Sprint to start Throttling Top 5% in Congested Areas

[Bigballer]

Do you currently have Sprint? If you research, you would see the only thing sprint has scratched has been WiMax. NV has taken long yes, that's because the network is from scratch. They aren't just upgrading, they are rebuilding it from 0. If you didn't know, Spark falls under NV as that's the whole purpose for NV, rolling out LTE on band 25 and then expanding to bands 26 and 45: aka A-LTE. I don't see ANY other network doing that. Just think of it this way, Sprint is going to blast of from the 1990's to 2020 by end of next year. So when another network scratches up some plans, then rebuilds its entire infrastructure from scratch AND deploys A-LTE fast in under a year with NO hiccups, let me know and I'll come back here and eat my words.

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I've had Sprint since 2004. I switched to Tmobile a month ago, Tmobile doesn't even have 20x20 mhz spectrum in my area. From what I've researched, most Tmobile can deploy is 15x15 in chicago, good enough for me since all their towers have a fiber backahul. I'm in a Spark market (Chicago) I can certainly tell you that Sprint's network is the worst its ever been. I've made countless bad decisions by sticking with Sprint hoping they would fix their network. They, in fact, did the opposite. Their 3G speeds are the slowest they've ever been, their LTE is a complete joke.

I'm in a spark market, The fastest speed I've gotten with my nexus 5 was about 8 mbps down. The fastest I've gotten with tmobile so far has been around 50 mbps. In my own house with full bars of LTE, I got 1 mbps with sprint, same spot gives me 40 with tmobile. Spark has been "enabled" in Chicago since December. My speeds are in fact, no better, possibly worse. You know the best thing of all. "Throttled" Tmobile speeds at 128 kbps is actually much much much more usable than Sprint's 3G, the most I've ever been able to pull from Sprint's 3G the last few months was 0.02 mbps down and that's with extremely high latency (close to 500-600 ms ping)

Sprint's all talk. Let me know when they actually fix their network. I used to never get a drop call from Sprint before. I've been getting dropped calls left and right. Maybe if this Mr. Son guy tries to actually invest money in his network things would change, but nope, he goes and tries to buy a carrier with a better network since he's so lazy to fix his own network. I can gladly post up speed test pics if I can find them to back up any claims. I'm not in a rural area, I'm 25 miles west from Chicago. The network even gets worse when I do go downtown.

Wimax, LTE, network vision, Spark etc. etc. etc. Has any of Sprint's plans gone through?

You keep saying Spark is some sort of magical new network. If what your saying is true, I've had "spark" minus the 800 mhz lte band (i'll give you that one since the update hasn't enabled that band for the nexus yet) for about 6 months now. But the problem is I do get signal with sprint (so 800 mhz lte band doesnt matter that much for me), it's just their damn backhaul that's a complete joke. You know, tmobile has deployed LTE in a year (granted they made a sound investment by previously upgrading their backhaul.) What's Sprint's excuse for continuously falling behind each and every project they've tried to set out.

The only thing Sprint has going for it is hoarding all that spectrum (more than ATT+verizon combined). But I hope FCC implements a new rule that incorporates a USE IT OR LOSE IT rule

 

[dpham00]

Do you currently have Sprint? If you research, you would see the only thing sprint has scratched has been WiMax. NV has taken long yes, that's because the network is from scratch. They aren't just upgrading, they are rebuilding it from 0. If you didn't know, Spark falls under NV as that's the whole purpose for NV, rolling out LTE on band 25 and then expanding to bands 26 and 45: aka A-LTE. I don't see ANY other network doing that. Just think of it this way, Sprint is going to blast of from the 1990's to 2020 by end of next year. So when another network scratches up some plans, then rebuilds its entire infrastructure from scratch AND deploys A-LTE fast in under a year with NO hiccups, let me know and I'll come back here and eat my words.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

AT&T offers LTE-A with carrier aggregation on the M8 and S5. I believe that they are the only US variants to offer carrier aggregation.

 

[ttwiitch]

I've had Sprint since 2004. I switched to Tmobile a month ago, Tmobile doesn't even have 20x20 mhz spectrum in my area. From what I've researched, most Tmobile can deploy is 15x15 in chicago, good enough for me since all their towers have a fiber backahul. I'm in a Spark market (Chicago) I can certainly tell you that Sprint's network is the worst its ever been. I've made countless bad decisions by sticking with Sprint hoping they would fix their network. They, in fact, did the opposite. Their 3G speeds are the slowest they've ever been, their LTE is a complete joke.

