Should I stay or leave?

[zeth006]

Hey guys,

I've been with a VM customer for over a year. Got the $25/month plan, flashed a Samsung Intercept (outdated, I know!), and enjoyed 0.7mbps speeds both in LA and SF. Watched the speeds decline to 300kbps over the year, didn't raise too many complaints. It was only when I noticed Sprint was making several data/network tower upgrades in my area without increasing my speeds when I started becoming a mad camper.

My recent Speedtest.net benchmarks show my download speeds being anywhere between 80-200kbps during the day and rising to 300kbps at about 12:30am in the morning, which is right about now. I've spoken to others about this, and the theory seems to be Sprint is already throttling VM users to basically make life as easy as possible for iPhone postpaid customers. I know Sprint slows down VM connections, but geez! Make it usable!

So here's my question. Should I stay with Virgin Mobile, or leave for T-Mobile for good and sell my $25/month grandfathered plan? Is there any chance Sprint will do something--anything--that will bring my download/upload speeds to what they were when I first signed on? My friend who's soon due to upgrade his HTC G2 on T-Mobile gets speeds ranging from 2mbps to 8mbps here in SF which makes me super jelly. I don't really need those speeds, to be honest. I mostly read the news, sometimes stream music, and would LIKE to be able to use Navigation on data speeds that are fast enough to download maps in real time. I'm a little afraid my summer job will require me to use my phone to keep in touch with my boss. I'd rather not go to straight talk and pay $15 more for month, so I've decided that in the rare months when I have to go over 100 minutes, I can just use my balance.

What do you guys think? I've created a poll. VM or TMO? Am I being too optimistic by hoping Sprint will change, or is VM that hot yet crazy girlfriend I need to ditch?

And on a broader note, have any of you VM people in LA, SF, or other major cities noticed any improvements lately in speeds?

 

[MRCMidnight]

Personally I would love to stay with Virgin Mobile for the low price of $25 a month on a grandfather account, but lately Virgin Mobile decided to increase prices for new users and throttle the data speeds from a nice and hefty 5GB to 2.5GB at "normal" speeds and the download speeds as been low for some time. I can't complain as I use WiFi when I can. 300 minutes is very nice for a family member who needs to make quick calls everyday.

I wish I could move to T-Mobile soon (with the $30/mo 100min, 5GB plan) but I have not saved enough money to make the move yet. Honestly, if you want more data on the go, barely talk on the phone and can afford pricey phones (not just T-Mobile phones), go with T-Mobile. If you love the cheap price every month and have alot of WiFi access everywhere you go and need the minutes, stay with Virgin Mobile. I Ultimately voted you move to T-
Mobile because I see you love to use your data based on your preference.

I am from Oakland, California (east of San Francisco) and my data is sublime recently (from 120kbps~400kbps), last year when I had the Triumph I had a nice range of 300kbps~750kbps if I am lucky. All the speeds are taken during the day.

 

[zeth006]

Personally I would love to stay with Virgin Mobile for the low price of $25 a month on a grandfather account, but lately Virgin Mobile decided to increase prices for new users and throttle the data speeds from a nice and hefty 5GB to 2.5GB at "normal" speeds and the download speeds as been low for some time. I can't complain as I use WiFi when I can. 300 minutes is very nice for a family member who needs to make quick calls everyday.

I wish I could move to T-Mobile soon (with the $30/mo 100min, 5GB plan) but I have not saved enough money to make the move yet. Honestly, if you want more data on the go, barely talk on the phone and can afford pricey phones (not just T-Mobile phones), go with T-Mobile. If you love the cheap price every month and have alot of WiFi access everywhere you go and need the minutes, stay with Virgin Mobile. I Ultimately voted you move to T-
Mobile because I see you love to use your data based on your preference.

I am from Oakland, California (east of San Francisco) and my data is sublime recently (from 120kbps~400kbps), last year when I had the Triumph I had a nice range of 300kbps~750kbps if I am lucky. All the speeds are taken during the day.

