Carrier Sprint is pathetic

[2298754]

I get 4 bars LTE here in downtown Boston, but can barely open a webpage once the day beings. Forget doing anything at 5pm. Bandwidth is what is lacking. Verizon has admitted this is an issue and as those with other carriers start to upgrade LTE phones this is only getting worse.

I got .03mbps this morning with those full bars. Calls sound great though of course.... Very Similar to how your cable internet works after 8pm and Netflix tanks. Share that pool everybody.

Where are you in Boston? Sprint is trash all over the city. Brookline and Fenway are a huge black hole.

They claim to cover the city with LTE, yet I've only ever gotten LTE near Boylston/Newbury on the one site above Hynes Convention center. No where else. Pretty ridiculous.

 

[pilot1226]

I get 4 bars LTE here in downtown Boston, but can barely open a webpage once the day beings. Forget doing anything at 5pm. Bandwidth is what is lacking. Verizon has admitted this is an issue and as those with other carriers start to upgrade LTE phones this is only getting worse.

I got .03mbps this morning with those full bars. Calls sound great though of course.... Very Similar to how your cable internet works after 8pm and Netflix tanks. Share that pool everybody.

Keep in mind that the bars are for a voice signal, not necessarily for data quality or throughput.

And there have been growing pains - back in September they started upgrading the nodes nearby and it's still not 100% complete now, nearly 3 months later. It takes time, unfortunately Sprint has to rely on third-party technicians to climb up the towers and change the hardware, and then test and code the software. Takes forever. Truly a painstaking task.

That being said, of course pick a carrier that fits your needs. I have wifi at work and home and almost everywhere I go thanks to hotspots and a friend's Xfinity and Optimum login. So I'm set. But now almost all other places I'm at for my commute I get LTE which takes care of it.

I've said this a thousand times:

If you are paying for unlimited anything and can't use it reliably - whether it be voice or data - then it's time to switch. You *might* even get the cell company to forgive an ETF if the signal's that bad and you keep calling them to complain. Remember, you only need one person to say yes and you're all set.

 

[Apple Trees]

Sprint ranked dead last in Consumer Reports phone service survey

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57...ast-in-consumer-reports-phone-service-survey/

And the company itself isn't even surprised by the ranking.

 

[eyoungren]

Sprint ranked dead last in Consumer Reports phone service survey

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57...ast-in-consumer-reports-phone-service-survey/

And the company itself isn't even surprised by the ranking.

Let's add some balance to this:
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5079-sprint-dead-last-in-consumer-reports-downfrom-no-2-last-year/

The cnet article was written by Roger Cheng, a known Sprint hater who is too lazy to do basic journalist research and is biased in his opinion against Sprint in his articles.

The Consumer Reports survey was also conducted by people who have no clue about how the wireless industry works.

I'm not saying there is no truth here. I'm just providing the other side.

 

[2298754]

Let's add some balance to this:
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5079-sprint-dead-last-in-consumer-reports-downfrom-no-2-last-year/

The cnet article was written by Roger Cheng, a known Sprint hater who is too lazy to do basic journalist research and is biased in his opinion against Sprint in his articles.

The Consumer Reports survey was also conducted by people who have no clue about how the wireless industry works.

I'm not saying there is no truth here. I'm just providing the other side.

Oh god. The comments on that link are pathetic. They just can't accept it. Everyone is wrong unless Sprint ranked highly.

 

[eyoungren]

Well, the truth is somewhere in the middle. The CNET article presents things one way and the s4gru response another.

Personally, I don't care. Sprint can sit on the bottom. As long as they keep my LTE on and it's useable we're good.

 

[Apple Trees]

Let's add some balance to this:
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5079-sprint-dead-last-in-consumer-reports-downfrom-no-2-last-year/

The cnet article was written by Roger Cheng, a known Sprint hater who is too lazy to do basic journalist research and is biased in his opinion against Sprint in his articles.

The Consumer Reports survey was also conducted by people who have no clue about how the wireless industry works.

I'm not saying there is no truth here. I'm just providing the other side.

