Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[Paynefanbro]

This is always so weird for me because in my experience, texts and calls in NYC are great. I have 0 dropped calls or blocked texts.

[NYC126]

They conducted many tests in long Island, and others new York suburbs which sprint LTE, and coverage still leave a lot to be desired in those places. The fact of the matter is over 30% of sprint towers lack fiber backhaul. That is in the five boroughs, and new York suburbs alone. Long Island is still a work in progress.

 

Sprint will not move up in the metrics

until they complete the network upgrades, and every tower has fiber backhaul.

 

RootMetrics have it right, Verizon, and tmobile are the top dogs in the new York metro area. The only thing I disagree is sprint finishing last on voice calls. They might had sucked on data, but voice has always been strong.

[jamesinclair]

Yeah voice surprised me, as Ive never had a problem. But data is still poor in NYC with Sprint.

 

Edit: I have a single band device

[BlueAngel]

Well this certainly isn't a good sign

 

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/new-york-city-and-tri-state-area

That testing is from may, not exactly a good comparison of the network now, it's improved drastically since then.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[coorsleftfield]

Testing period

10/11/2014 - 10/17/2014

[Johnner1999]

Testing period

10/11/2014 - 10/17/2014

That's pretty current.

 

I have yet to see any improvement with 800mhz nor 1900mhz in Connecticut.

 

Edit - I have seen amazing improvement just that it's not consistent.

 

 

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[jamesinclair]

The testing area is also huge. The Jersey Shore has poor Sprint service.

[NYC126]

Bottom line Sprint needs to buff up the network not only in the five boroughs, but the whole region, and eventually their whole footprint.

 

I hope Massa takes some of those Alibaba billions, get billions from the banks, and buy Vodafone. Then rename Sprint, Softbank mobile to Vodafone.

 

This will be Verizon ghost from the past come to hunt them. The Sprint brand is seriously damaged.

[WillM]

Bottom line Sprint needs to buff up the network not only in the five boroughs, but the whole region, and eventually their whole footprint.

 

I hope Massa takes some of those Alibaba billions, get billions from the banks, and buy Vodafone. Then rename Sprint, Softbank mobile to Vodafone.

 

This will be Verizon ghost from the past come to hunt them. The Sprint brand is seriously damaged.

How would sinking billions in cash and debt into buying a foreign company help Sprints problems? It would just be another notch on his bedpost. And I don't think Verizon cares one bit what Sprint calls itself. Its not like the Vodafone name carries any weight here. Its unknown.

[Johnner1999]

Unknown is ten times better though

 

 

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[NYC126]

It gives them scale something Massa wants. It gives the wireless unit a fresh start with consumers. Even though sprint has been under a new owner for over a year, regular consumers assume is still the same old sprint.

[JonnygATL]

This is frustrating. Sprint has done so much but in some key places, it seems to still just not be enough. When nationwide b41 is complete and the network is densified a bit, I really hope to see Sprint move closer toward the top. #istillbelieve!

[Johnner1999]

This is frustrating. Sprint has done so much but in some key places, it seems to still just not be enough. When nationwide b41 is complete and the network is densified a bit, I really hope to see Sprint move closer toward the top. #istillbelieve!

I don't see how b41 will improve though. In my area at least (per executive team two towers in my area are due to get b41 in the next 5-6 months) but as it is you can't connect to LTE or even evdo all of the time and that's within 1k feet of a tower.

 

I understand how it will assist offloading the lower bands but....

 

#iwanttobelive.

 

 

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[CaryTheLabelGuy]

This is frustrating. Sprint has done so much but in some key places, it seems to still just not be enough. When nationwide b41 is complete and the network is densified a bit, I really hope to see Sprint move closer toward the top. #istillbelieve!

The problem: Sprint's competitors aren't sleeping; they're actively upgrading and adding capacity where they can.

 

Sprint will turn the corner once their competitors run out of spectrum and thus capacity. This will probably happen right around the time they've got B41 nationwide with 88er installs and several B41 carriers deployed with CA as icing on the cake. None of the other competitors will be able to compete.

 

 

 

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[WillM]

It gives them scale something Massa wants. It gives the wireless unit a fresh start with consumers. Even though sprint has been under a new owner for over a year, regular consumers assume is still the same old sprint.

