greenbastard

From what I've been told by Sprint reps over the phone, once you lease a phone there is no way to go back to subsidized phones unless you sign up for the current rates available to the public (which would mean losing SERO or ED 1500 prices). I have asked twice, not because I am curious, but because the last 2 times I called for billing/service issues, I have been offered to end my current contract early in order to get a leased phone. You may want to double check, because I know my account also says I'm eligible for an upgrade even though I just renewed my lines 6 months ago through 2 year agreement. Once I click on the notification, the only options to come up are easy pay or lease, with 2-year agreement pricing being greyed out. Just going by what Sprint has told me twice.

Anyone else's battery life improve after update? Mine did.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. If you really need a phone right now, I would look at all the sales going on right now around the holidays. many Galaxy S5s and Nexus 5 (2013) have gone for as low as 149.99 on some retail sites. (Manufacturer reconditioned, but still good if you just need a phone to wait out your renewal period) Just remember that once you go with a lease or easy pay through Sprint, you CANNOT go back to subsidy. That monthly bill credit is only temporary and once it runs out you'll be stuck buying phones at full price or renting them. If Sprint will still honor your SERO contract, then use it. I don't get the hate for SERO contracts on this board. It seems at times users here have a bigger problem with SERO than Sprint does. If it's a big bleed for Sprint as many make it out to be, then Sprint will end them. Until then, all SERO users should continue to enjoy their cheaply priced contracts with subsidies and continue to renew until Sprint says no more. Companies are out to get the most $ out of their products/services, so why shouldn't consumers do vice versa?

Yup. I can have 3 bars of B41 and then have it drop to B26. Unfortunately, that's the least of my worries. Phantom screen wakes are still menacing me.

Here is the change log. And the spinning logo with 1 bar under -100 dbm is gone! Overall, no change in rf...thus far (fingers crossed Samsung doesn't follow tradition and neuters rf performance as it has done with late updates in past models). Will monitor wake locks throughout the day tomorrow while it charges. EDIT: Would also like to add that the Sprint Spark Walmart logo is gone from boot up screen and has been replaced with a 3D rendering of the Sprint pin drop literally falling from the screen. Looks way better...still too yellow though.

Update just droppes on my phone. Downloading update now. Crossing fingers they fixed those phantom screen wakes. 358.99 MB Download.

Minor UI changes? I hope that means no more spinning Spark.

At equivalent power levels, Band 4 is way better than Band 41 at penetrating buildings. That's not even an argument. Sure, Sprint could mess with power levels, but unfortunately with densification that won't be ideal for the network in terms of interference. I'm comparing Band 4 LTE for T-Mobile with Sprint B41 LTE. Don't know where you got the idea that I was comparing W-CDMA to LTE. Umm what? Some of the tallest communication masts in the world are a little over 2000 feet and only TV and Radio use that much height for their antennas. Unless your neighborhood is right next to the Burj Khalifa, there is no way you can even round up to 3000 feet. Sometimes, we need to take off the Sprint colored sunglasses and call it like it is. Band 41 may improve over time with market adjustments, but let's not kid ourselves by saying Band 41 is as close as band 4 in terms of indoor coverage. Sprint skipping out on the 600 Mhz auction may cost them dearly in spectrum constrained markets. Two 5x5 carriers (800/1900) are not cutting it for indoor users in some current Spark markets. B41 is not the savior some people are making it out to be. I'd like to be proven wrong, but there is just so much you can do against physics; be it densification or 8t8r radio deployment.

No. It is not a fair comparison. Band 4 penetrates buildings way better than B41. Band 4, in my experience, is comparable to Sprints B25 (and in certain scenarios better/worse). B41 can't penetrate most houses past 2000 feet from the cell tower in dense areas in Central Texas.

Austin, Houston, and San Antonio were some of the markets that was part of the 77 announced markets with both CA and Beamforming, but is that even possible on Clearwire equipment? Because those markets are filled with it. 8t8r radio here and there, but mostly old Clearwire equipment in most areas of the cities.

No Kidding. I just checked my phone and the screen was on while sitting under some sheets (the way the phone was sitting, there is just no way a button was accidentaly pressed). I lost 45% battery and the phone is extremely hot. I don't know why, but I've been getting the random screen wakes a lot lately, especially in the mornings while the phone is charging. Samsung is no longer the phone manufacturer it once was and with its iPhone copy trend in these latest phones, it may be time for LG or Motorola to step up. HTC builds some of the nicest phones and Sense is amazing, but they always suffer from some sort of RF issues that date back to the Evo days. Maybe Black Friday will offer some cheap Moto Xs for sale.

OK2 and OK3 now up. http://device.sprintpcs.com/Samsung/SM-G900P-SPRINT/OK2.rdf http://device.sprintpcs.com/Samsung/SM-G900P-SPRINT/OK3.rdf STILL 5.0!

Is there any indication of Sprint shutting down wimax in phases leading up to November 6? I ask this as I'm now seeing 2nd B41 carriers being turned on where there wasn't any before this weekend. Its my understanding that the equipment in Southeast/South Texas was only able to do 2 LTE carriers only if wimax was turned off.

