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Carlnyc80
@rr.com

Carlnyc80

Anon

Sprint 4G

Sprint 4 G doesn't work indoors here in NYC. I have the Evo and I live in a 11th floor, but I don't get 4 G service when I am in my apt. However once I am outside I get service. I understand that its only has been one month since they launched here in NYC. The good thing is that most of the time when I am at work or somewhere I get 14 Down, and 1 or 2 upload.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

said by Carlnyc80 :

Sprint 4 G doesn't work indoors here in NYC. I have the Evo and I live in a 11th floor, but I don't get 4 G service when I am in my apt. However once I am outside I get service. I understand that its only has been one month since they launched here in NYC. The good thing is that most of the time when I am at work or somewhere I get 14 Down, and 1 or 2 upload.

So, just to be clear, you're saying that your workplace is outside, and that's why you get good reception at your workplace, correct?

Incidentally, Sprint is well aware that the majority of its WiMax coverage in NYC so far is street-level only. If you go to »coverage.sprint.com/IMPA ··· coverage and plug in a zip code for NYC (I'm in 10022), and then zoom in all the way, you will see a pattern that looks like Swiss cheese, with boxes of in-building coverage cheek-by-jowl with boxes of in-street coverage cheek-by-jowl with boxes of 3G coverage only.

I have no idea whether what we're seeing in their coverage maps represents the complete rollout that will change little if at all in the future, or whether this is something that will change gradually in a month-by-month process, or whether these maps are changing on a weekly or even daily basis.

But what I do know is that Sprint seems well aware that the WiMax rollout in NYC is spotty, at least for now, and have taken great pains to protect themselves from customer ire by going to great lengths to publicize that fact.

In my own case, for example, I'm at the corner of East 54th and 2nd Avenue. Take a look at that intersection. You will see that it does have in-building coverage -- barely. As you can also see, it is impossible to zoom in enough to see for sure which of the intersection's four corners has the in-building coverage and which, if any, don't.

For this reason, Sprint refused to guarantee my 4G service when I first upgraded, and continue to maintain that my 4G coverage is marginal.

Except that it ISN'T. My WiMax connection has been rock-solid from the day I upgraded. As some of you may know, Sprint has pre-throttled their WiMax service, at least in NYC and maybe across the country. They've imposed a 10mbps download speed cap and a 1mbps upload speed cap.

And guess what I'm getting? An average of 9 to 10 mbps download speed and an average of 1mbps upload speed.

In other words, I'm getting darn close to MAX SPEC with my current WiMax connection, clearly in-building coverage.

So don't tell me their in-building coverage isn't in-building coverage. It is, and I've got it, and it works.

The problem, of course, is that I'm one of the lucky ones. Looking at that Swiss cheese coverage map, I'd estimate roughly that they currently have about 20% of Manhattan covered with in-building capability. Some rollout! Let's hope this is only the beginning of rapid expansion over the next several weeks, rather than a weak lame status quo extending for the next few years. If the latter, and if this is typical of their coverage in other cities, then I agree that WiMax will lay a gigantic egg in the coming months and years, despite its dramatically superior pricing structure to that of the pathetic Verizon Wireless LTE.

Still, the fact is that I can personally attest that this is one network that works, and works very well, when properly implemented. Incidentally, I'd sure like to know how they're doing this in-building coverage. Are they putting towers on the sides of skyscrapers or on their roofs?