Database Develop

Sprint Instability

Had an entire section of town go down yesterday. Showed full signal but everytime anyone attempted to make a call it showed "network failure". Even attempting to call sprint's customer service numbers.
Finally got ahold of sprint via a land line and they claimed the towers show no problems and the network wasn't congested...
It is really bad since I rely on my phone for emergency response. Anyone else notice instability like this lately?

Are you in an area where LTE is being deployed? Sometimes that happens. You dont get LTE and the 3G gets worse.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4 Beta

vader860 said:
Are you in an area where LTE is being deployed? Sometimes that happens. You dont get LTE and the 3G gets worse.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well we were on the "list" (Tallahassee, FL) but haven't seen much LTE (or any) in Tallahassee... It wasn't just 3g, the entire 1xRTT network dropped (no phone calls, no texts). I am on business so I get to use business tech (instead of consumer tech) and they viewed all the work orders for the towers in teh area. Said there was nothing currently happening that would have caused the entire network to go down and that we aren't even close to 800 SMR deployment (which pisses me off because Sprint coverage inside my office is horrible, while verizon I can get a strong 1x, 3g and LTE (my work phone and air card are all verizon)).

Same thing happened to me a while back, nothing worked, but I was roaming. It lasted for a few days, then when it started working again, I got LTE.

Same thing going on around Philly suburbs. Calls dropping like crazy and horribly slow 3g. When lte is turned on for good, does 3g go back to normal, or stay slower than the 1x speeds I get in some places?

prob tower issues it happens.. has nothing to do with sprint
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

thlinx said:
prob tower issues it happens.. has nothing to do with sprint
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if its sprint's tower issue, then it has everything to do with sprint
since its their towers

flex360 said:
if its sprint's tower issue, then it has everything to do with sprint
since its their towers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no its not sprints fault its the vendors fault
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

thlinx said:
no its not sprints fault its the vendors fault
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lolololol
So do we go ask the vendor to fix their towers?
It's Sprint's responsibility to make sure it deals with good vendors and that they maintain the towers well.

thlinx said:
prob tower issues it happens.. has nothing to do with sprint
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How so when Sprint's internal diagnostic tools show the tower is functioning properly (in respect to the Sprint network)?

Its possible that your area is getting 1900 network vision upgrades, which knock you out for about a week.you don't really notice the lte install because you don't have the service, but you are dependent on 1900 for voice so its not pretty. Our area just got the upgrade and we had a lot of unhappy customers, I couldnt call or text for about 6 days. I'm off for a few weeks or I would check it out for you.

No issues
Sent from my One using XDA Premium HD app

So if I am scheduled to get LTE in my area soon, what kind of behavior would the network show?
I get crappy 3G almost everywhere, where every time I try to do anything, the 3G indicator goes dark and I get a network error. Whenever I get an LTE signal, it's usually a namesake, and I get knocked down to 3G. In select spots at select times, I get super duper slow 3G: around 90kbps. Sometimes 200. VERY few times, I get around 2 megs on LTE. That only lasts a little while.
I'm scheduled to get LTE this month. When should I expect decent coverage? All the threads in the International forum about gigs of data have me PUMPED!

sauprankul said:
Lolololol
So do we go ask the vendor to fix their towers?
It's Sprint's responsibility to make sure it deals with good vendors and that they maintain the towers well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Towers go down. Power goes out, internet goes down.
These things happen. You call Sprint, you let them know. Even if they tell you everything looks good on their end, if they get 5 calls about the same tower, they'll send out an engineer.
Expecting 100% uptime is absurd.

sauprankul said:
So if I am scheduled to get LTE in my area soon, what kind of behavior would the network show?
I get crappy 3G almost everywhere, where every time I try to do anything, the 3G indicator goes dark and I get a network error. Whenever I get an LTE signal, it's usually a namesake, and I get knocked down to 3G. In select spots at select times, I get super duper slow 3G: around 90kbps. Sometimes 200. VERY few times, I get around 2 megs on LTE. That only lasts a little while.
I'm scheduled to get LTE this month. When should I expect decent coverage? All the threads in the International forum about gigs of data have me PUMPED!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally you will just start to see 4g more often. You may some some minor odd behavior because they are up on the tower fooling around but it won't be a big outage. They do one site at a time, and once it's on it has to be tuned for optimal performance which takes a while too.
Sadly your 3g speeds are normal anymore, smart phones now days have completely overwhelmed the marginal capacity that evodo offers. Only thing they can do is to throw more RF carriers up but that can cause interface issues between cell sites and it can actually hinder performance. Areas that have complete lte toll outs do end up with much better 3g since the data hogs are now on lte, I can get about 1.5 down on 3g here where we have both lte and 1900mghz 3g network vision complete.

