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Dumping Boost After 4 Years...

D

Droidwerks

Member
I've had Boost for over 4 years now. Generally, I've been happy with their service except for two major areas--their phone selection and their rural coverage.

I live in the PNW. While I have good coverage in towns, out in rural areas the coverage sucks. I recently went on a ski trip to Utah, and I was amazed how often my girlfriend's cell (she's with Verizon) had a signal and I didn't. I'm talking like 80% of the time she had a signal and I didn't....

Their phone selection is finally getting better, but one of the big downsides to prepaid is that we're the poor stepchildren of the cellular world often relegated to the 2nd hand phones the other carriers are dumping. Boost's "flagship phone" the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a perfect example--$369 back in November and it's already dropped down to $279 and it will go lower because it's wimax 4g not LTE 4g and wimax is ending in the next year or so.

Of course you can flash any CDMA phone to Boost and if you're in an area with good coverage that's not a bad idea.

But after a lot of research I decided to go with an HTC Evo 4G LTE and have that flashed to Verizon prepaid. Killer phone, waaaaaaayyy better than anything Boost is offering, plus it's 4g lte (although Verizon is not currently offering 4g on their prepaid, they are supposed to be in the next 3-6 months).

Verizon prepaid data speeds blows Boost's 3g and 4g speeds out of the water--for 3 or 4 days after I got my Verizon account set up I carried both phones with me and did at least 50 side-by-side speed tests--Verizon was a minimum of 3-4 times faster and often 5-6 times faster.

I'm loving Verizon, much faster data, much better coverage!

DW
 
Droidwerks said:
...I carried both phones with me and did at least 50 side-by-side speed tests--Verizon was a minimum of 3-4 times faster and often 5-6 times faster.
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I can top that...for two weeks i had both my Boost and Sprint (yes Sprint) phones active...the sprint phone was considerably faster then the boost phone... That is why there were so many jokes about the 2.5gb speed throttling deal..."how much more can they throttle from normal, is the data going to flow in the opposite direction..."

You are never going to do better then MaBell. And if you got it for $50 a month unlimited that blows the rest out of the water, imho...
 
ZingBot said:
This is Verizon prepaid plan for smartphones with truly unlimited everything? 3G? 4G?
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Yes on 3G, 4G not available yet. Also, you can get the same thing with PagePlus (they use Verizon's towers) for $55 a mo. Not quite as good as $40mo w/shrinkage on Boost, but, the 3g data speeds are waaaaaaaaay faster than Boost and their cell coverage is much, much better--at least in my area.
 
I can't complain about Boost speeds, I average around 1.5MB and have gotten 2.2 (very rare) on 3G.

I saw a different thread stating that today Sprint shut down Chicagoland WiMax, not a big deal as I rarely used WiMax anyway.
 
So are you trying to sell us on Verizon or what?

The only thing you did was put a smartphone on a dumb phone plan. Verizon will eventually see the large amount of data your consuming and may deactivate your device. They can also tell just by how your phone connects to the network.

And not a single one of their dumb phones that I see has 4G. So your phone doesn't either. Due, to the limitation of whatever donor phone was chosen. Also, the Evo LTE operates on the 1900 MHz band. While, Verizon operates on the lower 700 MHz band. You're not even compatible with Verizon's LTE. You'll never have 4G. I'm not even sure you have 3G working. Would you post a speed test to prove it?
 
SulkyAndroid17 said:
So are you trying to sell us on Verizon or what?

The only thing you did was put a smartphone on a dumb phone plan. Verizon will eventually see the large amount of data your consuming and deactivate your device. They can also tell just by how your phone connects to the network.

And not a single one of their dumb phones that I see has 4G. So your phone doesn't either. You'll never have it because of the donor phone you chose. Never.
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Not trying to sell anyone on anything. I've stayed with Boost for so long simply because I didn't think there were many/any other alternatives--turns out there are and I'm letting some people know about them. Wish I'd known about them much earlier--I would have switched a long time ago....

