How Good Is Sprint's 4G?
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We know that German investors in Deutsche Telekom are hesitant to allow the German mothership to invest the big bucks in a 4G network for T-Mobile US. Instead, the “smallest” national US carrier has hedged their bets on a HSPA+ 3.5G network. Could this end up being a smart move? AndroidandMe writes that T-Mobile’s 3.5G network is better than Sprint’s budding 4G WiMax network for a few solid reasons.
Why are the blogs saying that T-Mobile’s network beat’s Sprint’s? Let’s examine the reasons.
Coverage
AndroidandMe writes that the T-Mobile’s HSPA+ coverage beats Sprint’s 4G coverage. This is true. Regular TFTS readers will know that we’ve (I’ve) been critical of Sprint’s limited WiMAX coverage. T-Mobile’s late entry into the 3G game meant that their infrastructure equipment is already wired for HSPA+. Wonder how they’re managing to add HSPA+ to 20 cities every few weeks? It just needs a firmware update.
Compare this to Sprint, who’s doing a costly WiMAX upgrade from scratch.
Phones
Sprint only has two 4G phones – HTC EVO 4G and (the upcoming) Samsung Epic 4G. Meanwhile, HSPA+ being a 3.5G technology, is supported by quite a few of T-Mobile’s current smartphone offerings, including the HTC HD2, which is an EVO 4G with Windows Mobile instead of Android. AndroidandMe reports that 16 phones on T-Mobile US offer HSPA 7.2 speeds.
Speed
Sprint, for whatever reason, has quite a few fanatical supporters. Despite their reputation, my time writing at this site has proven to me that Sprint has a loyal following of hardcore fans. So, Sprint-ites, before you warm up those comment fingers and write “But Sprint is fast! The guy at the Sprint Store told me so!”, you may want to check your facts.
The theoretical top speed of WiMAX is 10 Mbps while the top of HSPA+ is 21 Mbps. In real life, Sprint says you can get 6 Mbps while various reports from users say they’ve rarely gotten above 3 Mbps from Sprint’s 4G phones. Likewise, even without HSPA+ dedicated phones, users with HSPA 7.2 on Sprint are getting remarkable speeds. AndroidandMe’s Taylor Wimbley says he can get 1 Mbps on a Nexus One – and keep in mind, that’s in more places than the 4G network.
Want the fastest speeds in America? You may want to consider T-Mobile. Besides, you probably won’t have to pay that sneaky $10 premium data fee on Sprint either.
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The TFTS Team
Sprint advertises 3-6 mbps average with PEAKS at 10mbps, but the theoretical max for WiMAX is 144mbps compared to HSPA+’s 21.
1mbs on n1…hahaha! I get that on my evo without any 4g in Denver! Max I got on my Evo again without any 4G is 3.14mbs! I’m probably the only one that even did this, but I even went to Pikes Peak and got 0.5mbs (for a cellphone, that’s pretty good and ohh yeaa… I’m at freaking 14k ft elevation too!)Anyone that’s going to tell me t-mobile is faster than Sprint….hahahahahah!! Good luck on that one!!
My Sprint Evo 4G consistently gets speeds from 4 to 7 mbps. I live in San Antonio,Texas where Sprint’s 4G coverage is extensive in most of the state’s cities. I’ve gotten these same speeds using Easy Tether Android app with my Sprint Evo 4G.
I also get these same speeds using the Sprint Overdrive mobile hotspot.
Your arguments are myopic to say the least.
First of all TMo has 1/14th the 3G coverage of Sprint. Secondly, Sprint will have 120+ million POPS of 4G before the end of next quarter.
On another note, Sprint has the “Black Gold” or necessary fuel that is needed to facilitate their 4G Wimax coverge, which is Spectrum. In case you didn’t know they have 150 Mhz of the 2.5Ghz bandwidth in the 100 most populated cities in America. By any standard this is a virtual monopoly of the Wimax spectrum. Have you asked yourself were TMo or for that matter T & VZ stand on this matter? By any standard Sprint is ensconced pretty well, unlike ALL of its competitors.
Last but not least, you should note that Wimax (IEEE 802.16e) will mutate into what is commonly known as Wimax 2 (IEEE 802.16.m) and is expected to be ratified before the year is over. Wimax 2 is backwardly compatible and will require very little in form of hardware upgrades. Wimax 2 also clocks in download speeds of 300 Mhz to 1 Ghz, however like all standards actual everyday speeds will be different.
