Goodbye Sprint - It's been a mostly great 8 years...

[cgardnervt]

I understand the gripe about their service but at this point there is no point to continue complaining. There are plenty of choices if Sprint doesn't work for you. If Sprint hadn't started upgrading their towers in my area within next couple months I would have switched to tmobile. But they have since started and in 2 major areas in my small town they have even left the 4g towers on permanently. I think this thread should be shut down and if by end of year Sprint hasn't done what they said I'm sure we'll see plenty threads regarding people leaving Sprint.

Sent from the Beast that is Galaxy Note 2

Well many have left. I think it's sad it took this long for them to upgrade there towers. Even a city like Boston still had bad 3G coverage. This weekend I will be there and for the first time I will see what lte is all about on att. I will take some speed tests from my hotel to see how it racks up to my girlfriends sprint service.

Sent From My Samsung Galaxy SIII

 

[Mellimel22]

Sorry to bust yo bubble but sprint has started upgrades in Boston already. And FYI its not a shame when u are upgrading EVERY TOWER. Not just this tower and the one miles away like att is here in chicago. I for one am not going nowhere I'm loving my 25mb unlimited lte speeds.

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[cgardnervt]

Sorry to bust yo bubble but sprint has started upgrades in Boston already. And FYI its not a shame when u are upgrading EVERY TOWER. Not just this tower and the one miles away like att is here in chicago. I for one am not going nowhere I'm loving my 25mb unlimited lte speeds.

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

Yes, yes Mell! We know to you Sprint is a godly gift to the world. Post us some more LTE photos to show us up. Even if it doesn't help anyone whos stuck in a Sprint's 3G limbo. Its hard to understand that people want usable data. Yes we will all enjoy our data caps. Because I'm sure you use over 5gigs of data per month. Lets forget the fact that the common user only consumes about a gig a month on a busy month. We understand. But I do miss that picture you post about the 222390428023gigs down in your state.

On a real note I do speak on the behalf of good that Sprint is doing. At the same time I'm far about where they are lacking. Sprint needs to know so they can improve even more. Just like att and Verizon can. While att and Verizon have much better coverage Sprint does have good data plans IF you can use them. The fact still remains their 3G issues are still an issue.

 

[Mellimel22]

OK enjoy yo caps I'm happy for u bro lol. But for every SPRINT customer who wanna leave leave. Everybody knows they are working on it but for those with no patients fine.

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mellimel22]

Yes, yes Mell! We know to you Sprint is a godly gift to the world. Post us some more LTE photos to show us up. Even if it doesn't help anyone whos stuck in a Sprint's 3G limbo. Its hard to understand that people want usable data. Yes we will all enjoy our data caps. Because I'm sure you use over 5gigs of data per month. Lets forget the fact that the common user only consumes about a gig a month on a busy month. We understand. But I do miss that picture you post about the 222390428023gigs down in your state.

On a real note I do speak on the behalf of good that Sprint is doing. At the same time I'm far about where they are lacking. Sprint needs to know so they can improve even more. Just like att and Verizon can. While att and Verizon have much better coverage Sprint does have good data plans IF you can use them. The fact still remains their 3G issues are still an issue.

And the avg user will use a gig on Netflix alone dude smh.


Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[cgardnervt]

And the avg user will use a gig on Netflix alone dude smh.


Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

Mell I understand that. I was sorta picking on you. I wasnt trying to be mean or anything. I just know that you love Sprint and your allowed too! Truth be told I enjoy conversing with you. It's why I'm here in the first place. But please don't take my post as disrespect. After reading it over I sorta felt bad. I was just poking at you!

But yeah Netflix can add up. But you still have 2 more gigs left over on an att single line plan. I'm just saying unlimited is a selling gimmick at best most of the time. If you personally stream a lot then you need unlimited or over the avg data cap. Next tier is 5gigs I think? So your post has truth to it. I think people have given Sprint a few years and they get fed up. I don't blame them. We all come from different walks of life and have different needs. I mean hell for some its not about coverage it becomes more about what they can spend on a monthly plan! (Not saying that about you man.) So I understand some of the needs. I just like to point out the choices some people may have. So again please don't take the post in any ill manner please.