Yeah, I do use data, but not heavily. Arggggg. Decisions decisions!

 

[jm101]

Personally I would love to stay with Virgin Mobile for the low price of $25 a month on a grandfather account, but lately Virgin Mobile decided to increase prices for new users and throttle the data speeds from a nice and hefty 5GB to 2.5GB at "normal" speeds and the download speeds as been low for some time. I can't complain as I use WiFi when I can. 300 minutes is very nice for a family member who needs to make quick calls everyday.

I wish I could move to T-Mobile soon (with the $30/mo 100min, 5GB plan) but I have not saved enough money to make the move yet. Honestly, if you want more data on the go, barely talk on the phone and can afford pricey phones (not just T-Mobile phones), go with T-Mobile. If you love the cheap price every month and have alot of WiFi access everywhere you go and need the minutes, stay with Virgin Mobile. I Ultimately voted you move to T-
Mobile because I see you love to use your data based on your preference.

I am from Oakland, California (east of San Francisco) and my data is sublime recently (from 120kbps~400kbps), last year when I had the Triumph I had a nice range of 300kbps~750kbps if I am lucky. All the speeds are taken during the day.

I am from Oakland too. Don't get me started on those speeds sometimes. T-Mobile's no contract plans look good but the upfront cost for a decent phone is the killer part.

 

[zeth006]

I am from Oakland too. Don't get me started on those speeds sometimes. T-Mobile's no contract plans look good but the upfront cost for a decent phone is the killer part.

Yeah, a used yet mint condition G2x cost me $210. It's nice even with the extended battery.

 

[Shadow300]

Why would you need speeds greater than 300 kbps anyway? If you're watching youtube all the time, you run your 2 gb pretty quickly anyway. 300 kbps is plenty fast to surf the web. Now, if you're willing to pay for the luxury of 4g, then you should do it. If I could afford it, I would be paying 4g without question, and probaly have the iphone 4s lol or the motorola razr which is amazing lol

 

[zeth006]

Why would you need speeds greater than 300 kbps anyway? If you're watching youtube all the time, you run your 2 gb pretty quickly anyway. 300 kbps is plenty fast to surf the web. Now, if you're willing to pay for the luxury of 4g, then you should do it. If I could afford it, I would be paying 4g without question, and probaly have the iphone 4s lol or the motorola razr which is amazing lol

Well to add a bit of context to the 300kbps number, it only hits that speed maybe once in a blue moon during the middle of the night. Otherwise, my speeds this past week have been about 80-120kbps. I'd be more inclined to stick with VM if it were consistently at least 300kbps.

 

[j0nh]

For us, it's all about what we can afford.
Would I love an iPhone? Sure!
Can I afford the kind of $$ that those plans cost through AT&T or Screwrizon? No way!

 

[AmishFury]

300 kbps is plenty fast to surf the web.

i take it you never view image heavy websites

this is "best case scenario" for when i'm at work where i get the best data speeds from VM

nearly everywhere else is 300kbps or under for me and trying to do anything at those speeds is slow at best

don't want to post the speeds i get from straight talk but... stock 2.3, CM7... places where VM gives me 300Kbps and under i easily get 1Mbps+

i'll miss my $25/mo but i won't miss slow data

 

[ohyeahyeah]

Well, I had thought about this too. been wanted to switch to either GSM Sim Str8talk or Tmobile, which are $45 or $50 a month(still inexpensive considered)... but I don't think I can find anywhere $25 a month that has 300 mins(Tmobile has $30 but only 100mins). so what the 3G Sprint VM a little slow, but I use WiFi at home and my G/f house anyway. Also the VM calls never dropped on me, not even once. compares to my old with Sprint service not only calls dropped all the time and they charged arms and legs.. VM has cheap phones, that's good in a way coz if it lost or broke I can always get another $100 phone without spending $300 to $400 for a new phone. Amazon always had good prices VM phones.. maybe oneday I'll switch, but for now I guess Im staying. VM calls never dropped on me - this is a big plus for me.