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Review by Kiktrix See Profile

  • Location: Colorado Springs, El Paso, CO, USA
  • Cost: $35 per month
Cheap unlimited!
Deprioritized after 50GB
Cheap and reliable
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I've been a Sprint customer for a few years and considering I get unlimited for such a low price I cannot complain. I've only lost service once (under a bridge) and have LTE in all the places I travel to and fro. I've only encountered lack of service in rural Wyoming.

member for 6.5 years, 2037 visits, last login: 1 day ago
updated 4.1 years ago







Review by iansltx See Profile

  • Location: Austin, Travis, TX, USA
  • Cost: $51 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
In some areas, connectivity is awesome for mobile broadband, prices are great
3GB tethering cap, no really solid dedicated mobile hotspots, congestion in some areas
At my new location, Sprint appears to be the best mobile carrier for download speeds.
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UPDATE 6-9-18

I'm now (and have been for nearly six years) in Austin, Texas. Since the Mogul, I've had the HTC Touch Pro, Samsung Epic 4G (a Galaxy S variant), Galaxy S III, Nexus 5, Nexus 5X, Google Pixel (original), and now the Essential PH-1...and that's just phones that I've used with Sprint postpaid on the line I have now. I've also used various Sprint mobile broadband devices, including the Karma Go, MiFi 500, Netgear Zing, whatever Netgear calls their wired 4-port AC1900 router, and the ZTE Pocket WiFi. Plus a Galaxy Tab 7 of some vintage. The Pixel and Essential Phone appear to have comparable radio capabilities for use around here, and the Pocket WiFi is in the same league, so I'll based my experiences on those.

But before I do that, it's worth noting that Sprint has no truly great mobile hotspot device available right now. AT&T's Netgear Nighthawk device qualifies for that, but Sprint's ZTE Pocket WiFi will occasionally drop connectivity for a few seconds, despite being ~1500 feet away from the nearest cell site. My Essential Phone doesn't have this issue, so it's not the network. I hear the newer ZTE Warp isn't really any better, though it might not have the drops. Hopefully post-merger T-Mobile comes out with a device like the Nighthawk sooner or later, because I have no confidence in Sprint doing so in the next year.

Anyway, quality of service varies widely. In some areas, Sprint has three or more Band 41 LTE carriers, and devices made within the last few years (my first supporting the tech was the Nexus 5X) will carrier-aggregate across them for download speeds. As a result, I've seen 90 Mbps speeds for a few years now in the best parts of the network, and hit over 100 Mbps at times at my new condo (see my Time Warner Cable review for why this matters). Uplink carrier aggregation still appears not to be a thing though, so if you latch onto the B41 network you're going to max out at 5-6 Mbps up from what I've seen, though I also don't own any devices that have HPUE tech to blast upload signals a bit more forcefully and thus sustain higher data rates. More to this, Sprint flat-out doesn't have HPUE-capable mobile hotspots, apparently. But I'm getting off-track again.

The catch with Sprint is that some areas still have poor data connectivity. Part of that issue has been with baseband firmware, which particularly on the Essential Phone has not played well with the old Clearwire LTE sites still mixed into Sprint's network anywhere Clearwire used to have WiMAX (including here in Austin). But even with that aside, there are still areas where Sprint's network is too congested to be of much use. Fortunately I'm not in those areas much, and those areas are getting less common, but they're still a consideration.

That said, where I'm sitting right now, Sprint has higher download speeds, consistently, than any other mobile carrier...and the one wireline carrier serving this location at the moment. They're able to deliver that speed reliably, provided you use a phone rather than one of their hotspot devices, and they're dirt cheap as carriers go; I'm paying around $51 per month for unlimited everything on-phone plus 3GB of tethering. Not bad.

ORIGINAL REVIEW

I'm currently using my HTC Mogul smartphone for internet with Sprint's mobile broadband offering. Over the time I've had the service (since August) I've gone from EvDO Rev. 0 to Rev. A capability on the phone, and from cable to WiFi (MWiFiRouter) and Bluetooth tethering.

I must say that the connection is very reliable, if not terribly fast. Though the 800-1250 kbps downlink and 200-350 kbps upload speeds that I'm getting are probably the fault of my using a phone rather than an aircard.