I'm in a spark market, The fastest speed I've gotten with my nexus 5 was about 8 mbps down. The fastest I've gotten with tmobile so far has been around 50 mbps. In my own house with full bars of LTE, I got 1 mbps with sprint, same spot gives me 40 with tmobile. Spark has been "enabled" in Chicago since December. My speeds are in fact, no better, possibly worse. You know the best thing of all. "Throttled" Tmobile speeds at 128 kbps is actually much much much more usable than Sprint's 3G, the most I've ever been able to pull from Sprint's 3G the last few months was 0.02 mbps down and that's with extremely high latency (close to 500-600 ms ping)

Sprint's all talk. Let me know when they actually fix their network. I used to never get a drop call from Sprint before. I've been getting dropped calls left and right. Maybe if this Mr. Son guy tries to actually invest money in his network things would change, but nope, he goes and tries to buy a carrier with a better network since he's so lazy to fix his own network. I can gladly post up speed test pics if I can find them to back up any claims. I'm not in a rural area, I'm 25 miles west from Chicago. The network even gets worse when I do go downtown.

Wimax, LTE, network vision, Spark etc. etc. etc. Has any of Sprint's plans gone through?

You keep saying Spark is some sort of magical new network. If what your saying is true, I've had "spark" minus the 800 mhz lte band (i'll give you that one since the update hasn't enabled that band for the nexus yet) for about 6 months now. But the problem is I do get signal with sprint (so 800 mhz lte band doesnt matter that much for me), it's just their damn backhaul that's a complete joke. You know, tmobile has deployed LTE in a year (granted they made a sound investment by previously upgrading their backhaul.) What's Sprint's excuse for continuously falling behind each and every project they've tried to set out.

The only thing Sprint has going for it is hoarding all that spectrum (more than ATT+verizon combined). But I hope FCC implements a new rule that incorporates a USE IT OR LOSE IT rule

Show me a pic where you got 8mb on your Nexus 5 while on Spark band 41....lol? Even manually, the N5 won't have Spark until Google releases the update (manually doesn't work). You have some key points that I agree with....but others things you said, I understand out of desperation of being a victim of the NV implementation. I just got 55mb the other day on a usually HORRIBLE signal area with Sprint. Again, when another network tries to do all the things Sprint is doing, in under a year, and keeping their customers happy at the same time while they fix issues, come back and talk to me. In the meantime, keep enjoying T-Mobile just don't hope you get lost traveling, without signal, without data, without a physical map lol

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[ttwiitch]

AT&T offers LTE-A with carrier aggregation on the M8 and S5. I believe that they are the only US variants to offer carrier aggregation.

Yes and no. They began testing....but don't offer it yet.
Plus, they don't have any Network renovations to worry about, like building a Network from 0...so when it rolls out, I'm sure ATT will do it in a breeze.

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[Bigballer]

Show me a pic where you got 8mb on your Nexus 5 while on Spark band 41....lol? Even manually, the N5 won't have Spark until Google releases the update (manually doesn't work). You have some key points that I agree with....but others things you said, I understand out of desperation of being a victim of the NV implementation. I just got 55mb the other day on a usually HORRIBLE signal area with Sprint. Again, when another network tries to do all the things Sprint is doing, in under a year, and keeping their customers happy at the same time while they fix issues, come back and talk to me. In the meantime, keep enjoying T-Mobile just don't hope you get lost traveling, without signal, without data, without a physical map lol

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

It's up in the air whether Sprint can completely upgrade their network by this year or even next year's span.

Another reason why I switched to Tmobile was also due to phone selection. I was getting tired of carrier updates. While I do love my nexus 5, I might sell it and buy a GS5 google play edition when it releases. GSM phones are just overall cheaper and easier to get away from the carrier with compared to CDMA phones which are tied down to the carrier. I had to deal with the Sprint Galaxy Nexus fiasco and never again will I ever purchase a phone that is anywhere associated with the carrier being in charge of the updates.

Plus Tmobile was giving me tethering, international data roaming, stateside international texting. Not everyone might use these features, but to me, it was just icing on the cake to the better network where I live.

 

[eyecon82]

I feel like my speed is already being throttled. My LTE sucks in places where it used to be super fast

-Sent from Tapatalk

 

[Almeuit]

I've found GPS works just fine on edge. Hence how I was able to drive from Jacksonville to New Jersey with no issue .

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[Bigballer]

I've found GPS works just fine on edge. Hence how I was able to drive from Jacksonville to New Jersey with no issue .