Same issues in Washington, DC for the Past 3 days. I sure hope its because they are upgrading the towers

Same thing happened in Houston a couple of days ago. One of the three towers in the area I work has been Network Vision upgraded, other two still in the works. Anywho, all of a sudden, no calls/texts for a span of about 20-30 minutes (longer/more in other areas). Sprint: "no issues reported in your area", I was: "yeah, I'm reporting one/some". Everything back to normal, for the time being, super-slow 3G (less than 100kbps). Thank goodness for Xfinity at home/work. I work for a preferred retailer and all we have been advised is that the upgrades are coming and will resolve and greatly improve our (Sprint's) network. Hopefully, the influx of money from the new owners will make it so. Nextel bandwidth/spectrum to be used for LTE, yes you'll need a new phone with correct radio.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium

I havent read much of what's going on here just skimmed through but I would like to add what I've heard.
Lately we've been having a lot of iPhones come in with data issues. Not just the 5 but 4 and 4s as well. This week alone I've seen 6 myself. Before that... Maybe 1 or 2 everyone 6 months. It's rare. And today these people plus more have come back with a worse issue. They aren't getting reception anywhere. (I'm in Washington btw). So I called my nss support team and they said as of the 17th of July sprint has been getting way more aggressive with the network vision and the iPhone's are more sensitive to this update but other device will start experience these problems and it's going to get worse all over the state till about October. The eta is October.
Sprint wants to have this network vision finished by this year so it just makes sense it would be happening in other states also.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

tsdeaton said:
I havent read much of what's going on here just skimmed through but I would like to add what I've heard.
Lately we've been having a lot of iPhones come in with data issues. Not just the 5 but 4 and 4s as well. This week alone I've seen 6 myself. Before that... Maybe 1 or 2 everyone 6 months. It's rare. And today these people plus more have come back with a worse issue. They aren't getting reception anywhere. (I'm in Washington btw). So I called my nss support team and they said as of the 17th of July sprint has been getting way more aggressive with the network vision and the iPhone's are more sensitive to this update but other device will start experience these problems and it's going to get worse all over the state till about October. The eta is October.
Sprint wants to have this network vision finished by this year so it just makes sense it would be happening in other states also.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have access to glance, it will tell you which sites are being upgraded and ETA's for lte and 3g nv. You have to be a lead or SM to access it.

duck9191 said:
You should have access to glance, it will tell you which sites are being upgraded and ETA's for lte and 3g nv. You have to be a lead or SM to access it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would be awesome to get this info for Tallahassee fl
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Spotty 4g lte

Just got the One, coming from s2, and love this phone. However I'm on Sprint lte now, and get very spotty coverage. It constantly switches from3g to lte, sometimes no data at all.
Of course this is a sprint issue, but is there a Rom or other ticks that may help get more consistent lte connection?
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app

Not really. I had to lave Sprint after being with them for 11 years due to my phone(s) not getting calls and poor network performance. In Dallas they really messed up big with Network Vision updates. Just my opinion.
Doesnt matter what hardware or software your on if the network is the problem your phone wont make it better.
Untill they get a handle on the system issues its not going to get better.

IAmSixNine said:
Not really. I had to lave Sprint after being with them for 11 years due to my phone(s) not getting calls and poor network performance. In Dallas they really messed up big with Network Vision updates. Just my opinion.
Doesnt matter what hardware or software your on if the network is the problem your phone wont make it better.
Untill they get a handle on the system issues its not going to get better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#Truth
I regret leaving Tmobile. But hey, I hope that with a Tri-Band LTE enabled phone...things should be better. At least in the near future.

centro714 said:
Just got the One, coming from s2, and love this phone. However I'm on Sprint lte now, and get very spotty coverage. It constantly switches from3g to lte, sometimes no data at all.
Of course this is a sprint issue, but is there a Rom or other ticks that may help get more consistent lte connection?
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Random question, but are you using a case on your phone? If so, what kind?
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

It's been going on for me since the beginning of July. It's not your phone, it's the awful network. The network has gotten so bad here, my local new station did a story on it since so many people were complaining. Normally I'm not a fan of stuff like this cause the media tends to exaggerate but in this particular case it's as bad as they say. I can have the tower in site and my phone will dump between X/1X/3G/LTE. Constant dropped calls, cutting in & out, unusable data, etc. I have been with Sprint for over 10 years & the network is literally unusable as it stands. It has been getting better over the last few weeks but it's still awful. I can understand some disruptions in service but this has been an ongoing thing for months with no end in site. Poor planning on Sprint's part. As far as LTE being spotty, until LTE gets turned on 800 it's going to be garbage. HTC one doesn't support LTE over 800 which at the moment doesn't matter since it's not on yet but I'm hoping by the Spring new hardware will be out & LTE on 800.

