Getting a quick sprint network rant off my chest ...

**KSmithInNY** · 06-23-2012, 01:10 PM

I have been an extremely happy longtime sprint user. In fact, I thought 4G was stupid because of the battery hit, and my 3g speeds were amazing. Then comes the iPhone ..... it's not the phone or users fault rather a by product of launching the biggest selling device, on an all you can eat plan, for the lowest price. My speeds seemingly dropped over night with the launch.

What I dream could happen, and sorry MVNO prepaid folks, but I wish sprint would temporarily force MVNO users onto 1x only providing more EVDO rev a and o bandwidth for us post paid users. I'm sure legally binding contracts prevent this, and yes if it happened pre paid users would leave in droves, but the monitary value of post paid customers is astronomical compared to prepaid. As it stands post paid users are leaving because we pay full price for bad speeds, prepaid users aren't as impacted because they are paying reduced prices so willing to stay on, and the announced LTE sites aren't overly confidence inspiring for us who are trying to stick it out.

Yep it's a rant. No it will never happen. But damn I'm being forced into local media instead of streaming! Sprint give me back my iheartradio!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I have no intention of leaving Sprint, partly because of my sizeable corporate discount and their unlimited data, but I'd go without a phone before i gave big red or ATT my money. T-Mo is looking nice though as a plan B if things get too bad.

**Android_Lee** · 06-23-2012, 10:40 PM

Unfortunately you're going to run into those same issues no matter what carrier you have. I've been a customer with VZW for over 15 years, and while they are not perfect, they've always taken care of any issues that have arisen. You're the one that needs to be happy so you do what you need to do.

**ajonesma** · 06-23-2012, 11:14 PM

Sprint speeds in my area aren't all that fast, but they work well for what I need it for. At work I have fast wifi, so I do all my downloading on wifi there. Even with the bad speeds I'm still using at least 6gb's a month easily.

**lightyear420** · 06-23-2012, 11:48 PM

I honestly do not understand all the negativity everyone gives sprint for data speeds....show me another carrier that gets 2MB/s (yes i really have seen a full 2 megabytes per second...and a little faster even!!!) on 4g with no throttling or bandwidth limits!! I agree there was a small hiccup when iPhone launched, but my speeds are now 25-30% faster than they were before iPhone came to sprint.

**Darrkman** · 06-24-2012, 07:46 AM

To the OP. I wa with Sprint for 11 years and feel your pain. Last month I jumped to T Mobile when I couldn't help a woman pull up a train schedule. I'm in the NYC area and these are my speeds:

Sent from my HTC One S

**Paul627g** · 06-24-2012, 10:31 AM

8 years with Sprint. Things were reasonable until the bandwidth suckers "iPhone" users came along...

Now while on 3G I'm lucky to get old DSL quality speeds for downloading and uploading is like a flashback to AOL and 56k dial-up modem days...

Note: I don't know where the last "top" reading came from, must have been a momentary tease in the Sprint network giving me speed like that...

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Android Central Forums

**lmc05** · 06-24-2012, 11:32 PM

Originally Posted by lightyear420

I honestly do not understand all the negativity everyone gives sprint for data speeds....show me another carrier that gets 2MB/s (yes i really have seen a full 2 megabytes per second...and a little faster even!!!) on 4g with no throttling or bandwidth limits!! I agree there was a small hiccup when iPhone launched, but my speeds are now 25-30% faster than they were before iPhone came to sprint.

No offense, but it's a little sad to be excited about 2MB/S download speeds...I feel like the minimum expectation should be better than that.

**bnceo** · 06-25-2012, 07:38 AM

Sprint is nice value, but to get quality connection speeds for the super users that we are in these forums, we have to go AT&T or Verizon. T-Mobile, as quality goes, is sprinting (no pun intended) past Sprint.

**ratsttam** · 06-25-2012, 07:55 AM

My speeds are usually around where Paul's speeds are, maybe 100k lower... Except that I don't have 3g where I live (stuck at 1x until I get into the "big city... *cough* Scranton *cough*). 4g, what's that??

My ping hovers around the upper 900's. I use wifi at home, and basically can't use my phone for more than, well, phone calls, when I'm at work (locked down wifi). It's that bad around here. The only carrier that works up here is VZW, and that is only because they have a contract with the plant I work at to supply voice coverage, so repeaters galore. GPS and other location services in here tag us to Cincinatti, OH, even though we're in PA, tells me the repeaters are running on the plants backbone internet. NOBODY has service on the roads leading in here.

