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linhpham2

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Everything posted by linhpham2

  1. Here's some new commentary on Sprint from Fierce Wireless: http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/time-has-come-john-saw-and-sprint-deliver-network/2014-03-24
  2. 20 months is a long time to wait for a phone upgrade. Cost-wise, things sort of balances out. Nothing's perfect. You have to compromise and deal with trade-offs. With Easy Pay, you're factoring in the ETF into the monthly device payments. In return, there's no contract so you can leave Sprint at any time if you want. The only reason to stay with my Everything Data plan is that I do a lot of Slingbox video streaming and 1 Mbps isn't adequate. There's a better phone than the Note 3 - I'm looking into a Nexus 5 for OS upgrades direct from the source and a unlocked, multi-carrier compatible phone. That way you can buy a prepaid SIM card and use it test out the coverage and speeds of the other carriers or for when travelling.
  3. Is Easy Pay only available with the Framily plan? I want to keep my older Everything Data plan but take advantage of Easy Pay
  4. Images on webpages seemed slightly compressed. But otherwise OK. Has anyone run into video streaming throttling to under 1 Mbps? I know it's in the fine print on the newer plans. I'm still on an Everything Data 1500 with a relative because I do a lot of Slingbox HQ streaming (3-4 Mbps sometimes). Otherwise, I'd switch to a Framily plan and recruit other people.
  5. In related AWS news, AT&T is on a shopping spree: From Phonescoop: " AT&T Seeks to Buy More 700MHz and AWS SpectrumYesterday, 2:27 PM by Eric M. Zeman AT&T has filed preliminary paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission seeking to transfer spectrum licenses and other assets from several small companies to itself. The companies include NTCH with its affiliate WGH Communications and Milkyway Broadband (both 700MHz), and Paul Bunyon Rural Telephone Company (AWS). Specifically, NTCH/WGH would transfer to AT&T 12MHz of Lower 700MHz B Block spectrum in 18 counties in six Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) across parts of Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. Milkway would transfer to AT&T 12MHz of Lower 700MHz C Block spectrum in 71 counties in 15 CMAs across parts of Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Last, Paul Bunyon would transfer to AT&T 20MHz of AWS-1 A Block spectrum in nine counties in three CMAs in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota. AT&T said the spectrum transfers will allow it to increase the coverage and performance of its LTE 4G network. The FCC has accepted the initial applications."
  6. Here's some more Sprint layoff news: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57620587-94/sprint-lays-off-330-techs-shutters-55-stores-as-part-of-broader-cuts/ I'm assuming that layoffs are occurring at the corporate stores and not the affiliates?
  7. Today I haven't noticed any image compression on the sites that I visited. This was in another part of town vs my first 2 tests. I'm assuming the practice of whether or not to compress images is tower site dependent and/or based on real-time network conditions.
  8. WCS is 2.3 GHz is pretty close to Sprint's 2.5 GHz band. Why can't Sprint utilize it? Or trade at least trade it for some 1900 Mhz PCS spectrum
  9. bandwidth management is turned off in chrome. i also see compression in dolphin and samsung's browser too..
  10. I still notice image compression on wifi... hmmm...
  11. The only puzzler is if T-Mobile's LTE network is better than Sprint's, why is T-Mobile churn rate so much higher and ARPU lower than Sprint's? http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/grading-top-us-wireless-carriers-fourth-quarter-2013 AT&T's ARPU is lower than Sprint too...hmm...
  12. Here's a FierceWireless and OpenSignal joint report comparing latencies across the different carriers: http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/3g4g-wireless-network-latency-comparing-verizon-att-sprint-and-t-mobile-feb
  13. I found this in another thread: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1797-sprint-image-quality-reduction-on-web-pages/?p=38070 "What specific types of optimization does Sprint employ? Optimization is deployed for RTSP and HTTP video traffic and all HTTP web traffic. Web optimization uses three basic technologies: Caching: Caches web pages to avoid delays associated with retrieval of the same internet content multiple times. Text/Binary compression: Lossless compression of data and binary files using standard compression techniques supported by HTTP-compliant browsers. Image Compression: JPEG and GIF compression designed to reduce the size of images while maintaining no user perceptible loss of quality."
