[JeffFinance123]

I'm a Verizon Wireless customer here in NYC forever. I've decided finally to make switch to a Smartphone from a basic phone. Been generally happy with VW service and coverage all these years.

Anywho, figured I'd check out Sprint's offer out of curiousity.....I really don't want to leave Verizon, but figured see what others offered.....but look at this:

Compare this:

Sprint


450 Minutes
ANY Mobile, Any Time Calling - Any Network
7 PM Start Nights/Weekends
Unlimited Text Messaging
Unlimited Data Plan
Total Cost Before Taxes/Fees - $79.99

Verizon

450 Minutes
"IN" Network - Only Verizon Cell Phones
9 PM Start Nights/Weekends
250 texts for extra $5
2 GB Data Plan - now 4GB with "Double the Data" promo
Total Cost Before Taxes/Fees - $74.99

Sprint definitely gives you more "bang for the buck" by far. And that Unlimited Data plan is very enticing. Even though I'm a "light" user of my phone in general, who knows what my future holds once i have a smartphone.

My biggest concern is Sprint's network in NYC. My basic questions are if you have Sprint:

- Do you feel Sprint's network in NYC is very good? Do you get dropped calls? How is it in tall buildings? elevators? I've heard many conflicting reports from its perfectly fine to avoid it.

- Although Sprint is unlimited data, I know its slower than Verizon's 4G LTE network. How satisfied are you with Sprint's data speeds? Is it "good enough"? Is it truly unlimited? Do you personally ever go over 4 GB, which would be my limit on Verizon?

Before Black Friday comes, I want to decide whether to stay with Verizon, which I'll probably get a free HTC Thunderbolt, or move to Sprint and probably get a HTC EVO 3D, hopefully free or cheap. The phone isn't as important as reliability of network and overall value.

What do you Sprint NYC customers think? Thanks for the help.

[legion125]

I'm not in the NYC area but reports say that Big Reds data speeds are better than Sprints overall. Don't hear too much about dropped calls. A particular area may have different results. One thing you need to be aware of is Sprint is modernizing it's whole network under the umbrella called Network Vision. When completed in 2013, the network will have better voice/data speeds and LTE.

Until then data speeds will be sporadic since Sprint is working on the towers and back haul. Most of us think it's worth riding out. Just want you to be aware if you sign up this week that the ride will be bumpy for a while. The good news for your case is that NYC will be one of the first markets to go online tentatively this summer so you would only have to ride out 6 months or so. Data is unlimited for now, Sprint seems to be committed to that to stand out from the Big Two.

Good luck with your decision. Overall Sprint has been a good carrier for me. CS is much improved, cheaper service than the Big Two and a good selection of phones. Sprint has really been working hard to turn the corner.

P.S. You'll soon hear from the Sprint naysayers telling you to stay away. At least you'll be able to make an informed decision base on their personal experiences and comments.

[ericdabbs]

Sprint launched this added feature at the website below so you can monitor voice and data upgrades that have occurred for the past 6 months and the next 6 months. You can search for NYC and you will see that there are a TON of data and voice upgrades scheduled for the next 6 months. Not to mention that Sprint has done a ton already in the past 6 months.

https://network.sprint.com/

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by ericdabbs

Sprint launched this added feature at the website below so you can monitor voice and data upgrades that have occurred for the past 6 months and the next 6 months. You can search for NYC and you will see that there are a TON of data and voice upgrades scheduled for the next 6 months. Not to mention that Sprint has done a ton already in the past 6 months.

https://network.sprint.com/

I put slim to zero stock in that. According to this the towers near here have all been upgraded and are due 1 more yet it's not even peak hours right now and I can only download 200 kb/s.

[BrianFX]

Originally Posted by JeffFinance123

- Do you feel Sprint's network in NYC is very good? .

It varies between tolerable to an unmitigated disaster. 4G is decent if you can get it, and aren't in motion, and are close to an AC outlet. 3G is slow as balls everywhere, and that was before the iPhone was launched (I left just before).

[tetero]

As a sales rep/tech that works for sprint indirect agent, I have a personal vzw iphone and I can tell you stay with vzw. You want to save money then make sure you get a 4G phone on sprint but keep in mind their 4G is spotty indoors but their 3G speeds are a joke.

[Jonger1150]

What is sad is that I know some locations that are REALLY bad for 3G speeds and they have no plans to improve in the next 6 months.

[ericdabbs]

Originally Posted by Jonger1150

What is sad is that I know some locations that are REALLY bad for 3G speeds and they have no plans to improve in the next 6 months.

Like where?

[Jonger1150]

Originally Posted by ericdabbs

Like where?

Look up Redford, MI at the intersection of Grand River and Beech road.

Its like 50kbps and theres no "Speed upgrades" planned. Thankfully I dont live there, but I work there a couple times a month.

42.434908,-83.299168

[eieiomax]

Originally Posted by Jonger1150

Look up Redford, MI at the intersection of Grand River and Beech road.

Its like 50kbps and theres no "Speed upgrades" planned. Thankfully I dont live there, but I work there a couple times a month.

42.434908,-83.299168

Are you in New York?

[JeffFinance123]

Thanks for help guys. Sprint's NYC customers experiences seem to vary wildly.....

[tetero]

A reason why you shouldn't switch.

A screenshot of our store demo phone on sprint and my personal phone which is from verizon. It's the same thing across our android demo phones, but if you switch make sure you get a 4G phone.

[4ringsnbr]

Originally Posted by Jonger1150

What is sad is that I know some locations that are REALLY bad for 3G speeds and they have no plans to improve in the next 6 months.

You have to call in and report the tower to TRV escalations. We did that to virtually every tower here in town to get them upgraded (within about a year or so). The towers that haven't been called in haven't been touched and aren't planned for upgrades. Sprint has no capability of monitoring individual user speeds. They can only see percentage of connections and connections per hour. They can tell the total throughput of the tower, but that is a very different measure from the average user speed.
Unfortunately Sprint leaves the monitoring and maintenance of their 3G network to Ericsson, which gets paid contractually by the ticket closure rate. So they only fix what Sprint writes tickets for, and they'll only write a ticket on a tower you call in.
Just take 3 speed test measurements, record the Active Pilot PN, channel number, Rx Signal Strength and Rx Power from your EVDO engineering Field Test debug screen and call in to setup a ticket. They'll express shock at the slow speeds, though I'm not sure why since they should know how poor their network is by now...

[sjones]

I am in NYC all the time , no worries here, but the best thing to do , try it for 14 days if your really worried.

to the people so worried about data speeds , maybe ask the question what the user is going to use the phone for? again its no issue unless you want to download movies etc which most don't

calls, texting, general web browsing , no trouble

[st_2006]

I take metro north train from Stamford to NYC and the data speeds are pathetic. No issues with voice except in park avenue tunnel.