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

[greenbastard]

See, I think herein lies the problem. Consistency. Sprint does have wonderful spectrum to use and many people have wonderful experiences. However, there are people (Like in this thread) that have abysmal experiences in the same towns. I think if Sprint can make the network a more consistent/even experience, then more people would switch and/or stay.

This pretty much sums it up. Places like Las Vegas and Atlanta had a smooth user experience. Anytime the phone would come out of my pocket, I had B41. If my phone ever fell to 800 (in Atlanta) or 1900, the phone would go back to B41 as soon as possible. I even saw my phone do this when playing a video or streaming music, which was amazing.

[Trip]

It's not the device. I had this issue with a Galaxy S5 and two other Nexus 5x (M8994F is the current one). I also see it with the iPhones in the other lines I have under contract (though iPhone engineering screen can't be trusted). I've always had access to good RSRP and SNR on B25 (surprisingly, SNR is way better for me on B25 than it is on B26). Unfortunately the network just isn't working as it should. It's gotten better...that I will admit, but not good enough. In 2014, all Tri-band devices would be exclusively parked on B26. Today, I see B25 more now, but not enough to make the network consistent.

 

One thing I do admire about T-Mobile in this part of the state is that their network is extremely aggressive at getting you to switch to B4 LTE if you happen to fall to B12. Which is good for their network because parts of midtown have brought T-Mobile's network to its knees. A Sprint 5x5 B25 carrier outperforms T-Mobile's 20x20 B4 in that area.

 

I'm not going to outright disagree, but this does not match my experience.  My S5 never saw B25, with my phone basically putting me directly on B26 if B41 was not available, but now that I've moved to an LG G5, I now see B25 much more regularly. 

 

On the contrary, my LG Leon LTE for T-Mobile, if it happens to drop to B12, even an Airplane Mode toggle won't get it back onto B4.  Sometimes a full device reboot won't get it back onto B4.  The only real guaranteed way to get it back on B4 is to go to an area without B12.

 

- Trip

[shannonbrian]

The biggest problem sprint is not being aggresive with adding band 41 to towers,that need it. Still to many towers need upgraded . Gmos no lte and how long before clearsites get converted ? Im just glad my market is all 8tr8 lte plus .

[nexgencpu]

I'm not going to outright disagree, but this does not match my experience. My S5 never saw B25, with my phone basically putting me directly on B26 if B41 was not available, but now that I've moved to an LG G5, I now see B25 much more regularly.

 

On the contrary, my LG Leon LTE for T-Mobile, if it happens to drop to B12, even an Airplane Mode toggle won't get it back onto B4. Sometimes a full device reboot won't get it back onto B4. The only real guaranteed way to get it back on B4 is to go to an area without B12.

 

- Trip

This is precisely what I noticed on the G5. It seems to be able to deal with band switching extremely efficiently. Where as most other devices just get "stuck" on a band.

 

Not only that, whereas my Nexus 6P with latest radio would switch to B26 at around -110dBm even tho a better B25 is available and i know B41 is usable till about -115dBm.

Edited June 9, 2016 by nexgencpu

[avb]

This is precisely what i noticed on the G5. It seems to be able to deal with band switching extremely efficiently. Where as most other devices just get "stuck" on a band.

 

Not only that, whereas my Nexus 6P with latest radio would switch to B26 at around -110dBm even tho a better B25 is available and i know B41 is usable till about -115dBm.

 

I thought the network, not the device, was responsible for switching between LTE bands?  

[nexgencpu]

I thought the network, not the device, was responsible for switching between LTE bands?  

Mostly its the network, but a properly optimized baseband can do wonders or wreak havoc if not optimized. 

[S4GRU]

Speed test at 10:22pm. Of course its going to be fast. We will when rootmetrics reports come out for DC.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Yeah, because, you know shannonbrian is a Sprint apologist. If anyone would take a swipe at Sprint performance issues, it would be him. So if he has something positive to say about Sprint in DC, I would tend to believe it.

 

Not to mention that kc4icg has been a solid member reporting his observations for a long time. Terrell, stop arguing with people who have a good Sprint experience. You can report what you see, but it's annoying that you argue with others. Especially in other regions.

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

[smooth25]

This is what I have been wondering. I will drop to 3g and stay on there even though LTE is strong. This is with a LG G4. All my phones are G4 so I can't compare.

 

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[chaddy0122]

My iPhone 6 has been getting on 3G real easy and not reconnecting to LTE at all since this latest iOS/carrier update.  I hate it, I can literally be across the street from a tower and I won't switch over unless I cycle airplane mode.

