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Speed compared to Sprint?

JAJameson2010

JAJameson2010

Android Enthusiast
I've been a sprint customer for about 3 years now... Been trying to stick it out with all the service hiccups. But the speed has been irritating me a lot lately.

Just did a speed test and my

pings 5169ms
Download 3kbps
Upload 28kbps

Is that awful speed according to T-Mobile? Does T-Mobile throttle data? I use a ton but the BF hardly uses a gig a month.

Thinking about switching when the Note 3 comes out. Although I don't think my jelly bomb rom would work on t-mobile.... What are the top Roms for this carrier?
 
T-Mobile is faster than Sprint in just about every comparable category except when comparing LTE. I assume that speed test you did was 1x, T-Mobile's slowest class is EDGE which tends to average 50-200kb/s. I haven't seen anyone on Sprint show 3g speeds above 2.5mbps, while T-Mobile 3g(HSPA) is usually anywhere from from 2mbps to 25mbps depending on location and if you have access to HSPA+21 or +42. LTE is probably comparable with most averaging 10-25mbps, but I've seen some speed tests up around 70mbps.

As far as roms go, it usually comes down to the phone and not the carrier. The phones with the most developer support currently are the Nexus 4, Galaxy S4, and HTC One.
 
Oh no that test was with solid 3g coverage! LOL

Reading around on the T-Mobile website and it looks like we can bring our current devices with us! We have the Note 2 and S3.

I'm going to call sprint this afternoon and see what my early termination fee is on the one line. The second line is already out of contract I think.

I guess we would have to flash both phones back to stock? They are both running jellybomb and I think it's only a sprint based rom.

Thanks for all the help! Makes me feel better about this leap.
 
There could be an issue with bringing your current devices. Sprint is a CDMA carrier and T-Mobile is a GSM carrier and the two technologies aren't cross compatible. If your current phones are global phones, it's likely you'll have limited access to their network due to not supporting the correct radio frequencies. The frequencies you're interested in are
EDGE/GPRS: 1900
HSPA/UMTS 1700/2100 and/or 1900
LTE 1700/2100

If they're not global phones, then they won't work at all and you'll need to get new phones.
 
Darn! They aren't world phones, so we would need new ones. But that also means we could sell the current phones to help finance the switch.

In that case it makes more sense to wait until the Note 3 is out so my phone would be an upgrade :-) haven't even looked at the specs or rumors since I've been happy with the Note 2.

My etf fee is $280, so with the $50 monthly savings it'll take 5.5 months to justify the move. Plus extra for the new phones... For the increased speeds it's worth it!

I'm in Wilmington Delaware so I should be in a decent coverage area
 
Sadly, JAJameson, your story is similar to mine. My Sprint speeds were 50kpbs down and 40 kbps up outside my house. 3G is horrible and I had a 4G/Wimax phone and wimax was scarce. So, I decided to make a switch and the Tmobile coverage in my area is just crazy good. I get 25 MBPS down and 20 MBPS up. No comparison.

Also, I use the $30 prepaid plan. If you don't need a lot of voice minutes, it is the best plan out there (100 minutes/UNL Text/UNL Data 4G speeds capped at 5GB)
I use VOIP apps and they work very well with my LTE coverage. I don't even come close to 5GB of data a month. I have wifi at work and at home. THis plan isn't for everyone but if you can get around the voice limitations, it's highly recommended.
 
That is a brilliant idea! Can any t-mobile phone be used as a prepaid? I'll buy a cheap prepaid then decide on whether to switch. Will also give me time to save up for the cost of new phones.

Are the data speeds slower on the prepaid?
 
Thanks! That is a very helpful thread. :-) now just to contain myself and take the time to think this whole thing through before I just jump in and buy something on ebay.... LOL it does look like the phone you got is the best but after reading through that thread. Will still be a shock after using the GN2 though. LOL
 
JAJameson2010 said:
That is a brilliant idea! Can any t-mobile phone be used as a prepaid? I'll buy a cheap prepaid then decide on whether to switch. Will also give me time to save up for the cost of new phones.

Are the data speeds slower on the prepaid?
Click to expand...

Technically, they are a "lower priority" than the postpaid or new T-Mobile plans (no longer postpaid) but if the coverage is great in your area, it's not even an issue. See my post above for my speeds on a prepaid plan.
 
