Should I bank on LTE rollout claims?

[tigersoul]

(Note: I was sent here by a member on HoFo, so this is a direct copy/paste of my post on there)

 

LTE is available ~30 miles away, my local towers' data speeds dropped significantly and when I called up sprint they told me that the towers were slow because they were being upgraded to LTE and it should go live in Jan.

 

I currently have an iPhone5, but there is no jailbreak and a LOT of people are scratching their heads and saying there may never be a jailbreak. I *need* tethering (my home DSL goes from 3mbps to 0.7-1.0mbps every few nights and usually once a week (sometimes more) it completely goes down for upto 4 hours) so I'm looking at heading back to android so I can tether.

 

My question is this: Should I spend the money (which is tight right now) to get an LTE android phone, with the promise of LTE by January, or should I just reactivate my old EVO 4G (WiMax, not LTE 4g) because sprint is likely just lieing about LTE the same way it was about WiMax (which I was supposed to have "next quarter" of my entire last 2-year contract)

 

​(Note x2: I'm in Cleveland, GA, 30528. LTE is live (I'm told) in Gainesville, GA)

[nocturnal]

I am pretty sure the iPhone has a tethering feature, if you are planning on using an unauthorized tethering application because of the jailbreak (like I think you are) then I would not suggest it. People that do this are the ones who end up making us lose Unlimited Data or they get caught and lose their data plans.

 

 

If by any chance the iPhone doesn't have a tether application (I don't own an iPhone) then this would be the ideal solution.

You have an iPhone 5 on Sprint? The iPhone 5 on Sprint has LTE. Why not just reactivate your Evo 4G, tether all you need and then reactivate your iPhone 5 every couple of weeks to see if it has LTE (I myself am not 100% certain if it will show LTE even if it is unactivated.) Wait until you receive an LTE signal then buy an Android Smartphone.

Edited November 11, 2012 by nocturnal

[leozno1]

(Note: I was sent here by a member on HoFo, so this is a direct copy/paste of my post on there)

 

LTE is available ~30 miles away, my local towers' data speeds dropped significantly and when I called up sprint they told me that the towers were slow because they were being upgraded to LTE and it should go live in Jan.

 

I currently have an iPhone5, but there is no jailbreak and a LOT of people are scratching their heads and saying there may never be a jailbreak. I *need* tethering (my home DSL goes from 3mbps to 0.7-1.0mbps every few nights and usually once a week (sometimes more) it completely goes down for upto 4 hours) so I'm looking at heading back to android so I can tether.

 

My question is this: Should I spend the money (which is tight right now) to get an LTE android phone, with the promise of LTE by January, or should I just reactivate my old EVO 4G (WiMax, not LTE 4g) because sprint is likely just lieing about LTE the same way it was about WiMax (which I was supposed to have "next quarter" of my entire last 2-year contract)

 

​(Note x2: I'm in Cleveland, GA, 30528. LTE is live (I'm told) in Gainesville, GA)

 

I hope you intend to tether your smartphone via one of sprint mobile hotspot plans.

[newboyx]

(Note: I was sent here by a member on HoFo, so this is a direct copy/paste of my post on there)

 

LTE is available ~30 miles away, my local towers' data speeds dropped significantly and when I called up sprint they told me that the towers were slow because they were being upgraded to LTE and it should go live in Jan.

 

I currently have an iPhone5, but there is no jailbreak and a LOT of people are scratching their heads and saying there may never be a jailbreak. I *need* tethering (my home DSL goes from 3mbps to 0.7-1.0mbps every few nights and usually once a week (sometimes more) it completely goes down for upto 4 hours) so I'm looking at heading back to android so I can tether.

 

My question is this: Should I spend the money (which is tight right now) to get an LTE android phone, with the promise of LTE by January, or should I just reactivate my old EVO 4G (WiMax, not LTE 4g) because sprint is likely just lieing about LTE the same way it was about WiMax (which I was supposed to have "next quarter" of my entire last 2-year contract)

 

​(Note x2: I'm in Cleveland, GA, 30528. LTE is live (I'm told) in Gainesville, GA)

Or you could not use the Sprint Network as your ISP without paying for it.

