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I was yesterday at a mall here in central Florida and I was curious about verizons internet speed, as they advertise to have the fastest one available. So I started playing with a Motorola Q9 and ran a bandwidth test on the mobile phone over at:
http://text.dslreports.com/mspeed?jisok=1
The Moto on Verizon ran the Mobile Speed test at 132kbit/sec, my Dash on WM6.1 from the same location ran a 122kbit/sec. I was surpirsed and asked the sales guy about the slow speed. He explained that we didn't have great service here in the Mall, which in my opinion is BS.
What are the speeds supposed to be for verizon on a WM device? Why are they charging so much anyways?
I heared that Sprint is going with SIM capable phones in the future. Maybe that is an avenue.
I'm just looking for a phone/provider where I can get faster Internet Speeds. T-mobile is just a little too slow for my taste and my dash doesn't do 3G anyways, but I would love to see something faster one way or another by the end of this year. Maybe even a WM7 phone. Let's hope!
Here are the stats:
100kb 1MB
Verizon: 132kbit/sec 188kbit/sec
T-Mobile: 122kbit/sec 147kbit/sec
Verizon is faster but not as expected.
Anyone got stats for AT&T and Sprint by any chance?
tmobile is just getting 3g
Sprint already had sim capable phones but would be sim locked to US carriers
att is cool
and in my opinion i would stick with GSM(att,tmobile) only because pretty much everywhere you go in the world there is GSM, so you could get other GSM phones
CDMA is going into a dead end(maybe sprint will be smart and add GSM)
go with at&t for their 3g or wait for tmobile to fully turn on their 3g(but they have a oddball 3g[1700mhz/2100mhz])
as for verizon and sprint i think its expensive and i hated their customer service so thats why i went with tmobile
Yeah, I had Sprint and Cingular back in the day and the customer service was horrible. I'm with T-Mobile since 2002 and it seems like it starts to get borring, but with their 3G on the horizon (In Orlando it may take a while) I might get into it just in time for the WM7 release.
There is a company in England who already announced a WM7 device by the end of this year. Let's see what happens, it getting exciting.
Hey folks! I'm currently an Sprint customer, but I'm considering a switch to ATT. I'll lay out a few facts so you can understand where I'm coming from. I'm not worried about cancellation fees because I can make our phones roam to VZW until sprint drops us.
-When I got cell service, none of the national carriers could compete with Sprint's prices (family plan, unlimited messaging/data, dont care about minutes). Now ATT's family plans have gotten competitive.
-Between people leaving VZW for economic reasons and people leaving T-Mo because of the ATT purchase, Sprint's network is very overburdened (at least in my area). Given the way Sprint has been flaking out on the 4G front, i'm not exactly filled with confidence that they'll expand their network capability in a timely fashion.
I'll ask folks in my squadron about local reception, but I want opinions from similarly minded people (you guys) about things like customer service and general happiness with the network. Also, what's ATT's 4G plan? As of now, all I've heard of is HSPA+, and I really dont know how it stacks up against WiMax, LTE, regular HSPA (thats 3g for GSM, right?) The store rep said that ATT will be using LTE, but I'm not sure if thats true given that Inspire and Atrix both are advertised as being 4G and use HSPA+.
Thanks in advance for any helpful feedback. For the flamers....well, u know where to stick it.
jdelforge5684 said:
Hey folks! I'm currently an Sprint customer, but I'm considering a switch to ATT. I'll lay out a few facts so you can understand where I'm coming from. I'm not worried about cancellation fees because I can make our phones roam to VZW until sprint drops us.
-When I got cell service, none of the national carriers could compete with Sprint's prices (family plan, unlimited messaging/data, dont care about minutes). Now ATT's family plans have gotten competitive.
-Between people leaving VZW for economic reasons and people leaving T-Mo because of the ATT purchase, Sprint's network is very overburdened (at least in my area). Given the way Sprint has been flaking out on the 4G front, i'm not exactly filled with confidence that they'll expand their network capability in a timely fashion.
I'll ask folks in my squadron about local reception, but I want opinions from similarly minded people (you guys) about things like customer service and general happiness with the network. Also, what's ATT's 4G plan? As of now, all I've heard of is HSPA+, and I really dont know how it stacks up against WiMax, LTE, regular HSPA (thats 3g for GSM, right?) The store rep said that ATT will be using LTE, but I'm not sure if thats true given that Inspire and Atrix both are advertised as being 4G and use HSPA+.
