's 2G for free if you have Sprint. Basically, coverage is not an issue but you may have slow 3G speeds. Later this year Sprint plans to begin switching 3G to 800mhz, according to wikipedia. This means better speeds which is great and more coverage (although not an issue really).
Now, let's talk 4G. Sprint plans to deploy LTE on the 1900mhz spectrum also which is decent but still means good coverage if they will be able to set up enough towers. Speed would be around what Verizon's LTE offers but probably a little worse. They also plan to move LTE to the 800mhz spectrum in 2014 which means tower range, penetration, and speed on par with Verizon.
I'm not clear on the details and I don't even know if anyone knows yet, but their LTE-Adv. network will supposedly be deployed on 2500mhz which would be terrible and mean no real (non-spotty) coverage unless in huge cities. We know this from sprint's past mistake of putting WiMax on 2500mhz. For reference, 2500mhz coverage is like WiFi but a little more. I'm pretty sure the source I heard this from was wrong and Sprint won't make this mistake again.
What would make more sense is if LTE-Advanced is put on 1900mhz after LTE is moved to 800mhz.
TL;DR: Sprint is the cheapest option and will probably be on-par with Verizon in the future. Samsung bootloaders are unlocked. They have true unlimited data which is also the biggest plus. I'd recommend switching to Sprint.
T-Mobile - Honestly, I don't know enough about T-Mo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LTE will be on 1900 800 and 2500. Voice will be on 1900 and 800. Network Vision takes all the towers they have now and upgrades them with all services. On top of a all new backhaul to support it all. The system is a software update away from LTE-Adv. And will operate on all 3 Bands, replacing LTE. The system will be very cheap to keep upgraded and maintained for many many years to come. It uses fiber to the antenna where a RRU is 6" from the antenna. No lose of single from the long run to the cabinet. This means more power from right off the antennas.
The idea behind it? Say your down town where there is a good 2500 LTE... Your phone switches to it and you have unbeatable service. As you drive away, you signal drops and your phone will switch to the 1900. You pull in to a Bass Pro Shop and get deep in the store. Your signal drops below optimal and you phone switches to 800. You never know, you just know that everywhere you go... You have probably that fastest service out there.
You ask, why not just use the 800 all the time. Spectrum and throughput. That's another long rant.
Conclusion? Sprint is putting out a ton of money for a system that's ahead. It will be very hard to beat, and they plan to share it. $$$. This helps keep our cost down. But this will have to wait till 2014. After Nextel is done and Clear gets LTE rolling. As of now, most suffer from old tech and a T1 backhaul. Unless your lucky and are in a first round market.
Like me.. Hehe as you probably see in the 30 other threads made about we have LTE. lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

wiz561 said:
Wow, thank you very much for the in depth and useful information!
I'm still t'ed off at verizon about this whole bootloader locked/encrypted thing. I came from a DX and feel like I missed out on a lot (updates) because of the issues that surround that phone.
So, it sounds like Sprint may be caught up to Verizon in 2014, which is when my contract would end for the s3 with verizon. But then in 2014, who knows what Verizon will have.
I think I'm finally starting to be OK with not having the best or fastest, but something that I will be happy with and get the job done. I use to subscribe to the middle tier for internet, but now thinking of dropping it to the lower one because it's cheaper and same speeds as it was two years ago. I guess as long as I have 20 megabit, I'm happy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with sprint and their 3g is really still fine for everything but downloads. It's worth the price.
parsa5 said:
I get 5-10 mb/s on hspa with att. I'd definitely consider that better then slow....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HSPA+ is more 4g that 3g. Their gsm 3g was what I was talking about.
a454nova said:
LTE will be on 1900 800 and 2500. Voice will be on 1900 and 800. Network Vision takes all the towers they have now and upgrades them with all services. On top of a all new backhaul to support it all. The system is a software update away from LTE-Adv. And will operate on all 3 Bands, replacing LTE. The system will be very cheap to keep upgraded and maintained for many many years to come. It uses fiber to the antenna where a RRU is 6" from the antenna. No lose of single from the long run to the cabinet. This means more power from right off the antennas.
The idea behind it? Say your down town where there is a good 2500 LTE... Your phone switches to it and you have unbeatable service. As you drive away, you signal drops and your phone will switch to the 1900. You pull in to a Bass Pro Shop and get deep in the store. Your signal drops below optimal and you phone switches to 800. You never know, you just know that everywhere you go... You have probably that fastest service out there.
You ask, why not just use the 800 all the time. Spectrum and throughput. That's another long rant.
Conclusion? Sprint is putting out a ton of money for a system that's ahead. It will be very hard to beat, and they plan to share it. $$$. This helps keep our cost down. But this will have to wait till 2014. After Nextel is done and Clear gets LTE rolling. As of now, most suffer from old tech and a T1 backhaul. Unless your lucky and are in a first round market.
Like me.. Hehe as you probably see in the 30 other threads made about we have LTE. lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Thanks for the well written response. This makes me feel much better about being with sprint.
Sent from my Evo 3D on Sprint's blazing fast 3G network with 4G coverage everywhere

