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Should I just go with Sprint?

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Dreamer216

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 13, 2012
20
0
NYC
Okay, so I decided I might go with Sprint because its a cheaper service, I was originally siding with At&T. But I can wait for LTE, my school has high speed wifi everywhere (college student), and when I'm home in NYC I have wifi too. Right now I'm on T-Mobile using HSPA+ and I use it mostly for Spotify since my phone has a horrible MP3 and I can't even put all my songs on it since I have 18gb of songs. So with that, I'll just cancel my Spotify because I won't even use it.

Under T-Mobile I had unlimited data and used 3gb because of music streaming. Remove that and its less than 1gb. So the only time I'll depend on Sprint is my holiday trips to home on the 8hr bus or train (but now even Greyhound and Amtrack has wifi). So in a way there's wifi everywhere.


But I have this feeling to just go with At&t. I really hate the duopoly Verizon and At&t have going on:mad:

Sorry for rambling, but this is a 2yr decision and I don't know where to side. I don't use voice and data, but I like the feeling of reliability that At&t has.

I happen to go to school in Buffalo, and I live in NYC. So both of them don't have Sprint LTE yet, but At&t has full coverage there.

And with T-Mobile I get around 1 mbps speeds on 4G, which is fast enough to stream Spotify and YouTube in high quality with no buffering. So its pretty fast even if the number is low.
 
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DaQuickPG

macrumors member
Jun 3, 2011
62
0
I was thinking of going with sprint and then i tried my friend's iphone 5 with sprint service and had a horrible experience. This was downtown Charlotte, NC where Sprint is supposed to have LTE but we could not even stay connected on 3g , and when it was on 3g it was super slow loading web sites. I didnt measure bandwidth but god it had to be 0.2-0.3mb down. We had to find wifi so i can help him out install apps, set it up, etc... It was very frustrating so no do not even think about going with Sprint just get less data on att or verizon since u will b on wifi anyway. At least when u r not on wifi u will have decent speeds.
 
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Dreamer216

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 13, 2012
20
0
NYC
DaQuickPG said:
I was thinking of going with sprint and then i tried my friend's iphone 5 with sprint service and had a horrible experience. This was downtown Charlotte, NC where Sprint is supposed to have LTE but we could not even stay connected on 3g , and when it was on 3g it was super slow loading web sites. I didnt measure bandwidth but god it had to be 0.2-0.3mb down. We had to find wifi so i can help him out install apps, set it up, etc... It was very frustrating so no do not even think about going with Sprint just get less data on att or verizon since u will b on wifi anyway. At least when u r not on wifi u will have decent speeds.
Click to expand...

Oh that sucks. Its always examples like these that really make me fully reconsider going with At&t.

-----

Which service has better voice quality in NY?
 
V

viperGTS

macrumors 68000
Nov 15, 2010
1,560
941
As pointed out, Sprint has very slow 3G. Why not just stay on TMobile? AT&T, I've heard nothing but bad things about.
 
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Dreamer216

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 13, 2012
20
0
NYC
viperGTS said:
As pointed out, Sprint has very slow 3G. Why not just stay on TMobile? AT&T, I've heard nothing but bad things about.
Click to expand...

One reason is I don't feel like paying full retail for a phone. I don't change plans often, I had T-mobile since 2007. So why not just get the $299 price is I know I will stay with that service.

Verizon is out of the question, way too expensive. I'm getting a discount on At&t and Sprint so my plan is cheaper for more.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,464
43,385
Sprint's biggest knock is the fact network speed is much slower then its competitors. I assume their 4G network is well behind ATT and VZW as well.

Pick the network that covers your area the best with fastest speed if possible.
 
Fuchal

Fuchal

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2003
2,607
1,085
Somerville, MA. Pretty nice LTE speed for unlimited datas.
 

