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Sprint Bounces Back in PC Magazine Wireless Speed Survey

PC Magazine's latest wireless speed test shows that Verizon Wireless continues to take top honors when it comes to the fastest US network. But the survey also shows that T-Mobile is close on Verizon's heels, with Sprint making some notable progress in its quest to shore up a lagging US network. According to PC Magazine, Verizon Wireless had the fastest speeds in more cities and rural areas than any other carrier, with T-Mobile taking second place. Sprint actually edged out AT&T in national tests to take third.

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"The real drama in these tests has been watching T-Mobile and Sprint come back from their doldrums a few years ago," states the magazine. "T-Mobile is either first or second in most cities now, a change that really took effect last year."

Sprint has been the butt of jokes as the company endlessly promises the network users really wants is just around the corner. But despite some continued financial woes, the study found Sprint has made some dramatic improvements across the 30 cities measured in the 42 page report.

"Sprint won three cities this year, and while it's still in fourth place nationwide, it placed third or second in many cities," states the report. "Factor in how cheap Sprint's service plans are right now, and it becomes a carrier worth considering again."

All of that said, being the best of a bad bunch doesn't make you automatically good. A study earlier this year found that the United States was actually 55th in terms of global LTE speeds, meaning all US providers, Verizon included, still have a lot of work to do as these companies begin looking toward fifth generation wireless on the horizon.

Most recommended from 29 comments



TestBoy
Premium Member
join:2009-10-13
Irmo, SC

8 recommendations

TestBoy

Premium Member

I literally changed carriers just today...

To T-Mobile.

I have been running a Google Fi phone for two weeks and I tested it one week on Sprint and the next on T-Mobile.
I was already an AT&T customer but since I vote with my dollars I decided that AT&Ts business practices did not align with mine.

T-Mobile actually has better coverage in two places that are important to me: Work and home.
Two years ago the opposite was true - AT&T was better.
At home I used to drop down to HSPA on AT&T all the time - which is fine.
T-Mobile holds solid.
Same at work.
Oh, and VoLTE works on my Nexus 6P. Not so with AT&T. They want you to use their phones.....

Don't know what's happened to AT&T... but it's declined fairly consistently over the last two years in both quality of service and it's anti-consumer business practices.
I guess that's why their porting ratio was like 2:1 to AT&T last quarter as I recall?

Sprint?
Non-starter.
My Google Fi phone roamed onto Verizon CDMA all the time when I had it forced to Sprint.
Their LTE speeds were ... ~5-10 down which is fine.
Call quality was OHMYGODBAD.
No VoLTE...

I really want to like Sprint and the reason for that is to have a solid fourth competitor.
But they really need to get their network in check and I hope this is a good sign.

CompTech210
join:2008-09-14
College Station, TX

2 recommendations

CompTech210

Member

Sprint Still Sucks

I had sprint for almost 14 years and I will never ever use them again even if they are the only carrier left in the US.

After years and years of lack luster service and failed promises that upgrades were coming I finally had enough when my phones stopped being basic phones. Multiple replacements and reprogramming attempts couldn't fix mine or my families issues.
I could have dealt with the lack luster speeds and dropped data sessions but when called would ring on the other end and I wouldn't receive them on my end.
The last straw was when my family couldn't get a hold of myself or my father when we were both home and my phone had 5 bars of "LTE" service and my grandfather ended up in the hospital. They finally were able to reach me when they called my work AT&T iPhone and that call went through with no issue.

Personally after that experience and many failed promises I had enough and switched to Verizon. That was the best decision I ever made and yes I may be paying a little more but the network just "WORKS"
So I really hope Sprint goes under and someone else with a clue buys them up and cleans out the house.
mxyztplk
join:2003-07-24
San Jose, CA

1 edit

2 recommendations

mxyztplk

Member

Detailed Metrics for Signal Strength and Speed by Location

RootMetrics drives vans throughout the U.S. measuring this stuff and selling the raw data for a living.

So, if you want to see detailed summary maps, down close to the block level, for the locations that affect you, by carrier and protocol, see:
»webcoveragemap.rootmetri ··· om/en-US

For their most recent (2H2015) external high level summary report, see:
»rootmetrics.com/us/blog/ ··· ional-us

Gilitar
join:2012-02-01
Mobile, AL

2 recommendations

Gilitar

Member

Coverage is more important

Coverage is and will remain Sprint's downfall. Who really needs more than about 6-8 mbps on a phone? So in saying that all the carriers meet that requirement but only two have coverage worth a crap.
mist668
join:2011-02-15
Middleburg, PA

2 recommendations

mist668

Member

Yawn

Cover more than interstates sprint and I'll take you seriously.