Related
I know this is off topic but I would like to hear some info from the xda members. I currently have tmobile and live in Philadelphia. I am looking to switch to Sprint and just wondering how is Sprints data speeds, coverage, voice, etc...
It varies...I live in Florida and it's great here, but this post is only helpful if you were looking toward moving here...Lol
3g speeds are terrible in Detroit but the 4g speed is decent. Coverage is excellent, I have never been somewhere where I have no signal(the free roaming on vzw, incl free data roaming, helps). The areas where I KNOW there is signal but I can't reach it (in the dungeon-like basement of a building behind many many layers of concrete) are reduced now also. Where I had no signal a year ago I have enough to text and call now. For the record, in that dungeon the vzw customer next to me had 5 bars and 3g while I had nothing. Voice is good. I have 4 phones, 2 with the 4g fee, and it costs me $220 for 1500 mins and unlimited everything else. This is probably only helpful if you plan on moving to Detroit, unlikely based on the latest census results.
Ask some of your friends how Sprint is in your area.
Thank you. I am not really looking site specific really just overall quality of sprint itself. Just trying to see if its the right move
Overstew said:
It varies...I live in Florida and it's great here, but this post is only helpful if you were looking toward moving here...Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in the FL panhandle and its terrible here. When I go visit the family in gainsville its awesome! A constant 3 to 4 times faster than here.
During the week I can have data speeds as low as 15k down 90k up. During off peak hours its usually about 100k down 125k up. Still terrible compared to verizon (constant 1meg down) or att (700 to 900k down)
I have compared to people at work. We check frequently, just to compare.
so after almost a year i have NEVER USED 4g due to the fact that my state DOES NOT HAVE 4g and im forced to pay for 4g. Well i went away this week and the place im at have 4g, but to be honest i dont see a difference. seems like 3g is just as fast.
Warrior 3000 said:
so after almost a year i have NEVER USED 4g due to the fact that my state DOES NOT HAVE 4g and im forced to pay for 4g. Well i went away this week and the place im at have 4g, but to be honest i dont see a difference. seems like 3g is just as fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you expect for $10 . . . .
It depends where you are. South of Boston I pull down 7-14Mbps on 4G vs 100kbps on 3G. Trust me, I can tell the difference. Streaming Netflix is smooth as can be and I can barely stream Slacker radio without pauses on 3G here.
4G is great here, when it is working, but it is sketchy at best as far as the actual coverage here.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
3G speeds, I average 900k-1.7mbps. This was my last 4G speed test: http://i.imgur.com/BSsYE.jpg
I used it today for the first time in Baton Rouge and i got speeds of 6-8 Mbps. I was impressed. I just wish it reached my apt. I was in the car when I did this.
Warrior 3000 said:
im forced to pay for 4g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People on these forums pride themselves in not being as "uninformed" as Apple users.... yet we keep having people say **** like this.
You don't pay for 4g.
Whether the phone is 4g capable OR NOT, every new line has this charge.
Depends on the network in your area. Check out the SpeedTest.net app. Here are the typical results I get:
WiFi: 9M Down, 4M Up
4G: 4M Down, 1M Up
3G: 700K Down, 50K Up
A good signal on 4G is 10x faster than 3G and half as fast as my home WiFi. Hope this helps.
its not a 4G access fee, its a PREMIUM DEVICE FEE....which apparently applies to a POS Palm Pre that I wanted to connected temporarily to one of my lines, however does not apply to the TP2. (which is much more "premium" than a Palm Pre ever will be.)
With all of that said, it seems that day by day Sprint service gets worse and worse.
I don't think its just my area, but many others.
In the past 6 months I have spent time in:
San Francisco (where 4g causes random reboots)
Los Angeles (painful, think prostate exam, speeds)
Long Beach (where the 3g is faster than the 4g)
Ventura (average slow sprint speeds, 4g does not work, but appears to be present?)
Sacramento (here I roamed on verizon with excellent speeds)
Elk Grove (the FASTEST speed I have even seen on a cell phone, on of course Verizon) This place was in the middle of nowhere.
