Speed test - sprint network

[nanogirl21]

Hello everyone. I have been receiving long load times with using Opera Mini or Safari on my iPhone 4s 5.0.1 and downloading from the AppStore. I decided to run a speed test but I am unsure how to interpret the data. Can someone let me know if this is “average” speed on Sprint 3g network. If it is not, how can I improve speeds?

 

[MattMJB0188]

Get off Sprint for one!!!

 

[nanogirl21]

Get off Sprint for one!!!

Trust me I want to! I hate (yes I know hate is a strong word but I am using it correctly) Sprint with a passion. I am stuck with another year then I am running back to Verizon. I hope Verizon offer better plans by that time.

Any other suggestions how I could improve speeds?

 

[Sixtyin3]

In my experience Sprint is all over the place with speeds. My office gets great speeds usually over 2mbps whereas my home usually gets 0.50-1mpbs. Sprint is doing massive network upgrades so I'd imagine that's a big part of the fluctuations.

 

[nanogirl21]

In my experience Sprint is all over the place with speeds. My office gets great speeds usually over 2mbps whereas my home usually gets 0.50-1mpbs. Sprint is doing massive network upgrades so I'd imagine that's a big part of the fluctuations.

I know from having Sprint with other mobile brands that the network in general is not good in my area. But your speeds are still significantly different than mine. I never reach 1.00 mbps for download or upload speed but I always have a high ping over 100.

 

[Sixtyin3]

I know from having Sprint with other mobile brands that the network in general is not good in my area. But your speeds are still significantly different than mine. I never reach 1.00 mbps for download or upload speed but I always have a high ping over 100.

Yeah, I can ping over 900 sometimes, but a lot of the times its like the Speed Test pic I showed. I'd say overall, Sprint is getting better, not worst. I notice increased coverage and speeds are picking up just about everywhere.

I've had my iPhone about a week and a half. Before that I had the Epic Touch 4G (S2). On 3G with the ET4G I would get 0.50-0.75mpbs at my office. This was on the stock up to date firmware. I switch to an iPhone and get 2.00mpbs in the same place. I don't know if it's Samsung's lousy radios or Sprints giving more bandwidth to iPhones, but my iPhone is faster EVERYWHERE.

 

[PNutts]

I'm not on Sprint. Do they "guarantee" a minimum speed? I'd call Sprint and report your speeds to see if there's any issues in your area. If they're like AT&T, having two phones that report the same speed will move the incident more quickly from "it's your phone" to "I'm not saying it is but it might be our network."

Edit: I forgot you asked a question. Lower Ping time is better. Higher Download and Upload are better. I've never seen Upload be greater than the Download, it's usually a fraction of the Download. Also are you JB?

 

[nanogirl21]

I'm not on Sprint. Do they "guarantee" a minimum speed? I'd call Sprint and report your speeds to see if there's any issues in your area. If they're like AT&T, having two phones that report the same speed will move the incident more quickly from "it's your phone" to "I'm not saying it is but it might be our network."

Actually I did take to someone from Sprint online chat today. Here is part of the conversation.

Raymond D: Thank you for waiting.
Raymond D: 3G Network Data Speeds On Your Phone will be:
Raymond D: Average download speeds - 600Kbps - 1.4 Mbps
Raymond D: Peak download speeds - up to 3.1 Mbps
Raymond D: Average upload speeds - 350Kbps - 500Kbps
Raymond D: Peak upload speeds -1.8 Mbps
You: Is the average listed average of my usage specifically or everyone the network?
Raymond D: Is is the average usage of all the iphone users.

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Edit: I forgot you asked a question. Lower Ping time is better. Higher Download and Upload are better. I've never seen Upload be greater than the Download, it's usually a fraction of the Download. Also are you JB?

Yes, I am jailbroken. I know this can cause slower speeds, but I do not expect it to be THAT much of an difference. Thank you for the information about Ping. I need to get out of the mind-frame of more is better.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Trust me I want to! I hate (yes I know hate is a strong word but I am using it correctly) Sprint with a passion. I am stuck with another year then I am running back to Verizon. I hope Verizon offer better plans by that time.

Any other suggestions how I could improve speeds?

Didn't meant to come off as so sarcastic so my apologies. Buy why not sell your iPhone and use that to cover your ETF? Kind of a hassle but you'll get a pretty penny for your iPhone.

Sprint and Verizon use the same CDMA/EV-DO technology but in my opinion Verizon has a much more managed network. My wife can easily pull 2mbps down on her Verizon iPhone 4s. Of course the AT&T version can pull 14.4Mbps theoretically but no one really comes close to that. Best I got with AT&T is 8.5 mbps down.

But Verizon is probably your best choice. Best coverage and best network. Though I do wish they utilized GSM technology for voice and 3G. I actually liked AT&T at one point but they just don't want anyone to use their network...PERIOD.

 

[PNutts]

Raymond D: 3G Network Data Speeds On Your Phone will be:
Raymond D: Average download speeds - 600Kbps - 1.4 Mbps
Raymond D: Peak download speeds - up to 3.1 Mbps
Raymond D: Average upload speeds - 350Kbps - 500Kbps
Raymond D: Peak upload speeds -1.8 Mbps
You: Is the average listed average of my usage specifically or everyone the network?
Raymond D: Is is the average usage of all the iphone users.

