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eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
Just want to go on record and say the new Sprint commercials are absolutely horrible. Hamsters and cartoon birds? Wow!
I totally agree with that! You can't take what works in Japan and just port it to America and expect it to work here.

Classic Sprint. Maybe Son has been infected by the Sprint culture instead of the other way around!
 

EM2013

macrumors 68020
Sep 2, 2013
2,480
2,309
Just want to go on record and say the new Sprint commercials are absolutely horrible. Hamsters and cartoon birds? Wow!

Yeah I agree. All commercials are horrible these days, I watch commercials on mute when I'm watching the nba playoffs.
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2013
2,721
1,238
I recently heard that Sprint was going to start throttling it's high data users. So they'll be going from 1mbps to .5mbps. :)
 

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2012
2,787
1,499
I totally agree with that! You can't take what works in Japan and just port it to America and expect it to work here.

Classic Sprint. Maybe Son has been infected by the Sprint culture instead of the other way around!

Yeah I agree. All commercials are horrible these days, I watch commercials on mute when I'm watching the nba playoffs.

Yea. They are so bad, it's embarrassing. Kevin Durant launches away? I would have fired the entire marketing team on the spot if that was presented in a board room.
 

rambo47

macrumors 65816
Oct 3, 2010
1,354
973
Denville, NJ
Yea. They are so bad, it's embarrassing. Kevin Durant launches away? I would have fired the entire marketing team on the spot if that was presented in a board room.

I'm a former Sprint user who jumped ship to Verizon and I'm thrilled with the service on Big Red. Especially outside of big cities, Sprint's network is insanely bad. Some folks have posted awesome speeds on Sprint LTE but I've never been in range of LTE on Sprint. With Verizon I'm on it almost all the time, even out here in the wilds of Northern NJ.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
Yea. They are so bad, it's embarrassing. Kevin Durant launches away? I would have fired the entire marketing team on the spot if that was presented in a board room.
Well, here's the thing!

Masayoshi Son DID fire the ENTIRE marketing team when the Softbank/Sprint deal finalized!

These commercials were created AFTER that firing!

Go figure…:(
 

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2012
2,787
1,499
Well, here's the thing!

Masayoshi Son DID fire the ENTIRE marketing team when the Softbank/Sprint deal finalized!

These commercials were created AFTER that firing!

Go figure…:(

That's freaking hilarious! The other commercials I don't remember really at all. So they weren't bad. These are just god awful.

----------

I'm a former Sprint user who jumped ship to Verizon and I'm thrilled with the service on Big Red. Especially outside of big cities, Sprint's network is insanely bad. Some folks have posted awesome speeds on Sprint LTE but I've never been in range of LTE on Sprint. With Verizon I'm on it almost all the time, even out here in the wilds of Northern NJ.

September, I'm going AT&T no if, ands, or buts about it.
 

MsRandall

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2011
1,212
727
Bay Area, Ca
Over the weekend my sister got an iPhone5s when her iPhone4s died. Excellent price with her tradein-net price with Best Buy sale was $125ish after all the discounts, SHE LOVES 2 YEAR CONTRACTS.

So Im setting up her iPhone 5s yesterday and its bouncing from 3g to LTE every 2 seconds- after all was set up I ended up testing it- voice= great, immessage/text=great and data=horrible.

I begged her to jump on my Verizon plan for $40 a month- but she didnt want to buy her device full price....I cant believe Sprint in my area is stiiiillllll so bad.

I left Sprint 2 years ago after 16 years- never regretted it at all. Yesterday was a reminderr of their better network promises that dont pan out.
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2013
2,721
1,238
Just curious if Sprint has gotten any better lately or if it's the same old, same. The Spark network seems promising but I'm not sold on it. They have twice now ditched the networks they were working on in favor of something new before their current gen network is even complete.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
Just curious if Sprint has gotten any better lately or if it's the same old, same. The Spark network seems promising but I'm not sold on it.
Sprint has hard numbers that actually show that churn has returned to previous levels or better in markets that have had 70% completion or more for a year. Unfortunately, that's not my market. I am not experiencing the 25+mbps speeds that seem to get trotted out over at s4gru.com about how great the LTE network is. However, my market is only 50% complete.