Jitter is pretty bad on the connection, but again I attribute this to not using an aircard for data. Latency is generally under 250ms, sometimes even 150ms. Packet loss is decently low.

I live outside of town at home (vs. having a high bandwidth college link at school) and wireless is the only option for high speed internet, whether through a local WiSP (Bee Creek), Verizon, Sprint or satellite. I don't use my cellular connection as a main line at home due to bandwidth constraints on the Sprint side (I don't want to go over the new 5GB cap), but if they hadn't capped the service as of a few days ago I would be using them with an aircard as my main line of internet service.

If you use less than 5GB per month I'd still recommend Sprint's service as high=speed, relatively low-cost, and of course highly mobile. Unfortunately, even relatively heavy internet users (like me) will need to look elsewhere for a primary means of internet communications.

member for 17.1 years, 5506 visits, last login: 12 days ago
updated 5.8 years ago


EKS
@spcsdns.net

EKS

Anon

Reply to Iansltx - about a cellular mobile card

I just purchased the Novatel Ovation U727 with the unlimited $60/month plan. I live south of Elgin, Texas. The speeds you are talking about are faster than what I am experiencing. I am getting around 400-800 kbps download and usually less than 150-200 kbps upload. I thought it would be faster than phone as a modem, but I am not so sure. I used my phone as a modem a couple of times and it seemed fast enough. I don't have access to phone as a modem any more so I cannot give you a comparison. You can always check out if the broadband modems are fast enough to warrant the premium - there is a 30-day money back guarantee. Maybe the fact that my property is surrounded by trees and that my wireless DSL modem tower towers high above my house implies why I don't get a good signal.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Reply to Iansltx - about a cellular mobile card

Well, sometimes I can speedtest, in good signal, at 1.25 Mbit down, 350 up...but maybe there are just single T1's to each tower around here, and that would explain why I'm not getting such great speeds.

I may end up trying out the Compass modem, but with the 5GB per month limit it's really not worth even $50 a month for me.
danry25
Premium Member
join:2008-05-21
Seattle, WA

danry25

Premium Member

Why not Millenicom?

Millenicom is a sprint reseller that does not have a cap and you can use your current sprint card with their service. Check
out »millenicom.com/
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Why not Millenicom?

Have you been in the M'com forum? If you havent, you should check it out; I'm a bit of a regular there.

SMBB is currently my provider because it's part of my cellular plan. If I had a mobile broadband card with Sprint, it'd be with Millenicom, no doubt about it.

Review by dbiz See Profile

  • Location: Sparks, Washoe, NV, USA
  • Cost: $73 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 1 days

Sprint has served me well since 2001. It tends to jump ahead in tech, which is often right, but sometimes wrong. My legacy contract is through the VFW and gives me broad, free roaming rights when in the hinterlands. It’s urban and suburban service has been quite sound.

Buying Nextel was a mistake. T-Mobile, like Nextel, is TDMA. I hope the integration costs don’t make it a wrong move.

member for 24.1 years, 409 visits, last login: 188 days ago
updated 5.8 years ago







Review by gower2352 See Profile

  • Location: Linthicum Heights, Anne Arundel, MD, USA
  • Cost: $113 per month
  • No Cap
Price, Speed, Connection
Foreign Customer Service
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Unlimited freedom plan with 5GB hotspot data and the unlimited hot spot dial up 2G speeds which is so useless

member for 11.3 years, 90 visits, last login: 7 years ago
lodged 7.1 years ago







Review by vsat1tech See Profile

  • Location: Mercer, Mercer, PA, USA
  • Cost: $100 per month (24 month contract)
It works
1 GB of LTE, unlimited 2G speeds. $20/mo.
Samsung Galixy S7 with hotspot. This is a backup to my now defunked DSL
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member for 22.1 years, 34 visits, last login: 2.8 years ago
updated 7.8 years ago







Review by HaloFans See Profile

  • Location: undisclosed location
  • Cost: $55 per month
Decent unlimited data and text price. Voice coverage is better than t-mobile's. Offers Google Voice integration.
Data coverage is inconsistent but finally improving. Can't easily BYOD.
If you don't mind buying a new phone and are looking for a new service provider, then consider Sprint.
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A lot of hate for this provider, but I have used them for the past 6+ years to see how much the company has changed. Only recently for the better.