Fresno (slow sprint speeds)
Visalia (roamed on verizon, great speeds)
Bakersfield (slow sprint speeds)
San Bernardino(slow sprint speeds)
Palmdale (i live here, slow is not slow enough to describe how slow it is)
Lancaster (slow slow slow)
Tehachapi (fast verizon roam)
Arizona:
Phoenix (slow 3g speeds, occasional slow 4g)
Gilbert (slow 3g speeds) *NOTE* I went to the Sprint store here, it has the best sprint service I have ever seen.
Mesa (slow 3g)
Tucson (slower 3g, almost pointless trying, even on handset)
Tolleson (decent 3g)
Nevada
Henderson (decent 3g)
Las Vegas (decent 3g)
North Las Vegas(decent 3g)
There were many other in-between places, that were of no significant value of information, except to say SLOW SPRINT.
As you can see, I have moved around quite a bit with work. At each location I spend an average of 2+ days in a stationary location. The only thing that is consistent is the fast speed when roaming on verizon.
I have been with Sprint for many years, and I keep hoping things improve, yet they never do. The connections are no better than they were on my Sanyo 5300 tethered.
Houston, TX, 4g is stable and consistently get 4-7M down, it definitely depends on location.
mattykinsx said:
People on these forums pride themselves in not being as "uninformed" as Apple users.... yet we keep having people say **** like this.
You don't pay for 4g.
Whether the phone is 4g capable OR NOT, every new line has this charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's cut the rhetoric already. And lets say what it really was and how we got here. I live near Phoenix and unless I want to drive to the east valley or Prescott I pretty much won't be seeing 4G in this area anytime soon. I have come to that reality. But when I bought the phone I was told the $10 in easy terms was for Wimax service. And at that point, living in a population of 4.1m it didn't seem we would be forgotten. Fast forward a year and paying for a service that I have yet to turn on, it is still a 4G fee. And that is simply because my data is the same 3G that my wife's Samsung Moment and daughters BB Style gets. And we activated my daughters BB Jan. 30, right before Sprints Data got upgraded from regular 89 octane to Premium 93 Octane. But for some reason I am not seeing anything Premium about it. So you see, I don't have a new line, therefore I pay a 4G fee, which at the time was "Premium Data.", and everyone else in my family is paying a less than premium data fee. Which is alright, just lets me know my 3G is that much better than theirs.
This is/was Sprint's way of handling a bunch of disgruntled customers and keeping their investors happy. I mean, why would you remove a surcharge? Instead charge everyone a flat rate. Increase profit margin and keep investors happy. It was a class action law-suit just waiting to happen. Charging millions of people for a service that couldnt be rendered.
And if you want to hear it from the mouth of a Sprint employee from when the Evo was released and why the charge was introduced here it is.
This is from John Taylor's blog from May 12th last year. John Taylor is basically the spokesman for Sprint that talks to the press about Public Policy.
" There have been a TON of questions about this monthly Premium Data charge. I hope this will clear things up.
If you buy the Sprint 4G EVO, you have to pay this $10 charge each month. This is specific to the device. It's not related to whether you are using 3G or 4G. It is required if you have the phone.
Because the phone has a faster processor, a huge 4.3 inch screen and an 8 megapixel camcorder/camera, we expect you will be using a lot more data than you would with our other devices. These features will give you capabilities that have previously never been available on a wireless device and we think they provide a premium experience. (Remember, this is the world's first 3G/4G Android phone.)"
http://tech.johntaylor.co/more-detail-on-the-sprint-evo-4g-10month-prem
So you can say what it is now. But it doesn't give a customer that purchases a Samsung Transform 4G abilities and that data is not any more premium for a 3G device anymore the day before or after February 1st when the Premium Data charge for all phones went into effect.
So in closing. We pay for 3G for my wife's and daughters phone. And I pay the Premium Data so that I can have the ability to turn on 4G if I am in a 4G area. Because when I bought my phone under this contract it was device specific.
Thank you for informing me how uninformed I am.
Typed on my CyanoSavaged SuperEvo.