I can say that month to month I see a slight improvement in my signal. Maybe by the end of the year I may actually be able to switch WiFi off at home and work. Sprint has until I get my refund next year. If nothing has improved by then and I'm still getting 3G speeds on LTE, I'm leaving.
They have twice now ditched the networks they were working on in favor of something new before their current gen network is even complete.
If you are referring to WiMax, that was something that was forced on them.

The FCC said use your spectrum licenses, or lose them. 4G/LTE was only a concept. So, Sprint partnered with Clearwire. Clearwire built out 4G and got Sprint's licenses. The 4G was then marketed under Sprint.

But Clearwire was a crappy company and at one point refused to build out more. That left Sprint on the hook because the 4G was under Sprint's name. That's when Hesse and Sprint turned to LTE.

Network Vision 1.0 is still completing. It's not done yet, and the large part of the problem is the GD contractors who cannot deliver backhaul on time. That happens when Sprint pays the contractors peanuts and puts no clauses in their contracts for bonuses or pentalties for not delivering on time. So, they get around to it whenever they feel like it and since Sprint's already paid all Sprint can do is whine.

Spark is actually Network Vision 2.0 and they started that once they shut down the old Clearwire towers and the Nextel towers. Those towers are being repurposed to use 2.5Ghz and 800mhz. Sprint's main frequency is 1900mhz. Sprint is working NV 1.0 and 2.0 concurrently, so it may appear to you that the have "abandoned" LTE for Spark. Not the case as this is two separate things.

To use Spark, it's typical Sprint. You'll need to buy a new handset that supports those frequencies. Unfortunately, my iPhone 5 only supports LTE at 1900mhz, which is the weakest LTE signal of the three, and 800mhz for voice only.

However, if you are in a Spark market your speeds will be fast and reliable. 800mhz and 2.5Ghz are stronger and more capable.
 

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2012
2,787
1,499
Sprint has hard numbers that actually show that churn has returned to previous levels or better in markets that have had 70% completion or more for a year. Unfortunately, that's not my market. I am not experiencing the 25+mbps speeds that seem to get trotted out over at s4gru.com about how great the LTE network is. However, my market is only 50% complete.

I can say that month to month I see a slight improvement in my signal. Maybe by the end of the year I may actually be able to switch WiFi off at home and work. Sprint has until I get my refund next year. If nothing has improved by then and I'm still getting 3G speeds on LTE, I'm leaving.

If you are referring to WiMax, that was something that was forced on them.

The FCC said use your spectrum licenses, or lose them. 4G/LTE was only a concept. So, Sprint partnered with Clearwire. Clearwire built out 4G and got Sprint's licenses. The 4G was then marketed under Sprint.

But Clearwire was a crappy company and at one point refused to build out more. That left Sprint on the hook because the 4G was under Sprint's name. That's when Hesse and Sprint turned to LTE.

Network Vision 1.0 is still completing. It's not done yet, and the large part of the problem is the GD contractors who cannot deliver backhaul on time. That happens when Sprint pays the contractors peanuts and puts no clauses in their contracts for bonuses or pentalties for not delivering on time. So, they get around to it whenever they feel like it and since Sprint's already paid all Sprint can do is whine.

Spark is actually Network Vision 2.0 and they started that once they shut down the old Clearwire towers and the Nextel towers. Those towers are being repurposed to use 2.5Ghz and 800mhz. Sprint's main frequency is 1900mhz. Sprint is working NV 1.0 and 2.0 concurrently, so it may appear to you that the have "abandoned" LTE for Spark. Not the case as this is two separate things.

To use Spark, it's typical Sprint. You'll need to buy a new handset that supports those frequencies. Unfortunately, my iPhone 5 only supports LTE at 1900mhz, which is the weakest LTE signal of the three, and 800mhz for voice only.

However, if you are in a Spark market your speeds will be fast and reliable. 800mhz and 2.5Ghz are stronger and more capable.

I'm in a Spark market but my iPhone 5 doesn't support it. LTE is almost completely rolled out here and it's the same old Sprint (over promising, under delivering). Most areas in the city/suburbs don't even sniff LTE when we are over 95% complete. Large gaps all around. I guess LTE being almost 100% complete sounds good for marketing but actual user experience is unacceptable. I'm the fool though because I paid for this crappy service.

