Should I switch from VZW to Sprint? - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

I currently have the droid bionic with a iPhone as my back up. Is it worth me switching to sprint to pick up the Epic touch? How's the battery life and reception with sprint compared to VZW? Right now with juice defender I get about a consistent 20 hrs actually using my phone.

Verizons network is better as far as data speeds go. I don't think it's worth the switch for just a device.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

Depends on where you are and where you tend to travel to.
I get 2-2.5Mb 3G speeds with Sprint (250 - 300KBytes/s) at home and and work. I also get 1-1.5Mb 3G in the middle of the forest up in northern Wisconsin. All with a lowly Moment.
There is an active 4G tower where I work (according to a friend's Evo) despite it not being on the coverage map.
On the other hand, if you are stuck anywhere where Verizon has the only network, you will have crappy data speeds because Verizon refuses to allow anything more than 1x roaming to Sprint customers. This also applies if you are on the edge of a Sprint tower... Sprint tends to want to keep you connected to a Sprint signal, regardless of its strength. This can get frustrating at times.
If you do go with Sprint, the first app you should download and pay for is Roam Control.

That all depends on your needs...
Sprint's voice and data plans are much cheaper and 4g data is unlimited. 3g is limited to 5gb per month.
If you do need coverage in remote areas, check Sprint's coverage maps and see if there is signal where you need it.
http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp
If you dont use much data and want to spend more to get faster speeds while paying more for voice as well, Verizon is the way to go. I would only hang with Verizon if coverage is an issue.
I had Verizon for many years and switched to Sprint in 2006. I've never regretted making the change.

-logik- said:
That all depends on your needs...
Sprint's voice and data plans are much cheaper and 4g data is unlimited. 3g is limited to 5gb per month.
If you do need coverage in remote areas, check Sprint's coverage maps and see if there is signal where you need it.
http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp
If you dont use much data and want to spend more to get faster speeds while paying more for voice as well, Verizon is the way to go. I would only hang with Verizon if coverage is an issue.
I had Verizon for many years and switched to Sprint in 2006. I've never regretted making the change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint doesn't cap data at 5GB for mobile phones. Only on their usb cards.

eakrish said:
I currently have the droid bionic with a iPhone as my back up. Is it worth me switching to sprint to pick up the Epic touch? How's the battery life and reception with sprint compared to VZW? Right now with juice defender I get about a consistent 20 hrs actually using my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pick your provider FIRST, then pick your device.
As stated be sure to not just check a coverage map but to check with friends and coworkers who have Sprint and live/commute/work in your area.
I've traveled the country a little and I have never been without Sprint coverage except in two tiny holes in my home town...where not a single provider has anything but threshold levels of service out doors, indoors you get squat from any of them. These "holes", however, can be deal breakers if you happen to live and/or work in them. Coverage maps help, a little, but asking people (and looking at their signal meters) is far more precise.
As far as data speed is concerned it's a mixed bag. I came from a line of HTC devices where changing the PRL on-the-go was simple so I used the "00001.prl" a lot. This PRL, essentially, puts you on Verizon's towers, full speed 3G. I can honestly say that while Verizon's speeds tend to be far more consistent than Sprint's that even though I had the chance to get out of Sprint this month (for free) that instead of going to Big Red I used that to upgrade to the Epic Touch without hesitation...The data speeds can drag-ass in a highly congested area at times but unless it's lunch time in a 1-bar area I don't tend to dip below 500kbps and if it is later in the day (or evening) and/or in a sparsely populated area (or higher-income area, draw your own conclusions) I have seen as high as 2.7mbps...my friend lives in a low-population high income area and he may be the only Sprint subscriber for miles, lol, and they get 2.5~2.7mbps all day every day. There are also times/places where Sprint's 3G speed absolutely spanks Verizon's.
...as far as 4G goes it can be blazing fast but you probably won't ever get the signal indoors unless you are in a 4G saturated metropolitan environment. I hear lots of complaints about 4G speed but when I get connected it's always faster than my home internet (6mbps, the most you can get from residential ATT DSL around here), I have seen 15mbps too.
As far as price is concerned Sprint wins hands down especially if you consider the unlimited data and free roaming. Voice roaming is unlimited. There is a "soft" limit of 3G roaming at 300mb, but, that is a floating line. If you aren't usually roaming but happen to travel somewhere that you are forced to roam at worst they will call or send you a letter telling you that if you do it again your contract may be terminated. But as long as it doesn't happen at work or at home they are mostly forgiving...and if not? That's a free out on your contract and now you have a $500-$700 (retail) phone for trade-up or resale to go back to Verizon.
EDIT: Oh yeah, battery life. It's killer. Very very killer compared to a Moment, Hero, Evo 4G and Evo 3D this thing slaughters them all. It's hard to say since I have been using my phone more than breathing these past 2 days, but, considering that I'm very impressed....*very* impressed.

I agree with most everyone here take a look and see what you are using and what you need. make sure you have coverage at home and work and other places you visit regularly. if it works out for you make the switch. You can save alot of money with Sprint depending on your needs and they have a great selection of phones, I just the the GSII and it is awesome about 50% faster then the evo3d it just flies. but all of that power doesn't mean anything if you can't get signal.

I just switched from Verizon because I wanted the GS2 really bad.
I live in Seattle and Sprint has good coverage here so I'm pretty happy. (i've had Sprint in the past as well)
You can always switch and test drive Sprint for 14 days (or maybe it's 30) and if you don't like it, return to Verizon. No big deal.
PS: I had the Droid Bionic for a few days before switching to Sprint. Honestly, I think the GS2 is simply better in every way. That's just my opinion. Couldn't deal with the Pentile display and the camera was quite a disappointment.

If the service is good in the area then go for it. Of not I wouldn't change. If I could do it all over again I would have switched to vz before they started the data caps.
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

I switched about 6 years ago and never looked back. I had voice and data with them for over 10 years, back in the Bell Mobile days. They kicked me off of a BroadbandAccess for using too much data claiming I HAD to have violated the ToS (P2P, video streaming, web hosting) by using over 5GB in a month. Really, that is only 150MB a day and that goes very quickly with just web and e-mail if you use it daily. I work on the road a LOT so naturally, I went over this regularly. I had to explain what I do and that I did NOT violate the ToS, which said NOTHING about 5GB. I didn't do any of the activities it stated. This was back when everything was unlimited with no fine print. They didn't charge an ETF and asked if I wanted to reactivate the account. I declined and moved to Sprint and eventually took voice too. Have been very happy since.
I still consider Sprint to be the best value in wireless. It always seemed that VZW nickle and dime'd me to death. My bill fluctuated month to month by $20 with no changes in service and additional fees. Just "taxes". They charged for web order shipping, activation, and everything they could have.

I forgot to mention I have unlimited data

Bigjim1488 said:
If the service is good in the area then go for it. Of not I wouldn't change. If I could do it all over again I would have switched to vz before they started the data caps.
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
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I wouldn't have switched. As stated below I was on them with true unlimited before they started the caps. Then they terminated the account and offered to reactivate, probably to instate a cap on me. I suspect the same would have happened to you.
When I switched data to Sprint, I asked if they had unlimited data and bandwidth, and got multiple confirmations (with chat transcripts) that it was 100% unlimited. They introduced the 5GB limit a year or two later. And, since I haven't renewed the contract or accepted any new modems on that line, it today is still unlimited and I use 8-10GB (sometimes more) monthly. They've called and tried to get me to renew, which would activate 4G but put a cap on 3G... and I've declined. Until 4G is everywhere I need on the road, I can't do it.
Phones are still unlimited, so I wonder if a cheap phone to tether with an unlimited plan is worth it for tethering only?? Just a thought.

