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Is the Virgin Mobile Network the same with Sprint?

W

w20031424

Member
I've heard that Virgin Mobile phones share Sprint networks. Now it comes two identical phones- HTC EVO 3D for Sprint V.S. HTC EVO V 4G for Virgin Mobile, so on the hardware side, it can be the same.

The problem is that is there any difference between the two carriers' network? Say, Sprint phones have a higher priority occupying the channel of the signal? If not, why would people pay an extra $30 to use Sprint instead of V.M.?
 
Virgin Mobile is set up for a different demographic market than Sprint. its designed for tweens, and pre paid customers who may be seen as high credit risk to top tier carriers.

why would people pay extra to use sprint? why would anyone pay extra to use sprint over ATT over VZW over Tmo? depends on ones needs.

sprint customers get priority on their own network, just as other carriers' customers do on their respective networks, with roaming partners playing second fiddle. nothing new here and that's to be expected.

how would you like to pay an extra 30 bux per month on sprint but your traffic on their network is throttled/lowered to make way for a 3rd party user who pays 30-50 dollars less and is on a smaller network BUT gets to roam first on YOUR network? :D

There is no problem. you cant take a sprint phone and just walk over to virgin. hardware is the same, but software and programming are different. Boost mobile users can find ways to get their phones "flashed" to work on Sprint...

YOU "heard" Virgin uses sprint? Well its not a secret:

Virgin Mobile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the United States, Virgin Mobile has a contract with Sprint Nextel for the use of their network.[9] Comparing the coverage maps of Sprint, Nextel and Virgin Mobile, it appears that Virgin Mobile uses the limited Nextel system. There is no roaming to other networks in the United States. On 28 July 2009, Sprint agreed to pay $483 million to purchase Virgin Mobile USA. The Federal Trade Commission later gave the go-ahead on the acquisition. Virgin Mobile USA was originally conceived as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Sprint, and uses Sprint's cellular bandwidth in the United States. Sprint retained the Virgin Mobile name after the deal closed.
Click to expand...
 
I've tested the 4G that Virgin Mobile uses. It's about 115ms, 3Mbps down and 1.5Mbps up, in the downtown of Salt Lake City. And the speed is basically the same with Sprint's one, according to several videos I saw on Youtube.
 
great, so hopefully your questions/concerns are answered.

do understand Virgin mobile users will not always have the same results speed wise as sprint customers. its the nature of the business, especially in top urban markets.

this all may change once network vision is fully up and running and sprint have converted their iDEN spectrum over to LTE advanced.
 
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