I love the Epic. Love it. So much that even though I used the ET4G for a while, I went back to the Epic. The problem is that I don't love Sprint. For the 10+ years I've been a customer, I've watched the quality of their customer service and technical output decrease considerably. Living in New York City, I'm dealing with data speed slower than a dial-up modem. Sprint claims that they're over capacity in my neighborhood. For a carrier to make a claim like that in NYC is absolutely ludicrous. Nevermind that there are far more densely populated areas of the city with drastically better data speeds than I'm getting, one of the three significant mobile phone carriers should be ashamed to admit that they can't provide adequate service in New York City.
Now, let's suppose you could walk away from your Sprint contract free of charge and go to Verizon for slightly less than you're paying now. Additionally, imagine you've never used more than 2 gigs of data in a month (Sprint's data speeds make using more than 500 MB of 3G in a month impossible anyway) so the somewhat enigmatic lure of "unlimited data" means nothing to you.
Would you walk or stick it out with Sprint?
Only for Droid 4
thats a whole lot of imagining.
i have the opposite experience. 8 yeasr sprint customer here and customer service now blows the old system out of the water. i havent gotten a foreign csr in a long time. i cant stand heavy indian accent on a tech support line. my data speeds are also good. i wont mention the fact that i live in the same city as their corp headquarters though. haha.
my only complaints are the lack of tons of phone choices. att and vzw are constantly rolling out new devices. cant someone throw sprint a bone here?
that and the loss of yearly upgrades, but none of the big carriers have that, so i guess its a non issue.
i think i will stay.
The company I work for was bought 6 months ago and I just learned I get a very decent discount on verizon, enough to make it come within $5 what I'm paying now for 2 epic 4gs on sprint (even though I still get 25% off sprint from my old work). The other limitations of verizon (only having 10 'unlimited' numbers, only 2gb of data per phone) don't really affect us at all. Combined our peak data usage in a given month was just over 1gb.
So that's a long way of saying...I'm in the same boat you're describing. Only thing keeping us around now is not wanting to burn another $400 for 2 contract price phones and of course the ETF from sprint. But my contract expires in december, so if the gs3 is on verizon first I'll almost certainly switch and bring my fiance a few months later when her contract is up. Sprint's data service is really bad in many places, even though I 'get' 4g in grand rapids and columbus, where I spend most of my time (its a good thing downtown grand rapids has 4g because the 3g data is unusable in my experience).
I get <100kbps consistently... no 4g ever, and coverage is even worse one town over where I visit my family.
But I somehow go through 8gbs of data every month so I guess I am stuck with sprint for a while. I plan on getting the galaxy note/journal the day its released.
Sent from my MIUI V4 Epic 4G via Tapatalk 2 beta 5
Restola said:
The company I work for was bought 6 months ago and I just learned I get a very decent discount on verizon, enough to make it come within $5 what I'm paying now for 2 epic 4gs on sprint (even though I still get 25% off sprint from my old work). The other limitations of verizon (only having 10 'unlimited' numbers, only 2gb of data per phone) don't really affect us at all. Combined our peak data usage in a given month was just over 1gb.
So that's a long way of saying...I'm in the same boat you're describing. Only thing keeping us around now is not wanting to burn another $400 for 2 contract price phones and of course the ETF from sprint. But my contract expires in december, so if the gs3 is on verizon first I'll almost certainly switch and bring my fiance a few months later when her contract is up. Sprint's data service is really bad in many places, even though I 'get' 4g in grand rapids and columbus, where I spend most of my time (its a good thing downtown grand rapids has 4g because the 3g data is unusable in my experience).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what's been holding me up. My wife and I don't really feel like dropping $400 on new phones right now. In addition, there will be certain desirable devices hitting the market a few months down the line, and it would be preferable to hold out for those instead. I'm able to get out of my Sprint contract because of the change they made to the way they bill family plans, but according to them, that option is only available to me until the end of this billing cycle. In theory, I should be able to get out of my contract on the basis of the pathetic data speeds available here but they'll lie until they're blue in the face to try to prevent me from doing that. Apart from the potential benefits of their new network whenever that actually hits the NYC market, I don't have a compelling reason to keep giving money to Sprint.
xopher.hunter said:
I get <100kbps consistently... no 4g ever, and coverage is even worse one town over where I visit my family.