I don't need a phone to tether, just need a bad ass phone that looks great, feels super fast and has great battery life. I also want a great looking display and widgets that are good for social media.

daneurysm said:
Pick your provider FIRST, then pick your device.
As stated be sure to not just check a coverage map but to check with friends and coworkers who have Sprint and live/commute/work in your area.
I've traveled the country a little and I have never been without Sprint coverage except in two tiny holes in my home town...where not a single provider has anything but threshold levels of service out doors, indoors you get squat from any of them. These "holes", however, can be deal breakers if you happen to live and/or work in them. Coverage maps help, a little, but asking people (and looking at their signal meters) is far more precise.
As far as data speed is concerned it's a mixed bag. I came from a line of HTC devices where changing the PRL on-the-go was simple so I used the "00001.prl" a lot. This PRL, essentially, puts you on Verizon's towers, full speed 3G. I can honestly say that while Verizon's speeds tend to be far more consistent than Sprint's that even though I had the chance to get out of Sprint this month (for free) that instead of going to Big Red I used that to upgrade to the Epic Touch without hesitation...The data speeds can drag-ass in a highly congested area at times but unless it's lunch time in a 1-bar area I don't tend to dip below 500kbps and if it is later in the day (or evening) and/or in a sparsely populated area (or higher-income area, draw your own conclusions) I have seen as high as 2.7mbps...my friend lives in a low-population high income area and he may be the only Sprint subscriber for miles, lol, and they get 2.5~2.7mbps all day every day. There are also times/places where Sprint's 3G speed absolutely spanks Verizon's.
...as far as 4G goes it can be blazing fast but you probably won't ever get the signal indoors unless you are in a 4G saturated metropolitan environment. I hear lots of complaints about 4G speed but when I get connected it's always faster than my home internet (6mbps, the most you can get from residential ATT DSL around here), I have seen 15mbps too.
As far as price is concerned Sprint wins hands down especially if you consider the unlimited data and free roaming. Voice roaming is unlimited. There is a "soft" limit of 3G roaming at 300mb, but, that is a floating line. If you aren't usually roaming but happen to travel somewhere that you are forced to roam at worst they will call or send you a letter telling you that if you do it again your contract may be terminated. But as long as it doesn't happen at work or at home they are mostly forgiving...and if not? That's a free out on your contract and now you have a $500-$700 (retail) phone for trade-up or resale to go back to Verizon.
EDIT: Oh yeah, battery life. It's killer. Very very killer compared to a Moment, Hero, Evo 4G and Evo 3D this thing slaughters them all. It's hard to say since I have been using my phone more than breathing these past 2 days, but, considering that I'm very impressed....*very* impressed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint does NOT offer unlimited roaming.....I found this out while traveling to Florida in August. When I got done with explaining the Ambiguity in their false claims it has now since changed from unlimited roaming to unlimitting roaming on their network. They are such good corporate game players(liars).
Misleading people is what I don't agree with, but they are the cheapest game in town and suffice "if" you can get a signal. That said you get 800 minutes of roaming on their unlimited plan, and what ever your land line minutes are on their lower plans is the amount of roaming you will have before you have to PAY overages. If the overages happen too much they void your contract after making you aware that their is no unlimited. Now before any one starts debating this look at the advertisements and if that doesn't clue you in call and ask what I said.
They advertised unlimited roaming until I got done with them. They had a little fine print in the back of that agreement letting unsuspecting people that went over know that there was no unlimited roaming. Then they try to collect money for it. But, I let them know that ambiguity in contract law goes to the consumer, and that we can all void our contracts based on this lil tidbit of a lie, because many of us joined because of the roaming plan when we lose their coverage, and since it was a hoax the contract was null and void. They have now changed it to read unlimited roaming on their network only. How can you roam on the very network that you reside.

eakrish said:
I currently have the droid bionic with a iPhone as my back up. Is it worth me switching to sprint to pick up the Epic touch? How's the battery life and reception with sprint compared to VZW? Right now with juice defender I get about a consistent 20 hrs actually using my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QWIKSTRIKE said:
Sprint does NOT offer unlimited roaming.....I found this out while traveling to Florida in August. When I got done with explaining the Ambiguity in their false claims it has now since changed from unlimited roaming to unlimitting roaming on their network. They are such good corporate game players(liars).
Misleading people is what I don't agree with, but they are the cheapest game in town and suffice "if" you can get a signal. That said you get 800 minutes of roaming on their unlimited plan, and what ever your land line minutes are on their lower plans is the amount of roaming you will have before you have to PAY overages. If the overages happen too much they void your contract after making you aware that their is no unlimited. Now before any one starts debating this look at the advertisements and if that doesn't clue you in call and ask what I said.
They advertised unlimited roaming until I got done with them. They had a little fine print in the back of that agreement letting unsuspecting people that went over know that there was no unlimited roaming. Then they try to collect money for it. But, I let them know that ambiguity in contract law goes to the consumer, and that we can all void our contracts based on this lil tidbit of a lie, because many of us joined because of the roaming plan when we lose their coverage, and since it was a hoax the contract was null and void. They have now changed it to read unlimited roaming on their network only. How can you roam on the very network that you reside.
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Click to collapse
Roaming on their network!? I'm trying really hard to find some way to make sense out of that... my legalese-to-english converter is usually pretty good but I just can't....wrap my....anything around that.

daneurysm said:
Pick your provider FIRST, then pick your device.
As stated be sure to not just check a coverage map but to check with friends and coworkers who have Sprint and live/commute/work in your area.
I've traveled the country a little and I have never been without Sprint coverage except in two tiny holes in my home town...where not a single provider has anything but threshold levels of service out doors, indoors you get squat from any of them. These "holes", however, can be deal breakers if you happen to live and/or work in them. Coverage maps help, a little, but asking people (and looking at their signal meters) is far more precise.
As far as data speed is concerned it's a mixed bag. I came from a line of HTC devices where changing the PRL on-the-go was simple so I used the "00001.prl" a lot. This PRL, essentially, puts you on Verizon's towers, full speed 3G. I can honestly say that while Verizon's speeds tend to be far more consistent than Sprint's that even though I had the chance to get out of Sprint this month (for free) that instead of going to Big Red I used that to upgrade to the Epic Touch without hesitation...The data speeds can drag-ass in a highly congested area at times but unless it's lunch time in a 1-bar area I don't tend to dip below 500kbps and if it is later in the day (or evening) and/or in a sparsely populated area (or higher-income area, draw your own conclusions) I have seen as high as 2.7mbps...my friend lives in a low-population high income area and he may be the only Sprint subscriber for miles, lol, and they get 2.5~2.7mbps all day every day. There are also times/places where Sprint's 3G speed absolutely spanks Verizon's.
...as far as 4G goes it can be blazing fast but you probably won't ever get the signal indoors unless you are in a 4G saturated metropolitan environment. I hear lots of complaints about 4G speed but when I get connected it's always faster than my home internet (6mbps, the most you can get from residential ATT DSL around here), I have seen 15mbps too.
As far as price is concerned Sprint wins hands down especially if you consider the unlimited data and free roaming. Voice roaming is unlimited. There is a "soft" limit of 3G roaming at 300mb, but, that is a floating line. If you aren't usually roaming but happen to travel somewhere that you are forced to roam at worst they will call or send you a letter telling you that if you do it again your contract may be terminated. But as long as it doesn't happen at work or at home they are mostly forgiving...and if not? That's a free out on your contract and now you have a $500-$700 (retail) phone for trade-up or resale to go back to Verizon.
EDIT: Oh yeah, battery life. It's killer. Very very killer compared to a Moment, Hero, Evo 4G and Evo 3D this thing slaughters them all. It's hard to say since I have been using my phone more than breathing these past 2 days, but, considering that I'm very impressed....*very* impressed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Carrier first. A phone shouldn't really be a reason to switch, although this phone is pretty awesome.
Sprint has been AWESOME in nearly all areas. They seem better than VZW for me in rural areas. I live in the middle of nowhere and have EXCELLENT EVDOrA signal.
---------- Post added at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:35 PM ----------
eakrish said:
I don't need a phone to tether, just need a bad ass phone that looks great, feels super fast and has great battery life. I also want a great looking display and widgets that are good for social media.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon has plenty of phones in that department.. and nearly any Android phone would fill those needs. If you want the best Android phone available right now, this is it.

Also you may want to keep an eye out for the sprint network meeting October 7th. They are going to talk about this new thing called "network vision".
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I switched on Friday and I'm already starting to regret it - I haven't seen a 3G download speed higher than around 90kbps here. The phone is absolutely amazing on wifi and I love the device itself, but out around town it's pretty bad. I tried to download a 2MB or so app at a restaurant where I had a full 5 bars of signal last night and it was still trying to download 15+ minutes later because of how slow the actual download rate was. It's worse than a dial-up modem at time.
I wasn't even thinking about the unlimited data on VZW when I did it too - did I lose that now even if I do a winback?