Those little small (to today's standards) Montgomery Ward TV sets with turn knobs had the best reception performance of any TV I've ever had. It was still in use in our garage up until the end of Analog TV. Living out in Southwest Louisiana made one get used to a little snow in our prime time tv shows. Once digital was forced upon us, we were forced to buy cable and store the Montgomery Ward TV somewhere in our storage den since digital won't work out there. DXing on those older sets is something that people nowdays will never get to experience or truly appreciate. Digital has obliriated the art of DXing. I'll always cherish those summer nights when a Mexican TV station would skip across the gulf and into our TV sets. Back then, it was an amazing feat to be able to see what was going on in another market. For whatever reason, watching infomercials from Tampa Bay, FL was just a lot more interesting than our local TV infomercials.

Or better yet, when TVs with turn knobs were still sold under the Montgomery Ward brand.... Too far back?

Lots of places still don't have WiFi. Even if there is, it's very inconvinient to scan for WiFi and register and accept their user agreement all while in a phone call (and then hoping it works). You can also forget about it if you're juggling a phone call, searching for something, and then having to log in/pay for the services. Also, you have to hope the WiFi is reliable after you gain access. At that point, its easier to hang up, search for it, and then start your phone call back up. This is a feature Sprint lacks in their handset lineup and no amount of WiFi can make up for it. Having said that, I have little use for it and don't notice it often. But I can see some people leaving Sprint for another carrier that has this feature on their latest phones.

128 kbps is good enough for music streaming. I have used 1x for both iHeart and TuneIn without any issues on 64 kbps AAC streams.

Time to cut some trees???

Who knows. Even at&t got 5.1.1 so Sprint can't sit by idle anymore. The only way I can see this still be a 5.0 update is if Sprint is rushing the Stagefright 2.0 fix.

So i recently rooted and installed Philz Touch Recovery following the XDA guide and everything went great. But after playing around, I noticed that my phone calls now had a "Record" button instead of the "Add" button. I don't like that (and don't even think its legal to use in my state). I can't find a way to remove it and honestly I don't even know how I ended up with it (Maybe I accidently added it while messing with the prop.build) Anyone know where I can find a legitimate OG1 tar? I just want to go back to full stock without Recovery or Root. (Or can I just use Kies to go back to full stock?) (And Yes, I know Knox is tripped forever.)

One of the few times I'll side with AJ: Your expecting to much from a technology that is still fairly new. Your standards are not only too high, but a bit unrealistic for today's wireless industry. Well, you better hope for a plague, because with the growing demand for data, there simply is not enough spectrum out there to accommodate your desires. To put it in perspective, 15 Mbps would be almost half of the bandwidth one sector can offer in a real world environment for a 5x5 carrier from Sprint. So for your desired needs, you would have to have optimal signal with no more than 2 people in your area (yourself included). For 18 Mbps, you would literally have to be the only one online for that to happen. Again, what you're expecting from wireless companies would be akin to expecting car manufacturers to build a car that could run on water...Today. Unless pcell technology proves to be the real deal, I doubt any of us may be around to experience what you are describing. Lower your expectations.

Again, Unlimited is not the same as high speed. Unlimited 'Data Speeds' would be ∞ speeds, which is impossible. Unlimited Data =/= Unlimited speed. Stop confusing the 2. You're still getting all the data you want but at lower speeds. Besides, go back and read the contract you signed. It clearly states that speeds cannot be guaranteed, which is why wireless providers never sell you internet based on actual data speeds and instead do on generic '3g' or '4g' brands. 4G technology is still considered 4G at dial up speeds. If it bothers you too much, then just imagine you're in 2012 and have pre-NV speeds. If that doesn't help, then I suggest you let your voice be heard and switch providers.

You should be fine since your phone wouldn't be able to connect to networks that aren't Open World partners (or that is what a relief told me).

I constantly get below 1 Mbps if I sit on B26 in the areas I venture (+4 Mbps B25 is also available but Sprint hasn't figured out how to balance band priorities). Having said that, 1 Mbps is more than enough for browsing and even music streaming. Unless an HD video gets played or a speed test is conducted, most consumers wouldn't know if their network is congested or not.

They TOLD you that you didn't have a limit...and that still hold true. But now they're telling YOU that if you upgrade, you'll be subject to this cap. Sprint hasn't lied to you. It doesn't bother me at all. If 5G comes out and creates a more efficient way of using spectrum, then that means users who are on data buckets will see their data prices per GB go down. Maybe in the not so distant future, buying a bucket of 50 GB will become cheaper than what we pay today for unlimited. I think you're more bothered by losing Unlimited, and that's fine too feel that way. But we all knew that gravy train was going to run out soon. I personally like to get the most for my money and as it stands today, Sprint is the best. But the moment that changes, so will my phone provider. I suggest you switch if you no longer feel that Sprint isn't giving you the best value.