Returning strictly due to Sprint's horrible data speeds

[maverick96]

I spend most of my time on I-95. Between Melbourne and Jupiter AT&T drops the call once, some days not at all. Like I said earlier, had 6 dropped called with Sprint today, horrible service the other 2 days.

Trust me, if I could keep them I would in a heart beat. But if paying extra (not really extra, family plan on AT&T and 4 lines is very cost effective) means better service on the east coast of Florida, then I guess it's worth it.

"Get what you pay for" I have learned is a very true statement in the cell industry. Sprint may be looking to upgrade their network, due to being "maxxed out" so to speak, but when that starts you can say good bye to the unlimited data. Again you will get better data but you're certainly going to pay for it. Sprint is already starting to try and cut down data usage by putting the 5GB cap on tethered data. This was no accident but yet a start to what's coming. I remember reading somewhere that Dan hesse himself said unlimited data forever was unrealistic. I'm sure sprint will say that in order to provide reliable fast speeds going forward they will have to impose caps. That's how they try and guilt everybody into believing they are doing it for us, yeah right. As it stands right now, I have the top of the line android phone with half assed data.

Sent from my Sprint Eptouch 4G

 

[Cory Streater]

Put me in the same camp. Just got it last night. I stuck with Sprint for 9 years and was okay with their 3G speeds. They were the lesser of all evils and I never felt like I was waiting too long for a page to download. I left because their text messaging wasn't reliable, not because of their data speeds. I'm seeing a significant decrease from what I saw a few year back, in a region that Sprint was one of the strongest. I think these new data hogging smartphones are just too much of a strain on their network. Blue Angel's test took 185 seconds to complete last night on Sprint. Verizon's took 32. The latter being a speed I can work with. The 4G network here is not reliable nor fast either. This is Seattle on my back porch, not yours so really this should not mean a hill of beans to anyone that reads this. That is just my experience.

 

[scuba_steve]

Count me in...or out...too.


I have been a Sprint customer for longer than I can remember...and brought my wife and daughter on board in 2009 for the Palm Pre launch...but I am close to leaving now...over this data situation.

My daughter upgraded a couple of months ago, so she is trapped for another two years, but my wife and I are way off contract...reluctant to give up WebOS. That said, I have been considering Sprint's GS2 variant...or the Photon. Based on these data issues, we have not upgraded...and will probably jump carriers soon.

I was in a Sprint store Monday evening...A SPRINT STORE...and tried speedtest.net on one of their mini laptops...and got 200 kbps download. I asked a rep what was up and he confirmed that their Airave was not working...so the laptop was using their towers. Oh, like I would need to do?

BTW, I do not live in the boonies. This store is in Reston, Virginia...outside of Washington, DC...and Reston is also the town in which Sprint's headquarters was located for many years.

This is ridiculous. The prices are great...as was unlimited data and them not trying to lock down tethering on the Pre...but it's just not worth it. I cannot believe that they are advertising 4G like it is something that more than 0.001% of their customers can access.

I suppose that I will start looking at AT&T and Verizon for the family plan.

 

[FD2]

Wow. Thanks, you guys saved me a trip. I was going to get one for work xD

 

[Grung]

Love Sprint's ads..."We're the only one who don't throttle your data..." Please, oh please Sprint, throttle my data...all the way up to what my Verizon friends get. Love my Evo 4G...had enough of ever declining speeds. As much as I hate it, 4 Sprint Evo's from my family are going Big Red. We're outta here.

 

[Cory Streater]

Wow. Thanks, you guys saved me a trip. I was going to get one for work xD

Pic or it didn't happen. (I know FD2 hehe)

 

[iSlackerz]

I jumped ship from AT&T to Sprint for both the GSII and the unlimited...

I'm starting to feel sorry that I did. On a good day with good signal (being outside with 5 out of 6 bars) I might break 200 kb down. On 4G the best I've seen, which is only once, was 4 Mb. On average I'd say I'm getting 2.5 Mb from WiMax.

I've tested AT&T's 3G speeds from 2 different phones in completely different areas of town. My friend who lives outside of town was getting just over 3 Mb/s on his Captivate. A coworker, in downtown, got almost 4 Mb/s on the Atrix.

I feel duped. So far, the customer service from Sprint has been good. But data services are aweful! I haven't had a call drop but I'm told I'm roaming 3 or so times a day, even at home when I haven't moved. It's frustrating. I'm seriously considering cancelling on the 28th or 29th and switching back to AT&T using my old phone for a few days until their version of the GS II hits.

I would much rather stay with Sprint and I do hope that their network upgrade puts them on par (or well ahead of AT&T) for 3G service, but until I hear about a definitive boost in their network I'm not sure I'm willing to stay with them based on faith.

 

[FD2]

Pic or it didn't happen. (I know FD2 hehe)

I seriously contemplated purchasing it. Your review though made it clear that it would be a mistake. I am spoiled with the LTE speeds no way I'm switching for sub-par data. I continue to use the iPhone 4 at work.

 

[anon62607]

I jumped ship from AT&T to Sprint for both the GSII and the unlimited...

