always_learner

Is anyone else getting a text message from 8737 after the update. I been getting one roughly every 2 to 3 hours with a bunch of letters and numbers...

 

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I got only one about 12 hours after ota.

I find it difficult to believe Sprint's sacrificing more upload for faster downloads..

On Reddit, I read that the new maximum upload speed would be 9 with maximum theoretical up to 300.

If this is true, I wonder how this will effect Rootmetrics results (if upload/download are weighted evenly).

Yes, I am looking at this objectively.  And, no, I am not.  Many of you are missing my intelligently constructed point.

 

Your hammer throwing analogy does not fly -- pun intended -- because other people do not really care about the weight of the hammers.  The competitors care, but other people do not really care about the competitors either.

 

Here, try another analogy.  You can shop at Walmart.  Or you can shop at Target across the street.  Both carry the same products at the same prices.  Walmart does twice the volume of Target, but because of that volume and greater car/foot traffic, it takes 10 minutes longer to complete the same shopping trip.  So, you say, "Well, Walmart still is pretty fast, and it does so much more volume.  Color me impressed.  Volume × speed is more important to me than pure speed.  I am shopping at Walmart."

 

Would you or any rational consumer say that?  Hell no.  You let the business worry about the volume -- whether it is hundreds served or billions served.  You care about the service, which you want to be good, better, or even best at any volume level.

 

Think about that for a while.  Then, try again to explain why not just pure data speeds but data volume each network transferred should matter -- other than to wireless network hammer throw jock sniffers.

 

AJ

Volume may matter just to signify that a provider is capable of handling that amount of volume.  Verizon/AT&T do a decent job considering the amount of customers they have.

I'm curious when Sprint starts attracting more customers, would its network be able to keep up with all the new volume?

Mine is working fine, but I'm afraid that it will start having problem after the one year warranty expires.  Hopefully, this does not happen as I have to return the phone to Sprint at the end of the lease.

 

Actually, you can match that now with four lines on AT&T. You can get a $19.99/mo U-Verse TV package to qualify for the new "unlimited" (de-prioritized over 22 GB) wireless plans (which is then discounted by $10/month for combined billing) and then throw the receiver in the closet and forget about it. Four lines will cost $180/mo ($60 plan + $40 each for lines 1-3 + $0 for line 4), bringing the total before taxes and fees to $189.99/mo, or about $48/line.

 

The only info I can find today on the Everything Data 1500 plan shows it as $110 for the first line + $19.99 each for lines 2-4 + $10 for Premium Data on each line, totaling $209.97/mo (or about $52/line). You would be paying slightly more than you would with AT&T, and you wouldn't have unlimited minutes, but you would still have nights/weekends starting at 7PM (in addition to Any Mobile, Anytime), and you would still be eligible for device subsidies.

 

For sake of completeness:

• Everything Plus Family 1600 is $109.99 for lines 1-2 + $14.99 each for lines 3-4 + $10 each for Premium Data on each line, totaling $179.97/mo (or about $45/line) and still including device subsidies.
• Framily with maximum discount is $25 each line + $20 each line for unlimited data, totaling $180/mo (or $45/line) with no subsidies.
• Everything Plus Framily with maximum discount is $25 each line + $15 each line for unlimited data, totaling $160/mo (or $40/line) with no subsidies.

 

This is a good point.  This plan would definitely be comparable for many people.

However, the person in question only has three lines.  It would be $190 on AT&T (60+40+40+40).  It would be $180 on Sprint (110+20+20+10+10+10).  That $190 would not include the AT&T U-Verse $20, would it?  U-Verse may not be an option for everyone.

Personally, I pay $240 for 5 lines ($48 per line) on ED1500.  The minutes are unlimited (loyalty promotion offer from last year) and there is no de-prioritization that I know of (as of now at least).

So now you're paying the same price you were before, plus the cost of the phone that was originally "baked in" to your plan cost. So for a 16GB iPhone, that's a $450 price hike (650-200).

 

$450 isn't a non issue for me...

This is very true.  It isn't a non issue for you because you don't need unlimited data.

It is, however, a non issue for the person you replied to.  That person does need unlimited data.  He pays about $60 per line for unlimited.  There's no other provider that can match that value, subsidized phone included or not.

If and when legacy users get their subsidized phones and loyalty credits taken away, they're going to decide how much they value their unlimited data.  Given how often most people are on Wi-Fi, the majority of those on Sprint legacy plans may opt to leave Sprint.  There are other providers and MVNOs that have better plans than ED1500 for those who don't need unlimited data.

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/chicago-il/2015/2H

 

Fascinating to see that since the last quarter, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all added LTE bandwidth and they all still remain in the same places.