**cgardnervt** · 06-25-2012, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by Paul627g

8 years with Sprint. Things were reasonable until the bandwidth suckers "iPhone" users came along...

Now while on 3G I'm lucky to get old DSL quality speeds for downloading and uploading is like a flashback to AOL and 56k dial-up modem days...

Note: I don't know where the last "top" reading came from, must have been a momentary tease in the Sprint network giving me speed like that...

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Android Central Forums

HAHA! That was me a month ago on Sprint's network! Now i get 5-7 meg down on ATT's HSPA+ network. If I was you I would be looking at another carrier in the area. For an extra $10 a month I get a network that I can really use!

Plus the be honest even when going to Boston and getting 4+ bars on 3G I was only seeing 500K - 1meg. Still sad! WiMax wouldn't work in buildings so that was still useless too IMO.

So Paul tell us...How do you deal with it? Are you finding it to be ok with the 400K or less? I find this interesting because some people are ok with it. I wasn't so I left. Either way I hope things get better for you guys!

Cheers...

**Zhara** · 06-25-2012, 08:32 AM

My speeds don't really bother me. They're sufficient for my needs.

All the 400ish ones are at my house. The 1mb is from my work (about 10 minutes away). I was surprised as I live in a very small town in Oklahoma and as you can see my signal isn't good.

**Verdes8891** · 06-25-2012, 04:33 PM

I too feel the pain of the slower network. I used to get about 7-8mbps on 4g when I first signed up with sprint with the OG evo. My 3g at the times was doing about 2-3 mbps. I was happy. Over the past year though, those have dropped. If i can get 4g now, it is between 2-4mpbs and my 3g is about dial up speeds as well.

Makes me a little jealous when my AT&T HTC one x phone i have for work is getting between 20-30mbps when i have service with it. But it doesnt get signal at all at my house.

**Dark Penguin** · 10-14-2012, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by lmc05

No offense, but it's a little sad to be excited about 2MB/S download speeds...I feel like the minimum expectation should be better than that.

I'd be delighted with 2Mbps--or even 500K--if I could reliably get that all over my city, or even just in the places where I usually go. It might be cool to be able to watch TV in real time over a mobile device, but in my case that isn't terribly useful. Having the time and attention to really watch a TV show means that I can almost always manage to use an actual TV to watch it on, or failing that, my computer and a good internet connection.

As far as entertainment goes, what I use my device for more than anything else is audio streaming, and you don't need 2Mbps for that. But because the network seems to have become so unreliable of late, I've been experiencing a lot of trouble lately. (I say "seems" because there might be a couple of settings I can change to improve this.)

**bdmridgback** · 10-14-2012, 02:38 PM

I am "OK" with the 3g speeds here in SW Florida...when I am not in a dead spot!

Sprints detailed area coverage map shows near perfect 3g coverage completely covering all the area in a 5 mile radius of my home with a tower about 1 mile down the road. I was forced to use a Airave in my home because I am roaming with one bar of service until I leave my community. This it is 1-2 bars 3g in most areas around that 5 mile radius.

So it comes down to I am more upset with lack of coverage when they show they have the entire area covered.

Sent from my Innovative Galaxy S3

**zmann** · 10-14-2012, 02:47 PM

I'll take these speeds all day. Been with sprint about 12 years and always been good to me. Could not believe the speed when they turned on 4G about a month ago.

EVO-LUTION 4G LTE

**gollum18** · 10-14-2012, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by cgardner

HAHA! That was me a month ago on Sprint's network! Now i get 5-7 meg down on ATT's HSPA+ network. If I was you I would be looking at another carrier in the area. For an extra $10 a month I get a network that I can really use!

Plus the be honest even when going to Boston and getting 4+ bars on 3G I was only seeing 500K - 1meg. Still sad! WiMax wouldn't work in buildings so that was still useless too IMO.

So Paul tell us...How do you deal with it? Are you finding it to be ok with the 400K or less? I find this interesting because some people are ok with it. I wasn't so I left. Either way I hope things get better for you guys!

Cheers...

How can you use a network where the max individual data plan is 5gbs and the family plan is 10gbs. IMO the plans don't match the speed of the network and cost.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

**The Hustleman** · 10-14-2012, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by gollum18

How can you use a network where the max individual data plan is 5gbs and the family plan is 10gbs. IMO the plans don't match the speed of the network and cost.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

They don't match at all!