 

 

Sent from a phone using an app. That is fancy!

[lordsutch]

According to Sensorly's maps, there's already an active LTE tower about 10 miles south of Cleveland in Clermont, and Cleveland is in the Atlanta market, so you shouldn't be waiting too much longer. That said there is no reason to buy a new phone now unless you want to benefit from LTE coverage elsewhere in the market.

 

I'd also echo the warning above about tethering; many of us expect Sprint to actively crack down on LTE tethering without the hotspot plan in the not-too-distant future.

[DaQue]

Yeah if you do use it sparingly and only if your in a real bind. Never fileshare on it or you will get a call.

[S4GRU]

LTE availability in your area by January seems plausible. However, Sprint LTE is only unlimited on smartphones. It is not unlimited tethering. Whether you do it authorized or unauthorized.

 

Unauthorized tethering is not only not allowed but it is unethical. Sprint does not have enough spectrum to allow people to use its LTE network for personal unlimited home ISP.

 

I feel for you in the fact that you have no ISP solutions in your area, but Sprint LTE is not a home ISP solution either. Sprint will be enforcing unauthorized tethering on their new LTE network (and DO Advanced too) with customers they feel are abusing the system in violation of the TOS. And frankly, most of us want that.

 

If I were you, I would add a mobile hotspot plan to your iPhone when LTE comes and stay within your plan GB allotments. And then I would do as much as I could on my smartphone, which is allowed to use an unlimited amount. That's probably the best you can do under your circumstances... at least ethically and legally.

 

And it is a violation of S4GRU posting guidelines for any of us to advocate or explain how you bypass Sprint's network protections to prevent unauthorized tethering. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1197-s4gru-posting-guidelines-aka-the-rulez/

 

Robert via Samsung Note II using Forum Runner

[tigersoul]

I subscribe to the belief that I shouldn't be charged twice for the same data and should be allowed to use it as I please (and many cellular providers are now allowing tethering without a tethering plan) If it is against forum rules I will not mention it again, however from my personal perspective it's an unethical ripoff to make me pay for data and then make me pay for it a second time just because I want to use it on another device (especially so when the device is essentially identical except it has a larger screen like my iPad).

 

I have legitimate, 100% legal, reasons that I need 24/7 connectivity. Despite how it might sound, I actually don't tether much and will be doing it even less when I can finally change ISPs. I used AT&T for a while and never went over my 3gb/month plan. As nice as the idea of using it as my primary ISP sounds (especially with speeds of 20mbps+) the latency kills it for me, I routinely pull 500-1100ms pings with averages of 350ms, those don't cut it (WoW addict, *awkward laugh*) I'm sure that would also be a problem for torrenting (which I remind everyone is legal in and of itself - some companies even use it for updates to decrease the loads on their servers such as Blizzard ) I'd think that you'd not be able to connect to anyone in the swarm with those pings)

 

it always takes 24 hours for my phone to start accepting data so I don't want to swap back-and-forth, not to mention every time I do it I have to re-setup my Google Voice service.

 

And for those wondering, I prefer to keep my iPhone if possible because I prefer the stability of iOS and certain things work FAR better for me on it than on android.

 

@ lordsutch:

Thank you for actually answering my question!

I was not aware that cleremont had LTE already, the only reason I knew gainesville had it was when I was ordering my phone they mentioned it. I rarely head that direction.

 

@ S4gru:

Thanks for the info! the ISP situation is actually laughable, I was told by one that if I was any closer to the road I could get service, but at my location they couldn't offer it to me right now (though it may be available sometime next year when they build out more) As I said above, I don't tether much, as tempting as it might be with LTE, I wont be using it as my primary ISP.

