Sprint Too Slow?

[swiftbmx]

AT&T is downright awful in parts of NYC. It was so bad that I'd consistently get 0.05 to 0.10mbps anytime from 8am-6pm. The data got worse over time with the explosion of smartphones and then it became unusable in midtown. Paid the ETF and went to Verizon. Their service is also slow but I can get about 0.5mps to 1.0mbps which is enough to check and open emails or even stream music.

Even though LTE is expanding like mad, it's going to get crowded quick. I bought a Verizon 4G LTE phone when it first came out over a year ago and was getting 40mbps easily in the city. Running a speedtest in the same exact spot today, it will vary anywhere from 1mbps to about 10mbps depending on the time of day.

My point is almost all US carriers are super congested in big cities.

 

[cynics]

I'm my area sprint is a joke compared to Verizon and Verizon is really bad. I wouldn't let my friends get a sprint or Verizon iPhone. LTE for Verizon in my area, state, nearly entire east coast is awesome. But since the current iPhone isn't lte I wouldn't recommend it. Go AT&T, if data speeds are important at all!

Btw I have a iPhone on Verizon

Better then I was expecting!! Lol

 

[chiefpavvy]

AT&T is the only choice for fast (relatively speaking) data on iPhone right now. Until LTE arrives. HSPA+ is pretty good in many areas, much, much faster than EVDO.

Verizon and Sprint are both overloaded. In fact in some areas Verizon 3G is even slower than Sprint - now THAT is bad! That said, I'd never recommend Sprint to my worst enemy. They have the absolute worst network of any national carrier. Their coverage map appears to be stuck circa 1997. It's no surprise they advertise "UNLIMITED DATA!" but never talk about speeds...now you know why.

 

[AP_piano295]

Kind of walked away from this thread for a week (finals )

But I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the terrible customer satisfaction surveys AT&T is always getting. I'm half way inclined to think it's the result of some negative conformation bias.

People have complained about AT&T for a while so now if anything goes wrong they just shout "Bah AT&T" and rate the service poorly. Doesn't necessarily reflect on the service in comparison to other services, it's just feels more significant because in confirms bias against at&t.

Or is at&t awful in its own way?

 

[Arnezie]

Kind of walked away from this thread for a week (finals )

But I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the terrible customer satisfaction surveys AT&T is always getting. I'm half way inclined to think it's the result of some negative conformation bias.

People have complained about AT&T for a while so now if anything goes wrong they just shout "Bah AT&T" and rate the service poorly. Doesn't necessarily reflect on the service in comparison to other services, it's just feels more significant because in confirms bias against at&t.

Or is at&t awful in its own way?

I've delt with them for just a very short time but I can tell you they were better than sprint. I had a question about how my billing cycle ended but they didn't pro rate my 5gb and boom here is a $50.00 credit on your bill.

 

[blairh]

Kind of walked away from this thread for a week (finals )

But I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the terrible customer satisfaction surveys AT&T is always getting. I'm half way inclined to think it's the result of some negative conformation bias.

People have complained about AT&T for a while so now if anything goes wrong they just shout "Bah AT&T" and rate the service poorly. Doesn't necessarily reflect on the service in comparison to other services, it's just feels more significant because in confirms bias against at&t.

Or is at&t awful in its own way?

I've been with AT&T since 08' and haven't had any issues. One time a sales rep screwed up when I added some international features to my plan for a vacation. I realized later I could have added said features simply by logging onto my account online. That was more an issue of her not being very sharp versus a bad reflection of the carrier.

I don't have experience with Sprint but seeing that their LTE market is non-existent right now, I'd be more comfortable going with VZW or AT&T.

 

[mattwallace24]

Kind of walked away from this thread for a week (finals )

But I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the terrible customer satisfaction surveys AT&T is always getting. I'm half way inclined to think it's the result of some negative conformation bias.

People have complained about AT&T for a while so now if anything goes wrong they just shout "Bah AT&T" and rate the service poorly. Doesn't necessarily reflect on the service in comparison to other services, it's just feels more significant because in confirms bias against at&t.

Or is at&t awful in its own way?

Individuals can always have a different experience from the norm, but the most recent carrier customer satisfaction survey shows a statistical tie among the big 4 carriers.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wi...omer-satisfaction-evens-16348054#.T7JhUY4f_TQ

 

[kaielement]

You get what you pay for

 

[Tianziwansui]

speedtest.net does not reflect reality...

Ive had an iphone with all three carriers.... Had an iphone 4 with verizon then got a 4s with ATT because of the hspa+. Now i have an iphone 4s with sprint...With an iPhone 4s obviously AT&T is going to have faster raw data speeds....