Thanks in advance for any helpful feedback. For the flamers....well, u know where to stick it.
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Click to collapse
My advice is go for VZW if you want legit 4g. I haven't seen any 4g speeds on my Inspire and I live in Boston. The 4g data plan is basically 3g, and it costs teh same too.
I still can't bring myself to pay VZW's prices. I know their network is the best, but its not enough of an improvement for me to pay that much more. I'm not so much concerned with current 4g capability, i'm in between 2 4g markets right now, so I think it's going to be a while before I get it. I'm more curious about the future of 4g with ATT based on the fact that the rep, who seemed otherwise knowledgeable, said that ATT would be using LTE in Q4 of this year yet they've already released two phones sporting HSPA+ as their 4g devices. Does anyone know if they're going to switch their technology to LTE?
So what exactly would you like to know? Ask any questions you'd like and I'll answer them.
ATT has great coverage imo. I even have service where my girlfriend (verizon) does not (in many cases).
The inspire is the best phone on att. This is coming from a lifetime iphone man, and I also tested the Atrix for a month and CAME BACK to the inspire.
Data speeds are more than adequate for me, even if it is not the 'true' 4g of verizon. I am more realistic when it comes to data. I am thankful for the ability to be connected to the internet at all times, and if I have to wait a second for a page to load - I'm not complaining. What does matter to me is the performance and speeds of the gps/maps function, which, on the inspire are great. The google maps/nav is implemented directly into the phone and definitely has the upper hand on the iphone, which I feel is att's other competitive smartphone.
Basically, I feel your decision simply comes down to dollars and sense (get it??? haha...), as well as what kind of service you are receiving in your area. Att & sprint are comparable, and both carriers have great android devices (sprint is launching evo3d too, which looks pretty cool).
Basically, how's your service going to be? I would talk to people with ATT in your area and get their opinion. Also, how much money would you save/spend if you made the switch? I'd make a decision on those two factors.
at&t is currently releasing "4G" phones that have HSPA+ at 14.4/5.76Mbps download and upload respectively but they DO plan to run with LTE. Starting in May, they will be decommissioning their 2G network starting in the west coast and moving east, in order to free up bandwidth that they can use to launch LTE. Also, while Verizon purchased the "C" block of spectrum, at&t purchased a company that had vast amounts of what I believe was "D" spectrum on the 700 band as well and ended up paying a LOT less than what Verizon did to get their nationwide 700Mhz LTE licenses.
What I would do is go to the store, get a phone, drive EVERYWHERE that you think you may use it and watch your phone signal, run a few speed tests, check out voice quality, etc., before you make your decision.
While I am FINALLY figuring out the cause of my at&t issues at my new residence (Netgear 2.4GHz WNR2000v2 router is actually interfering with my cell signal massively), I have had issues around town and I am in Denver (the suburbs now) and should have EXCELLENT signal at all the locations I have had issues at.
T-Mobile is phenomenal if you look at their maps and make sure they have service of the utmost quality in your area - I read your post and believe you said T-Mo wasn't an option but I've had a few too many and just can't be bothered to go back and read the post again - T-Mobile has been deploying ridiculous HSPA+ speeds for some time now (on a recent speed test, my buddy got 26Mbps down and 2Mbps up on T-Mo's HSPA+ network) and I don't see them slowing down.
Verizon and Sprint are just disappointments and I think nothing more needs to be said about that.
EDIT: Sorry, at&t bought a large chunk of B-block 700MHz spectrum, not D-block.
EtherealRemnant said:
at&t is currently releasing "4G" phones that have HSPA+ at 14.4/5.76Mbps download and upload respectively but they DO plan to run with LTE. Starting in May, they will be decommissioning their 2G network starting in the west coast and moving east, in order to free up bandwidth that they can use to launch LTE. Also, while Verizon purchased the "C" block of spectrum, at&t purchased a company that had vast amounts of what I believe was "D" spectrum on the 700 band as well and ended up paying a LOT less than what Verizon did to get their nationwide 700Mhz LTE licenses.
What I would do is go to the store, get a phone, drive EVERYWHERE that you think you may use it and watch your phone signal, run a few speed tests, check out voice quality, etc., before you make your decision.
While I am FINALLY figuring out the cause of my at&t issues at my new residence (Netgear 2.4GHz WNR2000v2 router is actually interfering with my cell signal massively), I have had issues around town and I am in Denver (the suburbs now) and should have EXCELLENT signal at all the locations I have had issues at.