Lots of people like Boost, and if you're in an area with really good coverage then there's really no need to switch. But, if you're in an area like am where their coverage is spotty, then it's nice to know there are options.

As to Verizon "finding out" about my current setup, only time will tell. Since finding out about flashing and talking with others, I now know 4 or 5 people who've been doing the same thing--one for over 3 years now. I'm not a data hog at all and when I have things I need to download I usually use wifi.

Forums are places for people to share information, and that's what I'm doing. If you want to be a Boost fanboy, that's up to you, but there may be others that are in the same situation I was who would like to know that there's options.

DW
 
I'm not being a Boost fanboy. I merely pointed out that it's impossible for your phone to have 4G. I don't know if Verizon's dumb phones have 3g, so maybe you do have 3G. Post a speed test and show us.

As for Verizon finding out, they mostly likely already know. Internet protocols vary across operating systems. Your user agent and ttl packet are dead give away right there. Verizon receives those as soon as you connect to the network.

I don't know about you, but I've flashed a phone before. And I wouldn't use a dumb phone as a donor for a smartphone.

Forums are a place to share accurate and true information, theories, and ideas. You're telling people to violate terms of service and telling them they can have Verizon 4G when they can't and never will with this type of service.
 
SulkyAndroid17 said:
I'm not being a Boost fanboy. I merely pointed out that it's impossible for your phone to have 4G. I don't know if Verizon's dumb phones have 3g, so maybe you do have 3G. Post a speed test and show us.

As for Verizon finding out, they mostly likely already know. Internet protocols vary across operating systems. Your user agent and ttl packet are dead give away right there. Verizon receives those as soon as you connect to the network.

I don't know about you, but I've flashed a phone before. And I wouldn't use a dumb phone as a donor for a smartphone.

Forums are a place to share accurate and true information, theories, and ideas. You're telling people to violate terms of service and telling them they can have Verizon 4G when they can't and never will with this type of service.
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You're making a whole lot of assumptions without knowing any of the facts.

1. You're assuming I had a dumbphone flashed to Verizon prepaid.

That is incorrect.

2. You're assuming therefore that I don't actually have 3g data.

Again, you are incorrect.

3. You are assuming that Verizon will deactivate my account, and yet I know several people who use the exact same setup and have been using it without problem for over a year, and in one case over 2 years.

Again, you are incorrect.

DW
 
Droidwerks said:
You're making a whole lot of assumptions without knowing any of the facts.

1. You're assuming I had a dumbphone flashed to Verizon prepaid.

That is incorrect.

2. You're assuming therefore that I don't actually have 3g data.

Again, you are incorrect.

3. You are assuming that Verizon will deactivate my account, and yet I know several people who use the exact same setup and have been using it without problem for over a year, and in one case over 2 years.

Again, you are incorrect.

DW
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1. The only phone's offered on the 50$ Verizon prepaid plan are dumb phones. Prove it to me otherwise. I never assumed you flashed a dumb phone to Verizon. I said you used a dumb phone as donor phone to put your smartphone on Verizon.

2. Your right, I assume you don't have 3g either. But I said I didn't know. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Post a speed test and prove me wrong. Most dumb phones operate on 2g.

3. I said they "may" deactivate your account. In my experience a lot of companies let paying customers get away with things. Verizon knows you have a smartphone on a dumb phone plan. It's more of a matter if they care or not.

You're the incorrect one. PROVE. ME. WRONG.
 
SulkyAndroid17 said:
1. The only phone's offered on the 50$ Verizon prepaid plan are dumb phones. Prove it to me otherwise. I never assumed you flashed a dumb phone to Verizon. I said you used a dumb phone as donor phone to put your smartphone on Verizon.

2. Your right, I assume you don't have 3g either. But I said I didn't know. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Post a speed test and prove me wrong. Most dumb phones operate on 2g.

3. I said they "may" deactivate your account. In my experience a lot of companies let paying customers get away with things. Verizon knows you have a smartphone on a dumb phone plan. It's more of a matter if they care or not.

