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sprint dead last in consumer reports downfrom no 2 last year


Terrell352

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The article wasn't about Network Vision. The article was about the poor customer experience at Sprint. Bravo to Consumer Reports for deducting points for the "pardon our dust" state of the Sprint Network.

 

The lack of upgrades and lack of information from Sprint have been frustrating for many. It's been so frustrating that it led to the creation of this very site so that people could regain some sanity.

 

Maybe in a few years Consumer Reports will reconsider.

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People don't understand that upgrading/replacing a network completely doesn't happen overnight. In some areas, the NV upgrades can't come fast enough, therefore people leave. The only problem I've seen is that current LTE markets such as Miami (where I live), speeds are starting to drop to very low levels.... 1-2 mbps. About three weeks ago I was in NYC, and in some area's LTE/3G was almost nothing - no data, couldn't send/receive iMessages.... But I'm hanging onto Sprint...  5 years and counting.

 Serious question. Here in Phoenix, AZ. Tmobile went from having zero LTE and within a  year LTE is everywhere for them. Meanwhile on Sprint its taking them forever. Why is Tmobile able to provide their customers with LTE faster and in a more wide-spread area than Sprint. I cant leave sprint but just curious as all my Tmobile friends have LTE and I am barely getting any. 

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Serious question. Here in Phoenix, AZ. Tmobile went from having zero LTE and within a year LTE is everywhere for them. Meanwhile on Sprint its taking them forever. Why is Tmobile able to provide their customers with LTE faster and in a more wide-spread area than Sprint. I cant leave sprint but just curious as all my Tmobile friends have LTE and I am barely getting any.

1. TMobile was making a much more incremental upgrade there with a network that was already somewhat modernized with modern base stations from DC-HSPA, adding antenna integrated radios, while Sprint had to redo all their cell sites.

2. TMobile already had scalable fiber optic backhaul in their sites, while Sprint got hung up bad on that by CenturyLink waiting for fiber to get installed.

 

 

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 Serious question. Here in Phoenix, AZ. Tmobile went from having zero LTE and within a  year LTE is everywhere for them. Meanwhile on Sprint its taking them forever. Why is Tmobile able to provide their customers with LTE faster and in a more wide-spread area than Sprint. I cant leave sprint but just curious as all my Tmobile friends have LTE and I am barely getting any. 

 

Eh, calling it a "wide-spread area" would be a stretch with T-Mobile.  Basically, what you see now is what you are going to get for the foreseeable future.  Meanwhile, within about the next nine months, Sprint will have "modernized" (to use a T-Mobile term) its entire network with LTE.

 

AJ

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The article wasn't about Network Vision. The article was about the poor customer experience at Sprint. Bravo to Consumer Reports for deducting points for the "pardon our dust" state of the Sprint Network.

 

The lack of upgrades and lack of information from Sprint have been frustrating for many. It's been so frustrating that it led to the creation of this very site so that people could regain some sanity.

 

Maybe in a few years Consumer Reports will reconsider.

Thats revisionist history. This site was created before the LTE roll out started. Also in my experience Consumer Reports is clueless regarding automobiles and consumer electronics. I question the validity of their research and survey methods. They seem to be extremely narrow in their focus.

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Thats revisionist history. This site was created before the LTE roll out started. Also in my experience Consumer Reports is clueless regarding automobiles and consumer electronics. I question the validity of their research and survey methods. They seem to be extremely narrow in their focus.

That's not revisionist. Yes, the site pre-existed the first 4G sites however the site is called Sprint 4G rollout updates after all. People found the site out of their frustration waiting for 4G wimax.

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That's not revisionist. Yes, the site pre-existed the first 4G sites however the site is called Sprint 4G rollout updates after all. People found the site out of their frustration waiting for 4G wimax.

Really? Wow. I won't argue the point. You have your opinion and I have mine.

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That's not revisionist. Yes, the site pre-existed the first 4G sites however the site is called Sprint 4G rollout updates after all. People found the site out of their frustration waiting for 4G wimax.

 

No.

 

This site was not founded out of frustration waiting for wimax. This site was founded because Robert Herron and a select few other members such as Andrew J. Shepherd, Travis Griggs, and inumerable others were fed up with trying to discuss the Sprint Network and related telecommunications topics on websites such as SprintUsers and Sprint Community Boards.

 

They wanted a place to call home where they can discuss telecommunications and other relevant topics in an intelligent manner away from the common denominator so they (mainly Robert) founded S4GRU in order to have a place where like minded individuals can gather and discuss topics without every other post being "FUCK SPRINT! THEY SUCK - GO ATT OR VERIZON" etc. 

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That's not revisionist. Yes, the site pre-existed the first 4G sites however the site is called Sprint 4G rollout updates after all. People found the site out of their frustration waiting for 4G wimax.

 

Is that WiMAX or WhineMAX?