[RedSpark]

My iPhone 6 has been getting on 3G real easy and not reconnecting to LTE at all since this latest iOS/carrier update.  I hate it, I can literally be across the street from a tower and I won't switch over unless I cycle airplane mode.

 

You should contact Customer Care and get a CTMS ticket escalated for this.

[SkyGuy98]

My iPhone 6 has been getting on 3G real easy and not reconnecting to LTE at all since this latest iOS/carrier update. I hate it, I can literally be across the street from a tower and I won't switch over unless I cycle airplane mode.

I have had the same experience many times in IA with the same issue. It's like the network prefers people sit on 3G and doesn't even realize when people are near towers or when the LTE signal should be strong. I do wonder if part of the issue is Apple. I know Androids have the issues too, but it seems like Apple devices are worst tuned for the network.

[nexgencpu]

I have had the same experience many times in IA with the same issue. It's like the network prefers people sit on 3G and doesn't even realize when people are near towers or when the LTE signal should be strong. I do wonder if part of the issue is Apple. I know Androids have the issues too, but it seems like Apple devices are worst tuned for the network.

After using the G5 (which has exceptional radio performance) for a about a week, one thing became very clear, a lot of devices lack radio optimization.

[RedSpark]

I have had the same experience many times in IA with the same issue. It's like the network prefers people sit on 3G and doesn't even realize when people are near towers or when the LTE signal should be strong. I do wonder if part of the issue is Apple. I know Androids have the issues too, but it seems like Apple devices are worst tuned for the network.

 

My iPhone 6 used to do this quite often. My iPhone 6s used to do this months ago, but doesn't anymore. The more recent carrier updates have fixed the issue and LTE changeover is pretty quick now.

 

It's likely the LTE Scan Timer. Forcing it to airplane mode resets the timer and it immediately looks for LTE.

 

Does the device pick up LTE if you just let it sit for a few minutes?

[Steve Dean]

My iPhone 6 has been getting on 3G real easy and not reconnecting to LTE at all since this latest iOS/carrier update.  I hate it, I can literally be across the street from a tower and I won't switch over unless I cycle airplane mode.

 

Have you tried ##UPDATE# to do a service update?

 

I am seeing the PRL as 54054 and Sprint 24.1

[chaddy0122]

Yes, I've done the ##update and even did the newest beta download of iOS to try and get a new carrier bundle and nothing.  Still on 24.1

[Deval]

In New York.

 

But in SE Texas, some B41 towers (Clearwater) won't go past 2 city blocks outdoors. I live 1500 ft from a Clear B41 site and I can't get it indoors. Meanwhile, B25 seems to give me 5 Mbps which is more than I need. But unfortunately the network puts me on B26 even though my average RSRP is -105 indoors for B25.

 

Those small cells better not be B41-only for the sake of VoLTE.

 

 

 

 

Sprint won't be able to keep this 50% off deal much longer. Let's face it, considering that this deal seemed pretty good, the numbers it attracted were a bit disappointing. Sure they got customers, but not as many you would hope for.

 

 

I've never seen an uncongested B26 cell in Houston. Seeing as how the network keeps me on B26 most of the time all over town (even if B25 is available), I think I did him a solid. He currently has at&t, so a switch to Sprint would have been a downgrade. If he had T-Mobile, I would have told him to test it out since T-Mobile also has some issues in this area.

 

Now had he asked me about San Antonio, I would have told him to try it. The Sprint network in SA is a lot better than the Sprint network in Louisiana, Dallas, Austin and Houston. Even before NV rolled out, 3G wasn't as congested as it was in other markets. At&t is king in SA, but Sprint also holds its own there.

 

But recommending Sprint in Houston? My conscious won't allow me to.

 

My local site is a Clearwire site as well, have actually been there first hand.

 

I understand what you're saying but there is a lot more to the story with Sprint. 50% will continue to get extended, it's not like Sprint is hurting because of it.

[Deval]

so basically the whole southeast is cherry picked and weak? Im all for Sprint getting to where they need to be but its hard to defend against so many markets with lack of deployed spectrum when tmobile can do it. I mentioned those places because these are all places where I have experienced the same old tune of 95% of the time being on 25/26 and only 5% of the time being on b41. I could literally go over a hundred miles and never get b41. At&t b17/b4 CA is everywhere and tmobile has 40mhz of b4 in most of these markets, Verizon has 60mhz of spectrum minimum in most of these markets while Sprint sits with 20mhz total with tiny slivers of b41.