 

[Mikey47]

U

Yes, yes Mell! We know to you Sprint is a godly gift to the world. Post us some more LTE photos to show us up. Even if it doesn't help anyone whos stuck in a Sprint's 3G limbo. Its hard to understand that people want usable data. Yes we will all enjoy our data caps. Because I'm sure you use over 5gigs of data per month. Lets forget the fact that the common user only consumes about a gig a month on a busy month. We understand. But I do miss that picture you post about the 222390428023gigs down in your state.

On a real note I do speak on the behalf of good that Sprint is doing. At the same time I'm far about where they are lacking. Sprint needs to know so they can improve even more. Just like att and Verizon can. While att and Verizon have much better coverage Sprint does have good data plans IF you can use them. The fact still remains their 3G issues are still an issue.

In don't think you'll get a lot of people disagreeing with regarding 3G issues with Sprint - not even sprint themselves.

But here's a question to you: what would you do?

Be Dan Hesse for a minute. You heavily invested in WiMax believing it would be the future. Unfortunately, almost immediately it became apparent there were issues. You couldn't get the spectrum you wanted and what you had could barely perpetrate a piece of cardboard. Your 3G network is aging fast in the era of smartphones consuming large amounts of data. What would you do?

They are rolling out LTE as fast as they can, as pointed out, on every tower. Unfortunately it can't all just happen overnight. But I can tell you I drive 400 miles one way commute a week. When I picked up my EVO 4G LTE on launch day, I had 0% LTE coverage on that drive. I'm now up to about 15% covered in 5 - 6 locations. It is getting there.

I understand some people can't wait and will leave, and I know sprint knows that too. As for me, I'm sticking around (even though I don't get 222390428023gigs down ).

 

[cgardnervt]

U

In don't think you'll get a lot of people disagreeing with regarding 3G issues with Sprint - not even sprint themselves.

But here's a question to you: what would you do?

Be Dan Hesse for a minute. You heavily invested in WiMax believing it would be the future. Unfortunately, almost immediately it became apparent there were issues. You couldn't get the spectrum you wanted and what you had could barely perpetrate a piece of cardboard. Your 3G network is aging fast in the era of smartphones consuming large amounts of data. What would you do?

They are rolling out LTE as fast as they can, as pointed out, on every tower. Unfortunately it can't all just happen overnight. But I can tell you I drive 400 miles one way commute a week. When I picked up my EVO 4G LTE on launch day, I had 0% LTE coverage on that drive. I'm now up to about 15% covered in 5 - 6 locations. It is getting there.

I understand some people can't wait and will leave, and I know sprint knows that too. As for me, I'm sticking around (even though I don't get 222390428023gigs down ).

That is great and your choice. Sprint made their plan and it didnt work. Most customers don't care about that. They see it as a service that they have paid for and have one hell of a time trying to use it. (Unless your in a good area.) I also pointed out that Sprint is working on it. But the network has sat stagnant for a long time too. But you understand the issue and you might get LTE in the future. But the other issue here is communication. We hear all most nothing about 3G upgrades unless its being done with the LTE roll out plan. And even then we still hear very little about it. So I ask you this...IF your in an area with no planned LTE this year and your 3G is god awful why give Sprint more time? Your pay them on a monthly basis and in some cases stuck with a contract. Its not like if you give it a year and get a new phone on contract you can simply walk away...Sprint will have you for another 2 years. So at the end of the day its a Sprint issue. Not a customer issue. If they gave people a 3G update roll out plan as well it might make the customers feel better. So while I understand your side of the story Sprint still has the upper hand when it comes to the contract. You have to pay them for 2 years even if the service is god awful. In some cases they may let a customer go but its not always that easy. It would take months of calls and months of wasted money for some people. Americans want everything now and not later. is this part of the issue to? Yes it is. But we are grown to be that way. So Sprint still needs to do better and can. I think all customers on every network should push their providers to be better. Even Verizon and att.

So IMO Dan did what he did and failed. But how do others see it? I'm interested to hear even if people disagree with me.

PS. Sorry for spelling errors! I didn't read it back to my self.

