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Sprint iPhone Users Complaining of Slow 3G Data Speeds

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,523
30,816



Some Sprint customers are reporting slow data speeds now that the iPhone has finally launched on the country's number three network.

sprintspeed.jpg



There is a lengthy thread on Sprint's discussion boards, with iPhone 4S owners reporting extremely slow data speeds on launch day. Some report having difficulty using Siri over 3G because Sprint's data network was being so unreliable. One user said his Samsung Epic Touch with 4G turned off returned 3-times faster speeds than his iPhone 4S in the same location. Another Sprint user claims that his new iPhone and his Evo 3D are both slow.

A thread in the MacRumors forums shows that while some users are having poor data speeds on Sprint, others are having no problems, so it could be a signal strength or location issue rather than a widespread network problem. Gizmodo's unscientific speedtest survey is showing dramatically slower speeds for Sprint than either Verizon or AT&T. Sprint is the only U.S. iPhone carrier that offers unlimited data to new customers.

It's unclear if this is just launch-week jitters, a more widespread problem with Sprint's network, or something in between -- as more and more Sprint iPhones arrive in the wild, we should get a clearer picture of Sprint's ability to handle lots of new data-hungry iPhone customers.

Article Link: Sprint iPhone Users Complaining of Slow 3G Data Speeds
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/15/sprint-iphone-users-complaining-of-slow-3g-data-speeds/
HiRez

HiRez

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
6,250
2,576
Western US
I'm not gonna LOL because I feel bad for those people, but this is exactly why I didn't choose to move to Sprint. I chose Verizon despite knowing they had slow-ish data speeds, but I knew they did at least have a robust network and had carried the iPhone previously. Sprint, no.
 
Slix

Slix

macrumors 65816
Mar 24, 2010
1,441
1,989
Nice second ad. :rolleyes:
My dad says that sometimes the Siri connection won't work, but so far it's been fine I guess.
 
nfl46

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,349
8,704
Well, they shouldn't have it all: Unlimited Data and fast speeds. Lol.
 
B

burnout8488

macrumors 6502a
May 8, 2011
575
79
Endwell, NY
I kind of expected this to be honest, but coming from a Blackberry Bold 9650, the perceived speed is about identical.

I'm getting about 5 kilobytes per second download and 1kb/s upload around my house with 3-4 bars. It's garbage, and iMessage is nearly unusable. It needs WiFi.

I spoke to a friend that was working at a Verizon kiosk, and he attributed this to Sprint having the only unlocked phone. I'm not sure how this makes sense though if people are using the Sprint iPhone on OTHER networks - it shouldn't affect the Sprint network at all.

I'm hoping within the next week it becomes more usable.
 
B

burnout8488

macrumors 6502a
May 8, 2011
575
79
Endwell, NY
Perhaps iOS5.1 will address this somehow. If an EVO sitting next to an iPhone can get better speeds over the same 3G network, something can probably be patched on the iPhone.
 
E

ELBdelorean

macrumors member
May 18, 2010
98
0
So Apple releases an iPhone with HSPA+ capability on two CDMA networks and one GSM. I don't see the logic. T-Mobile has HSPA+, why not them?
 
Frankied22

Frankied22

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2010
1,779
583
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

I can confirm this. I'm not even getting .25mbs on my Sprint 3G, and I'm in a big town where Sprint has 4G. I new it would be slow, but if this is what it's going to remain like I'll return this phone and stick with my iPhone 4 on AT&T. The upgrade hasn't even been that great. I'm over Siri, the camera is not night and day from my iPhone 4 camera, and I barely notice a speed difference in everyday uses.
 
A

aimbdd

macrumors 6502a
Dec 10, 2008
625
63
East Cost
It does't matter what phone you have.. go over to xda and look at the billion threads about the same problem with the eve 4g, eve 3d. Its a sprint network problem. It has nothing to do with sprint getting the Iphone.. it was bad before, and is still bad now.
 
kazmac

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,086
8,627
Any place but here or there....
sigh...

I hope this is just first week jitters. Because if not, I'm returning my phone immediately.

AT&T was slow enough. I switched because AT&T experiences dropped calls and doesn't work reliably at my job.

Will watch, but if it's consistently slower than my 3GS good bye. Guess I won't add anything to the phone except the few numbers I have to.
 
fox777

fox777

macrumors regular
Nov 11, 2008
127
0
USA
It's not problem with an Iphone it's just SPRINT'S NETWORK IS SLOW.

I walked into Sprint store and wanted to install speedtest app on their Iphone 4S to see how fast their network is. Unfortunately you can't download apps to their demo units so salesperson offered me her android 3G phone to test Sprint's speed.

After I DLed speedtest app and ran it, it showed me how SLOW sprint's network really was. Download was 0.3mpbs and upload 0.27 mbps.

To compare I bench 8 mbps down and 5 up on my Samsung Galaxy S2 on ATT and 3.5 down and 3.0 up on my Iphone 4S Verizon



I actually feel sorry for existing Sprint users who had slow network before and now with additional huge data load that Iphone puts - whole sprint's network will be CRAWLING for everybody
 
I

IOS-Android-Mac

macrumors newbie
Oct 15, 2011
1
0
Sprint phones

The first couple of weeks I had my evo 4g running on sprint 3g it was slow as all get out. I had to take it into the store and have them punch in a code to "re-setup" the network like it did when I first turned the phone on. It could very well be possible that its needing a reset in the phone for some reason.
 
Frankied22

Frankied22

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2010
1,779
583
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

I'm probably going to just go back to my iPhone 4 on AT&T. Then I'll be eligible for an upgrade when the next one comes out.
 
Kabeyun

Kabeyun

macrumors 68040
Mar 27, 2004
3,412
6,350
Eastern USA
I love that in Oklahoma the ad wants you to get satellite TV, but in LA you're expected to be looking for a piece of a$$.
 
J

JTToft

macrumors 68040
Apr 27, 2010
3,447
796
Aarhus, Denmark
Sometimes I really have to laugh at the poor internet connections you Americans have to deal with. I feel sorry for you.

In my basement (!) in my house in a small town in Denmark I am getting a pretty consistent speed of 3 Mbit/sec both up and down with a ping of 80 ms on 3G.

In every other way, though, the United States is a far better place to be in terms of technology and internet services.
 
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