 

EDIT:

also in case it wasn't clear above, I do not condone piracy nor do I have any need to do it. Netflix for movies/tv, and sites like freemyapps that give me itunes credit for free cover my bases nicely.

Edited November 11, 2012 by tigersoul

[S4GRU]

@ S4gru:

Thanks for the info! the ISP situation is actually laughable' date=' I was told by one that if I was any closer to the road I could get service, but at my location they couldn't offer it to me right now (though it may be available sometime next year when they build out more) As I said above, I don't tether much, as tempting as it might be with LTE, I wont be using it as my primary ISP.[/quote']

 

I was in this position for years in Nevada. I sympathize. I really do.

 

I don't recommend unauthorized tethering. But at least you are not in a high usage suburban/urban area. If you proceed, I recommend trying to fly under the radar. I wouldn't act entitled to unlimited data and using as much as you can muster. Because you will get shut down doing that. I don't think Sprint will be in a power trip to shut people down. But if you cross whatever imaginary line Sprint establishes, you will be terminated. Best of luck.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II using Forum Runner

[DaQue]

@ lordsutch:

Thank you for actually answering my question!

I was not aware that cleremont had LTE already, the only reason I knew gainesville had it was when I was ordering my phone they mentioned it. I rarely head that direction.

...

 

They have a really nice sponsor area here. Donate gives you 6 months of access and you can see interactive maps with individual cell cites. Once would be all you would likely need to do as your area will likely be done by then. It includes what there status is in the NV upgrade cycle 3g, 4g LTE, and 800 Mhz accepted by Sprint.

I didn't give much when I joined, I thought it was for a month not 6. I will likely fix that soon. I think they may loose money somehow on really small donations. I think I read that, but its up to each person to choose if and how much.

 

The really good stuff is in the sponsor area. Robert has put tons of money and untold hours of work with him and the staff.

Poke around the forums awhile there is good stuff here even in the free area including info on debug screens and tools to find out more about your Sprint connection than i ever thought possible.

[lynyrd65]

I'll be interested to see what happens when google unveils true desktop mode perhaps as early as in key lime pie. My Galaxy S3 already supports HDMI to my 1080p monitor and probably supports keyboard and mouse functions. The line between what is a phone, what is a tablet, and what is a desktop will blur and Google could make a real run at supplanting microsoft as the desktop OS leader.

 

but what will the carriers do?

[tigersoul]

I don't think Sprint will be in a power trip to shut people down. But if you cross whatever imaginary line Sprint establishes, you will be terminated.

 

just for those wondering, the current imaginary line for 3G is 100gb. Use more than that in 1 month and your terminated no questions asked. As for LTE *shrug* (really annoys me when they claim its "unlimited" then have a limit, however high... they should just market it as 100gb/month data)

[S4GRU]

I'll be interested to see what happens when google unveils true desktop mode perhaps as early as in key lime pie. My Galaxy S3 already supports HDMI to my 1080p monitor and probably supports keyboard and mouse functions. The line between what is a phone' date=' what is a tablet, and what is a desktop will blur and Google could make a real run at supplanting microsoft as the desktop OS leader.

 

but what will the carriers do?[/quote']

 

I've wondered about this myself.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II using Forum Runner

[WiWavelength]

just for those wondering, the current imaginary line for 3G is 100gb. Use more than that in 1 month and your terminated no questions asked. As for LTE *shrug* (really annoys me when they claim its "unlimited" then have a limit, however high... they should just market it as 100gb/month data)

 

Anyone who hogs even close to 100 GB of EV-DO data in a month is abusing the system and showing no regard for the experience of other users. That is just ridiculous, and that user should be terminated with extreme prejudice.