I'm off contract and really thinking Sprint...w/unlimited Data

Don't you think thats the best choice for big data users?

Yes, its un throttled, and many major markets are getting LTE by April 2013.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

i have sprint and want out. 3g is more like whatever is slower than 1x and unless you're in a major market in first lte rollout you won't have it for quite a while, making you stuck on 3g. Wimax hasn't supported many areas and the rollout was slow. research before committing
My life for Aiur

Wimax is very strong in Chicago too...

i have sprint and am leaving as well. thinking about the note 2 on tmobile but really want an exynos 5250 phone so we'll see if i can hold out till the gs4. either way i'm done with sprint and their crappy network.

rockky said:
Wimax is very strobg in Chicago too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on sprint, I have the og epic 4g, wimax was really slow until the devs here figured the epics radio was buggy thanks to samsung. Now I can flash the Nexus modem on to my phone and wimax is amazing, way faster than before and pretty consistent. The evo LTE is having the same problem with their radio right now I believe. Anyways for heavy data users Sprint is great, but it really depends on where you live, figure out what's best for you because crappy data speeds are about as good as throttled data speeds. I hope Samsung does a good job on the note 2 modem.

My experience with Sprint was great till recently. Speeds are horrible and I've had to call twice in two weeks about texts not going through. My wife isn't receiving calls on her Epic Touch. I would seriously reconsider your decision. We will be headed to At&t asap and I plan on picking up a Note 2.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

rockky said:
Don't you think thats the best choice for big data users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint's data speeds really suck, especially inside buildings.
You might want to get a hotspot and test it out for a month.
Go around the areas you frequent and run speed tests.
Or buy a cheapo Sprint phone off CL and get a month of service. This way you can use it for as long as you wish and then cancel if you don't like the service since you aren't in a contract.

I have yet to ever meet someone who's uttered the phrase, "I'm satisfied with Sprint." Their service problems go back at least 12 years because that's when I used to sell phones with Sprint being one of the carriers.

Hotobu said:
I have yet to ever meet someone who's uttered the phrase, "I'm satisfied with Sprint." Their service problems go back at least 12 years because that's when I used to sell phones with Sprint being one of the carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welp, maybe we're not meeting in person, but consider this a virtual introduction.
It just so happens I've been with Sprint for the last twelve years & I'm satisfied with Sprint. I'll even go as far as to say, I've had the best experience with Sprint of any carrier. Good quality cellular & data service, customer service has been impressive, & pound for pound, none of the big dogs can beat their pricing (at least not yet). I've had both Verizon & AT&T. Can't speak for T-Mobile, but I'm still with Sprint after 12 years.
And I may be out of line in saying this, but I'm guessing not too many folks go to the retailer specifically just to tell them how great & satisfied they've been with their service or provider, regardless of carrier. Unless they're renewing or accessorizing, they're there because they have a problem with their phone or with the service, with their bill, or with their current carrier/provider & they are looking to switch.
Edit: Sorry OP. To address your question, if I haven't already made it obvious, I do think Sprint is the best choice.