 

;)

 

AJ

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The article wasn't about Network Vision. The article was about the poor customer experience at Sprint. Bravo to Consumer Reports for deducting points for the "pardon our dust" state of the Sprint Network.

 

The lack of upgrades and lack of information from Sprint have been frustrating for many. It's been so frustrating that it led to the creation of this very site so that people could regain some sanity.

 

Maybe in a few years Consumer Reports will reconsider.

Never looked at it that way. You make a good point. Sprint is definitely to hush hush on the matter at a time when they shouldn't be. 

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If Sprint fires up LTE 800 all at once or within a week or two of each other their network would go from sub par to excellent even without all of the sites being upgraded. Hopefully Sprint has a present under the cellphone towers this holiday season. 

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No.

 

This site was not founded out of frustration waiting for wimax. This site was founded because Robert Herron and a select few other members such as Andrew J. Shepherd, Travis Griggs, and inumerable others were fed up with trying to discuss the Sprint Network and related telecommunications topics on websites such as SprintUsers and Sprint Community Boards.

 

They wanted a place to call home where they can discuss telecommunications and other relevant topics in an intelligent manner away from the common denominator so they (mainly Robert) founded S4GRU in order to have a place where like minded individuals can gather and discuss topics without every other post being "FUCK SPRINT! THEY SUCK - GO ATT OR VERIZON" etc. 

So there was a lack of information and you wanted to share but found the current methods frustrating. You wanted to discuss network improvements and other telecommunication projects including the Sprint 4g rollout. Over time this site expanded to include other related topics. Whether you agree or not, most of the people on this site came here to find information regarding 4G in their area. This site is promoted that way. 

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S4GRU staff is very sharp, has had its eye on the CNET article since it was published.  We knew that a thread here would arise -- probably sooner rather than later.

 

So, let this be a reminder.  Intelligent discussion is welcome.  Complaints are not.  In the latter case, staff will take action.  We decided long ago to leave the Sprint "shit" to other sites that already wear that stench well.

 

AJ

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The article wasn't about Network Vision. The article was about the poor customer experience at Sprint. Bravo to Consumer Reports for deducting points for the "pardon our dust" state of the Sprint Network.

 

The lack of upgrades and lack of information from Sprint have been frustrating for many. It's been so frustrating that it led to the creation of this very site so that people could regain some sanity.

 

Maybe in a few years Consumer Reports will reconsider.

I think it is hard for people in the s4gru community to realize that the vast majority of consumers don't care about what Sprint is doing with their network, they only care about their service working and right now in a lot of places it doesn't. Consumer reports is made up of people who are not looking at what sprint is doing with there network but people who only care about their service working. I work in and love the wireless industry and sprint is making some of the most exciting moves in it, that keeps me glued to them. No body that reads (and takes seriously) consumer reports cares to much about the wireless industry.

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The article wasn't about Network Vision. The article was about the poor customer experience at Sprint. Bravo to Consumer Reports for deducting points for the "pardon our dust" state of the Sprint Network.

 

The lack of upgrades and lack of information from Sprint have been frustrating for many. It's been so frustrating that it led to the creation of this very site so that people could regain some sanity.

 

Maybe in a few years Consumer Reports will reconsider.

 

Thats a very good point.

 

Had it not been for this website, I would not have renewed my contract.

 

Imagine if we all had to rely on calling customer support and hearing "Im sorry your data is slow, NV is happening and itll be perfect in 2-4 weeks!" ....and hearing it once a month for over a year. No one in their right mind would stand that. Lucky for us we dont ever have to call Sprint because the very best info is right here.

 

I value being informed. Sprint (and the wireless industry in general) operates on the "keep your customer blind" method. All the call centers (for all the industry players) operate on "get your customer off the line happy, let the next agent deal with their anger".

 

This website obviously pushes past that.

 

Ive said before that this website is essentially Sprints best advertisement and they should be forking over tens of thousands a month in donations because its so valuable to their brand.

 

Youd think theyd get the hint and just be more transparent...

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Ignoring the title of the article, which I imagine most news outlets will use, the results seem appropriate.  The survey was for the service over the past year, not the "potential" a network has, so you have to ignore that.  It was taken from a sample of metro areas, so that kills the main advantage Sprint has over T-mobile.  Sprint's method of site-by-site LTE activation as soon as a site is upgraded kills the 4G reliability rating (you obviously can't hold onto LTE with the shotgun spread of live sites that every market has until ~70%+ completion).  It may have been too recent to affect the results, but the CSFB issue only makes that worse.  As for voice and text reliability, we should all know how that's been in some markets as they've gone through legacy -> NV equipment, vendor changes, 1900 -> 800 (and in some places 800 -> 1900), and the obvious flat-out down time from upgrading every site.  Value is pretty obvious, since you're paying almost the same as the big 2 for already worse coverage in most areas, during a transitional year, and most of the time the phones cost more on top of all that.  There's also no value in unlimited data for the people who can't even stream Pandora due to their data speeds.