You're the incorrect one. PROVE. ME. WRONG.
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LOL, you're going back and editing your posts after the fact to bolster/substantiate your arguments....Obviously, further dialogue with you isn't going to accomplish anything.

If you're happy with Boost's coverage and their phone offerings, that's great.

I wasn't, and I did not realize until somewhat recently what the options were. Now that I know more, I'm sharing that info here. End of story....
 
Alright, I did add a "may". It was suppose to be there. Other edits are in my grammar. Sometimes the fingers don't quite keep up with how fast I think. I edit just about every post I write. Proper sentences are important to me. If I edited in the way you claimed, I doubt this thread would be coherent.

You're running away from this. All I asked for is proof. A few Google searches will back my claims. Would it do the same for yours?

From your post history, I get the impression you don't understand how phones and cellular networks work in the slightest.
 
Droidwerks said:
For people buying WiMax Boost phones now (like the S2) they're screwed I guess because they use WiMax for 4g....
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I am really waiting to see what spins out with WiMax. Last word was New Sprint was going to buy Clear. Which makes sense...They have a 4g network already built up for their 4g phones as well as having the ability to offer wireless internet for computers... Personally, i love my S2 but with how poor the radio is it makes the phone near useless when traveling (even on I95 where you can see the next tower) i don't trust i will be able to call for help if it is needed. I think your post does say one thing...the big cell providers are starting to recognize that people are comfortable paying more for the phone to not have a contract and i suspect we will eventually see the old post paid model die off. As far as being sc....ed, naw Sprint isn't going to kill the service. I suspect if they don't buy Clear (which i think they will) they will renew their contract.
 
rockdoctor1 said:
I am really waiting to see what spins out with WiMax. Last word was New Sprint was going to buy Clear. Which makes sense...They have a 4g network already built up for their 4g phones as well as having the ability to offer wireless internet for computers... Personally, i love my S2 but with how poor the radio is it makes the phone near useless when traveling (even on I95 where you can see the next tower) i don't trust i will be able to call for help if it is needed. I think your post does say one thing...the big cell providers are starting to recognize that people are comfortable paying more for the phone to not have a contract and i suspect we will eventually see the old post paid model die off. As far as being sc....ed, naw Sprint isn't going to kill the service. I suspect if they don't buy Clear (which i think they will) they will renew their contract.
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Yeah, I had the S2 on Boost and the reception was abysmal. Over at my GF's house inside I'd get maybe 1 bar--and her place is pretty much in the middle of town with no tall buildings, etc. My LTEvo on VZW gets 4 bars at the same house...
 
rockdoctor1 said:
I am really waiting to see what spins out with WiMax. Last word was New Sprint was going to buy Clear. Which makes sense...They have a 4g network already built up for their 4g phones as well as having the ability to offer wireless internet for computers... Personally, i love my S2 but with how poor the radio is it makes the phone near useless when traveling (even on I95 where you can see the next tower) i don't trust i will be able to call for help if it is needed. I think your post does say one thing...the big cell providers are starting to recognize that people are comfortable paying more for the phone to not have a contract and i suspect we will eventually see the old post paid model die off. As far as being sc....ed, naw Sprint isn't going to kill the service. I suspect if they don't buy Clear (which i think they will) they will renew their contract.
Click to expand...

WiMax is being retired, no doubt about it.

The point of buying back Clear is to have future bandwidth that could be used in various ways, including bridging systems or getting to LTE Advanced.
 
SulkyAndroid17 said:
2. Your right, I assume you don't have 3g either. But I said I didn't know. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Post a speed test and prove me wrong. Most dumb phones operate on 2g.

You're the incorrect one. PROVE. ME. WRONG.
Click to expand...

Sure, happy to.......:D
 

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Thank you for posting your speed test. I apologize for doubting you. If you posted that sooner, some of our argument could have been avoided.
 
So after a year with Boost I have switched to Cricket. The reason, poor service out side city limits. Oh well it was good while it lasted.
 
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