Hmmm... Mr. D said that average download speed is 600 but yours is 250. He said your average is average so I assume you have some faster downloads. Sorry, since I'm not JB or on Sprint I don't have any suggestions other than to find someone not JB and do a stare and compare to see if it really is your phone vs. Sprint's network.

 

[wordoflife]

For Sprint it's fairly normal. They have horrible 3G speeds in most areas, though some areas are somewhat good.

You'll have to move to AT&T (or even Verizon) for faster speeds unfortunately. If you call Sprint and ask them, they'll claim that they are working on improving the network in your area ... which is just about what they say to everyone.

 

[nanogirl21]

Didn't meant to come off as so sarcastic so my apologies. Buy why not sell your iPhone and use that to cover your ETF? Kind of a hassle but you'll get a pretty penny for your iPhone.

Sprint and Verizon use the same CDMA/EV-DO technology but in my opinion Verizon has a much more managed network. My wife can easily pull 2mbps down on her Verizon iPhone 4s. Of course the AT&T version can pull 14.4Mbps theoretically but no one really comes close to that. Best I got with AT&T is 8.5 mbps down.

But Verizon is probably your best choice. Best coverage and best network. Though I do wish they utilized GSM technology for voice and 3G. I actually liked AT&T at one point but they just don't want anyone to use their network...PERIOD.

No worries you are not coming off that way. I have used Verzion before back in my blackberry days and never had problem coverage so I understand what you mean. I have thought about just ending my contract and moving on. However, there are a few things stopping me.
1 – I receive a discount on my monthly bill for Sprint and only pay around $60/month for unlimited everything it would be an arm and leg to pay the high rates that is offered by Verizon especially since I am a high data user in fact that was one of the key reasons how I ended up with Sprint in the first place I do believe that you “pay” for “quality” but Sprint’s quality shouldn’t be this horrible it was decent with blackberry and I would expect that iphone would be better
2 – The contract is not in my name so ultimately it would be someone else decision
3 – I am jailbroken and if I switch I cannot jail break the new 5.1 firmware untethered

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Hmmm... Mr. D said that average download speed is 600 but yours is 250. He said your average is average so I assume you have some faster downloads. Sorry, since I'm not JB or on Sprint I don't have any suggestions other than to find someone not JB and do a stare and compare to see if it really is your phone vs. Sprint's network.

Sorry you just confused me. He said that the average was between 600Kbps and 1.4 Mbps. Mine is reading 250Kbps. That is significantly lower than the average range. But it look like my uploads were in the average range with 436Kbps. I find that weird.

Thank you for your input. I am trying to find someone who have similar stats as mine (JB Sprint 4s with 5.0.1 firmware) to test.

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For Sprint it's fairly normal. They have horrible 3G speeds in most areas, though some areas are somewhat good.

You'll have to move to AT&T (or even Verizon) for faster speeds unfortunately. If you call Sprint and ask them, they'll claim that they are working on improving the network in your area ... which is just about what they say to everyone.

Thank you for confirming that this is normal. I hope that Sprint really is working on the issue to improve data speeds.

 

[MattMJB0188]

No worries you are not coming off that way. I have used Verzion before back in my blackberry days and never had problem coverage so I understand what you mean. I have thought about just ending my contract and moving on. However, there are a few things stopping me.
1 – I receive a discount on my monthly bill for Sprint and only pay around $60/month for unlimited everything it would be an arm and leg to pay the high rates that is offered by Verizon especially since I am a high data user in fact that was one of the key reasons how I ended up with Sprint in the first place I do believe that you “pay” for “quality” but Sprint’s quality shouldn’t be this horrible it was decent with blackberry and I would expect that iphone would be better
2 – The contract is not in my name so ultimately it would be someone else decision
3 – I am jailbroken and if I switch I cannot jail break the new 5.1 firmware untethered

I understand. Have you checked with Verizon to see if you get any kind of a discount? At least you'll know for when your contract is up. I know you said the contract isn't in your name and you'd be paying more with Verizon but a lot of people are signing up with a 4G LTE phone and getting the double data plan and then switching to the iPhone. They are able to retain that double data plan.

Unlimited data is not what it use to be and the only people who really have it are Sprint and Verizon 4G LTE users. Sprint offers it because they are so slow and this allows them to offer it. Sprint gives EV-DO a really bad name. It's much better on Verizon. AT&T slows down everyone on an unlimited plan after 3GB no matter what. If you have an LTE device you slow down at 5GB. Then again AT&T doesn't want you to even use their network, they want you on WIFI 24/7.

My advice is: keep calling Sprint and complaining. If you call them too much they will end your contract; something about not being able to meet your demands. If the slow speeds continue ask for a credit each month. Tell them that you pay for data and can't use it when you have a good signal. Keep complaining until you get what you want.

Hopefully their network gets better. Good luck!!!

 

[SuperSnake2012]

I guess it depends on your location. When I first got the iPhone in December the 3G speeds were completely unusable in NYC. Now I get around 1Mbps down in the Bronx, and around 2Mbps in Manhattan. More than enough for me.

 

[iphone3DG3]

Sprint's 3G is horrendous. I would rarely get past 0.6mbps in the smaller towns in Northern California. In San Francisco (where I am from time to time), I'd get slightly higher download speeds (~1.3mbps, see first speed test). Sprint's voice is decent, but I'm most likely switching carriers with LTE, when the next iPhone carries that technology.

 

[sk1wbw]

I got 2.2 down the other day in the north Tampa Bay area, so I think they are upgrading slowly.