chconser said:
Welp, maybe we're not meeting in person, but consider this a virtual introduction.
It just so happens I've been with Sprint for the last twelve years & I'm satisfied with Sprint. I'll even go as far as to say, I've had the best experience with Sprint of any carrier. Good quality cellular & data service, customer service has been impressive, & pound for pound, none of the big dogs can beat their pricing (at least not yet). I've had both Verizon & AT&T. Can't speak for T-Mobile, but I'm still with Sprint after 12 years.
And I may be out of line in saying this, but I'm guessing not too many folks go to the retailer specifically just to tell them how great & satisfied they've been with their service or provider, regardless of carrier. Unless they're renewing or accessorizing, they're there because they have a problem with their phone or with the service, with their bill, or with their current carrier/provider & they are looking to switch.
Edit: Sorry OP. To address your question, if I haven't already made it obvious, I do think Sprint is the best choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to this from me. 10 years with Sprint. True unlimited data FTW!**
**unless you're planning to use BitTorrent on it...then they boot you.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda app-developers app

Don't know about U guys but unlimited data feature of sprint is HUGE to me. Right now I have a sprint MiFi and am really ALWAYS satisfied with data speeds....5-9mbps which is fine with me.
Believe me if I had to spend one minute on their 3G I'd bolt.
I have $35mo unlimited data on their MiFi.
Right now while waiting for SGN2 to drop I'm also on prepaid TMobile $30mo 100min talk unlimited data unlinited text.

Sprint is amazing and has some of the best customer service I've ever experienced.

hirent said:
Sprint's data speeds really suck, especially inside buildings.
You might want to get a hotspot and test it out for a month.
Go around the areas you frequent and run speed tests.
Or buy a cheapo Sprint phone off CL and get a month of service. This way you can use it for as long as you wish and then cancel if you don't like the service since you aren't in a contract.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Listen to this guy. Seen replies where sprint can be great or plainly suck ass. Seemms it's location dependent so listen to this guy!

I've had Sprint for about 8 years and I can't stand it.
3G data is miserable. They are going with 1900Mhz LTE network, bad building penetration as opposed to Verizon's 900Mhz. . I'm probably going to Verizon, they rock in Los Angeles. Yes, I'm going to deal with the Devil.

I only pay about $50+tax for the SERO plan, if I switch I will end up paying twice as much for similar plan. SERO is like 500mins, unlimited text and data. I read on my bill it said unlimited data roaming also, but I never have tried that. Still it's too cheap to switch over for me.

UTStarcom probably the absolute worst time to compare sprint with the network upgrades taking place. Living in an area that is nearing halfway completion I can tell you yeah,it's long over due (though they are less then a year behind att's start to their still ongoing lte rollout)
Currently I have both Sprint and Att phones.
Call quality for me in Dallas is awesome...and let is comparable if not faster.
We still have the same issues we have always had on att...and speeds slowing compared to when lte went live in Dallas last October
Both have made huge customer service improvements and both are actively working on their network
That being said...check s4g4u.com for speculated upgrade schedule, compare prices w/usage habbits and make a decision.
For me...the unlimited data is a no brainer...but I live in a strong sprint market
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ky0nkyon said:
i have sprint and want out. 3g is more like whatever is slower than 1x and unless you're in a major market in first lte rollout you won't have it for quite a while, making you stuck on 3g. Wimax hasn't supported many areas and the rollout was slow. research before committing
My life for Aiur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
morphiend said:
i have sprint and am leaving as well. thinking about the note 2 on tmobile but really want an exynos 5250 phone so we'll see if i can hold out till the gs4. either way i'm done with sprint and their crappy network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with you guys. just got done talking to tmobile. i think ill get the galaxy note 2 with them. idc that its only hspa+ 42mbps, that holds its own with the lte networks now anyway. plus, theyll cheaper than what i pay sprint

Just check your local area, graba phone from both and prepaay to test it out.
I hate ATT, because I pay 160 a month for 2 phones, and could be paying 100 with someone else.

Sprint sucks. I've been with all 4 major carriers. For where I live in my state I'd put it in this order.
1. Verizon Wireless
2. T-Mobile (Now true unlimited, NO throttling)
3. at&t (A lot of dropped calls)
4. Prepaid carriers
5. Sprint (Unusable data speeds) and I had wimax with them, it wasn't impressive, maybe 1mb download speeds, for 4G that sucks. I would get some of my texts and calls really late. Like a day or two later. I was like wtf? This voicemail was from 3 days ago? I will never go back to Sprint.

AT&T HSPA+ vs Verizon/AT&T LTE - Nexus 4 worth the sacrifice?

