juststart

I don't believe the iPhone 5S needs a special update in order to use LTE 800.  The Spark update thing only applies for triband LTE phones and the iPhone 5S is just an odd case for Sprint where they made it a dual band LTE phone.  Its just that LTE 800 just began rolling out in Q4 so its going to take some time before you can experience it.  

 

If you decide to be a Sponsor or Premier Sponsor, Robert has LTE 800 and LTE 2600 maps in the Premier Sponsor forum that outlines which markets have LTE 800 sites accepted.  Its definitely worth the price and of course it helps Robert sponsor this site since this site is non profit. 

 

Take a look at this thread for sponsorship information

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/

 

There is a special going on that Robert has put out for the Christmas and New Years holiday if you do decide to become a sponsor.

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5198-special-premier-sponsor-offerfor-the-holiday-season-through-new-years-eve/

Very cool, thank you. Also, thanks for the links, was looking for them earlier. Soon as I get some Christmas coins, I will be donating. Love this site!

I don't know.  Sprint has said that their new unlimited for life plans may be restricted to 1Mbps video streaming.  So this may be a thing that will stay, in order to preserve network performance.  For most people, using streaming video only on a smartphone screen is clear and not blurry, as long as a 1Mbps with low latency can be maintained.  However, connect that puppy to a larger screen and it will look blurry.

 

Sprint knows if it maintained the status quo, people would abuse the network and use their Sprint LTE to stream HD video to their big screen TV's and possibly not get an ISP at all.  It would only take a couple of HD video streamers per sector to bring an LTE site to its knees.  But with streaming at 1Mbps, Sprint can continue to offer unlimited data for years to come.

 

Robert

Got it. Makes sense. Thanks!

The good thing is that the iPhone 5s is semi Spark enabled since it has LTE 800 support which I think is very important to have coverage deep indoors. The iPhone 5s doesn't have LTE 2600 support but it's not that bad. I would say your phone is future proof. Also Atlanta doesn't have the ecsfb issues for the most part.

 

Sent from my LG G2 LS980 using Tapatalk

Hey thanks for the insight! Very helpful. Is LTE 800 part of Spark and something Sprint is building out? Do you think there would need to be an update?

I use AT&T here in South Dakota and I get the same message when I try to use HD on YouTube.  It says HD is not available over Cellular connections.  Is it possible a recent YouTube update has caused this and it's not related to a specific device or the network?  It may be possible that the wireless providers have requested YouTube remove HD over their networks.  Just a thought.

 

Robert

Thanks Robert! Good point - I don't necessarily remember being able to select quality now that I think about it. However, YouTube videos are now definitely blurry when using cellular data vs wifi. Do you think this will ever improve?

Hey everyone - kind of a lurker here. I've been back and forth as a customer with Sprint over the years, often times switching to ATT. Just re-joined with an iPhone 5s. 

I remember reading about Sprint downgrading speeds/quality for streaming video on new plans, and currently experience this with YouTube, Vine, Instagram video and other streaming apps (curiously, not with Netflix, although it is slow the quality is not degraded). The YouTube app won't even let me select HD stating that quality options are not available over cellular. 

I've been reading about Sprint Spark and it's not available in Atlanta as of yet. Since I signed a two-year contract I'm a bit worried about future-proofing. When LTE first launched here, I could get upwards of 20MBps and now it's down to 8MBps in off-peak hours.

Is it worth it try to switch the new S4 or LG G2? Is the Atlanta market due for more upgrades? I've been reading a lot of issues with the new Tri-Brand phones in areas without Spark. Would streaming video improve with Spark? If I stay with my iPhone will I have slow streaming speeds forever? 

I appreciate any insight y'all have!