Sprint has many MVNOs that use its network.

Boost Mobile
Google Fi
RingPlus
Ting
Virgin Mobile

Check these options out before going to Sprint directly as prepaid as often cheaper.

»[4G Speed test: 15.06/4.31 54 ms]

member for 17.2 years, 1115 visits, last login: 6.8 years ago
updated 8.4 years ago


tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

Republic Wireless - another Sprint MVNO

My wife and I recently switched from Verizon to Republic. Republic Wireless has an interesting twist on Cellular: voice/text/Internet is Wi-Fi centric. If phone is connected to Wi-Fi it is used preferentially. They even have a Wi-Fi only plan. If Wi-Fi is not available phone uses the Sprint network and roams to Verizon.

Neither of us are heavy data users so their data refund plan works out well. Voice and text is unlimited. Plan has optional data buckets and the unused amount gets refunded on the next months bill.

Given the terrain here in NH cellular coverage can be pretty hit or miss. Sprint is pretty good along major roads (3G or LTE). At home both Sprint and Verizon are very weak but since at home phone is on Wi-Fi does not matter. Nice being able to use the phone in my basement office.

All in all happy with the service. Two lines/Moto phones with typical monthly cost of $30 for both.

/tom

HaloFans
join:2006-12-18

HaloFans

Member

Re: Republic Wireless - another Sprint MVNO

My only gripe about Republic Wireless is that you're severely limited to a selection of phones.

Of course Google Fi also has that problem, but you have updates directly from them where as Republic Wireless doesn't have that feature at all. Stagefright should be a wake up call to Republic and you if you don't think it's a big deal.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

Re: Republic Wireless - another Sprint MVNO

said by HaloFans:

but you have updates directly from them where as Republic Wireless doesn't have that feature at all.

Not sure exactly what you mean. All Republic phones are Moto Android, so Moto is the one to incorporate the Android patch into specific phone firmware. That gets released to RW which combines it with their magic sauce firmware, tests it and gets it blessed by Sprint, then pushes the release to customer phones. Rinse and repeat for each phone.

Other then the number of hands the patch passes through how is that different?

Agree about the limited phone selection and should also mention since Republic loads their own VoIP firmware you are locked into their customized phones. I'm not a very demanding smart phone user so the lack of models was not an issue.

/tom

HaloFans
join:2006-12-18

HaloFans

Member

Re: Republic Wireless - another Sprint MVNO

Things like the Moto E which was released last year already has no more updates (no marshmallow). That's terrible, and RW still sells it.

Review by Astyanax See Profile

  • Location: Satellite Beach, Brevard, FL, USA
  • Cost: $108 per month
Great $50/month
Speeds could be higher but not bad.
I think Sprint is underrated and gets a worse rap than it deserves but it does need improvement.
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My Other Reviews

·AT&T FTTP
I got their $50/month "unlimited iPhone" deal right after Christmas 2014 when the iPhone 6 came out last year. I ordered the phone through Sprint's web site and got my 128 GB gold iPhone 6 in two days. I felt the order process was straightforward enough and got my phone number ported from AT&T in a few minutes. The remaining monthly cost is for the 0% financing of the iPhone on their "Easy Pay" plan and taxes.



I think Sprint is underrated and gets a worse rap than it deserves but their speed does need improvement.

member for 21.3 years, 5057 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 8.4 years ago


Review by goofy256 See Profile

  • Location: Woodbridge, Prince William, VA, USA
  • Cost: $33 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
Good reception at all locations where I need a phone and no dropped calls
All good
Through Virgin Mobile
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Virgin Mobile iPhone5

member for 19 years, 977 visits, last login: 1 day ago
lodged 8.5 years ago







Review by Rakeesh See Profile

  • Location: Mesa, Maricopa, AZ, USA
  • Cost: $270 per month (24 month contract)
You can talk without a cord.
Slowest data rates, unreliable service, idiot tech support, horrible customer service
Don't even think about it.
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EDIT 21-JUN-2014: I switched to t-mobile in February of 2013. If you're with Sprint and you're on the fence about T-Mobile, just stop thinking about it and switch already. T-Mobile is night and day better, especially in the Phoenix area, not only that but I reduced my bill to only $114 a month for 5 lines, and unlike Sprint I get unlimited talk/text/data with the standard 1.5GB 4g limit. I've been offered numerous times to upgrade to unlimited 4G for another $15 more than I currently pay, but I've found that I never exceed the 1.5GB anyways, so I don't need it. In any case though:

DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO SPRINT.