 

[Mikey47]

That is great and your choice. Sprint made their plan and it didnt work. Most customers don't care about that. They see it as a service that they have paid for and have one hell of a time trying to use it. (Unless your in a good area.) I also pointed out that Sprint is working on it. But the network has sat stagnant for a long time too. But you understand the issue and you might get LTE in the future. But the other issue here is communication. We hear all most nothing about 3G upgrades unless its being done with the LTE roll out plan. And even then we still hear very little about it. So I ask you this...IF your in an area with no planned LTE this year and your 3G is god awful why give Sprint more time? Your pay them on a monthly basis and in some cases stuck with a contract. Its not like if you give it a year and get a new phone on contract you can simply walk away...Sprint will have you for another 2 years. So at the end of the day its a Sprint issue. Not a customer issue. If they gave people a 3G update roll out plan as well it might make the customers feel better. So while I understand your side of the story Sprint still has the upper hand when it comes to the contract. You have to pay them for 2 years even if the service is god awful. In some cases they may let a customer go but its not always that easy. It would take months of calls and months of wasted money for some people. Americans want everything now and not later. is this part of the issue to? Yes it is. But we are grown to be that way. So Sprint still needs to do better and can. I think all customers on every network should push their providers to be better. Even Verizon and att.

So IMO Dan did what he did and failed. But how do others see it? I'm interested to hear even if people disagree with me.

PS. Sorry for spelling errors! I didn't read it back to my self.

That's all well and good, but you never answered my question, what would you have done?

Sprint is in the middle of a complete switchover of every tower to NV (LTE and upgraded 3G). So if they are upgrading a tower it will get both upgrades. Should they have gone around and updated all the towers with 3G only to have to come back and do exactly the same thing again with LTE? Twice the cost and twice the time? It isn't like sprint is sitting on its thumbs.

 

[Almeuit]

That's all well and good, but you never answered my question, what would you have done?

Sprint is in the middle of a complete switchover of every tower to NV (LTE and upgraded 3G). So if they are upgrading a tower it will get both upgrades. Should they have gone around and updated all the towers with 3G only to have to come back and do exactly the same thing again with LTE? Twice the cost and twice the time? It isn't like sprint is sitting on its thumbs.

I think diving into "What would you do" questions is going a little far. He is right.. It's a service. End of the day that's all it is. When I had comcast at my old house it went out ALL the time... Comcast was happy to credit the cost but at the end of the day no matter what they gave me back cash wise I wanted my Internet. A nice credit for a outage is cool once in a awhile.. I mean to expect 100% uptime is nuts... But I don't expect to have to call 2 times a month (literally) every month. After that I want service.. Forget the cash.

So I agree with some of what's said here. I love Sprint and the unlimited because I am one of the few who streams a ton. I count myself as a streamoholic. But honestly... If they had me on 3g and LTE wasn't being deployed I may have switched. Would I have eventually come back? Maybe.. But a few areas before LTE couldn't even load the mobile page of Google... That's bad. It would load for 3 Mins and I would give up. That has changed now and Sprint is lighting up my city with LTE and the 3g is getting better so I'm being patient... But some are in areas that won't get it for awhile so I can't blame them for leaving... Especially because they may be able to live on 3-5GB of data. I have one friend who barley used 2 so I siggested ATT since he is impatient.. But only because I knew he didn't need unlimited anyway.

Anyway that's just my 2 cents.

Sent from my Sprint S3 using AC forums.

 

[Mikey47]

At the same time I'm far about where they are lacking. Sprint needs to know so they can improve even more.

I think diving into "What would you do" questions is going a little far.

But he said "improve even more", I would like to know what that "even more" is. That is where that question is coming from. To me upgrading every tower is about all the "more" you could do. I could be wrong.

 

[Mellimel22]

Fyi people Dan wasn't even the head when WiMAX was first brought out just to let yall know :beer:

Sent from my Incredible 4g LTE using Tapatalk 2

 

[Almeuit]

But he said "improve even more", I would like to know what that "even more" is. That is where that question is coming from. To me upgrading every tower is about all the "more" you could do. I could be wrong.

I am pretty sure.. By reading that he means they need to know the issues so they can improve like places where they have LTE. He is saying they are improving.. In areas where LTE is they are for sure.. But they definitely have "more" to improve because some markets get the worst speeds and can't do anything with data.

Again I love Sprint but not going to put blinders on to people who can't load a web page just because that problem is not in my area. It's just up to the person if they want to be patient or not..or if they can stand it. As said we are all different and have different needs .

Sent from my Sprint S3 using AC forums.

 

[cgardnervt]

But he said "improve even more", I would like to know what that "even more" is. That is where that question is coming from. To me upgrading every tower is about all the "more" you could do. I could be wrong.

What would I have done? Well lets see....

1) I would taken the amount of the total money and and split it up in 1 thirds and a 2 thirds.