TabsAZ said:
I switched on Friday and I'm already starting to regret it - I haven't seen a 3G download speed higher than around 90kbps here. The phone is absolutely amazing on wifi and I love the device itself, but out around town it's pretty bad. I tried to download a 2MB or so app at a restaurant where I had a full 5 bars of signal last night and it was still trying to download 15+ minutes later because of how slow the actual download rate was. It's worse than a dial-up modem at time.
I wasn't even thinking about the unlimited data on VZW when I did it too - did I lose that now even if I do a winback?
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Click to collapse
I think they are doing something for the launch of the iPHONE. It was never this slow until recently. It had better go back to how it was or I will ditch their asses

TabsAZ said:
I switched on Friday and I'm already starting to regret it - I haven't seen a 3G download speed higher than around 90kbps here. The phone is absolutely amazing on wifi and I love the device itself, but out around town it's pretty bad. I tried to download a 2MB or so app at a restaurant where I had a full 5 bars of signal last night and it was still trying to download 15+ minutes later because of how slow the actual download rate was. It's worse than a dial-up modem at time.
I wasn't even thinking about the unlimited data on VZW when I did it too - did I lose that now even if I do a winback?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you investigate Sprint coverage before you switched? What is signal strength like? Are you metering 90 kbps with SpeedTest app, tethering, or a program like DU Meter?
I'm guessing your PRL is up to date..
I'd also make sure you don't have any background apps downloading stuff.
Also, are you saying 90 kilo-bytes per second or 90 kilo-bits per second. 90 kilo-bytes is almost 1Mbps, and is a low-side average for 3G. That could also vary by network congestion, etc.
90 kilo-bits sounds like 1xRTT and not EVDO.
I'd also check with other users, or try a mobile broadband card if you can.
You will lose unlimited from VZW if you go back, but like I posted earlier, I am surprised they didn't terminate you to get you on limited like they did me.

Related

[Q] Anyone else thinking of leaving Sprint because the 4G sucks?

I've been a Sprint user for at least 10 years. (Not 10 year member because of a break or two due to SERO nonsense.)
The suckiness that is Sprint 4G is making me considering moving to Verizon. I live in a good 4G area based on the signal strength I see. But in the area around my home, I speed test 3 MB/s down max. Maybe 4.5 MB elsewhere if I am lucky. I see people on the boards seeing 7.5 MB. I don't know where they live but that's not my experience.
I try to look up my wireless usage stats on my Sprint account. There is a line for 4G but the number is basically zero (32kb). Is Sprint not showing 4G usage at all or is it counted with the 3G number?
I'm seeing 3G usage last month of almost 600 mb. I'm guessing that if 4G is not counted that could be double or triple, but still under 2Gb. I'm not a heavy broadband user. I mostly look up web information and do social networking on the go. Those things are not multimedia intensive.
I'd love to improve the 4G experience and stay with Sprint. But I doubt the situation will be fixed anytime soon.
Before any discounts, the equivalent Verizon plan with 450 Anytime, unlimited texting, and 2GB data = $40+$20+$30 = $90 or $10 more than sprint's 450.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.
You could buy my thunderbolt and take over my contract. $69 unlimited everything except 450 minutes.
4G is a luxury item and ALL the networks have issues.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Also, how many people here really use the speed of 4G only on their phones anyway? Sure it is nice to have and nice to be able to use data and voice at the same time... But Sprint could have fixed that with their current network but didn't. but anyway.... who cares. I'm bored! Who wanta be my gf. you gotta be hot between 18-27 closer to 18 the better. and virgin is a plus. LMAO!!!!!!!
I really don't use 4G, I have WIFI at work and at home 3G is good enough to do the light browsing I do on the go, I only use 4G to tether my laptop and if I'm doing that I'm usually out and about in an area where 4G is available and free WIFI isn't... which is rare.
I actually use my 4G all day long at work and at home if I'm goin out it depends on where I'm at but most likely I'll grab a 4G connection real short but just enough just to show somebody something and what not but Southern California or well Orange County area Anaheim to be exact a lot of its covered that's messed up Sprint isn't spreadin out to you guys fast enough for 4G at least
Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet & Watch,
evO²·³·³ *ROOTED*
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DiRtY POoNSeNSe 2.3.3-1
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I have watched LTE knock down 20mb dl speeds and It's blazing fast. I am w Sprint and in a 4G test area...thank god for WiFi at home or I would have went back to Verizon. Sure the plan is cheaper but also the network. Where I live the base I work at has a deal w Verizon...so I have spotty data coverage everywhere. I was running deck ROM and used the affiliate network setting when I needed data and could roam 3g at 2mb dl speeds and it was plenty fast for being out and about but Sprint has a 300mb roaming limit. Pretty lame. I would rather them up there complete network rather than pour out some more pretty useless 4G networks for me...hopefully they will change my mind...I remember having my Droid and having data everywhere I went. It was amazing. My EVO is the best phone I have ever owned but is being crippled. Once again...thank you WiFi!
Why do u need 20mbits ina phone
6 is more than enough
I can do everything I want/need with my phone getting 300k on Sprints "3g".
Including streaming music, surf web, etc
As "cool" as having 20mbit on my phone.....or even 6mbit is....its not necessary.
Eventually? Of course.
But its not now.
mattykinsx said:
I can do everything I want/need with my phone getting 300k on Sprints "3g".
Including streaming music, surf web, etc
As "cool" as having 20mbit on my phone.....or even 6mbit is....its not necessary.
Eventually? Of course.
But its not now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok Matty, you are obviously a sprint fanboy buy seriously. You rail about the importance of unlimited data and then claim that you only need enough bandwidth to stream Pandora.
newter55 said:
Ok Matty, you are obviously a sprint fanboy buy seriously. You rail about the importance of unlimited data and then claim that you only need enough bandwidth to stream Pandora.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love name calling on these forums.
It's all people do anymore.
All I said was that speed is only important to a point, for normal phone usage.
There's really no need for a phone to have 6 + mbit/s bandwidth.
I'm not sure what that has to do with cap limits? I still want the ability to use more than 2GB of data without getting overages.
I love when people try to redirect what I say.
Even netflix can run just fine with 1mbit/s..maybe even lower.
There's no need for 20mbit/s [or even 6mbit/s] for phones...yet.
mattykinsx said:
I love name calling on these forums.
It's all people do anymore.
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+1 I've noticed that and I've only been here a month or 2
Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet & Watch,
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I use the phone a lot on the go, around town. 3Mb/s is generous. Sometimes I test 1.5 Mb/s or less. A lot of times it's on 3G.
It's not about having brute speed, say 6+ Mb/s, for minutes or hours. When you need the phone to look up something on Facebook or the web, you want it to work right then and fast. It might only take a few seconds. But if the network is sucky or unreliable, then that few seconds becomes a minute or two.
My complaint is the network consistency. I always have voice but data is spotty where i work. The only reason I am w Sprint is the price. I'm a cheap ass. Sprint is the best network for my cheap needs. But trying to grow another 4G LTE from Sprint when they still have coverage issues seems redundant. Maybe they will amaze me and start expanding but if the would just focus on Peking a consistent 1mb + 3g speeds nationwide they could have sooooo many more happy campers. 4G is nice when you are on it but as everyone has stated it does use more power. Why not optimize what's currently available. If they can't get the right how can they ever get the rest of it right. I agree, if you are in a great Sprint area then you have these speeds but it is not like that everywhere. Verizon expanded. Sprint is now playing the "i have this game" and Verizon already covered as much as they could. I'm not a Verizon fanboy, I am however speaking facts. If everywhere you went Sprint had great data in 3g, wouldn't you as a customer be happier. I never roamed w Verizon. Never worried about my monthley roaming. I am a fan of the high end phones Sprint offers but am not sure if thats going to be enough a year from now if I still have the exact same coverage I have had for the last 2 years w them. It seems worth it to pay more for better service. That's the only reason Sprint is cheaper currently. They can't charge what a larger provider can because they can't compete directly based on network coverage alone.
I definitely would... Sprint has no 4G at all in Kentucky and I have seen nothing on them even building towers. I am tired of paying the extra $10.00/month for their 4G and not having it even close to me.
i spent the last 8 years on Verizon, and I will never leave sprint due to 4G speeds simply because of the money i have saved. The only thing I use 4G for is downloading ROMS, watching netflix in my car with bluetooth surround (in sales), and youtube. The 4G speeds are more than fast enough to accomplish these tasks.
stkiswr said:
My complaint is the network consistency. I always have voice but data is spotty where i work. The only reason I am w Sprint is the price. I'm a cheap ass. Sprint is the best network for my cheap needs. But trying to grow another 4G LTE from Sprint when they still have coverage issues seems redundant. Maybe they will amaze me and start expanding but if the would just focus on Peking a consistent 1mb + 3g speeds nationwide they could have sooooo many more happy campers. 4G is nice when you are on it but as everyone has stated it does use more power. Why not optimize what's currently available. If they can't get the right how can they ever get the rest of it right. I agree, if you are in a great Sprint area then you have these speeds but it is not like that everywhere. Verizon expanded. Sprint is now playing the "i have this game" and Verizon already covered as much as they could. I'm not a Verizon fanboy, I am however speaking facts. If everywhere you went Sprint had great data in 3g, wouldn't you as a customer be happier. I never roamed w Verizon. Never worried about my monthley roaming. I am a fan of the high end phones Sprint offers but am not sure if thats going to be enough a year from now if I still have the exact same coverage I have had for the last 2 years w them. It seems worth it to pay more for better service. That's the only reason Sprint is cheaper currently. They can't charge what a larger provider can because they can't compete directly based on network coverage alone.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for putting in better words what I was trying to express. The issue is consistency. I should have framed the issue better. I don't need the data network to be blazing fast, I need it to be consistent. I would be happy with a network that I can connect from reasonably anywhere in my town at decent speeds consistently.
I guess you can call me cheap too. But looking at my usage, I would be comfortable under a 2Gb cap. $10 more on Verizon buys a better network. If easily go over 2Gb or 5Gb, you would stay with Sprint.
churro7 said:
Why do u need 20mbits ina phone
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So you can max out your 2GB data plan in a minute and a half.

