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ATT vs Sprint

Fthree said:
My brother and I were in an ATT store. (I have ATT and he just recently switched to sprint) we were talking about this in front of the ATT rep. The ATT rep said "there isn't lte on sprint" my bro whipped out his iPhone 6 and had lte coverage as well as 4 bars to my 3. Shut the rep up quickly. I need to get him to run the speed tests just to see truly how fast it is in comparison.
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Just be aware that while Sprint is getting better everywhere historically Sprint tends to dominate in rural areas.

I believe I mentioned that before but it bears repeating. T-Mobile on the other hand, tends to dominate in the urban market and has really been pushing to modernize their network there and thus gain market share.

As scaredpoet suggests, you might wish to take a T-Mobile test drive if you live in an urban market. Just be aware that T-Mobile will place a credit hold on any card or account you use until the test drive phone is returned.
 
MassiveAttack said:
Go to sprint's Facebook page and see how often they are bombarded by unhappy customers. Truth is Sprint is hands down the worst network in the US.
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Pretty much any large company that provides similar services gets bombarded with unhappy customers, nothing new or strange or really says something one way or another on its own.
 
Fthree said:
Looking to possibly switch to sprint from ATT. Love the unlimited everything idea and a cheaper price wouldn't hurt. Thoughts?
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Well I am on Sprint and the network in the past was pretty bad. It has been built up pretty well in places and with a current phone that has access to the new LTE bands much better experience!

:)
 

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MassiveAttack said:
Go to sprint's Facebook page and see how often they are bombarded by unhappy customers. Truth is Sprint is hands down the worst network in the US.
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Do you go to the Facebook page of your carrier and consistently post positive reviews in support of your carrier?

Or do you just say to yourself "I like my carrier", post nothing and move on with your life?

If we were to go to your carrier's Facebook page would we find more praise or more complaints?

I'm not saying one carrier is better than the other but users generally post when angry about something. When it just works they don't.

P.S. Sprint's FB page is not the only place to find harsh treatment of Sprint. The Buzz About Wireless Forums, Howard Forums, Sprintusers.com, Fierce Wireless and probably many other places have lots of users with negative issues to report about Sprint. Selecting FB as your example is superfluous.

Any Sprint user that has remained on Sprint is WELL aware of the negative crap storm out there about Sprint.
 
scaredpoet said:
Before you go with Sprint, have you considered T-Mobile? Give the Test Drive a try. They're comparable in what they'll save you in terms of money, will buy out your contract, and have none of the awfulness of Sprint.
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+1 Of course your area coverage trumps all but for me sprint was horrible customer service. ATT even worse, I was escaping them since southwestern bell, it seems they swallowed up every company I liked and was using and then the service went down the tubes.
 
ATT vs Sprint

Fthree said:
My brother and I were in an ATT store. (I have ATT and he just recently switched to sprint) we were talking about this in front of the ATT rep. The ATT rep said "there isn't lte on sprint" my bro whipped out his iPhone 6 and had lte coverage as well as 4 bars to my 3. Shut the rep up quickly. I need to get him to run the speed tests just to see truly how fast it is in comparison.
Click to expand...


Since when do bars mean anything? The guy was dumb to say that, but he's got a point. AT&T and VZW are running denser and faster networks nationwide.

99% of the time, I'd bet my money that the AT&T is far faster, more reliable, and actually works. Especially in my area.
 
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AutoUnion39 said:
Since when does bars mean anything? The guy was dumb to say that, but he's got a point. AT&T and VZW are running denser and faster networks nationwide.

99% of the time, I'd bet my money that the AT&T is far faster, more reliable, and actually works. Especially in my area.
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Bars still show signal strength. I'm sure the point of what he said was that there is a strong LTE signal in his area, when the rep said there was none offered
 
eclipse01 said:
Bars still show signal strength. I'm sure the point of what he said was that there is a strong LTE signal in his area, when the rep said there was none offered
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Does it matter what a rep says? They all lie.

If you walk into the local TMobile stores around here, you'll hear every lie in the book to make TMo look better. It's pretty hilarious.
 
OP where do you live?

I just did a test at my job with Sprint. Packed City Hall, NYC.

18mbs down 12 up.

I guarantee you ATT wont go over 2mbs here...

T-Mobile is around the same as I did their test drive several months back.
 
eyoungren said:
I think what he was trying to say is that these speeds are fast and consistent enough for his use (and mine I might say) and that they are sufficient for the kinds of things one expects from a carrier, not that he thinks it should be applicable for everyone.