I'm speechless at those comments

 

[2298754]

just saw this post.

The last sentence, especially, made me chuckle.

 

[jamezr]

Well, the truth is somewhere in the middle. The CNET article presents things one way and the s4gru response another.

Personally, I don't care. Sprint can sit on the bottom. As long as they keep my LTE on and it's useable we're good.

I think it is what it is……Sprint is dead last for a reason. The consumers that have Sprint service voted them dead last…..nuff said…...

 

[eyoungren]

I think it is what it is……Sprint is dead last for a reason. The consumers that have Sprint service voted them dead last…..nuff said…...

Sure. The network is messed up nationwide because ~38,000 towers are being gutted and replaced with new equipment. So, naturally service is crap and people logically give Sprint bad marks for that.

I get it and I don't deny it.

But I do think too much importance has been given to this report. Just like too much importance was given to the reports of customer service awards Dan Hesse was always trumpeting before Network Vision got started. Those reports and awards were a joke because customer service is the same as it's always been – bad.

On another note, Sprint turned LTE on on the closest tower to me at work yesterday! It was on briefly for testing, but I expect it should stay on very soon! I've had LTE at work, but the signal was coming from a tower farther away and was weak. Now, it's much stronger!

 

[jamezr]

Sure. The network is messed up nationwide because ~38,000 towers are being gutted and replaced with new equipment. So, naturally service is crap and people logically give Sprint bad marks for that.

I get it and I don't deny it.

But I do think too much importance has been given to this report. Just like too much importance was given to the reports of customer service awards Dan Hesse was always trumpeting before Network Vision got started. Those reports and awards were a joke because customer service is the same as it's always been – bad.

On another note, Sprint turned LTE on on the closest tower to me at work yesterday! It was on briefly for testing, but I expect it should stay on very soon! I've had LTE at work, but the signal was coming from a tower farther away and was weak. Now, it's much stronger!

They are dead last because the people that have Sprint service rated them dead last. Why do you think that is? Because they have been promised 4G service for years with no follow through. Yet Sprint charges their subscribers $10 extra a month for 4G service yet they do not have 4G service in the vast majority of their coverage area. There are some very lucky people that have Sprint service and have a good LTE or 4G signal. But consider yourself lucky because you are in the minority.
Discounting these reports because you have a good or weak signal for LTE is not logical......the vast majority of users that have Sprint rate them poorly.....

 

[eyoungren]

Scan back through this thread. You won't find anywhere that I said Sprint was great and that 3G service was wonderful.

Customer service has been crap since before 2006 when Sprint merged with Nextel. Gary Forsee was extremely negligent at the helm and Dan Hesse is no better.

The Network Vision rollout has been run by the marketing department and planned by a group of idiots in the engineering department. The entire Sprint culture is one that is plagued by lying and deceit because that's the only way to keep your job at Sprint. There is no accountability and the blame always lies with someone else. As a Sprint customer since 1999 I am VERY FAMILIAR with Sprint's lies and bad customer service. There is nothing you can tell me about who they are or what they do that will surprise me. You learn to cope. Always deal with them in person and get it in writing. One of the reasons I only deal with Apple now and Sprint just provides my service.

Problems with the rollout? Vendor execution. Delays? Landlords, permit issues, local regulations, review processes, nesting birds. Etc, etc.

I've mentioned it all in this thread. And yes, I am in the minority. Yes, I've paid the premium data fee (which by the way was started as a 4G fee!) for the last year or so. And yes the fee was there since 2010 when it was tacked on and lots of places had no 4G. I just managed to avoid it because my wife and I had grandfathered smartphones then.

But I will mention the 4G thing again (I know I probably mentioned it in this thread already). A few years back Sprint was told by the FCC that it had to use it's spectrum licenses or it would lose them. Clearwire had WiMax ready to go and LTE was only in concept phase.

So Sprint partnered with Clear. Then an argument insued over a data fee that Clearwire wanted from Sprint whether or not a device was in a 4G area or not. That's the fee that Sprint passed on to it's customers. Sprint did not want to pay the fee, so Clearwire decided to give Sprint the middle finger and stopped building out Wimax. Compared to Clearwire, Sprint is a paragon of virtue!!!

