Sprint 4G slower than 3G in Blue Bell/Norristown PA area-what happened?

[daveross]

Seems sometime in the last couple months the once very fast 4G has completely nosedived in this area. Note that these tests were all run while 4G was active, in the same place or within 20 feet.

 

[Super Dave426]

I have had that happen in several areas around Philly, went on their Facebook page and complained, they replied they were fine tuning, then I kept hounding how could it take a MONTH. So I went on Planetfeedback.com and filed a complaint and got a credit for making my phone unusable. The 3G was great, then the 4G was off the charts, then the 4G was averaging 0.10 Mbps down with constant dropouts. Can't figure out how they are upgrading, because it gets so good and then is worse than ever. Got the same issue in Mt. Laurel right now, I pull into the parking lot where my daughter works to pick her up and the phone lights up, 4G but speeds less than 0.10 Mbps if they hold long enough to test.

 

[Juvie83]

I have had that happen in several areas around Philly, went on their Facebook page and complained, they replied they were fine tuning, then I kept hounding how could it take a MONTH. So I went on Planetfeedback.com and filed a complaint and got a credit for making my phone unusable. The 3G was great, then the 4G was off the charts, then the 4G was averaging 0.10 Mbps down with constant dropouts. Can't figure out how they are upgrading, because it gets so good and then is worse than ever. Got the same issue in Mt. Laurel right now, I pull into the parking lot where my daughter works to pick her up and the phone lights up, 4G but speeds less than 0.10 Mbps if they hold long enough to test.

Same here in Fort Myers FL

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[paul cook3]

Same here in Maryland almost everywhere i go that's why i am leaving sprint in April or may when contact is up

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[NivrittiK]

I had the same experience in Charlotte NC. I don't think its the towers though as my wife has the same phone and we can be standing next to each other and she gets great 4G. its not just Sprint either. issues started after the 4.1.2 update went down. I got it right away and issues started. wife got it a month later, and no issues. other provides have same reported issue after 4.1.2 update push.

 

[Cnorris92]

You do realize that SPRINT is over hauling it's network? Which means replacing every piece of equipment on the site. You do that on every tower in the City. There is a down tilt which needs to be adjusted. But this problem you guys are having, it's going to happen. Nothing we can do about it, the technicians who are working on every tower probably have good causes.

I have had that happen in several areas around Philly, went on their Facebook page and complained, they replied they were fine tuning, then I kept hounding how could it take a MONTH. So I went on Planetfeedback.com and filed a complaint and got a credit for making my phone unusable. The 3G was great, then the 4G was off the charts, then the 4G was averaging 0.10 Mbps down with constant dropouts. Can't figure out how they are upgrading, because it gets so good and then is worse than ever. Got the same issue in Mt. Laurel right now, I pull into the parking lot where my daughter works to pick her up and the phone lights up, 4G but speeds less than 0.10 Mbps if they hold long enough to test.

 

[Super Dave426]

Excuses for a network that becomes totally unusable doesn't cut it. It seems when they go into an area they knock out every tower in the area and then it is hard just to make a call. Seems to me maybe they should have laid out a smarter plan and knock just one tower out, so people still have a signal and then move on, not knock out an entire area and then claim all is fine. Where I was working there was no signal for 32 days, 32 days of no service and no urgency to get it up, not a real wise way to overhaul a network. And they wonder why they **** off a customer base that leaves and will never return, excuses don't pay the bills.

 

[Cnorris92]

Excuses for a network that becomes totally unusable doesn't cut it. It seems when they go into an area they knock out every tower in the area and then it is hard just to make a call. Seems to me maybe they should have laid out a smarter plan and knock just one tower out, so people still have a signal and then move on, not knock out an entire area and then claim all is fine. Where I was working there was no signal for 32 days, 32 days of no service and no urgency to get it up, not a real wise way to overhaul a network. And they wonder why they **** off a customer base that leaves and will never return, excuses don't pay the bills.

Your assumptions are wrong . I've met with personnel here in FW working on a tower. They have people who install the equipment, then they have technicians who set up the the components inside the Base stations. Which means they work on/add the new 3G equipment inside the Base stations. THEN people come out and inspect everything. If everything is perfect, then the tower can be set to go live for 3G. The same has to be done for 4G, one of Sprints deployment company's gets an extra 10k for finishing a tower early. They don't just have one group and do everything, they have to have people who are certified for inspections. You really don't need to assume and talk like that. ASk questions first before you assume. please
-Chris
BTW:
Here, they went to as many towers as they could during the week when they were working on the towers here.
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4677-sprint-lte-communities-current-and-coming-soon/

 

[Super Dave426]

Not assuming anything, when I contact Sprint those are the answers they give me, and I ask them why isn't my signal picked up by another tower and they tell me it is being worked on also. So where is my assumption, I ask them directly and that is their answer. What I want to know is why they don't cherry pick an area so our phones are still functional, not no signal at all. So they make my phone useless in the process yet still want to paid for it, see no assumptions, you need to lighten up, and you are going by what some one told you assuming it is the truth, see what I did there? Oh and the no urgency to get it back up, that was Sprint's words, she was from the Executive Response Team, said they needed a part, were waiting for it, 3 weeks had already passed, and there was no urgent need to expedite it, so it was going to be another week before it might be repaired. So over 30 days of not being able to use the phone, how is that a way to run a large business? I didn't post one word that didn't come from some person at Sprint.

 

[SNES 91]

I'm an engineer working for a telecoms company in the UK. The whole way that providers have advertised and sold these 4G contracts is ridiculous. When I first saw adverts popping up for these new amazing 4G contracts when you will get awesome speeds we barely had any equiptment installed. And the 5% of the country that was covered weren't receiving any faster speeds. Although the 4G equipment was in and working, the network it was connected to was designed and installed with 3G in mind and not capable of transmiting the higher speeds 4G was capable of. I'm not saying they were wrong to start selling the contracts and phones but they should have marketed it as "4G Ready" as people were buying contracts and expecting the world but were seeing no difference besides the icon on their signal bar telling them they were connected to a 4G mast, if they even had that.

Now we are still running around trying to install more sites to widen range and still replacing radios between sites and increasing the speed capability of the entire network. So realistically the network I am working for will not be carrying 4G at its full potential until 2016, 4 years after the contracts hit the market.
This is just my experience from 1 major network in 1 country. But it give you some idea of why you might not be receiving the blazibg speeds you were expecting.