While those speeds are sufficient he isn't suggesting that that is all everyone should need.

That said, I believe he and everyone else on Sprint would love to see the kinds of speeds everyone else gets. But when you've been down so far sor so long just getting speeds you can actually use is welcome. The fact that we can actually do now what Sprint has always advertised we could makes speed comparisons somewhat less relevant to our situation.
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That's pretty much what he was trying to say but yours came out better:D
lol
I applaud you for your patience to stick around with Sprint for all these years though, you are a trooper:D
 
Applejuiced said:
That's pretty much what he was trying to say but yours came out better:D
lol
I applaud you for your patience to stick around with Sprint for all these years though, you are a trooper:D
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We are all focusing on the negative aspects.

Sprint has taken down and redeployed the old nextel networks and they now have access to a LTE on the 850 spectrum! Great building penetration!

If you DO go on Sprint you MUST get the iPhone 6 or 6P as they have the newly deployed bands! big difference!

I have been on Sprint for over 10 years and now with them using the old Nextel and Clear Spectrum has made a big difference!

To be fair I am on a very old plan that gives me unlimited data (LTE, 3G and 2G) unlimited roaming data (3G only) and unlimited sms and mms carrier integrated
exclusive to Sprint!

$40.00 a month!

still qualifies for a subsidy on new phones.

it was called SERO PLUS

:cool:
 
Applejuiced said:
That's pretty much what he was trying to say but yours came out better:D
lol
I applaud you for your patience to stick around with Sprint for all these years though, you are a trooper:D
Click to expand...

Well, it certainly was not for lack of trying to leave, I'll say that. :D

It's certainly better now of course, but nowhere near where it should be. Sprint is getting killed in a lot of places still.

I'll just add that I have recently discovered that part of the problem here in Arizona is that emergency services are still squatting on the 800/850mhz band (Band 26). Until Sheriff Joe and his compatriots get off their collective duffs and clear the channel Sprint can't use it.

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ZebraDude said:
We are all focusing on the negative aspects.

Sprint has taken down and redeployed the old nextel networks and they now have access to a LTE on the 850 spectrum! Great building penetration!

If you DO go on Sprint you MUST get the iPhone 6 or 6P as they have the newly deployed bands! big difference!

I have been on Sprint for over 10 years and now with them using the old Nextel and Clear Spectrum has made a big difference!

To be fair I am on a very old plan that gives me unlimited data (LTE, 3G and 2G) unlimited roaming data (3G only) and unlimited sms and mms carrier integrated
exclusive to Sprint!

$40.00 a month!

still qualifies for a subsidy on new phones.

it was called SERO PLUS

:cool:
Click to expand...
I disagree. I am focusing on facts while recognizing that Sprint has made improvement in many areas. But the facts are that there are still places where they are not doing well.

We may not like the facts, but they are what they are.

Yes, Sprint is repurposing Nextel towers. And that's great. However, Sprint told me I would have blazing fast LTE on my Band 25 only iPhone 5 in September 2012. It took until August 2013 for that to happen and I had to drive to the first of only two towers upgraded to LTE in Phoenix to get it.

I am not a big fan of paying for something I am told I can get, then being told I have to upgrade to get what I am supposed to be paying for now.

That's not negative. It's reality. Sprint has always done this. But I'm still with Sprint (16 years).
 
ZebraDude said:
If you DO go on Sprint you MUST get the iPhone 6 or 6P as they have the newly deployed bands! big difference!
Click to expand...

eyoungren said:
I am not a big fan of paying for something I am told I can get, then being told I have to upgrade to get what I am supposed to be paying for now.
Click to expand...

See, this line is thinking really bugs me with Sprint (and even TMobile.) There's always "something" in the horizon and I always have to keep getting new phones to keep up with all the bands. That is ridiculous and a huge of waste of money.

First, it was B25 (iPhone 5).
Then it was B26 support (iPhone 5C/S).
Now it's B41/Spark (iPhone 6/6+).
Then next year, all the Sprint folks are going to get all new iPhones again because Sprint finally gets around to adding CA to B41.

They don't think into the future. Now compare this to AT&T's iPhone 5. It shipped with B17, B4, B5, and B2 support. And this was back in 2012 when B17 was the only LTE band up.