T-Mobile is phenomenal if you look at their maps and make sure they have service of the utmost quality in your area - I read your post and believe you said T-Mo wasn't an option but I've had a few too many and just can't be bothered to go back and read the post again - T-Mobile has been deploying ridiculous HSPA+ speeds for some time now (on a recent speed test, my buddy got 26Mbps down and 2Mbps up on T-Mo's HSPA+ network) and I don't see them slowing down.
Verizon and Sprint are just disappointments and I think nothing more needs to be said about that.
EDIT: Sorry, at&t bought a large chunk of B-block 700MHz spectrum, not D-block.
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Okay. This makes me want to know if my 2g I get here will be converted to 4g by the coming time.
Hmmmmmmph..that would be nice compared to my 150kbs download..lol
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4g using XDA.
MIUI Gingerbread 1.4.1v4
catlleprods cyan0#3.7
Per my other post regarding service plans, I was hoping for some feedback from you guys.
A couple weeks ago I renewed my contract and got an Inspire. I'm still within the return window, and heard about the Sensation. Obviously the Sensation is the more powerful phone and would be preferable over the Inspire. And of course, Tmobile's $80 unlimited plan is very attractive when compared to $110 for the same plan features from AT&T.
However there's some rumor going around that the Sensation's bootloader is locked down tight and that it might not be able to be cracked so that we can flash custom ROMs. That's obviously a deal-breaker to me since I need root, and just hate the bloatware carriers put on a phone. I'd want it unbranded.
So, what would you guys do? Return the Inspire, go with Tmobile and get the Sensation when it comes available in the hope that it can be unlocked by then? Or stick with the Inspire and let it be?
That is a tempting phone but I think I would hold off and stick with the Inspire. There are a couple of reasons.
1. This phone is already hacked wide open and fully customizable. There is no guarantee the same thing will happen with the Sensation. (I am sure it will, but we never really know)
2. What happens if the AT&T T-Mobile merger goes through and they make you switch phones back to something with the AT&T banding within a year. The only good news is that you would come over at a better grandfathered price, but I am sure they will rip that away when LTE comes in.
3. T-Mobile Coverage leaves something to be desired. It rocks where it is present, but it isn't present in a lot of places. If you travel at all take a good look at that coverage map.
4. I believe the Sensation is only going to be capable of 21mb down (only... ha) not the 42mb down T-Mobile is deploying to cities like Vegas. This makes me wonder what their future plans are and if there is something... dare I say it... even better coming in 3 months.
bmolloy said:
The only good news is that you would come over at a better grandfathered price, but I am sure they will rip that away when LTE comes in.
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You make good points.
I presume that LTE is the AT&T 4G network, which the Inspire is designed for? Y'see I posed the above question on the assumption that the Sensation would operate on AT&T's 4G network as the merger goes forward, and/or that AT&T would offer an equal or better phone as the Tmobile customers were migrated over, but that might not be correct. Can you comment?
The problem I face is that I need to make a final decision by the end of today and either return the Inspire and revert to my no-contrast status, or stick with it. But if I stick with the Inspire, I'm locked into it for 2 years.
BillTheCat said:
Per my other post regarding service plans, I was hoping for some feedback from you guys.
A couple weeks ago I renewed my contract and got an Inspire. I'm still within the return window, and heard about the Sensation. Obviously the Sensation is the more powerful phone and would be preferable over the Inspire. And of course, Tmobile's $80 unlimited plan is very attractive when compared to $110 for the same plan features from AT&T.
However there's some rumor going around that the Sensation's bootloader is locked down tight and that it might not be able to be cracked so that we can flash custom ROMs. That's obviously a deal-breaker to me since I need root, and just hate the bloatware carriers put on a phone. I'd want it unbranded.
So, what would you guys do? Return the Inspire, go with Tmobile and get the Sensation when it comes available in the hope that it can be unlocked by then? Or stick with the Inspire and let it be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to mention the Sensation will be tied to T-Mobile and if the merger with AT&T goes through, eventually the data will no longer work. T-Mobile has been rumored to be contracting for phones that have quad band HSDPA+ radios. But the latest info is that the G2x doesn't have it. And the G2x was clearly stated it would have the quad band HSDPA+ radio. If the G2x doesn't have, I would not trust the Sensation would have it.
Stick with the Inspire. It's the safer bet.