Sprint had to do something. It could utilize Wimax and go down the road it went down, or it could lose the spectrum license. If it had done the latter then there would have been no 2500mhz frequency that Sprint has now.

So…your argument is that there is a reason Sprint is in last place. And it's because Sprint sucks and Sprint customers noted that. You seem to think that I am disagreeing with you. I'm not. All I'm saying is, so what? Sprint got another bad mark. In a long line of bad marks. This type of thing should be expected. It's Sprint. Why is this report a big deal? Sprint service sucks on 3G and LTE is just barely getting there. It's like saying the sky is blue today. Yeah, and so? Sprint customers are not surprised by this. We live it every day!

 

[jamezr]

Scan back through this thread. You won't find anywhere that I said Sprint was great and that 3G service was wonderful.

Customer service has been crap since before 2006 when Sprint merged with Nextel. Gary Forsee was extremely negligent at the helm and Dan Hesse is no better.

The Network Vision rollout has been run by the marketing department and planned by a group of idiots in the engineering department. The entire Sprint culture is one that is plagued by lying and deceit because that's the only way to keep your job at Sprint. There is no accountability and the blame always lies with someone else. As a Sprint customer since 1999 I am VERY FAMILIAR with Sprint's lies and bad customer service. There is nothing you can tell me about who they are or what they do that will surprise me. You learn to cope. Always deal with them in person and get it in writing. One of the reasons I only deal with Apple now and Sprint just provides my service.

Problems with the rollout? Vendor execution. Delays? Landlords, permit issues, local regulations, review processes, nesting birds. Etc, etc.

I've mentioned it all in this thread. And yes, I am in the minority. Yes, I've paid the premium data fee (which by the way was started as a 4G fee!) for the last year or so. And yes the fee was there since 2010 when it was tacked on and lots of places had no 4G. I just managed to avoid it because my wife and I had grandfathered smartphones then.

But I will mention the 4G thing again (I know I probably mentioned it in this thread already). A few years back Sprint was told by the FCC that it had to use it's spectrum licenses or it would lose them. Clearwire had WiMax ready to go and LTE was only in concept phase.

So Sprint partnered with Clear. Then an argument insued over a data fee that Clearwire wanted from Sprint whether or not a device was in a 4G area or not. That's the fee that Sprint passed on to it's customers. Sprint did not want to pay the fee, so Clearwire decided to give Sprint the middle finger and stopped building out Wimax. Compared to Clearwire, Sprint is a paragon of virtue!!!

Sprint had to do something. It could utilize Wimax and go down the road it went down, or it could lose the spectrum license. If it had done the latter then there would have been no 2500mhz frequency that Sprint has now.

So…your argument is that there is a reason Sprint is in last place. And it's because Sprint sucks and Sprint customers noted that. You seem to think that I am disagreeing with you. I'm not. All I'm saying is, so what? Sprint got another bad mark. In a long line of bad marks. This type of thing should be expected. It's Sprint. Why is this report a big deal? Sprint service sucks on 3G and LTE is just barely getting there. It's like saying the sky is blue today. Yeah, and so? Sprint customers are not surprised by this. We live it every day!

Sounds like you either own stock in Sprint or just like punishment!
Because you are still with them......

 

[eyoungren]

Sounds like you either own stock in Sprint or just like punishment!
Because you are still with them......

Well…neither.

It just was never an issue until last year. All my phones before that were 3G and I didn't have any problems. We didn't have data even until Christmas of 2008.

And while I objected to bad 3G for the last year on my iPhone, the reality was that 99% of the places I'm at have WiFi. Now, if there had been issues with calls and texting like happened (happens) in so many other areas and I had issues with 3G data then I'd have been all over Sprint. As it was, I made them give me a free femtocell (Airave) just for the house. Conveniently, it seems to have now died once LTE showed up.

Anyway, we haven't had serious enough issues with the network to leave. That said, I am very aware that those issues are common everywhere else.