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

wait til next year when that edge turns into LTE

 

[Mitri360]

So I read through the whole thread and it's mostly about speeds. But I have a question if anyone could answer or tell me where to find it.

What is considered a congested area? What is the top 5%? Is it a certain amount(rumour says 5GB but nothing for sure) or is it just the top 5% on that tower at the moment? When they throttle you will it stay throttled between areas?(like if you're traveling vs staying at home) For how long during just rush hour or until next cycle?

Have they released any of those details?

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[Jaramie10]

It'll be pretty much anywhere that has a high population (over 5k). This will pretty much effect every market across the country.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[dpham00]

Yes and no. They began testing....but don't offer it yet.
Plus, they don't have any Network renovations to worry about, like building a Network from 0...so when it rolls out, I'm sure ATT will do it in a breeze.

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Carrier aggregation is available now on att.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story...-aggregation-chicago-other-markets/2014-03-07

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[dpham00]

Do you currently have Sprint? If you research, you would see the only thing sprint has scratched has been WiMax. NV has taken long yes, that's because the network is from scratch. They aren't just upgrading, they are rebuilding it from 0. If you didn't know, Spark falls under NV as that's the whole purpose for NV, rolling out LTE on band 25 and then expanding to bands 26 and 45: aka A-LTE. I don't see ANY other network doing that. Just think of it this way, Sprint is going to blast of from the 1990's to 2020 by end of next year. So when another network scratches up some plans, then rebuilds its entire infrastructure from scratch AND deploys A-LTE fast in under a year with NO hiccups, let me know and I'll come back here and eat my words.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

He's on T-Mobile and ....I meant his network and possibly mine in the very near future. Heck, I already use up to 15gb and that's normal usage, no abuse. Imagine when Spark goes up fro 60-70mb, to 168-300mb in the next year..... Watch, more ppl like him will come over to kill our Network and then make the policies and restrictions worse for us regular users.

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You mention 3 bands (25,26,and 41) with lte-a and 300mbps next year.

To use 3 bands at once, Sprint would have to enable carrier aggregation. The 801 in the m8 and s5 supports aggregating only 2-10 MHz carriers. The 808 and 810 should allow aggregating up to 3-20mhz carriers and should be released in the first half of next year so probably the s6 and m9 might use them. Now, bands 25 and 26 are 5x5mhz carriers mostly, and band 41 can offer multiple 20mhz carriers. But since you said lte-a with bands 25,26,and 41 next year, you are limited to a single carrier of each of the 3 bands. Each 5x5mhz carrier (Bands 25 and 26)can have a downlink of about 37.5mbps,and the 20mhz band 41 carrier can have 63 mbps downlink. I am not sure how you get to 300mbps from aggregating a single carrier from each of the 3 bands. Please provide us with more details on this, a link would be great.


Imo, the only way I see this happening is with 3-20mhz carriers from band 41. Can you please clarify ?

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[Overstew]

You mention 3 bands (25,26,and 41) with lte-a and 300mbps next year.

To use 3 bands at once, Sprint would have to enable carrier aggregation. The 801 in the m8 and s5 supports aggregating only 2-10 MHz carriers. The 808 and 810 should allow aggregating up to 3-20mhz carriers and should be released in the first half of next year so probably the s6 and m9 might use them. Now, bands 25 and 26 are 5x5mhz carriers mostly, and band 41 can offer multiple 20mhz carriers. But since you said lte-a with bands 25,26,and 41 next year, you are limited to a single carrier of each of the 3 bands. Each 5x5mhz carrier (Bands 25 and 26)can have a downlink of about 37.5mbps,and the 20mhz band 41 carrier can have 63 mbps downlink. I am not sure how you get to 300mbps from aggregating a single carrier from each of the 3 bands. Please provide us with more details on this, a link would be great.


Imo, the only way I see this happening is with 3-20mhz carriers from band 41. Can you please clarify ?

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Sprint is definitely working on carrier aggregation but I do think Sprint is more likely to see B41 on 40mhz channels pulling the faster speeds. But as of now, they're rolling out N41 on 20mhz channels so it'll match Verizon's AWS speeds that's around 140mbps.

Sent from my LG-LS980

 

[ttwiitch]

You mention 3 bands (25,26,and 41) with lte-a and 300mbps next year.