BillTheCat said:
You make good points.
I presume that LTE is the AT&T 4G network, which the Inspire is designed for? Y'see I posed the above question on the assumption that the Sensation would operate on AT&T's 4G network as the merger goes forward, and/or that AT&T would offer an equal or better phone as the Tmobile customers were migrated over, but that might not be correct. Can you comment?
The problem I face is that I need to make a final decision by the end of today and either return the Inspire and revert to my no-contrast status, or stick with it. But if I stick with the Inspire, I'm locked into it for 2 years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding about the merger is that T-Mobile runs their "4G" HSPA+ on different bands than AT&T does so the phones will not be compatible. AT&T wants that company so they can have all that bandwidth, all of those users and all of the towers in the densely populated areas like SF, NY and LV that are notorious for dropping calls when the towers get crowded.
AT&T has plans on rolling out LTE (which the inspire is NOT capable of using) within the next year, T-Mobile does not have any announced LTE plans because their HSPA+ is so good and I am sure they are waiting to see if they do get sucked up.
One other note, the T-Mobile "Unlimited Plan" is now saying they will throttle your data speeds when you reach 2GB. That means that blazing fast 21mb/s download speeds you get will be slowed way down until your billing cycle is up. For the time being AT&T's unlimited is unlimited.
I got the Inspire because I am locked to AT&T with the 4 phones with data plans I have on my contract. I look at this as an awesome phone that will definitely hold me over until they release a phone with LTE, which by that time being that I pay an obscene amount of money to them every month I will be elegible for my 15 month or so upgrade. In reality the only time I feel like my phone is inferior is when I am doing speedtest.net tests with friends of mine that have Thunderbolts which where I live get 20mb down and up. In reality though this phone is absolutely sick and it's only downside is that AT&T doesn't seem to be rolling out a very fast HSPA+ network like they advertised.
Great feedback, guys. I appreciate the help. Still on the fence, but getting closer to a decision.
MartyLK said:
T-Mobile has been rumored to be contracting for phones that have quad band HSDPA+ radios.
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Click to collapse
This spec says that the phone is quad-band, or am I confusing data with voice radios?
http://www.cellhut.com/HTC-Sensation-Pyramid-30632.html?INO=518754
bmolloy said:
AT&T has plans on rolling out LTE (which the inspire is NOT capable of using) within the next year...
One other note, the T-Mobile "Unlimited Plan" is now saying they will throttle your data speeds when you reach 2GB...
In reality though this phone is absolutely sick and it's only downside is that AT&T doesn't seem to be rolling out a very fast HSPA+ network like they advertised...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All good points. Here are my thoughts:
* If the Inspire isn't capable of LTE, then it's not really a 4G phone, is it? So maybe I should return the sucker now and wait to see what happens?
* I can't see myself ever going over 2G of data per month, and I have WiFi at home and office, so Tmo's throttle isn't much of an issue for me.
* If AT&T's data network isn't as robust as Tmobile's, then maybe I should really be looking to leave then, no? And if the voice network will eventually merge, wouldn't that be another reason to jump ship and go with Tmo?
BillTheCat said:
This spec says that the phone is quad-band, or am I confusing data with voice radios?
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that would be the cell radio, which is compatible with AT&T, as well as Edge data network (2G).
According to this Engadget article, the G2x may not have the quad band HSDPA+ radio.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/24/t-mobile-g2x-getting-gingerbread-sooner-than-youd-expect-may/
Looking at those specs the Sensation says that it's 3G bands are 2100/900 MHz. AT&T uses 850/1900 MHz bands for 3G. The 2G radio is quadband so it looks like it will work on EDGE. I have an Nexus One that is unlocked but I had to wait for the AT&T banded one because the T-Mobile unlocked one would not work on AT&T 3G bands.
As for the AT&T not having 4G, that battle has been being fought for a long time here. Really what they did is call their HSPA+ network 4G, just like all of the other cell companies that have the same infrastructure starting doing about a year ago. They aren't exactly lying but they are not exactly telling the truth either. They do actually explain what they are doing on their website, but you have to look for it. I am not a fanboy here, I just think people are flaming AT&T even though they aren't exactly hiding what they are doing. They are just taking advantage of the lack of a universal definition for 4G.
http://www.wireless.att.com/answer-...locale=&_dyncharset=UTF-8&solutionId=KB115944
That Sensation is a great phone, honestly if it is unlocked and works on AT&T 3G bands and developers can root it and get some good ROMS I might just have to sell a kidney and buy one off contract to run on AT&T's network.