An AT&T user could've used their iPhone5 for over 3 years and had a fantastic experience, whereas Sprint iPhone users had to keep upgrading their phones year after year because B25 LTE is dirt slow and still not fully deployed.

Sprint knew B26/B41 were around the corner, but didn't bother speccing their phones.

It's unreasonable to expect users to get new phones yearly just to get usable data speeds.

----------
ZebraDude said:
Sprint has taken down and redeployed the old nextel networks and they now have access to a LTE on the 850 spectrum! Great building penetration!
Click to expand...

This doesn't mean anything. It's called upgrading the network...

AT&T has been taking down HSPA/EDGE nationwide and deploying LTE on that spectrum. (B2/5/4)
Verizon has been getting rid of EVDO carriers and deploying extra LTE in that. (B2)
T-Mobile has been getting rid of DC-HSPA and deploying LTE in those bands. (B2/4)

Sprint shouldn't get extra recognition for something they're all doing.
 
eyoungren said:

Well, it certainly was not for lack of trying to leave, I'll say that. :D

It's certainly better now of course, but nowhere near where it should be. Sprint is getting killed in a lot of places still.

I'll just add that I have recently discovered that part of the problem here in Arizona is that emergency services are still squatting on the 800/850mhz band (Band 26). Until Sheriff Joe and his compatriots get off their collective duffs and clear the channel Sprint can't use it.

----------


I disagree. I am focusing on facts while recognizing that Sprint has made improvement in many areas. But the facts are that there are still places where they are not doing well.

We may not like the facts, but they are what they are.

Yes, Sprint is repurposing Nextel towers. And that's great. However, Sprint told me I would have blazing fast LTE on my Band 25 only iPhone 5 in September 2012. It took until August 2013 for that to happen and I had to drive to the first of only two towers upgraded to LTE in Phoenix to get it.

I am not a big fan of paying for something I am told I can get, then being told I have to upgrade to get what I am supposed to be paying for now.

That's not negative. It's reality. Sprint has always done this. But I'm still with Sprint (16 years).
Click to expand...
Why are you still on sprint? T-Mobile buys out the whole contract now. Why complain when you have choice?
 
AutoUnion39 said:
See, this line is thinking really bugs me with Sprint (and even TMobile.) There's always "something" in the horizon and I always have to keep getting new phones to keep up with all the bands. That is ridiculous and a huge of waste of money.

First, it was B25 (iPhone 5).
Then it was B26 support (iPhone 5C/S).
Now it's B41/Spark (iPhone 6/6+).
Then next year, all the Sprint folks are going to get all new iPhones again because Sprint finally gets around to adding CA to B41.

They don't think into the future. Now compare this to AT&T's iPhone 5. It shipped with B17, B4, B5, and B2 support. And this was back in 2012 when B17 was the only LTE band up.

An AT&T user could've used their iPhone5 for over 3 years and had a fantastic experience, whereas Sprint iPhone users had to keep upgrading their phones year after year because B25 LTE is dirt slow and still not fully deployed.

Sprint knew B26/B41 were around the corner, but didn't bother speccing their phones.

It's unreasonable to expect users to get new phones yearly just to get usable data speeds.

----------



This doesn't mean anything. It's called upgrading the network...

AT&T has been taking down HSPA/EDGE nationwide and deploying LTE on that spectrum. (B2/5/4)
Verizon has been getting rid of EVDO carriers and deploying extra LTE in that. (B2)
T-Mobile has been getting rid of DC-HSPA and deploying LTE in those bands. (B2/4)

Sprint shouldn't get extra recognition for something they're all doing.
Click to expand...
I have to agree on both counts.

When I had a 3G phone Sprint did not have LTE (they had WiMax, but that's totally different). I got 3G at home, work and everywhere else I went. I was fine. The phone I had before that was fine too.

Then along comes LTE. We've discussed this multiple times in other threads about Sprint's lack of planning, inability to penalize or incentivize contractors and just in time backhaul (oxymoron). The whole planning of Network Vision was whacked and now Sprint gets to deal with the garbage out portion of this.

Fortunately, the jackholes who screwed this up have all been fired or resigned.

----------
Zaft said:
Why are you still on sprint? T-Mobile buys out the whole contract now. Why complain when you have choice?
Click to expand...
I'm not on contract anyway so T-Mobile would have nothing to buy out.

This was my plan though to go to T-Mobile, but I would have had to buy new phones. It's a finances thing and I had hoped to get to it with our tax refund. Unfortunately, things like needs and stuff we've had to put off ate the check.

