Carrier Sprint network issues

Cchs229 · Jul 8, 2014

Hello,
Does anyone notice that on Sprint's network, you can have full bars of 3G/LTE and the internet will still fail to load? Being on sprint is definitely a hassle and I was wondering why Sprint is the way it is?
Also, I can have LTE coverage outside of an area but once I walk into a store/building it almost ALWAYS drops back to 3G.
And last but not least, it seems like Sprint or my iPhone has a hard time automatically detecting LTE. There are times when I know I have LTE coverage but my phone says 3G. Therefore I have to put my phone into airplane mode and turn it back on for it to find the lte connection.

These are just some network issues that bug me and I was just looking for some insight into why Sprint's network is like this and a possible fix?

Thank you!

ValerieDurden · Jul 8, 2014

It's mainly an iPhone problem, I have the same issues with my 5. When I use my S3 I have zero problems connecting to LTE and staying on it wherever I go. I don't know how the 5s and 5c do with LTE considering they have access to LTE800 so they should get LTE pretty much everywhere.

wordoflife · Jul 8, 2014

This is nothing new for Sprint, in case you weren't aware. Their network is just really bad, for whatever reason.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1536785/

ValerieDurden · Jul 8, 2014

wordoflife said:
This is nothing new for Sprint, in case you weren't aware. Their network is just really bad, for whatever reason.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1536785/

It's quite good in areas that have Network Vision nearly completed, I have absolutely zero complaints as far as coverage and or data speeds are concerned. In fact most of the time I have LTE in places Verizon and AT&T don't, and T-Mobile well I am not even going to go there.

wordoflife · Jul 8, 2014

ValerieDurden said:
It's quite good in areas that have Network Vision nearly completed, I have absolutely zero complaints as far as coverage and or data speeds are concerned. In fact most of the time I have LTE in places Verizon and AT&T don't, and T-Mobile well I am not even going to go there.

Undoubtedly, service will vary depending on your physical location. The general consensus seems to be that while Sprint has a few decent locations, they are still pretty bad elsewhere. And even where Sprint is good, they're probably not the best.

ValerieDurden · Jul 8, 2014

wordoflife said:
Undoubtedly, service will vary depending on your physical location. The general consensus seems to be that while Sprint has a few decent locations, they are still pretty bad elsewhere. And even where Sprint is good, they're probably not the best.

Of course it depends on location, but when Network Vision 2.0 is completed I think everyone will be eating their bad words about Sprint.

eyoungren · Jul 8, 2014

Cchs229 said:
Hello,
Does anyone notice that on Sprint's network, you can have full bars of 3G/LTE and the internet will still fail to load?

Yes. And it depends on your area. If you were not aware, Sprint has been replacing over ~38,000 cell towers since late 2011 with all brand new equipment.

Cabinets, carrier cards, antennas, routers, etc. This is called Network Vision 1.0. Another part of that is that Sprint is also installing fiber optic backhaul to replace all the copper cable. Backhaul is the cabling that connects the tower to Sprint's wired network. Depending on your area, they can be complete or in progress. And it's totally possible to have everything done on a tower but because the backhaul is not there yet, it's not hooked up.

Additionally, when they have to work on the towers for this, they have to turn them on and off. That places burden on other nearby towers which equals congestion.

Cchs229 said:
Being on sprint is definitely a hassle and I was wondering why Sprint is the way it is?

See above.

Cchs229 said:
Also, I can have LTE coverage outside of an area but once I walk into a store/building it almost ALWAYS drops back to 3G.

Sprint uses 1900mhz for Band 25 LTE. It does not penetrate buildings well, does not go as far as 3G and in the initial construction phases tends to be low-powered.

Cchs229 said:
And last but not least, it seems like Sprint or my iPhone has a hard time automatically detecting LTE. There are times when I know I have LTE coverage but my phone says 3G. Therefore I have to put my phone into airplane mode and turn it back on for it to find the lte connection.

Yeah. I have that happen too. It usually means that the LTE signal is weak.

Cchs229 said:
These are just some network issues that bug me and I was just looking for some insight into why Sprint's network is like this and a possible fix?

Thank you!

See above. Not much you can do until Sprint is finished in your area.