 

[Septembersrain]

Sprint is making a move to buy T-Mobile. If they do, we'll have an amazing saturation. Not to mention when they finally get done with the tower refarming. I'm surprised Nextel stayed around so long with it's iDEN spectrum hogging up space. There are a lot of changes coming, they just took a bit too long to get them implemented.

 

[eyoungren]

just saw this post.

The last sentence, especially, made me chuckle.

Image

LOL! I just saw this. I saw your statement this morning, but didn't see the picture until I got to work.

Yeah. That right there is why I will never register at s4gru.com.

They have one person who's been able to fly under the radar until just lately. Essentially the word to that user was "If you have any problems at all with Sprint, be gone, we don't want you here."

Be interesting to see how long the site lasts once NV is built out and their niche for being the only source of inside information is no longer relevant.

----------

Sprint is making a move to buy T-Mobile. If they do, we'll have an amazing saturation. Not to mention when they finally get done with the tower refarming.

This story has a lot of legs in a lot of forums and news sites. I don't really know what side I stand on at the moment, but if you think Sprint is pushing this, think again.

Softbank owns 80% of Sprint and it's been their public statement that they want to make Sprint the number one wireless provider in America. So, if this happens it will be because of Softbank and not anything Dan Hesse dreamed up.

I'm surprised Nextel stayed around so long with it's iDEN spectrum hogging up space. There are a lot of changes coming, they just took a bit too long to get them implemented.

Nextel overstayed it's welcome because rather than taking the customer loss hit all at once and shutting down a dead technology Sprint tried to keep those customers by implementing PTT on a CDMA network. It was a failure and those customers bailed to other networks. They won't be back because in their mind Sprint killed Nextel. Nevermind that PTT was dead by the time Sprint got to it.

And yes, changes are in the works. A lot of the delays are because vendors can't be bothered to deliver fiber optic backhaul to cell sites. No backhaul, no LTE, no improved 3G.

 

[Septembersrain]

This story has a lot of legs in a lot of forums and news sites. I don't really know what side I stand on at the moment, but if you think Sprint is pushing this, think again.

Softbank owns 80% of Sprint and it's been their public statement that they want to make Sprint the number one wireless provider in America. So, if this happens it will be because of Softbank and not anything Dan Hesse dreamed up.


Nextel overstayed it's welcome because rather than taking the customer loss hit all at once and shutting down a dead technology Sprint tried to keep those customers by implementing PTT on a CDMA network. It was a failure and those customers bailed to other networks. They won't be back because in their mind Sprint killed Nextel. Nevermind that PTT was dead by the time Sprint got to it.

Honestly, Mexico is still huge on PTT. We had a huge backlash here in Texas. There are a large majority of the Hispanic demographic that used it as a cheaper form to contact family over there.

I do think this move to buy T-Mobile was Softbank oriented. Sprint has great coverage in the country areas where we are. In the cities however, T-Mobile really shines in terms of speed. Mix them together and you'd have a pretty good Verizon/AT&T competition on your hands.

I'll agree with one sentiment I perceived (If I'm wrong, correct me). Dan Hess is an imbecile. I'm actually grateful for Softbank, they seem to make advantageous decisions.

 

[eyoungren]

I'll agree with one sentiment I perceived (If I'm wrong, correct me). Dan Hess is an imbecile. I'm actually grateful for Softbank, they seem to make advantageous decisions.

No, you got me right on that one.

Unfortunately, Softbank honored his contract up to 2018 so he's going to be around for awhile unless he does something really dumb.

Your area/experience could be regional. On the whole though, PTT isn't really used by anyone anymore. Even emergency responders have shifted over to something else. Sprint was the last major carrier using it.

I'm not denying or talking down the reality of it where you are, I'm just speaking to the larger, overall picture. Yes, it's still used, but much in the same way I use PowerPC Macs as my main machines. Apple killed Classic with 10.5 and Rosetta with 10.7. In Apple's mind PowerPC is dead, dead, dead. But there are still a few of us out there.

