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


joshuam

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However, these RM reports seem odd to me both in overrating and underrating Sprint in some areas. Sprint does have excellent voice quality, which ought to be a category in these reports.

You may want to flip that around, and this is one of the things some on this site have been trying to tell you. Root Metrics methodology may not be perfect, but them conducting 103,399 individual tests in Chicago and driving 4,343 miles gives me a heck of a lot better picture of the market on the big 4 carriers than your individual observations.

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Was I not clear in quoting the root metrics article?

 

Last place is last place. At the end of the year, Sprint will have very few speed awards at this rate. They should improve that for the perception that they are slow. They are known as being slow through NV, so when they continue to show last place, it hurts them.

You can't win overall market like Sprint did in Austin, unless you have acceptable data speeds. Which they do. It doesn't matter who is first or last in data if they all are statistically and experientially the same number.

 

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I whole heartedly agree. Slower speeds 99% of the time is much better than faster speeds 75% of the time. I look forward to when that is the case for Central Maryland. I'm simply saying that until Sprint isn't in last place over and over, marketing root metrics isn't a great idea. T-Mobile has had huge success with their "blazing fast platinum mega super LTE". That is what consumers are hungry for, and what Sprint needs to market once they get out of last place.

Quoting Root Metrics results when you are the leader in a market is a very good idea. Customers that come over in that market will experience an equal or better network than their competitors. Similar data speeds and superior performance.

 

You'd be the biggest dumbass in the world not to tout that in Austin. Are you suggesting they shouldn't be advertising the best network in Austin because they aren't the best network in Central Maryland? Get over yourself, man.

 

That's like saying Tmo can't advertise their wideband high speeds because they have some single carrier 5x5 markets that are as slow as lame dogs and lots of GMO LTE. Of course they brag where they are doing well.

 

Austin is a good market for Sprint. Whether you like it or not. And apparently, you don't.

 

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You may want to flip that around, and this is one of the things some on this site have been trying to tell you. Root Metrics methodology may not be perfect, but them conducting 103,399 individual tests in Chicago and driving 4,343 miles gives me a heck of a lot better picture of the market on the big 4 carriers than your individual observations.

THIS!!!

 

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I'm not arguing that Sprint is slow. Not at all! Heck...I've hit 73Mbps speed tests in Baltimore. And when I was in TN last week, my in-laws were using my iPhone hot spot to access google maps, because Verizon 3G was so slow. Even when I had 3G, it was still over 1Mbps. I'm just saying I hope Sprint can get some yellow dots on that map. It will go a long ways in helping their image. Many perceive them as slow, and being in last place is last place. Even if the details behind that show that all 4 carriers are about the same in real world usage. I'm not trying to mischaracterize Sprints success, I've been a customer for a long time and have no plans to change that. I'm a big advocate, and brought over 8 family members (with Framily) last year when things weren't as good as they are now.

 

Edit:

And for the record...areas where Sprint lacks in Maryland, T-Mobile and AT&T are lacking too generally. Verizon is very strong here. I don't judge Sprint for some coverage gaps, I'm just hopeful that they will fix them. I have friends and family that refuse to switch to Sprint over past experiences, some root metrics speed wins might help. Especially with younger generations.

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You may want to flip that around, and this is one of the things some on this site have been trying to tell you. Root Metrics methodology may not be perfect, but them conducting 103,399 individual tests in Chicago and driving 4,343 miles gives me a heck of a lot better picture of the market on the big 4 carriers than your individual observations.

Though I've never even hinted towards anyone that they ought to base their opinions and service decisions based on my observations of my own experiences, which these RM reports are greatly used towards.

 

Personally, I prefer listening to individual experiences, such as those on S4GRU, which is my fault for not considering the posts on S4GRU recently from some people here in the Chicago area who've mentioned the network drops that occurred severely for me.

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THIS!!!

 

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Then again, a few Sprint employees have admitted to me that in this area of the Chicago suburbs, Sprint kinda sucks. Perhaps it is better downtown.

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Then again, a few Sprint employees have admitted to me that in this area of the Chicago suburbs, Sprint kinda sucks. Perhaps it is better downtown.

