Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

[lennyj17]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

So Lenny you still on Verizon or switch yet? I see they say New York has it now so you should be good right?

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Why do you keep asking me this...NO I Haven't and yes NYC is ready....I'm watching it closely and prepared to pounce as soon as my contract with Verizon is up in NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER NOVEMBER...One Last time November. I'm not a Sprint Hater like may people have become, I just wanted them to fix their network and they're doing that at least from what I read...

I will be back on Sprint with all new blazing fast LTE on Spark in Dec, its actually the perfect time to becoming out of contract on Verizon because most of NV 1.0 will be done as well as B41 conversion...Sprint will well into DAS and Small Cell Deployment along with adding B41 to NV equipment....

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Why do you keep asking me this...NO I Haven't and yes NYC is ready....I'm watching it closely and prepared to pounce as soon as my contract with Verizon is up in NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER NOVEMBER...One Last time November. I'm not a Sprint Hater like may people have become, I just wanted them to fix their network and they're doing that at least from what I read...

I will be back on Sprint with all new blazing fast LTE on Spark in Dec, its actually the perfect time to becoming out of contract on Verizon because most of NV 1.0 will be done as well as B41 conversion...Sprint will well into DAS and Small Cell Deployment along with adding B41 to NV equipment....

I was asking simply because you try and talk others into Sprint / staying with Sprint when you aren't using them yourself at this time.. So was just curious as to why.

And since it was available in your area (Spark) I figured you'd be all over it is all. Sorry I forgot if you said November in the past.. I don't keep notes on these things .

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

 

[lennyj17]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

As far as the Framily Plan and other offers, they don't impress me much. I have 5 lines with Sprint so I'm being very cautious on considering a new contract or buying into new phones with them. I like many others are right on the bubble of leaving, you can only fail so many times and put up with it.

Dude there are no contracts with Framily. Sprint is in the process of doing away with Upgrades, and Contracts, you wont even have that option anymore....Everything will either be Easy Pay and Framily or nothing at all. It's much better option IMO. No Premium Data fee, No Contracts, More lines the less the Bill, and No forcing Unlimited on lines that don't need it. I love it

Like I've mentioned before I've been with Sprint now for over 9 years. I've seen the highs and lows and in my opinion Sprint is still way in the low.. Sure what you say sounds great and I hope it does well but Sprint has gone down this path many times before. Something they should do well with and they fail. Even with those frequencies eventually they load up, if Sprint doesn't have the additional spectrum on tap to handle the load its going to fail again.
.

Sprint is being run by new Owners (Softbank) who has already fired low performing executives. Sprint is just the name, the people running it has changed.... Second the only place Sprint has a spectrum shortage is in Band 25...Band 41 they have more spectrum in that band than the other 3 wireless carriers have Total combined nationwide. B41 will NOT be congested anytime soon in any of the most dense city in America. That the plus-side that B41 brings to the table is its capacity strengths. It's weakness is it does travel far or penetrate well into buildings, which is why you need dense towers locations.

Serious if you tried a Spark phone in Chicago right now, I think you'd see the night and day differences from your experience now...a least that's what I read from every user with a Spark Phone in Chicago thus far.. And the network is dense enough some have reports they barely ever fall back onto B25, of course YMMV.

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Oh also I'm not a Sprint hater... I'd love for them to do well.. Just as Paul said they have promised and promised and promised in the past and never delivered... So for people to be skeptical is only natural.

I hope they do well since they are another unlimited data carrier. If they don't I wouldn't be to surprised due to their track record.. But I hope they can pull it together.

My situation is mainly the same as yours.. I wouldn't mind being on Sprint but not in my area.. The LTE was only in areas I never go.. So went to T-Mobile.. As you did for Verizon.. So I can have service... But I've never hated on them or said I hope they fail.. Because I don't.. I just am not going to get my hopes up as I did in the past only to be let down.

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[Paul627g]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Dude there are no contracts with Framily. Sprint is in the process of doing away with Upgrades, and Contracts, you wont even have that option anymore....Everything will either be Easy Pay and Framily or nothing at all. It's much better option IMO. No Premium Data fee, No Contracts, More lines the less the Bill, and No forcing Unlimited on lines that don't need it. I love it

Yes I'm well aware of Sprint's new Framily Plan being an " off contract " deal. But you still have to buy into new phones to take advantage of Sprint Spark. Something I'm not sure I'm willing to gamble on Sprint at this point in time.

 

[lennyj17]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Yes I'm well aware of Sprint's new Framily Plan being an " off contract " deal. But you still have to buy into new phones to take advantage of Sprint Spark. Something I'm not sure I'm willing to gamble on Sprint at this point in time.