I'm currently on T-Mobile and frustrated with reception in my area. I'm not knocking the company, it just isn't working for me. So I'm looking at switching next month and the Nexus 4 is one of my favorite phone options on the market.
My experience with the Nexus 7 has been pretty excellent. My one major holdup with the Nexus 4 is its lack of LTE. I am wondering if anyone has switched FROM an LTE phone to the Nexus 4. If you have, could you offer some impressions of how the difference in speed affects you - if at all?

Yes, and doesn't affect me... I think lte is a want, not a need. Sure, lte is nice if you download large files or stream video, but for everything I need, HSPA+ is great for me...
And I'm getting 4-12Mbps down in Denver. (T-Mobile was much slower when I tried it with my Gnex).
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Edit: you can also get a straight talk at&t Sim for a month to see how at&t is in your area... It'd cost ya $45 to try that...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Went from first LTE phone with no one on the network to T-Mobile HSPA+, has not been a big deal at all.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Not having the luck that some of you guys are having.
I have a ****berry that has H+. Took the SIM out and popped it into the GN4. No connection. Rebooted, connection came up fine. Calls, SMS, and data (gmail, web, apps, etc) all work fine. However, speedtest will not connect to do a speed test stating "network communication issues"
I went into the network selection and it shows two AT&T networks. Connecting to the upper one works fine, connecting to the lower one does not work.
Any ideas?

I'm in the Chicago area and at&t's LTE is very inconsistent with speeds, so going to hspa+ isn't a huge deal.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I really don't think it is something anyone can answer for you since it depends so much on your area. It sucks there is no easy way to test every carriers reception in your area.
I personally just swapped from my GN on Verizon, in the Phoenix area (ie not the middle of nowhere). Granted outside, I'd sometimes see 14M+, but indoors, the GN would do like 1-3M down, or constantly be switching to 3G or just randomly losing its signal. Now granted, part (or most) of that could have been the radio's in the GN and not Verizon's network, but so far my N4 on T-Mobile is doing a constant 6-12M everywhere. I'm pretty satisfied so far.

I have a ipad 3 lte iphone 5 lte, and yes i can feel the difference, i get 40 to 50 mbps on lte... I might get 15 mbps on my Nexus 4 on dc-hspa+... Which is not that bad... Ill live with it, it's more than enough for streaming hd or whatever the hell you wanna do wirelessly.
Sent from my Nexus 4

First I must say I have never had 4G LTE so I can't speak to the differences between the two technologies. I have AT&T 4G (3.5G) and have been trying the T-Mobile $30 4G prepaid plan. Both plans seem to offer me similar speeds, ranging between 6Mbps to 12Mbps and that is fine for me. The T-mobile plan seems to have more latency issues. But anyway, I don't really see what the big deal with LTE is. I mean, yeah, I can brag and say i get 70+Mbps, but doesn't that mean you will hit the limits on the "unlimited" plans faster and be throttled down? I mean really, I don't plan on downloading massive files, doing bit torrent or file sharing, I save that for home. The speeds I get now are fine for streaming Netflix and music and even Skype. So, when I was considering the Nexus 4G, the lack of LTE was not an issue for me at all. Love my Nexus 4!

ynnek63 said:
First I must say I have never had 4G LTE so I can't speak to the differences between the two technologies. I have AT&T 4G (3.5G) and have been trying the T-Mobile $30 4G prepaid plan. Both plans seem to offer me similar speeds, ranging between 6Mbps to 12Mbps and that is fine for me. The T-mobile plan seems to have more latency issues. But anyway, I don't really see what the big deal with LTE is. I mean, yeah, I can brag and say i get 70+Mbps, but doesn't that mean you will hit the limits on the "unlimited" plans faster and be throttled down? I mean really, I don't plan on downloading massive files, doing bit torrent or file sharing, I save that for home. The speeds I get now are fine for streaming Netflix and music and even Skype. So, when I was considering the Nexus 4G, the lack of LTE was not an issue for me at all. Love my Nexus 4!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you doing other than selecting LTE from the phone info screen to get it to connect?
If I switch to LTE and reboot it boots as WCDMA as discussed here. I've tried all the usual options such as airplane mode etc to get it. The only thing I'm left with is thinking that my SIM may not support LTE as ATT like to give out an LTE SIM, but not sure if this is really needed.

