nels0300

Here's one I found when I put in my zip code, 55417, south Minneapolis. This tower looks like it's in Richfield, near the airport:

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Dang, I just posted this topic in the operating systems forum.

Wife has this phone, gonna wait until the OTA.

I really hope Sprint isn't holding this back until they release the Galaxy Nexus, so they can say Galaxy Nexus, first with ICS on Sprint.

My wife has the Nexus S 4G and I've been searching Google news everyday the past few weeks since it was rumored to get ICS "in the next few weeks" a few weeks ago.

I saw this today:

http://briefmobile.c...-for-nexus-s-4g

I thought it was an April fools joke.....kinda messed up that you'd think a Nexus device getting an update would be a joke. Users have flashed it though, so I guess it's real.

It's supposed to have improved 3G and Wimax radios. I'm not going to flash this on the wife's device, I'll wait till the OTA, but I'm excited. I like the Nexus S 4G, but the radios on the wife's aren't the greatest. If this fixes those, I might have to retire the EVO 4G, get a Nexus S 4G on craigslist, and enjoy improved Wimax and official ICS until LTE rolls out here in Minneapolis.

Has anyone here tried this official, stock ICS that was just leaked?

Edit: just read some more on this, apparently it has a 4G toggle widget! Finally!

Yes, the wifes phone has signal and gps issues. We both have Sprint, I have an EVO, and when we go camping, I have a signal and she doesn't. I feel bad about it because I talked her into getting the phone, explaining that it was pure Google, it'd get updates, etc. I really don't understand how Samsung can sell so many phones when they have seemingly ongoing signal problems. They look cool though and have nice screens, but I am going to stick with HTC or Moto.

HTC jet for sure! Judging by the nexus s 4g, the HTC phone will get updates sooner, and the gps will work.

The promise of timely updates isn't to be believed either. Wife has the nexus s 4g with no official ice cream sandwich while other non nexus phones are being updated, and no, not going to root the wifes phone. Don't know how to, don't care to know how to, and shouldnt have to.

I own the nexus

Yeah, some people don't have problems, but it does seem that the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is very hit or miss. As you might be aware, there are multiple forums with 20 + pages each dedicated to Galaxy Nexus signal issues.

I agree with pyro, every model has a few duds, and for those (like me) that just have to have the first generation of a new model, comes the uncertainty of early bugs, or things just not working as they should. Its the nature of the game. But one that I don't mind playing since warranty is my best friend.

 

TS

have you read the Verizon forums? I know you can find dirt on any phone, but it seems that the galaxy nexus is in a league of its own.

Ma Bell? at&t inc is really Baby Bell SBC. I call the current nightmare of a company the Reincarnation of Ma Bell. And I wish that the government would split that company up too. It has way too much power in it's hands. And it's all thanks to Ed Whitacre Jr.

Ma bell is like the terminator, you can break it up, but its just going to melt back together. So, yeah, reincarnation.

You could be even more patient and wait until LTE actually gets to ur area and most likely they will have even better LTE phones. Im Just glad I cant upgrade until 2013 that is unless sprint has another upgrade promotion like they did around Christmas last year. Thats how I got my iPhone 4S

that's what I'm doing, but I need a phone to tide me over till then. My evo is super slow now, always loading, the htc screen come up when shutting down apps, and I always need to be near a charger. I can get a photon used for $200 and sprint will buy back the evo for $90.

On the 31st floor, you are probably just connecting to 1X. I have no idea about your own tower, but other folks I have talked to in skyscrapers that can see whether or not they have 1XRTT versus EVDO have said they only get 1X. I suspect that there is basic voice service 1XRTT transmitters in the building to provide coverage as towers down below would not reach it. And forget about 4G. If possible, use wifi.

 

Photon has excellent reception and would be a nice replacement phone. However, you need to look at your bill closely for both data AND voice usage including Any Mobile, Any TIme as well as Nights and Weekends at 7 p.m. Make sure the other company's plan will economically meet your needs. If the price is right, I would probably go with the other carrier until my towers were upgraded. However, be very very careful not to overlook some usage you have now that is not included with them.

