On the verge of leaving Sprint but im in Houston Tx

[dguidry12]

Currently I am trying out ATT and their speeds rock but I really don't like the fact of checking my data every 3 days. The reason im trying it out is because Sprint is pathetic in the Houston area averaging 35kbps. So can someone help me to understand whats going on in Houston before I cancel? I understand that July 15th is the light up date but what does this mean? Will the coverage be as good as current 3g coverage (not speeds mind you) or as bad and spotty like Wimax? With Wimax you can literally get 4 bars and walk 60 yards and lose total signal. How much better is LTE as far as radius coverage? Thanks folks for any help.

[gopher_otis]

Wherever you have native Sprint 3G coverage now, you will have Sprint LTE.

 

Andy

[supert0nes]

The article explained it very clearly. Sprint will be 40 percent complete for lte at launch in Houston. Every week they will complete more towers after the initial launch. Lte will eventually cover the entire 3g network with better signal. 3g will also speed up with nv Sprint will be 100 percent in this cityearly 2013 but coverage should be fantastic before that unless you are in a really unlucky location.

 

If att works for you go to them. We are not Sprint reps

[dguidry12]

The article explained it very clearly. Sprint will be 40 percent complete for lte at launch in Houston. Every week they will complete more towers after the initial launch. Lte will eventually cover the entire 3g network with better signal. 3g will also speed up with nv Sprint will be 100 percent in this cityearly 2013 but coverage should be fantastic before that unless you are in a really unlucky location.

 

If att works for you go to them. We are not Sprint reps

 

No need for the sarcasm my friend as this was an honest question..I really want to stay with Sprint but I need to make a choice pretty quickly. In order to stay with Sprint I need an LTE phone and to do that I would have to pay 165 to reset my upgrade eligibility which is non refundable if I do so. So in order to save face thats why I am asking the question. Also do you know the radius of coverage one tower has to your device? How do I find out the exact lte tower location in relation to where I live?

[Richmc]

If you become a Sponsor, there are maps that show tower locations in the Sponsor section of the site for the different markets and you can zoom in to street level and see which ones are close to you.

 

If you are really don't like checking your data usage all the time then def stay with Sprint. With the finished NV sites coming on line on the 15th and additional towers coming online each month after that, you are going to end up with great speeds and no limit on your data. You don't have to upgrade to a LTE phone right way unless you want to. As stated by supert0nes, even the 3G speeds will be increasing.

 

As far as coverage of LTE vs. WiMax, totally different. With LTE, once all towers are done, any tower that has 3g will have LTE. With WM, only certain towers had it so the coverage was limited.

[ericdabbs]

No need for the sarcasm my friend as this was an honest question..I really want to stay with Sprint but I need to make a choice pretty quickly. In order to stay with Sprint I need an LTE phone and to do that I would have to pay 165 to reset my upgrade eligibility which is non refundable if I do so. So in order to save face thats why I am asking the question. Also do you know the radius of coverage one tower has to your device? How do I find out the exact lte tower location in relation to where I live?

 

Supertones wasn't trying to be sarcastic. He was giving an honest answer. I don't understand why you took offense to what he said. Basically what he said was accurate in that at launch about 40% of the towers in that market will be upgraded to LTE but after launch Sprint will continue to add towers every week until the entire market is done. Please read the market update article for Houston to find out more details. Please keep in mind that the goal of Network Vision is not to only upgrade to 4G LTE but to also improve 3G speeds through its new tower infrastructure and backhaul.

 

Just by your post count I can tell that you are new to this site so you haven't been able to read all the progress that Sprint has been making. Just watch come July 15th, you'll be amazed when tech blogs start doing speedtests for both 3G and LTE and it will be much faster.

[rjw]

I would wait until the launch to see how much more your 3G speeds improved and make a decision at the end of July or early August.

[Richmc]

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-263-houston-network-visionlte-deployment-schedule-update/

[dguidry12]

Thanks folks this really helps..I gues ill wait until mid august to make the move.

[boomerbubba]

I would wait until the launch to see how much more your 3G speeds improved and make a decision at the end of July or early August.

 

I would not get my expectations up about improved 3G performance. My general understanding is that the effect on 3G should be positive, but marginal. The huge benefit of the NV rollout is 4G LTE, which does require using a new LTE-capable phone. So my advice would be to wait until then and try out a new phone such as the Galaxy S III during the usual 14-day return period.

[techwrench]

I can tell you from using data all around the Houston area that the service is already starting to improve. I can see in former problem areas where both speeds and stability have increased. I would wait a bit longer to see if the improvements fix your issues. One of the areas where I work a lot the 4G WiMax has come up this week from 2MB down to 6.5 MB down from the upgrades with a more even flow of data. And I can see the guys still on the tower working!!

[pyroscott]

 

I would not get my expectations up about improved 3G performance. My general understanding is that the effect on 3G should be positive' date=' but marginal. The huge benefit of the NV rollout is 4G LTE, which does require using a new LTE-capable phone. So my advice would be to wait until then and try out a new phone such as the Galaxy S III during the usual 14-day return period.[/quote']

 

It depends on what is constraining the existing network. If backhaul is the problem, network vision will certainly improve 3G speeds. On top of that, the speeds will continue to climb as people upgrade to LTE phones in the area. You will certainly need to upgrade your phone in order to see blazing fast speeds, but I would sure think that .75 to 1Mbps is attainable over 3G post network vision. Then you can hold off on buying a LTE phone for when 800 and 2600mhz compatibility is included and your buyout is lower...

 

Sent from my CM9 Toro using Forum Runner

[S4GRU]

To be clear, like Scott says above, Network Vision will bring a significant 3G performance improvement to most markets. Most of Sprint's 3G woes are caused by backhaul. Network Vision 3G backhaul is brought up to 4G standards and will more than serve the most severe 3G needs for a long time.

 

The only places that Network Vision will not be able to help 3G performance is at sites that have the maximum amount of EVDO carriers already installed for the amount of spectrum available and they are already over capacity. But this is not even 5% of sites in this condition. This is mostly around sports venues and really high capacity areas. These types of places will need microcells and DAS systems to relieve the burden off the macrocell.

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[supert0nes]

Supertones wasn't trying to be sarcastic. He was giving an honest answer. I don't understand why you took offense to what he said. Basically what he said was accurate in that at launch about 40% of the towers in that market will be upgraded to LTE but after launch Sprint will continue to add towers every week until the entire market is done. Please read the market update article for Houston to find out more details. Please keep in mind that the goal of Network Vision is not to only upgrade to 4G LTE but to also improve 3G speeds through its new tower infrastructure and backhaul.

 

Just by your post count I can tell that you are new to this site so you haven't been able to read all the progress that Sprint has been making. Just watch come July 15th, you'll be amazed when tech blogs start doing speedtests for both 3G and LTE and it will be much faster.

 

You handled that response a lot better than me! Thanks. Typing from my phone didn't help.