In the morning, I am returning my iPhone 5S

In case it hasn't been mentioned you can quit Sprint without ETF.

The "unlimited plan" is only unlimited for non-roaming data. If you exceed 800 MB of roaming data in a single month Sprint will send you a warning letter. If you continue to exceed 800 MB they will send you a 2-3 week termination notice. And, as a "courtesy", they will not apply ETF.

That's how I got out of Sprint.

You can hit over that limit easily with downloads. Use YouTube downloader app like, PlayTube, and download movies and high rez videos continuously. Keep it on while driving or when you know you'll be in areas without much Sprint coverage.

It's that easy.
 
AT&T does data AND voice at the same time... Also, AT&T LTE is way faster than Verizon LTE... Just saying..

This. But your best bet is to ask people who live, work, and play near you to see their real-world performance anecdotes. Here in the Dallas area, for example, AT&T is by far the fastest and most reliable LTE.

I've had Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. AT&T wins for everything but price. But that's just for me.
 
I have Sprint LTE here in Los Angeles, no complaints :)

The other half of our family plan is in SoCal and has no issues with Sprint there. Sprint is unusable in Downtown Denver though when there are any big festivals or Rockies games.

I'm not too worried about download limits as even on my unlimited plan on Sprint I still use <500mB.
 
AT&T does data AND voice at the same time... Also, AT&T LTE is way faster than Verizon LTE... Just saying..

Once Verizon switches to VoLTE later this year/early next year, that point will vibe moot. Just putting that out there. Also, it depends where you are. Where I am Verizon's LTE is plenty fast, see the screenshot below. In the end, it all depends on where you live. Ask around and see which carrier people say is the best.

Note: The VZW upload speeds where I'm at are weird. Some tests it'll be 20+ Mbps and other times it'll be really low. IRL it's always consistently fast.
 

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I'm not a fan of the AT&T data packages. They are essentially forcing me to pick a 3 GB package for each line. It ends up being about $15 more per month than Verizon.

You have the most misleading stupid title on this forum in the last 6 months. I moved my parents phones from sprint due to bad 4g and 3g. Your issue is with Sprint.
 
As the title suggests, in the morning I am returning my Space Gray iPhone 5S.

Don't get me wrong, I love the phone. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's brilliant. It has far surpassed my expectations coming from my old iPhone 4S.

So why return it?

I have 3 days to return the phone to my place of purchase, Best Buy, to get my activation fee refunded. I didn't mind waiting in line to purchase it. I don't mind going back to my iPhone 4S for a little while if need be.

See, I'm on Sprint. The data speed has always been a problem, but now the problem has absolutely and definitely reared its ugly head. My whole purpose in upgrading to an iPhone 5 or 5C or 5S was solely to take advantage of 4G LTE. You'd think with all the blabbering their marketing and their customer service departments have done I'd be able to receive it, but no.

I've checked maps on Sensorly and s4gru.com and while there've been many fleeting glimpses of LTE signals they must have only been a testing phase because I can't pick anything up.

So this reverts me to the argument as old as time:

What good is Sprint's unlimited data if you can't use it?

I joined Sprint about 3 1/2 years ago from Verizon out of sheer cost. I wasn't using a smartphone yet, and this was an opportunity to save money *and* get a smartphone for myself. I jumped at the chance.

And now I'm sick to my stomach. I'm ready to pay a $100 ETF for 2 of the 4 family lines on the account and go running to Verizon in a second. I've considered AT&T but the difference in price is miniscule. I'd rather have a better network.

Again, what good is unlimited data if you just can't use it?

I busted my rear off to go crazy and use as much data as I could last billing cycle and I barely used over 1 GB. Half of that is because I didn't have a good signal for my 20 minute commute to/from work, and half of that is because I have a wifi signal at both home and work after I get there.

So, whenever I'm on the go, essentially, I don't have a "smartphone". I have a severely gimped iPhone 5S. And even a 4S for that matter.

It's an absolute sin that Apple even allows Sprint to use the iPhone on their network. It's like trying to run a marathon without legs. Can it be done? Sure. But by the time you get to the finish line, everyone else will be at home sleeping.