Ummmm you still get 14-day trials on Easy Pay....And only need to buy 1 Spark handset to test (I suggest getting a Nexus 5 or the G Flex as they're reported to be best signal wise)....nobody is saying you need to upgrade all 5 of you lines.

 

[lennyj17]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

I was asking simply because you try and talk others into Sprint / staying with Sprint when you aren't using them yourself at this time.. So was just curious as to why.

And since it was available in your area (Spark) I figured you'd be all over it is all. Sorry I forgot if you said November in the past.. I don't keep notes on these things .

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

If I didn't have a contract with Verizon....I probably would be, I don't know of course I will be testing the hell out of the network before I move back. Again I feel like my coming out of contract on Verizon in Nov'14 was perfect timing on my part, as NV will be done, tri-band phones released at that time will be fully optimized, there will be carrier aggregation in place on the TD LTE. conversion of Clearwire WiMAX towers to B41 will be largely complete in NYC (entire East Coast for that matter) and Sprint will be well into deployment of B41 into NV tower as well as Small Cell deployment...

I hope the Framily plans remain just as they are.

Oh also I'm not a Sprint hater... I'd love for them to do well.. Just as Paul said they have promised and promised and promised in the past and never delivered... So for people to be skeptical is only natural.

I hope they do well since they are another unlimited data carrier. If they don't I wouldn't be to surprised due to their track record.. But I hope they can pull it together.

My situation is mainly the same as yours.. I wouldn't mind being on Sprint but not in my area.. The LTE was only in areas I never go.. So went to T-Mobile.. As you did for Verizon.. So I can have service... But I've never hated on them or said I hope they fail.. Because I don't.. I just am not going to get my hopes up as I did in the past only to be let down.

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

Fine do like me...Wait it out on T-MO until you know Sprint is completely done upgrading their network, then by that time do some comparing see if its worth coming back. Don't get to comfortable with TMO thinking this speed goodness and store giveways are going to last. 1.) TMO has no game plan for when that 20x20 LTE fills up, and the way they're giving the store away to get subscribers that wont take too much time...The Data Hogs/Abusers from all the other Network are coming to TMO in droves...that will not be good for QoS down the line.

2.) TMO doesn't care, it's raking people in so that it can Sell itself. It's only long term game plan is to get SOLD and leave those problems I outlined to someone else. It's the same Playbook Nextel had when Sprint stupidly brought them without doing due diligence.

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Fine do like me...Wait it out on T-MO until you know Sprint is completely done upgrading their network, then by that time do some comparing see if its worth coming back. Don't get to comfortable with TMO thinking this speed goodness and store giveways are going to last. 1.) TMO has no game plan for when that 20x20 LTE fills up, and the way they're giving the store away to get subscribers that wont take too much time...The Data Hogs/Abusers from all the other Network are coming to TMO in droves...that will not be good for QoS down the line.

2.) TMO doesn't care, it's raking people in so that it can Sell itself. It's only long term game plan is to get SOLD and leave those problems I outlined to someone else. It's the same Playbook Nextel had when Sprint stupidly brought them without doing due diligence.

I buy phones full price -- So therefore the store deals.. don't care.

As for the service? They have HSPA at the very least... Their LTE is fine now .. 20x20 is just extra and not even "needed". Sprint is relying / needs that Spark in order to be decent ... T-Mobile normal LTE is great ... and their HSPA is even awesome. With Sprint I would fall to 3g that is just unusable. So regardless of QoS on the 20x20 I could just drop to HSPA and be fine. I have hit up to 15 Mbit on HSPA.

I agree T-Mobile won't be able to hand the world to everyone but they are still in a way better state than Sprint and they don't have all their stuff bet on one thing (Spark) to do good. The 20x20 is simply just extra that isn't needed at the time. My usual LTE is 30-35 down. HSPA usual is 7-10 down. I am happy with that since I can do anything (HD Video, Streaming Music, Browse the net) with any of those speeds .


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[Almeuit]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Mainly what I am saying is I agree the speed will degrade some due to everyone hoping ... but do I think T-Mobile will go to 0.03 down speeds like Sprint 3g and be unusable? No. So therefore it is good.

I like speed but ... if I can stream my movies, music, etc. without an issue I am happy. No one truly "needs" 50 Mbit or something on a phone. If you get 10-15 down .. You are usually good to do anything you want.

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[Paul627g]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Ummmm you still get 14-day trials on Easy Pay....And only need to buy 1 Spark handset to test (I suggest getting a Nexus 5 or the G Flex as they're reported to be best signal wise)....nobody is saying you need to upgrade all 5 of you lines.