centro714 said:
Just got the One, coming from s2, and love this phone. However I'm on Sprint lte now, and get very spotty coverage. It constantly switches from3g to lte, sometimes no data at all.
Of course this is a sprint issue, but is there a Rom or other ticks that may help get more consistent lte connection?
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your on a sense rom, ##data#, click edit, enter MSL (if you dont have it, sprint should give it to you), you will see LTE settings and LTE scan settings, (dont remember exactly what they're called) Lower both those numbers to like 30 and 5 or something like that, it will scan more often and while connected to LTE should stay connected longer on a weaker signal....there is a thread on it somewhere...

[Attention ; PSA] SMS / Call issues on T-Mobile and MVNOs of T-Mobile.

The past couple of days I have been noticing my texts have been taking longer to send. And I mean much longer. They occasionally stall in a queue. Because this was super annoying and I spent so much time troubleshooting it I thought I'd open this up and let everyone know its not a bug related to 4.4.2 or anything.
I did some digging around with some other customers who have the same problem on T-Mobile and the reports have been plenty. T-Mobile seems to be upgrading service nationally and whatever their doing is causing occasional blackouts.
If its old news I apologize but I didn't see this anywhere. This thread will be closed when the problem has been fixed.
Edit : Things have been reported as fixed and things are running much better on my end. Have yet to see a problem so I'm closing this thread. It may take hours or a day for the changes to roll out to everyone so be patient or call T-Mobile if it hasn't been fixed by tomorrow, 5-10-2014.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Edit : service is back for most
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I'm getting real tired of T-Mobile. Literally the only reason I left grandfathered unlimited data on Verizon was to get this phone. I regret it every day. I hate this service, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.
I checked their coverage maps like a hawk before I signed with them and my whole entire area was covered in "Excellent 4G Coverage" as well as "Excellent Voice coverage". Got the phone November 18th 2013 and didn't see LTE even ONCE at my house or in my neighborhood until February 2014. That was after calling them EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Mostly 2-3 times a day. Not to mention all the dropped & spotty calls that I STILL have at home.
This is what you call "excellent" service? Really now... Excellent is supposed to be the best according to their maps. Which, might I add, they changed after I started calling them about my issues. I'd screen shot the maps before they changed them and sent them to customer service Rep after he told me I wasn't in a 4G zone. So I showed him and said that's not what your coverage map said last week when I joined...
Whatever they're doing they better do it quick. So tired of this T-Mobile BS. I love my nexus, but they're ruining it for me. I'd go back to Verizon in a heartbeat if I could get my unlimited data back. No hesitation.

RoyJ said:
I'm getting real tired of T-Mobile. Literally the only reason I left grandfathered unlimited data on Verizon was to get this phone. I regret it every day. I hate this service, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.
I checked their coverage maps like a hawk before I signed with them and my whole entire area was covered in "Excellent 4G Coverage" as well as "Excellent Voice coverage". Got the phone November 18th 2013 and didn't see LTE even ONCE at my house or in my neighborhood until February 2014. That was after calling them EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Mostly 2-3 times a day. Not to mention all the dropped & spotty calls that I STILL have at home.
This is what you call "excellent" service? Really now... Excellent is supposed to be the best according to their maps. Which, might I add, they changed after I started calling them about my issues. I'd screen shot the maps before they changed them and sent them to customer service Rep after he told me I wasn't in a 4G zone. So I showed him and said that's not what your coverage map said last week when I joined...
Whatever they're doing they better do it quick. So tired of this T-Mobile BS. I love my nexus, but they're ruining it for me. I'd go back to Verizon in a heartbeat if I could get my unlimited data back. No hesitation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are that unhappy, then change carriers.
Edit: Looks like there was a network issue in a few states. http://downdetector.com/status/t-mobile/map/

I understand his frustration. Its not easy just to change carriers anytime you want. Depending on where you live, your budget, the kind of phone you want, etc. T-Mobile is a hit or miss depending on where you live. They're upgrading like a madman though to try to give everyone good coverage. I just can't use Verizon because of 3 reasons.
1. No unlimited data.
2. No Nexus 5?
3. Higher phone bill with no unlimited data.
T-Mobile is generally a pretty good carrier. I've been with them since 1999 and they've gotten better ever since. I suggest you speak to a higher up to see what can be done if you're not happy then. The SMS problem seems to be fixed for the most part I'm no longer having problems. If you do have problems that aren't fixed you should call T-Mobile and ask them to have a look at your line.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Won't go back to big red without my unlimited lol. Sprint is garbage in my area. Utter and completely useless garbage. ATT is an option I'm currently looking into. Don't worry mate, I'm in the process. They won't have my business for long.
Not after they f'ed me at the drive thru (lethal weapon 2 ref)
Edit: checked that link, my whole area is currently down (according to that map). This is just ridiculous now.....