I know when I was in Manhattan, IL and neighboring areas around the Sprint service was pretty solid, 800LTE and 2.5 service. I hardly fell back to 1900, maybe in a really bad building at best and even at that, only when there was 0 800 available. 

 

Far as signal/bandwidth was concerned, it was nothing near my Portland, OR speeds, but I was pulling 15 to 45mbps the entire time there. 

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I know when I was in Manhattan, IL and neighboring areas around the Sprint service was pretty solid, 800LTE and 2.5 service. I hardly fell back to 1900, maybe in a really bad building at best and even at that, only when there was 0 800 available.

 

Far as signal/bandwidth was concerned, it was nothing near my Portland, OR speeds, but I was pulling 15 to 45mbps the entire time there.

When I had Sprint a month or so, it was quite a bit better than my recent experience. Then again, I had the Nexus 6 that time, the Kyocera Hydro Vibe this time. I really wanted to believe it was a device issue, though a few of the staff at Sprint told me it was the network and displayed a lot less hope about it than me.

 

I'm glad your experiences were good though, especially with the 800mhz. The 800mhz helped while I was at my grandmother's last month, though not at my home here. One of the things I've seen people mention here is 800mhz optimization, which I'm wondering what that means and if that would have likely improved my experience.

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 One of the things I've seen people mention here is 800mhz optimization, which I'm wondering what that means and if that would have likely improved my experience.

 

Site optimizations simply refers to "fine tuning" which occurs on all three of Sprint's LTE bands not just Band 26.  Once a network is optimized you could experience a stronger LTE connection or find yourself with LTE in places where it was once absent.  

 

And there is evidence that network optimizations are ongoing, just look at the RootMetrics reports.   :)

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Then again, a few Sprint employees have admitted to me that in this area of the Chicago suburbs, Sprint kinda sucks. Perhaps it is better downtown.

Verizon employees say the same about coverage in parts of South Dakota. That doesn't mean they're not the best or unacceptable.

 

Your issue, by your own admission, is that when you are streaming on 3G, you will never get back to LTE. Unless you cycle airplane mode. Thus giving you a false impression of LTE coverage. You know what, I have that same problem on Tmo and AT&T. Nothing hands up to LTE while you are streaming something. Airplane mode is your friend.

 

Your anecdotal observations of the Sprint network are EXTREMELY limited. And then you argue with anyone who has a different opinion of you, even if they travel all around Chicagoland and been using Sprint for years.

 

Sprint has a good network in Chicago that performs roughly the same or better than its competitors. Regardless of what you saw riding in a car through western suburbs while streaming one weekend in May.

 

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Your issue, by your own admission, is that when you are streaming on 3G, you will never get back to LTE. Unless you cycle airplane mode. Thus giving you a false impression of LTE coverage. You know what, I have that same problem on Tmo and AT&T. Nothing hands up to LTE while you are streaming something. Airplane mode is your friend.

 

It'll be a good day for all networks when 3G gets shut down (eventually). No more switching to 3G when that signal is better. Of course, LTE will probably have even better coverage by then, so it may or may not really matter.

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Your anecdotal observations of the Sprint network are EXTREMELY limited. And then you argue with anyone who has a different opinion of you, even if they travel all around Chicagoland and been using Sprint for years.

 

Sprint has a good network in Chicago that performs roughly the same or better than its competitors. Regardless of what you saw riding in a car through western suburbs while streaming one weekend in May.

 

^^^^^ What he said.

 

Example, also anecdotal:  The day before yesterday (Sunday) I drove from Crystal Lake, IL, through Bartlett, IL, to downtown Chicago and back (about 120 miles round trip) on Sprint and never lost LTE, except briefly deep inside a restaurant virtually under the Lake Street El structure (and airplane mode instantly restored LTE).  I was even getting 9.6 Mbps down and 11.3 Mbps up inside the Cadillac Palace Theater.  I have used Sprint in Chicagoland for over 15 years and (except for a few weeks during the NV switchover) have had an acceptable experience with whatever technologies were current almost the entire time.  Even while traveling (and I travel over much of the US), my experience has been mostly acceptable, often excellent.