On another note, Wimax is a univeral standard that has been deployed in over 147 countries around the globe, granted that in most cases it is fixed. Unlike LTE, Mobile Wimax has a mature Eco-System and is currently being used in Russia, Taiwan, S. Korea.
Before you go rediculing Sprint, please get your facts straight. Today Sprint has far fewer dropped calls than T and TMo and it has twice T’s 3G coverage and 14 times that of TMo. It is the only carrier with a 4G network, which is currently operational in 44 cities and rapidly growing. The much maligned extra $10 Sprint charges for its 4G coverage is still substantially cheaper than T and VZ and a much better deal than TMo, especially when you consider Sprint has 14 times the 3G coverage of TMo. Now pack on the best smartphone to date, the HTC Evo 4G and you have your answer. Hyperbole might make the iPhone 4 appear to be better but any sane person with 2 cents of intelligence will tell you the Evo 4G assassinates the iPhone.
The number you have for theoretical Wimax top performance seems to be quite low (10 Mbps). Even in a system without MIMO or beamforming or Band AMC you can get well over that (close to 64 Mbps) with just one copy of the DLMAP in the DL Frame, in PUSC mode and considering the subscriber station is close to the BS (using 64 QAM 3/4). With a station far away from the BS (the station using QPSK in the DL) the theoretical is about 20 Mbps. These results are for a 35,12 DL/UL configuration.
T-Mobile HSPA+ on a Samsung Vibrant (which is an HSPA7.2 device) http://www.speedtest.net/android/7254901.png
~6mbps down.
500kbps up.
67ms ping.
Standing in the park, I have been checking emails, making phone calls and taking a few precious pictures of my darling dog. Wishing to send the pictures to a friend’s cell phone, I press the button and stare at the cell phone display. Suddenly, it says “connection failed.” What! I try again and realize that the cell phone battery is too low with barely one bar showing.
Does this sound familiar to you?
BTY Iam using the Htc Evo on Sprint
Like others have stated, check your facts. WiMAX is going to be improved, to WiMAX 2.0, and it will not only improve on speeds but also reliability issues people have complained about. And, not to mention Sprint’s 3G is not only larger then T-Mobile, but more reliable — according to independent study by PC World (http://www.pcworld.com/article/167391/a_day_in_the_life_of_3g.html) Sprint is the most reliable network, just 1% better then verizon and has a huge lead over AT&T.
So please, don’t talk about a company without all the facts.
Yeah, got to say, people aren’t doing their homework. Sprint caps the speeds at 10 Mb/s but that’s more of a software cap. That’s just for a little while while they build out their network. The THEORETICAL max is around 80 Mb/s for the current standard, with everyday speeds going way over what T-Mobile’s can do in theory. For now, T-mobile is about the same speed maybe slightly faster in its 3G vs Sprint’s 4G, but doesn’t have the bandwidth nor the coverage to compete later on. Not to mention that their coverage is a lot more spotty and their 3G is much smaller than Sprint’s, though its faster in the area’s you get it. In most cases, you’ll end up on Edge, which is a lot slower than Sprint’s 3G. Once 4G evolves, which only takes a firmware update, the speeds will be much faster and stay more consistent, even with more people on the network thanks to the extra bandwidth and towers.
T-Mo has the lead for now in speed, but that will quickly be passed up when Sprint really lights up 4G. And since you’ll be getting a 2 year contract, you should go with the one that gives you the better benefit over 2 years, not just this very quarter.
Get your facts straight. Not only is Sprint’s 3G network actually nationwide, but WiMax in 1-2 years will be updated with the latest firmware and getting real world results of over 100 mb/s download. And at any time they can switch over to LTE, the other 4G network technology. T-Mobile doesn’t look so good now do they?
@Steve,
Yes, Sprint’s 3G network is nationwide. Their 4G network isn’t.
If you believe any real world network will achieve the theoretical top speeds – then I’ve got some deepsea oil rigs to sell you.
Ladies and gentlemen – these are all the Sprint fanboys I mentioned in my article.
@Kevin,
They’re not all Sprint fanboys, they just don’t like deliberate deception.