 

How about the rest of the country?

[Terrell352]

How about the rest of the country?

Idk gotta look at that spectrum map hahaha

 

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[Deval]

I'm waiting for the contract to run its course. If there has ever been a time to switch, it is now. All of the phones in our lines now support LTE bands for all carriers. And since Sprint has to unlock them, it should be a breeze.

 

I'll definitely be taking my old Tri-band phone to ringplus to track any Sprint activity. Unfortunately, I highly doubt Sprint does a rip and replace of Clearwire equipment now that Rootmetrics has pinned them the king of Data download speeds. Theres no incentive for them to do so. Unfortunately, not many people are aware that those were outdoor tests and Sprint is pretty slow in real life usage through most of SE Texas. The last known permits for Sprint in this area were for gas powered generators in 2014. Not many network improvements are happening at the moment and with capex down, I'm not expecting them to start in the immediate future.

 

Sprint is going to rip out the Clearwire at some point since it doesn't support 3xCA, but 2xCA works just fine on the Samsung equipment.

[Deval]

I think everyone here has a bit of neighborhood bias. Nextgencpu has great experience in NYC's network, I have a pretty good but sometimes crappy experience in NYC. Kg4icg has a great time in DC, Terrell doesn't. Terrell thinks Southeast states network is bad, I think Sprint in Southwest Florida is pretty solid. Ultimately, it comes down to the person in question and what their opinion of good service is. If a person wants to go with Sprint, don't steer them against it or to it, just say give it a try. If it's for them, they stay, if its not, they won't. Telling them what to do isn't the best advice.

 

You're right but trolling incessantly doesn't help either.

[Deval]

The biggest problem sprint is not being aggresive with adding band 41 to towers,that need it. Still to many towers need upgraded . Gmos no lte and how long before clearsites get converted ? Im just glad my market is all 8tr8 lte plus .

 

What are you basing this on? They are actually being quite aggressive nationwide.

[SkyGuy98]

My iPhone 6 used to do this quite often. My iPhone 6s used to do this months ago, but doesn't anymore. The more recent carrier updates have fixed the issue and LTE changeover is pretty quick now.

 

It's likely the LTE Scan Timer. Forcing it to airplane mode resets the timer and it immediately looks for LTE.

 

Does the device pick up LTE if you just let it sit for a few minutes?

No, actually in Iowa City, LTE is hard to pick up, so you almost always sit on 3G and have to toggle airplane mode several times before you can pick up LTE(Provided you are really near the tower).

 

I do agree that the iPhone 6S' signal-holding is a nice step up from the 5S, but it still needs more work. I do have PRL 54054 (Sprint 24.1)

[RAvirani]

Yes, I've done the ##update and even did the newest beta download of iOS to try and get a new carrier bundle and nothing. Still on 24.1

I have an iPhone 6S with Sprint 24.1 and PRL 54054 (I know PRL doesn't really matter) and my phone holds onto LTE great. Holds B41 down to ~-125 and holds on to weak B25 very well. It will often sit on -116 to -120. I don't have 800 in my market. Maybe take your iPhone to the Apple Store. I quite frankly have been floored by the iPhone 6S's RF (at least compared to the other iPhones).

[RedSpark]

I have an iPhone 6S with Sprint 24.1 and PRL 54054 (I know PRL doesn't really matter) and my phone holds onto LTE great. Holds B41 down to ~-125 and holds on to weak B25 very well. It will often sit on -116 to -120. I don't have 800 in my market. Maybe take your iPhone to the Apple Store. I quite frankly have been floored by the iPhone 6S's RF (at least compared to the other iPhones).

 

I agree. Ask the Genius Bar tech to run the diagnostics module on the device.

 

I also suggest you back-up your phone to iCloud/iTunes and set it up as a new device to test this. (Do not restore from backup for this test). Ensure the PRL, Data Profile and Carrier File are updated after you set it up.

 

If the issue still occurs, it's a hardware issue with the phone.

[bretton88]

No, actually in Iowa City, LTE is hard to pick up, so you almost always sit on 3G and have to toggle airplane mode several times before you can pick up LTE(Provided you are really near the tower).

 

I do agree that the iPhone 6S' signal-holding is a nice step up from the 5S, but it still needs more work. I do have PRL 54054 (Sprint 24.1)

Meanwhile on my Note 5 here in Iowa City, I hold a good LTE signal 95% of the time.