---Original review follows---

I've been a Sprint subscriber for 9 to 10 years now. In the beginning, it was good. Although it wasn't the tip top service in the world, it was inexpensive and they always had coupons and the premier program ready to hand out.

Over the last four years, all of this slowly faded away. First, they scaled back the discount from applying to all 5 lines to only 3 lines. Lame, but whatever, was still a good price. Then it went from 3 to 2 lines, and then 2 to 1 line. My corporate discount went from about $150 a month off to $25 a month off over the span of 18 months. What assholes, but that's not all.

You realize that you pay $10 extra for what they call "premium data" for each smartphone you have. Thing is, there's nothing premium about it. Their 3g data is literally slower than every MVNO's 2g speed. I live in the 6th largest city in the US, and they still don't offer 4g. Not only does every other carrier do 4g, but even several MVNO's also do 4g, in fact they've had 4g since only a few months after Sprint called themselves the first 4g network. Not only that, but some carriers even do 3g much faster than what sprint calls their 4g.

Sprint should rename their company to Crawl. They should then change their slogan from "The now network" to "It's perpetually coming soon" because for years they've been saying a major upgrade is only a few months away, and none ever comes. They have a stupid chart on their website that tells which towers are being upgraded soon, have just been upgraded, etc. Thing is, these have to be minor changes, because you never observe sh*t for a difference. Meanwhile their support people tell you how many upgrades are coming soon based on the same data, but they don't know a damn thing.

Also their tech support are morons. I bought my dad a Galaxy Nexus on Amazon, and had him take it to the Sprint store to activate it. They provisioned it wrong, and then told him that the phone was defective and that he's SOL because we got it third party. Pissed off, I de-provisioned it (to clean up their mess) and then told them try it again. Sure enough, it worked, no thanks to those dipsh*ts trying to take it out on us for not buying from them.

Also, their $150 off of a phone upgrade is a scam. When I was in the Army, we had a Jody that went like this: "They say that in the Army, the pay is mighty fine. They give you a hundred dollars, and take back ninety-nine." That of course, was a joke, the Army actually did me a lot of favors. However Sprint missed the sarcasm and applied it to their upgrade policy: they give you $150 and take back $36. Used to be there was no activation fee, then there was one but you could talk your way out of it, now there's no getting out of it at all. Then on top of it, you get a two year commitment with horrible data rates and moron customer service.

Stay away from Sprint and their fscktastic service. You've been warned.

member for 12.4 years, 1647 visits, last login: 1 year ago
updated 9.7 years ago

kdouglas10
Premium Member
join:2002-10-04
Jacksonville, FL

kdouglas10

Premium Member

Above Is Correct - Maybe Even Understated

Thank you for the above. As soon as I get my mess cleared up (only 6 weeks into it now after making the mistake of walking into a 3rd Party Reseller instead of a Sprint Corporate Store) I will publish my tales of woe and disservice going back 15 years. Like you, I stayed because they gave you things and I had a plan from 10 years ago with a couple of Premier Perks that made it worthwhile. No longer.

Anyway - no details until I am made whole again. Have recouped almost $400, but have a ways to go, yet. Thank you for sharing what is absolutely correct.

Two additional points:

1) Do NOT even think about an iPhone (or anything Apple) on the Crawl Network. My Novatel 2200 & iPod Touch was minimum 30% faster than an iPhone 5 on the same 3G Network. A Sprint tech explained why in a technical way - the layman's summary is Apple kludged together something to get their phones on our 3G network, but all comm goes through their servers so yeah, it is dogsh$t slow.

2) If you are a Sprint customer you need to check everything about your bill every month. As you may know, Comcast provisions your cable packages using codes. So when we recently upgraded hidef cable package, we were getting ESPNU in ONLY lo-def and not getting the Travel Channel at all. Technician comes to the house and says, yep, they failed to put in the codes for those two channels, and had it fixed after a 7 minute call to the new South Florida Ops Center.