I'm starting to feel sorry that I did. On a good day with good signal (being outside with 5 out of 6 bars) I might break 200 kb down. On 4G the best I've seen, which is only once, was 4 Mb. On average I'd say I'm getting 2.5 Mb from WiMax.

I've tested AT&T's 3G speeds from 2 different phones in completely different areas of town. My friend who lives outside of town was getting just over 3 Mb/s on his Captivate. A coworker, in downtown, got almost 4 Mb/s on the Atrix.

I feel duped. So far, the customer service from Sprint has been good. But data services are aweful! I haven't had a call drop but I'm told I'm roaming 3 or so times a day, even at home when I haven't moved. It's frustrating. I'm seriously considering cancelling on the 28th or 29th and switching back to AT&T using my old phone for a few days until their version of the GS II hits.

I would much rather stay with Sprint and I do hope that their network upgrade puts them on par (or well ahead of AT&T / Verizon) for 3G service, but until I hear about a definitive boost in their network I'm not sure I'm willing to stay with them based on faith.

I really wonder what's going on with Sprint. I don't have a Sprint phone, but have Clear internet (among others) at my apartment and used a Rover Puck as a mobile hotspot which also uses Clear - all the same service that Sprint sells as it's 4G. It's been really very solid for me, not as fast as Verizon's LTE but for the most part much better than what is being reported here - I'd see 4 Mbit down typically and 5 or more often enough. I don't think I'd ever seen lower than 1.5 Mbit as long as there was coverage at all - and that was in a metal hangar in the north las vegas airport.

I kind of wonder if antenna design constraints in the handsets is one of the factors

 

[STL 314]

I get 1-1.5 MBS 3G and 6 to 8MBS on 4G so it must depend on location

 

[MikeNY]

I have had Nextel since probably 1998? Not sure but when the had the walkie-talkie flip phone 1st come out, the i1000 so probably late 90's. Sprint then bought them out so I have been with them a long time. Only reason I stay is because it is a cheap plan but the service is pretty bad. The past month or so the 3g hardly connects and unless I am on wifi I can't get my aol mail. My yahoo works fine but not aol. So not sure what's going on lately. Is it true they are upgrading their service? If so I may stick around but I am eligible for the upgrade on Oct 1st and wanted the Epic 4G Touch but I may have ot bite the bullet and pay more but get better service and wait for the Prime hitting Verizon. I bought my wife the Bionic last week and its fast and she loves it.

Still not sure what to do, I really want that 4g Touch.

 

[Cory Streater]

I seriously contemplated purchasing it. Your review though made it clear that it would be a mistake. I am spoiled with the LTE speeds no way I'm switching for sub-par data. I continue to use the iPhone 4 at work.

Um -- we shall be discussing this.

 

[maverick96]

Um -- we shall be discussing this.

Text messaging has been terrible for me as well here in chicago, messages coming through delayed or the same message coming in 2 and 3 times. My 14 days are almost up and i will be sad to give back this beast of a phone, but ecstatic to leave Sprint

Sent from my Sprint Eptouch 4G

 

[YBCold]

Clearly this is a locational issue as I do not have any issues in SW FL so sorry to hear it isn't working for everyone.

On the brighter side the more that leave the faster the network will get!

J/K!

Sent from my GS2 E4GT using Tapatalk!

 

[John P. Smith]

On the brighter side the more that leave the faster the network will get!

Yup, by the time Sprint pisses off all its customers and goes bankrupt the network will be awesome.

 

[VDub2174]

Yup, by the time Sprint pisses off all its customers and goes bankrupt the network will be awesome.

Not all of their customers have these issues though.

 

[skinneejay]

I didn't feel like reading through this whole thread since its basically the same as the Nexus S 4g problem. I will just state what I know. I have two friends that work for sprint. One is a field tech and the other works for Corp. The chicagoland area is going through a MASSIVE tower update and overhaul. The chicagoloand area has been fast growing for sprint in the last year and half. The Sprint customers are causing a network workload that the towers can't handle. This is why you are seeing slower than normal 3g speeds. I have had sprint for over 12 yrs now and Its never been this slow. They were able to tell me the tower overhaul and the building of new towers is also in line with sprint getting the new iphone this year. My buddy who works in the field told me that we won't be able to see anyone relief from this until Oct 30th if that.

This is an ever evolving project so who knows maybe speeds will get better soon maybe later.
If you call customer service and pound them with questions they might finally spill the beans about the overhaul and overcrowdness on the towers but I doubt it.

 

[madkaw]

Not all of their customers have these issues though.

I agree, here in the CLT NC area all my friends and I have great service, 3g is around 1.2mg and 4g is 4-10mg.

 

[05GT]

Sprint's 3G speeds are not much slower than what I was getting with Verizon while I had my Droid Bionic.

I was getting around 2.5Mb with Verizon...

Here is a recent speed test with Sprint

 

[Slingbox]

Reading some of these post you would think Sprint towers consist of tin cans hanging on very small trees.
Well some bad news that goes against 75% of postings in this thread.
My Service is great no complaints here.