koiulpoi

They say, "Hi, mom" and hold up signs that read "John 3:16."

 

AJ

Oh, I see. That's odd.

 

Have you ever had that feeling where you just walked into a room full of people completely unlike yourself, and have a sudden overwhelming urge to turn around and shut the door behind you?

Tier 1 Tech Support and Store Reps do have access to a tool called Network Pinpoint that allows them to notate an address or cross-street as problematic. Have them use it if you're having troubles.

 

If somebody tells you there's no issues in an area you're having issues, they likely just don't know how to use the tools provided. Sprint actually has some decent automated network examination tools - but almost nobody is trained on using them, and even fewer (outside of OKCQC and Erricson) actually know how to use them at all.

 

Likely, they're just pulling up the list of open network events in your area, and if they don't see any, they just say "welp, it's totally okay" because they don't know any better. A site could be reporting a block rate of 60%+ and they'd never see it, because a ticket hadn't yet been opened.

 

Of course, this leads to customer frustration as they're told different things by different people, and don't know who to believe.

You could always trial it... and return withing 14 days? Or is that only for phones?

Yes, but it's usually a spectacularly bad deal for you, heh.

 

$36 activation fee, not refundable after day 3. $35 restocking fee that most stores will charge you no matter what.

 

So, yeah, if you feel like paying $71 (plus prorated charges for the service itself), sure.

 

Of course, a credit union discount will waive the activation fee, and being nice to the manager will waive the restocking fee, but that's a lot of making exceptions.

 

What do people in the crowd at sporting events do when put on camera?

 

AJ

They...

 

I don't know? I feel like I should know this. Last sporting event I was at was a college hockey game, which was mostly an excuse to drink and watch people fight.

I thought they would have sent the press release today with the maps already updated but maybe tomorrow. Unless you are waiting to call in a ticket on a site it doesn't have much bearing of course.

It doesn't have much bearing unless you work in marketing. Then it matters quite a bit.

 

AJ

There are so many possible ways that my brain is trying to interpret this, and I'm sure all of them are wrong... so let me just say...

 

What?

So, to mildly hijack this thread...

 

I know we're just now seeing multiple bands in use with Sprint; have we seen the ability for the network to initiate a handoff from one band to another? In other words, can the network say "Hey, quit connecting to 1900, there's 2500 around you, scan for that already!" or something similar? Will multi-band devices do this on their own?

 

Basically, I would be worried about devices "sticking" on 800 LTE, simply because it's the strongest (and most readily available) signal, and never handing off to 1900 or 2500, even when available, leading to speeds on 800 quickly degrading. After all, there only ever will be one 5x5 FD-LTE carrier on ESMR 800. With PCS 1900, I know Sprint can add a second LTE carrier in many locations, and with BRS 2500, well, we've got spectrum to spare for the moment.

Any word on the Portland/Knox Rd site for 800 1x or LTE?

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 4

*shrug*

You're asking the wrong fellow, in the wrong section of the forums

 

I don't have access to what technologies are accepted on what specific site, any more than you do. I just get emails warning me about things I need to tell the public; a few sites in Greater GR didn't exactly... work... after last night's switchover, so we saw a lot of complaints today.

What frequency are they going to be operating LTE on? Certainly not 800; my understanding is that they're leaving iDEN up and running forever.

I was picking up 1X800 on my GS4 last night, and it was even over riding the Air Rave I was asking questions about in this thread. It was a surprise to see.  I even turned off the Air Rave and went in the basement and still was able to hold a call with no drops. I am hoping it's not just a testing phase, and they leave it up and running, so I can move away from the AR.  I have to place the AR in front of my router for the time being, as it's not happy behind it.  I've read many mixed reviews about opening ports and setting a static ip to get it working.  Anyway, I am hoping 1X800 is here to stay.

There were a couple new "clusters" of Network Vision 3G, which included a ton of 1X800, that came up in the greater Grand Rapids area this week. It's almost certainly here to stay.

Actually you said she said: "Her almost exact words were "Oh my God, it was amazing. I had full bars of 4G everywhere I went. Everywhere. It's the best my phone has ever worked."

 

The bars reference of hers and 4G was all I was referring too. I'm glad she was pleased on vacation. Some areas here are great others not so much for data.

Okay, yes, you're right, I'm wrong, you got me, congratulations, here's a prize

 

As she's my sister, she knows that bars don't necessarily represent quality of service, and her reports were that the service worked. She didn't complain that it didn't, and to hear her tell it, she used quite a bit of data.

 

Figured I didn't need to state that, but, here we are...

I am guessing your sister is misinterpreting the bars since we all know here the bars don't tell you LTE strength. Even Chicago is mostly complete data still really stinks in alot of places and especially indoors. 800 has really improved voice coverage and that's why she got full bars.

Um? She didn't say "My phone had 4G, but data didn't work!" or "I had a different experience indoors and outdoors".

 

She said "It's the best my phone has ever worked". She said data worked everywhere.