RoyJ said:
Won't go back to big red without my unlimited lol. Sprint is garbage in my area. Utter and completely useless garbage. ATT is an option I'm currently looking into. Don't worry mate, I'm in the process. They won't have my business for long.
Not after they f'ed me at the drive thru (lethal weapon 2 ref)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T may be your only option using the Nexus 5 reliably in your situation. Sprint and Verizon I have no experience or knowledge of at all. But Sprint until 4.4.3 won't work reliably.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Q] KitKat update breaks LTE on Sprint Flex??

Ok,
So I've searched through this entire QA section and have yet to find a thread related to my question so I'm going to ask.
I recently (as in like monday 05/05/14) updated to KitKat on my Sprint Flex and noticed that my LTE wont kick on...I update my profile and PRL and it will kick on for a split second go grey (gray?) and then go back to 3G. I'm curious, has anyone else encountered this issue or could this be a simple single issue I'm the only on experiencing?
mind you, YES I do live in an LTE enabled area (no Spark ) and my old HTC EVO 4G LTE gets service just fine as does my wife's EVO LTE but my Flex just wont kick it on anymore. I even tried resetting the radio with no luck. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be very appreciative!
Other than this little hiccup, along with the KB issue, this phone is saweet!

How was your service before the kit kat update? FYI you should head over to the S4GRU forums. You will find better sprint support there. Its not a corporate sprint site, its a community of sprint customers that have lots of knowledge of the network.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I'm convinced that Sprint doesn't want people on their LTE network. They recently started throttling their unlimited customers data once they use over 5Gb. I used a Sprint phone for a short period of time before our company switched to AT&T, and that phone would disconnect from the tower it was using whenever the phone would go idle. I would try to use the internet and it would say "no connection", but the second I made a phone call on it the connection would re-establish. It's all very strange.

Sprint blows and tmobile pays eta jus stating fact
Sent from my LG-D959 using Tapatalk

bbobarino said:
Sprint blows and tmobile pays eta jus stating fact
Sent from my LG-D959 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I left Sprint last year for identical reasons. As T-Mobile was the only other carrier to offer unlimited data without hidden throttle points. I had to pay the eta but it was well worth it. Sprint may be better out in the sticks because they have roaming agreements with Verizon but if you live in an urban area you will be ok.

My 4G LTE was badass before the update to KK. I'm very familiar with S4GRU forums. My service has always been great with Sprint, so that's not the issue, I was simply curious if this is simply an isolated incident or if this is becoming a known issue..I'm content with Sprint. I'll have to look at the other forums to see if I'm the only one having issues..
Sent from my LG-LS995 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I had an issue when at my home recently with service. Since the g flex will not connect to data when on a phone call, i noticed that my service would go to nothing or 1 bar. I contacted sprint, and they told me that the 3g portion of the tower was out that i connect to when at home. They said it would be fixed by the end of the day. My advice is to contact sprint. Maybe they can shed some light on the subject. Try to contact them through the chat on the website. They seem more knowledgeable on there.
Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk

Nybs31 said:
I had an issue when at my home recently with service. Since the g flex will not connect to data when on a phone call, i noticed that my service would go to nothing or 1 bar. I contacted sprint, and they told me that the 3g portion of the tower was out that i connect to when at home. They said it would be fixed by the end of the day. My advice is to contact sprint. Maybe they can shed some light on the subject. Try to contact them through the chat on the website. They seem more knowledgeable on there.
Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is only one cell radio on the newer phones so no SVDO/SVLTE no voice/data. Wifi is separate so wifi data will still work.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

OK.
so after I posted this thread i started checking the towers around me and found out i was not the only person reporting issues about this. apparently sprint is secretly updating the towers in Amarillo for spark. this didnt come from some idiot rep at the call center either, this i found out on my own. I verified it this morning and some areas in town my little sun lights up and my speeds are ranging from 15-25mb/s depending on the area of town im in.
I also got a phone call from a friend of mine in Austin because his iFag 5s wasnt able to connect to the interwebs even though he showed LTE to be active. they appear to be updating towers continuously in certina areas. thanks for the info on some of ya'lls part! i guess i just wasnt patient enough and jumped to the conclusion of KK breakin something in my phone.