- 1 Thirds would have gone directly to 3G updates that are needed. Mainly in places that might not have been on the 4 LTE roll out plan.
- 2 thirds would have gone to the 4G LTE roll out. mainly the city areas. (NYC, Boston, LA and so on.)

2) I would have posted a perfect 3G upgrade plan. (Releasing what Sprint would LIKE to do.)

- Then release a "here is what we can do this year." And possible even further if they could. (Mainly non metro area's here.)
- Release both plans to the public making it clear whats to be expected.

3) Release a perfect 4G LTE plan. (Again....What Sprint would LIKE to do.)

- Then release a "here is what we can do this year." And possible even further if they could.
- Then again release both plans to the world so the world knows what to expect and make it clear what the companies goal is. (This is important. Sprint to some level did do this but they drop the ball.)

4) Make a blog or some where in the Internets where the company can update the public on where they are. Maybe even setup news letters where people can sign up for it. Something along them lines. (Again Sprint is sorta doing this but it could be a lot better.)

And thats about it. Now I know its easier said then done. I have put many projects together my self and its not THAT easy. But communication is everything to the customer. That is where Sprint failed a long side with no real 3G updates in areas that could use it. Even here is Vermont a good connection is 150K+....It's dial up speeds.

Further more I'd allow better training for CS reps and make sure they know more about the devices. many times you go in a Sprint store and them employees know less than we do here on Android Central....I find that scary. Its something that needs to be changed.

Now when I say att did it right I mean they rolled out an HSPA+ network update. Did it cost a lot? Yes! But I think having a good back bone is more important than a bigger 4G network. Look at Tmo...They are small and have very little coverage. Sprint is HUGE but coverage is still an issue. Anyways this came out of my head so I may have left things out. I'm sure others would do things differently and I know...Its easier said then done! But the customers don't see it that way sadly. Would I do better than Dan? Who knows unless it happen that way.

 

[Mikey47]

Great!! I agree with you on some of these and disagree with you on some. First things first, something I think everyone can agree on -- is that no matter what Sprint does there are always going to be someone who isn't happy (unless they give us service for free ).

What would I have done? Well lets see....

1) I would taken the amount of the total money and and split it up in 1 thirds and a 2 thirds.

- 1 Thirds would have gone directly to 3G updates that are needed. Mainly in places that might not have been on the 4 LTE roll out plan.
- 2 thirds would have gone to the 4G LTE roll out. mainly the city areas. (NYC, Boston, LA and so on.)
2) I would have posted a perfect 3G upgrade plan. (Releasing what Sprint would LIKE to do.)

- Then release a "here is what we can do this year." And possible even further if they could. (Mainly non metro area's here.)
- Release both plans to the public making it clear whats to be expected.

The problem with this is the people who would be getting the upgraded 3G would be asking -- why not just upgrade us to LTE instead of wasting money/time on 3G. I think this kind of plays into your issues below about how is Sprint going about the LTE rollout. I think we will most likely have to agree to disagree on this item -- I say if Sprint is going to be upgrading all their towers to improved 3G and LTE (NV), why go out and about and only upgrade 3G. I guess maybe the trade off would be Sprint saying "We can upgrade your 3G in two months which means you will not get LTE for 18 months, or you can wait 10 months and you will get upgraded 3G and LTE at the same time". Again, you couldn't satisfy everyone with either option.

I will address the "big city" issue below.

3) Release a perfect 4G LTE plan. (Again....What Sprint would LIKE to do.)

- Then release a "here is what we can do this year." And possible even further if they could.
- Then again release both plans to the world so the world knows what to expect and make it clear what the companies goal is. (This is important. Sprint to some level did do this but they drop the ball.)

I agree that Sprint could communicate better, but what big company couldn't? They have said that NV would be complete (well, would cover 250 million people any way) by the end of 2013 then started releasing in little groups statements like "Market A, Market B, and Market C are being worked on and will have LTE in the coming months". Then a month or so later they release another batch, and so on, and so on. In a perfect world it would be VERY nice if they could give us a proper complete plan as to when they will be doing everything. But I don't think they can do that -- the work is just to completely unpredictable. Good 'ole Hurricane Sandy can prove that all by herself.