Anyway even if Dan Hesse is secure, I'm getting hints (based on a few articles I've read) that overall Sprint employees are nervous. There is talk (which Sprint denys) that HQ may be relocated to the Bay Area. That makes sense because the board meets in the Bay Area right now with Sprint execs coming from KC and Softbank execs coming from Japan. If Masayoshi Son has to actually go in person to Sprint HQ, he's still got a few flight hours left once he hits the west coast.

But Sprint employees are nervous because Son is looking things over. And they have reason to be nervous. I think (just my own personal opinion) that Son is finding out just what he paid all those billions for and he probably does not like what he sees.

 

[RiddlaBronc]

Where in tx are you located? ^^^^

Sprint sucks on 3g but its good enough for calls and texts. Since i upgraded from a 4 to a 5s, I know have LTE! Here in south texas even though sprint's site does not show lte coverage here.
If sprint merges with tmobile it will be a game changer for sure.
I am a happy camper with sprint and it will only get better.

Not saying its better than att or verizon because its not. It gets the job done

 

[Black Magic]

Where in tx are you located? ^^^^

Sprint sucks on 3g but its good enough for calls and texts. Since i upgraded from a 4 to a 5s, I know have LTE! Here in south texas even though sprint's site does not show lte coverage here.
If sprint merges with tmobile it will be a game changer for sure.
I am a happy camper with sprint and it will only get better.

Not saying its better than att or verizon because its not. It gets the job done

I'm in South Texas as well and Sprint does get the job done. I did briefly and recently switch over to AT&T to see what the service is like. Needless to say it's night and day. On Sprint, if you dont have LTE, data services are pretty much unusable until you are on wifi. Also, Sprint's LTE coverage in a LTE city has many large gaps even if the city is 90% covered.

AT&T on the other hand has solid coverage around the city. It's not blazing fast numbers like I see posted on here but always like 15mb down and 7mb up or so. The crazy thing is I could just turn off LTE on AT&T and use their 4G service and it still gets about 5mb down/ 1mb up and covers the entire city. The only downside with AT&T is you pay alot more. I'll probably switch back over when my contract is up.

Verizon is a non starter for me because it appears they use the same towers as Sprint and service + signal quality are the same being that they are both CDMA.

Sprint buying TMobile is very interesting and would improve things. The hope would be that they drop CDMA though I highly doubt it.

 

[eyoungren]

Where in tx are you located? ^^^^

Sprint sucks on 3g but its good enough for calls and texts. Since i upgraded from a 4 to a 5s, I know have LTE! Here in south texas even though sprint's site does not show lte coverage here.
If sprint merges with tmobile it will be a game changer for sure.
I am a happy camper with sprint and it will only get better.

Not saying its better than att or verizon because its not. It gets the job done

I think you're asking Septembersrain? Because I'm in Phoenix. Texas is actually farther along in the LTE rollout than Arizona is. You guys should be getting complete soon with coverage filling in.

The biggest problem in Texas is that other cell carriers have the licensing to share the same frequency bandwidth that Sprint uses. That means Sprint is limited in certain areas to keeping LTE within some narrow limits. That of course means LTE isn't always there.

 

[Septembersrain]

Where in tx are you located? ^^^^

Sprint sucks on 3g but its good enough for calls and texts. Since i upgraded from a 4 to a 5s, I know have LTE! Here in south texas even though sprint's site does not show lte coverage here.
If sprint merges with tmobile it will be a game changer for sure.
I am a happy camper with sprint and it will only get better.

Not saying its better than att or verizon because its not. It gets the job done

I'm in San Antonio. Yeah, I think it would definitely get better. They'd just need to keep their unlimited data plans and they would keep the subscriber base.

I'm in South Texas as well and Sprint does get the job done. I did briefly and recently switch over to AT&T to see what the service is like. Needless to say it's night and day. On Sprint, if you dont have LTE, data services are pretty much unusable until you are on wifi. Also, Sprint's LTE coverage in a LTE city has many large gaps even if the city is 90% covered.