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Your issue, by your own admission, is that when you are streaming on 3G, you will never get back to LTE. Unless you cycle airplane mode. Thus giving you a false impression of LTE coverage. You know what, I have that same problem on Tmo and AT&T. Nothing hands up to LTE while you are streaming something. Airplane mode is your friend.

 

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It's times like this where I wish Sprint/Verizon invested in EvDo RevB or better.  When you drop from LTE to HSPA+, it's not quite as noticeable as when you drop from LTE to EvDo RevA.  I know it's too late for them to invest in it now (although Fabian believes Sprint should have invested its spectrum into converting to GSM in NV1.0, LOL!), and that LTE is the future, I still think in hindsight that CDMA providers would have been better off investing in EvDo in a similar fashion to how T-Mo and AT&T invested in HSPA.

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It'll be a good day for all networks when 3G gets shut down (eventually). No more switching to 3G when that signal is better. Of course, LTE will probably have even better coverage by then, so it may or may not really matter.

This problem won't go away until 3G networks are shut down. I still have the problem even in solid Verizon LTE coverage areas. The thing about radios waves is that there are lots of things that can cause you to lose an LTE signal for a moment, even when in solid coverage. So it will always be falling back to something when that occurs.

 

And don't praise Tmo and ATT 3G/Faux G Fallback too much. As both are refarming more spectrum for LTE (and sometimes reallocating backhaul more for LTE), the fallback performance is reducing more and more each month. AT&T has a lot of sub 1Mbps WCDMA in the Dakotas that was running fine a year ago. And Tmo is raiding WCDMA spectrum to widen LTE channels, like the Dickens.

 

I don't blame them. I'd do the same thing. However, it is reducing the performance of WCDMA fallback significantly.

 

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It's times like this where I wish Sprint/Verizon invested in EvDo RevB or better. When you drop from LTE to HSPA+, it's not quite as noticeable as when you drop from LTE to EvDo RevA. I know it's too late for them to invest in it now (although Fabian believes Sprint should have invested its spectrum into converting to GSM in NV1.0, LOL!), and that LTE is the future, I still think in hindsight that CDMA providers would have been better off investing in EvDo in a similar fashion to how T-Mo and AT&T invested in HSPA.

The problem for Sprint is that they wouldn't have done it until Network Vision. They still would have been fighting the same backhaul delays, and EVDO-B would only be on the same sites that now have LTE, many of which have LTE 800. No need to fallback.

 

Really EVDO-B was needed in between LTE sites. And then you have the issue that three carriers of EVDO only happened with a robust signal near the site. When you got worse than -90dBm, you would lose multi-carrier and be back down to an EVDO-A type of connection that still won't hand up to LTE when you get back in LTE coverage. So you were having the same result, when you get too far away from the LTE/EVDO-B site, you dropped down to EVDO-A, not stay on EVDO-B. LTE and EVDO-B will peter out about the same distance from the site, both falling back to EVDO-A.

 

If Sprint would have started EVDO-B with WiMax, then it could have been something. But it wasn't commercially ready at that time and they were so cash strapped, there is no way they could have done it.

 

EVDO-B, would just be yet another technology that no one else is doing and is dying out. There was one route that EVDO-B could have been successful for Sprint. But Sprint never had an exit on their route that lined up with it.

 

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Really EVDO-B was needed in between LTE sites. And then you have the issue that three carriers of EVDO only happened with a robust signal near the site. When you got worse than -90dBm, you would lose multi-carrier and be back down to an EVDO-A type of connection that still won't hand up to LTE when you get back in LTE coverage. So you were having the same result, when you get too far away from the LTE/EVDO-B site, you dropped down to EVDO-A, not stay on EVDO-B. LTE and EVDO-B will peter out about the same distance from the site, both falling back to EVDO-A.

 

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This is actually very informative.  Wouldn't the multicarriers on an EvDo RevB site also assist with congestion - for those that were close enough to utilize the multi-carrier?  Sprint's 3G is always there, available.  The main issue is that it is often congested.  Couldn't Sprint have refarmed its EvDo RevA spectrum to roll out RevB in initial NV 1.0?  I don't know many of the specifics but it sounds like EvDo RevB, with multi-carrier support, would require more spectrum than its RevA counterpart.

