Changing from Verizon to Sprint

[dyson]

I was with Sprint for a while and switched to verizon. There are areas where i had great reception with sprint and no no reception with vz, i was pretty disappointed. The areas where verizon improves is only marginally (1 bar). I think the difference is not that huge between the two. The unlimited any mobile to mobile of sprint was nice tho.

[Hot Holster]

My Sprint service dropped calls just about everywhere I travelled including to California, or in some cases I never received a signal usually further northern states. It was especially bad here in Florida. Customer service was poor. I changed to Verizon around 2005/2006 and haven't looked back.

[desertexplore]

Lots of expert advice so far. As a non expert- I am happy with my Sprint phone and unlimited wireless in Nor Cal. I use it alot for a streaming daily show.

As said prior, Sprint uses VZ's towers as well. And Sprint is going to LTE4 soon, right?

Good luck

[Bobby Ricigliano]

My overpriced cellphone bill from Verizon is worth it because I get 4G LTE just about everywhere, including the high rise building I work in. I was also able to keep my unlimited data plan from my old phone because I have two other lines, and one of them was a non-smart phone. I don't understand exactly how that shamalam worked but I still get unlimited.

[vliberatore]

Lots of expert advice so far. As a non expert- I am happy with my Sprint phone and unlimited wireless in Nor Cal. I use it alot for a streaming daily show.

As said prior, Sprint uses VZ's towers as well. And Sprint is going to LTE4 soon, right?

Good luck

Network vision done by mid-2014

[NastyNate]

Verizon has the best coverage in the US at the moment. That is not going to hold true forever-especially with the deployment of small cells.

Funny how you failed to mention how Sprint owns more spectrum than Verizon or ATT. In fact, Sprint owns the most spectrum of any wireless carrier in the US. LTE is offered in 120+ markets and growing. Sprint may be behind at the moment but that does not hold true forever. Your knowledge of Sprint isn't quite accurate anymore.


If anyone has any gripes with what I've posted, I work in network engineering at Sprint.

You mean, you work for Ericsson, for Sprint? Please elaborate as to which info in my post was incorrect?

Sprint has always held a lot of spectrum, nothing new there. It's somewhat of a moot point as, they don't really have the leadership to capitalize on that competitive advantage. In the same manner, you can be a company sized element with unlimited supply lines, machine gun emplacements, a hardened defensive position, superior weaponry and be overran by a platoon, because you lacked proper tactics.

Multiple failed business ventures have resulted in many investors cutting their losses with Sprint and as a last resort, Sprint uses what little of their shareholdings as bargaining chips to entice new investors.This weakens the brand IMO. Prime examples of failed ventures being, 1. the Nextel acquisition. Sprint takes a huge risk to acquire an incompatible network gambling that they will be able to migrate all existing Nextel users and gain that market share. That didn't work out to well as first responders didn't want to give up their PTT function so instead of generating revenue, it was a huge loss that Sprint continued to pay for over a decade. Then there is Clearwire. Investing billions in a sub par, non LTE capable 4G technology and then dumping them at the last minute and not giving them a seat on the Vision bus. How many billions of dollars is it costing Sprint to change out the Wi-Max BBU cards to the Vision cards? Why not just do it right the first time?

I don't think Sprint will ever be a price maker in this industry in my lifetime. They are price takers, selling a lower QOS, a substandard product and have to settle for a backseat because the lack of leadership that has failed the organization.

Sprint is in a better cash position than they have ever been in and probably in a better position than Verizon and ATT. Many of the losses were attributed to shutting down the iDEN (Nextel) network. In case you weren't aware, SoftBank (Japanese telecom firm) has invested approximately $21.6 billion in Sprint for a 78% stake. Sprint finally has the capital to upgrade their network and utilize their spectrum.

Wasn't iDen supposed to play an integral part in the Vision package initially?

I wish your organization the best of luck. It will keep things interesting. Ingenuity is the result of competition and consumers stand to benefit from an enhanced Sprint user experience. It will prompt the price makers to step their game up and in the end, consumers win and the industry continues to explode.

Did you ever work in any of the SoCal markets? We might have worked together.

[Stanze]

I carry two smartphones. One is a personal Verizon Samsung Stratosphere and one is a work provided Sprint 4G Evo. The Sprint phone is overall spotty coverage in San Diego, went to 4G once or twice. I traveled with my phones and observed consistent 4G service on my Sprint phone in Atlanta GA. The Verizon 4G has consistent 4G coverage.

The Verizon phone is what I use to make personal calls and my Sprint phone takes better pictures and video and is my back up phone since the battery lasts longer than my Verizon phone (which I haven't got around to replacing).

I often have to hot spot my Verizon phone and connect my Sprint phone to it to upload pics and video on Verizon's network.

[vliberatore]

You mean, you work for Ericsson, for Sprint? Please elaborate as to which info in my post was incorrect?

Sprint has always held a lot of spectrum, nothing new there. It's somewhat of a moot point as, they don't really have the leadership to capitalize on that competitive advantage. In the same manner, you can be a company sized element with unlimited supply lines, machine gun emplacements, a hardened defensive position, superior weaponry and be overran by a platoon, because you lacked proper tactics.

