S4GRU

 

That may be as my memory sucks.

 

I will look for the article. It was something about this being a followup to the Evo 4G' date=' "of which 7 million were sold.

 

But I think you are probably right as Sprint has what, 50 million subs? I doubt 7 mil, or 14%, got the Evo 4G.[/quote']

 

I have no idea which is accurate, but given the iconic nature of the EVO, 14% doesn't seem to be beyond reason to me.

 

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner

I live next to a cell site, and have yet to notice one affect of it. And my site is 270' tall. But my neighborhood fought it too. NIMBY-assed people.

Ironically, the people who fight the hardest typically have smartphones. They seem to be pissed at their carriers about coverage, but want the tower somewhere else. To be a nuisance to a different set of NIMBYs.

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner

straight shooter

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner

Chorus Line

Fishing net

Big Sky

Attention all S4GRU Members!

Interactive Google Maps showing all 38,000+ Network Vision sites for all 97 markets are now complete. You can zoom in and click on every single site.

Follow this link to access the maps: http://s4gru.com/ind...ive-s4gru-maps/

You must be a S4GRU Sponsor to get access to this forum. If you are not a S4GRU Sponsor, you should consider becoming one today! Not only do you get access to additional premium content, but you also get to financially assist one of the best sites on the internet!

Robert

Example of the Site Map, showing all 38,000 sites nationwide. S4GRU Sponsors can zoom in and look at any of these sites in the country.

I wish they could treat Sioux Falls as a separate location instead of the Swiftel market as a whole. I agree much of SD vastly unpopulated, but Sioux Falls should be like any other decent sized city. I believe Rapid City and Pierre have REAL Sprint owned area and they are quite a bit smaller than Sioux Falls. I'd like to once here the inner discussions that go on at Swiftel. It'd be real interesting to know there reasoning for stifling progress for both them and their customers. The whole affiliate market thing sounds like it was a bad idea from the start. Between this and the clearwire debacle, maybe Sprint will learn to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

 

The funny thing I didn't mention is one Sprint rep said they were totally confident they could fix my issue. They offered a free Airwaves. Once I found out how they work and need a separate ISP to work, I thought that was laughable. Really, using someone else's high speed Internet to boost your own data speeds. They really don't see an issue with that? One of the only reasons I took the smartphone plunge was I got rid of home internet to cut costs. I guess I need a home ISP so Sprint can piggyback onto it to boost their slow data speeds. I'm sure Sprint would love it if the ISP's did the same to Sprint.

Rapid City and Pierre are Sprint roaming areas. Once you get west of Sioux Falls, Sprint is roaming all the way until you get to Jackson, Wyoming near the Idaho border. Most likely the issues of Swiftel are financial related.

As for affiliates...it was a bad idea. That's why Sprint bought almost all of them out. Shentel is a good affiliate and didn't need to be bought out. Swiftel is public owned and can't be bought out. And Sprint definitely learned its lesson with Clearwire. That's why Sprint is deploying its own LTE nationwide on its own spectrum. They are only using Clearwire for additional capacity where needed in areas Sprint already has LTE coverage.

Also, it is not advisable to use any wireless carrier for your personal ISP. Especially AT&T and Verizon. If you are going to do something like that, then Sprint is often your best option. But given your circumstances in South Dakota, a home ISP is probably your best option. Because Sprint under performs, and AT&T/Verizon have data caps.

Robert

hand slap

 

So either that is the culprit of our woes, or even I as a moderator cannot access that section.

 

Of course all of this is only a temporary solution to viewing the sponsor forum, and Tapatalk may need to investigate the issue and push out a fix. At least this way, one has a faster access to that section by using your Favorites.

 

TS out

I have reported the issue to Tapatalk. Also, Moderators are supposed to have access to the Writers section. I just verified the settings. Perhaps another issue?

Robert

So i guess Clearwire is starting to prepare some areas for the LTE upgrades.

 

Sent from Joshs Evo Shift using Forum Runner

I guess that's possible. But I wouldn't bank on it.