So now -- the "big city" issue. Why didn't Sprint go after the big cities first and let Podunk, VT be last? Well, again a lot of things are out of Sprint's complete control. They have to rely on other vendors to provide services. So let's pick big city "Metropolisville" that has 3 million Sprint subscribers. There are 200 towers that cover this city. In Metropolisville Sprint has to work with 10 vendors to provide services such as backhaul, workers to do the installations/upgrades, etc. All the providers in Metropolisville can't provide their services for 6 months. So should Sprint just sit on it's thumbs waiting that six months, or should it go after other markets where other vendors can provide services immediately? Also, big cities like Metropolisville take a lot longer to do 200 towers than it does to do the one tower in Podunk, VT.

4) Make a blog or some where in the Internets where the company can update the public on where they are. Maybe even setup news letters where people can sign up for it. Something along them lines. (Again Sprint is sorta doing this but it could be a lot better.)

I would be willing to bet you've never read Community Blog List - Sprint 4G Rollout Updates While this site is NOT by Sprint, Sprint should really throw some money that guy's way -- it is awesome!! That site has very up-to-date information about the 4G rollouts. Including why things are progressing the way they are, and why things aren't the way everyone would like (big cities first). In fact, you might want to read this thread: Apparently sprint is only deploying LTE in small towns *INSERT SARCASTIC EMOTICON HERE* - Sprint 4G Rollout Updates

And thats about it. Now I know its easier said then done. I have put many projects together my self and its not THAT easy. But communication is everything to the customer. That is where Sprint failed a long side with no real 3G updates in areas that could use it. Even here is Vermont a good connection is 150K+....It's dial up speeds.

Further more I'd allow better training for CS reps and make sure they know more about the devices. many times you go in a Sprint store and them employees know less than we do here on Android Central....I find that scary. Its something that needs to be changed.

OMG do I agree with you on these points!!! Communication, communication, communication. They need to improve this, but as I said before, what company doesn't? Read Community Blog List - Sprint 4G Rollout Updates -- they have tons of information.

Training CS reps? Heck I think we could argue take 1/3 of that money you were talking about before and place it right here. Wouldn't it be nice to connect with multiple CS reps and receive the same answer? Or find someone who doesn't tell you to pull the battery out of our HTC 4G LTE (non-removeable battery) and then have them you that they can't help you unless you agree to pull the battery out.

Now when I say att did it right I mean they rolled out an HSPA+ network update. Did it cost a lot? Yes! But I think having a good back bone is more important than a bigger 4G network. Look at Tmo...They are small and have very little coverage. Sprint is HUGE but coverage is still an issue. Anyways this came out of my head so I may have left things out. I'm sure others would do things differently and I know...Its easier said then done! But the customers don't see it that way sadly. Would I do better than Dan? Who knows unless it happen that way.

Yeah, it's a tough nut to crack -- too many people have too many opinions on how Sprint should do what they are doing -- both of us included.

I'm certainly not a Sprint apologist and think they can improve in a lot of areas -- but I do have high praise for NV and what they are doing. BTW, I am in a "smaller market" that was supposed to have 4G a couple of months ago. When I saw other areas getting it while my city still had nothing, I went to Community Blog List - Sprint 4G Rollout Updates and asked the question. Robert (its his site) answer immediately explaining that my city had vendors who promised backhaul to Sprint and were not able to provide it when they said they would. Thus Sprint had to delay LTE. But it is now starting to pop up and they have more than half the city covered (unfortunately not at my house though ).

 

[April920]

Well, sprint is working for me and I plan on staying for a long time. I'll take sprint any day b4 going back to AT&T. Here are speeds for LTE & 3G

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[yankeesusa]

Sprint has been improving in my area, just today I was driving around town and hit several 4g areas. One was around 6-9mbps but another one was great. Check out speedtest on that one.



Sent from the Beast that is Galaxy Note 2

 

[Almeuit]

Sprint has been improving in my area, just today I was driving around town and hit several 4g areas. One was around 6-9mbps but another one was great. Check out speedtest on that one.

View attachment 63843

Sent from the Beast that is Galaxy Note 2

Same. I am in the mandarin area and I am noticing it more and more .

Sent from my Sprint S3 using AC forums.

 

[April920]

Sprint is good to me. Gotta love Em

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[smcolbert]

I think an important distinction needs to be made here... Sprint is not "upgrading" their network. They're replacing it.

Every tower being swapped for a fundamentally and mostly "future proof" technology, along with fiber backhaul and other details. Their spectrum acquisition and refarming is a big deal also.

That's why they won't go out of the way to upgrade just 3G in some places. They are in the process of 100% swapping out every base station and enabling LTE and improved 3G.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2