That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm
swatcop1 said:
That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is their definition of what comprises 4G, not what this particular phone is capable of.
swatcop1 said:
That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet! If AT&T says it's so, I would more believe them than HTC. But in all actuality, the AT&T LTE will likely be their 4G network. This means, probably, that the Inspire is compatible in the fact that it uses 4G. This would also make the Atrix compatible.
But I'm not all that familiar with LTE to begin with.
swatcop1 said:
That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of the current phones they are pushing out with "4G" labels have LTE radios. Part of that "What is 4G?" battle. I really think we are at least 1 year away from an LTE phone on AT&T. Just a guess, but I have had them for a long time and watched how slowly they move on stuff like this. An example would be launching the iPhone on only the 2G network when they had a fully deployed 3G network, and rolling out this HSPA+ way after T-Mobile and many international carriers. Not exactly committed to bleeding edge technology here with the big blue ball.
bmolloy said:
They are just taking advantage of the lack of a universal definition for 4G.
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To my way of thinking, 4G is about a speed standard, not a protocol standard. I don't care if the phone speaks Greek or German, as long as it does so at 4G speed. That said, I do agree with you that AT&T (or other large companies) tend to get into the crosshairs because it's easy to pick on the 800 pound gorilla.
bmolloy said:
That Sensation is a great phone, honestly if it is unlocked and works on AT&T 3G bands and developers can root it and get some good ROMS...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm smellin' a lot of 'if' comin' off this plan. Lots of variables - timing, hardware, rooting, unlocking, ROM availability... there's a lot of uncertainty. Might just stick where I am. Besides, there's no saying that even IF everything went well with Tmo and the Sensation that when they're absorbed by AT&T that users won't be forced into an Inspire or other phone anyway.
Understood thanks
MartyLK said:
Sweet! If AT&T says it's so, I would more believe them than HTC. But in all actuality, the AT&T LTE will likely be their 4G network. This means, probably, that the Inspire is compatible in the fact that it uses 4G. This would also make the Atrix compatible.
But I'm not all that familiar with LTE to begin with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually AT&T's plan is to be the only carrier that has LTE and HSPA+ so those in areas that don't have LTE can fall back on HSPA+ and still have somewhat of the 4G experience.
Like it has been said, none of their current phones have LTE radios. The Inspire will see 4G HSPA+ type speeds once the backhaul has been completed in your area but will never see LTE speeds when they roll out.
Any last thoughts on this? I have only until tomorrow to make my decision.
Verizon's LTE is fast now, but wait till it gets saturated like ATT. It'll go downhill just like Sprint's WiMax did.
I personally, would stick w/ ATT because of the Tmob merger. When that's done, the ATT network will get better for us the consumers.
If you have an Unlimited data plan, that's enough reason to stay IMHO. All the carriers are going the way of tiered data plans as an attempt to make the "experience" the best for all of us. I don't like it but don't have a choice either.
I think that if you'll fight the urge to have the best now, you'll be better off in the long run when all the wrinkles get ironed out w/ the ATT-Tmob merge.
My $.02
Tx
I say sensation because its newwer.LOL
I'm not ENTIRELY certain... but I believe the incredible S's bootloader is signed, and has yet to be cracked (or whatever needs to be done for custom Kernels/Roms) I'm not sure if HTC will continue the trend of signing bootloaders, etc, but seeing as how it's a newer phone, it would most likely follow that pattern.
If you're into hacking/modding/tweaking to the extent of a fully unlocked phone (read:custom kernels, more rom choice) then get the Inspire 4G.
If you find yourself pleased with Sense 3.0/ HTC's offerings in general, get the Sensation.
As a side note, I'm sure root will eventually be found for it, but no telling when with HTC changing their phone security game up.
So as i understand, 4g LTE is official with Sprint according to a Coming Soon page on Google's website.
What does everyone think about the 4G LTE rollout on sprint? I'm not too familiar with how the rollout would work, but from what I've seen with verizons; it went very fast, and Verizon had a lot more coverage in 1 month with LTE then sprint did in 1+ year with Wimax. If that makes any sense... Especially in New York, my friend with VZ gets more LTE coverage then I do with Wimax.