Foolish to buy Wimax device now?

With all the hubbub surrounding the Clearwire Wimax deal that was signed for the next few years, and the looming launch of LTE (mid-2012?), is it really foolish to sign a new contract and get a Wimax device?
All of the LTE devices I've seen on VZW/AT&T have atrocious battery life at the expense of crazy speeds (20Mbps+). A few coworkers got the Droid Bionic and barely make it to the end of the work day. Old college roommate works for AT&T and he says most of their LTE stuff needs extended batteries in order to be usable for a whole day.
Frankly I can live with Wimax's 3-5Mbps if it means I don't have to keep hovering around a charger all day. The Epic 4G Touch is so very tempting but I'm afraid I'm committing to "old" tech and that in 12 months I'll have regretted it.
(current VZW customer off-contract with an OG Droid)
dparm said:
With all the hubbub surrounding the Clearwire Wimax deal that was signed for the next few years, and the looming launch of LTE (mid-2012?), is it really foolish to sign a new contract and get a Wimax device?
All of the LTE devices I've seen on VZW/AT&T have atrocious battery life at the expense of crazy speeds (20Mbps+). A few coworkers got the Droid Bionic and barely make it to the end of the work day. Old college roommate works for AT&T and he says most of their LTE stuff needs extended batteries in order to be usable for a whole day.
Frankly I can live with Wimax's 3-5Mbps if it means I don't have to keep hovering around a charger all day. The Epic 4G Touch is so very tempting but I'm afraid I'm committing to "old" tech and that in 12 months I'll have regretted it.
(current VZW customer off-contract with an OG Droid)
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First and foremost the spectrum allocated to Sprint's WiMax sucks. It's a razor thin chunk. That is why Sprint's 4G sucks...LTE isn't inherently better in this regard. If LTE was on the same crappy spectrum it would suck too.
When you can connect to WiMax it's fantastic. I used to get 12-15mbps all day long in my area. Now it's in the 3-8mbps range depending on time of day.
That razor thin strip of spectrum allocated to Sprint/Clearwire's "4G" WiMax makes your connection easily disrupted by such disturbances as a closed window or a stiff breeze...seriously. If you aren't in a very solid 4G area (don't ask Sprint or Clearwire, ask people who have the service in your area) I wouldn't bank on getting a 4G signal very often, if at all. When a rom comes out that doesn't support 4G I don't care at all...yeah, it can be that bad.
With that out of the way it should be noted that you likely won't have Sprint LTE coverage in your area for at least a year, likely 2, maybe 3 or 4. Sprint has some rosy estimates flying around right now, but, I remember how their 3G and 4G rollouts went, so, I wouldn't take their word with a grain of salt...I would outright disregard it.
So where does this leave you? Most likely in an area with sparse (if any) 4G and LTE anywhere from 1.5-3 years away and you want a phone now.
Luckily Sprint's 3G service is improving quickly around the country--quicker in some places than others of course. Also the level of improvement will vary wildly depending on many factors, so, don't even bet on the future...especially when it's in Sprint's hands.
My advice? If you want to be/stay on Sprint and are currently satisfied with your service and would also like the ET4G, well, just go get it. By time your contract is up the LTE devices will actually exist and the LTE will be rolled out and WiMax will still be up and running and hopefully the 3G network is up to snuff.
EDIT: As a current Vzw customer you will likely be either disappointed or even horrified by Sprint's current 3G speeds. Ask around, some markets/areas have amazing performance. Where I live is so-so. I'm now getting 600-1000kbps regularly, though last month it was 300-500kbps. However 5 miles away at my friends house I actually saw 2.8mbps and killer 15mbps 4G all the time. Many people here are nowhere near as lucky as either me or my friend, so, ask around....you can never tell.
I'm in downtown Chicago, so I'm sure that it'll be a high priority area for deployment.
My job is 100% travel though, so for a few months at a time I could be anywhere else in the US (Mon-Fri). Typically it's big cities though, like Houston, NYC, Miami, Denver, etc. I just want something fast but consistent. Voice quality/coverage is priority 1, then battery, then data speeds.
I visited two Sprint stores in different parts of the city this week and the web browsing on their 4G seemed plenty fast.
dparm said:
I'm in downtown Chicago, so I'm sure that it'll be a high priority area for deployment.
My job is 100% travel though, so for a few months at a time I could be anywhere else in the US (Mon-Fri). Typically it's big cities though, like Houston, NYC, Miami, Denver, etc. I just want something fast but consistent. Voice quality/coverage is priority 1, then battery, then data speeds.
I visited two Sprint stores in different parts of the city this week and the web browsing on their 4G seemed plenty fast.
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I travel for work sometimes. Chicago is covered in 4G as are most major metropolitan areas.
So far as voice/text ("2G") is concerned you will be well served everywhere. Sprint has pretty thorough 2G coverage and you will roam on Verizon if not. You get "Unlimited" Roaming. If you roam too much they'll give you the boot. I wouldn't worry about it.
So long as you understand all said about 4G and are fine with that 3G is the only real sticking point and is as I described earlier. You will roam on Verizon (at 1x, ick...but we have ways around that if you are forced to roam momentarily), but, it's usually not Sprint's coverage so much as the performance. I personally have never experienced horribly un-usable 3G anywhere...even tethered to my laptop. But I haven't gone on any business trips in the past 9 months when things have gone downhill rapidly--or so the posts here would have me believe.
I'd say buy a VZW phone outright and stay out of contract. Their speeds will be faster as well as the reliability. If this were my only phone I would've dove headfirst off a bunk bed.
I have a company Blackberry on AT&T and a regular feature phone on AT&T so I'm covered service wise. To give you an idea AT&T's HSDPA (3.5G) technology is faster than Sprint's faux 4G.
I love this phone but something needs to happen soon or people are going to leave in droves. The phone is awesome but the service is something to be desired.
I'm in Northern NJ by the way.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Lately the Verizon 3G coverage in downtown Chicago and the burbs have been sucking. I have updated my PRL several times and even flashed a different ROM just to be certain.
I get 4g in plenty of places. (I live in the bay area). Sprint just gave clear some money so I'm still good with buying my next wimax phone. From what I see and hear, lte isn't better than wimax just yet. Fastest speed I've seen is on hspa+ 22mbps.
I think its a waste if you live in an area like I do that doesn't have Wimax and never will.
I am coming from Verizon and the Thunderbolt and until phones get better battery's lte is not worth it unless you want 8 to 12 hours of battery depending on your usage(on my wifi and 4g and 3g service with sprint after 16hours of usage moderate I have 33% life left) In a few years when sprint gets lte maybe batterys will be caught up. Or if sprint doesnt ill switch to at&t or Verizon again. But I am happy with sprint. And I love this phone
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
I have known since the beginning of the year when the Galaxy S II became available internationally that that was the phone I wanted to upgrade to. The decider for me to go for the Epic Touch 4G variant on Sprint was the truly unlimited data. I was off contract on AT&T, and even though I was fortunate enough to actually get very good service in my area on AT&T, I liked the idea of never having to worry about my data usage, no matter how I might choose to use my phone.
I don't generally get as good data coverage on Sprint as I did on AT&T, but when I do have service it is generally faster than what I got on AT&T, most especially on 4G. And when it does lose Sprint coverage, it roams on Verizon towers, so I really am never completely without service.
And the phone itself is great. No regrets there.
Thanks. Like I said, Verizon's coverage down here lately seems really lousy. The data speed is "acceptable". My OG Droid is still hanging on by a thread and I am still on an unlimited data plan, though I rarely go over 2-3GB per month.
I'm having trouble finding Chicago Sprint owners to comment on coverage and data speeds, though. Only one or two friends of mine have it and they're not really geeky enough to know what I'm interested in...they see a phone as a phone.
dparm said:
Thanks. Like I said, Verizon's coverage down here lately seems really lousy. The data speed is "acceptable". My OG Droid is still hanging on by a thread and I am still on an unlimited data plan, though I rarely go over 2-3GB per month.
I'm having trouble finding Chicago Sprint owners to comment on coverage and data speeds, though. Only one or two friends of mine have it and they're not really geeky enough to know what I'm interested in...they see a phone as a phone.
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You definitely needs to find someone. You do have a buyer's remorse period you could use.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
CODteabagger said:
You definitely needs to find someone. You do have a buyer's remorse period you could use.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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Yes, the 30 day return period is nice. Would give me a shot at really test driving the thing.
Any suggestions on how to get some real details on Chicago Wimax and voice?
wimax will be around thru 2015 at the least... buying a wimax device now wouldnt be the end of the world.
also.. the first sprint lte devices wont get super awesome. and we wont be seeing the good lte chips(the ones that work on multiple bands) until 2013(sprints 2nd lte gen).
Upgrading to a Wimax phone this year seems fine. And you can enjoy the unlimited data. It will set you up to upgrade in 2013, when new phones will be ready to utilize Sprint's LTE (800MHz/1.9GHz) and Clear's LTE-Advanced (2.5GHz).
dparm said:
Yes, the 30 day return period is nice. Would give me a shot at really test driving the thing.
Any suggestions on how to get some real details on Chicago Wimax and voice?
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It's 14 days now.
daneurysm said:
It's 14 days now.
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Ooo that sucks. It'll probably get ****ty 3G speeds on the 15th day.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
CODteabagger said:
I'd say buy a VZW phone outright and stay out of contract. Their speeds will be faster as well as the reliability. If this were my only phone I would've dove headfirst off a bunk bed.
I have a company Blackberry on AT&T and a regular feature phone on AT&T so I'm covered service wise. To give you an idea AT&T's HSDPA (3.5G) technology is faster than Sprint's faux 4G.
I love this phone but something needs to happen soon or people are going to leave in droves. The phone is awesome but the service is something to be desired.
I'm in Northern NJ by the way.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
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Yea Im gonna have to disagree here, one of my customer just bought a skyrocket from att and my touch destroyed his phones speeds while he was on the socalled 4gLTE hspa+ network and I was only in a 3g area (all of san diego county) there is nothing faux bout WiMax, it is all a money issue when it comes down to it.
Yes I am anxious for LTE-A as well as more power efficient radios. I remember when the first "3G" stuff came out years ago (HSDPA or whatever)...the battery life sucked but within a year or two they got it worked out.
daneurysm said:
...Sprint's 4G sucks... When a rom comes out that doesn't support 4G I don't care at all...yeah, it can be that bad.
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Yeah, it's not anything to write home about.
But I mostly use wifi at home and work so I'm not too put out by the slow speeds.
It is good enough to have a halfway decent skype session, youtube, etc...
I was hoping to get some gaming action though.
That ain't happening unless it's on wifi, at least in my area.

