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I wasn't saying T-Mobile wasn't a budget carrier. They most definitely are, but with a lot more potential than our beloved Sprint. But what a lot of people fail to realize here is that T-Mobile's EDGE is on par with Sprint's 3G, if not faster in some placed. I do hope T-Mobile eliminates most of the EDGE.
 
LOL! Still trying to convert us all, eh?!

Well, look at it this way. We aren't congesting your carrier's network with our traffic! :D

I can only speak for myself, but I stayed (continue to stay) because even with all of it's issues Sprint still works for me. I don't NEED 60+mbps download speeds. That's great, but it's not really going to make my browser any faster. And 3G as bad as it is, is still capable of streaming Pandora or Google Music.

Other's are different. In that case, go with whatever carrier meets your needs.

Eyoungren, Is there a way to get out of my Sprint contract a few months early without paying the ETF?

Thanks for all the info,
DEAN
 
I switched from Verizon to Sprint to save some money, because their coverage map showed saturation in the Philadelphia area, and I could get a 5S for $99. I live in a northern suburb, and work in a suburb close to the city. Couldn't get decent data connections or speeds in either area, so I'm going back to Verizon. I must say Sprint customer service and technical support were very good, however, and didn't give me a hassle about cancelling and returning the phone.

So now I'm on the Verizon wait list, using my old feature phone in the meantime. Sigh.
 
This is a reflection of Sprint's network. :D
 

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Eyoungren, Is there a way to get out of my Sprint contract a few months early without paying the ETF?

Thanks for all the info,
DEAN
Yes, but it depends on a few things.

Sprint terminates for excessive roaming. When Sprint terminates your contract, it's ETF free.

But what you have to figure out is how to get your phone to roam. If you can do that, then the second issue is that you need a minimum of two months. Sprint will give you a bye on the first month (probably send you a notice) but the second month should be when you get the termination letter.

That's the only way I know of. One user here that I am aware of would download an Unbuntu install disk every night to his phone. 2GB of roaming data every night for 60 days. Got the boot after the second month.

Sprint only allows 300mb of roaming data per month under the old Everything Data plans and only 100mb of roaming data per month under the new My Way and All In plans.

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This is a reflection of Sprint's network. :D
Some of the towers Sprint is replacing with new NV towers have equipment dating back to 1998 so you're not so far off. ;)
 
Yes, but it depends on a few things.

Sprint terminates for excessive roaming. When Sprint terminates your contract, it's ETF free.

But what you have to figure out is how to get your phone to roam. If you can do that, then the second issue is that you need a minimum of two months. Sprint will give you a bye on the first month (probably send you a notice) but the second month should be when you get the termination letter.

That's the only way I know of. One user here that I am aware of would download an Unbuntu install disk every night to his phone. 2GB of roaming data every night for 60 days. Got the boot after the second month.

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Some of the towers Sprint is replacing with new NV towers have equipment dating back to 1998 so you're not so far off. ;)

That sucks!! I'd rather have two dixie cups and some string rather than have Sprint.
 
That sucks!! I'd rather have two dixie cups and some string rather than have Sprint.

I can confirm the roaming trick works. You'll need a jailbroken iPhone, iFile off of the Cydia Store, and a .prl file from Verizon's network (look around online, I had to try a couple to get one that worked.) There are tutorials out there that show you how to hack your iPhone to automatically roam on Verizon. You will enjoy somewhat faster data and the grim satisfaction knowing that you are now costing Sprint money. Better yet, they will send you a notification about excessive roaming, which I used as a means to get out of my contract.

I called and asked what this notice was for. The girl explained and I feigned ignorance. She walked me through turning my roaming off in my phone's settings, and also tried telling me that it'll probably make my data faster since "you won't connect to any roaming towers that might be farther away from ours." Right. Anyway, I argued that this still doesn't make my data any more reliable, and in fact makes it worse, and then asked her to cancel my contract for me, and wave the ETF. She insisted the coverage in my area is okay and it's probably my device, and prepared to give a sales pitch. I told her I see no reason to sign a new contract with Sprint if it isn't going to guarantee me better service.