gotzaDroid said:
I'm in the Chicago area and at&t's LTE is very inconsistent with speeds, so going to hspa+ isn't a huge deal.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Chicago AT&T is the worst possible carrier you can be on. Their LTE is only 5x5Mhz so it's already loaded and slow, and their HSPA has always been insanely slow. Your better bet is T-Mobile, or Verizon.

integramodder said:
What are you doing other than selecting LTE from the phone info screen to get it to connect?
If I switch to LTE and reboot it boots as WCDMA as discussed here. I've tried all the usual options such as airplane mode etc to get it. The only thing I'm left with is thinking that my SIM may not support LTE as ATT like to give out an LTE SIM, but not sure if this is really needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 4G I am referring to from AT&T and T-mobile is HSPA+ and not true 4G LTE. Some refer to it as 3.5G. And it suits my needs fine. I am not doing anything in the phone settings.

I came from VZW LTE to Straight Talk AT&T HSPA+ and I can say that I'm actually much happier. The LTE is lightning fast no doubt, but it sucked my batteries down too fast on my phone for it be of any use. I've had 3 different LTE phones and all of them were battery suckers. HSPA+ seems to be much more effecient.
With all that said, I'll take the reduction in speed to get significantly better battery life. No more carrying around a charger all day for me! BTW, HSPA+ is more than plenty to stream HD content and that will please the majority of people.

It would mostly depend on your area. On my Skyrocket as fast as LTE blasting through bandwidth is as fast as it drains the battery. On my N4 I can browse, load the pages pretty fine. Granted LTE will have better ping and/or bandwidth in a congested area but for the things I use: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tapatalk, Flipboard, Pandora, Google Talk/+/Hangout (video chat) etc.. those have all been loading fine and don't notice much of difference.
Now if I'll be downloading a large file then yeah thats where LTE will shine. One day my CM10 build was crapping up and I downloaded the next build in a few minutes and that saved me some time but as far as small instances as just browsing webpages I can do fine with HSPA+.
I'm in an area where I get about:
30/30 LTE
8/1 HSPA+

Recently AT&T turned on LTE in my area and I can tell you there is a noticeable difference on my s3. Using just HSPA+ I pretty much top out at 5-6Mbps but speed tests on LTE see incredible! I can usually get around 22Mbps. For some things I do (Netflix, etc.) it is a noticeable difference and totally worth it.
Though it is great in my area I know it depends heavily on where you live. As more users tax the system I'm sure speeds well be affected even where I live.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

computerslayer said:
I'm currently on T-Mobile and frustrated with reception in my area. I'm not knocking the company, it just isn't working for me. So I'm looking at switching next month and the Nexus 4 is one of my favorite phone options on the market.
My experience with the Nexus 7 has been pretty excellent. My one major holdup with the Nexus 4 is its lack of LTE. I am wondering if anyone has switched FROM an LTE phone to the Nexus 4. If you have, could you offer some impressions of how the difference in speed affects you - if at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from a Galaxy S2 Skyrocket and I can't really say it matters that much. This phone is so fast and so smooth that the loss of LTE is now just an afterthought. I was very worried about this though before I got my Nexus 4. I'm am so glad I made the jump and bought this phone. Trust me if u choose to not buy this phone cause of it not having LTE u are making a huge mistake.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

well, i had Sprint, and because they had slow 3G i went with Vz.... and loved LTE.... but since they are assholes and treat their customers like **** i went ahead and left them after 7 months... my exit was the Nexus 4 with TMo... i do not regret it one bit...
at my work, i had 3G ~100kb connection on sprint and also Vz... if i went outside i had 4G LTE... my nexus 4 gets H+ 7mb connection at the same location.
heres a screenshots of my GNEX and N4 compared... for real world use, its great! no regrets
---------- Post added at 11:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 PM ----------
oh yeah... one thing i have been noticing... and dont know is if its like that with TMo.... but i jump from 3G to H often.. like all the time... but not while using it... all this on areas of full bars
for example..i unlock phone and it says 3G.... when i start messing with it and click an app, it inmediately switches to H.... and stays there...
i dont know yet if the phone does it on purpose to conserve battery, but it doesnt bother me yet since it has yet to take long to switch or be bad reception.