Maybe they think it's the same old Sprint because things haven't changed enough to satisfy potential customers? I'm glad I'm seeing more LTE but I expect that from them. I also expect them to expand coverage but so far I don't see any of that around here. Maybe he should get Sprint straightened out before adding to his empire?

[Jones]

Is 6 down / 3 up really unexpected for a 5 MHz channel? I think it is performing as expected especially for the loads that NYC can put on a network. Given that we've learned that Band 41 can handle logarithmically more...it will get better.

There is no denying Marcelo will want to turn NYC into a "Tokyo like experience" for Sprint. NYC is too important not to.

[Paynefanbro]

I think Verizon and T-Mobile take the crown for best network but in different respects. Verizon has the best network here without a doubt. I have never seen a single person on Verizon that had no signal whatsoever. However, I have seen people drop calls on T-Mobile here. T-Mobile has the benefit of having the densest LTE deployment in NYC though so you'll have a strong signal virtually everywhere outdoors.

 

I can't speak for the Jersey Shore as much but when going into Long Island, Sprint's network as a whole is probably one of the best if not the best I have experienced. Of course there are areas where it could be better *Riverhead* but in general Sprint's network performs as well as/outperforms other carriers on average while I'm there.

 

My experience with Westchester is only from when I have to go back to Boston and in the areas that I go through (New Rochelle and Mount Vernon) the network sucks. Once again, I can make calls and texts 100% of the time but data simply isn't up to par. I'm not sure why Sprint has been unable to upgrade the area, but I feel like the RootMetrics report is more indicative of what you'll find there and less of what you'll find in the metro as a whole.

 

Nonetheless I feel like NYC, along with Chicago and Jacksonville is about to become a key market for Sprint. These cities need a Tokyo like experience and they're already on their way to getting it.

[JonnygATL]

The problem: Sprint's competitors aren't sleeping; they're actively upgrading and adding capacity where they can.

Sprint will turn the corner once their competitors run out of spectrum and thus capacity. This will probably happen right around the time they've got B41 nationwide with 88er installs and several B41 carriers deployed with CA as icing on the cake. None of the other competitors will be able to compete.

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And, of course Sprint can't move terribly quickly on the band 41 rollout outside of Samsung areas due to thirsty ass China Mobile. Which really, really blows. But once that supply constraint is eliminated the pace will pick up. I just really hate to see Sprint giving naysayers fuel for their diarrhea-at-the-mouth accusations. Their day of reckoning is coming though.

[kyle_4thousand]

IMHO, They need to get fiber to all lagging sites ASAP. Over 2 years since NV began its hard to believe there are so many sites without it. And as much as some will deny due to 800 MHz, I still believe Sprint needs to increase full-build site density substantially if they want to compete with the other three effectively. I feel B26 is not as much as a saving grace we hoped it to be due to its 5x5 mhz channel limits. And B41 needs to be on every single site and then some.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 on the Now Network

[JThorson]

What I still can't seem to understand is why Sprint seems to have so much difficulty on improving their network. I mean I get that there is a lot to do, upgrading backhaul, towers, dealing with spectrum and OEM's etc. but the other 3, especially T-Mobile because of the similarities with Sprint(in my opinion) can seem to make noticeable improvements in their network while Sprint seems to lack. I keep waiting for the day when Sprint will be like (BAM! In yo face!) Maybe that is what is going on now? It seems to me quieter with the network side of things.

[Dkoellerwx]

I don't see how b41 will improve though. In my area at least (per executive team two towers in my area are due to get b41 in the next 5-6 months) but as it is you can't connect to LTE or even evdo all of the time and that's within 1k feet of a tower.

 

I understand how it will assist offloading the lower bands but....

 

#iwanttobelive.

 

 

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That's more of an issue with your local site that needs to be worked out. In most instances, an LTE signal can be achieved miles from a site (if it's configured for that kind of coverage). With the performance of 8T8R B41 so far, you should still see good coverage. Perhaps it'll get tweaked to perform better when 8T8Rs are installed and optimized. 

[Dkoellerwx]

What I still can't seem to understand is why Sprint seems to have so much difficulty on improving their network. I mean I get that there is a lot to do, upgrading backhaul, towers, dealing with spectrum and OEM's etc. but the other 3, especially T-Mobile because of the similarities with Sprint(in my opinion) can seem to make noticeable improvements in their network while Sprint seems to lack. I keep waiting for the day when Sprint will be like (BAM! In yo face!) Maybe that is what is going on now? It seems to me quieter with the network side of things.