It took a few minutes of arguing ("Well you'd just have to sign a contract anywhere else you go!" "Have you tried using wifi?") but when I finally told her that I see no incentive in turning my roaming off (NOTE: I did not bring up the hack I installed on the phone) she put me on hold. When she came back, she informed me, while barely holding back the tone of defeat in her voice, that she would note my account to wave the ETF should I cancel.

My other friend, who had the same problems I did, and did NOT jailbreak his phone at all, called and just said that he's roaming all the time and getting dropped calls and slow data and argued that until they waved his ETF, so you might not even need to go through as much of a hassle. Either way, don't give up. You deserve better than what Sprint is providing.

I now use T-Mobile, with a brand new iPhone 5s. Their 3G alone is way faster than Sprint's.
 
Your experience may be outside of the normal one. Generally, most people calling are denied leaving ETF free. I would just allow the roaming trick to follow it's natural course. I don't trust any promises from Sprint employees. Account notes tend to 'dissapear' or not ever get put in to begin with. And even if they are the next CSR will usually tell you the first one was wrong. In your case it may have worked, buy you can't count on this for others. It is Sprint after all.

Get a termination letter and you have it in writing.
 
I wonder how many Sprint customers are defecting to other carriers especially those coming from the Sprint iPhone 4S. I cannot wait to get my new service with AT&T, being able to get great reliable data is worth and extra few bucks a month.
 
I wonder how many Sprint customers are defecting to other carriers especially those coming from the Sprint iPhone 4S. I cannot wait to get my new service with AT&T, being able to get great reliable data is worth and extra few bucks a month.

Only the smart ones are leaving. A buddy of mine has Sprint and he said being a sprint customer is like buying old spoiled milk. Even though it sucks, you know your getting a good deal because it will be cheap. I was rolling when I heard that.:p
 
I wonder how many Sprint customers are defecting to other carriers especially those coming from the Sprint iPhone 4S. I cannot wait to get my new service with AT&T, being able to get great reliable data is worth and extra few bucks a month.

Me! I left my AT&T unlimited data plan for Sprint's unlimited data (stupid :rolleyes:) and now I'm leaving Sprint for Verizon.

I can't blame anybody who wants to give Sprint a try. The prices are so enticing for unlimited data. But never has "you get what you pay for" been more true than it is in regards to Sprint. I don't even care about data speeds to be honest. I just wanted to be able to use my phone! 2 years of never being able to send a text message or send/receive texts from my bedroom and I am done and will never look back.

The low prices just are not worth it. If money is an issue, at least go to T-Mobile.
 
Me! I left my AT&T unlimited data plan for Sprint's unlimited data (stupid :rolleyes:) and now I'm leaving Sprint for Verizon.

I can't blame anybody who wants to give Sprint a try. The prices are so enticing for unlimited data. But never has "you get what you pay for" been more true than it is in regards to Sprint. I don't even care about data speeds to be honest. I just wanted to be able to use my phone! 2 years of never being able to send a text message or send/receive texts from my bedroom and I am done and will never look back.

The low prices just are not worth it. If money is an issue, at least go to T-Mobile.

Another reason I've stayed so long is being able to talk to cust service and get compensated for the bad service. That coupled with the faint hope that the cust service ppl were right and the service would in fact eventually get better. I just hope that having reliable data won't make me go over all the time. Right now the highest I've ever had was 1.8gb used in a month. Wife has had maybe 500mb. I figure getting the 4gb family plan from Verizon should cover it by giving that extra 1.5gb to compensate for when the data actually works
 
I recently left T-Mobile for Sprint because T-Mobile was just downright bad for me here in Chicago. Edge was simply unbearable and wasn't even worth using most of the time. We'll see how things work out with Sprint. Everyone will have different experiences living in different areas.
 