 

Do you think Verizon could have pulled off using EvDo RevB as a successful means of dropback?  Do you think there will be a newer version of LTE or radios that can handle returning to LTE during an active data stream?

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This is actually very informative. Wouldn't the multicarriers on an EvDo RevB site also assist with congestion - for those that were close enough to utilize the multi-carrier? Sprint's 3G is always there, available. The main issue is that it is often congested. Couldn't Sprint have refarmed its EvDo RevA spectrum to roll out RevB in initial NV 1.0? I don't know many of the specifics but it sounds like EvDo RevB, with multi-carrier support, would require more spectrum than its RevA counterpart.

 

Do you think Verizon could have pulled off using EvDo RevB as a successful means of dropback? Do you think there will be a newer version of LTE or radios that can handle returning to LTE during an active data stream?

Spectrum was the biggest limitation, in a lot of ways. Verizon knew that. They knew going LTE with as dense of a signal as possible was the best solution. The fact that Verizon avoided EVDO-B shows the wisdom in it.

 

If Sprint went EVDO-B, almost all the markets now where the second carrier B25 has been deployed could not have done that. And that is a better option than EVDO-B. Also, EVDO-B is not a good option for congestion, as the LTE network and EVDO-B network are not going to hand back and forth based on congestion occurring. And EVDO-B may likely be where everyone gets stuck, because it will never hand back up to LTE.

 

The best backup for LTE congestion is more LTE. Never more 3G/Faux G. EVDO-B would just be another limitation preventing spectrum to be used for LTE. EVDO-B only makes sense in a world without LTE. Or at least a network without LTE.

 

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Verizon employees say the same about coverage in parts of South Dakota. That doesn't mean they're not the best or unacceptable.

 

Your issue, by your own admission, is that when you are streaming on 3G, you will never get back to LTE. Unless you cycle airplane mode. Thus giving you a false impression of LTE coverage. You know what, I have that same problem on Tmo and AT&T. Nothing hands up to LTE while you are streaming something. Airplane mode is your friend.

 

Your anecdotal observations of the Sprint network are EXTREMELY limited. And then you argue with anyone who has a different opinion of you, even if they travel all around Chicagoland and been using Sprint for years.

 

Sprint has a good network in Chicago that performs roughly the same or better than its competitors. Regardless of what you saw riding in a car through western suburbs while streaming one weekend in May.

 

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Robert,

 

I have not once argued against anyone over this issue about Sprint, nor anything else, other than the issue of the length of some of my posts and writing style, which has been awhile now since that has happened. Even then, you accused me of arguing with people over their criticisms of my content, which I never did. Please stop saying that I'm arguing with people, when for the most part other than when my writing style/post length is being mentioned, I'm very fair towards others.

 

I had nearly two weeks on Sprint back in May, which I never complained about the network. I made a casual mention of a particular road that dropped to 3g one evening, and when I tested it the next day, it didn't happen again. I was fair about it then, by mentioning here that it could very well have been the device stuck on 3g at the time I wasn't yet aware of the airplane mode trick, rather than it being the network. I also had an issue one evening with the device not connecting, due to what turned out to be an issue with Android Lollipop, something I read online others were having similar issues with. The main reason I cancelled service then, was because of the Family plan issue I've mentioned plenty about already.

 

I are subscribed to a line on an active Sprint account last week on Thursday, which was June. I returned the device yesterday. Since I've already mentioned all those issues on another thread, I won't again here, but to address the issue you mentioned which suggests I've only had casual use of the service, I've mentioned both the bad areas of Sprint around here, but also the good areas of Sprint around here. Unfortunately, the problem last week was so severe, that while I'm inclined to think device issues, the Sprint managers I've spoken with, have blamed the network.

 

One more thing, airplane mode did not solve the many issues I was having last week. Although, I've taken into consideration the various mentions by people of coverage holes and the need of variations to the network, which hopefully will resolve these issues which not only I, but others have reported having with Sprint here on S4GRU and on other sites.

