Has the wait been worth it?

[Shaggy_Dan]

This is mainly a question to those of you on the Forums that are currently able to reap the benefits of Sprints LTE.

 

Granted I know that are no completed markets at this point but from what you have experienced so far has you patience been rewarded?

[S4GRU]

When I am in a fully complete area like Wichita Falls or Waco, I can tell you that it's awesome. However, you get used to having fast data quickly, and the novelty and excitement goes away in a few days. Then you feel like you've been punched in the gut when you end up on an underperforming legacy 3G site.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[RichardXy]

My friends are consistently getting 40 Mbps download times on AT&T and I'm getting excited when the LTE icon comes on my ipad. Only time will tell if it was worth the wait. Until the LTE 800 is running it will be hard to make a fair assessment.

[koiulpoi]

Yes, absolutely. The past is gone, there is only the present and the future. Things are getting better every single day, and it's not going to stop for a while.

 

And pretty soon here, we'll have 800 MHz voice, 800 MHz LTE, and 2500 MHz LTE. It's gonna be great.

[Guest 503ducati]

When I am in a fully complete area like Wichita Falls or Waco, I can tell you that it's awesome. However, you get used to having fast data quickly, and the novelty and excitement goes away in a few days. Then you feel like you've been punched in the gut when you end up on an underperforming legacy 3G site.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

That's what it was like when I lived in Portland, OR. as WiMAX was deployed late 2008/early 2009. Back then it was really wild having a laptop/Blackberry nearby with 10Mbps+ speeds while mobile. I can't believe that was 4 yrs ago.

[jefbal99]

We only have a single tower in Lansing, however, I can access it at work and it makes using my smartphone so much more useful. Out and about on 3G is even more painful now, knowing what is coming

[digiblur]

We only have a single tower in Lansing, however, I can access it at work and it makes using my smartphone so much more useful. Out and about on 3G is even more painful now, knowing what is coming

 

Fully agree.. Looking at many RRUs in the sky with no LTE is hard to get past sometimes. Evdo has been working okay at work lately unless I get stuck on Channel 100.

 

Sent from my little Note2

 

 

[MacinJosh]

Fully agree.. Looking at many RRUs in the sky with no LTE is hard to get past sometimes. Evdo has been working okay at work lately unless I get stuck on Channel 100.

 

Sent from my little Note2

 

They still haven't fixed that channel? Ouch!

[Dkoellerwx]

This is mainly a question to those of you on the Forums that are currently able to reap the benefits of Sprints LTE.

 

Granted I know that are no completed markets at this point but from what you have experienced so far has you patience been rewarded?

 

A resounding yes! In Kansas City, which has been a strong Sprint market, switching from WiMax to 3G was painful for a couple months, but as the LTE buildout got further along, the coverage got fantastic. When I am back home, I don't drop LTE anywhere, and anything I need to do on my phone loads in an instant. While having 40+ Mbps on your smartphone is fun to look at, it's not really needed. As long as you're getting over 1Mbps, your phone is going to work great. And anytime you have LTE in Kansas City, you will have well more than that. My average speeds were between 10-20Mbps, though I don't run that many speedtests. I did get over 30Mbps a few times.

[Deval]

Unfortunately my neck of the woods has not seen the upgrades and added benefits that NV will provide, but in my sampling of sites, I have found it to be awesome where available.

[Zman1369]

Oh yes. I'm here in the Boston Market about 30 Mins outside of Boston and I am glad I never left sprint. I had 3 wimax devices but never had wimax service. My lte speeds average are 20/10 and it is great.

 

Note 2, it's true, ,size is everything!

 

 

[JimBob]

After the 4G Wimax disappointment, I decided to deploy two years to the Middle East in 2011 for military/government while waiting for Sprint to get their 3G + 4G LTE crap together. Now, I may return this April to start a new job in the DC area. Hopefully, my patience will be rewarded.

[digiblur]

 

They still haven't fixed that channel? Ouch!

 

Nope. And they can't until one of the three; LTE comes to that site to offload some users which I don't see coming soon since it just received a legacy upgrade; Sprint gets the 5mhz back from ATT; or they split the cell which isn't going to happen during NV and definitely not in this market.

 

But of course the support people won't tell you their hands are tied.

 

Sent from my little Note2

 

 

[Shaggy_Dan]

This is great news to hear. My market (Denver) looks to be 4~6 months out still but its nice to hear about such solid results.

[Dkoellerwx]

This is great news to hear. My market (Denver) looks to be 4~6 months out still but its nice to hear about such solid results.

 

You may not have to wait that long. Work should be starting in the next couple of months on full build sites, but it's anyone's guess as to when towers actually start coming online.

[RichardXy]

Yes, absolutely. The past is gone, there is only the present and the future. Things are getting better every single day, and it's not going to stop for a while.

 

And pretty soon here, we'll have 800 MHz voice, 800 MHz LTE, and 2500 MHz LTE. It's gonna be great.

Well hopefully they will approve 800 for nationwide roll out. I won't believe it til I see it. Supposedly the light squared deal was going to get approved but the government has a way of changing its mind.