Can stay with sprint or leave in april, what to do?

So my contract is up in April, or I can upgrade to a newer phone (maybe if the Galaxy Nexus is available by then I would get that). But what should I do?
I currently have a sprint airave at my house so signal isn't a big issue, although today our internet went down for a couple hours and on my stock prl I couldn't even get a data connection, and using a verizon roaming prl which was stuck in 1x I got around .15mbs down.
But my question is this;
I've heard that sprint is "doing tower upgrades" and they will start to rollout LTE sometime before the end of the year. But verizon already has LTE in my area (super fast..around 20mbs down) But I would have to pay more, and I would be capped. But what does having "truely unlimited data" mean if you can't even get a data connection?.
Is what sprint is doing with their network even worth it?, Or should I just say bye?. I've heard rumors that sprint is moving towards having some kind of a data cap anyways.
Sprint is in fact doing tower upgrades. They have been working hard in the area i live in particular and i have noticed data speed increases. I work at a place that offers sprint, att, and verizon services. We have a sprint Representative that visits about once a week or so and has been pretty open with us about upcoming changes in the past. Through today, i have yet to hear about a data cap, however did hear about their premium data pack that is required may* go up to $15 and other plans may go up as well, to help "cover costs" of the unlimited data. Sprint is cheaper when going to unlimited data, texts, and such. Based off the plans available where i work, switching to Verizon for similar service (except LTE) would cost around $10-$15 more plus tax's, fees, ect.. plus the initial $35 activation fee (assuming you only have 1 line?)
I've been trying to figure out the same thing, upgrade should be available in March/April and whether to upgrade, wait for newer phones or jump ship. I was getting really bad speeds but recent upgrades in my area have made things a lot better.
tempe38 said:
I've been trying to figure out the same thing, upgrade should be available in March/April and whether to upgrade, wait for newer phones or jump ship. I was getting really bad speeds but recent upgrades in my area have made things a lot better.
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Yeah I looked on that network map and they have done a "data capacity" upgrade, but a data speed upgrade is "within next 6 months"
I have an at&t phone for work and the coverage is really good, and I have a verizon LTE card for internet at work and that is around 20mbps. My sprint phone (at home, WITHOUT the airave on) gets around .05mpbs down, if I can even get a data connection. Which I am really glad sprint gave me the airave, but its basically just VOIP. If they really wanted to help out you'd think they would've offered something that didnt require your internet connection...kinda like those wilson electronic antennas.
I too am thinking about the same thing. My contract is up in April, and 3g speeds in my area have been HORRIBLE the past year, I haven't gotten above 100kbps on sprint's 3g in over a year. Completely unusable at times.
I would love to switch to verizon, as their 3g works great (about 1500-2000kbps) and the 4g is amazing (at least 20mbps down in my area). However, I have the same dilemma as you. If I had access to those kind of speeds, I could actually do things that I want to, like stream live tv while at work. However, I have ran the numbers, and even with the 10gb data cap, I would go over that every month.
So to me, it's just not worth paying 80 bucks a month just for data if I am going to have to keep worrying about going over the cap. Luckily, I have the Verizon prl which I an switch to once in a while to actually get decent data speeds. I wil ljust have to live with that until sprint gets lte up and running.
ronartest2005 said:
So my contract is up in April, or I can upgrade to a newer phone (maybe if the Galaxy Nexus is available by then I would get that). But what should I do?
I currently have a sprint airave at my house so signal isn't a big issue, although today our internet went down for a couple hours and on my stock prl I couldn't even get a data connection, and using a verizon roaming prl which was stuck in 1x I got around .15mbs down.
But my question is this;
I've heard that sprint is "doing tower upgrades" and they will start to rollout LTE sometime before the end of the year. But verizon already has LTE in my area (super fast..around 20mbs down) But I would have to pay more, and I would be capped. But what does having "truely unlimited data" mean if you can't even get a data connection?.
Is what sprint is doing with their network even worth it?, Or should I just say bye?. I've heard rumors that sprint is moving towards having some kind of a data cap anyways.
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One thing to remember about data... as long as you don't change your plan they have to let you keep it. think of it in terms of your minutes. plans are always changing and often a year or so after they offer a plan, they no longer offer that same plan, but you get to keep it as long as you never change.and from my understnading if you are a current customer you would be grandfathered in... i have a buddy that has verizon and has had for years. He had an unlimited plan and now that verizon offers no unlimited plan he STILL has unlimited data.
The rumors of capped data on sprint are just that- rumors, sprint has no plans of capping data whatsoever they will throttle the top 1% but that is a rediculous amount of data on my bill we have 4 phones and an data card, we average 200gb of data a month and I've talked to many csr's at sprint who have told me that is pretty average data use for a family with multiple lines. The last person I talked to was the executive Rep for my dads office and he said to be throttled you need to consistently use 500+gb on a single line and then they will only throttle you .5mbps during peak time
I find it weird that everyone is being told that the upgrades are expected on April (I live in Houston). I was told that but then I was also informed that that can not be certain. I waited for over a year to wait for Sprint's improvements which never came. I know it is more money with Verizon I have real good data speeds. I kind wish I would have left to verizon hen they still offered unlimited. Like i said in another post that happens when you put your faith on sprint.
I think it is likely that sprint will be capped as well in the future. If you have unlimited they will most likely let you keep it. Also i don't know who told the above person that 200GB is average for a a family. That is a lot of data. But if you do use that much i guess you must have real good speeds. I guess nobody can really tell you if you should jump the ship since it all depends on your service area. If sprint sucks in your area then it really doesn't matter that another person has great service. For me service was bad so i saw no point in staying with sprint. With Verizon the lowest i have got is 5mbs and that is with low signal. The only thing i do not like with Verizon is that it seems that they charge more for monthly fees. They thing that you should consider is coverage, if you travel like me then Verizon might be worth it as it does have better national coverage.
eljefe18 said:
I find it weird that everyone is being told that the upgrades are expected on April (I live in Houston). I was told that but then I was also informed that that can not be certain. I waited for over a year to wait for Sprint's improvements which never came. I know it is more money with Verizon I have real good data speeds. I kind wish I would have left to verizon hen they still offered unlimited. Like i said in another post that happens when you put your faith on sprint.