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By the way, the information here about Verizon has been helpful. I've been considering Verizon for some time, though the reports of a less dense network than T-Mobile does bother me somewhat. It would be good if there were some sort of specific Verizon tower location listing online, similar to what S4GRU has for Sprint, so I could check the proximity to that where I often travel.

 

The nearest T-Mobile tower to where I live, is 2300 feet away, and gets around 65% signal strength, with speeds around 20-30mbps typically, though offpeak between 30-50mbps. Although, the importance for me is having at least 5mbps typically. I'm wondering if Verizon could provide that.

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Please stop saying that I'm arguing with people, when for the most part other than when my writing style/post length is being mentioned, I'm very fair towards others.

Don't worry. We will be here to refute all your Sprint LTE complaints in the future. I fully expect as Sprint LTE gets even better, you will lament about how you found a hole LTE coverage that made Sprint unusable for you as you warn everyone in Chicagoland about Sprint. All based on limited observations you had way back on a weekend you used Sprint in May 2015.

 

We understand. You're not the first.

 

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Don't worry. We will be here to refute all your Sprint LTE complaints in the future. I fully expect as Sprint LTE gets even better, you will lament about how you found a hole LTE coverage that made Sprint unusable for you as you warn everyone in Chicagoland about Sprint. All based on limited observations you had way back on a weekend you used Sprint in May 2015.

 

We understand. You're not the first.

 

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Robert, now you're really overreacting,

 

I'm not even on Sprint anymore, so how can I possibly complain about coverage holes on Sprint from now on, when I no longer have Sprint.

 

Besides, you're confusing me with people here in the past who've done nothing but to bash everything both big and small about Sprint. While I have complained about my experiences with Sprint, I've also praised many things about them, such as voice quality, their approach to publicity being much more professional than T-Mobile, etc.

 

I'm not here to bash nor warn people against Sprint at all, so please just lay off on the accusations of me where I haven't done so.

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Also, if anyone is going to read my posts, please don't try changing what I've said. I had Sprint for nearly two weeks back in May, which is much longer than a weekend. My second experience, which accommodated over a dozen hours of issues began on Thursday last week, June, not May, and lasted a bit longer than a weekend, though again, was over 12 hours driving different routes on the way to a dozen different places. I'm not arguing it though, just please don't twist my words. Now can we finally drop this? I was done after lilotimz politely asked a few days ago, and am disappointed that this was brought up again for me to need responding in my defense.

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Robert, now you're really overreacting,

 

I'm not even on Sprint anymore, so how can I possibly complain about coverage holes on Sprint from now on, when I no longer have Sprint.

 

Besides, you're confusing me with people here in the past who've done nothing but to bash everything both big and small about Sprint. While I have complained about my experiences with Sprint, I've also praised many things about them, such as voice quality, their approach to publicity being much more professional than T-Mobile, etc.

 

I'm not here to bash Sprint at all, so please just lay off on the accusations of me where I haven't done so.

I won't discuss this further in this thread. You can try to label me as over reactive and unfair, but I am responding to all your posts in aggregate. Your posts have labeled you a Sprint whiner. This isn't just my machination, as Staff members are in virtual agreement on your posts, and we have a fait number of members complain as well about you.

 

Since you only used Sprint for a short time and in part of one market, your personal observations of the Sprint network will only be discussed in that market thread from here forward. Otherwise it will be treated as off topic.

 

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I won't discuss this further in this thread. You can try to label me as over reactive and unfair, but I am responding to all your posts in aggregate. Your posts have labeled you a Sprint whiner. This isn't just my machination, as Staff members are in virtual agreement on your posts, and we have a fait number of members complain as well about you.

 

Since you only used Sprint for a short time and in part of one market, your personal observations of the Sprint network will only be discussed in that market thread from here forward. Otherwise it will be treated as off topic.

 

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I've also tried keeping those issues in the market thread, until someone brought what I said over here. I definitely agree that is the best place for any network observations, though it is off base to claim my mention of experience as "whining". Whining is when people gripe about a late fee on their bill they didn't pay on time, or a drop in speed when they are around several thousand people using the network, both which are vastly different examples.

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