Using t-mobile H+
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

milan03 said:
In Chicago AT&T is the worst possible carrier you can be on. Their LTE is only 5x5Mhz so it's already loaded and slow, and their HSPA has always been insanely slow. Your better bet is T-Mobile, or Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to ask, are you actually in Chicago? I live close to the border of Wisconsin, work in the north suburbs, have family that I visit in the west suburbs and the actual city of Chicago and I've never had an issue with att. I see LTE speeds from about 5-30 Mbps and hspa+ is about 2-5 usually. I came from sprint, which was absolutely terrible. I've tried T-Mobile, which had more dead zones than att but similar speeds, and no experience with Verizon.
I'm not trying to get into a pissing contest, but what are you basing your comment on?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Best Options for Contract-Free in Chicago?

I'll be moving from Shanghai, China, to Chicago, IL, in three weeks. I'm working on figuring out all of the logistical aspects of my move, and one thing I need to sort out is my mobile carrier situation. The most talked about options I see are T-Mobile, ATT pre-paid, and Straight Talk (I might be missing some other options). I've been reading through many threads trying to get information, and I've seen a lot of conflicting information. I think a lot of it comes from people having different needs and priorities. Anyway, I'd like some clarity and some suggestions.
I'm looking for a good deal, but I also want excellent, reliable service. I use almost no minutes. I text some. My primary resource is data. I ported my number to Google Voice when I moved to China, so I am very comfortable using that as my primary method of communicating, along with Hangouts and Whatsapp. I'll also have about a 45 minute commute each way to work on the train every day, so I will be streaming music and browsing a lot. Having hotspot capabilities for my wifi-only N7 would be a plus, but I don't consider it essential. My employer can get me a discount with ATT, but I'm not sure about T-Mobile.
What do you recommend? Why? What have you learned that might be useful to someone coming in? Doesn't need to be Chicago-specific, but that would certainly help. Thanks for your help.

ejchis said:
I'll be moving from Shanghai, China, to Chicago, IL, in three weeks. I'm working on figuring out all of the logistical aspects of my move, and one thing I need to sort out is my mobile carrier situation. The most talked about options I see are T-Mobile, ATT pre-paid, and Straight Talk (I might be missing some other options). I've been reading through many threads trying to get information, and I've seen a lot of conflicting information. I think a lot of it comes from people having different needs and priorities. Anyway, I'd like some clarity and some suggestions.
I'm looking for a good deal, but I also want excellent, reliable service. I use almost no minutes. I text some. My primary resource is data. I ported my number to Google Voice when I moved to China, so I am very comfortable using that as my primary method of communicating, along with Hangouts and Whatsapp. I'll also have about a 45 minute commute each way to work on the train every day, so I will be streaming music and browsing a lot. Having hotspot capabilities for my wifi-only N7 would be a plus, but I don't consider it essential. My employer can get me a discount with ATT, but I'm not sure about T-Mobile.
What do you recommend? Why? What have you learned that might be useful to someone coming in? Doesn't need to be Chicago-specific, but that would certainly help. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Due to the nature of Chicago (high volume), none of the carriers would be classified as excellent, reliable service. It also depends on your commute as the trains usually get worse service to begin with.
I would definitely look into the discount but I hung out with my friends yesterday is various spots around the loop. I have tmobile and the other two have verizon and att (these last two have pretty abysmal contract free plans). I got better speeds at every location and ATT was consistently in the middle. Verizon is garbage is the city.
Now, if you'll be traveling to rural areas then verizon or att might be better.
Tmoble on the other hand just put their LTE live last week. The signal is heaps better than using the H+. make sure you have the flashed .33 radio!

thfreedumb said:
Due to the nature of Chicago (high volume), none of the carriers would be classified as excellent, reliable service. It also depends on your commute as the trains usually get worse service to begin with.
I would definitely look into the discount but I hung out with my friends yesterday is various spots around the loop. I have tmobile and the other two have verizon and att (these last two have pretty abysmal contract free plans). I got better speeds at every location and ATT was consistently in the middle. Verizon is garbage is the city.
Now, if you'll be traveling to rural areas then verizon or att might be better.
Tmoble on the other hand just put their LTE live last week. The signal is heaps better than using the H+. make sure you have the flashed .33 radio!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is great information. Thank you. I'll be living in Gold Coast and working just south of downtown, so I won't be getting rural too often. Would you recommend the T-Mobile Unlimited Nationwide plan then? I'll need to call to see if they offer any discounts for my employer.