Lol @5gb

If anything,att and Verizon should be the ones offering unlimited data considering they charge so much more.

They can afford it, but they DON'T want to.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

**gollum18** · 10-17-2012, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by The Hustleman

They don't match at all!

Lol @5gb

If anything,att and Verizon should be the ones offering unlimited data considering they charge so much more.

They can afford it, but they DON'T want to.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Agreed att and Verizon are multi billion dollar corporations they CAN afford it, but they won't because then they won't be able to rake in so much money from their money trees.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

**The Hustleman** · 10-17-2012, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by gollum18

Agreed att and Verizon are multi billion dollar corporations they CAN afford it, but they won't because then they won't be able to rake in so much money from their money trees.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Basically.

Sprint has been cutting their losses ever since the simply everything plan became available. Still offering unlimited and making more than they have in a while

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

**grabejr** · 10-17-2012, 07:05 PM

I have three phones on my account and they are all always burning data... with Sprint's crappy network all three phones go through around 10GB per month. There is quite a bit of wasted data through Pandora's skipping and having to re-download incomplete files due to poor speeds/signal.

And that's in a supposed excellent signal area...

I'm through with Sprint.

**zmann** · 10-18-2012, 05:36 AM

Thank god for sprints unlimited data. I stream sirius /xm radio 6 days a week for 8 hours per day. I can't imagine what 5 lines anywhere else would cost. A teen with an iphone, wife with a nexus,, my evo,, brother has a nexus and a 20 year old with a galaxy 3. I would not be able to afford all that data anywhere else.

EVO-LUTION 4G LTE

**cgardnervt** · 10-18-2012, 10:39 AM

"How can you use a network where the max individual data plan is 5gbs and the family plan is 10gbs. IMO the plans don't match the speed of the network and cost."

Very simply I don't use a full 5 gigs of data in one month. I avg about 500megs to 1.5gigs on a super busy month. And again for me Network speeds and coverage is more important than saving $10 and not being able to use it when I need it. Also I do understand its a location thing as well so if your able to surf with 500K then I say save your self the $10. But to I want data that I can use when I need it. So my plan works great for me.

**The Hustleman** · 10-18-2012, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by cgardner

"How can you use a network where the max individual data plan is 5gbs and the family plan is 10gbs. IMO the plans don't match the speed of the network and cost."

Very simply I don't use a full 5 gigs of data in one month. I avg about 500megs to 1.5gigs on a super busy month. And again for me Network speeds and coverage is more important than saving $10 and not being able to use it when I need it. Also I do understand its a location thing as well so if your able to surf with 500K then I say save your self the $10. But to I want data that I can use when I need it. So my plan works great for me.

I guess Verizon would be better for someone that doesn't use much data.

Also the difference is more than just ten bucks.

You trying to say Verizon and t mobile cost the same?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

**cgardnervt** · 10-18-2012, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by The Hustleman

I guess Verizon would be better for someone that doesn't use much data.

Also the difference is more than just ten bucks.

You trying to say Verizon and t mobile cost the same?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

I was talking about my Sprint plan Vs att. Sorry if I did not clearly state that. My bad. Sprint with my discount was $89.99 a month with insurance and a single line of service. With att I get 3 gigs of data, 450 minutes, unlimited texting with rollover minutes and insurance for $97.69 a month with my discount from work. So for me it wasn't to much of a difference. But if you use over 3gigs a data a month then thats where you start to see a huge difference I think. So it really comes down to your use.

But like you said...Verizon is even more than $10 and Tmo is cheaper than att and Verizon. So you gotta look at your options. If your in a good area for Sprint then I would stick with them. Its not a bad deal if your in a good area with signal.

**Dark Penguin** · 10-18-2012, 07:42 PM

I did change one setting on my device, or rather in one of my apps. In my podcast catcher, I disabled automatic downloads, and streaming performance has become noticeably better. That actually should not have mattered, because I had the podcast app set to download episodes only when connected through wifi; then again, the app in question is quite notoriously buggy. Be that as it may, I've just been out walking for 45 minutes, and streamed a radio station for the entire time without any stalls or buffering. What's more, the station in question is one that has always been particularly difficult to stream, to the point that in the past I"ve often been unable to stream it even when other stations worked fine using the same app (TuneIn).

As I said, I don't know if the changes I made have anything to do with it, or if it's just the weather.

Or maybe Sprint has really been upgrading the towers in my area...