However.....that raw data speed is not a reflection of reality if you seem to live in a populated city. In my case I live in Charlotte, N.C. I work at the airport... And my service with AT&T is basically unusable... when I travel to other airports with AT&T its been like this...if you check speedtest you will show maybe 3, 4, 5 Mbps on AT&T...but the ping times will be 140. At work I am unable to voice Skype over the data connection because the connection will get too slow. Funny enough I can have a crystal clear conversation on Skype with sprint or Verizon in heavily populated areas. Its like this when i go to malls...events. It gets to the point where you can't even check email...send a text message...or pages loading take forever! The only time I felt like I could experience true hspa+ was when I was in a low density area...and I was probably in a car...so not like I was streaming a movie or anything.

With Verizon and Sprint my data speeds were showing so slow...however my ping times are in the range of 80 90 or so... So, even though AT&T is technically faster it feels like it takes a longer time to talk to the tower than Verizon or sprint does...with both sprint and Verizon for my day to day tasks like skyping, emailing,YouTube, etc. I get a much quicker response from the tower than I do with ATT... but like everyone says it depends on your circumstances...

 

[leenak]

I'm resurrecting this thread because this seemed to be the closest to what I need.

I live in the DC metro but my house has horrible reception for Verizon and AT&T (Verizon says I shouldn't but I do so).

I had a work provided blackberry for a while but I decided to give it up. I wasn't hooked on it but had some convenient options. I now just have a cheapie (non smart) phone on Verizon.

I'm considering getting an iPhone in the next 6 months. The Sprint coverage maps for my area look better than Verizon or AT&T so I was considering Sprint but it sounds like that isn't my best option?

My other option would be to get Verizon or AT&T and get one of those home cellular network extender things that plugs into your internet connection.

If there are any recommendations on alternative solutions, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Demonface]

I had Sprint for the past couple months and I couldnt even get 100kbps . Everytime I ran a speedtest I got at least 5kbps nothing higher. But i ported my number to Red Pocket Mobile hoping to get the 2GB data but when i ported i found out its now 1GB . But atleast im done with Sprints crappy service. Next month i might try to port to Straighttalk but i'll have to see whats on the horizon.

 

[MattMJB0188]

All of this just proves that Sprint should HAVE NEVER gotten the iPhone. This explains why everyone and their mother is carrying one around. I hate that everyone can afford one, and with Sprint's cheap plans makes this possible.

I liked it how it was. If you wanted an iPhone you paid more for it and went to AT&T. Its not like Apple is hurting for iPhone sales.

 

[Demonface]

All of this just proves that Sprint should HAVE NEVER gotten the iPhone. This explains why everyone and their mother is carrying one around. I hate that everyone can afford one, and with Sprint's cheap plans makes this possible.

I liked it how it was. If you wanted an iPhone you paid more for it and went to AT&T. Its not like Apple is hurting for iPhone sales.

Well im guessing Apple seen a chance at more money so they took it and it seems like its working out for them.

 

[Diseal3]

Like another poster said speedtest's won't be much use to you doing simple task's such as web browsing and e-mail. In New York Verizon has much lower ping times than AT&T and everything load's quicker. Speed's do make a difference in video streaming. Even music streaming I have not noticed a big difference between these two carrier's the app's seem to buffer content pretty well.

I can't say much about sprint however.

 

[leenak]

All of this just proves that Sprint should HAVE NEVER gotten the iPhone. This explains why everyone and their mother is carrying one around. I hate that everyone can afford one, and with Sprint's cheap plans makes this possible.

I liked it how it was. If you wanted an iPhone you paid more for it and went to AT&T. Its not like Apple is hurting for iPhone sales.

You hate how everyone can afford an iPhone? I'm sure there are people that can't (and some people who can't but still have them).

I'm personally just looking for something that has decent service at my house and AT&T/Verizon don't seem to be it.

 

[Technarchy]

All cellular service is a regional affair. It's all about where you live. What works in your area might not work in mine.

I had Sprint for 12 years all over the USA with the military and I had no major complaints. I'm on AT&T now and for sure it's a more consistant service in terms of speed.

 

[sk1wbw]

I take back what I said on page 1. I'm dumping Sprint when the new iPhone comes out.

I can't even check in on Foursquare or download email on Sprint's 3G network. It's that bad.

 

[kevinbomb123]

It varies from area to area but I'm getting 1.2-1.8 mps.

