i has EVO

[Headcase_Fargone]

It is just Sprint. Sprint is using a higher frequency for wimax, it's not wimax itself but the frequency they are using for it. Verizon isn't going to have this issue.

Verizon won't have that problem because they aren't using Wimax at all. Their network is LTE, which from everything I've read has far better penetration because of the spectrum it uses (700MHZ).

Heh, penetration...

 

[Brian Stirling]

It is just Sprint. Sprint is using a higher frequency for wimax, it's not wimax itself but the frequency they are using for it. Verizon isn't going to have this issue.



Again, it's location dependent. Sprint's network isn't as good as Verizon, nothing new there. It has areas that work better than others. If you travel a lot I would spend the extra money and go with Verizon. For those of us who don't and have good Sprint coverage where we frequent Sprint is cheaper for comparable service. If you have your phone set-up properly you can roam on Verizon towers. Though when roaming you are at the bottom of the food chain behind Verizon customers on those towers so it's not going to be like it's a Verizon phone but better than not being able to do so.

Bandwidth isn't going to be a problem for Sprint anytime soon. They have a ton of it and they are not going to have a large enough customer base to stress it for a long time. I will venture to say never, the company as it is will fail before that happens. I have been a Sprint customer for a long time and love the service I get for the price I pay but in the end I think the decision to stick with Wimax is going to kill them.

The notion that because Sprint has fewer customers that they therefore have much better bandwidth availability is just nonsense. Yes, they have fewer customers but they also appear to have fewer towers so the number of customers per tower may in fact be higher for Sprint that Verizon.

I just did a couple of speed tests here in Plano/Richardson TX and here's what I got:

3G: 46kbps down/351kbps up, 88kbps down/260kbps up, 82kbps down/198kbps up.

4G: 2462kbps down/91kbps up/2854kbps down/968kbps up

I used three different servers to get a better average.


The first test, at 46kbps down, is less than you can get with dialup!


I do expect the problem will be less when the 4G build-out is more complete, but then again, there maybe more customers using more data by then.


The bottom line is that it is less a question of the number of customers as it is the ratio of towers/customers.


Brian

 

[rudeguy]

The notion that because Sprint has fewer customers that they therefore have much better bandwidth availability is just nonsense. Yes, they have fewer customers but they also appear to have fewer towers so the number of customers per tower may in fact be higher for Sprint that Verizon.

I just did a couple of speed tests here in Plano/Richardson TX and here's what I got:

3G: 46kbps down/351kbps up, 88kbps down/260kbps up, 82kbps down/198kbps up.

4G: 2462kbps down/91kbps up/2854kbps down/968kbps up

I used three different servers to get a better average.


The first test, at 46kbps down, is less than you can get with dialup!


I do expect the problem will be less when the 4G build-out is more complete, but then again, there maybe more customers using more data by then.


The bottom line is that it is less a question of the number of customers as it is the ratio of towers/customers.


Brian

I thought dialup was 26k with a theoretical max of 56k?

 

[gsaldivar]

Be very careful about predicting the future like that.

It's not really a prediction, he's just stating fact. Some frequencies penetrate buildings and walls better than others do.

 

[vshah]

I thought dialup was 26k with a theoretical max of 56k?

you could easily get 6kb/s on a 56k modem

 

[Pliablemoose]

Just got 2442 down on 4G, it's as fast as my crappy home connection.

 

[Muadib]

Not where I am. My 3g speeds are very fast here in N.E. Kansas and the time it takes to even kick in the 3g network is about 3x faster than AT&T.

I love my EVO and just got the extended battery. Its bigger, sure, but can now go for 2+ days without a recharge.

Can you take a pic of your phone, and post it? I want to see how much bigger it gets.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Can you take a pic of your phone, and post it? I want to see how much bigger it gets.

Here's the Sprint battery & back.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=823975

Dunno, that looks like hell, but for the utility it can't be beat. That also won't work with the way I carry a phone, usually front shirt pocket.

I'm going to go with the 1800mAh batteries (~20% more juice/life and work with stock cover) and carry a spare battery.

http://htcexpress.com/product.php?id_product=13

 

[AstroManLuca]

Just did a couple tests at my office (Eagan, MN):

3G: 851 down, 320 up
4G: 3638 down, 1079 up

Thing is, though, I've seen a lot of variation in speed. For a while, upload speeds were capped at 150 kbps on 3G no matter how good your signal was - an update fixed that. At some points, I've had my upload and download speeds both come in at under 100 kbps, while other times I've seen 3G speeds above 1 Mbps (that's rare though, it's usually in the 700s).

4G is very cool but it depends entirely on where it's available. When you do have it, it's pretty awesome. I have 4G at work at at home. Not a lot of people have that. And there's actually one weird dead zone by my wife's work where 3G is unusable but 4G works just fine.

P.S. My office has a window and is on the second floor so that probably helps. If it was on the interior of the building I might have spotty 4G or none at all.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Just installed "Fresh" what's everyone's favorite 4G compatible ROM?

 

[olds]

I have 4G at work but not at home.
I work, I stream Pandora or FM Radio from my Evo to my laptop speakers.
I haven't done any speed tests at either location.

I rooted but I haven't installed any ROMS. I have ROM Manager but most ROMS fail to install. The few I tried sucked.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Install the speed test app, it's free

 

[olds]

3G: 831/708

4G: 1684/989 (lol, I turned on 4G for the hell of it. I guess I get it at home now too)

Wireless: 6063/1062

EDIT
4G at work: 3897/994

 

[NutBucket]

Its funny. Theoretically I should have better coverage at work with Verizon but I got much better service with my Pre on Sprint. Must be a fluke...