So, I tried to work a loophole to get our phones unlocked so I could at least BYOD to T-Mobile. The only result of that was me losing my jailbreak.

To acknowledge your point though, I do have choice. And ultimately that choice is to stay with Sprint. But since I am paying for the service I complain when I am not receiving the service.

However, if you look at my posts you will see that not everything I say about Sprint is a complaint. They have done good things and I acknowledge that when they do. But pointing out where they fall short is not necessarily complaining.

For example. Sprint has poor LTE coverage at my home. That is a fact. I mention that all the time. It's not a complaint. But Sprint now finally has decent LTE coverage at work. I acknowledge that as well. Complaining would be harping on the fact that I don't get 50mbps down at work. I don't, but I do get speeds that meet my needs so I don't whine about it. Sprint is finally giving me what I am paying for.

All I'm asking for is to get what I am paying for. Pointing out that I am not isn't complaining.
 
AutoUnion39 said:
Does it matter what a rep says? They all lie.

If you walk into the local TMobile stores around here, you'll hear every lie in the book to make TMo look better. It's pretty hilarious.
Click to expand...
There are just no decent people working at all. ;)
 
eyoungren said:

Well, it certainly was not for lack of trying to leave, I'll say that. :D

It's certainly better now of course, but nowhere near where it should be. Sprint is getting killed in a lot of places still.

I'll just add that I have recently discovered that part of the problem here in Arizona is that emergency services are still squatting on the 800/850mhz band (Band 26). Until Sheriff Joe and his compatriots get off their collective duffs and clear the channel Sprint can't use it.

----------
Click to expand...


I hear you.
Before people would tolerate Spring cause their great prices and they were the only one with unlimited data plan.
Now with Tmobile offering true unlimited unthrottled plans and their competitive prices and paying your ETF fees Sprint is losing many subscribers to them.


ZebraDude said:
We are all focusing on the negative aspects.

Sprint has taken down and redeployed the old nextel networks and they now have access to a LTE on the 850 spectrum! Great building penetration!

If you DO go on Sprint you MUST get the iPhone 6 or 6P as they have the newly deployed bands! big difference!

I have been on Sprint for over 10 years and now with them using the old Nextel and Clear Spectrum has made a big difference!

To be fair I am on a very old plan that gives me unlimited data (LTE, 3G and 2G) unlimited roaming data (3G only) and unlimited sms and mms carrier integrated
exclusive to Sprint!

$40.00 a month!

still qualifies for a subsidy on new phones.

it was called SERO PLUS

:cool:
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a killer price.
How many talk/voice minutes you get a month?
And is the unlimited text/mms only to sprint customers?
 
Applejuiced said:
Now with Tmobile offering true unlimited unthrottled plans and their competitive prices and paying your ETF fees Sprint is losing many subscribers to them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. With TMobile offering comparable LTE coverage and significantly superior speeds, there's really no reason to stick with Sprint.

Everything Sprint does is half-assed.

Example: their iOS WiFi calling support can't send SMS/MMS over WiFi, like T-Mo can.
 
AutoUnion39 said:
Yeah, I agree. With TMobile offering comparable LTE coverage and significantly superior speeds, there's really no reason to stick with Sprint.

Everything Sprint does is half-assed.

Example: their iOS WiFi calling support can't send SMS/MMS over WiFi, like T-Mo can.
Click to expand...

That and the dinosaur and very slow CDMA 3G that you'll have to deal with when away from their limited LTE coverage would be enough to drive me nuts:D
 
Applejuiced said:
I hear you.
Before people would tolerate Spring cause their great prices and they were the only one with unlimited data plan.
Now with Tmobile offering true unlimited unthrottled plans and their competitive prices and paying your ETF fees Sprint is losing many subscribers to them.




Wow, that's a killer price.
How many talk/voice minutes you get a month?
And is the unlimited text/mms only to sprint customers?
Click to expand...

500 minutes to land lines (never use) any mobile is unlimited after 7pm and weekends all unlimited. never give it up!

Text and MMS is to anyone unlimited!
 
ZebraDude said:
500 minutes to land lines (never use) any mobile is unlimited after 7pm and weekends all unlimited. never give it up!
Click to expand...

Wow, I remember those unlimited calling off peak after 7PM plans. Almost every carrier used to have them and everyone used to yap on the phone as soon as 7pm came on. :D
$40 a month and with full subsidy cant really beat it.
 
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