The price difference appears to be roughly $20 per month.

For $20 a month, or $240 per year, I'd rather have a smartphone I can actually take full advantage of rather than a gimpy, limping data network.

If I didn't want data bandwidth, I wouldn't have a smartphone period. I'd use an iTouch in conjunction with an old flip style Razr or something.

Tradeoffs:

Verizon:
- More expensive (20 per month)
+ Unlimited minutes
+ Much better coverage
+ Much faster data
- Limited data

Sprint:
+ Slightly cheaper
- 1500 minutes shared through the account
- Acceptable coverage
- Nonexistant data
+ Unlimited data

I'm not going to continue to pour money into a bankrupt company so they can sit back and have customer service promise and promise and promise me that 4G is "right around the corner" for another 2 years.

Hopefully I can convince my family the same (the other 3 lines) otherwise I'm getting my own plan on Verizon.

Sigh. Rant mode off.

This was a public service announcement from a somewhat tipsy soon to be former Sprint customer.

Friends don't let friends have terrible data speed on their iPhone.

It's a disservice to us all.

Did the same thing a year ago. Sprint is horrible where I live.
 
You have the most misleading stupid title on this forum in the last 6 months. I moved my parents phones from sprint due to bad 4g and 3g. Your issue is with Sprint.

Why is the title misleading? He's returning his phone in the morning...and that's the title...
 
I switched from a 4s on Sprint to a 5s on AT&T and couldn't be happier. Sprint is horrible with coverage. I struggled to get 3G service and there is no 4G at all here. It was an easy choice to leave and I wish I had earlier. I can finally used phone in public (without wifi).

You'll be very happy once you've switched.
 
Good idea to switch. Sprint is the absolute worst of the 4 major carriers to use an iPhone on. Unlimited dial up internet.
 
Yeah, if by that you mean voice + (throttled to dial up speed) data at the same time :p

AT&T used to be good and didn't throttle you if you were on a call but now they are just as bad as carriers who don't have any voice+data at the same time.
I can't speak to other areas, but, in my area, I still get 2-3Mbps data during AT&T voice calls. That's not great, but it's a lot better than dial-up. In fact, it's more than I got with Sprint most of the time.
 
Sprint will be a viable carrier once they fire up LTE across their network. Unfortunately, until this time, most users are stuck on dialup speeds. Can't speak about tmobile as they have 2G in lots of spots and don't seem to care about upgrading them anytime soon.

Of course, this doesn't change the fact that both Sprint and especially Tmobile have very poor in-building coverage and 2 to 3 times smaller networks than everyone else.

As much as I hate recommending these monopolies, however, AT&T and Verizon are the better options. Heck, for $70 using AT&T's AIO wireless, you have access to 7gb of data and unlimited everything else.
 
The other half of our family plan is in SoCal and has no issues with Sprint there. Sprint is unusable in Downtown Denver though when there are any big festivals or Rockies games.

I'm not too worried about download limits as even on my unlimited plan on Sprint I still use <500mB.

I feel you. When I don't have LTE, it's dreadful. My contract ends next July, I'm seriously considering switching carriers. I would prefer not to, however, because I have a 20% discount on my account. But if they don't have damn-near blanket LTE everywhere in Los Angeles by next July, tmobile here I come :D
 
I currently have the 5s on tmobiles network, You should try them. I have lte everywhere I go in New York and New Jersey so far
 
In case it hasn't been mentioned you can quit Sprint without ETF.

The "unlimited plan" is only unlimited for non-roaming data. If you exceed 800 MB of roaming data in a single month Sprint will send you a warning letter. If you continue to exceed 800 MB they will send you a 2-3 week termination notice. And, as a "courtesy", they will not apply ETF.

That's how I got out of Sprint.

You can hit over that limit easily with downloads. Use YouTube downloader app like, PlayTube, and download movies and high rez videos continuously. Keep it on while driving or when you know you'll be in areas without much Sprint coverage.

It's that easy.

Did you lose your phone number as a result? I think the line needs to be active for LNP.
 
Did you lose your phone number as a result? I think the line needs to be active for LNP.