Multiple failed business ventures have resulted in many investors cutting their losses with Sprint and as a last resort, Sprint uses what little of their shareholdings as bargaining chips to entice new investors.This weakens the brand IMO. Prime examples of failed ventures being, 1. the Nextel acquisition. Sprint takes a huge risk to acquire an incompatible network gambling that they will be able to migrate all existing Nextel users and gain that market share. That didn't work out to well as first responders didn't want to give up their PTT function so instead of generating revenue, it was a huge loss that Sprint continued to pay for over a decade. Then there is Clearwire. Investing billions in a sub par, non LTE capable 4G technology and then dumping them at the last minute and not giving them a seat on the Vision bus. How many billions of dollars is it costing Sprint to change out the Wi-Max BBU cards to the Vision cards? Why not just do it right the first time?

I don't think Sprint will ever be a price maker in this industry in my lifetime. They are price takers, selling a lower QOS, a substandard product and have to settle for a backseat because the lack of leadership that has failed the organization.



Wasn't iDen supposed to play an integral part in the Vision package initially?

I wish your organization the best of luck. It will keep things interesting. Ingenuity is the result of competition and consumers stand to benefit from an enhanced Sprint user experience. It will prompt the price makers to step their game up and in the end, consumers win and the industry continues to explode.

Did you ever work in any of the SoCal markets? We might have worked together.

No, I mean I work for Sprint. NE has been back with Sprint for a while now. I agree with you about failed ventures, but IMO the SoftBank acquisition gives Sprint the capital to actually utilize their spectrum. The shutdown of iDEN has always been a part of Network vision as far as I know, but I'm also relatively new here.

Please, don't mistake me trying to paint a more complete picture as being a fanboy for my company. Get what service is best for you. I was just trying to correct some things with various posts that I saw and add some inside input.

No I haven't worked in the SoCal markets. I do engineering planning and readiness so I deal completely internally.

[ibanezfoo]

In all honesty, Tmobile sounds like it would be the best for me and my family plan. However, when pricing out plans, I don't like how you pay monthly for 2 years for the phone. Not that other carriers don't do that, but I just don't like the idea of paying $25 for the next 24 months. I understand that Tmobile also offers an unlimited plan, anyone know if this is something you'll be able to keep the life of the company like Sprint?

You don't have to pay the monthly fee, you can just buy the phone outright. At least Tmobile gives you this option rather than hiding the cost of the phone in your 2 year contract.

[304tmt]

Sprint sucks! I'm switching to Verizon. I have service upstairs but of I go down stairs I get nothing. If I go across the street I get no service. I looked at their "coverage" map and I'm in a 4G area and when I do get service its barely 3g. My girlfriend has Verizon and gets 4G everywhere in our house and neighborhood!

[the86d]

You don't have to pay the monthly fee, you can just buy the phone outright. At least Tmobile gives you this option rather than hiding the cost of the phone in your 2 year contract.

T-Mobile no longer gives options, you pay full retail (+some) of the phone.
You cannot get a subsidized phone any longer with them.

[MaHoTex]

Although I am concerned with data/service at the moment, I am also thinking about the future (hence having unlimited voice/text/data). I believe Vliberatore when he says that service will catch up eventually, but I'm also taking everything with a grain of salt.

I've got a lot to think about still. I know VZW's service and coverage probably the best, I'm just sick of them as a carrier though, and want to make a change. Thanks again for your info and opinions guys.

I will say this one last time and I do wish you luck in your decision, whatever that may be.

SoCal is not a good area for Sprint. If you are switching to Sprint from Verizon for data reasons, you are making a mistake. They have been getting ready to "flip the switch" on 4G for 3 years now. If you go to any Sprint store, they tow that same company line to sell you a phone. Do not buy their story. I did and waited 2 years through miserable data rates. It was literally so slow that I would just not use it. THAT is how they get away with unlimited data. How useful is unlimited if you can't even use it?

[vliberatore]

I will say this one last time and I do wish you luck in your decision, whatever that may be.

SoCal is not a good area for Sprint. If you are switching to Sprint from Verizon for data reasons, you are making a mistake. They have been getting ready to "flip the switch" on 4G for 3 years now. If you go to any Sprint store, they tow that same company line to sell you a phone. Do not buy their story. I did and waited 2 years through miserable data rates. It was literally so slow that I would just not use it. THAT is how they get away with unlimited data. How useful is unlimited if you can't even use it?

I guess you didn't read the rest of the thread.

Here's a summary:

Sprint had capital problems
Sprint was purchased and no longer has those problems
Network vision is set to be completed mid 2014.

[MaHoTex]

Yes, I did read the entire thread.
Sprint made promises to me for 3 years and took $50/mo for 24 months and never delivered the service promised. The fact is dialup internet is faster than Sprint data service in SoCal. (SW Riverside County)

Here is my summary:
Sprint has sucked for 3+ years (in SoCal) and has made NO improvement since December when I dumped them.

Sure, you can tow the company line, but that does not make their data service suck any less.

[BigJ]

Beware that when changing your PRL so that you can sit on Verizon as the native connection, the networks know you are still roaming and once you go over 300MB of data, you will get a nice letter from Sprint saying watch the roaming data usage, then the next month you go over, you will find you have no more service with Sprint.

I spoke with Sprint about this, as it was a major concern of mine when shopping AT&T alternatives. I have in writing their promise that I can roam for free forever. All it took was asking them to provide it and they did.

And true to their word, I'm a year into the contract, with 10 smart devices under my name, all of which roam often, and so far no warnings, charges or denial of service.

YMMV.