Fraydog

 

Where was I defending Apple? I just get annoyed by the constant bashing that some forum members do here. I used to have an Android phone, but I don't anymore. Guess which subforums I don't use here?

Some of the defenses are legitimate. I'm not questioning that. I'm questioning Apple putting another artificial impediment solely to move units. This is acting like a lot of the Android OEM's I am not a fan of. If I called them out for making 90 different variations of the same device, and don't call out Apple for making a similar decision, I would be hypocritical. I'd rather not be a hypocrite.

If you want to defend that, have at it. I'll gladly let you carry that flag.

Well, most urban areas - 225 million POP's to be exact - will be receiving HSPA+ on PCS by the end of 2013. Then it becomes a moot point.

The rural areas are a giant problem for T-Mobile regardless. I don't think it would be wise to expand coverage at this time but they do at least need to get the old legacy equipment off the grid. If they don't modernize their whole grid at some point they'll be in trouble.

They may not have the money in 2013 but they need to make significant progress in 2014.

I understand that but there is a demographic out there that is either on prepaid or about to become booted off of a tier 1 operator. I believe this is where a good number of these bad ESN phones come from.

Yes, but that demographic is going to have to find another option. Plenty of LifeLine programs exist. If they need service beyond that, get jobs and fix their credit. I don't want to get started on LifeLine as to not get my blood boiling.

It sounds like payday loans and this could become their demographic, those looking to "bail" from whatever financially negative situation they are in with their current wireless carrier and jump into this(if this is an option). How many "bad ESN" phones are on Craigslist? They come from somewhere.

T-Mobile will not activate bad ESN/MEID/IMSI devices. They feed in the same database as Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon. So if people think they'll be able to activate bad ESN devices on T-Mobile, they need to rethink their strategy.

AJ, it would be glorious if we could get a off-load happy option on Sprint. Maybe a cheaper BYOD option too!

So far, Overland Park hasn't shown any inclination to move in that direction. As far as the rest of it, I agree 100%. I only wish there were more hotspots open on the paths I travel. If all else fails, McDonald's usually has good hot spot access that may not always be fast but it works.

Neal Gompa is a good guy, but he has published yet another T-Mobile love fest. One statement in particular is a head scratcher: "T-Mobile is launching the fastest LTE network seen to date."

 

http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/151758-t-mobile-usa-launches-lte-network-with-breathtaking-speeds

 

AJ

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's right but attach a very large caveat to it, which is that T-Mobile will have the fastest LTE network right now because it has the fewest LTE devices connecting to it. Now, if you look at it from that perspective, of course it makes sense.

Compare to Big Red (I know, I know, I'm not a fan of their business practices but they have a very solid LTE network). Big Red will be able to come out of the gates in NYC with 2x20 and similarly low numbers of devices connecting to it until the next iPhone comes out. Who's going to be the fastest in New York? Not T-Mobile.

Now if I really want to nitpick, it would be either "2x20" or "20+20", signifying 20 MHz up and 20 MHz down.

I do think that, in the future, that Sprint could also consider both TDD-LTE and FDD-LTE in the 2600 band. I would have to look into the ramifications of what it would take to align our 2600 MHz spectrum with Canada and Europe. I simply don't know how it could be done though.

I need to sit down and do a lot more research on this.

I would be shocked if there was any Clearwire LTE being used in 2013. Any takers on this one?

I'm an iOS user, but I don't have any issues calling them out on BS. This is BS. Period.

Nobius, the days of Apple needing to be defended because they were almost bankrupt have been over for a long time.

It's on Apple this time, because they are the singular OEM who can tell any of the carriers in the US to shove it. I could understand if Apple was weak enough to get pushed around by AT&T on this but they are not. Not even Samsung can do that. Look at the Galaxy Note II on Samsung running the same damn MDM9615 baseband. That can get updated to LTE. Why can't this get HSPA on AWS?

I'm hoping someone in the jailbreak community is able to find an end around. Short of that, the great resale value the iPhone gets mean it's a relatively minor issue to change models. Unlocked iPhones fetch more than $579 on eBay.

Macinjosh, does AT&T have AWS in Vegas?