To use 3 bands at once, Sprint would have to enable carrier aggregation. The 801 in the m8 and s5 supports aggregating only 2-10 MHz carriers. The 808 and 810 should allow aggregating up to 3-20mhz carriers and should be released in the first half of next year so probably the s6 and m9 might use them. Now, bands 25 and 26 are 5x5mhz carriers mostly, and band 41 can offer multiple 20mhz carriers. But since you said lte-a with bands 25,26,and 41 next year, you are limited to a single carrier of each of the 3 bands. Each 5x5mhz carrier (Bands 25 and 26)can have a downlink of about 37.5mbps,and the 20mhz band 41 carrier can have 63 mbps downlink. I am not sure how you get to 300mbps from aggregating a single carrier from each of the 3 bands. Please provide us with more details on this, a link would be great.


Imo, the only way I see this happening is with 3-20mhz carriers from band 41. Can you please clarify ?

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/10/30/sprint-unveils-spark-service/

http://www.mobilitytechzone.com/top...83-sprint-sees-150-180-mbps-ahead-its-lte.htm

Enjoy.... ;-)
Btw, if you really look around you will find many articles and videos that back this up.


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[dpham00]

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/10/30/sprint-unveils-spark-service/

http://www.mobilitytechzone.com/top...83-sprint-sees-150-180-mbps-ahead-its-lte.htm

Enjoy.... ;-)
Btw, if you really look around you will find many articles and videos that back this up.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

Sprint has said 60 mbps the next few years. I didn't see anywhere where Sprint said 300mbps next year.

And Sprint said that it would need 2-60mhz carriers to get 180 mbps. Next year, the top end snapdragon 808 and 810 would only be able to utilize 3-20mhz carriers maximum. In any event, still well under 300mbps next year

" In the near term, over the next three years, speeds are likely to reach 50 Mbps to 60 Mbps, according to Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO.
Sprint Spark (Sprint?s LTE service) is currently rolling out in parts of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Tampa.
Hesse said that Spark is available in around 25 percent of those initial markets. Eventually, says Hesse, Sprint could bond together two 60 MHz channels at 2.5 GHz, allowing Sprint to deliver speeds of 150 Mbps to 180 Mbps."

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[Almeuit]

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/10/30/sprint-unveils-spark-service/

http://www.mobilitytechzone.com/top...83-sprint-sees-150-180-mbps-ahead-its-lte.htm

Enjoy.... ;-)
Btw, if you really look around you will find many articles and videos that back this up.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

Where does it say 300 Mbps next year?

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[dpham00]

Where does it say 300 Mbps next year?

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I could not find it anywhere, either in the links Ttwitch posted or in my Google search. Although, admittedly, I could have missed it.

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[ttwiitch]

I could not find it anywhere, either in the links Ttwitch posted or in my Google search. Although, admittedly, I could have missed it.

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Where does it say 300 Mbps next year?

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I will look for it later guys, I'm currently at work. I saw it in Flipboard like 3 months ago so I would have to dig.

Also, what I read is that they will reach 300mb but over the course of the next 3 years.... If I didn't previously say that correctly, my mistake.

dpham00, 50,60,70mb are available right now as we speak (type) wherever Spark is deployed. No need to wait for that for next year, unless you mean Nation wide coverage.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Almeuit]

I will look for it later guys, I'm currently at work. I saw it in Flipboard like 3 months ago so I would have to dig.

Also, what I read is that they will reach 300mb but over the course of the next 3 years.... If I didn't previously say that correctly, my mistake.

dpham00, 50,60,70mb are available right now as we speak (type) wherever Spark is deployed. No need to wait for that for next year, unless you mean Nation wide coverage.

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No worries.. You did say next year and not the next few that's why dpham asked where did you read that .

Imagine when Spark goes up fro 60-70mb, to 168-300mb in the next year .....

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Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[dpham00]

I will look for it later guys, I'm currently at work. I saw it in Flipboard like 3 months ago so I would have to dig.

Also, what I read is that they will reach 300mb but over the course of the next 3 years.... If I didn't previously say that correctly, my mistake.

dpham00, 50,60,70mb are available right now as we speak (type) wherever Spark is deployed. No need to wait for that for next year, unless you mean Nation wide coverage.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

Yeah 3 years is possible. I mean Sprint has the spectrum to do it. They have double the spectrum of Verizon and close to 3x the spectrum of tmobile. With 40mhz of aws, tmobile can get 147mbps. Sprint has 150mhz in band 41 alone. TMobile has 77 MHz total spectrum holdings.

My only point of contention was 300mbps next year utilizing all 3 bands. Since next year's technology only supports aggregation of 3 carriers, and the band 25 and 26 carriers are small then 300mbps would not be possible next year with that configuration . Later, aggregation of more than 3 carriers may be possible.




dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3