SEMIJim said:
You're welcome. I thought it might be :)


Well, for the budget I had: Yes. The S2 might be a better choice, but I found no S2's in really nice condition, from highly-rated sellers, for less than the $200 range.

My running commentary on my 30-day experiment is in http://androidforums.com/t-mobile/755537-my-30-day-less-t-mobile-experiment.html

Jim
Click to expand...

Amaze, Sensation, Blaze, S2 are all great phones. Another one is the unlocked Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Swappa has some for $175
 
tube517 said:
Technically, they are a "lower priority" than the postpaid or new T-Mobile plans (no longer postpaid) but if the coverage is great in your area, it's not even an issue. See my post above for my speeds on a prepaid plan.
Click to expand...

Those are insane speeds! I doubt I will get coverage that good. I just spend an hour searching around on the Sensorly app and it looks like there might be some dead spots over in NJ where I rely on GPS often... But other than that coverage at my house and work seem like a very solid 3G.

Now I'm toying with the idea of just going to the T Mobile store tonight before I leave town. They have some 0 percent financing thing that would make my bill exactly what it is now with the 2 new phones. Then I could sell our current phones and pay the financing thing off within the next few months... And it's not even on a contract, so I could always cancel and go back to sprint if it's awful.

The new phones at T mobile are only approx $100 more each, compared to used ones I could find on ebay. Which would be worth it for a new phone that would have a longer life.

I am far to impatient. :P Right now I'm leaning towards going to the store tonight and taking the plunge. Hopefully logic and reason will kick in before then. LOL If not, I will report back the wonderfulness or the complete fail
 
Well I took the plunge! I never have been very good at having patience... LOL

Bought the phones online on Friday. (local store did not have a Note 2 in stock) T-Mobile website advised to pay for overnight shipping since we were porting the numbers over. Sprint shut off our service exactly 6 hours later! Which I find interesting since it took Sprint 4 days to complete the porting from Verizon Wireless years ago.

We were at the campground this weekend so we woke up Saturday and went to a T-mobile store in NJ. Maybe we could place an order in store there and then cancel or return the phones that were being shipped? It was a long shot and we completely expected to be told "sorry for your luck."

T-Mobile sure started this relationship out as an insanely happy one! They instantly offered us loaner phones that we could bring back next weekend when we were in NJ. They are just cheap non smart phones that we can barely even figure out how to work, but we can get phone calls and texts. Seriously, who knew Nokia was even in business anymore... LOL But this small thing kept us happy as clams! New phones are supposed to be delivered today and I'm planning on going to the local T-Mobile store to have them activate them since I think the loaner phone thing has complicated things.

Oh and the voice coverage on this cheap non smart phone has been amazing!!!!!!! I have full bars in my house. I never got coverage from in my house with Sprint. Very excited to see how the data is on the smartphone later on today :)
 
SWMBO? Single White Male Body Odor? Wow I feel old... LOL That's the best I can come up with. Assuming it's a SO (Significant Other)

I looked around at the phones that we wanted on ebay and it was approx $100 more for each phone just to get them new through T-Mobile, so that's what I went with. Was worth it to be to get the new phones vs used. Plus that 0% financing thing spread out over 2 years isn't too bad of a deal, if you can actually keep a phone for 2 years! Hoping I'll have the bulk of it paid off after I sell our current phone and two back up sprint phones that we have in a drawer. With the financing it makes the monthly bill exactly what I'm paying sprint right now.

Happy ebay hunting! Hope you can score a deal.
 
The phones came in the mail today. There is no comparison to the service at home. I have 4g lte inside my house! I couldn't even hold a phone call with sprint. Can't wait to see what is like at work tomorrow. I'm such a happy camper. *pats myself on back* for my horrible impulse control. So far it worked out great
 
JAJameson2010 said:
The phones came in the mail today. There is no comparison to the service at home. I have 4g lte inside my house! I couldn't even hold a phone call with sprint. Can't wait to see what is like at work tomorrow. I'm such a happy camper. *pats myself on back* for my horrible impulse control. So far it worked out great
Click to expand...

If I came here a few days ago, I could confirm sprint likes having all you can eat dust buffets and ping buffets. They are the slowest carrier! T-Mobile is a million times better!

Glad it worked for you!
 
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