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TableSyrup

macrumors 6502
May 29, 2012
312
1
faiz23 said:
very nice...do me a favor and disable LTE and speedtest on the wonderful 3g :rolleyes:video
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I kinda have to roll my eyes too, but this is pretty average for me here in the metro and surrounding Minneapolis MN areas (Though, there are a lot of spots where data is really bad in pockets, or basements) - obviously a far cry from other carriers at the moment, but worth the wait for LTE and the network band swaps which are coming, and going to help tremendously.... and of course, unlimited minutes and text are huge, and my unlimited data is gonna pay off big time - I also stream pandora non stop - not sure how much that really eats, but at least I don't have to worry about it
 

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kalexn

macrumors 6502
Sep 17, 2012
384
0
Texas
I have Sprint and while they are not the fastest carrier I have had no issues what so ever. The only issue I had a few weeks ago was static on some phone calls and that was because they were updating the towers to LTE. I live in Tennessee. Even when I am not on 3G, it is still pretty fast. And on wi-fi I am great. My mom had AT&T and recently switched to Sprint. So it really is your decision. I'd ask people who have Sprint up where you go to school and live and see what they think.
 
faiz23

faiz23

macrumors 6502
Oct 8, 2010
304
0
BFizzzle said:
this post is ignorant..

hey! turn off 4 of your valves and see how fast your car goes..
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or is it a test to see what happens when you leave your home area and travel to where 3g is. Do you think LTE is eveywhere you go. You have all your valves in your car at all times. It is the cylinders they shut down on v8 to save gas mileage. Do you realize once LTE is launched fully for sprint they plan to raise their prices. Enjoy your precious unlimited cheap dialup which will end up changing to average LTE at industry rates.


Now guess what DAN HESSE PLANS TO DO WHEN LTE IS OFFICALLY LAUNCHED IN ALL MARKETS.....RAISE THE ROOF SON.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57...t-plan-prices-when-lte-network-gets-stronger/

"Chief Executive Dan Hesse, speaking at an analyst conference today, said Sprint may consider raising prices once it has made more progress with its 4G LTE network upgrade. The company lags Verizon Wireless and AT&T in building out the high-speed network, something that could limit its attraction to customers.
"We have a competitive disadvantage in terms of LTE footprint," Hesse said. "You don't increase your price when you have a network footprint disadvantage. You want to wait and think of that until you get to that point."


Oh so now you tell me that when LTE is launched all will be gravy right. Text messages being delayed along with crap 3g due to a network loaded down with metropcs, cricket, virgin mobile, boost, and their own subscribers all using sprints towers. Oh did i forget CLEAR broadband. Enjoy sharing the network with everyone and their dog and keep paying average rates for subpar service.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1462310/
 
AJAAY

AJAAY

macrumors 6502
Sep 29, 2012
438
292
I DO NOT recommend Sprint.....unless you are in their LTE coverage.

I'm still waiting for them to activate LTE in my area (even though they said it would be out by October).

I'm seriously contemplating on going to $30/month T-Mobile prepaid plan. (I had T-Mobile and their coverage is great for me).
 
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PM-Performance

macrumors 6502
Feb 12, 2012
320
47
I made the mistake of leaving AT&T for sprint the other year.
I cancelled my contract early and went back to AT&T due to horrible service across every area in the country I visited.
Never make that mistake again!
 
_Refurbished_

_Refurbished_

macrumors 68020
Mar 23, 2007
2,333
3,013
When Sprint has wide coverage of LTE (years away), it will be a debatable question to switch to Sprint. Until then, stick with one of the big guns...
 
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Dreamer216

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 13, 2012
20
0
NYC
You guys may be getting LTE but I have to wait until 2014 for full LTE in NYC and Buffalo.
 
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emoore

macrumors regular
Aug 27, 2003
122
0
Dreamer216 said:
One reason is I don't feel like paying full retail for a phone. I don't change plans often, I had T-mobile since 2007. So why not just get the $299 price is I know I will stay with that service.

Verizon is out of the question, way too expensive. I'm getting a discount on At&t and Sprint so my plan is cheaper for more.
Click to expand...

I believe that T-mobile has cheaper plans if you buy the phone outright as opposed to subsidize. You will probably make that difference up if you keep the phone for 2 years.

I'm on sprint right now and I've never had any issues (4S). Data is slow but I don't use a ton of it a month. I'm really interested in going with T-mobile next because its cheaper per month and I think the data is better or will be better when the roll out 3G and LTE. My guess is that they will get the iphone 5 sometime next year but thats just a guess.
 
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Johnnygogo

macrumors member
Mar 30, 2012
59
0
it is a fact that everyone that does not have lte hates sprint. i would too. but here in good ol Chicago and all surrounding burbs we have it. i traveled to atlanta and nahville this weekend and they had it. phone was super fast everywhere i have gone so far. and that is what matters. i pay half of what others pay for 2 phones on unlimited data. but if you dont have good lte i agree, don't go with Sprint.
 
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