Yuhfhrh

Didn't the old plans say that video streaming MAY be limited? This says it will be 600kbps at ALL times.

You're right. I also though Sprint said recently it wasn't going to throttle at all.

I just saw this on the linked page:

 

"To improve data experience for the majority of users, throughput may be limited, varied or reduced on the network. Streaming video speeds will be limited to 600Kbps at all times, which may impact quality."

 

No full HD Netfix for you!

600Kbps down from 1mbps on earlier plans. 

I'm guessing to CDMA like what Republic Wireless does.

From what I understand that's not really a handoff though, you get disconnected for a moment as the call comes back through to you on CDMA.

I'm watching Marcelo Claure at the ReCode Conference and he mentioned that Sprint is in the final stages of seamless WiFi handover. Hopefully that software will be making it's way over to devices before year end.

WiFi handover to what? VoLTE?

speaking of weird signals, In Palestine Tx, west of it near the trinity river, I was able to get sprint signal , 1x be it that, with a signal of -100 dbm, and texting/calling worked, even loaded a few web pages. with the closest site being 30-40 miles away. Crazy things have happened like that lately. If I was able to do that Through thick forest of trees, I would not be surprised if something similar is happening to you

This is why the shutdown of CDMA doesn't need to be a #1 priority. Leaving a few 1X carriers can allow some impressive coverage.

It would be interesting to see if you could receive any texts when these signals are aquired.

I'm going with AJs theory on cell breathing, which is why you only get these signals at night. You're probably not going to be able to make a phone call/text/data past -106dBm on 1X. It is cool how far that signal must be traveling to get to you.

I have a friend complaining about de-prioritization being worse than throttling. I'm going to take my $30 5GB data T-Mobile SIM in my Nexus 5 and compare it to his own N5 to see what's up.

That of course is your opinion, but do you have what empirical, indisputable, evidence to substantiate that view?

 

How positive of an effect has it had on vzw/att network performance?

It would have some sort of positive effect. A lot of users who are pulling 70GB+ likely won't continue to use that much. Those that continue will pay more, and in turn give Sprint more cash flow for capacity increases.

I corrected a comment below that suggested that Sprint hasn't enabled carrier aggregation because they are ashamed of their network and other carrier phones have it enabled.

Sprint hasn't enabled carrier aggregation yet, at least I haven't seen any reports. It seems disabled via software on a GS6.

Your poll forces an answer to both questions, yet those on unlimited are likely not on shared data plans and vice versa.

Yes.

 

HSPA+ is still 100% live. Just AWS-specific HSPA+ is gone. So only AWS-exclusive-HSPA+ devices are even effected.

 

Which, from what I'm told, is less than one percent of their postpaid subscribers. And T-Mobile has already offered those people free phone upgrades.

I find it hard to believe less than 1 percent of their postpaid subscribers are on AWS HSPA only phones. That's all T-Mobile sold years ago, and some people hold onto their phones for many years. I suspect that number to be closer to 5%. I just talked to someone a few days ago who has been with T-Mobile for three years, still rocking an LG G2X. He will be getting a new phone soon after our conversation about LTE, but still.

Does tower-side output even matter that much?  If the tower is unable to hear your request for a web page, it won't be able to deliver it.

 

- Trip

I would imagine a higher power output could make a difference if B41 operated as supplemental downlink in carrier aggregation to a B26 PCC, for example.

i'm not asking this because of an obsession of wanting the fastest speed. i'm trying to understand from a technical standpoint what caused that drastic of a speed drop. and yes there are a lot of variables and i am making the assumption that in the 20 minutes it took me to get from the tower back to work the load on that sector didn't increase enough to cause a ~20 meg drop in speed. so that led me to the question of can a signal/SNR drop of those levels really cause that much of a speed drop.

Somebody could have also been running a speed test that same moment as you. There are too many variables.

Btw none of the articles address whether Dish will go with CDMA/LTE or gsm so that's up in the air.

Why in the world would Dish build a CDMA network this day in age? Everything is going LTE.

Map updated.

Wait, this is the map from November of last year. We need a map of today's coverage!

I suppose I should get around to updating that map. So little free time these days.

You lose water resistance and reception. I don't see a compelling reason to upgrade, unless the improved snappiness or looks are important to you.

I don't know, maybe if it was 11PM-5AM.

You only see one bar?  I see full bars.

The image is pretty low resolution, so I guess it could be debated. There appears to be more white near the end of the signal icon though. Enhance->zoom->sharpen. Also, if it was showing full signal bars you'd expect the signal icon to match the white/brightness of the battery icon spot on.

Does LG have the same issue as Samsung in regards to LTE signal strength not showing the appropriate signal bars? Even in this stock image, it looks like LTE is only showing 1 bar. 

If only they would shorten this into a commercial. It could help wonders with the Sprint name.

Admit that you cannot control your phone addiction.  We hold meetings twice daily in The Lounge.  I can be your sponsor if you need one.

 

AJ

Thanks for the support AJ. 

I buy more phones than I need, and have both Sprint and T-Mobile service. S4GRU, I have a problem.

Add me to the list seeing poor RF performance. Played with a normal S6, and particularly on B41, I'm seeing at least a 5dbm worse signal compared to my S5 and Note 4. Throughput is also reduced, with line of sight it was pulling ~40mbps where the S5 and N4 consistently managed ~65mbps. Although this is the snappiest phone I have used from Samsung, the weaker radio is a deal breaker. The S5 and N4 have no problems handing off between B41 sites here, but the weaker radio in the S6 causes it to drop to B25/B26 when moving between sites.