I think it is likely that sprint will be capped as well in the future. If you have unlimited they will most likely let you keep it. Also i don't know who told the above person that 200GB is average for a a family. That is a lot of data. But if you do use that much i guess you must have real good speeds. I guess nobody can really tell you if you should jump the ship since it all depends on your service area. If sprint sucks in your area then it really doesn't matter that another person has great service. For me service was bad so i saw no point in staying with sprint. With Verizon the lowest i have got is 5mbs and that is with low signal. The only thing i do not like with Verizon is that it seems that they charge more for monthly fees. They thing that you should consider is coverage, if you travel like me then Verizon might be worth it as it does have better national coverage.
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Multiple csr's have told me that is average for family's with 3+ lines the guys in my dads office use about 100gb a month on their lines alone not including their family's lines his company has over 2000 employees in his office over 60,000 in 28 states all have sprint lines for them and their families as they get a ~60% employee discount for 4 unlimited android lines and a 12gb data card we pay ~ 135 with taxes with out the discount it would be ~320
-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Multiple csr's have told me that is average for family's with 3+ lines the guys in my dads office use about 100gb a month on their lines alone not including their family's lines his company has over 2000 employees in his office over 60,000 in 28 states all have sprint lines for them and their families as they get a ~60% employee discount for 4 unlimited android lines and a 12gb data card we pay ~ 135 with taxes with out the discount it would be ~320
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Don't get me wrong If you are able to use that much that is great. I was never able to get more than 3gb and not because i didn't want to but because for me data speeds were so poor that I really couldn't do much.
eljefe18 said:
Don't get me wrong If you are able to use that much that is great. I was never able to get more than 3gb and not because i didn't want to but because for me data speeds were so poor that I really couldn't do much.
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I average 1mbps down on peak and 2.5 off peak plus I was grandfathered in on unlimited tethering and where we live its dialup satellite or 3g no cable no DSL and no fiber :-( when I was on fios in Tampa I'd eat data like a fat kid eats cake 200gb is low usage for me compared to being on 50mbps fiber I think when I had fios I used data just to use it lol I live in a sparsely populated area and have no issue getting true 3g speeds, we don't get wimax here so that sucks I've only got to use the 4g a handful of times so far which really wasn't all that impressive to me, my dad and I are data hogs tho he uses alot of data for work and he flashes a new rom about everytime I turn around, I used alot of data for work as well and alot for play, we both stream a lot of music and movies and download tons of apps and crap just to play with don't even use probably a 1/4 of the apps we download we are both tinkerers and both have 2 phones, which makes it fairly easy to eat up some data I never really realized how much we used til we actually looked at the usage one month then kept checking to see if we always use that much. I'm not sure but we have something called a preferred buisness prl which may be why our speeds are high even in the city its a perk of having our plan through his work I guess sprint gives a company that spends that kind of money with them a special access to maintain good speeds as everyone he works with gets pretty good average speeds I'm sure they don't want to lose that contract lol I know I wouldn't if I were them
Edit: I was just looking at PRLs it appears the PRL we have is designated for EVDO/Wimax mobile broadband devices with voice service maybe that's y the data is fairly consistent? It is PRL 60750 or 60705 I can't remember for sure it shows up in sense but on aosp(which I'm on) it just shows a blank space where the PRL numbers should be which may be my fault since I built the rom I'm on I may have errored a line of code. Weird, I'm gonna have to check the source when I'm working on the next build, the 607xx PRLs are apparently designated for mobile broadband from what I could find
eljefe18 said:
I find it weird that everyone is being told that the upgrades are expected on April
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I don't know about the others but I was referring to when I can upgrade my phone, not to network upgrades.
Network upgrades are pretty random, I'm not sure with lte but I think they will just activate sprints spectrum on existing hardware making the rollout pretty fast as they wont need to install hardware just make a few adjustments to existing hardware. That's what they did with clear and wimax but clear kind of hit a wall and stopped expanding although now clear has some rather large expansions planned which is why I believe sprint is continuing to support wimax for the next few years atleast, if clear really rolls out alot of.coverage sprint could end up supporting both 4g formats for the foreseeable future giving them a huge edge over the competition
We are legion, for we are many.
I still think Sprint has the best all in one plan with the best price. In my experience data speeds have always been acceptable. My contract is up in May and I see myself staying with Sprint.
-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Network upgrades are pretty random, I'm not sure with lte but I think they will just activate sprints spectrum on existing hardware making the rollout pretty fast as they wont need to install hardware just make a few adjustments to existing hardware. That's what they did with clear and wimax but clear kind of hit a wall and stopped expanding although now clear has some rather large expansions planned which is why I believe sprint is continuing to support wimax for the next few years atleast, if clear really rolls out alot of.coverage sprint could end up supporting both 4g formats for the foreseeable future giving them a huge edge over the competition
We are legion, for we are many.
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Clear is moving towards LTE
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Clear is pushing wimax pretty hard in the Tampa area they send out flyers atleast once a week offering unlimited 4g mobile broadband where my mom lives they actually have the best 4g coverage of anywhere I've had access to wimax
We are legion, for we are many.
I know this is old but I did switch to verizon. I took over someones unlimited data account. I have LTE coverage everywhere I go now.
I recently pulled down 40mbs on LTE.
It is a bit pricey, but it is so nice being able to use a data connection. I am NOT saying that sprint is all around a bad cell provider, but in my area they are awful.
ronartest2005 said:
I know this is old but I did switch to verizon. I took over someones unlimited data account. I have LTE coverage everywhere I go now.
I recently pulled down 40mbs on LTE.
It is a bit pricey, but it is so nice being able to use a data connection. I am NOT saying that sprint is all around a bad cell provider, but in my area they are awful.
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Hey at the end of the day you have to do whats best for you and honestly I do not think I will be under contract again with anyone. Especially not with all these companies offering unlimited everything for half the price and all using 4g LTE.
Free Yourself