 

For an education on the amount of data that an EV-DO Rev A carrier channel can deliver in a month, read my breakdown:

 

http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/discuss.php?fm=m&ff=8856&fi=2949309

 

AJ

[lynyrd65]

just for those wondering, the current imaginary line for 3G is 100gb. Use more than that in 1 month and your terminated no questions asked. As for LTE *shrug* (really annoys me when they claim its "unlimited" then have a limit, however high... they should just market it as 100gb/month data)

 

I don't think I even use that much data with all of my devices combined, including my desktop machines.

[tigersoul]

Anyone who hogs even close to 100 GB of EV-DO data in a month is abusing the system and showing no regard for the experience of other users. That is just ridiculous, and that user should be terminated with extreme prejudice.

 

For an education on the amount of data that an EV-DO Rev A carrier channel can deliver in a month, read my breakdown:

 

http://www.phonescoo...8856&fi=2949309

 

AJ

 

Very enlightening. a bit confusing (it seemed to me that it was talking about how much data a tower could send to 1 user in 1 month) but very enlightening. If that's correct and each tower can only provide ~1tb/month of data to everyone on the network, then I can understand more why there are so many limits now (I used to argue that "we had with unlimited data from nearly all the carriers (in the GPRS days) the carriers have just gotten greedy now!"

 

though I still say to impose a cap and call it unlimited is false advertising (the cap doesnt bother me, the fact they pretend it's not there does)

 

 

I don't think I even use that much data with all of my devices combined, including my desktop machines.

 

I might (never clocked it) for 3 simple reasons: 1. I do 3D modeling and back up all my models on a remote server, sometimes a single file is a gb if there are a lot of objects in it. 2. I use VOIP for my daily calls to my family since my phone company still charges for long-distance, and 3. I stream a lot of HD video. If I cut the video and the backups I might get down lower, but daily calls totally around an hour to two hours every day eat a lot of data.

[4GHoward]

I use VOIP for my daily calls to my family since my phone company still charges for long-distance.

 

How much do you pay for VoIP Service?

[WiWavelength]

1. I do 3D modeling and back up all my models on a remote server, sometimes a single file is a gb if there are a lot of objects in it. 2. I use VOIP for my daily calls to my family since my phone company still charges for long-distance, and 3. I stream a lot of HD video. If I cut the video and the backups I might get down lower, but daily calls totally around an hour to two hours every day eat a lot of data.

 

This may sound silly, but I am completely serious. You probably ought to move. If your local wired ISP provider(s) cannot meet the needs of your business, then you may need to relocate. This should be no different from any other job or business. People move for better jobs and businesses relocate for better opportunities all the time.

 

This will be a growing trend. People who rely on the Internet for work will need to choose places to live that have strong broadband infrastructure.

 

AJ

[tigersoul]

How much do you pay for VoIP Service?

 

I use two different VOIP providers, one is $3 or $4/month (Skype) and one is free but only works conveniently on my cellphone (Google Voice + Talkatone --- actually though I pay the optional $20/year for Talkatone premium to remove the ads and get a "slightly better audio codec" and "higher compression")

 

 

This may sound silly, but I am completely serious. You probably ought to move. If your local wired ISP provider(s) cannot meet the needs of your business, then you may need to relocate. This should be no different from any other job or business. People move for better jobs and businesses relocate for better opportunities all the time.

 

This will be a growing trend. People who rely on the Internet for work will need to choose places to live that have strong broadband infrastructure.

 

AJ

 

too much invested in this area to move right now, but I will be switching ISPs hopefully next year when they build out more. They suffice (barely) since most of the lowups/outages are at night --- but I know people who are paying far more and have far worse service from them (a friend of mine has a shop in the center of town and is paying like $500/month and has to reset his modem about 10 times a day --- and that's not counting the times the service is flat-out down) There's huge suspicion that the local ISP is about to sell out to Comcast so they dont really care about QoS anymore. Thankfully there's competition slowly creeping in now so hopefully things will improve.

 

Make no mistake though, I am not against moving and in fact plan to within the next couple years (hate it here TBH), it's just not an option right now.