And the confusion/explanation process begins for T-Mobile.

 

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11880416/1/the-math-on-the-t-mobileapple-iphone-5-monthly-plan.html

Problem is the whole subsidy model is based on AT&T and Verizon subsidizing phones and hooking people with ETF schemes. I would expect a writer from the Street to screw up the basic math.

Knife party

Of course Apple can update the firmware, they just aren't doing it.

Did Verizon ever work it out, or do they still have issues here and there?

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

They haven't had any national issues for a while. They may have issues here and there but it's very minor now.

 

You and me both. I would like to see removable SIM's as a standard feature, but can wait if it will cause more trouble than its worth.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

By now, I would hope that Sprint has eHRPD/Diameter Authentication worked out. If not, that's a bad sign.

 

I've asked this question before and the towers that are all ready labeled 3g complete are already LTE ready. Just waiting on the back haul and inspection.

Who's the babe in the avatar?

This just popped in my head. Don't know if its viable or not. Your municipality could become a MVNO. At that point I don't see why a cell phone provider would not put a tower in your jurisdiction or allow you to finance the same.

I don't know about that, but the proper payoffs could be in place along with a call to dan@sprint.com.

Ok...while I admit I do not understand any of the technical information posted above, I will give my 2 Cents.

 

I was a Blackberry Administrator at the company I work at, and everyone who was assigned a Blackberry on T-Mobile was frustrated with the carrier service...especially the employees located in West Virginia.

 

Due to that experience, I personally would avoid T-Mobile.

That makes sense given T-Mobile has almost no native service in that state. It's a black hole for most providers. VZW, AT&T, and Sprint are all weak there.

The round table format ate hairy spiders when drunk. Its towers became bloated after swallowing a mouthful of baby formula. The baby ate his poisoned barbeque chicken ribs without A1 steak sauce. Fix the chair leg before somebody trips and breaks their sister's glass. It peed shards of LTE droppings from bubbly fermented apples. Doctors gouge the helpless when options appear dangerously silly for perpendicular slicing. Around 2pm there was another explosive diarrhea attack that drove Dan to SMS SoftBank, which viciously countered MetroPCS;s audacity to compete. Meanwhile, Mexicans discovered sparkly water of Rio which tasted like rainbows. LightSquared, however, beamed sparkly clusters of spectrum at GPS, causing multitudes of bananas being paranoid about world domination. This exacerbated an enormous flock of pelicans into your mother's house. Then seagulls confronted Darla with weapons manufactured in Korea that annihilated Kim Kardashian. She fell backwards after drinking highly intoxicating tequila shots. Uncoincidentally, she tripped over and fell on her face, then vomited major chunks of beef jerky while passing gas. Afterwards, Kanye parachuted over Taylor Swift grave and randomly stomped salmonella spewing obscenities. Fire

Front row

 

Not yet. However, if Sprint is going to maintain unlimited data in the face of profligate use/abuse, do not be surprised to see traffic shaping in the future.

 

AJ

Doesn't Ericsson market a QoS system that does just that? Sprint would be a good candidate for that.

HTC coming out with an update to better camera performance isn't shocking. They did that with the One X/EVO 4G LTE.

Over iPCS land, Network Vision will work very well. That's what melimel was eluding to.

I think the Bell duopoly has strengthened to the point where the FCC needs to start serious monitoring of market activity of VZW and AT&T in rural areas. Here where I live, theoretically five carriers can compete, but in reality, Verizon covers Chester well and is congested as heck because *everyone* has them, AT&T other sort of does but not well, and T-Mobile covers well but is EDGE and almost no one has them because they were very late to the party here. USCC and Sprint bleed over from the bluff but don't cover the town proper. We're on the edge of multiple CMA's so spectrum here will be a mess. That said, our local officials here are really concerned that one carrier has 97% of the market here. We just don't know how to correct that.

I live in a Verizon 3G only area where EV-DO is blazing along at speeds sometimes slower than EDGE. With no Sprint here, and if not for LTE almost being here, I would consider going to the $30 T-Mobile plan. If I'm going to be on slow speeds I'd rather not pay out through the caboose for it.