Another Carrier Speed Study....

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Dulanic

Dulanic

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2000
9,951
570
136
Suprise suprise Sprint got killed....

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2538...peed_showdown_which_networks_are_fastest.html

wireless_average_speeds3-11348521.jpg
 
AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Sprint, slow? What a surprise.

However I do get much faster than average 4G on Sprint, usually 5-7 mbps with 1-2 mbps upload. My downloads are usually SLOWER than the listed average by a couple hundred kbps.
 
AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
C

ChAoTiCpInOy

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2006
6,442
1
81
K

kaerflog

Golden Member
Jul 23, 2010
1,899
4
76
Being a Tmobile customer, I'm very impressed with their 3G/4G speed and the test backed that up.
Not bad for old technology.
 
AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
kaerflog said:
Being a Tmobile customer, I'm very impressed with their 3G/4G speed and the test backed that up.
Not bad for old technology.
Click to expand...

Well hey, I'd take reliably fast 3G over spotty (but occasionally super fast) 4G any day. With Sprint I get to choose between headache-inducing 3G and quick 4G that drains the battery and takes 15+ seconds to turn on and off.
 
T_Yamamoto

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
AstroManLuca said:
Well hey, I'd take reliably fast 3G over spotty (but occasionally super fast) 4G any day. With Sprint I get to choose between headache-inducing 3G and quick 4G that drains the battery and takes 15+ seconds to turn on and off.
Click to expand...

Same for me and I'm on verizon. I find Verizon to be very reliable since I get service where everyone else doesnt
 
Dulanic

Dulanic

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2000
9,951
570
136
I'm excited to see the fast T-Mobile speeds since I am prob gonna go straight talk /w T-Mobile sim.
 
ponyo

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,810
126
Dulanic said:
I'm excited to see the fast T-Mobile speeds since I am prob gonna go straight talk /w T-Mobile sim.
Click to expand...

It's not the speed you have to worry about with T-Mobile. 3g/4g is fast if there's coverage. It's the coverage part you have to worry about. That said, the coverage is pretty good in the major cities.

I was thinking about the whole LTE thing this morning. AT&T is probably the company you want to get LTE phone with right now rather than Verizon. LTE radio drains the battery like mad so you probably want to turn it off during regular use and only use it when you need it. With AT&T, you'll still get fast 3g with their HSPA+ network. With Verizon, you're stuck on their slow CDMA 3g.
 
AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Yep, that's another reason I want to move to a GSM phone. As I understand it, the phone will automatically go as fast as it can based on what's available, right? So it can go from regular 3G to HSPA+ without having to toggle something on or off. That appeals to me. Separate 4G that you have to turn on and off (and that drains the battery quickly while it's on) just isn't convenient at all.
 
Phokus

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
22,994
779
126
Sprint is just embarrassing. I think T-Mobile and Sprint should merge to present a stronger alternative to AT&T and Verizon though.
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
Should be noted, AT&T LTE is currently in 32 markets. On 19 April, Verizon will have active LTE in 400 markets.

Pretty clear Sprint needs to get their crap together though, and fast.
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
DLeRium said:
Most major cities are covered by ATT (http://www.att.com/network/), but I guess if you live in one of the smaller areas that sucks :(
Click to expand...

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...ion=our-network-coverage#our-network-coverage

Green dots are Verizon's LTE markets. :p They had nearly a 12 month head start on AT&T with their LTE roll out. But, really, they had to. EVDO wasn't fast and didn't make them look good compared to their competitors. Sprint looks like a bad joke in these infographics though.
 
L

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
76
This isn't a surprise.
When my pharmacy technicians talk crap about prepaid, I whip out my $45/month Straight Talk 3G phone and beat their Sprint 4G Wimax.
But then again they are females, don't care about features/technology geeks. They will never consider prepaid because they equate it to being cheap. Keep on paying those $100+/month in cellphone bills. I still remember today the first time I told them I changed from Verizon to Straight Talk. "Who is Straight Talk?" "It's a prepaid carrier". I was then given the "evil eye" look.

This is 3G on Straight Talk which uses AT&T's network:
XOeJ2.jpg


It makes me wonder why people still continue to use Sprint...
 
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Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
lothar said:
This isn't a surprise.
When my pharmacy technicians talk crap about prepaid, I whip out my $45/month Straight Talk 3G phone and beat their Sprint 4G Wimax.
But then again they are females, don't care about features/technology geeks. They will never consider prepaid because they equate it to being cheap. Keep on paying those $100+/month in cellphone bills. I still remember today the first time I told them I changed from Verizon to Straight Talk. "Who is Straight Talk?" "It's a prepaid carrier". I was then given the "evil eye" look.
Click to expand...

Not bad for a Prepaid carrier. But, some people do like to have high end phones, and Straight Talk doesn't provide it. Optimus Black, Optimus Q, Samsung Precedent. All low end phones. :(
 
S

saratoga172

Golden Member
Nov 10, 2009
1,564
1
81
lothar said:
This isn't a surprise.
When my pharmacy technicians talk crap about prepaid, I whip out my $45/month Straight Talk 3G phone and beat their Sprint 4G Wimax.
But then again they are females, don't care about features/technology geeks. They will never consider prepaid because they equate it to being cheap. Keep on paying those $100+/month in cellphone bills. I still remember today the first time I told them I changed from Verizon to Straight Talk. "Who is Straight Talk?" "It's a prepaid carrier". I was then given the "evil eye" look.

This is 3G on Straight Talk which uses AT&T's network:
XOeJ2.jpg


It makes me wonder why people still continue to use Sprint...
Click to expand...

Lol my sprint work phone is painfully slow.

How is straight talk with general gsm phones though. And what plan do they offer?

Thinking about the gnex on it if they have the ability.
 
L

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
76
Bateluer said:
Not bad for a Prepaid carrier. But, some people do like to have high end phones, and Straight Talk doesn't provide it. Optimus Black, Optimus Q, Samsung Precedent. All low end phones. :(
Click to expand...

What, my Samsung Galaxy S II is not high end enough for you? :colbert:
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
lothar said:
What, my Samsung Galaxy S II is not high end enough for you? :colbert:
Click to expand...

Thats not offered on their site. :p

Wasn't aware that you could buy an unlocked device, and use the Straight Talk sim. How many people want to cough up 600 dollars upfront though?
 
H

Headcase_Fargone

Senior member
Nov 20, 2009
388
0
0
Bateluer said:
Thats not offered on their site. :p

Wasn't aware that you could buy an unlocked device, and use the Straight Talk sim. How many people want to cough up 600 dollars upfront though?
Click to expand...

I coughed up $450 for a Galaxy Nexus and sold my Evo 4g for $100 to get away from Sprint. Couldn't be happier with the decision.

My wife is on Straight Talk and gets 3mb down. I'm on the $30 TMobile plan, but it hasn't been set up correctly and I'm only getting 900kb down at the moment. Even so that's an order of magnitude faster than what I was getting with Sprint for three times the price.
 
S

Slick5150

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2001
8,760
3
81
I just left Sprint for two reasons:

1) I really wanted a Lumia 900
2) Their data speeds had gotten so bad in my area that when I was downtown during the workday it essentially was completely unusable it got so choked
 
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