My 2 cents on Sprint Service...

Hello,
Just a FYI, this is NOT a direct rant or rave. I believe these are obvious facts. Just wanted to see peoples thoughts.
I am from New York. I mainly work in the 5 boroughs in NY, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, and Manhattan, and I live in Long Island. I have been through the 3G, 4G wimax, and 4G LTE Transition. I have also been through multiple phones. HTC Evo 4G, HTC Evo 4G LTE, HTC One (M7), and HTC One (M8).
Unfortunately when driving around, all the LTE phones dropped back to 3G way too often. I assume this is because some towers have not been LTE upgraded yet, weak spots, and I may be driving past those towers with no LTE.
I gave the M8 a shot and it helped with the Tri-Band Spark (connecting to the 800 mhz spectrum when the 1900 was out of range). I understand Spark roll out isn't complete yet. A prime example is driving around and having Pandora internet radio cut out because the phone loves to swap between 3G and 4G when there is a weak 4G signal. Pandora is NOT critical, it's just the principle of the matter if it cutting out. I will not rave about any other carriers, but let's be honest, there's some carriers out there where you could drive around ALL day long, go inside buildings, etc, and not loose LTE once.
The situation was all too common where I would be in a mall, or large store (such as walmart or sears) trying to look up something in the store on my phone. Not only would it be on 3G but pages would not load. Indoors in a mall or a store I almost never was able to acquire 4G. Only in Spark areas where I would actually hit the 800mhz spectrum.
Also another example. Yankee Stadium in the Bronx which is outdoors, Address 1 E 161st St, Bronx, NY 10451. My friends have different carriers and I wanted to rave about sprint's new Spark service on my HTC M8. Both times I was there I got FULL LTE service, but it was completely unusable. Webpages would not load, speedtests would not work at all, and I was laughed at. Changed phone to CDMA Only mode and webpages actually loaded, but barely. I know it wasn't the phone because LTE worked at home in Long Island with no problem. I had the most up to date software on my phone at the time.
The M8 was my last hurrah with Sprint for now. Here is the main flaw in my book. Spark would need to have strategically picked the frequency band with the best speed, but I guess that's not possible. It's counter productive for my phone to be connecting to a Band 41-2600MHz frequency with weak signal/slow speeds, over a Band 25-1900MHz signal. It's also counter productive for my phone to be connecting to Band 25-1900 MHz spectrum with slow speeds over a Band 26-800mhz with high speeds. I was in a hotel for a few weeks at a time in a Spark enabled area. I was near a window getting LTE Band 25-1900MHz and only pulling about 1.5 mbps. I strategically had to put my phone further into the hotel room away from a window to obtain Band 26-800 mhz which gave me over 10MBPS!
I will miss Sprint. I liked them, they had great customer service, and I may come back in a couple of years when New York / 5 boroughs are fully ready. Network Vision has definitely improved speed and coverage, just not how I expected yet.

tl;dr

exSD said:
tl;dr
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And the world is a better place now because of your wise words. Seriously, there was no point to making such a garbage post. None.
OP, thank you for this. I also live in NYC and have Sprint. I'm due for an upgrade on August 1st and trying to decide what phone to get. I've read things on Sprint's own message boards that suggest that HTC's firmware conflicts with Spark and Sprint and HTC know this. HTC is supposedly working on a fix, but who knows. I really wanted to get this phone but I think I'll look at the G5 or new LG instead. I've read they work much better in NYC. Leaving Sprint isn't an option right now, unfortunately. Thank you again.

BretonGirl said:
And the world is a better place now because of your wise words. Seriously, there was no point to making such a garbage post. None.
OP, thank you for this. I also live in NYC and have Sprint. I'm due for an upgrade on August 1st and trying to decide what phone to get. I've read things on Sprint's own message boards that suggest that HTC's firmware conflicts with Spark and Sprint and HTC know this. HTC is supposedly working on a fix, but who knows. I really wanted to get this phone but I think I'll look at the G5 or new LG instead. I've read they work much better in NYC. Leaving Sprint isn't an option right now, unfortunately. Thank you again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey BretonGirl,
Thank you for the response! I believe certain areas had an issue with making/receiving phone calls at times (i had the issue) with the M8 when on LTE. However the most recent firmware update fixed that for me.
I hope this post doesn't persuade you go for the S5. Sense blows TouchWiz out of the water! From what I've read the radio is actually better in the M8. I've never had an issue in Manhattan itself due to how saturated it is with cell sites.
Most of the time while driving around my phone kept LTE and bounced off between towers with no problem. Other times it would revert to 3G (I assume when the phone couldn't find an LTE signal at all after it was going out of range).
All in all, I don't believe it was an issue with the M8 itself, but rather the gaps between different LTE sites.
For example, driving from point A to C in a straight line for 3 miles. A, B and C are sprint cell towers. A and C have LTE active, however B does not. Once you get to point B (say 1.5 miles down the road) you loose LTE and revert back to 3G because LTE signal from A and C are both too weak to reach you. It may take your phone *up to* 5 minutes depending on how far through the LTE scan timer your phone is.
As for the LG. I've never used one, but have heard good things Good luck on your pick!