I still am able to stream music on Pandora, would that be possible on 1XRTT? I can't see what type of connection I have on my EVO besides 3G vs 4G.

I'm looking into the Photon on craigslist now. I'm hoping the Photon won't be as laggy as my EVO. I'll keep the Photon until LTE is up and running in Minneapolis, then see what phones are out and use my upgrade then. I looked into Verizon, it wouldn't be that much more $$, but I don't like the data caps. That, and if I leave Sprint, it adversely affects cash flow, network vision might be scaled back, Sprint would be less competitive, and Ma Bell and Big Red win. Can't have that.

Will the LTE 1900 band have the same building penetration issues as wimax, only slightly less since it's a slightly lower frequency? Is there more to building penetration ability than frequency?

I've learned that the upcoming LTE devices from Sprint don't support Sprint's eventual 800 band LTE. Like I've complained about in another thread, my EVO is tired and laggy and I'd like to get something a little snappier. Knowing that the first LTE devices are out of date right out of the box by not supporting the 800 band LTE, and my city won't have LTE for a while, I'm leaning towards getting a better wimax device used on craigslist and waiting to use my upgrade on a device that supports both 800 and 1900 LTE.

So who wants to sell me their Photon?

Its something I guess! Late fall could mean December. Hope Chicago running behind doesn't impact the Minneapolis start date. It's gonna be hard to wait that long. The EVO is tired.

No one says you have to upgrade the *moment* you become eligible. I'm also in that April 1 upgrade group and have no problem sitting back for a few months for the right handset. We know the Galaxy Nexus are LG Viper are just around the corner, that the next HTC flagship is coming in June, and the Galaxy S 3 is coming after that.

I'm already 10 months past when I expected to upgrade! When I signed up with Sprint, one of the things that sold me was yearly upgrades. Then they took that away. Wasn't happy about that, and I'm really not happy about waiting longer than two years for a different phone.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. It's slightly worse for me, since I'm in Madison, WI where we don't really have WiMAX. The Twin Cities WiMAX coverage is spotty, but it's way better than Madison's.

WIMAX coverage is spotty everywhere. I travel to New York and Chicago for work, and it's spotty in those locations as well.

Thanks TS. What I gather from everything I've read, LTE is coming to Minneapolis, but not anytime soon.

I've had the EVO for almost two years and have the itch because I'm a spoiled gadget nerd. I'd love to buy a Sprint LTE device in April when I'm eligible, I just don't want to wait a year to be able to use LTE. I was really hoping someone would say LTE would be here sooner rather than later, but if Chicago is going to be delayed into 2013, that likely means Minneapolis is even farther out.

Yeah, I have WIMAX where I live. I take the light rail to work and I have a solid WIMAX signal the whole way and stream music and surf the net on my commute.

I don't have WIMAX in my office building in downtown Minneapolis, not sure if it's because the signal is weak, or if it's because I'm on the 31st floor. 3G in the office is super slow, but it's fast enough to still stream music.

Buying a Photon on craigs list isn't something I considered, but it doesn't sound like a bad idea. Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the replies.

If the Minneapolis rollout start date is dependent upon the Chicago rollout completion, it looks like it could be over a year before the Minneapolis LTE network is mature.

So, I could get a new Sprint LTE phone that only works on 3G for a year, keep my almost 2 year EVO for another year, get a new WIMAX phone, or go somewhere else. Sheesh.

I hate the idea of capped or throttled data. I want the underdog to succeed, but Sprint sure isn't making the decisions easy for me, and I'm sure many others.

I wanted the Nexus badly until I read the Verizon forums and the issues with dropped signals that the users have been having. My wife has the Nexus S 4G and that phone has signal and GPS issues. I thought there was no way Samsung wouldn't fix these for the new Nexus, so I was surprised to see so many having trouble. From what I've read, it seems Samsung doesn't have the best cell radios in their phones.