 

I'm sorry if your experience is different than hers.

Spreading heresy on S4GRU is mentioning that "can I buy a vowel?" prepaid MVNO.

 

 

AJ

Unfortunately, we are only able to ban the heretics, not burn them.

Until one gets a FCC filing or other credible filing for a model specific to Sprint and not a foreign entity then do not assume and spread heresy.

I know that you meant "spread hearsay", but thinking that you meant "heresy" is much more amusing. "The Cult of Sprint will not listen to your heretical lies, foul single-band demon! Those who have seen the true light know of the holy trinity of bands!"

 

Anyways, if this is true, Samsung just lost $650 from me. Oh well.

and while yes, MiFi devices are out, you certainly cannot make or receive calls with them.  Those always come before phones.  

I can make a phone call on my MiFi 500 just fine; it's called VoIP. Sure, that takes a secondary device - but when it comes down to it, the technology for a cellular baseband is done, completed, and ready to go. Putting in microphones and earpieces should be the easy part, and really have nothing to do with the frequency bands a device operates on.

 

 

I figured you'd come back with this excuse, anyways. The fact of the matter is, you said

 

 

For those all complaining, name one Tri-band LTE device that'll be out on Sprint before the 5S.   I'll wait.

Which, besides your attacking tone I have already addressed - you said "device". Not "phone". It connects to the same networks in the same way, therefore it satisfies your original conditions. Suggesting that this does not is, well, simply backpedaling. Frankly, I'm willing to drop it, as it actually undermines the rest of your points a bit.

 

It's clear that nobody thought there was "zero" reason to have Tri-Band capabilities. Simply scroll around this subforum for a bit and find posts by various people speculating on it.

 

As for the rest of your post, I find it moot in the light that we both agree that it's disappointing.

For those all complaining, name one Tri-band LTE device that'll be out on Sprint before the 5S.   I'll wait.    We know of one device in the pipe confirmed to have Tri-Band LTE.  It's out when?  November?   Not saying it isn't at some level disappointing, but hardly unexpected and it certainly is unfair to sit here and say it should have had it when no other device out around it will.

The MiFi 500? The other Netgear hotspot? The plug-in USB that's Tri-Band?

 

My statements have nothing to do with "complaining" or what's "fair" or not. It has everything to do with a major, flagship device that will sell millions on Sprint, being unable to use a key component of the new network. Which is... like you said... and I said... disappointing.

 

Much like other posters in this thread... I would advise you to not take it personally when people talk negatively about something you like. You're not an iPhone, you (presumably) don't work for Apple, so don't take it personally. Seriously. If you feel offended by people "complaining" and making "unfair" statements about the poor, abused iPhone, you may have some reevaluation you need to do...

 

 

No, though I disagree with your thinking it's a big deal that 2500 isn't included yet.

I know, and you're not changing my mind; I'll keep beating you over the head with 2017 until you agree 

I see plenty of Android people almost giddy that it doesn't support 2500, turning the topic into a frequency discussion instead of one about the actual merits of the new devices.

Aside from the rest of the things this thread turned in to, I certainly hope this wasn't directed at me, even in part.

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

Sprint will deploy another 5x5 LTE carrier within the next 2 years to provide more capacity at 1900 due to the large number of devices in the future that can only support LTE 1900.

Yes, I know. They'll have to, in part, because of a huge number of iPhones being sold that won't be able to use the 160 MHz of 2600 TDD-LTE. Are you seeing my point, yet?

But that's a reality with any new hardware because of two-year contracts.  You're always going to have a large amount of people between upgrades that can't move to the new model.  I don't know that I'd call it a burden, as I'm sure carriers are happy to not have to subsidize every single user every single year.

Except... in this case, we have new hardware unable to use the new technology. I'm talking about the reality where Sprint's 5x5 FDD-LTE is already overburdened in certain areas, as is VZW's 10x10 FDD-LTE. Data usage is exploding, and not showing any signs of slowing down. The more equipped the carriers are to deal with this, the better.

 

For the record, I'm completely with you that we should have seen Tri-Band versions of devices like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, as those will keep selling for quite some time. Can't change the past, best we can do is push people in to a Tri-Band device to give them the best experience. Without a Tri-Band iPhone, I can't do that for people I'd recommend an iPhone for, and it's going to be frustrating.

 

And it still gets offloaded one way or another.  Since I'm on an iPhone 5 in Houston, I'm only on 1900.  New Sprint iPhone 5C/S users in Houston will also get to offload to LTE 800.  Houston is a 2600 market, so non-iPhone users can offload to 2600, making for less users on 1900 (good for me) and less users on 800 (good for new iPhone users) and the 2600 users will have no iPhone users on their band (good for non-iPhone users).  So it balances out among the three bands even if everyone isn't using tri-band phones.

Having fewer options for incredibly popular devices to use isn't a good thing. Sure, it might end up being an "okay" thing, like you said, and it might even itself out. But that doesn't mean it's not disappointing.

