S4 performance difference between Sprint and At&t?

[Ameer Nuub]

Switched from iphone and LOVE the S4... but I'm very sad that I might simply have to drop it.

The performance of the phone seems to be ok everywhere but where I am the most and need it the most... work. The signal switches constantly between 4G, 3G, and Roaming, each with NO BARS... LOL... I can walk outside the building and the bars go to half. Also, the WIFI is strong, but it doesn't make a difference because it drops out and reconnects perpetually every three to 10 seconds or so. That should be perfectly fine inside. Cannot send emails; they fail. Sprint's service and performance have always been described as inferior, but I didn't think it would be to the point of being unusable.

My iphone with At&t stayed at least half bars and steady WIFI at work. Half to full bars inside or out.

Is it most likely the S4, or the carrier that is the problem here? I know I definitely don't want to go back to the iphone, and I really don't want to go back to At&t who is sky high and lacks unlimited data. However, I would go back to At&t if it would solve the problem, but if the S4 is the problem, then switching carriers won't matter. Also, if the S4 is the problem, then some updates or something down the road may improve the situation and I can stay with Sprint.

But I only have two more days to decide... don't know what to do.

 

[irishonion]

Not really sure which network your trying to go to. Just in my personal opinion, because I use a work phone(sprint) and a personal phone(T-mobile) wherever I work. I find Sprint to be god-aweful horrible. I wouldn't even use sprint even if it was free, lol. I don't like the prices of At&T but I'd think they were a better choice over Sprint.

 

[chuckz28]

That pretty much summed up my experience with sprint for almost 2 years. Sprint always has a problem with indoor reception due to the high frequency radio bands and it was always going between 3g and wimax. My basement and some specific stores would always leave me with little to no signal at all. I switched to ATT and now that I have tried all 4 major carriers I have to say ATT has been by far the best at least in my area. Consistently reliable data connections that are much much faster. Sprints 3g in my area would only get me 300kb download speeds Max and wimax was super spotty. No point in having unlimited data if it is super slow. Ex. AOL 56k for super cheap or pay for broadband. Ill pay for the better connection every time.

 

[planoman]

Switched from iphone and LOVE the S4... but I'm very sad that I might simply have to drop it.

The performance of the phone seems to be ok everywhere but where I am the most and need it the most... work. The signal switches constantly between 4G, 3G, and Roaming, each with NO BARS... LOL... I can walk outside the building and the bars go to half. Also, the WIFI is strong, but it doesn't make a difference because it drops out and reconnects perpetually every three to 10 seconds or so. That should be perfectly fine inside. Cannot send emails; they fail. Sprint's service and performance have always been described as inferior, but I didn't think it would be to the point of being unusable.

My iphone with At&t stayed at least half bars and steady WIFI at work. Half to full bars inside or out.

Is it most likely the S4, or the carrier that is the problem here? I know I definitely don't want to go back to the iphone, and I really don't want to go back to At&t who is sky high and lacks unlimited data. However, I would go back to At&t if it would solve the problem, but if the S4 is the problem, then switching carriers won't matter. Also, if the S4 is the problem, then some updates or something down the road may improve the situation and I can stay with Sprint.

But I only have two more days to decide... don't know what to do.

Sometimes you have to pay to get some bars...or get promoted out of the basement!

 

[Ameer Nuub]

Hmm.... yeah, I was afraid of this. Really value the input, but one thing wasn't verified in all of your comments... you are using an S4 in these scenarios, right? LOL... just want to make sure. I'm not terribly picky, I'd like to reward Sprint for bucking the trend and keeping unlimited, and if service was at least usable I'd be happy, but if I switch back to AT&T and it turns out the problem is the phone itself, then BBRRAAHH!!! "what good is unlimited if it sucks" is completely true... I just want to make sure it's not the phone's problem.

I really do appreciate everyone's input. It is really helping me. Thank you!

 

[planoman]

Hmm.... yeah, I was afraid of this. Really value the input, but one thing wasn't verified in all of your comments... you are using an S4 in these scenarios, right? LOL... just want to make sure. I'm not terribly picky, I'd like to reward Sprint for bucking the trend and keeping unlimited, and if service was at least usable I'd be happy, but if I switch back to AT&T and it turns out the problem is the phone itself, then BBRRAAHH!!! "what good is unlimited if it sucks" is completely true... I just want to make sure it's not the phone's problem.


I really do appreciate everyone's input. It is really helping me. Thank you!

I travel quite a bit and have only had the S4 for a week and have been in Dallas, Atlanta, Austin and the phone has been fine. Granted those cities are all very strong ATT LTE network locations.

 

[chuckz28]

Hmm.... yeah, I was afraid of this. Really value the input, but one thing wasn't verified in all of your comments... you are using an S4 in these scenarios, right? LOL... just want to make sure. I'm not terribly picky, I'd like to reward Sprint for bucking the trend and keeping unlimited, and if service was at least usable I'd be happy, but if I switch back to AT&T and it turns out the problem is the phone itself, then BBRRAAHH!!! "what good is unlimited if it sucks" is completely true... I just want to make sure it's not the phone's problem.


