Nexus 5 on Sprint?

[gidgiddonihah]

Sorry guys, I wasn't sure where to put this. As I am mainly interested with the Nexus 5 and Sprint I decided this was the best place.

I am a student who has a smartphone addiction and my AT&T contract is coming to an end. I also have a S2 that is falling apart (sleep of death and no flashing new ROMs/Kernels/Modems helped plus the thing just gets super sluggish when it wants to and my data is abysmal - terrible coverage and low speeds even with 5 bars and H+) and the whole idea that I can pay $500 for a shiny new 32GB Nexus 5 and not have to pay service fees for a year sounds like a pretty sweet deal (saving around 70-80$/month). I just have heard terrible things about Sprint and was wondering if people have had any luck with the Nexus 5 (or any current smartphone) on Sprint's service. According to their coverage map I should have 3G+ coverage pretty much all over town. My house will only get one bar, but AT&T has the same problem. Sprint was announcing in April that they were on the brink of LTE service here but the coverage map says nada. How is their 3G/'4G' service? I would like any input you guys could give.

So:

1. How do you guys rate Sprint with the Nexus 5/Modern Smartphones?
2. How is the 3G/'4G' service?
3. What the heck does 3G+ mean on their coverage map?

Thanks!

 

[slik6996]

Sprint sucks stay with att you get what you pay for.

 

[Robbie317]

Sorry guys, I wasn't sure where to put this. As I am mainly interested with the Nexus 5 and Sprint I decided this was the best place.

I am a student who has a smartphone addiction and my AT&T contract is coming to an end. I also have a S2 that is falling apart (sleep of death and no flashing new ROMs/Kernels/Modems helped plus the thing just gets super sluggish when it wants to and my data is abysmal - terrible coverage and low speeds even with 5 bars and H+) and the whole idea that I can pay $500 for a shiny new 32GB Nexus 5 and not have to pay service fees for a year sounds like a pretty sweet deal (saving around 70-80$/month). I just have heard terrible things about Sprint and was wondering if people have had any luck with the Nexus 5 (or any current smartphone) on Sprint's service. According to their coverage map I should have 3G+ coverage pretty much all over town. My house will only get one bar, but AT&T has the same problem. Sprint was announcing in April that they were on the brink of LTE service here but the coverage map says nada. How is their 3G/'4G' service? I would like any input you guys could give.

So:

1. How do you guys rate Sprint with the Nexus 5/Modern Smartphones?
2. How is the 3G/'4G' service?
3. What the heck does 3G+ mean on their coverage map?

Thanks!

I've been on Sprint for almost 20 years now and overall they still stink.... They were just always better priced... I am out of contract and got my Nexus 5 unlocked and I am about to switch to AT&T.... Based off my average data usage their plans would be a lot cheaper and two friends who have LTE enabled smart phones on AT&T kick my **** with coverage and download speeds. I live in the Dallas, Texas area and even out and about in and around Dallas their LTE coverage is so spotty I've actually set my default data to 3G because it was killing my battery switching between 3G and LTE all day long. 3G speeds are horrible on Sprint... Again Dallas was one of the "Launch" LTE cities for Sprint and their coverage is still spotty. They sent me a map showing me all the towers in my area and how they all had 2 or 3 "Speed updates" installed and I have a tower that I can actually see from my back porch and my signal is almost nothing unless I walk 20 yards up my driveway to the edge of the subdivision and then it starts to pick up a decent signal....

I mean your results may vary but I've never gotten better than 8 mbps on LTE in and around Dallas and with 3G I'd be lucky to even get 1 mbps down... They are doing their whole network vision and SPARK LTE service upgrades but I dunno... Maybe in 5 years after the Softbank money is invested and all the upgrades are completed they'll have good coverage and service but overall it's horrible...

 

[cgardnervt]

I switched to att a few years ago because the speeds in VT are just god awful! I'd test it if I was you. In some areas I hear its great. But in VT they have dial up speeds!

 

[gidgiddonihah]

Sprint sucks stay with att you get what you pay for.

I mean your results may vary but I've never gotten better than 8 mbps on LTE in and around Dallas and with 3G I'd be lucky to even get 1 mbps down... They are doing their whole network vision and SPARK LTE service upgrades but I dunno... Maybe in 5 years after the Softbank money is invested and all the upgrades are completed they'll have good coverage and service but overall it's horrible...