Nope. Same number. I'm replying from my Verizon iPhone right now.

No kidding - my connection is solid now! Verizon (in my office, at least) rocks!!! Now that I think of it I can't recall if I ever had a Sprint signal that was this stable ... even when the LTE was apparently connected.
 
I switched from Sprint to AT&T in 2007 for the original iPhone. Don't miss Sprint at all. I do have coverage issues in NYC with AT&T but their LTE speeds are unmatched! Plus, AT&T has HSPA+, and Edge to fall back on when LTE is not available.

I'm in the same boat, swiched to AT&T from Sprint in 2007 to get the original iPhone. I have an iPhone 5 now, and I love the speed. I'm in NYC as well.
 
Why is the title misleading? He's returning his phone in the morning...and that's the title...

Yeah, but they make it sound like it is for another reason..provoking thoughts of 'I am returning my iPhone 5s as it is crap'. The title should read ' I want to leave my network so I am returning my iPhone 5s' or something similar.
 
Yeah, but they make it sound like it is for another reason..provoking thoughts of 'I am returning my iPhone 5s as it is crap'. The title should read ' I want to leave my network so I am returning my iPhone 5s' or something similar.

I know it's semantics, but to assume the meaning of the title before reading the article is "the worse assumption in this forum in the last 6 month." I realize you didn't say that, I'm referring to the original commenter.
 
...
See, I'm on Sprint. The data speed has always been a problem, but now the problem has absolutely and definitely reared its ugly head. My whole purpose in upgrading to an iPhone 5 or 5C or 5S was solely to take advantage of 4G LTE. You'd think with all the blabbering their marketing and their customer service departments have done I'd be able to receive it, but no.

I've checked maps on Sensorly and s4gru.com and while there've been many fleeting glimpses of LTE signals they must have only been a testing phase because I can't pick anything up.
...
So, are you saying there is LTE coverage where you live/use it? If yes, I'm going to ask a dumb sounding question. Did you give your iPhone a power cycle after activating it? When I got my iPhone 5 last year it did not pick up LTE until after I gave it a power cycle. (Not sleep mode, but where you turn it off...hold top button for 3 seconds until red "slide to power off" comes up, turn off, wait for spinning to stop, wait 5 full seconds, press top button for one full second or until apple logo shows). I only ask because I am surprised how many people tell me about iPhone problems but then I ask when they last gave it a power cycle and they don't remember, yet, it solves many issues.
 
Thanks for the response benji. Indeed there appears to be 4G LTE service when looking at Sensorly maps although the Sprint coverage says it hasn't formally launched yet.

I've been chatting with a few people over on the s4gru forums and they've helped clarify quite a few points. I am actually getting intermittent LTE signals now, primarily near Newark Airport which seems to be a very dark purple shade on sensorly.

I've also learned on s4 that the rollout for northern nj is also originally scheduled to be done around this fall but last year's hurricane pushed it back with a more realistic February 2014 launch.

I have actually decided to keep the phone because of a few key reasons.

1. The phone itself is perfect. It's the network speed that is causing the data drama.

2. Promotions. Best Buy had a promo where you could register your number back in February and if you upgraded this calendar year you would get a $50 gift card usable on your upgrade purchase.

3. Resell. I'm reselling my 4S to Gazelle for $180. If I hold onto it until January when my ETF is gone this will surely be less.

4. ETF. While there are ways around the ETF as pointed out above, realistically speaking I do not roam, ever, and this would be an extra $100 per line for me.

5. Wifi. At home I have a 35/35 plan with FiOS and at work we have an unlimited Clear WiMAX router. While it's only 5 down and 1.5 up, it takes the sting out of Sprint's 3G data speed.

So long story short, essentially Sprint, Best Buy, and Gazelle paid for my new iPhone.

The good news is that if it's truly continuing to be bad, the customer service department seems to think throwing credit at my account will fix the data speed. I'll be sure to call them monthly.

I'll certainly re-evaluate after the 4G is complete.

I hope they learned their lesson jumping into a 4G WiMAX standard before it was truly accepted by the customers. What a waste of money.

Thanks for all the posts above and I apologize for my ranting and misleading title.
 
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