I wonder how many Sprint customers are defecting to other carriers especially those coming from the Sprint iPhone 4S. I cannot wait to get my new service with AT&T, being able to get great reliable data is worth and extra few bucks a month.

I just ported my two sprint lines on two iPhone 4s's and ported to Verizon here in Danbury CT. Sprint was atrocious in basements, and any type of rural area, and the CSR's lied constantly, for 5 months I got the same "Network Vision" excuse (really 5 months for one tower on top of the hospital which I can see?). Oh did I mention the person who was splitting the family plan with me told me they were going to stop paying unless we found useable service, so needless to say I switched.
 
I just ported my two sprint lines on two iPhone 4s's and ported to Verizon here in Danbury CT. Sprint was atrocious in basements, and any type of rural area, and the CSR's lied constantly, for 5 months I got the same "Network Vision" excuse (really 5 months for one tower on top of the hospital which I can see?). Oh did I mention the person who was splitting the family plan with me told me they were going to stop paying unless we found useable service, so needless to say I switched.

This. I've been told for 2 years straight that they're working on my towers. Now with "network vision", they're more empowered and have even more reason to tell me that is the issue.
 
This. I've been told for 2 years straight that they're working on my towers. Now with "network vision", they're more empowered and have even more reason to tell me that is the issue.

Sprint is just full of lies, I know they are upgrading but its taken too long and sometimes even when they upgrade the towers become congested within days. Verizon has been great so far for me and 6gb of data is more than enough for me, I usually have wifi and if I don't this is great to fall back on, you most likely wont go over your data limit web browsing and pandora use only use megabytes and I find myself using less data on Verizon because Im not sitting there hitting refresh because the page loaded half way and timed out.
 
Sprint is just full of lies, I know they are upgrading but its taken too long and sometimes even when they upgrade the towers become congested within days. Verizon has been great so far for me and 6gb of data is more than enough for me, I usually have wifi and if I don't this is great to fall back on, you most likely wont go over your data limit web browsing and pandora use only use megabytes and I find myself using less data on Verizon because Im not sitting there hitting refresh because the page loaded half way and timed out.

I agree. Sprint is crap! I hear it from my buddy all the time how it sucks. Well I can't hear it on the phone because he would have to call from Sprint, and well you know.... it probably won't work. But most people I know don't have Sprint or left Sprint. I guess my friends are pretty smart then. :D
 
I wonder how many Sprint customers are defecting to other carriers especially those coming from the Sprint iPhone 4S. I cannot wait to get my new service with AT&T, being able to get great reliable data is worth and extra few bucks a month.

I figured out all the costs, and it'll only be $10 more per month total for me to go to verizon and downgrade my wife's sprint account to the "my way" plan until her contract is up. After figuring out that with the comcast/verizon partnership I could save $120 on my comcast bill, it was a no brainer and wifey didn't have much of an argument against it. So in 2 weeks time, 5s and I will be reunited(albeit in a dif color, I'm getting silver instead of gray).
 
There is another out /it takes 3 weeks approximately but if u have a phone worth 350 or more or recently within the last year upgraded to a new device then this IS NOT the best out

File a bb complaint and cite your dats issues - in about 10 days a Sprint executive team member will call u and offer to waive the eft fees but only if u send back any newly purchase device

My sister got two g3s for Christmas for 19.99 they required her to send them back but she was free as a bird and flew to Verizon
 
I figure by switching to verizon , I saved sprint some money. A. I'm no longer calling and getting credits to my bill all the time, and B. I was seriously considering the whole prl verizon tower hack(as long as it wasn't illegal).
 
Sprint is absolutely horrid in my area as well. I know some of you get decent LTE speeds and that's awesome, I'm glad you do. I've had nothing but horrible customer service from sprint (Over the phone and in store) that has me convinced to never use sprint, ever again. And I'm a reasonable, rational person, I do not give any customer service rep a hard time.


Sprint can go to hell :D
 
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