 

Obviously places like Chicago, Atlanta, South Bend, and a few others probably had Sprint at #1 or 2, but that's because NV was already past its critical mass in those areas for much of the last year.  If Sprint gets B41 and B26 along as planned and the NV1 upgrades continue at their current rate, I would certainly not expect Sprint to rank #4 in a year.  But based solely on the network's status for the past year in metro areas, 4th is pretty much what they average out to.  

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I just got off the phone with my friend and he told me about the survey and I grew irritated with it being brought up AGAIN. I have both T-Mobile and Sprint Service and I still root for Sprint at the end of the day.  He told me T-Molbile is where it is at and I had a thought and i told him yea they are good but due to fact it is the holiday season and people are starting to travel more this could slow down T-mobiles growth cause people will see that once on the highway data is useless and people could leave. But I told him I think this survey was done in area's where NV is not complete and/or not in the area completely. But also I think a lot of people are on the notion that if it is not Verizon it is not good. Sprint is not at its best right now but by the summer you will see a difference within the network!

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I think it is hard for people in the s4gru community to realize that the vast majority of consumers don't care about what Sprint is doing with their network, they only care about their service working and right now in a lot of places it doesn't. Consumer reports is made up of people who are not looking at what sprint is doing with there network but people who only care about their service working. I work in and love the wireless industry and sprint is making some of the most exciting moves in it, that keeps me glued to them. No body that reads (and takes seriously) consumer reports cares to much about the wireless industry.

I may be crazy saying this, but it will be bittersweet when NV is basically done. I actually enjoy the anticipation of which towers will be upgraded next and how great the signal is each time I travel to another market. I like all the dust and just hope once it's all complete, the 5G upgrade will be just as exciting.

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Hmm.. According to the Sprintcare folks on Twitter I have been speaking with, these survey people that have bad service just need to clear their browser history and cookies. It makes your signal better. I can't wait to try it tomorrow on the broken site!

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Hmm.. According to the Sprintcare folks on Twitter I have been speaking with, these survey people that have bad service just need to clear their browser history and cookies. It makes your signal better. I can't wait to try it tomorrow on the broken site!

Didn't you know that a Prl update would solve the problem? Geez.

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Didn't you know that a Prl update would solve the problem? Geez.

They only told me about the cookies, browser history, profile update, and reboot so far to make my signal better Wow! Can't wait to try that one too. Good secrets here!

 

Must update my list of towers! :)

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It's kinda odd that we get articles like this, and yet... For example, in West Michigan (in full swing of NV, just did some massive 3G cluster upgrades), especially the last 3 months, the calls to Care for non-device issues have steadily dropped each month.

 

Frequently there is a scary correlation between favorable results in 'surveys' like this and the volume of adverts or consultation services going the other way. I saw this first hand working for a large quad play cable co in Europe. It's largely BS and besides some bad press and a few chances after credits there was virtually no impact on churn or acquisition. 

 

Sprint is an awesome company, truly great customer services and sales. Their network needs love but the great thing is it is getting it. There is a solid, publicly available plan. They are extremely price competitive and are effectively rebuilding their network. Once they have nation wide triband LTE it should be an entirely different story for actual customers. If they win big in the 600mhz auction it should be even better.

 

As for LTE speeds in markets, honestly I would expect that. Tmo also offers unlimited and their 10x10 in my market (pretty sure it's 10x10) is awesome overnight 15-22mbps depending on signal and during the day it drops to 3-4mbps at times. So yeah it's busy, but even at it's busiest thats still a hell of a decent connection. I can stream 1080p at that, hell I can even stream 720p at the 1-2mbps mentioned above. Yes it is less, but in perspective it's still pretty darn fine! It's a simple choice unmetered and you share the network with people who also choose unmetered access (quite possibly because they use a lot of data, sometimes because they simply don't want a variable bill) or pay per GB and probably access to a less congested network.

 

I expect that sprint may start to look at more agressive traffic management as LTE markets mature. This is purely conjecture and not meant to be critical of sprint, but I think they may start selling per GB access as well and give that priority over unlimited data customers, they have already said video will be capped at 1mbps, all pretty fair game. If nothing else they still have options! Plus in the longer run, besides more spectrum they can roll out mimo etc, more evolution's of LTE. I don't think NV is going to be a open and shut project, there will be a 3.0 and a 4.0 and a 5.0 as markets mature. The great thing is they have a plan, they have options beyond that and they are moving in the right direction. 

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People don't understand that upgrading/replacing a network completely doesn't happen overnight. In some areas, the NV upgrades can't come fast enough, therefore people leave. The only problem I've seen is that current LTE markets such as Miami (where I live), speeds are starting to drop to very low levels.... 1-2 mbps. About three weeks ago I was in NYC, and in some area's LTE/3G was almost nothing - no data, couldn't send/receive iMessages.... But I'm hanging onto Sprint...  5 years and counting.

For some it is going on 4+ years now.

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