Another Upgrade Question

[hvargaslh]

OK, love my Epic with new cyanogen rom I have until December 2011 to use my yearly upgrade. Do I pull the trigger and get the Galaxy Epic Touch II if the New Galaxy Nexus is not out by then? If not I lose that upgrade and would have to wait until July...Thoughts...


Thanks

 

[Paul627g]

I would really put my money on Sprint not releasing the Galaxy Nexus under the current WiMax setup. I can see Sprint holding off until mid 2012 when they are supposed to start "lighting up" LTE and use the Galaxy Nexus as one of their flagship LTE supporting devices.

It just doesn't seem smart business for Sprint/Samsung to invest time, research and money in doing a WiMax version only to replace it in 12 months or less with LTE versions...

Even the SGSII was a bad move in some respects on Sprints part supporting WiMax only to be outdated in a year.

Some people say well outdated happens overnight constantly with software & hardware. This is true but when your talking about switching your entire network signal over from WiMax to LTE thats a big change and I would think much thought would be put into how many more new devices will be released supporting WiMax if its going to be shut down in a year or so...

So bottom line its a tough choice on what to do about your upgrade... Basically Sprint has all of us burned with the switch to LTE next year...

 

[hvargaslh]

Any Chance that Phone will just have 3G but "LTE Ready" , crossing fingers..

 

[Paul627g]

Not sure... Many have wondered the same thing... Throw a LTE radio in there and deactivate it until they are ready.. Once LTE is up then they can push an OTA update that would activate the LTE radio...

Sounds like a great idea but does Samsung and Sprint think the same?

 

[thenomad]

Sprint won't be throwing the switch one day and killing WiMax when they light up LTE. They're using different companies (Clear for WiMax, I don't remember off hand what the LTE one is) and will have at least a year, probably more like 3, of transition time where both will be available.

Would I buy a new WiMax phone today? Probably not. Do I feel burned with my Epic 4G? Not on this particular issue (there are others…).

 

[rraman3110]

Actually Sprint is using two different LTE strategies. They partnered with Lighsuared for LTE initially, but they might not even get their network deployed since the FCC is complaining about how their LTE if deployed would mess up GPS in aircrafts. I believe because of this announcement, Sprint is rolling out its own LTE network which they say will go live in Mid-2012 or probably August 2012.

Clearwire is also deploying LTE but dont expect it to ever become a reality if they can not get any funding. I have the epic and decided that I would not upgrade devices unless it was a Nexus S. I expect LTE to go live in July or August with LTE devices from Samsung (Galaxy SIII), HTC (Evo Line), and Google (Nexus Line) coming in time for the fall 2012.

Also Apple is probably going to deploy an iPhone 5 with LTE with an announcement coming in August 2012 and pre-orders/sales coming in the beginning of September. Im not trying to support apple, but if that is the case, I am sure Sprint will be ready to sell iPhone LTE devices with at least a working LTE network.

So I figure LTE will be live around August or September 2012. If you can hold out a year do it.

 

[Skunkape60]

What is the advantage of LTE?

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[Paul627g]

It simple terms without getting fancy... The signal/frequency that LTE is transmitting on pushes threw buildings and over distance much better and stronger than the frequencies that WiMax is setup on. There is a bigger picture in terminology behind it all but that is the bottom line...

Better signal strength and penetration through buildings and over distances when compared to WiMax...

My neighbor can stand right next to me on his Verizon TBolt and grab a solid LTE 4g signal and I might on the perfect conditions that day catch enough of a 4g signal to turn on.... Probably coming from the same exact towers on my end of town too...

So I think its an excellent move on Sprint's part and should once the initial shock of the switchover is done be a win win situation for Sprint and its customers.