 

[Aquaporin]

Because I could not stand how slow Sprint 3G was, I switched back to AT&T. I am paying more per month, but I hope to never have 4/5 bars with the 3G indicator up only to have the phone have no internet access.

I should try Verizon at some point.

 

[JMountainDew]

I've been with Sprint for 8 years. Call coverage is great in my area. But yes, data can be very slow at times. Fortunately, I can usually tap into wifi whenever I need more speed.

 

[ks-man]

If you live in a large city I would recommend you only go with an LTE phone, whether that means an Android phone now or the next iPhone which almost certainly will be LTE. All three major carriers (even Sprint) are making heavy investments into their LTE platform and I'm sure that will mean ignoring their legacy network.

Comparing current 3G, 4G (WiMax-Sprint) and 4G (HSPA+ - AT&T) will become less and less important as LTE becomes the de facto service.

Here is a good site detailing Sprint's efforts for deployment of their Network Vision/LTE network. If your area should get NV by the end of the year and you could wait it out than Sprint may be a worthwhile consideration.

If data speeds are extremely important to you and you are in a major city and you don't want to take a chance, go with Verizon and get an LTE phone. Currently they are far and away the best for LTE service (in major areas). You will pay though to have the cream of the crop.

 

[LoloBond]

All depends on your area. Go to your local Sprint store and run a speedtest on 3G. Its a joke out here in SoCal. 4G speeds aren't too bad though 12-14Mbps down

I went to my local store in Bayshore NY and they had all the phones connected to WiFi... rep told me that the closest tower was too busy, I lol'd. I tried the S3 on 3G 112k down... my co-workers verizon was 1.92 down.

----------

It varies from area to area but I'm getting 1.2-1.8 mps.

I used to get that speed and 4-5 bars at my desk for the 3-4 years.... Now I get 1 bar and downloads speeds of 50-200k

 

[404 tech junkie]

Yup, it's really THAT bad. So is Verizon, though maybe a little better in some areas, around here Verizon is in that 0.1-0.5mbps loaded EVDO networks tend to hover around. In good conditions, 1.5mbps or so is reasonable to expect of EVDO (and 6+mbps for HSDPA 13.6mbps like on AT&T's iPhone).

The iPhone isn't the fastest phone on any carrier. It doesn't support LTE, WiMax, or 64QAM / DC / MIMO (not used in US) HSDPA. AT&T supports 20.6 mbps (NOT 21.1) HSDPA by using 64QAM, the iPhone doesn't. So it's NO ONE'S speed demon phone. But it's worst on CDMA networks.

Ok, so that long rant is to say, yes, it's bad. Think about this:

AT&T. You're on an expensive carrier that pours money into their network sharing 13.6mbps channels that they generally have plenty of in most places.

Sprint, you're on a cheap carrier loading shared 3.0mbps channels to capacity in most places.

Which do you think will be a better experience? Also, those are PHY layer speeds. Due to overhead you will NEVER see 13.6mbps on AT&T iPhones or 3.0mbps on Sprint/Verizon iPhones, even if you're the ONLY one on a channel in a perfect radio environment.

BTW, those aren't typos. Category 10 HSDPA is 13.65 (approx) mbps PHY layer speed, NOT 14.0 or 14.4 as even Apple has incorrectly said. EVDO rA is 3.0mbps exactly, NOT 3.1. 14.0 and 3.1 are easily explained by bad binary math (hard drive manufacturer and Apple starting with Snow Leopard style binary math, LOL). The raw PHY speeds are 13976kbps and 3072kbps respectively. If you incorrectly divide by 1000 instead of 1024, that gives you 14.0 and 3.1 when rounded to the nearest 1/10th mbps. I don't know where the heck the 14.4mbps number even Apple has misquoted comes from. The old days of 14.4kbps dial up modems? Same with 21.1mbps HSDPA. The raw PHY speed is 21096kbps. Divide by 1000 and round, you'll get 21.1. But you can't do that. You have to divide by 1024, since it's binary math.

Here's a more concise way of saying it.....Sprint's 3g network is quite slow. You can expect speeds ranging 300k-1meg with regularity.

 

[ty7u5]

I'm mostly pleased with Sprint's 3G in my area. Speeds do vary heavily though, but coverage is always good.

As good as this^

But sometimes...as bad as this.^
Like others have said, it just depends on your area.

 

[leenak]

I appreciate the input. It has been many years since I paid for my own phone service that I'm quite out of touch. I always thought Sprint was decent (but had spotty coverage at one point) so was kind of surprised to hear that they had a slow network.

I'm leaning towards AT&T right now but we'll see.