One contract is up next month and the last one is up in September. I'm excited. I'm not looking back either. 10+ years of suffering is close to an end!
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
I'm in a Spark market but my iPhone 5 doesn't support it. LTE is almost completely rolled out here and it's the same old Sprint (over promising, under delivering). Most areas in the city/suburbs don't even sniff LTE when we are over 95% complete. Large gaps all around. I guess LTE being almost 100% complete sounds good for marketing but actual user experience is unacceptable. I'm the fool though because I paid for this crappy service.

One contract is up next month and the last one is up in September. I'm excited. I'm not looking back either. 10+ years of suffering is close to an end!
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I get LTE at home and work, but the signal is two bars (-102dbm usually). I'm told that that is actually decent LTE signal, but I can usually pull down only 2-3mbps in a speed test. That's 3G speeds right there. If that's all that I can expect once Phoenix is 100% built out then I have to ask, what was the point in all of this?

I can't leave my phone on LTE either. The weak signal hits the battery hard. I'd have to carry my lightning cable around with me all the time. Not acceptable.

My contract is up in September, my wife still has another year to go. But we should get our refund next year and when we do, if things are still as bad (I expect them to be) then it's off to T-Mobile and have them pay the ETF.

I knew what I was getting in to in 2012 when I bought my LTE phone in what was then a 3G only market. But the two year ride I decided to give Sprint is almost up. I'm not going to buy into their "just buy a new device and get faster speeds" BS this time around.

The only downside I can foresee is that if Sprint buys out T-Mobile I'd be back on Sprint again.
 

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2012
2,787
1,499
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I get LTE at home and work, but the signal is two bars (-102dbm usually). I'm told that that is actually decent LTE signal, but I can usually pull down only 2-3mbps in a speed test. That's 3G speeds right there. If that's all that I can expect once Phoenix is 100% built out then I have to ask, what was the point in all of this?

I can't leave my phone on LTE either. The weak signal hits the battery hard. I'd have to carry my lightning cable around with me all the time. Not acceptable.

My contract is up in September, my wife still has another year to go. But we should get our refund next year and when we do, if things are still as bad (I expect them to be) then it's off to T-Mobile and have them pay the ETF.

I knew what I was getting in to in 2012 when I bought my LTE phone in what was then a 3G only market. But the two year ride I decided to give Sprint is almost up. I'm not going to buy into their "just buy a new device and get faster speeds" BS this time around.

The only downside I can foresee is that if Sprint buys out T-Mobile I'd be back on Sprint again.

Yea, I was at the Apple store the other day and the Genius rep was comparing all the services data speed wise and this was his order: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint. I tried all those except T-Mobile and I think I agree with that assessment. I'm just gonna break down and go AT&T. Probably get the 6 GB or 10 GB plan and call it a wrap. I test drove an AT&T iPhone 5s for a little over a week and the non LTE speeds blew away Sprint's LTE speeds. The coverage is ridiculously good. Seriously, I could turn off LTE on an AT&T phone and be happy as can be. Their 4G/3G here is consistently 4-5mb down all over.
 

2298754

Cancelled
Jun 21, 2010
4,890
941
Yea, I was at the Apple store the other day and the Genius rep was comparing all the services data speed wise and this was his order: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint. I tried all those except T-Mobile and I think I agree with that assessment. I'm just gonna break down and go AT&T. Probably get the 6 GB or 10 GB plan and call it a wrap. I test drove an AT&T iPhone 5s for a little over a week and the non LTE speeds blew away Sprint's LTE speeds. The coverage is ridiculously good. Seriously, I could turn off LTE on an AT&T phone and be happy as can be. Their 4G/3G here is consistently 4-5mb down all over.
Yup, this is my experience as well.

That beautiful VZW MiFi I had from work has been switched back out to a Sprint one last week. I've already given up using it. The data network is still in pieces all over the city. The 50+mbps speeds being shown off on GRU in Boston are nowhere to be found.