bigblueshock said:
Hello,
Just a FYI, this is NOT a direct rant or rave. I believe these are obvious facts. Just wanted to see peoples thoughts.
I am from New York. I mainly work in the 5 boroughs in NY, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, and Manhattan, and I live in Long Island. I have been through the 3G, 4G wimax, and 4G LTE Transition. I have also been through multiple phones. HTC Evo 4G, HTC Evo 4G LTE, HTC One (M7), and HTC One (M8).
Unfortunately when driving around, all the LTE phones dropped back to 3G way too often. I assume this is because some towers have not been LTE upgraded yet, weak spots, and I may be driving past those towers with no LTE.
I gave the M8 a shot and it helped with the Tri-Band Spark (connecting to the 800 mhz spectrum when the 1900 was out of range). I understand Spark roll out isn't complete yet. A prime example is driving around and having Pandora internet radio cut out because the phone loves to swap between 3G and 4G when there is a weak 4G signal. Pandora is NOT critical, it's just the principle of the matter if it cutting out. I will not rave about any other carriers, but let's be honest, there's some carriers out there where you could drive around ALL day long, go inside buildings, etc, and not loose LTE once.
The situation was all too common where I would be in a mall, or large store (such as walmart or sears) trying to look up something in the store on my phone. Not only would it be on 3G but pages would not load. Indoors in a mall or a store I almost never was able to acquire 4G. Only in Spark areas where I would actually hit the 800mhz spectrum.
Also another example. Yankee Stadium in the Bronx which is outdoors, Address 1 E 161st St, Bronx, NY 10451. My friends have different carriers and I wanted to rave about sprint's new Spark service on my HTC M8. Both times I was there I got FULL LTE service, but it was completely unusable. Webpages would not load, speedtests would not work at all, and I was laughed at. Changed phone to CDMA Only mode and webpages actually loaded, but barely. I know it wasn't the phone because LTE worked at home in Long Island with no problem. I had the most up to date software on my phone at the time.
The M8 was my last hurrah with Sprint for now. Here is the main flaw in my book. Spark would need to have strategically picked the frequency band with the best speed, but I guess that's not possible. It's counter productive for my phone to be connecting to a Band 41-2600MHz frequency with weak signal/slow speeds, over a Band 25-1900MHz signal. It's also counter productive for my phone to be connecting to Band 25-1900 MHz spectrum with slow speeds over a Band 26-800mhz with high speeds. I was in a hotel for a few weeks at a time in a Spark enabled area. I was near a window getting LTE Band 25-1900MHz and only pulling about 1.5 mbps. I strategically had to put my phone further into the hotel room away from a window to obtain Band 26-800 mhz which gave me over 10MBPS!
I will miss Sprint. I liked them, they had great customer service, and I may come back in a couple of years when New York / 5 boroughs are fully ready. Network Vision has definitely improved speed and coverage, just not how I expected yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to actually agree with a lot of what op is saying. Wimax signal was an absolute joke, not only did they not finish the wimax network the parts that were done you couldn't even drive down the road without the signal dropping. I have had friends leave Sprint after 10+ years of service just because they couldn't take it anymore. The unusable 3G data speed, the dropped calls (which I NEVER had dropped calls with sprint since NV begun). Some have jumped ship, I have stayed. The signal issues have got much better in my area over the last year where but it is still at an embarrassing level at a lot of places. My home tower was broken for oh maybe 6 months. It was SO BAD that my local news station did a story on it for all the people complaining of dropped calls. Most of those issues are now gone and I am finally starting to see actual results such as 800 coverage and I even picked up the new Spark Bad the other day
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
If someone wants to leave, I 100% understand why but I am holding out and think the network can get there someday. It's been a very painful road and a lot if it goes back to the Nextel disaster and betting the wrong horse with wimax. I also stream music and you are right it's not critical but when driving around the signal cuts in & out all the time all over it pisses you off. I suggest checking it out in another year so how it's going, I am hanging tough and it has been getting better all the time. HD voice is awesome and Sprint will get the voice network back to what it use to be and I do notice most of my data usage is now 4G over 3G.
You do gotta remember what I try explaining to people is they are rebuilding the network tower by tower, one by one. Imagine if they did road construction on the entire system at the same time it would suck.

