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Is wimax even worth turning on?

T

THEFORCE

Android Enthusiast
Hello all....I've been enjoying my evo so far with one huge complaint. I don't think wimax 4g is even worth having right now. First it is a battery hog, and second building penetration is terrible....i stay on wifi most of the time but when I do turn 4g it just doesn't am practical. Another thing is that sprint is really advertising this as a 4g phone but for the normal customer I would think they would beupset that their signal isn't reliable...well the point of this thread its to see how everybody else feels about wimax. And for those who want to call me a troll you can check my history.
 
im a normal customer and my 4g signal works. i keep 4g on daily along with BT wifi and gps. its worth it for me.

the evo is a 4g device. it takes time to build out a new network. i remember when digital cellular phone service rolled out. not all areas had that. it was awesome to see the "D" (digital) show up on my tiny nokia phone only to drop in some areas... but hey it was exciting! no internet then but it was still exciting.. lower battery consumption and cleaner voice calls... digital was the bees knees in the 90s! :D

im digressing... the internet was young then so you could not really see others complain or praise it. its unfortunate you dont have 4g or its not prominent in your area... if you go to a reliable 4g service area you will see how fast 4g is...
 
My real problem was building penetration...i was upset when my signal dropped from 3 4g bars to a fair our poor signal when I walked into walmart. The worst was I could see the tower. I hope this doesn't kill sprint 4g plans...thanks for your input
 
I wouldnt really go by how many bars you get. I get 1-0 bars and my speeds are 4.87Mbps down and .99 Mbps up.
 
I'm also wondering if the whole 'battery vs speed' tradeoff is worth it. By leaving 4G off, I can save big time on battery and I still am getting around 950kbps down in LA.

Maybe when 4G turns on I'll be convinced, but even still, 3G speeds are great where I am and the battery tradeoff just doesn't seem worth leaving the 4G radio on.
 
I havent even bothered and its not much of a big deal to me...Once the Network gets a little more saturated with 4G I'll Switch it on......4G wasnt the selling point for me on this phone
 
81_ said:
i leave it off unless i'm using it. works great at home.
Click to expand...

This.

Also, yes it's worth it (Richmond, VA):
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Ive actually been pretty impressed with Sprints 4G network roll out. Just look at what they have done in the last 7mos. 3G didnt roll out like this for ANY carrier. And, Sprints 3G is great, will definately hold me off till 4G arrives.. which at the current rate, I dont think will be too long.
 
I get a little 4g signal in my backyard (it goes off and on) and steady 1-2 bars of signal just 2 houses up the street. It's too spotty around here for me to leave the 4g radio on all the time so I just turn it on randomly to check for coverage then turn it back off. Even when I do get 4g signal around here (or when I have sat in the parking lot across the street from the 4g tower)....my speeds are under 2 mbps. I've tested it about 30 times in various areas around here and have never seen it go above 2 mbps while on 4g so it really hasn't been 'worth it' for me to use.
 
4G may be a hog but I ordered this 3000mAh battery from Hong Kong(crosses fingers) and hey i feel if I am paying 10.00 for it I use it and I love it cause if I turn off 4G my meter with sprint is still running lol, however much that 10.00 divides into my the 28 day bill cycle
 
4G is great, "IF" you're in an area where you can receive a strong signal. I'm currently sandwiched between 3 WiMax towers about 0.5-0.6 miles from my home, but I can only get a fair 4G signal if I place my EVO on a window pane facing in the direction of one of the towers. If I move to the interior of my house, no signal! Outside my house, I can usually get a good signal.

So, I turn 4G off when I'm at home and only turn it on when I know that I'm in an area with good 4G reception. 4G speeds are fantastic, but they need to add more towers in "fringe" areas, so the signals can penetrate buildings.
 
Living in Kansas City, MO, 4G coverage is actually pretty good. Clear is really painting this city very well with coverage. Anyhow, I don't really use 4G that much...even though I live and work (which is across the street...literally) in a great coverage area. At home, my EVO stays connected via WiFi and at work every now and then, I turn on 4G. But last weekend, 4G saved the day when a storm pushed through and knocked out my Time Warner service. Also, we are about to deploy a Clear 4G modem at work to see how well it works. I already did a test at the site we plan on using it at and honestly, I was surprised that there was 4G coverage there. So overall, 4G here is doing pretty well.
 
I live in a wimax town but still can't get a signal on either the Evo or my 4G modem card from my home. The times I can get a good signal it works great its very fast. I don't usually turn 4G on because im usually out of range.
 
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