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Any reason NOT to go with Cricket over Sprint?

S

SaltyNuts

Platinum Member
I just got a new Nexus 6 phone (yes, last gen, but it was on the cheap). I've had sprint for awhile now, and never really had any issues. But discussing getting this phone to work on the sprint network before I got it I could tell they either were giving me the run around or didn't know what they were talking about.

There is a Cricket store right by my house. I was thinking about going there to get it activated and transferring my number over from sprint. I believe it uses the AT&T network, generally better than sprint, and is cheaper as well.

Any reason not to go with Cricket over Sprint?

Thanks!
 
a) cricket's LTE connection is capped at 8mbps

b) cricket uses a proxy server to do the 8mbps throttling... could cause more latency

c) sprint users have verizon as in-market roaming (1x/3G only)

d) officially need to pay $10/month to get tethering/hotspot.. with a nexus 6, can work around the limitation

e) MVNOs on sprint can be cheaper depending on your usage (ringplus, ting)
 
Last edited:
paperwastage said:
a) cricket's LTE connection is capped at 8mbps

b) cricket uses a proxy server to do the 8mbps throttling... could cause more latency

c) sprint users have verizon as in-market roaming (1x/3G only)

d) officially need to pay $10/month to get tethering/hotspot.. with a nexus 6, can work around the limitation

e) MVNOs on sprint can be cheaper depending on your usage (ringplus, ting)
Click to expand...

Sprint's real world performance is still terrible though. 8mbps is enough for virtually anything you're going to use a smartphone for, it's not like you're using bittorrent on your phone 😉
 
Phokus said:
Sprint's real world performance is still terrible though. 8mbps is enough for virtually anything you're going to use a smartphone for, it's not like you're using bittorrent on your phone 😉
Click to expand...

unless you're in an area with consistent band 41

and that's why I highlight the proxy issue... increases your ping/latency, annoying...
 
paperwastage said:
a) cricket's LTE connection is capped at 8mbps
Click to expand...

I would hope this has changed by now but when I left Sprint two years ago, the speed above was about 32 times faster than any speed I was seeing on Sprint in the city of Chicago. I have absolutely no regrets leaving Sprint for AIO (now Cricket).
 
Thanks guys. Might I ask what is tethering/hotspot? Is that where I can somehow in essence transfer the wireless connection from my phone to some other device, say a computer or laptop? That actually sounds very important if so, although I've never used it obviously. But if I could get internet access to my work laptop via my phone that would be incredible!

Thanks.
 
By the way, if cricket is capped at 8mbs, does Sprint really exceed this amount often? My sprint has never seemed very zippy.

Thanks!
 
SaltyNuts said:
By the way, if cricket is capped at 8mbs, does Sprint really exceed this amount often? My sprint has never seemed very zippy.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Cricket's 8mbs is fast enough to stream Netflix/Hulu/Youtube without buffering. Any music service, no stuttering. Price is right & coverage is great. Depending on the area, better than Verizon(in my case).
 
Thanks guys. I'm looking into this google fi Chocu1a - anyone use it and have good/bad experiences to report? Also wondering about this tethering thing.

Thanks!
 
SaltyNuts said:
It said I can use my phone as a "hot spot" - is that the same thing as tethering?
Click to expand...

Yes hotspot/tethering allows you to use your phone to act as a wifi hot spot, so other non LTE devices like laptops can access the internet using the phones LTE connection.
 
SaltyNuts said:
Wow, google fi is looking like the BOMB. Any drawbacks?
Click to expand...

Only works with certain phones(nexus 6 is fine)

Encourages you to use more WiFi instead of data (more expensive than cricket. Cricket throttles you to a very slow speed if you go over the data limit - fi just keeps charging you $10/GB if you keep using it)

If you have a Google voice number, and you join fi, you lose your Google voice number and functionality
 
Here are the only reasons I would get Sprint:

1) Solid coverage in your area, everywhere at home, school, work, outside, in your house, in buildings, at the local grocery store, etc.

2) Corporate discount, although my employer offers a generous Sprint discount I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

How important is call quality to you? IIRC Freedompop/Ring+ uses Sprint VOIP, although I could be wrong. Call quality is important to me and I'd rather avoid VOIP especially from a third rate provider like Sprint.

Regarding Project Fi have you seen this? Probably expires in about 2 hours.

Cricket offers a compelling value:
1) Owned by AT&T their prepaid brand.
2) $35 for 2.5GB LTE (yes it's capped at 8Mbps), no taxes or fees.
3) $100 promo for porting in from another carrier (excludes AT&T)
4) $25 referral
 
I hate to admit I am back with ATT using cricket now...

In my area, the just installed a brand new tower (att) and I now get 5 bars, being on any other service I only get 3 if I was lucky.

The only way I would switch if I moved and the cell tower from sprint was 5 bars and the tower to ATT was 2-3 bars. Go with the best coverage / service in the area that you use your device most.

I've had att in the past and I think the company is pretty sad. Tho, maybe it has changed but from how I was treated, personally I'd like to not stay with ATT.

I'd switch to google fi if I had decent coverage from sprint/t-mobile. Tho, being on cricket I'm pretty happy with it. My G/F just switched over, got a free phone, 100 card, etc...etc... and 5 bars of service.
 
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