Trust me as a Moderator here at AC and also a member almost 4 years I'm well aware of Sprint's plans, how they differ and the phones they have. Point still remains I'm not sure Sprint has earned the chance at me buying into another run with them. Regardless of Framily Plan, Easy Pay or any other offers they have.

Phones.. Nexus 5, great phone but poor battery life which has been commented on time and time again. Many of the Mods and Ambassadors here at AC have it and they have confirmed its great but battery isn't all that great. Like most people that is a negative for me.

G Flex.. Not on my radar, along with other phones like the LG G2.

5 lines, yes eventually they will have to be upgraded as their contracts expire and again I'm not sure Sprint is worth my time anymore.

I'm not here to bash Sprint. I wouldn't have been a customer for this long but I'm in the same boat as many others when it comes to Sprint's future and if they are doing the right thing. Sure what you have said sounds great but this is Sprint after all...

Thanks for the input and comments

 

[Golfdriver97]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

I have been with Sprint for 10 years. Had a Smartphone for the las 3. Current Nexus 5 and Moto X owner. Both phones are good. Battery life on the N5 is not so wonderful. Most likely due to signal. I am seriously considering switching carriers as well. By default it would be TMo as I use a significant amount of data in a month that I cannot afford on the other carriers.

I am not here to bash Sprint either. I hope they can start giving the other carriers a true run for their money. But I will say that Sprint needs to get the lead out, and kick it into a higher gear. If the guesses of Spark being fully implemented in 3 years minimum is correct, that is borderline far too slow. Just my 2 cents..

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[lennyj17]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Mainly what I am saying is I agree the speed will degrade some due to everyone hoping ... but do I think T-Mobile will go to 0.03 down speeds like Sprint 3g and be unusable? No. So therefore it is good.

I like speed but ... if I can stream my movies, music, etc. without an issue I am happy. No one truly "needs" 50 Mbit or something on a phone. If you get 10-15 down .. You are usually good to do anything you want.

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

I said the same thing about Verizon when I first switch to them and look @ what happened to their so called rock solid LTE network and TMO has nowhere near the brasd of Verizon to pump up LTE to deal with loads... once that 20x20 is maxed with TMO it will be game over they have no other resources to improve beyond what you have now... THEY NEED TO GET SOLD before **** hits the fan.

 

[lennyj17]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Trust me as a Moderator here at AC and also a member almost 4 years I'm well aware of Sprint's plans, how they differ and the phones they have. Point still remains I'm not sure Sprint has earned the chance at me buying into another run with them. Regardless of Framily Plan, Easy Pay or any other offers they have.

Phones.. Nexus 5, great phone but poor battery life which has been commented on time and time again. Many of the Mods and Ambassadors here at AC have it and they have confirmed its great but battery isn't all that great. Like most people that is a negative for me.

G Flex.. Not on my radar, along with other phones like the LG G2.

5 lines, yes eventually they will have to be upgraded as their contracts expire and again I'm not sure Sprint is worth my time anymore.

I'm not here to bash Sprint. I wouldn't have been a customer for this long but I'm in the same boat as many others when it comes to Sprint's future and if they are doing the right thing. Sure what you have said sounds great but this is Sprint after all...

Thanks for the input and comments

Ok Good Luck to you dude....until you either upgrade to Spark device or change carriers... it is what it is....

 

[HopelesslyFaithful]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Dude there are no contracts with Framily. Sprint is in the process of doing away with Upgrades, and Contracts, you wont even have that option anymore....Everything will either be Easy Pay and Framily or nothing at all. It's much better option IMO. No Premium Data fee, No Contracts, More lines the less the Bill, and No forcing Unlimited on lines that don't need it. I love it



Sprint is being run by new Owners (Softbank) who has already fired low performing executives. Sprint is just the name, the people running it has changed.... Second the only place Sprint has a spectrum shortage is in Band 25...Band 41 they have more spectrum in that band than the other 3 wireless carriers have Total combined nationwide. B41 will NOT be congested anytime soon in any of the most dense city in America. That the plus-side that B41 brings to the table is its capacity strengths. It's weakness is it does travel far or penetrate well into buildings, which is why you need dense towers locations.

Serious if you tried a Spark phone in Chicago right now, I think you'd see the night and day differences from your experience now...a least that's what I read from every user with a Spark Phone in Chicago thus far.. And the network is dense enough some have reports they barely ever fall back onto B25, of course YMMV.

first sprints old family plans are way better i practically have unlimited mins and unlimited everything else and pay 48 bucks a line. With a subsidy for new phones. So each line is more like 33.5 dollars a month! Find em any place that can beat that or any of sprints new plans....seriously you can't.