AT&T on the other hand has solid coverage around the city. It's not blazing fast numbers like I see posted on here but always like 15mb down and 7mb up or so. The crazy thing is I could just turn off LTE on AT&T and use their 4G service and it still gets about 5mb down/ 1mb up and covers the entire city. The only downside with AT&T is you pay alot more. I'll probably switch back over when my contract is up.

Verizon is a non starter for me because it appears they use the same towers as Sprint and service + signal quality are the same being that they are both CDMA.

Sprint buying TMobile is very interesting and would improve things. The hope would be that they drop CDMA though I highly doubt it.

I too would like to see Sprint move to GSM. We are the only country that uses CDMA aren't we? That severely limits our ability to work with an out of country market. It also forces the phone makers to build a phone specifically for those frequencies. I commonly hear the question of "Why do Sprint and Verizon not get the good international phones?". Well, we don't have the frequencies to use them!

I do see a slight change as we are using phones with UICC chips for LTE. That technically means the phones have hardware capabilities for GSM. Though due to laws, can only be used as such with international SIM cards.

T-Mobile bought Metro PCS, they are converting to GSM. Perhaps Sprint will see the value in this and while they are already forecasting tower refarming, they'll go GSM.

One can hope!

 

[eyoungren]

I too would like to see Sprint move to GSM. We are the only country that uses CDMA aren't we? That severely limits our ability to work with an out of country market. It also forces the phone makers to build a phone specifically for those frequencies. I commonly hear the question of "Why do Sprint and Verizon not get the good international phones?". Well, we don't have the frequencies to use them!

I do see a slight change as we are using phones with UICC chips for LTE. That technically means the phones have hardware capabilities for GSM. Though due to laws, can only be used as such with international SIM cards.

T-Mobile bought Metro PCS, they are converting to GSM. Perhaps Sprint will see the value in this and while they are already forecasting tower refarming, they'll go GSM.

One can hope!

Actually, Japan is CDMA. One of the reasons Softbank was attracted to buy Sprint. Softbank has the negotiating power to get good deals (in Japan) on network equipment at wholesale and it's bringing that expertise to the table. Those savings were factored into the buyout.

As to smartphones. At least in the case of the iPhone, both the 5, 5c and 5s are world phones. There is a GSM radio in these phones. You can take them outside of the US and use them worldwide. Not sure about the 4s though. The problem is Sprint's draconian unlock policy that only allows for an international unlock while maintaining a domestic lock.

It's actually here in the US where the band/radio problem is an issue.

 

[Septembersrain]

Actually, Japan is CDMA. One of the reasons Softbank was attracted to buy Sprint. Softbank has the negotiating power to get good deals (in Japan) on network equipment at wholesale and it's bringing that expertise to the table. Those savings were factored into the buyout.

As to smartphones. At least in the case of the iPhone, both the 5, 5c and 5s are world phones. There is a GSM radio in these phones. You can take them outside of the US and use them worldwide. Not sure about the 4s though. The problem is Sprint's draconian unlock policy that only allows for an international unlock while maintaining a domestic unlock.

It's actually here in the US where the band/radio problem is an issue.

Ah. I see. Yeah, Sprint has this notorious lack of unlocked phones. It's definitely a huge annoyance as they aren't as likely to give an unlock code as say.. T-Mobile.

Do you think the issue with CDMA here is partially caused by the fact that we're a GSM carrying country as well?
Japan is all CDMA right?

 

[eyoungren]

Ah. I see. Yeah, Sprint has this notorious lack of unlocked phones. It's definitely a huge annoyance as they aren't as likely to give an unlock code as say.. T-Mobile.

Well, no offense, but Sprint won't give you an unlock code for domestic use - period. Ever. Only for international use. And there are no third-party unlocks. That's because Sprint records all the IMEIs of the iPhones they buy from Apple and makes sure that those IMEIs are barred from the Apple unlock database.

Do you think the issue with CDMA here is partially caused by the fact that we're a GSM carrying country as well?

Sorry, I don't follow. Which CDMA issue are you referring to? I apologize if I slept through it the first time.

Japan is all CDMA right?

Yes. CDMA only. And their networks are setup much the same way as Sprint.

Go figure.