Don't go t-mobile.
Go with att go phone. T-mob has almost no signal anywhere there. They data is great, I'll give it that, but no signal.
I have fought with tombile no siginal, data drops, and loss of signal. I rma'd 2 devices, tried multpile sim cards, and nothing worked.
Then I switched to prepaid att go phone. Full signal everywhere I go, and it stays in "H" mode. Unlike tmoble that goes from 3g/h everytime it uses data so there is a 2 second delay, then if you don't get that your getting "E" but t-mobile won't let data go through on "E" mode, even though they say they do.
ATT, $60 month, unlimited talk text, and 2gb of data. Then $10 for each addtional gb of data. You won't be dissappointed.
I went through all the hassles so you can get good service.

Looks as if it's not a straight discount if I go with ATT through my employer, but rather a series of plan options that come at a discounted price. They are all DataPro Enterprise plans, and they range from 2GB-5GB with tethering options. Prices range from $34-$55/month for these plans. Would this essentially be the same service that is offered with a pre-paid plan? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

i live in chicago and have had them all.
sprint 3g is unusable. never had sprint LTE. someone said recently that sprint added an LTE tower downtown and they had indoor coverage where they used to be dead, but all I know is when I moved to Chicago I had to get rid of sprint right away.
AT&T 3g is almost unusable downtown but great everywhere else. never had their LTE either
verizon is great everywhere, LTE coverage everywhere, decent speeds everywhere. Pricy
I just moved from verizon to tmobile and I am happy. The coverage is not as good as verizon, no question. But I have only been inside 1 building anywhere in the city where I dont have at least 2g coverage on tmobile. The LTE speeds also beat any other carrier in the city. coverage in that one building isnt worth it to me to double my monthly cost.
---------- Post added at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 AM ----------
kthejoker20 said:
Then I switched to prepaid att go phone. Full signal everywhere I go, and it stays in "H" mode. Unlike tmoble that goes from 3g/h everytime it uses data so there is a 2 second delay, then if you don't get that your getting "E" but t-mobile won't let data go through on "E" mode, even though they say they do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you misunderstood what you're seeing, and it sounds like you have some isolated issues with your devices that arent relevant to the carrier. my nexus drops from h+ to 3g to conserve battery when data isnt active. it doesnt take 2 seconds to switch back, its instant, but occasionally there is a delay of milliseconds for the icon to change.
and EDGE data works for me on tmobile everywhere in the city, including subway

dcd1182 said:
i live in chicago and have had them all.
sprint 3g is unusable. never had sprint LTE. someone said recently that sprint added an LTE tower downtown and they had indoor coverage where they used to be dead, but all I know is when I moved to Chicago I had to get rid of sprint right away.
AT&T 3g is almost unusable downtown but great everywhere else. never had their LTE either
verizon is great everywhere, LTE coverage everywhere, decent speeds everywhere. Pricy
I just moved from verizon to tmobile and I am happy. The coverage is not as good as verizon, no question. But I have only been inside 1 building anywhere in the city where I dont have at least 2g coverage on tmobile. The LTE speeds also beat any other carrier in the city. coverage in that one building isnt worth it to me to double my monthly cost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go Wings! I'm originally a Michigander.
What made ATT almost unusable? Just overcrowded towers?
Do you experience the delays and 3g/h/edge switches that the joker talked about experiencing?

ejchis said:
Go Wings! I'm originally a Michigander.
What made ATT almost unusable? Just overcrowded towers?
Do you experience the delays and 3g/h/edge switches that the joker talked about experiencing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, when you're downtown with ATT, during workday, you'll have full bars but top out at 1kbit. voice always works though, but can take 60 seconds to place a call. i seriously dont know a single person in chicago with ATT who doesnt hate the data (besides that guy above i guess)
yes, my nexus switches from 3g/h+, but thats as designed. there is no delay at all. LTE is everywhere now anyways.
oh yeah, i know you said prepaid already, but just to second that, note this:
tmobile led me to believe that I would get roaming if i signed contract/went postpaid so I did, but then found out after the fact that you wont be able to roam ANYWHERE in chicagoland because they believe they have full coverage everywhere and thus have no roaming agreements anywhere. i wish i had gone prepaid so i wouldnt have a 2 year contract, but oh well.

I use VOIP for all my calls on T-mobile. I used spotify as my daily radio and it works flawless.
usually 4g/LTE and rarely 3g....Pretty good quality although My speeds rarely hit 20 mps down(more like 5-10mps average) but latency is usually excellent. Upload is decent.