Second, reason why sprints 1900 mhz is getting slow in a spot has nothing to do with not having enough spectrum...it is back haul. If you have XX amount of spectrum it will give you XX amount of speed always and will never change. The only reason it changes is because the backhaul is getting over loaded. Srints 1900 mhz should provide 5/5-10/10 27/7 only time it is less is either bad signal or overloading the backhaul. Spectrum is irrelevant. This is why Sprint is actually one of the best off providers. They have plenty of spectrum to allow decent speeds everywhere assuming they dont chince the backhaul and awesome speeds on the band 41.

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Lenny you seem to be stuck on LTE for T-Mobile and think it's only 20x20. That isn't coming for awhile and test networks are up in Texas.. A little bit.. Others though aren't running on that.

As with any spectrum it can all get used up.. So all carriers will eventually run into this dilemma. Also Verizon had issues in NY... It got better after a month. Dpham in the Verizon Forums showed how it was before and is now.

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[Paul627g]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

Granted that Sprint Spark is a move in the right direction but I still question how good is 1900 and 2.5 Ghz frequency for building penetration? Not good, especially 1900 Mhz from what we've seen with NV LTE. The only frequency that has a good chance at bridging that barrier is 800 Mhz as that is re purposed for LTE and put into play more. There is nothing more aggravating than walking into your local store, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. and can't grab a signal and are lucky just to make a phone call. Meanwhile you have dozens of people around you on competing carriers carrying on with their business having solid connections. This has always aggravated me and hasn't improved much.

I'm still weighing my options, wife and kids are still locked into their contracts for another year so its either hangout out at Sprint and go with a newer device supporting Sprint Spark or take advantage of T Mo and other carriers as they cycle in and out with their " pay off your ETF " marketing so we can leave Sprint.

Next thing is Sprint jumping on board with the next lineup of flagship devices supporting Sprint Spark because their current pickings is slim.

 

[HopelesslyFaithful]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

IIRC their 800 mhz will be enough to do around 5MBps and if i can get that in doors on a cell phone i could care less. For myself i plan on buying zboost triband one whenever it comes out this years. Sure i would love 60Mbps and 15 Mbps up in doors but that is just unrealistic...no carry has that kind of freq to do that and never will (for the 700-800 mhz bands). Only so much exists.

 

[tybo31316]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

I live in Jacksonville, Florida. Before network vision started I had all the problems that most of you here on these forums have. Slow data, dropped calls, and no signal etc.. When Sprint started network vision project in my city it was spotty to no LTE citywide. Over the last 9 months Sprint has really picked up the pace and has gotten alot of work done. I had a decision just like most people here. Do I leave and get better service somewhere else and possibly pay more or Do I stay and ride the out the storm? I must say at this point today I must say I have citywide LTE coverage even in the outskirts of town I can get signal indoors in many more places than before. I've connected to Spark the speeds are great.

If Sprint isn't cutting it for you in your town or for your family situation I say leave and find a different carrier. Hell try all of them and see which one you like best. Thats why we have the choice between 4 national carriers and plenty of regionals. Sprint isn't for everyone. Every carrier has their PROS and CONS so just figure out what works best for you.

 

[HopelesslyFaithful]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

I live in Jacksonville, Florida. Before network vision started I had all the problems that most of you here on these forums have. Slow data, dropped calls, and no signal etc.. When Sprint started network vision project in my city it was spotty to no LTE citywide. Over the last 9 months Sprint has really picked up the pace and has gotten alot of work done. I had a decision just like most people here. Do I leave and get better service somewhere else and possibly pay more or Do I stay and ride the out the storm? I must say at this point today I must say I have citywide LTE coverage even in the outskirts of town I can get signal indoors in many more places than before. I've connected to Spark the speeds are great.

If Sprint isn't cutting it for you in your town or for your family situation I say leave and find a different carrier. Hell try all of them and see which one you like best. Thats why we have the choice between 4 national carriers and plenty of regionals. Sprint isn't for everyone. Every carrier has their PROS and CONS so just figure out what works best for you.

To me if your a heavy data user sprint is the only place for the price but if you dont use a lot of data meh...you got options ^^

 

[gameaddict8]

Re: Official Sprint Tri-Band LTE Phone Discussion Thread aka Sprint Spark

To me if your a heavy data user sprint is the only place for the price but if you dont use a lot of data meh...you got options ^^

Tmo has Unlimited now as well.

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