You know what, for $25 per month (without managing a big family plan or being managed), I don't complain at all.

Sim-X said:
I have to actually agree with a lot of what op is saying. Wimax signal was an absolute joke, not only did they not finish the wimax network the parts that were done you couldn't even drive down the road without the signal dropping. I have had friends leave Sprint after 10+ years of service just because they couldn't take it anymore. The unusable 3G data speed, the dropped calls (which I NEVER had dropped calls with sprint since NV begun). Some have jumped ship, I have stayed. The signal issues have got much better in my area over the last year where but it is still at an embarrassing level at a lot of places. My home tower was broken for oh maybe 6 months. It was SO BAD that my local news station did a story on it for all the people complaining of dropped calls. Most of those issues are now gone and I am finally starting to see actual results such as 800 coverage and I even picked up the new Spark Bad the other day
If someone wants to leave, I 100% understand why but I am holding out and think the network can get there someday. It's been a very painful road and a lot if it goes back to the Nextel disaster and betting the wrong horse with wimax. I also stream music and you are right it's not critical but when driving around the signal cuts in & out all the time all over it pisses you off. I suggest checking it out in another year so how it's going, I am hanging tough and it has been getting better all the time. HD voice is awesome and Sprint will get the voice network back to what it use to be and I do notice most of my data usage is now 4G over 3G.
You do gotta remember what I try explaining to people is they are rebuilding the network tower by tower, one by one. Imagine if they did road construction on the entire system at the same time it would suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I would have not minded Sprint skipping wimax from the beginning so they wouldn't be 2 to 3 years behind on LTE. I was even in a WiMax area and still never used it due to how fast it killed the battery.
ljwnow, You must be on the Framily plan or SERO? Yeah definitely cant go wrong with that lol.

bigblueshock said:
Yeah, I would have not minded Sprint skipping wimax from the beginning so they wouldn't be 2 to 3 years behind on LTE. I was even in a WiMax area and still never used it due to how fast it killed the battery.
ljwnow, You must be on the Framily plan or SERO? Yeah definitely cant go wrong with that lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember the 1st time I tried wimax, I pulled just over 10 down was like wow. No other carrier had 4G but yea it just killed the battery. I just don't know what they were thinking with wimax especially put it on a such a high frequency the coverage was absolutely horrendous. Yes I am on SeroP, I use to have the old $30 (plus 25% discount) plan but of course that doesn't work with "smart phones". So that is part of my reason for staying. However there are plenty of people who don't have that plan and are paying much higher rates for crappy service. While Framily is pretty good deal, you give up subsidized phones which rightfully so but if I was a new customer in the market I would overlook sprint at the moment for at least another year. Even when I'm close to a tower on 800 a lot of times I still have a very week signal but you still gotta give it some more time. Overhauling a network tower by tower takes a long time.

ljwnow said:
You know what, for $25 per month (without managing a big family plan or being managed), I don't complain at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SeroP for $25/mo? Do tell.

Kisakuku said:
SeroP for $25/mo? Do tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Framily plan. Not SERO...
Sent from my 831C using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ljwnow said:
Framily plan. Not SERO...
Sent from my 831C using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha. Sim-X answered the question directed at you, which got me confused.
I've been thinking about Framily, but hard to let go of SeroP. My feeling is that if the merger goes through, Sprint will solve my dilemma by making SERO go the way of Premier Gold and all the other good perks.

I've been a Sprint customer for 12 years now. It's been painful and frustrating at times but I believe they have finally gotten their act together and are on the right track.

Kisakuku said:
Gotcha. Sim-X answered the question directed at you, which got me confused.
I've been thinking about Framily, but hard to let go of SeroP. My feeling is that if the merger goes through, Sprint will solve my dilemma by making SERO go the way of Premier Gold and all the other good perks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would never give up SeroP for Framily. Framily would be 25+20 unlimited data with no phone upgrade. SeroP 40+10 with upgrades and don't have to work about keeping framily full. Technically I only get 500 min but n/w starts @ 7 (I use to have 6) but mobile 2 mobile is free (anynetwork) and I also have any pick 6 #'s (landlines) on my account for unlimited. The few land lines I do call anymore I have set into my picks so basically unlimited.
My old plan was 500 Anytime for $30, -$7.50 a month discount. N/W at 6, first incoming min free, unlimited data, sms & picture mail. plus a few bucks in taxes and fees my bill would come out lil over $25 after taxes. All my addons were free except for insurance which I did have for a little bit was $7 a month back in 2009 so about $32 with insurance and taxes but SeroP is still pretty solid especially with being able to get upgrade pricing. I would never give up SeroP. if they got rid of subsidizes phones then you could make a switch to Framily.