[scubajwd]

I've been with Sprint since early 2000; Nextel push to talk early phones; big V was in its infancy, et al; here in the LV valley Wimax has been a hit & miss proposition first with an Epic & then with my S2; I never really have enjoyed 4G like we will havewith LTE when it becomes a reality; but I have had patience (not so with my wife) and come August when my contract is up I'm hoping Sprint will be far along here with the NV update..I'm putting off getting an LTE phone till then..so for me having rock solid 3G now for voice has won my wife back and I feel from that angle waiting has been worth it....I just don't see us downloading mega GB's of videos on the S4 that I have my eye on..but who knows..waiting has allowed me to keep my unlimited data plan..If Sprint reneges on that then waitingmight not have been too smart

[z250kid]

I started with sprint with a Sprint/Nextel hybrid phone. I noticed the coverage getting better over time. But I see why people get mad at sprint promise of 4g than two years or more there's nothing. Its sad that they took so long to start lte where Verizon was smart. Verizon wasn't the first but they have the most. I will never go back I had so many problems with Verizon. Its hard to wait when att and Verizon have lte and sprint has slow 3g. But im giving sprint the benefit of the doubt. I live in CT every state around me has lte. But not me figures! lol

[S4GRU]

I started with sprint with a Sprint/Nextel hybrid phone. I noticed the coverage getting better over time. But I see why people get mad at sprint promise of 4g than two years or more there's nothing. Its sad that they took so long to start lte where Verizon was smart. Verizon wasn't the first but they have the most. I will never go back I had so many problems with Verizon. Its hard to wait when att and Verizon have lte and sprint has slow 3g. But im giving sprint the benefit of the doubt. I live in CT every state around me has lte. But not me figures! lol

 

Sprint didn't have a choice but to use WiMax initially. They had FCC build out requirements on 2600MHz spectrum. LTE was not ready at that time. They started deploying WiMax two years before Verizon started deploying LTE. It is not an issue of intelligence.

 

Now, Verizon is stuck on early LTE equipment that is not upgradable to LTE Release 10. Are they now not smart? No. Every company is making decisions on what is best for them within their given circumstances at a particular time. For Sprint, WiMax was the best decision in 2008. And for Sprint, LTE is the best decision now.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[Boosted20V]

Sprint didn't have a choice but to use WiMax initially. They had FCC build out requirements on 2600MHz spectrum. LTE was not ready at that time. They started deploying WiMax two years before Verizon started deploying LTE. It is not an issue of intelligence.

 

Now, Verizon is stuck on early LTE equipment that is not upgradable to LTE Release 10. Are they now not smart? No. Every company is making decisions on what is best for them within their given circumstances at a particular time. For Sprint, WiMax was the best decision in 2008. And for Sprint, LTE is the best decision now.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

 

I feel like no matter how many times this is explained, it is ignored. WiMAX sucks, Sprint sucks, they're dumb and waste money. Facts are meaningless.

[iansltx]

Answering the original poster's question: absolutely worth it. I found one place this morning that doesn't have 4G (but it still has usable 3G, thanks to the NV upgrades I think) but the rest of the small town that I'm in right now is now covered with 4G. Is it as fast as I've seen in Golden, CO on Verizon LTE? No. But it's close, and the end user experience is identical (if not better on Sprint).

 

Yesterday was the day where waiting around on crappy Sprint 3G, waiting for WiMAX that never came, switching from WiMAX to 3G because a phone can't have both WiMAX and LTE built in, etc. became worth it. Because Sprint is the only carrier that has LTE here...or a nationwide network tht delivers more than 3 Mbps here at all, for that matter. And it delivers a heck of a lot more than 3 Mbps.

[adhrty]

Thought I would chime in here with some thoughts, since I'm in a 1st round market that has seen much work. The network is unquestionably better from where it was last fall. 3G was truly unusable, especially near any major highway or road. 4G penetration is pretty good in the south KS suburbs (OP, Leawood, etc), but not ubiquitous. Downtown and Midtown KC are better covered by 4G in my experience. Things have stalled a bit in the past month or so, owing to weather. The one thing I would note is that I feel like they need to tackle some of the building mounted sites. It seems as though they are responsible for covering some very busy areas (Metcalf, Town Center and the ever increasing offices around it) and it would patch many of the holes that remain. In summary, I think Sprint needs to put the pedal to the metal in April, May and June to keep up with their own timelines and solidify their NV work, which I'm guessing might be patchy in other round 1 markets outside of Chicago. Once the 'Kansas' market is up to about 85% completion or so, I do think the Sprint network will be a solid presence ready to take the fight to AT&T and Verizon.

 

Also, I guess 800Mhz LTE and voice will be cool, but I feel that the 1900Mhz cell spacing is so tight in KC I rarely if ever don't have voice and 3G coverage. Guess I'll have uber coverage (for voice and 1x that is).

[teamgs3]

To me it will be worth the wait, currently we are in a pre-lanched stage and I've seen some lte and I have better 3g data. 3g is great and I'm sure the lte will br to.

[kct1975]

 

I feel like no matter how many times this is explained, it is ignored. WiMAX sucks, Sprint sucks, they're dumb and waste money. Facts are meaningless.

 

My two cents...WiMAX is great when it works. And, at the moment, I am still rocking an OG EVO. Right now, I seem to be getting WiMAX 4G in a lot of places where I didn't before, so it is great for me. I also seem to be getting decent 3G too.

 

Network Vision seems to be helping.

 

Personally, I am looking forward to getting a new Sprint 4G LTE phone soon.

[tybo31316]

 

My two cents...WiMAX is great when it works. And, at the moment, I am still rocking an OG EVO. Right now, I seem to be getting WiMAX 4G in a lot of places where I didn't before, so it is great for me. I also seem to be getting decent 3G too.

 

Network Vision seems to be helping.

 

Personally, I am looking forward to getting a new Sprint 4G LTE phone soon.

 

Network vision has nothing to do with Wimax. Cdma and LTE only.