Hi does anyone know the progress of the LTE 800 deployment?  I live in Byron Center and the coverage in spots is pretty poor.  I picked up an Airrave for $40 bux on Ebay and Sprint added it for no monthly fee, but I would like to remove it from in front of my Asus router when I don't need it. I've heard that the 800 band is a work in progress, but don't know how far along things are.  So far the LTE 1900 has been really nice around GR. We have GS4's and one iphone 5 in the house, so hopefully they work with the 800 band.

800 LTE hasn't been spotted anywhere yet AFAIK. It (should) be starting to pop up over the next few months.

 

800 for Voice is already rolling out in many places in West Michigan, not sure about Byron Center, however. If you become a sponsor (donate a few bucks to help keep the site going), you can see the sites that have been accepted by Sprint for certain technologies.

 

The phones you have now will not work for LTE on 800, but they will work for Voice/Texting (aka 1X) on 800.

 

Your data should work fine at home, however. If you have an Airave, you've got WiFi, right?

The iPhone 4/S isn't even LTE on Sprint, so not having 2600 is the least of those folks problems.  

 

I have the iPhone 5, which doesn't supporter LTE 800, so I'll be missing out on that for at least a year.

 

I imagine the folks in Sprint stores will be doing a hard  sell to get people to at least spend $100 on their iPhone to get the baseline 5C and get LTE, which also gets them 800.

No no no, that's not what I'm saying. Every user that is stuck on older technologies is a burden on the network. Every iPhone in 2017 that can't use TD-LTE 2600 is a burden on BC 25 and 26. Every iPhone 4S that can't use BC10 in 2017 is a dissatisfied customer stuck on PCS, while everyone around them gets much better service. 

 

Sprint store employees won't be pushing the higher end phones for the "hard sell". That's not the reality of selling phones. Sure, I will, but I'm far and away from your average store employee. But most will be saying "the iPhone 4S is FREE!!!"

 

I don't think anyone is arguing that the iPhone 5S should not have been triband because LTE 2600 network is not there.  However we are dealing with Apple here and they dictate what specs will go into the phone.  I am sure Sprint in a perfect world would have loved to see the iPhone 5S be triband but what can you do when you deal with Apple?  As someone pointed out to me earlier, the Sprint/Softbank deal was not closed yet by the time Apple began building the iPhone 5S and might not have had the buying power to demand B41 to be included into its devices.  You can bet that Softbank/Sprint will fight real hard next year to have B41 included in the iPhone 6.

 

Yes it does suck that LTE phones such as the iPhone 5S that don't support all the LTE bands could still be in operation up until 2017 but keep in mind that the GS4 and HTC One were only single band LTE phones as well which have zero flexibility to offload onto other bands and fall victim to the same fate.  At least the iPhone 5S can offload to 800 MHz.  It would be unfair to put the blame all on the iPhone when HTC and Samsung are equally as guilty with the GS4 and HTC One.  At the end of the day, customers just care about being connected to LTE and only nerds like us are analyzing the LTE traffic issue for the future.

Yes, it sucks. My post was to argue one thing: it matters. It's meaningful, because it's a better customer experience. We can talk back and forth about having to deal with Apple and their supply chains and timing all we want, but in the end, this is a disappointing announcement, for the reasons I said. These phones are going to sell like crazy, and the more phones that can use fewer bands - or even 3G only - the worse off it is for everyone.

You know, those saying that it's OK to not have 2500 because it's not rolled out, and/or that the iPhone 6 next year will have it, are a bit off base.

 

You're forgetting that people buy phones on 2-year contracts. You're forgetting that there is a huge market for the "non-flagship" device. That, until September 20th, Sprint will still be selling the iPhone 4, a phone originally from 2010, launched 2011 on Sprint. There are people that will have the iPhone 4 until 2015. If this trend holds, and we sell the 5C/5S for 2 years, that means that we could have people buying them in the end of 2015, using them until 2017.

 

2017 is a long time to have to support devices that aren't forwards-compatible. It runs pretty counter to the idea of network modernization (and trying to do it as quickly as possible), especially with such a high selling device as the iPhone. It definitely matters, and is definitely disappointing.

 

Let me also point out that, by including the 4S as the "free" phone, we'll have devices unable to use 1XA on 800 SMR until 2017 as well. How fun.

Yeah, I probably should not have posted that pic of myself completely undressed at the computer working on a hot S4GRU article.

 

AJ

How do you type, anyways? You seem to lack the correct, um, fingers.

My sister (who is on Sprint, has a GS3) just took a 2-week vacation to Chicago.

 

Her almost exact words were "Oh my God, it was amazing. I had full bars of 4G everywhere I went. Everywhere. It's the best my phone has ever worked."

Not my best angle, and I was having a bad hair day, but here is a picture of me...

 

 

AJ

 

You know, you'd look good in a suit. I know my friend does.

 

I can't be the only one who's reminded of this...