But I somehow go through 8gbs of data every month so I guess I am stuck with sprint for a while. I plan on getting the galaxy note/journal the day its released.
Sent from my MIUI V4 Epic 4G via Tapatalk 2 beta 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with me Christopher...
Except but I'm thinking about that evo man thing looks beast so far....
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
iSaint said:
Same with me Christopher...
Except but I'm thinking about that evo man thing looks beast so far....
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bigger is better. Lol
Sent from my MIUI V4 Epic 4G via Tapatalk 2 beta 5
the new devices always look great. the problem is that I'd have to run them on a Sprint network that gives me average downstream data speeds of 0.05 Mbps. What's the point? Maybe 15 months from now or so it'll be another story, but that's a long way (and a lot of months at $170/per) off.
I'm sticking it out. I'm going on 11 years with Sprint and I'm one of those folks that has never had a problem with their CS. I will admit that this is the longest I have ever sat on an upgrade due to a lack of phone options, but I understand they're undergoing changes right now, so I'll be patient. I still like- not love -my device now, and I get full bars of 4G where I live, so it could be worse.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium
Been with Sprint for 10 years. What's kept me with Sprint is the price/value. Fortunately we get decent 3G here but no WiMax. My future brother in law works for Verizon and I told him I'd switch in August when my contracts are up if he can get me a similar monthly bill if it's clear Sprint isn't releasing LTE here anytime soon. Verizon has had LTE here since November. I'd prefer to stick with Sprint, but watching every other carrier here turn on 4G (even freaking US Cellular) has really soured me lately.
The data restrictions/throttling on other carriers are the biggest negative for me. I've been burning >15GB/month on the regular over 3G (no 4g within 400mi). I pay for unlimited, so I'll use it (all legit usage). The 2 and 5GB plans out there are just stupid as a whole IMO. Carriers nickel and dime customers to death.
What can I say, I stream music a lot. None of that used bandwidth is from tethering or downloading huge ass files via the phone.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
Don't you have roaming? Why would your speeds suck if you can roam on Verizon?
And if they still do, then why do you think switching would help?
Because I'm not roaming on Verizon, I'm always connected to Sprint. The data issue is the result of Sprint not being able to provide adequate bandwidth for their customers in this neighborhood.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA
Last year was a much easier decision. I had been a Sprint customer for about a decade and was dealing with the decline of Sprint 3G data to less than dial-up speed and 4G coverage that was virtually non-existent for the areas where it mattered, home and work and in between. When Verizon offered unlimited 4G LTE the decision was clear. I negotiated with Sprint retention to lower the ETF to ~$75 and jumped ship. In comparison, I get Verizon LTE coverage everywhere I go, the throughput is significantly better than broadband DSL and the latency is optimal for latency sensitive applications like VOIP. I'm even paying a little less than I was paying Sprint. Now that the service issue is out of the way I'm waiting for great phones to appear on Verizon such as Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S III, etc. Samsung Epic 4G, except for maybe the limited DRAM, is a much better phone than the majority of phones on Verizon including my HTC Thunderbolt.
For me, it's a hard choice. I get 20% off Sprint through my work and 15% through Verizon, so even the cheapest plan from Version would be about $10 extra per month, and right now I'm saving as much as I can. Another thing is I do go over 4GB a month, but it depends. I actually checked my average the other day and it was literally 3.99 GB. Sprint data around here has gradually declined since the iPhone release, making it so even streaming low quality YouTube video is hit or miss (mostly miss). Hell even Pandora takes forever at times to load the next song, and if Pandora is having problems then jesus christ. There is no 4g availability around here, and they don't give us access to the wifi at work (boo). So right now I'll likely stay with Sprint, but my contract is up in June so we'll see then.
mi7chy said:
Last year was a much easier decision. I had been a Sprint customer for about a decade and was dealing with the decline of Sprint 3G data to less than dial-up speed and 4G coverage that was virtually non-existent for the areas where it mattered, home and work and in between. When Verizon offered unlimited 4G LTE the decision was clear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, they had an offer for unlimited data? and for how long are you able to get that? I would assume that's an introductory offer and eventually you get dropped down to a capped data plan.
