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VM and their roll out of 4G

buzzcon

buzzcon

Android Enthusiast
As you can see, VM really makes it tough for someone to decide what phone to upgrade to. For me it was between the Victory and S2. I went with the Victory because of price and 4G LTE. But, the way VM is rolling out 4G in our area, who really knows what, if any, 4G will actually be used where I live? Their coverage map looks like a crap shoot.

My question is, does anyone know what Sprint's/Virgin Mobile's plan is? What area's will get what?
 

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They have been pretty closed mouth about it. 4GLTE was one of the deciding factors for me as well, along with the smaller screen size than the S2 and S3. Here in Vegas, we don't have 4GLTE yet, but I have gotten a 4G signal four times in the past month, so I know they are upgrading and testing the equipment. I took speedtests during 3 of them, they are the top three in this pic, the next three are wifi, and the last one is 3G:
Screenshot_2013-07-07-17-21-04_zps73d89f15.png
 
I read an article that said they hope to have 4g Lte closely match existing 3g coverage by end if 2013, early 2014.

I'll see if I can dig the article up
 
I wouldn' trust that map too much, it says we have LTE in Vegas, but we don't. They are working on it, I've gotten 4GLTE four times in the past month, but it's definitely no rolled out completely.
 
JerryScript said:
I wouldn' trust that map too much, it says we have LTE in Vegas, but we don't. They are working on it, I've gotten 4GLTE four times in the past month, but it's definitely no rolled out completely.
Click to expand...

If you double check the legend, it does say the yellow pins located on the Vegas area are for LTE not officially launched but works in some areas. I think sensorly may give a better picture of where in Vegas maybe.I 'm stuck in Phoenix Arizona, one of the top largest cities in the U.S. and we don't even have a drop of LTE yet. And supposedly two smaller cities are getting them worked on first:rolleyes:
 
Tejer said:
I 'm stuck in Phoenix Arizona, one of the top largest cities in the U.S. and we don't even have a drop of LTE yet. And supposedly two smaller cities are getting them worked on first:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

This is why I posted the question. In Minnesota, they have 4G in the Twin Cities, and LTE is in some rural areas. I wonder if they are doing that as a way of testing it before a major roll out? Just seems kinda weird.
 
buzzcon said:
This is why I posted the question. In Minnesota, they have 4G in the Twin Cities, and LTE is in some rural areas. I wonder if they are doing that as a way of testing it before a major roll out? Just seems kinda weird.
Click to expand...

It seems that Sprint is completing smaller markets first so they can advertise that a greater number of cities they cover have LTE. IMO it's primarily a marketing decision.

Also, I would guess that there are environmental factors involved in deciding when to upgrade towers. You're not going to want to be upgrading cell towers in Minnesota in January, for example. :)

As a side note about LTE in Minnesota, even though Sprint/VM only shows official LTE in the St. Cloud area, there is a lot of LTE live throughout the Twin Cities. I'm on LTE almost everywhere I go in the northwest metro area, and Virgin Mobile has confirmed that Network Vision upgrades are occurring in my area. I can't wait until everything gets finished - both to get past service disruptions and to enjoy LTE all over!
 
aml1025 said:
Also, I would guess that there are environmental factors involved in deciding when to upgrade towers. You're not going to want to be upgrading cell towers in Minnesota in January, for example. :)
Click to expand...


Oh, come on, Minnesota in January is BEAUTIFUL! ;)


<----Minnesotan living in California
 
Tejer said:
If you double check the legend, it does say the yellow pins located on the Vegas area are for LTE not officially launched but works in some areas. I think sensorly may give a better picture of where in Vegas maybe.I 'm stuck in Phoenix Arizona, one of the top largest cities in the U.S. and we don't even have a drop of LTE yet. And supposedly two smaller cities are getting them worked on first:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Sensorly is useless unless you're checking the coverage near a major road.. the only coverage that shows up in it are near the roads..
 
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