  14. Image quality is still reduced in at least one app: Huffington Post. Not sure about the others. I tried resetting my phone and uninstalling some unused apps to see if that helped any. Nope. I visited a different Sprint corporate store across town. I tied 4 different phones -- still getting blurry pics when I visit websites like CNN. For comparison, I went to 2 different AT&T and 2 different T-Mobile stores (as well as a Verizon store) in the mall. The website pictures on the phones in those stores were all crystal clear compared to the phones in the Sprint store. My only guess is that the reduced image quality is due to Sprint compressing the images and/or the limited 5x5 bandwidth that Sprint is using for LTE 1900.
  15. I use about 6 GB of data/month so I thought Sprint might be throttling me. But I went to Sprint Corporate store and kept seeing blurry and fuzzy images (not the text on the websites) on a Galaxy Mega, Note 3 and a G Flex when I tried using the phones' web browser to visit various websites.
  16. Just the initial merger/buyout price of T-Mobile is going to cost tens of billions of dollars. Judging from the Nextel fiasco, it's going to costs tens of billions of dollars more to integrate the two companies networks and and corporate cultures. If either Sprint or T-Mobile collapses into bankruptcy, the rest of the industry can buy the company's assets on the cheap at the firesale.
  17. Agreed. But the FCC isn't likely to approve the merger. Might as well just lease the tower sites and steal customers from the other carriers.
  18. Just found this interview with Walt Mossberg at re/code today: http://recode.net/2014/03/12/sprint-chief-says-u-s-internet-speeds-are-awful-even-sprints-but-he-can-fix-that/ Quick reason why Son wants T-Mobile: He wants combine Sprint with T-Mobile macro site towers' to provide better 2.5 Ghz coverage for mobile and fixed wireless broadband. If Son want better 2.5 Ghz coverage, can't Sprint just lease new sites from the Tower owners?
  19. I understand that Easy Pay is a financing plan for buying or upgrading a new phone. I'm not interested in financing. I found some more details from Sprint: " If you are a customer in Sprint's Easy PaySM or One UpSM programs, you are required to sign a month to month Service Agreement, but the customer will not be subject to a plan term commitment or ETF. Note: Easy PaySM and One UpSM customers who cancel service prior to the completion of the installment agreement will be required to pay the remaining balance on the applicable device." http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Learn_about_early_termination_fee/case-sp061027-20110823-171256/?ECID=vanity:etf Aside from Easy Pay, aren't you required to sign a contract for voice and data service in order to use your phone? And thus the contract term and ETF issues. Can you do a Framily plan month-to-month?
  20. I was at a Sprint Corporate store and a rep told me that with Easy Pay Sprint is going to be getting rid of contracts and ETF's (like T-Mobile). Also, they said that I could upgrade my phone every 12 months as long as I traded in my old phone. All I had to do was pay full retail for the phone or choose a financing plan. Sprint getting rid of contracts and ETFs is news to me. From the FAQ's: "Does Sprint Easy PaySM require an Installment Agreement? ... Additionally, the customer is subject to the terms of the selected service and is required to sign a month to month Service Agreement, but the customer will not be subject to a term commitment." http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Learn_more_about_Sprint_Easy_Pay/487c6885-c186-4f0d-b325-65b602af1de0?INTNAV=SU:AL:MVT Can anyone clarify the Easy Pay details for me?
  21. On a related note: is Sprint compressing their web page traffic? I'm in Beaverton, Or with a LTE signal of -109dbm RSRP and RSRQ of -9db. Lately, I've been noticing over the past week that a lot of the images on web pages like radaronline.com, huffingtonpost (even the mobile site) are low resolution and blurry. I tried changing web browsers (the samsung browser, dolphin and chrome) to see if that helped. Same blurry pics I compared the same web sites on a T-Mobile phone (note 3), and images are very clear and high-resolution. Has Sprint been compressing web traffic for a while now or only recently?
  22. Is spectrum used by radio stations useful at all for broadband? Maybe take off a few religious and low power stations off of the radio dial and sell off their spectrum... I'm only half joking...
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