Should I dump Sprint and go with Verizon?

Hello,
I love the Epic 4g Touch but I am getting beyond frustrated with the Sprint service. I am feeling more and more like I should have waited a couple months and gotten the Galaxy Nexus instead. The problem is not that I don't love the phone I have or that the Nexus hardware is better, but I just feel like the Verizon network is light years ahead of Sprint. I chose Sprint because I had already been waiting for the Galaxy S2 for many months and I expected Sprint coverage and speeds to be better. I also originally expected the Galaxy S2 to come to Verizon last fall.
I just didn't want to wait. However, the usability of this phone is coming into serious question with the poor network performance. Call quality is decent, but internet speeds are pretty bad. Plus, there are numerous spots where I lose internet altogether. The speeds fluctuate wildly and it is very rare that I can get decent speeds for an extended period of time.
This means that most apps become difficult to use. I can't stream video or audio without it being horribly choppy. Web browsing can be frustrating as well.
If I could get any 4g service where I live, the speeds would be fast enough. But I only can get 3g service nearly everywhere. Not only that, but since WiMax is outdated, it is unlikely they will be expanded coverage and instead rolling out LTE coverage across the country. Thus, it is unlikely that the situation will improve in the future.
It seems to me that I had my priorities out of order when I decided to get this phone. I was looking only at the hardware and didn't pay nearly enough attention to the network speeds and reliability of the coverage.
So, do you think I should switch to Verizon? I understand that the Nexus hardware is remarkably similar to the Epic 4g Touch.
Is there a way to get out of my Sprint contract without paying a large amount of money to be let out early? Is there some loophole or method to voiding the contract somehow?
And, if I DID decide to go with Verizon, do you think it would be wise to go with the Nexus, or should I wait for the next super phone to come to Verizon? Do you anticipate that the Galaxy S3 will launch on Verizon?
So, do you all think I am overreacting to the network problems? For those who have switched, is the network improvement on Verizon vs Sprint dramatic and worth it for you?
I still haven't made a final decision on this, but trying to use my phone on the go has become more and more frustrating of late. I cannot stream video reliably or use many apps without frustration due to poor coverage and wildly fluctuating internet speeds.
Please advise me on what you would suggest.
Thanks.
I'm in almost the Same situation, I'm going to wait it out because as they update to lte it is my hope that it Will increase my 3g speeds with tower upgrades. Sprint is still the best deal for me with 4 phones and I just use wifi at home.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
im getting pretty frustrated also. 3g speeds are horrible. 4g works well but is so spotty here. works in one place, 5 feet away, its disconnected lol.
i wnt be switching as i have a $400 deposit from Verizon lol. And I do enjoy having no data caps, which comes in handy when downloading roms and music right from the phonr when I do get 4g coverage
no, and here is why
limited data sucks a big fat one, i cannot survive on limited data, that is the only reason you need
To answer your question, yes, there are ways to get out of your contract that will *probably* by ETF free. If you find yourself roaming too much, Sprint will kick you off their network, normally without an ETF. Do a forum (or Google) search to learn more about people being kicked off Sprint for roaming.
Whether or not you want to switch to Verizon is up to you. Yes, you will likely notice significantly increased data speeds. I notice that when I'm roaming, my data speeds are far more consistently "usable" than when I'm on Sprint's native network. The reason I haven't switched is twofold... First, Sprint is cheaper, and because I spend 90% of my time connected to WiFi somewhere. When I'm not on WiFi and experiencing slow network speeds, I use Roam Control. The second reason I haven't switched is because Verizon does not work in some areas that I travel to frequently. I'm sure its a rarity nationwide, but I happen to fall into the category of going places that Verizon doesn't (or doesn't reliably, anyway).
So, if data speed is your only concern, you will likely be happier with Verizon. But the faster the data speeds, the more you use, which means you might need to pay for more bandwidth.
I've had this same thought for so long but Sprint customers are so close to them finally getting their Network Vision upgrades complete and LTE rolled out that i don't want to leave until I see if they are right or full of crap.
Thanks for the responses,
I am really leaning towards switching. I just have a couple more questions.
Could you guys elaborate on how I can get out of my Sprint contract without paying anything? Is it very difficult to do?
Second, exactly how limiting do you think the data caps are? When I am on the network, I could see it not being very difficult to refrain from downloading massive files. I could see myself generally only downloading larger files at home with wifi and only web browsing or streaming video or audio on the road.
I just am not sure how limiting the data cap would be. On the whole, however, I think the slow data speeds on Sprint are much more limiting than a data cap that I would hardly ever reach.
How easy is it for you to reach the data cap? Also, I heard if you pay a little more, you can get twice the data each month. How much extra is that and is it worth it?
And I asked this question in my original post but no one has responded yet. If I DID choose to switch, would it make sense to get the Galaxy Nexus or wait for the next great phone to come to Verizon?
Thanks for your help.
epic touch > galaxy nexus
My 3G speeds were slow when I first got this phone (no 4G here), but since then it has gotten better and better. I think the speed is awesome now!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Don't any of you guys utilize roam control and swapping PRLs? I too was leaning toward dropping Sprint because of their horrible 3g speeds, they were more like 1x constantly. Don't forget fellas we do roam on Verizon for free, so for the OP I would recommend downloading roam control, swapping your PRL to 1115 and giving that a try prior to cancelling your contract. Then if you still cant live with the speeds, then I would just use roam-control to roam,roam,roam until you get kicked off ETF free. Just my suggestion...
jasone4gt said:
Don't any of you guys utilize roam control and swapping PRLs? I too was leaning toward dropping Sprint because of their horrible 3g speeds, they were more like 1x constantly. Don't forget fellas we do roam on Verizon for free, so for the OP I would recommend downloading roam control, swapping your PRL to 1115 and giving that a try prior to cancelling your contract. Then if you still cant live with the speeds, then I would just use roam-control to roam,roam,roam until you get kicked off ETF free. Just my suggestion...
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yeah thats the only way i survive but I only get 1x data. im gonna have to load a diff prl, wasnt aware of that! thanks gonna try it
Success100 said:
yeah thats the only way i survive but I only get 1x data. im gonna have to load a diff prl, wasnt aware of that! thanks gonna try it
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Click to collapse
So you have just been using roam control with the 60683 PRL? If so, yeah I would definitely give another one a try. Korey has a thread in the general section which he runs through the different PRL options.
i had verizon then i switched to sprint because of how expensive they are but i did like there service and signal. I would think about switching back to verizon if they lowered there prices which i doubt they would.
Why don't you just switch so we don't have to waist time and space on threads like this, Sprint is going through upgrades right now and it's gonna be hit and miss with service if your in a shady area. Sprint has a lot of plus to their service right now, like the no data cap. I don't think it's fair to compare this company to a giant like Verizon, they have come a long way since taking over Nextel and their crappy service....
Verizon phone n plan suck. I rather go with att or t-mobile if I ever thing about dishing sprint.
Have you tried different modems and ROMs? Not sure what to do tbh. I think they'll charge you early termination fees which can cost quite a lot. And I would go with the Nexus. The GS3 probably won't come out for awhile in the US since I hear it will be released internationally first. And the S2 took like 5 months to come to the US after international so yeah.
I was on Verizon and switched to Sprint the day they started throttling the unlimited data they sold me to the point it was unusable. After repeatedly complaining to corporate and the BBB, the etf was waived.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Sprint is cheaper and no data limits. These are 2 huge factors for keeping me. Yeah they have limited 4G now but as soon as LTE rolls out, could be much better.
abusedcloth said:
Why don't you just switch so we don't have to waist time and space on threads like this, Sprint is going through upgrades right now and it's gonna be hit and miss with service if your in a shady area. Sprint has a lot of plus to their service right now, like the no data cap. I don't think it's fair to compare this company to a giant like Verizon, they have come a long way since taking over Nextel and their crappy service....
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Don't be a [email protected]&k.
Back on topic. I've been with sprint for 10 years. They just decided to dump me for to much roaming data. ( Prl 11115 and roam control). I had to use it. Data out here if any was painfully slow. Oh well, Im headed to at&t for the note
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
yamaford said:
Don't be a [email protected]&k.
Back on topic. I've been with sprint for 10 years. They just decided to dump me for to much roaming data. ( Prl 11115 and roam control). I had to use it. Data out here if any was painfully slow. Oh well, Im headed to at&t for the note
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my contact tells me they are getting really strict about that.
I hear AT&T has a 200MB roaming limit... Even a worse option for me, since they have virtually no coverage in northern Wisconsin...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

