7 ms·

Sprint seems to have it together on this one.

indiekid 14y ago
The biggest drawback for Sprint is their abysmal LTE coverage. They bet too early on with WiMAX and lost out on the LTE train. It's going to be a good long while before they're caught up there.
- Nrsolis 14y ago
  That's not necessarily true. There is little difference between WiMAX and LTE on all of the hard parts: antenna configuration, transceivers, and amplifiers. Even the modulation scheme is the same: OFDM. Sprint started installing firmware-upgradable base stations a little while ago and I strongly suspect that the process for converting from WiMAX to LTE is governed by staff time limitations than outright technical debt.
  - indiekid 14y ago
    Unfortunately LTE-based devices on Sprint still won't be backwards compatible with the converted WiMAX towers as they only output in 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands. The iPhone 5 specifically maxes out at a 2.1GHz band.
    - Nrsolis 14y ago
      Oh ya, the user terminals out there are going to have to be replaced wholesale. My only point was that Sprint is going to be able to convert to LTE a lot quicker than people expect. Building up a user base is another issue entirely.
- ashbrahma 14y ago
  They just announced recently that they are planning to have 100 markets covered in the "coming months". http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/sprint-announces-huge-lte-expansion-in-coming-months-adds-new/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/sprint-announces-huge-lte...
freshrap6 14y ago
It's even better when you realize you don't have to get the full unlimited plan and can save $30 by getting the 450 plan.
pkamb 14y ago
Especially for those of us with grandfathered SERO accounts :)
- eddieroger 14y ago
  How are you using one of their "premium" phones in a SERO plan? I had a friend holding out with some crappy WinMo 6.5 phone because switching to Android or iPhone meant leaving SERO.
  - pkamb 14y ago
    They changed things up a year or two ago. SERO +$10 gets you any iPhone/Android/Blackberry/etc., and then an additional +$10 for any phone with 4g/LTE.
thisisdallas 14y ago
Only if you live in an area covered by LTE. In my area, city of ~250,000, there is no LTE or plans to implement but I usually have four to five bars on 3G. Seemingly the 3G connection strength would be a good thing but I get 3G data speeds comparable to dial up. If I am not connected to wifi, the data features (Siri, dictation, pic/vid texts etc. etc.) are virtually useless. Trying to browse the internet is also a pointless task about 75% of the time. The unlimited data offered by Sprint is moot point if you can't use LTE.

The biggest drawback for Sprint is their abysmal LTE coverage. They bet too early on with WiMAX and lost out on the LTE train. It's going to be a good long while before they're caught up there.

Nrsolis 14y ago
That's not necessarily true. There is little difference between WiMAX and LTE on all of the hard parts: antenna configuration, transceivers, and amplifiers. Even the modulation scheme is the same: OFDM. Sprint started installing firmware-upgradable base stations a little while ago and I strongly suspect that the process for converting from WiMAX to LTE is governed by staff time limitations than outright technical debt.
- indiekid 14y ago
  Unfortunately LTE-based devices on Sprint still won't be backwards compatible with the converted WiMAX towers as they only output in 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands. The iPhone 5 specifically maxes out at a 2.1GHz band.
  - Nrsolis 14y ago
    Oh ya, the user terminals out there are going to have to be replaced wholesale. My only point was that Sprint is going to be able to convert to LTE a lot quicker than people expect. Building up a user base is another issue entirely.
ashbrahma 14y ago
They just announced recently that they are planning to have 100 markets covered in the "coming months". http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/sprint-announces-huge-lte-expansion-in-coming-months-adds-new/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/sprint-announces-huge-lte...

freshrap6 14y ago

It's even better when you realize you don't have to get the full unlimited plan and can save $30 by getting the 450 plan.

pkamb 14y ago

Especially for those of us with grandfathered SERO accounts :)

eddieroger 14y ago
How are you using one of their "premium" phones in a SERO plan? I had a friend holding out with some crappy WinMo 6.5 phone because switching to Android or iPhone meant leaving SERO.
- pkamb 14y ago
  They changed things up a year or two ago. SERO +$10 gets you any iPhone/Android/Blackberry/etc., and then an additional +$10 for any phone with 4g/LTE.

thisisdallas 14y ago

Only if you live in an area covered by LTE. In my area, city of ~250,000, there is no LTE or plans to implement but I usually have four to five bars on 3G. Seemingly the 3G connection strength would be a good thing but I get 3G data speeds comparable to dial up. If I am not connected to wifi, the data features (Siri, dictation, pic/vid texts etc. etc.) are virtually useless. Trying to browse the internet is also a pointless task about 75% of the time. The unlimited data offered by Sprint is moot point if you can't use LTE.