It'll be interesting to see how the Sprint version works, but I won't be one of the guinea pigs!

Keep in mind, Chicago was Samsung's first market so they had to fight the learning curve, but it had just over 1100 sites. If Samsung actually acts on the lessons they learned in the Chicago deployment, Minneapolis should go much smoother.

I read about the Chicago rollout and it's anticipated that it will be completed by October.....are they only able to work on Minneapolis when they're done with Chicago? Within regions, do they have a priority list of cities, for example, in the midwest, Chicago first, then Detroit or Minneapolis, etc?

I would imagine the rollout in Chicago would be similar to Minneapolis being that they're both flat and have a similar layout.

Minneapolis LTE is coming. There are about 800 sites in the Minneapolis/Western Wisconsin area slated for LTE. If you look at the agendas for area zoning meetings, you should start to see some sites go in for zoning as soon as early next month. Construction should start sometime later this year or early 2013 at the latest.

Wow, 800 sites seems like it would take a while. Do you know of any round 1 cities that have around 800 sites to give us an idea of how long a network like that would take to be up and running?

Option 4 is my option 1, wait till June. I guess I really don't even need to wait till June. We'll see what HTC and Sprint have in store on April 4th. I'm not too optimistic about Sprint's version of the HTC one X having a removable battery though, I can't see HTC changing the hardware for one carrier.

Then there's Motorola's follow up to the Photon that may be coming this summer, but Motorola has been moving away from removable batteries as well (Razr and Razr maxx both have fixed batteries). Really don't want a permanent battery on a phone that I need to keep for 2 years.

This waiting wouldn't be so bad if I knew that Minneapolis was on schedule to get LTE sometime within the next year.

For me, the removable battery isn't so much about resetting, but the ability to replace the battery after a year. My EVO battery was shot after a year. Other than the battery though, the EVO has been awesome. I left T-Mobile for the EVO. It's kind of hard to believe that for so many EVO owners who will be eligible for an upgrade, there really isn't anywhere for them to go. I'm eligible April 1st and I'd like a new phone on that day, what is available? Nothing really. On Verizon, when you're due for an upgrade, there are always many phones to chose from. The timing of launch day EVO (one of Sprint's most popular phones ever) owner upgrades and the LTE rollout schedule/LTE phone availability is really unfortunate.

I'd get the Galaxy Nexus and put up with 3G speeds since it has a removable battery, but after reading the Verizon forums about that phone, there's just no way. It's really disappointing because I was looking forward to it.

Any news on LTE Minneapolis? I've seen the current update schedule and don't see Minneapolis listed. I've had my EVO since launch day, so I am eligible for an upgrade April 1st and not sure what to do. As I see it, I have three options:

1. Wait till June to see what's coming up. Probably the smart thing to do, but I'm impatient. I will not get the Galaxy Nexus in April. Wife has the Nexus 4G and the reception and GPS stink compared to my EVO in the exact same locations. I thought Samsung would've fixed it, but from what I've read about the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, it's still the same junk Samsung radio with bugs.

2. Get a Motorola Photon. Why? It's cheap, it's not huge, the battery is removable, it's not a Samsung, and I have WIMAX coverage now. It seems all of the new phones coming out have non removable batteries and they're huge. I really want a removable battery. The EVO screen is about as big as I'd want a screen. But as far as cell phones go, it's "old". Now it's end of life too according to this site (not sure exactly what that means) I also wouldn't be downgrading speed. If I could buy a Sprint LTE phone now, I would be downgrading speed.

3. Go to Verizon. I don't want to do this, but if I don't hear anything about Minneapolis soon, it might be tempting. I read somewhere if cash flow becomes an issue, network vision might need to be scaled back. I don't want to be the guy who buys a Sprint LTE phone and gets stuck without an LTE network like so many WIMAX phone users. I'm also tired of friends showing me their speed test results from their Verizon phones.