[Q] Class Action Suit

OK, calm down, I'm just asking! Has anyone heard of ANYONE involving themselves in a class action lawsuit against Sprint due to the next to non-existant Data that we pay a pretty penny for? It's ridiculous that we have to pay at least $30 for 4G data when most of us can't even get 3G data. My 3G data is approximately anywhere from 0.12 Mg to 0.3 Mg. And I can't even begin to get 4G data. Even the carrot of Unlimited data is nothing when data speeds are THAT sad. And I've tried 3G all over town (Louisville, KY). At least I get SOMETHING for 3G speeds. For 4G I get NOTHING. How can Sprint legally do this to us? Isn't that false advertising? They promised 3G and 4G data speeds and deliver NEITHER. Once people start dropping Sprint due to their pathetic data speeds, they may upgrade their service. I've read that alot of users keep Sprint as their provider strictly because of their unlimited data. So if they stopped unlimited data they would lose even more subscribers. Any lawyer types out there care to give their opinions?
Dude just switch carriers, no one is forcing you to stay with them unless you have a contract. Its not like every single one has no data connection, some has and some don't. So for others that has no clear connection should just switch. Just my opinion. Seems more of a hassle taking it to court or whatever. Im not against you ok, its just something I would do.
ojones838 said:
OK, calm down, I'm just asking! Has anyone heard of ANYONE involving themselves in a class action lawsuit against Sprint due to the next to non-existant Data that we pay a pretty penny for? It's ridiculous that we have to pay at least $30 for 4G data when most of us can't even get 3G data. My 3G data is approximately anywhere from 0.12 Mg to 0.3 Mg. And I can't even begin to get 4G data. Even the carrot of Unlimited data is nothing when data speeds are THAT sad. And I've tried 3G all over town (Louisville, KY). At least I get SOMETHING for 3G speeds. For 4G I get NOTHING. How can Sprint legally do this to us? Isn't that false advertising? They promised 3G and 4G data speeds and deliver NEITHER. Once people start dropping Sprint due to their pathetic data speeds, they may upgrade their service. I've read that alot of users keep Sprint as their provider strictly because of their unlimited data. So if they stopped unlimited data they would lose even more subscribers. Any lawyer types out there care to give their opinions?
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Click to collapse
They always say subject to signal strength and availability. I hate these threads...
Is it stated anywhere in writing that the extra charge is for the 4G? We all know that it IS but that does not help a legal case.
Welcome to the United States of Litigation!
sol_671 said:
Dude just switch carriers, no one is forcing you to stay with them unless you have a contract. Its not like every single one has no data connection, some has and some don't. So for others that has no clear connection should just switch. Just my opinion. Seems more of a hassle taking it to court or whatever. Im not against you ok, its just something I would do.
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Click to collapse
Dude, Sprint is forcing me to stay with them by contract. I still have roughly 1.5 years under contract with them. I got my first smartphone with Verizon. 3G, was in fact, 3G. I was puzzled when I went to Sprint and their signals were so weak. I'm sorry but I seem to be wasting my time telling you about my problems. Because you seem to be a Sprint minion. Maybe not, but I feel anyone that is on the side of Sprint is against me. I guess I feel like Sprint should charge users that have such terrible signals less than users that live in a signal-rich environment. I only ask for what I'm paying for. To switch now would cost me several hundred dollars. You've heard of this concept called "fair"? Well I don't think it's "fair" to have to pay the same fees as users who are getting exactly what they pay for. Would you think it was "fair" to be under a lunch contract where you and others paid for the same sandwich, but others got their sandwich piled high but you only got a skimpy sandwich? I don't think so. Fair is fair. And people like me are not being fairly treated.
robbyr said:
Is it stated anywhere in writing that the extra charge is for the 4G? We all know that it IS but that does not help a legal case.
Welcome to the United States of Litigation!
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Click to collapse
robbyr,
If you think WE can figure that out don't you think a lawyer can bring that out too?
I agree with you but a class action would likely never never fly in court since they guarantee nothing. I was on Tmobile for years before Sprint and their signal and speeds were rock solid. But boy meets girl and girl wants boy on family plan so Im on Sprint for the last 2+ years and the last 6 months have been the worst. My city is getting their network vision update now so I hope thats the problem. In the meantime when my signal is poo I update profile and it picks up a bit. I shouldn't have to do this though.
If you have horrible service, get an Airave in your house. It'll be like a tower in your living room or wherever you have your high speed modem, if you gave one.
And just because someone doesn't want to jump on Sprint and their speeds doesn't mean that they're against you, it's just that they're willing to deal with the situation for now. Besides this is all temporary.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
All a class action suit will do is make Sprint poorer, make the lawyers rich, and likely change nothing. And you might get a check for 3 dollars or so...
been down that road, for most people its more headaches than anything. and anyone who says it isn't just didn't realize they sometimes miss a text or call. plus if they don't give it to u free then u gotta pay for it and its not expensive but not at all cheap. in all honesty it helps your signal so ur not dropping calls but it really isn't doing anything for speed issues, it bumped my 3g speed from about 350kbps to about to about 650kbps..almost like turbo for 3g lol.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
ojones838 said:
OK, calm down, I'm just asking! Has anyone heard of ANYONE involving themselves in a class action lawsuit against Sprint due to the next to non-existant Data that we pay a pretty penny for? It's ridiculous that we have to pay at least $30 for 4G data when most of us can't even get 3G data. My 3G data is approximately anywhere from 0.12 Mg to 0.3 Mg. And I can't even begin to get 4G data. Even the carrot of Unlimited data is nothing when data speeds are THAT sad. And I've tried 3G all over town (Louisville, KY). At least I get SOMETHING for 3G speeds. For 4G I get NOTHING. How can Sprint legally do this to us? Isn't that false advertising? They promised 3G and 4G data speeds and deliver NEITHER. Once people start dropping Sprint due to their pathetic data speeds, they may upgrade their service. I've read that alot of users keep Sprint as their provider strictly because of their unlimited data. So if they stopped unlimited data they would lose even more subscribers. Any lawyer types out there care to give their opinions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you getting that you pay "at least 30$ a month for 4g data". The only additional data charge there is is on all smartphones, and it's only 10 bucks more a month than if you had data on a flip phone. And that 10$ is on all smartphones, so it wouldn't matter if you bought the new EVO LTE or the basic Motorola XPRT, you are paying the same price. There is no additional charge for 4g.
As to your statement "Once people start dropping Sprint due to their pathetic data speeds, they may upgrade their service."... Sprint is fixing the network. Without people dropping. Read here:
http://newsroom.sprint.com/press_kits.cfm?presskit_id=19
A little snippet I would like to point out: "Sprint expects its 4G coverage footprint to cover 250 million people when the build-out is completed by the end of 2013"
Sprint is working an intensely aggressive schedule to rebuild the ENTIRE NETWORK in 3 years, increasing 3g data coverage, and putting LTE everywhere 3g is. Major cities are first on the docket, but it will increase the network signal pretty much everywhere.
My last suggestion is to read through your TOS at some point. They do not guarantee or promise 3g or 4g data anywhere, and do state that it is subject to availability in your area.
I am tired of seeing this thread pop up over and over again.
You signed a contract giving up the right to seek class action status when you agreed to the ToS.
You can remedy your situation (according to contract) by arbitration, small claims, or complaining to regulators.
ojones838 said:
Dude, Sprint is forcing me to stay with them by contract. I still have roughly 1.5 years under contract with them. I got my first smartphone with Verizon. 3G, was in fact, 3G. I was puzzled when I went to Sprint and their signals were so weak. I'm sorry but I seem to be wasting my time telling you about my problems. Because you seem to be a Sprint minion. Maybe not, but I feel anyone that is on the side of Sprint is against me. I guess I feel like Sprint should charge users that have such terrible signals less than users that live in a signal-rich environment. I only ask for what I'm paying for. To switch now would cost me several hundred dollars. You've heard of this concept called "fair"? Well I don't think it's "fair" to have to pay the same fees as users who are getting exactly what they pay for. Would you think it was "fair" to be under a lunch contract where you and others paid for the same sandwich, but others got their sandwich piled high but you only got a skimpy sandwich? I don't think so. Fair is fair. And people like me are not being fairly treated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You were puzzled to see Sprint's weak signals yet you stayed with them? You had 15 days to test the network and decide if you wanted to stay or not. You and only you made that decision to stay with Sprint and sign the 2 year deal and now you are *****ing about it? I have no sympathy for you nor should anybody else.
lickarock,
I am tired of seeing this thread pop up over and over again.
Why do you constantly read it?
tgruendler,
I'm sorry, no one asked you for sympathy...
Besides this is all temporary.[/QUOTE said:
What do you mean, exactly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
akamara13,
What exactly do you mean all this is temporary?
tgruendler said:
You were puzzled to see Sprint's weak signals yet you stayed with them? You had 15 days to test the network and decide if you wanted to stay or not. You and only you made that decision to stay with Sprint and sign the 2 year deal and now you are *****ing about it? I have no sympathy for you nor should anybody else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't have 15 days to test the network. As you can see, I get to Sprint through Credomobile. Also I didn't SIGN a 2 year deal as all my account dealings were done over the 'net. Also since when does anyone not experiment with a new device and just give up without trying to get it to work within 2 weeks? Even most stores give you 30 days. Whew! Just blowing off steam. No need to reply to this...
Ojones 838 have you thought about putting a verison prl on your phone all that roaming and sprint will ask you to leave and prodadly no etf.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
lickarock said:
http://newsroom.sprint.com/press_kits.cfm?presskit_id=19
A little snippet I would like to point out: "Sprint expects its 4G coverage footprint to cover 250 million people when the build-out is completed by the end of 2013"
Sprint is working an intensely aggressive schedule to rebuild the ENTIRE NETWORK in 3 years, increasing 3g data coverage, and putting LTE everywhere 3g is. Major cities are first on the docket, but it will increase the network signal pretty much everywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying you're wrong lickarock, I'm saying Sprint's data in the article you posted is a pipedream. I have to say "BS" on the 250 million number. That would mean that 75%+ of users would have 4G LTE coverage. Right now, Sprint doesn't even cover 75% of the users with good 3G coverage. Sprint's maps lie. I live in an "excellent" 3G area according to Sprint and get very very slow data or no data on Sprint's network.
I didn't have the option to "try" for 14 days either since I bought my phone in a different state and had it for 2 months before moving to CA. I've called several times saying "I've moved, and now my coverage is non-existent, please cancel my contract or replace my phone with one that will get a signal." Their response is "our maps show that you live in an excellent... blah blah blah". They don't care that phone calls just go to voicemail. I know of at least 7 people that have dropped Sprint and gone to AT&T or T-mobile when asking me about service and network in this area (friends and family bring their phones to me to root). Sprint is not just losing me as a customer, I'm taking another dozen or so (eventually) with me to other carriers.
-Daryel
ojones838 - I feel your pain on this, I really do. That said, a class action lawsuit isn't the way to go. Lawyers aren't the way to go for that matter. Just do what was posted above me. Use an alternate PRL and roam like no other. Sprint will kick you off without an ETF and you can switch carriers.
I too should have left within the 15 days but like a lot of others I didn't. The speeds were kind of ok in the beginning and I figured they would get better as Sprint upgraded their towers. That didn't happen. I'd heard even before switching to Sprint that the speeds were crap but I thought "really, how bad can they honestly be". Boy was I wrong...
So now I'm stuck paying for data that I don't have (thank you false advertising) unless I turn on WiMax "4G" and even that is slower than EVERY other carriers 3G. Sprint advertised specific speeds - which I've yet to see. So use another PRL and get out of the contract. That's what I'm doing at least.

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