I've noticed Sprint 3g speeds vary wildly depending on where I'm at. In my home (small town) I'll get 400-600k down which is good enough for light usage when away from wi-fi. In the nearby city I get around 1.0 - 1.5 mbps down which is really good enough for about anything I'd want to do on my phone while out and about.
However when I visit my family in Omaha (which is a pretty good size city) I get horrendous speeds (like 50kbps) which is just unusable. If I lived in this type of coverage I would have no choice but to switch.
rocket321 said:
I've noticed Sprint 3g speeds vary wildly depending on where I'm at. In my home (small town) I'll get 400-600k down which is good enough for light usage when away from wi-fi. In the nearby city I get around 1.0 - 1.5 mbps down which is really good enough for about anything I'd want to do on my phone while out and about.
However when I visit my family in Omaha (which is a pretty good size city) I get horrendous speeds (like 50kbps) which is just unusable. If I lived in this type of coverage I would have no choice but to switch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in Omaha/Lincoln, and at my house in Omaha my coverage sucks.. But it's actually been getting better recently.. I still purchased roam control for that reason.
On the other hand, I get great speeds in Lincoln, and even 4G here on campus
I'm still debating on what I'll do when my contract is up in August. I may just wait around until a huge breakthrough in phone tech, or maybe I'll go for the SIII? I don't really want to switch carriers because my only discount is through Sprint.. Hopefully the network enhancements rock
Id choose tmo over verizon any day.
I'm not gonna bother saying why because from this point on I'm too lazy to rebuke the inevitable "but tmo...att...customer service....4g" lines
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
I'm currently trying to decide which carrier to go with for the GS4, does anyone have experience with AT&T? I know they have a bad reputation for unreliability, has that improved at all? How is their coverage in the NJ/NY area?
NY/NJ are you referring to downstate NY, upstate wise its pretty good and frankly I was already leaving Verizon before today's announcement about the no early upgrades at 20 months crap and no using a MiFi or tablet line for an upgrade both of which are things I enjoyed so FU Verizon and hello AT&T.
RaptorMD said:
NY/NJ are you referring to downstate NY, upstate wise its pretty good and frankly I was already leaving Verizon before today's announcement about the no early upgrades at 20 months crap and no using a MiFi or tablet line for an upgrade both of which are things I enjoyed so FU Verizon and hello AT&T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm referring specifically to central NJ and Brooklyn, NY (one of my family members commutes there).
snapple232 said:
I'm currently trying to decide which carrier to go with for the GS4, does anyone have experience with AT&T? I know they have a bad reputation for unreliability, has that improved at all? How is their coverage in the NJ/NY area?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for at&t.
It's an excellent service for people up north and I've never heard of a complaint from the region. Also, checking our private coverage viewer you seem to be fine around those locations.
Just know that for individual lines, at&t can be expensive.
Your entry level plans are as follows.
85$ for 1 gig of data and unlimited talk and text.
90$ for 3 gigs of data, 450 minutes to landlines, unlimited to other cellphones and unlimited text.
You can save been 4 to 12 dollars a month depending on where you work. Discounts can be added through paystubs or work emails.
After tax expect it to come to around 100 dollars a month.
snapple232 said:
I'm currently trying to decide which carrier to go with for the GS4, does anyone have experience with AT&T? I know they have a bad reputation for unreliability, has that improved at all? How is their coverage in the NJ/NY area?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had every major carrier. I rate AT&T to be nearly as good as Verizon, personally, and faster data. I've used it in Washington D.C., los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, and various other large cities and I've never had any complaints.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
Verizon is much better in Chicago. Been with at&t since 2004 and have the same dead zones and during 9-5 hours downtown, the network is unusable. Verizon crushes at&t in reception and speed in Chicago. Fact.