I wish I could just buy my own MiFi from AT&T/VZW and then bill my IT dept.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
I try to remain a realist with Sprint. I'm a customer, but I refuse to let them slide by without saying anything. But, as loyal as I am, even I have a point and Sprint passed it a while back.

The only way they can keep me now is if something drastic happens before the new year. As a realist, I don't see that happening. Sprint fanboys can never seem to recognize the one thing Sprint is consistent at and that is screwing things up. They can be at 99.99% completion of something and there will always be a Sprint way that prevents final completion, or Sprint abandons things.

As they like to say over at s4gru, someone has to be last. But quite frankly I think they will find that the last market will never complete. There will always be something, because this is Sprint.

Anyway, I'm out of here once I can get the cash, barring some act of God that makes Sprint speeds fast.
 

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2012
2,787
1,499
I try to remain a realist with Sprint. I'm a customer, but I refuse to let them slide by without saying anything. But, as loyal as I am, even I have a point and Sprint passed it a while back.

The only way they can keep me now is if something drastic happens before the new year. As a realist, I don't see that happening. Sprint fanboys can never seem to recognize the one thing Sprint is consistent at and that is screwing things up. They can be at 99.99% completion of something and there will always be a Sprint way that prevents final completion, or Sprint abandons things.

As they like to say over at s4gru, someone has to be last. But quite frankly I think they will find that the last market will never complete. There will always be something, because this is Sprint.

Anyway, I'm out of here once I can get the cash, barring some act of God that makes Sprint speeds fast.


Sprint can turn it around now that they have new management. It will take them buying out T-Mobile and probably a good 5 years to get a decent network. Life is too short though and I'm done waiting around. I gave them a decade. It's time to treat myself for a change.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
Sprint can turn it around now that they have new management. It will take them buying out T-Mobile and probably a good 5 years to get a decent network. Life is too short though and I'm done waiting around. I gave them a decade. It's time to treat myself for a change.
I agree. I gave them 15 years. I think they will finally manage to bring up a good network, but I also fear it will be too little too late. Sprint is always playing catchup. Part of that is because they are a much smaller carrier, but a bigger part of it is the Sprint culture that is highly resistant to change and can bear no blame or reponsibility for anything.

Some people say Sprint is set to leapfrog the competition. That may be true, but the competition is also not standing still. Sprint may finally do that, but sooner or later they will be in the spot of being behind again - just because that's Sprint.

I agree about the new management. However, I believe that Masayoshi Son didn't find out just what he had until he got it. I don't think he was prepared to find the real Sprint. I see T-Mobile as being his out to replacing the old management that he's discovered is entrenched in Sprint and has diseased everything.

Again, if there is no improvement by the end of the year, I will be observing this from outside.
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2013
2,721
1,238
Sprint is offering their unlimited everything plan in my area for $50/mo + giving new employees 30 days to try their new network. I'm thinking it may be worth a run at that price.
 

joshkhaos1

Suspended
Jul 24, 2014
364
86
Sprint is offering their unlimited everything plan in my area for $50/mo + giving new employees 30 days to try their new network. I'm thinking it may be worth a run at that price.

The only reason Sprint still offers an "unlimited" plan is because they darn well know that nobody could POSSIBLY use more than 2-3gigs of Data on their netowork, no matter how hard they tried.
 

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2012
2,787
1,499
Sprint is offering their unlimited everything plan in my area for $50/mo + giving new employees 30 days to try their new network. I'm thinking it may be worth a run at that price.

Trust me when I say this, 56K Modem speeds are faster than Sprint's network most of the time. I'm not joking when I say this.
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2013
2,721
1,238
Trust me when I say this, 56K Modem speeds are faster than Sprint's network most of the time. I'm not joking when I say this.

My buddy got 25 down on his S5 here just outside of Mpls... maybe this Spark network is something afterall...
 

Black Magic

macrumors 68030
Sep 30, 2012
2,787
1,499
My buddy got 25 down on his S5 here just outside of Mpls... maybe this Spark network is something afterall...

I was seeing 25mb down in some spots when LTE rolled out here too. Once everyone got LTE phones, those speeds dropped to about 2-3mb. My guess is Spark will be the same way.
 
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