Sprint upload speed again is the one thing that is keeping them from second place, I can't wait to see how the tests go next year. The adding of another 5x5 in the uscc acquired spectrum. Then the 2x ca capable upload on new phones. Only getting better day by day

Yes, it's definitely interesting that the results were almost exactly the same in 1H2015 and 2H2015.

Also interesting: Sprint's download went from 13 to 22.  Everyone else, it seemed like their download speed decreased or stayed the same, and their upload increased.  For example, Verizon's download speed decreased from 27 to 25, and their upload went from 16 to 22.

I think it's easier to say that Sprint improved the most even though the numbers say otherwise.  This of course has to do with how Rootmetrics gives little to no preference for download speed over upload speed.

Favorite part was how competitive Chicago was.  I mean, is there any market more competitive in that a 'city dweller' could easily hop from network to network and still have an awesome experience?

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. If they did the testing for 2H2015 before yesterday (which it sounds like they did if you say results will be out soon), they'll be missing the widening of band 2 for at&t, and make them look worse than they actually are as of yesterday. Not that I really care, I hate AT&T as a company and only have used them because they're the best balance of price and service for me.

Yeah, I see what you're saying.  AT&T seems to be doing an impressive job from what you said.

I might add though that cell phone providers are always improving.  You mentioned that AT&T recently bumped up B2 to 10x10.  Well Sprint also barely started bumping up the second B25 carrier to 10x10; there's also 2xCA on B41 that still has a while to be even close to fully deployed.

Thus, both AT&T and Sprint Rootmetric results will not exactly match current real world performance, but it's the best we have.

Ok maybe I wasn't specific enough. I particularly wanna know what the typical peak, average and low speeds are. Not across the whole city either, just in personal use for various users.

With AT&T for me, the peaks would be between 80-105mbps, average around 20-40mbps, and low about 5-7 Mbps. Just a few months ago it could barely break 30 in most places in my suburban corner.

 

Although maybe bringing comparisons up in terms of speed is a bad idea cuz some people take that as means to start a pissing match.

 

What I get from the Chicago Premier thread is that things are going very well for the sprint network, I wanna know how they're comparing to others right now though.

Personally,

High: 90-110

Average: 10-20

Low: 2-5

Sprint may not be as good as AT&T when considering how many subscribers each has on its network, but Sprint is definitely a viable option.  Really, all the carriers in Chicago do a pretty good job.

Give it a couple weeks: Rootmetrics is going to be releasing 2H2015 report.  That would be the best way to answer your question.

I'm very glad to see that at least in the Chicago market, Sprint is converting their two 5x5 PCS over to one 10x10 for LTE.

Isn't the first B25 carrier staying 5x5 and the second becoming 10x10?

You may be mixing in band 26 with band 25.  Sprint has not operated three 5 MHz FDD band 25 carriers in Chicago.  It was two 5 MHz FDD band 25 carriers.  Now, the second carrier is being widened to 10 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

So in Chicago there's going to be one 5 MHz B25 carrier, one 10 MHz B25 carrier, plus B26, and plus B41?

They are complaining because they not longer will be able to use their Sprint line as a home ISP to stream Netflix, Showbox and Mobdro.

 

I am glad Sprint, and Tmobile are making war against the data hogs. Oh where are you going to go? Verizon and att with their 15 dollars per gig.

I'm not sure if this will stop all of them.

Whether a good or bad thing, there are places like my home with clearwire CA, 2xB25, and Sprint B26/41 all converging in one area, which really does not allow for congestion and hence would not allow for de-prioritization.

That just makes me wonder if there should be a hard cap of say 100GB that slows a person down to 2G speeds regardless of congestion?

In theory, this de-prioritization for 23GB+ users seems great.  However, the theory of a tri-band network is also great, yet it sometimes feels like Sprint handles band prioritization less than adequately.

Again though, if Sprint can properly prioritize 23GB+ people, then this bodes well for the network.

Also, why 23 and not something different? To copy T-mobile?

That potentially applies to the future, not the present.

 

I know why loose SIM cards can be handy.  Those situations for at least 90 percent of customers, however, are rare.

 

AJ

I agree.

In the future, hopefully it will be just as easy as buying any Sprint 'branded' device and going into a store to activate it.

No hassles, no contracts

Think about it.  Why would they need loose SIM cards?  Devices sold in Sprint branded packages already have SIM cards inside, not just kitted but installed.

 

AJ

That definitely applies to new Sprint phones.  Used Sprint phones (e.g. those bought from eBay), sometimes (usually?) don't have them.

With a no subsidy cell service model, the used cell phone market may become more popular.

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/7063-moto-x-2015-pure-edition/?p=440123

 

Literally says 32GB for Moto X at $399.99...