 

What exactly do you mean by difficulty improving? The rip and replace took about 2 years to complete, and while it's still ongoing in some areas it's largely completed now. That's faster than the other carriers have deployed a network wide upgrade. 

 

Where LTE is deployed, it works. It got saturated fast, which is why they are deploying a second B25 carrier where they can, and B26 most elsewhere. 

 

The other carriers have had similar struggles getting their upgrades, it just wasn't nearly as public as Sprint's. It also helps that, AT&T and VZ especially, had LTE rolling out before and while data demands were increasing exponentially, rather than after demand had begun increasing.

 

Until B41 is deploying everywhere on multiple carriers, demand will increase faster than Sprint can bring B25 and 26 online.

[JThorson]

What exactly do you mean by difficulty improving? The rip and replace took about 2 years to complete, and while it's still ongoing in some areas it's largely completed now. That's faster than the other carriers have deployed a network wide upgrade. 

 

Where LTE is deployed, it works. It got saturated fast, which is why they are deploying a second B25 carrier where they can, and B26 most elsewhere. 

 

The other carriers have had similar struggles getting their upgrades, it just wasn't nearly as public as Sprint's. It also helps that, AT&T and VZ especially, had LTE rolling out before and while data demands were increasing exponentially, rather than after demand had begun increasing.

 

Until B41 is deploying everywhere on multiple carriers, demand will increase faster than Sprint can bring B25 and 26 online.

Sorry, poor choice of words. I get that they redid their entire network from the ground up and that takes time. I would like to retract my previous statement. It just seems like things I hear still are how people with upgraded towers still seem to have some network issues. But then again I guess that could be a backhaul issue.

 

On a side note, I haven't had a chance to experience the new network yet. Where I live I won't see b26 until Ibez is figured out.

 

I know once they get the 8t8r sites up and backhaul completed, things will be looking a lot better. I agree with you on how it seems like Sprint's struggles are always on the front page but when they make leaps and bounds in their network, you don't hear a peep. 

[Dkoellerwx]

Sorry, poor choice of words. I get that they redid their entire network from the ground up and that takes time. I would like to retract my previous statement. It just seems like things I hear still are how people with upgraded towers still seem to have some network issues. But then again I guess that could be a backhaul issue.

 

On a side note, I haven't had a chance to experience the new network yet. Where I live I won't see b26 until Ibez is figured out.

 

I know once they get the 8t8r sites up and backhaul completed, things will be looking a lot better. I agree with you on how it seems like Sprint's struggles are always on the front page but when they make leaps and bounds in their network, you don't hear a peep. 

 

There certainly are areas that have had more issues than others. My local area for example. Because of a poorly built affiliate network that was then bought by Sprint a number of years ago, site spacing and site structures aren't the best (most of the sites are on 20ft utility poles). Sprint has been fighting with the local government for over a year to get NV installed on the poles, and just in the last 2 months have upgrades really been able to begin. 

 

But in places where upgrades have gone smother, the results are pretty fantastic. The network completely turned around in Chicago this summer with the addition of a second B25 carrier and B26, and now with B41 it's getting better everyday. Kansas City is another example of an excellent network. With a second B41 carrier live, I was able to maintain 20-30Mbps downloads in Kauffman Stadium during the World Series! My coworkers with Verizon and AT&T timed out on 2 out of 3 speed tests. Why didn't anyone report on that!?

 

Most issues are generally very localized, and come down to 1 or 2 sites that for whatever reason either can't be upgraded, or where the backhaul vendor has failed to deliver. I don't think Sprint can do much about that except wait for whatever the issue is to be resolved. 

[Jones]

Kansas City is another example of an excellent network. With a second B41 carrier live, I was able to maintain 20-30Mbps downloads in Kauffman Stadium during the World Series! My coworkers with Verizon and AT&T timed out on 2 out of 3 speed tests. Why didn't anyone report on that!?

 

Legere did in a round about kind of way when he tweeted that the KC Royals couldn't @sprint to the top. Likely knowing that Sprint's network in KC and at the stadium was better than the rest. (But thats just the conspiracist in me)