Maybe next time Verdes see's the local rep he can run this by the rep for future comment.. I already called Sprint and talked to a few CS and naturally all I got was " LTE is active and working in your area ". That's all they are concerned with, not that the speeds we get aren't anywhere near AT&T or Verizon LTE speeds.
Sprint never advertised that their network would match the maximum speeds of Verizon and AT&T. They can't. They're using a 5x5MHz carrier setup. That means 5MHz of spectrum download bandwidth, 5MHz upload bandwidth. Verizon and AT&T are using 10x10MHz setups. They can push 2x more bandwidth per tower. The thing is, both companies are only installing LTE on a fraction of their towers, whereas Sprint is installing it on all towers. Coupled with the fact that Sprint's network is denser than the others' to begin with, that means that Verizon and AT&T's towers will become overloaded much more quickly than Sprint's towers, which will cause a much bigger speed drop for VZW and AT&T customers as 4G use increases, especially during peak hours. Meanwhile, Sprint's LTE speeds should be stable throughout the day, especially when they get the extra spectrum in Chicago. So, during off hours, Sprint's speeds may not match VZW or AT&T, but during peak hours, speeds should be comparable.
Sprint's LTE network isn't being built to be the fastest. It's being built to be stable and reliable, with consistent speeds at all hours. It's being built to support many customers and provide a consistent experience for all customers. As has been said, speeds will get better after the spectrum sale, but even then, the biggest improvement will be consistency.