Robert

I'm starting to wonder if some of the Sprint T1 upgrades are boosting Clearwire too

 

Sent from Joshs Evo Shift using Forum Runner

Sprint's T1's do not provide enough bandwidth to help a Clearwire WiMax site one iota. Most Sprint T1's are limited to 1.5Mbps. Some ILEC's give them faster T1's...but not many.

Robert

family jewels

Thanks for the knowledgeable response. It's sad you seem to know more than the local stores or sprint reps. What you've said pretty much sums up the bits and pieces I've gathered from searching the Internet. I was being a little sarcastic saying 5-10 years. I honestly don't see the benefit to Sprint, Swiftel, or the consumer in the current arrangement. It's obvious the consumer suffers. I can't believe Sprint totally has its hands tied. In this day of complicated contracts to protect a company Sprint should have some power in protecting their name. All this stagnation by Swiftel only tarnishes Sprint's name. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. Does it to you? Maybe I'm missing something. The only party benefitting in some way is Swiftel by not having to spend money. They must not want to grow and increase long-term profits by investing in the short term. Surely the brunt of costs could be covered by Sprint.

I did contact Swiftel regarding the issue. I complained but in a professional manner. I even complimented Sprint's plans on having a lot of value compared to the other major players. They didn't even have the decency to respond and say they don't know or can't comment. The no response just further proves to me they don't care. Sprint should do something for the sake of Sprint's own reputation.

Most likely Sprint is tied until the end of their current contract. There was no Network Vision or LTE deployment plans when they signed their last agreement. Their current contract likely includes the types of services Swiftel has now. So they will not be in breach of the contract as it is now by not jumping on the NV/LTE bandwagon with Sprint.

However, Sprint will likely try to get Swiftel to agree to an amended contract now. That's what Shentel did. Shentel agreed to modify their contract before expiration because Shentel wants Network Vision and LTE.

If Swiftel is content letting the clock run out on their agreement and not upgrade to Network Vision and LTE, then Sprint's hands are tied. However, Sprint would then likely not extend Swiftel's agreement past its current expiration. But doing that will only result in Sprint customers losing native coverage in South Dakota. And Sprint will not likely come back in and build out their own network there for years. It's a catch 22. All the bargaining advantage really is on Swiftel's side, and they know it.

There's not an easy situation at all if Swiftel doesn't want to come on board with NV/LTE with Sprint.

Robert

Being a Sprint customer in South Dakota is very frustrating. I could go on and on about it, but I'll try and keep this to the point. From my understanding, Sprint towers are controlled and operated by a local utility company called Swiftel based out of Brookings, SD. Sprint coverage (actual Sprint towers) are very limited in eastern SD. They are along I-29 from the Iowa border to Watertown, SD. Sioux Falls has a population of over 150,000 and it has a VERY small Wimax area near downtown. Up until just a couple months ago the actual "Sprint Stores" in my area (which are not corporate Sprint stores even though they look like they would be), were finally allowed to sell 4g phones. The decision not to allow sales of 4g phones, whether it be Sprint or Swiftel, totally baffles me. When you have Att and Verizon selling top of the line phones, how do they think they can compete when they are selling 5 year old technology phones?

 

Ok, enough with the rant. Will South Dakota get any LTE love? Or will it continue to operate as it did 15 years ago? It's like Swiftel doesn't want to invest any money in improvements. I have a hard time believing their numbers are anything to be proud of. If they put a little effort in the network, or pushed Sprint to do so (not sure who is more at fault here), they could really be doing well against Verizon and ATT. Almost everyone I know around here has Verizon with a fair number of ATT customers. I almost NEVER see a person with Sprint. Sprint does have an awesome plan in their unlimited plan. It includes a lot for good price compared to the other two. The problem is, when everyone is pushing smartphones and their capabilities and Sprint is trying to differentiate themselves by promoting unlimited data for your incredibly capable smartphone, there becomes no value in Sprints plan when you can't do half the things a smartphone is meant to do.

 

During peak usage (evenings) I often am lucky to get faster than dial up speeds. I'm talking 50-100 kbps. It's not possible to use Youtube, Pandora has trouble streaming, and anything that involves media is basically useless. What is frustrating is I can get 1 - 1.5 mbps early morning or late night. This makes it quite obvious it's a capacity issue. When it's a daily occurrence and it happens during the same time windows, it's clear the towers aren't keeping up as usage increases during peak times.