Sim-X said:
I would never give up SeroP for Framily. Framily would be 25+20 unlimited data with no phone upgrade. SeroP 40+10 with upgrades and don't have to work about keeping framily full. Technically I only get 500 min but n/w starts @ 7 (I use to have 6) but mobile 2 mobile is free (anynetwork) and I also have any pick 6 #'s (landlines) on my account for unlimited. The few land lines I do call anymore I have set into my picks so basically unlimited.
My old plan was 500 Anytime for $30, -$7.50 a month discount. N/W at 6, first incoming min free, unlimited data, sms & picture mail. plus a few bucks in taxes and fees my bill would come out lil over $25 after taxes. All my addons were free except for insurance which I did have for a little bit was $7 a month back in 2009 so about $32 with insurance and taxes but SeroP is still pretty solid especially with being able to get upgrade pricing. I would never give up SeroP. if they got rid of subsidizes phones then you could make a switch to Framily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough, I was just thinking about options. Also, lucky you for keeping pick 6; guess your SERO account never got audited for additional discounts. I used to have all the good addons on SERO back in 2008.
The thing about upgrade pricing on SERO-P is that since you can only buy handsets from Sprint Online or corporate stores, you miss out on all the crazy discounts and rebates that places like BB have. That's easily $100+ extra every upgrade cycle.

Kisakuku said:
Fair enough, I was just thinking about options. Also, lucky you for keeping pick 6; guess your SERO account never got audited for additional discounts. I used to have all the good addons on SERO back in 2008.
The thing about upgrade pricing on SERO-P is that since you can only buy handsets from Sprint Online or corporate stores, you miss out on all the crazy discounts and rebates that places like BB have. That's easily $100+ extra every upgrade cycle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea you can certainly miss some deals. I use to like going to best buy back in the day when Sprint did mail in rebates and BB was instant. I can't stand going to the Sprint store. I refuse to go there unless it's for a warranty swap only. So I like to order directly from Sprint anyway and since I get my phones on release day there really isn't any deals anyway and ordering direct from Sprint it shows up usually earlier than sometimes even the stores get them. I don't want some knuckle head at the store touching my phones anyway. I'm sure a lot of customers need the help but certainly not me. Going to the store is just painful. So even if I had the choice to use a 3rd party I wouldn't anyway unless they had some exclusive.
Sent from my HTC One M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

BretonGirl said:
I've been a Sprint customer for 12 years now. It's been painful and frustrating at times but I believe they have finally gotten their act together and are on the right track.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been w/sprint almost as long. It's been a pain in the a&@ . I have to agree service is becoming very acceptable. HD voice is not bad either.
Sent from my 831C using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

63sammo1 said:
I've been w/sprint almost as long. It's been a pain in the a&@ . I have to agree service is becoming very acceptable. HD voice is not bad either.
Sent from my 831C using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HD Voice is awesome, especially with the new update I like how it shows the icon. Even was working with an iphone 5S. I'm hoping HD Voice will work carrier to carrier some time in the future. It it getting much better, one year ago it was an absolute mess. I remember when they announced it with the evoLTE, it did take a really long time for them to upgrade the network. I never got to use HD voice on the evoLTE and really I hardly got to use LTE on that phone either. M7 used 4G a lot more, a little of HD voice and now the m8 with tri-band prefers LTE over anything else. Only thing I don't like about the M8 is it will prefer a very week LTE signal over a strong 3G signal and since it switches back to 1X to take a voice call when you are on wifi I wish it would prefer the 3G signal to save battery. I know you can manually change it, but it's kinda a pain.

After 10 years I gave up on Sprint last weekend. I got tired of just about everything that is sprint. The waiting for the network to come on line while paying the cost of a fully functional network. The lies about plans from sprint employees that remind me of used car salesmen. And so on and so on. I switched to T-Mobile and can finally get a chance to be on a network that works... And very well. It's also a much better experience with the m8 on T-Mobile as well.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

LTE works for me pretty well but whenever my phone switches to 3G it's complete **** or really ****ing slow.
Las Vegas

tommason1968 said:
I switched to T-Mobile and can finally get a chance to be on a network that works...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wait until the S-Mobile merger.