I really do appreciate everyone's input. It is really helping me. Thank you!

Yeah man I'm using the GS4. On Sprint I was on the GS2.

 

[irishonion]

That pretty much summed up my experience with sprint for almost 2 years. Sprint always has a problem with indoor reception due to the high frequency radio bands and it was always going between 3g and wimax. My basement and some specific stores would always leave me with little to no signal at all. I switched to ATT and now that I have tried all 4 major carriers I have to say ATT has been by far the best at least in my area. Consistently reliable data connections that are much much faster. Sprints 3g in my area would only get me 300kb download speeds Max and wimax was super spotty. No point in having unlimited data if it is super slow. Ex. AOL 56k for super cheap or pay for broadband. Ill pay for the better connection every time.

Yea, I wish more people would take the time to check out the maps of coverages in there area. Albeit not 100% accurate it gives some people idea of how that network will work for them, before bashing a network.

 

[jjthenovice]

I'm on ATT and find the S4 to have good reception. I remember reading one review that stated that the radio in the S4 was excellent. Sorry I don't remember which review. I had a S3 before which also had good reception. My daughter has Sprint and while she's satisfied with it, she realizes that ATT has the better coverage. I don't think it's the phone, I think it's the carrier. IMHO.

 

[lilotimz]

Before the anti-sprint circle jerk comes up.... here's the reason why.

ATT utilizes LTE on the lower 700mhz frequency block. Sprint utilizes LTE on the PCS 1900 G blockand evdo on PCS A-F blocks. The sub-ghz spectrum that ATT utilizes is the reason you get better reception inside buildings because lower frequencies tend to penetrate into hardened structures much better then high frequency spectrum. In addition to the lower 700mhz block, ATT also owns a good majority of the cellular 850mhz block. Next to ATT is Verizon who owns the upper 700mhz block (which they utilize for LTE) in addition to a good portion of the cellular 850mhz.

In comparison, T-mobile has 0 sub-1ghz spectrum and sprint only as 14mhz of eSMR800 which they plan to utilize 5x5 for LTE starting in a few months.


Side note -- The constant swapping between 4g, 3g, roaming sounds like the cell site that's serving you is undergoing testing before acceptance. Happens a lot in network vision markets.

 

[Joe the Insider]

If you want good coverage especially 4G, Verizon is top dog. I will never leave Verizon, because of this. I'm over the no unlimited thing.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Ameer Nuub]

I understand about the lower frequency thing, so at least I know why. Man, I wish I were a park ranger or something so I could keep Sprint, but if it is no good indoors, and indoors is where we spend 99.9% of our time, then it's not an option, regardless of the reason.

I would guess these realities aren't going to change drastically any time soon, so a switch is the thing to do. Thanks to everyone for helping me make the decision!

 

[SleepNSnooze]

I travel quite a bit and have only had the S4 for a week and have been in Dallas, Atlanta, Austin and the phone has been fine. Granted those cities are all very strong ATT LTE network locations.

Thanks for the unintended information about signal strength with ATT in Dallas. I will be moving their in the next couple months for work/promotion.
With my VZW contract ending June 6th and their inability to get phones that other carriers have I am about to jump ship. Was looking at ATT with a GS4 32gb and wasn't sure how good they were down there.
So, another nail in the VZW contract coffin. O

 

[AlphaVictor87]

From my experience my S4 has better reception than my iPhone 4s had. My main comparison is at my desk here at work on the 12th floor. If i got a phone call i couldn't stay at my desk i would have to go into the hallway because whoever was calling me said i was breaking up or just cutting out completely. Now i have no issues and can make calls here at my desk. I still only have 1 or 2 bars, but for some reason the connection i'm getting is much better than what i had on my iPhone.

Sorry forgot to say this is on AT&T

 

[Ameer Nuub]

From my experience my S4 has better reception than my iPhone 4s had. My main comparison is at my desk here at work on the 12th floor. If i got a phone call i couldn't stay at my desk i would have to go into the hallway because whoever was calling me said i was breaking up or just cutting out completely. Now i have no issues and can make calls here at my desk. I still only have 1 or 2 bars, but for some reason the connection i'm getting is much better than what i had on my iPhone.

Sorry forgot to say this is on AT&T

Niiiiiiiice. Good info, thanks. Just dropped and switched back to AT&T. I still had the grandfathered unlimited. Now it's time for me to research whether it's stupid to keep that, because the articles I saw said grandfathered "unlimted" pay the same as a higher tier plan, and get throttled at a crazy low GIG rate. That article was from early 2012 though, so I have no idea what the current environment and details are.

 

[scorpiodsu]

You problem is with the network. I'm sure if you used the S4 on AT&T, you'll be fine just like you were with the iPhone. This is not really an S4 question. It's whether you should stick with Sprint. The S4 is on all 4 major carriers (verizon in a couple days). If it's the phone that you want then pick the network that is best for you. Seems simple enough to me.

 

[Tele_Phone]

Im not sure where you are but im lucky enough to have att's 4glte coverage. I have not dropped a call and internet is really fast. (I came from a blackberry so my really fast might not be fast at all)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Android Central Forums