And I'm an at&t customer. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I know in South Jersey, AT&T is much better than Verizon. In fact, my girlfriend finally went on my plan because she was tired of not having very good coverage in Glendora, NJ.
cfn87 said:
Verizon is much better in Chicago. Been with at&t since 2004 and have the same dead zones and during 9-5 hours downtown, the network is unusable. Verizon crushes at&t in reception and speed in Chicago. Fact.
And I'm an at&t customer. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, but it really depends on where you spend most of your time. When I was in Chicago I never lost a good signal for an entire weekend and my data speeds killed my friend on Verizon. Maybe we just didn't go to the AT&T dead zones.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
I travel all over - rural and cities - the only place that I have ever strugged with AT&T in the past year has been San Francisco.
I came from 13 years of Sprint to AT&T for the first time today. All I can say is, nothing can be worse than Sprint. At least with AT&T, I get reception INDOORS. Good grief Sprint's indoor reception is just balls.
snapple232 said:
I'm referring specifically to central NJ and Brooklyn, NY (one of my family members commutes there).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be good especially in Brooklyn.
There are several android apps that compares cell phone coverage for any given area.
If you are using an android smart phone now you could download one and see what the coverage looks like according to the various cellmap / cell coverage apps
[Also ask your relatives in the areas that they live in to do the same!]
I used one app called: Cell Maps Mobile Coverage (I think) and it was quite accurate for my area and the different service providers. I was lucky to hit the right provider without it, but I can say that what the app provided in results matched what I had seen!
My opinion:
#1. Coverage is the key more than anything.
Check the area where you are going to use the phone. Don't use the provider maps of coverage -they are pretty useless. Get an app like I mentioned and drive arround. Ask folks who are in the area what phone service they have there. We on XDA are all over the world and that won't help you (much).
#2. AT&T coverage in lower NYC, SI and Jersey-opposite the city for me has been fine.
Service is also important, (but not as important) I am in California and have used AT&T for years now. But I visit family and friends in Staten Island and the NYC area and my AT&T coverage has been very good. Including in Jersey area across the river. Every now and then I can hit a weak spot, but no serious complaints.
#3. Service is also important (but not as important as coverage)
I like the personal service of AT&T, especially their call-in phone support operators (their stores are not so hot. . .) I had VZ for years and Verizon was not really good at listening or caring for my problems or questions. AT&T is really good at that.
However, AT&T is also pretty expensive. They say they are not, but it just doesn't seem to work out that way! (Verizon is close!) Some folks who could do AT&T for good phone coverage use Straight Talk for their good price. Although they seem to have zero personal suppport service --at least for most people I have talked with. (my opinion only).
#4. Bottom line: If you can't talk, you might as well not have the phone, so number one priority is to get an app and to test the coverage in the target area.
Then go with the company that gives you the best coverage. (price and service come after coverage!)
Good Luck!
I wanted to reach out to any who are in the know and get your opinion on Sprint? I have 3 contracts up by the first of May and to re-up with 3 new phones is a lot more than it was 2 years ago. Sprint will cut my bill in half and I could finance the 3 phones for $70 a month, for about what I pay now for my bill. Has anyone had any good or bad experience with Sprint? I know they update software quicker than AT&T so that would be a bonus also. I'm in the Dallas area (about 30 miles out actually) to give you and indicator of my area. I've been with AT&T for over 12 years and have never frequented any other XDA forum. Hopefully they make magic as well as the AT&T side over here.
Thanks in advance. ..
Sprint is half the price of AT&T because the service is not as good. I even had one of their Airvana in home cell sites and still didn't get reliable service.
Find a friend that uses Sprint and invite them to your home and see if they have a good signal before you jump on any deals they offer. It was hands down the worst cell service I have ever had and I went back to AT&T.
I live 35 miles north of charlotte NC and I never saw 4g on sprint.
AT&T works 95% of the time anywhere I go.
My wife still has Sprint, her daughter is 5 air miles from us and she is on Sprint too, they can't talk to each other most of the time. They have to both be on wifi to text.