I would suggest if you want to track what's being done in your market, go here: s4gru.com

These guys have been following the rollout since late 2011 and have market by market progress threads as well as a running list of what's complete where and by how much. If you become a sponsor you can get even more info.

----------

ValerieDurden said:
Of course it depends on location, but when Network Vision 2.0 is completed I think everyone will be eating their bad words about Sprint.

Except those of us on the iPhone 5 series iPhones. The iPhone 5 is not Spark compatible. And both the 5c and 5s can only use two of Spark's three frequencies.

You'll need an iPhone 6 or some other Spark enabled phone to use NV 2.0.

ValerieDurden · Jul 8, 2014

eyoungren said:
Yes. And it depends on your area. If you were not aware, Sprint has been replacing over ~38,000 cell towers since late 2011 with all brand new equipment.

Cabinets, carrier cards, antennas, routers, etc. This is called Network Vision 1.0. Another part of that is that Sprint is also installing fiber optic backhaul to replace all the copper cable. Backhaul is the cabling that connects the tower to Sprint's wired network. Depending on your area, they can be complete or in progress. And it's totally possible to have everything done on a tower but because the backhaul is not there yet, it's not hooked up.

Additionally, when they have to work on the towers for this, they have to turn them on and off. That places burden on other nearby towers which equals congestion.

See above.

Cchs229 said:

Also, I can have LTE coverage outside of an area but once I walk into a store/building it almost ALWAYS drops back to 3G.
Sprint uses 1900mhz for Band 25 LTE. It does not penetrate buildings well, does not go as far as 3G and in the initial construction phases tends to be low-powered.

Yeah. I have that happen too. It usually means that the LTE signal is weak.

See above. Not much you can do until Sprint is finished in your area.

I would suggest if you want to track what's being done in your market, go here: s4gru.com

These guys have been following the rollout since late 2011 and have market by market progress threads as well as a running list of what's complete where and by how much. If you become a sponsor you can get even more info.

----------

Except those of us on the iPhone 5 series iPhones. The iPhone 5 is not Spark compatible. And both the 5c and 5s can only use two of Spark's three frequencies.

You'll need an iPhone 6 or some other Spark enabled phone to use NV 2.0.

Click to expand...

Yes I know this, my upgrade is in September.

ET iPhone Home · Jul 9, 2014

Cchs229 said:
Hello,
Does anyone notice that on Sprint's network, you can have full bars of 3G/LTE and the internet will still fail to load? Being on sprint is definitely a hassle and I was wondering why Sprint is the way it is?
Also, I can have LTE coverage outside of an area but once I walk into a store/building it almost ALWAYS drops back to 3G.
And last but not least, it seems like Sprint or my iPhone has a hard time automatically detecting LTE. There are times when I know I have LTE coverage but my phone says 3G. Therefore I have to put my phone into airplane mode and turn it back on for it to find the lte connection.

These are just some network issues that bug me and I was just looking for some insight into why Sprint's network is like this and a possible fix?

Thank you!

Which is why I'm leaving Sprint once the iPhone 6 arrives. I get full bars on calls and my text messages fail to send. I like Sprint strictly for voice; always reliable, anything else is crap.

rockitdog · Jul 27, 2014

Has the Sprint service improved much at all as of late. Seems like they are now inviting people to come in and try them out.

eyoungren · Jul 27, 2014

rockitdog said:
Has the Sprint service improved much at all as of late. Seems like they are now inviting people to come in and try them out.

That's in response to T-Mobile. Sprint rarely acts on it's own. It almost always reacts. When they do act on their own it's usually something mediocre.

In any case, yes the network is improving. No, depending on your area, it's not ready.

In markets where they are pushing the 30 day trial those markets should be ready. Sprint hasn't been advertising the new network really at all (just their service) because they knew they couldn't back it up.

Certain markets though have actually managed to get complete with NV 1.0 and 2.0 (Spark).

My market (Phoenix) is fairly unuseable at home and work. But that's because they are still working on the freaking towers near my home and work. I can go other places and LTE is fast and available. Phoenix is 50% built out so it's really hit and miss right now.

You might check s4gru.com for your market.

MsRandall · Jul 27, 2014

My network vision date was in Sept 2012- I left Sprint for Verizon in July 2012 - I have completed my Verizon contract and my area still has bad Sprint service. My sister is a dead heart Sprint girl and her iPhone 5s is slow as molasses in my area.

