New user here, so forgive me if I'm not posting in the correct thread.
I recently switched to Sprint from US Cellular since USCC is in the process of exiting the Chicago market and wanted to get some insight from people more in the know that I.
While overall I'm satisfied enough with Sprint's call quality (dropped calls somewhat regularly, not as good as USCC), I am pretty upset with Sprint's data service. I did quite a bit of research on the matter, and learned all about Network Vision, rip and replace of the old network, etc. Sprint Customer Service tells me the Chicago market is complete, and I should not be experiencing any issues. They have issued me a trouble ticket and assure me that engineers will be checking out the towers in my area (not holding my breath on that) in the following week. I have also taken my phone (HTC One) to a corporate Sprint store to make sure the device itself isn't faulty and that all its settings are correct. They ran a number of tests, including adjusting the phone's reception compatibility and profile updates (which all sound like pointless busy work, really) but concluded that nothing was wrong with the device.
What worries me is Sprint customer service telling me that they have completed Network Vision in Chicagoland, because that's essentially telling me my service isn't going to be getting any better. I keep hearing that Chicago is supposed to have a huge density of Sprint towers in comparison to other markets in the US, and that the 4G service here is supposedly among the best in the US for Sprint, but I'm not seeing it. What is the opinion of everyone here regarding the data network in Chicago? I'd love to keep my phone (which is awesome) and stick with Sprint, but it just seems like it might be all too much to deal with. Paying the hefty ETF might be worth it in the long run rather than paying 2 years for lackluster service.
I've run speed tests on Ookla, Sensorly, and the FCC app and for the most part, I do not get above 1mbps (sometimes as low as 0.01 mpbs up/down) at home (Near West Cook burbs) or work (Berwyn), whether I'm connected to 3G or 4G. A bit of a different story in the city, where at 4G I can get speeds upwards of 6 to 8 mpbs in the Loop, Wicker, Lakeview, etc. and ~2 mpbs on 3G. But even then, inside buildings that can drop down to 1 to 2 mbps on 4G and lose data entirely if on 3G.
TL;DR: Do I merely live, work and play in a coverage black hole, or is Sprint still rolling out network upgrades in Chicago? And if so, how much longer until Sprint begins to compare favorably to AT&T and Verizon?
Thanks in advance!