It's up for pre-order through Moto.  $399.99 for 16GB. We'll see how Sprint prices it.

Here's a link though I'm not sure how reliable it is, got it from androidcentral.

12pm CDT?

 

AJ

I read 2 P.M. Central Time.

Sure the more lines you add the more you save with any plan. I have 3 lines on the ED. I pay $179 before taxes and fees and discounts. 3 @ $60.

 

I also had to pay a few $100 up front for the 3 phones.

 

Not far off from your average.

 

The people really below the average are those that took advantage of the Framily plan and are paying $25 or $30 for service.

 

 

 

 

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I thought the minimum a person on Framily would pay for unlimited data would be $45 (without any subsidy)?  People who paid $25 only received 2GB of data.

I would consider the average price for unlimited data would be $60.  With the subsidy included in your plan for $60, would it be safe to say you were saving about $200 or more per line per year?

Unlimited data is expensive.  Anyone on any plan that is paying less than $60 for unlimited data (regardless of subsidy) has a good deal.

I'm intersted to see how that plays out with Apple. I feel a lot of customers that still have their ED plan with iPhones would be pretty upset to find out they all of the sudden can no longer user their 2 year upgrade and must pay full price for their iPhone. I don't t think I would switch to android devices, I would just keep my 6...which still effects Apple.

Definitely, but I'm not sure if a phone's battery would last more than two years, and it seems that more and more phone manufacturers are starting to build their phones with non-replaceable batteries.

People might skip the iPhone 6s, Galaxy S7, and HTC M10, but their iPhone 6, Galaxy S6, and HTC M9, respectively, might not last them another cycle because their batteries would start to give out.  They would have to buy the iPhone 7, Galaxy S8, and HTC M11.

Every two years, then, they would have to lease or buy their phones full retail price.  I'm not sure what incentive Apple, Samsung, and HTC would have to lower their prices if people continue to buy their phones every two years.  Not sure also if consumers would consider a cheaper Nexus, Motorola, OnePlus, or Asus phone especially since Sprint might not even white-list those phones.

Maybe there will some correlation between iPhone 6s sales and the non-subsidy cell phone model.  Hopefully even Apple will be forced to compete on price.

Sprint would be the only carrier selling the subsidized iPhone 6s, correct?

A lot of coverage holes with weak B25 seem to be less prevalent.  I would think it's a result of USCC Conversions.

With those USCC Conversions and CA added to Sprint's solid text/voice performance, 2ndHalf2015 Rootmetrics could definitely give Sprint a solid 1st place in Chicago.

Yep. I have 2 lines on installments. Would cost 800 to get them off. 2 tablets that would cost 200 to get them off. I'm not paying $1000 just to leave a carrier. I'd rather give back all of my tablets and phones and maybe pay off the nexus 6 since its the only device that will work on other carriers.

 

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It might be worth the trouble, pay $1000, sell devices for $750.  It's not worth paying for wireless service you're not happy with.  It would be the best time to move to another carrier too since capacity wise it seems other carriers are doing well as you say.  Come back to Sprint when other carriers start becoming congested and sprint has B41 fully up and running in a couple years.

Again, though, stick to buying phones outright if you're not wanting to deal with contracts.

I have a nexus 5 and 6 but I bought them from Sprint. Nexus 6 was priced to high to buy straight out. My nexus 5 is paid for but the screen is extremely damaged from my son dropping it.

 

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Yes, it is definitely a different mentally that must be had: If people want to avoid contracts and all the headaches they bring (like you mentioned in your previous posts), buy straight out or don't buy at all.

I'm not sure, but there would be the option to pay off the phone and then be able to leave Sprint, right?

Not the case with me.

 

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It may not be the case for you, but the wireless industry is moving away from contracts.  People currently need not stay with any carrier.

Buy a 'universal' Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Moto X Pure, or unlocked Sprint iPhone 6 (Plus), and BYOD to Sprint.  If Sprint starts to slow down in your area, take your 'universal' device to a different carrier.

They're really trying to push the loyalty credit. I've called about network issues twice in the past month and both times I was offered the credit to lease a phone.

 

What would actually happen to my ED1500 plan if I were to take the credit? Could I go back to using the subsidize if I return the leased phone?

Nothing happens to the plan,  You would be billed for the lease ranging from about $18 to $25 (depending on the device you choose), and you would receive a $15 credit on the account.  Interestingly enough, Best Buy offers a $19 loyalty credit to Sprint members.

Yes.  Given subsidized phones still exist, you would be allowed to go back.

Again, I'm just wondering if subsidies would disappear.  If I had the loyalty credit on the plan, the plan would still remain an incredible value.  Plus, we received a $100 gift card from best buy when we got a Galaxy S5, Note 4, and LG G4 with the loyalty credit.