Sprint runs at least some of their provisioning like this, so if at one time CEO Hesse thanked you for being a Premier customer by giving you a perk, provisioning was done by inputting a code into your billing details. FOLKS - if those codes are ever accidentally wiped out (or expire as several are set to do), then they are never coming back - No Way - No How - Absolutely Not, regardless of what some sweet-talking pig-eyed sack of s*it has promised you when you picked up your new phones.

So AVOID Sprint 3rd Party Resellers more than you would the Swine Flu (just ask when you enter the store). Current customers - take the time to check your bill and question any new and unusual charges (cause the same folks who can't run their web-sites are preparing your billing charges). Hopefully at some point a sharp lawyer will initiate a class action suit against Crawl for deceptive marketing, fraud, failure to deliver, etc. In the meantime...

Go with a real phone company. If data speed is what you need, (God help me I thought I would NEVER say this), go with AT&T 3G/4G (sortof); or for half-ass fast and nicer CSRs, chose Verizon. I have personally verified on 4th gen iPod Touch (with FCC speed check by OOKLA) hooked to wifi pucks 11.5 MB/s down on AT&T and 4.85 MB/s down with Verizon. My daughter's company has just changed after 2 years iPhone use from AT&T to Verizon and she says VZN data speeds suck on her iPhone. Course, YMMV, but the reviews are readily available by utilizing Google. Check Google for mobile data package reviews and CHECK YOUR SPRINT BILL!

May Sprint sometime soon crawl off into the sunset.
Rakeesh
join:2011-10-30
Phoenix, AZ

Rakeesh

Member

Re: Above Is Correct - Maybe Even Understated

Yeah I have to check my sprint bill MONTHLY. Every now and then I get a charge that wasn't supposed to be there. One time a person on one of the phones on my account swapped his phone for a used one, and they stuck an activation fee on it. They explicitly tell you that there's no activation fee for used phones, but they billed it anyways.

There's always SOMETHING wrong with the bill.

Also, speak of their website, they are complete morons. The system you use to check your bill, minutes, etc, is down every night.

Review by swintec See Profile

  • Location: Alfred, York, ME, USA
  • Cost: $35 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 4 days
Everything!
Spotty service at times out in the boonies.
Vastly underrated cell company
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March 2014 Update- LTE has been launched around me and the areas that i travel locally. Speeds are great. They have also repurposed the nextel spectrum which has helped with coverage in my area and many other areas around the country. They are improving as a whole every month.

December 2011 Update- Still loving my Sprint service. I also have their new 3G / EVDO Airave device so I get full service in my home. Spots of 4G have also popped up around me, but 4G coverage is still to spotty to be reliable.

March 2010 Update- Still very happy with my Sprint service. Data coverage has gotten better I think, although that may have something to do with better equipment coming out over the years. Would love to see 4G service come up this way, but I may be waiting awhile. Sprint has really improved in all areas within the past couple of years as well. Highly recommend!

I have the Sprint Fair and Flexible plan for $30 per month. This includes 500 anytime minutes with unlimited nights and weekends starting at 7 PM. I also get unlimited messaging and data. This package can not be beat! Data speeds are usually around 1 MBit down which is perfectly fine for me as I really only use it as backup or if I am in an area with no Wi-Fi. I am always very cautious with my usage as there have been reports of users getting warning letters about using data on there phone without a Phone as Modem plan...so I will play nice.

I also have the Sprint Airave device which is essentially a mini-cell tower for your home that plugs into your router. Before this device, I had MAYBE 1 bar if I was lucky. I now have FULL service in my home.

The Fair and Flexible plan that I am on is currently discontinued for new customers at the price I am paying, so to say the least, they will have to pry this plan from my cold dead hands!

Customer support has always been great when i have needed to cal them about an issue.

I totally recommend Sprint cell and data services to anyone.

member for 20.2 years, 9491 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 10 years ago


Smile__
Premium Member
join:2008-10-10
New Freedom, PA

Smile__

Premium Member

So true!!

I have the same for two of my phones and an aircard.. Love it!!