Do you guys think Sprint's 4G LTE coverage rollout is going to be as sloppy as its WiMax rollout? or is it a lot easier to deploy LTE. I liked the speeds of WiMax, but it was probably the flakeyest technologies i've ever used: going from Wimax tower to tower on the move and sometimes would disconnect.
The reason I ask because my contract is up, and I'm thinking of switching to VZ galaxy nexus immediately. Or should I hold it out for sprint's LTE to come around.
bigblueshock said:
So as i understand, 4g LTE is official with Sprint according to a Coming Soon page on Google's website.
What does everyone think about the 4G LTE rollout on sprint? I'm not too familiar with how the rollout would work, but from what I've seen with verizons; it went very fast, and Verizon had a lot more coverage in 1 month with LTE then sprint did in 1+ year with Wimax. If that makes any sense... Especially in New York, my friend with VZ gets more LTE coverage then I do with Wimax.
Do you guys think Sprint's 4G LTE coverage rollout is going to be as sloppy as its WiMax rollout? or is it a lot easier to deploy LTE. I liked the speeds of WiMax, but it was probably the flakeyest technologies i've ever used: going from Wimax tower to tower on the move and sometimes would disconnect.
The reason I ask because my contract is up, and I'm thinking of switching to VZ galaxy nexus immediately. Or should I hold it out for sprint's LTE to come around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the best indicator would be AT&T's rollout which seems to be moving fairly quickly and smooth. If you were to switch carriers, you should run far and fast from CDMA and get with the rest of the world on GSM...
Two year contract, pick your bulls**t supplier carefully
Trying to jump carriers to follow the LTE trail feels like jumping lanes in heavy traffic; sure you can make some progress but is it really worth the trouble?
Most people sign a two year contract; in two years, the three major carriers will have better LTE networks and we'll be back to who covers your area better.
The problem is most people think the grass is greener on the other carrier, with the phones or speed; if it were, it's because of all the bulls**t they fertilize with.
ATT just raised rates, Verizon has tried junk fees, and still does. Sprint has smaller service areas. They all have customer no-service.
So the real question is, who's bulls**t do you want to put up with for the foreseeable future?
Just to be clear, I have had Sprint for 10 years and I have had service area problems but every time I called to deal with a billing or account problem, they fixed it and gave me a discount of some kind for my trouble. So this is me, dealing with the devil I know.
Sprint and the future of LTE
something interesting about Sprint is they are upgrading their entire network with their project vision
http://newsroom.sprint.com/press_kits.cfm?presskit_id=19
Some interesting things on this project is it is an "all in" for Sprint. This will replace all of their existing gear and fill in a lot of coverage holes they have... or atleast that is the plan. Sprint needs a lot of additional capital to get the project to really work built they maybe setup forsucess in the future. Sprint has also publicly said this will dramatically reduce their costs which for us users is important to know as it could mean lower data rates. this also will deploy LTE (I beleive) to many more towers which with Clearwire & WiMAX never seemed to get the deployment to become useful outside of a metro area...but if you don't travel a lot this is not a big deal as surfing on a phone with EVDO is fine...
Like someone else mentioned unless you have an all you care to eat package with ATTM or VzW you are going to be paying a lot more to change to them. If you travel globally I think ATTM is the best with support for UMTS/GSM if you are US and Americas only then CDMA with VzW/Sprint/MetroPCS/Cricket would be fine.
I have a both a VzW and ATTM phone and depending on the area they both are good or suck... I don't have a Sprint phone currently but think I will be getting the Nexus when it comes out and ditching my VzW phone (blackberry)
I used to be on my dad's ATT plan, but he suspended the account and nixed my unlimited data and I moved to Sprint. Now I kind of have buyers remorse because they embed their SIM cards, get terrible signal inside buildings (being a non VZ CDMA carrier) unless you're right next to a window, and have a slow 3G network, and are taking forever to get LTE up. VZ is not an option, its too expensive, altho its by far the best network. I'm thinking of going to T-Mobile, because their 3G is HSPA+, which is kind of 4G, and LTE gets bad battery life anyway. They also have unlimited data, and I feel like even if I got to the point of throttling, it might STILL be faster than Sprint. I also like the idea of GSM too. But T-Mobile is going under and I wanna know more about their service.
I'm in Eastern LI right now, and probably will be in NYC later this year. I do still own a Photon, which I could use for overseas if Sprint doesn't update their GS3 like Verizon will, but I don't wanna bother owning 2 phones. Helpppp!
Please someone help me, I still have time to return the sprint s3 which I paid full price for