Sprint might be improving but they IN MY AREA must be using 1 crew because it's not very efficient - 24 months behind ?????

eyoungren · Jul 27, 2014

MsRandall said:
Sprint might be improving but they IN MY AREA must be using 1 crew because it's not very efficient - 24 months behind ?????

Yeah, this has been their big problem now.

NV is paid for, but Sprint paid all the contractors peanuts and they did not stipulate bonuses for delivering early or penalties for delivering late in their contracts. Consequently, Sprint can only whine to the contractors. There is no incentive to deliver on time or early and no penalty for doing it late so the contractors have been doing it whenever they feel like it.

One contractor I am aware of specifically details all it's new, inexperienced people to it's Sprint contracts. Why? Because there's no penalty if these guys get things done late or screw it up and the new guys get experience.

NV delivered in typical Sprint fashion! SMH

MsRandall · Jul 27, 2014

That's unfortunate because that reflects on Sprint and even if I wasn't thinking about coming back to Sprint / I know others that are. Inefficiencies like the Vision rollout can make a potential customer rethink their decision

eyoungren · Jul 27, 2014

MsRandall said:
That's unfortunate because that reflects on Sprint and even if I wasn't thinking about coming back to Sprint / I know others that are. Inefficiencies like the Vision rollout can make a potential customer rethink their decision

Absolutely! And this is why a lot of the Sprint fanboys annoy me. Because they talk up the network and all the "wonderful" things Sprint is doing right and how great it will be, but they never consider Sprint's quirks itself. Sprint has always shot itself in the foot.

Things like this are the proof to my statement. NV is being held up because of stupid decisions made years ago.

AppleFanatic10 · Jul 27, 2014

Sprint's network being crappy is nothing unusual. They've been that way for years.

eyoungren · Jul 27, 2014

AppleFanatic10 said:
Sprint's network being crappy is nothing unusual. They've been that way for years.

You are correct, I can't deny that. We are simply discussing the reasons for why it's crappy now.

A couple of years ago it was crappy because Clearwire was giving Sprint the middle finger and refusing to build out 4G.

A couple of years before that it was crappy because of the Nextel transition.

Before that I wasn't paying attention because my 3G still worked.

So, yes, it's all the same of course, but the reasons behind it this time are different.

Not that that really matters though.

AppleFanatic10 · Jul 27, 2014

eyoungren said:
You are correct, I can't deny that. We are simply discussing the reasons for why it's crappy now.

A couple of years ago it was crappy because Clearwire was giving Sprint the middle finger and refusing to build out 4G.

A couple of years before that it was crappy because of the Nextel transition.

Before that I wasn't paying attention because my 3G still worked.

So, yes, it's all the same of course, but the reasons behind it this time are different.

Not that that really matters though.

I've always wanted to go to Sprint because they were cheap, but if the service isn't good then why should I? I've also looked into their prepaid services but most of them like Boost Mobile aren't that great either.

eyoungren · Jul 27, 2014

AppleFanatic10 said:
I've always wanted to go to Sprint because they were cheap, but if the service isn't good then why should I? I've also looked into their prepaid services but most of them like Boost Mobile aren't that great either.

Ting is probably one of the better Sprint MVNOs. They let you bring your own device over from Sprint.

No matter what Sprint MVNO you get though, you're still on the Sprint network.

Yeah, if it's bad in your area there's no point. We've been fortunate that we haven't suffered too much of what everyone else has. We mainly use our phones for voice calls and text messaging and Sprint's been reliable with that. Unfortunately, it's the data that sucks eggs.

AppleFanatic10 · Jul 27, 2014

eyoungren said:
Ting is probably one of the better Sprint MVNOs. They let you bring your own device over from Sprint.

No matter what Sprint MVNO you get though, you're still on the Sprint network.

Yeah, if it's bad in your area there's no point. We've been fortunate that we haven't suffered too much of what everyone else has. We mainly use our phones for voice calls and text messaging and Sprint's been reliable with that. Unfortunately, it's the data that sucks eggs.

Yeah. I don't call much, so I mainly text and use data. I need my data for certain things and if that doesn't work.. There's no point.

I've looked at Ting a few times... If I recall they were paying ETFs one while? Correct me if I'm wrong. I really considered going that route.

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