[WiWavelength]

If that's correct and each tower can only provide ~1tb/month of data to everyone on the network...

 

The 949 GB per month figure is an ideal statistic never even approached in the real world. A more meaningful real world estimate would be something on the order of 300 GB per month for a single sector⋅carrier. And as Sprint has 56 million subs, each sector⋅carrier has to support on the average about 250 subs. So, a few users sucking up even 10 GB per month each could put a big dent in the remaining capacity of that sector⋅carrier.

 

AJ

[4GHoward]

I use two different VOIP providers, one is $3 or $4/month (Skype) and one is free but only works conveniently on my cellphone (Google Voice + Talkatone --- actually though I pay the optional $20/year for Talkatone premium to remove the ads and get a "slightly better audio codec" and "higher compression")

 

Why do you keep the VoIP Service when you can just use your wireless phone for phone calls?

[mirlyn]

FYI, your VoIP traffic likely is in the neighborhood of 10 megabytes-per-hr, assuming a low-compression codec. Phone calls typically require anywhere from 10Kbps to 35Kbps of bandwidth.

 

If you're comparing to $500/mo ISP bills, then you probably have more choices than you are aware of. Ever tried investigating drypair or maybe T1s? Some options will even get you QoS for your VoIP traffic, which you probably won't get with Comcast or anyone else.

 

For what its worth, my house is 73' short for DSL according to AT&T. I am qualified for 768k DSL, while my neighbors on all sides can get 6MB+, It happens.

[nahum365]

FYI, your VoIP traffic likely is in the neighborhood of 10 megabytes-per-hr, assuming a low-compression codec. Phone calls typically require anywhere from 10Kbps to 35Kbps of bandwidth.

 

If you're comparing to $500/mo ISP bills, then you probably have more choices than you are aware of. Ever tried investigating drypair or maybe T1s? Some options will even get you QoS for your VoIP traffic, which you probably won't get with Comcast or anyone else.

 

For what its worth, my house is 73' short for DSL according to AT&T. I am qualified for 768k DSL, while my neighbors on all sides can get 6MB+, It happens.

 

That really sucks... I have the option of up to 500Mbps here at my house. Not that I could afford that, but the option is there. How much is that 768k?

[tigersoul]

Why do you keep the VoIP Service when you can just use your wireless phone for phone calls?

 

I have to make calls in the daytime and only have 500 minutes, also some members of the family are paranoid that cell phones cause cancer and only use them when they have to, not to mention sprint's building penetration is not very good unless I'm near a window and even then it's only 1-2 bars in the best conditions (i.e. stationary, no storms) I'm hoping this improves when LTE/NV goes live in Jan.

 

 

FYI, your VoIP traffic likely is in the neighborhood of 10 megabytes-per-hr, assuming a low-compression codec. Phone calls typically require anywhere from 10Kbps to 35Kbps of bandwidth.

 

If you're comparing to $500/mo ISP bills, then you probably have more choices than you are aware of. Ever tried investigating drypair or maybe T1s? Some options will even get you QoS for your VoIP traffic, which you probably won't get with Comcast or anyone else.

 

For what its worth, my house is 73' short for DSL according to AT&T. I am qualified for 768k DSL, while my neighbors on all sides can get 6MB+, It happens.

 

Nah, I'm not paying anywhere near $500, just pointing out that even people who are paying a premium cost are getting poor service.

 

Thanks for the info, I was actually considering going to AT&T data-only plan recently when my sprint data bottomed out at 200-300kbps (it's gone back up to ~700kbps now, which is useable) now I know that really is an option if I have to take that rout at some point

 

Yeah, I'm not sure what the distance is, I was told I'm <500' from the road but the ISP says I'm not so *shrug* I have the same problem with Cable, they said I'm too far out to get service

[JeffDTD]

Granted you're in an area of native sprint service, sprint's "home phone connect" is $20 a month, would have an assigned number, and is truly unlimited long distance calling.

 

Just a thought ....