This is all really helpful. Thanks, Guys.
Just to be clear. This is T-Mobile/ATT through T-Mobile/ATT, correct? Not Straight Talk? I don't think ST existed when I was last in the States, so I'm not totally clear on what that is other than that it is a company that uses other carriers' towers.

ejchis said:
This is all really helpful. Thanks, Guys.
Just to be clear. This is T-Mobile/ATT through T-Mobile/ATT, correct? Not Straight Talk? I don't think ST existed when I was last in the States, so I'm not totally clear on what that is other than that it is a company that uses other carriers' towers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe in chi, simple mobile and straight talk are just T-Mobile, but T-Mobile customers get QoS priority.

kthejoker20 said:
Don't go t-mobile.
Go with att go phone. T-mob has almost no signal anywhere there. They data is great, I'll give it that, but no signal.
I have fought with tombile no siginal, data drops, and loss of signal. I rma'd 2 devices, tried multpile sim cards, and nothing worked.
Then I switched to prepaid att go phone. Full signal everywhere I go, and it stays in "H" mode. Unlike tmoble that goes from 3g/h everytime it uses data so there is a 2 second delay, then if you don't get that your getting "E" but t-mobile won't let data go through on "E" mode, even though they say they do.
ATT, $60 month, unlimited talk text, and 2gb of data. Then $10 for each addtional gb of data. You won't be dissappointed.
I went through all the hassles so you can get good service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you at in Chicago? I've gotten a T Mobile signal everywhere i've been.
I guarantee your ATT phone goes to 3G when you're not using it. The difference being that the nexus 4 is designed to show you exactly whats happening. The carrier phones usually do the same thing but they don't show it as switching from H to 3G because they don't want to confuse the customer.
---------- Post added at 04:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:27 PM ----------
dcd1182 said:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe in chi, simple mobile and straight talk are just T-Mobile, but T-Mobile customers get QoS priority.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, considering the price of T-Mobile's service (cheap), it's best to go directly from them since you get priority.

thfreedumb said:
Yes, considering the price of T-Mobile's service (cheap), it's best to go directly from them since you get priority.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, thanks. That makes sense to me too. Very helpful.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I also recommend going to t-mobile for your service needs. I live about 1.5 hours away from Chicago and travel frequently. I haven't noticed any issues with the T-Mobile service there, the service is very good in the suburbs and decent in the city.
As for the plan that you should get. There is the $30 a month prepaid for unlimited text, 5GB data, and 100 minutes. Our you could go with the standard plans which I am sure you know about. Good luck!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

THEindian said:
I also recommend going to t-mobile for your service needs. I live about 1.5 hours away from Chicago and travel frequently. I haven't noticed any issues with the T-Mobile service there, the service is very good in the suburbs and decent in the city.
As for the plan that you should get. There is the $30 a month prepaid for unlimited text, 5GB data, and 100 minutes. Our you could go with the standard plans which I am sure you know about. Good luck!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, that's good to know. I should look into that plan. I don't remember seeing that one discussed before. Thanks.

I also have had excellent results with TMobile in Chicago, even on a 1900 device.
Edit- my average speeds are 18/2 on my S2 and 13/4 with a low ping on my i717, pre LTE. I now get LTE in the Note almost everywhere I go in the city but it doesn't seem polished yet. I just did a speed test on that and got this, I do get a lot of single digit LTE speeds still though and it appears that Chicago T-Mobile LTE is capped at 37mbps.
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ejchis said:
Oh, that's good to know. I should look into that plan. I don't remember seeing that one discussed before. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, T-Mo did a good job of hiding it on their website.

You can also google 'rootmetrics.' That site will let you check all the major carriers signal strength and data speeds in the places you'll be at most.

Is lte included in that thirty bucks a month plan? The description says up to 4g speeds.
Right now with employment discount I'm paying fifty for the unlimited everything.
Do you just get Google voice or whatever for phone calls?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I'm getting pretty good T-Mobile LTE coverage in Chicago (at least where I go) on my AT&T Note on the $30 plan, though it still seems a little immature. Download speeds aren't super fast compared to HSPA 42 and upload will stutter during speedtests. I did get pretty good 42 speeds on my S2 here.