Your following sentence is dead wrong:
“The theoretical top speed of WiMAX is 10 Mbps while the top of HSPA+ is 21 Mbps”
You’re wrong on both counts unless you meant to use the word “practical” in place of the word “theoretical”… in which case you’re only slightly less wrong.
The theoretical maximum download speed on HSPA+ is not 21Mbps, it is 56Mbps. You may have meant the theoretical uplink speed, which is 22Mbps, but you didn’t specify.
The theoretical maximum download speed for 802.16e (mobile WiMax) is 144Mbps; upload is 35Mbps.
Your response to this was to pooh-pooh it by saying networks don’t achieve their theoretical top speeds anyway, which is true– but does nothing to counter the fact that 1) you got both sets of theoretical speeds wrong, and 2) HSPA+ doesn’t routinely reach its theoretical top speed either.
If you want to say that the higher top speed of Sprint’s 4G is rendered irrelevant by the smaller coverage footprint, that’s fine– but you also don’t compare like to like by discounting Sprint’s own 3G coverage compared to TMobile’s.
So, in other words, it doesn’t matter that Sprint’s 4G is faster than TMobile’s 3G, because Sprint’s current coverage is smaller. However, it does matter that TMobile’s 3G is faster than Sprint’s 3G, even though TMobile’s current 3G coverage is smaller than Sprint’s.
Who’s the fanboy?
I have to say Steve, coming from an outside observer (I have Verizon) YOU seem to be the fanboy in this fight. They all have perfectly valid arguments and your response is “Their 4G network isn’t nationwide.”So what? I live in Cincinnati, which doesn’t have 4G coverage, yet I know the Evo is completely sold out in my area. Almost everyone I know (including those who live in 4G cities) aren’t getting it for the Wimax support, but are getting it for the robust features of the phone, Sprint’s ridiculously cheap plans (which I’ll be honest, I’m SERIOUSLY looking at since my contract expires in a week…Droid X or Evo?), and for Sprint’s consistently good 3G service (they’ve got access to their network AND Verizon’s…which means they’re EVERYWHERE). I don’t know everything about WiMax, I’ll admit, but to say that you should consider T-Mobile over Sprint because ONE phone on sprint can’t use one of it’s features? Not taking into account T-Mobile’s known terrible coverage? That’s kind of absurd (also, I did compare the prices of all the carriers since I might be switching…even with the $10 charge Sprint is cheaper than all the others with truly unlimited data…that includes T-Mobile). I can’t say “get you’re facts straight,” because you got your facts correct. I can say lose your bias though…because YOUR Anti-Sprint Bias is showing.
By the way, I’ve never even HEARD of a Sprint Fanboy (That’s something Verizon’s notorious for)…I’m wondering if you pulled that out of your butt…
@Kevin Schram
It’s you who brought up the fact that Sprint’s WiMax’s theoretical speed is 10 mbps (which is totally wrong by the way), and we are just proving you wrong…
I know that the theoretical top speeds wont be reached, but it is Sprint who is on top (with their 4G WiMax network now) and who will be on top (with an easy WiMax 2.0 upgrade).
Personally, I don’t have either T-Mobile or Sprint and I have nothing against Sprint. I feel that T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network is really compelling and Sprint’s $10 premium data fee they’re charging to all 4G-capable devices is absurd.
Previously, I’ve written positive things here regarding Sprint, like their dirt-cheap monthly tariffs. I don’t know if you guys bought EVO 4Gs and feel the need to justify your decision but it’s unbecoming to act like inane religious zealots for a mobile carrier.
So.. everyone with who actually has facts to disprove you is a fanboy? I had sprint for the longet time, about a year ago KI switched to Verizon for I dont even remember what reason, after paying then for a couple of months i realized their service sucked and it was way more expensive than what I had so I decided to fork up the cancellation fee and renewed my sprint contract.
I also didn’t even think of T-mobile for one and only ONE simple reason, my Mom lives with me and she uses T-mobile, I have personally witnessed T-mobile’s attrocious drop-call frequency rate as well as put up with my Mom’s rants everytime she tries to get anything done with them.
I don’t care if T-mobile is “faster” if I’m not going to be able to connect to their network anyways.
Not a fanboy of Sprint, just a fanboy of being able to use my freaking phone!
What about eves battery life? It sucks.