 

Is there any hope for this area of the country? Verizon already has LTE here and I'm guessing ATT will not be far behind. As usual, Sprint is about 5-10 years behind the competition.

I sympathize with your position being in South Dakota. Swiftel (a Sprint regional affiliate) has not provided the type of service area with the newest technologies that customers in most others get to appreciate. Sprint bought out all but two of their affiliates because of issues like these. However, Sprint cannot buy Swiftel, since they are a public utility.

Unfortunately, Sprint only has two options with Swiftel...

1. Work with them and try to convince them to come on board with Network Vision.
   
2. Send them packing at the end of their contract.
   

Hopefully, Sprint will be able to get Swiftel on board with Network Vision upgrades. However, I am slightly less than optimistic that will happen. I don't think Swiftel is swimming in the money, being a quasi-government agency. Sprint's only other remaining affiliate, Shentel, has agreed to joining Network Vision and a complete LTE deployment over its entire coverage area. Swiftel has made no deal with Sprint to date (at least not announced publicly).

However, I completely disagree with your assessment that Sprint is 5-10 years behind the competition. Sprint was the first with a 4G network, that is hardly 5-10 years behind the competition. Also, Sprint is deploying its LTE network just slightly behind AT&T and in front of every other wireless carrier except Verizon.

Also, Sprint is taking its LTE coverage nationwide over its entire footprint. AT&T is not even doing that. So, even though South Dakota is definitely in a unique and bad situation at the moment, the circumstances that exist there are not nationwide. Have you ever contacted Swiftel to find out about their Network Vision plans, if any?

Robert

Oh my!

*said like George Takei*

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner

7.2Mbps is still normal download speed performance.

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner

Do they have real, live, fully functioning and activated phones on display? This is how I tell if its a true Sprint Corporate store. Every Sprint corporate store I've been to has every phone on display live, and activated. Every non-Sprint store does not.. they might have one or two.. but not all.

I don't know if they still do. But I played with an EVO in their store on launch day. Fully active.

Robert

those were my thoughts too. lol. They just posted this on Phandroid. I commented, "This is reallly old news for anyone who has been to www.s4gru.com"

Meanwhile, we are posting LTE coverage maps of Olathe, Kansas and Atlanta, Georgia around here. And they will talk about that a long time from now as if it will be new news.

Robert

This is the store I bought my EVO from: http://www.unitedcellular.net/

They have a Sprint branded store in Bernalillo, New Mexico. Has the Sprint logo on it. You don't know it's not a Sprint store until you see the invoices at checkout. Kind of crappy set up.

I actually had lots of issues dealing with them. Sprint ended up giving me a complimentary contract price upgrade to keep me from walking at the end of my 30 day cancellation period (as well as many other goodies).

Robert

There are places in the legacy Sprint network that perform just fine. Especially newer sites. Also, there are many others that have received temp improvments in advance of Network Vision. These are the ones shown on network.sprint.com.

With performance like this, you will likely not see much improvement out of Network Vision in 3G, except for probably a slight signal increase. The biggest thing that will affect you will be LTE availability once it comes online and you upgrade your iPhone to use it.

Robert

I think its a modem issue.

I went back to FC15 modem over the weekend because FC24, FD02 and FD05 gave me worse battery life.

FD02 wasnt nearly as bad though.

Im on Stock Rooted EL29 ROM/Kernel with FC15 modem.

As long as I don't use my E4GT with the newer modems, then the battery seems to last forever. I unplugged at 6AM this morning I am still at 81%. But I have only used my phone 15 minutes all day. However, if I am stready using my E4GT, battery life has been pretty lousy in general on FD05. Running between 70% and 85% the amount of time it ran on EL29. But definitely not prohibitive, just noticeable.

However, I am now not having any bug issues on these last builds. Very happy. And now that I am used to ICS, I cannot go back!

Robert

meanwhile while i couldn't find a store that had it in stock i walked right into my local walmart which was stock full of them. lol

 

 

hehe

Our Walmart didn't have a wireless sales center until last summer.

Robert

Looks like the off-contract price was $549 initially. http://phandroid.com...-pre-order-now/