Right now I am not too impressed with AT&T's HPSA+ coverage. I am lucky to hit .5 Mbps down (usually hangs around .3 - .35) with 5 bars and perfect reception so 8Mbps seems like a godsend. Even if Sprint is as bad, well then I get free service for awhile. If I hate it I can sign back up with AT&T with my Nexus 5 out of contract and I don't have to worry.

I switched to att a few years ago because the speeds in VT are just god awful! I'd test it if I was you. In some areas I hear its great. But in VT they have dial up speeds!

I planned on going into the Sprint store today and running a few Speedtests on a couple of phones. If I do get the phone I will constantly be testing the network and playing around with it. I plan on trying to keep my phone for a little while to see if I get crap service. If I do, I can drop it and head right back over to my plan (my contract ends in a week but my billing cycle has another 2 - 2.5 weeks).

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[Robbie317]

Sorry guys, I wasn't sure where to put this. As I am mainly interested with the Nexus 5 and Sprint I decided this was the best place.

I am a student who has a smartphone addiction and my AT&T contract is coming to an end. I also have a S2 that is falling apart (sleep of death and no flashing new ROMs/Kernels/Modems helped plus the thing just gets super sluggish when it wants to and my data is abysmal - terrible coverage and low speeds even with 5 bars and H+) and the whole idea that I can pay $500 for a shiny new 32GB Nexus 5 and not have to pay service fees for a year sounds like a pretty sweet deal (saving around 70-80$/month). I just have heard terrible things about Sprint and was wondering if people have had any luck with the Nexus 5 (or any current smartphone) on Sprint's service. According to their coverage map I should have 3G+ coverage pretty much all over town. My house will only get one bar, but AT&T has the same problem. Sprint was announcing in April that they were on the brink of LTE service here but the coverage map says nada. How is their 3G/'4G' service? I would like any input you guys could give.

So:

1. How do you guys rate Sprint with the Nexus 5/Modern Smartphones?
2. How is the 3G/'4G' service?
3. What the heck does 3G+ mean on their coverage map?

Thanks!

My typical 3G speeds around my house and my 4G LTE speeds when I go just 1/4 mile up the road to Kroger... I'm "Okay" with those 4G LTE speeds if they were consistent and the coverage was worth a damn... Literally 1/4 miles up the road I get LTE but 1/4 mile in any direction and it drops back to 3G.... and it's like that every where in Dallas (at least all the places I live, work and play)

 

[gidgiddonihah]

Not to discredit your LTE speedtest, but with both your phone reports you are using 3G... Not sure if you uploaded the wrong one or you meant both of those were your 3G?

 

[Robbie317]

Not to discredit your LTE speedtest, but with both your phone reports you are using 3G... Not sure if you uploaded the wrong one or you meant both of those were your 3G?

The speed test were done a few days ago (You can see the dates on the test and they are not today) and I did the screen shots just now (While I am on 3G) I thought the Speedtest app use to show you if the test was done on LTE or 3G in the past? I know it tells the difference between wireless and WiFi.... I just didn't do screen shots as I did the test.. I just went back into my history and pulled them up... I don't get LTE here at work so I couldn't do one where the signal meter shows LTE right now.. but ask anyone who has Sprint if they've ever seen 3 mbps download on Sprint 3G??? That is almost unheard of with Sprint.. Unless maybe if your at their corporate headquarters with a tower in your cubicle...

 

[gidgiddonihah]

The speed test were done a few days ago (You can see the dates on the test and they are not today) and I did the screen shots just now (While I am on 3G) I thought the Speedtest app use to show you if the test was done on LTE or 3G in the past? I know it tells the difference between wireless and WiFi.... I just didn't do screen shots as I did the test.. I just went back into my history and pulled them up... I don't get LTE here at work so I couldn't do one where the signal meter shows LTE right now.. but ask anyone who has Sprint if they've ever seen 3 mbps download on Sprint 3G??? That is almost unheard of with Sprint.. Unless maybe if your at their corporate headquarters with a tower in your cubicle...

Haha it just occurred to me in class that you might have done that: haven't slept that much lately . My classes are insane this quarter.

I will try them out at the store but even if I can get a constant 1Mbps it would be better than what I am getting now. I appreciate the time and effort you have put in giving me good intel .