Sprint coverage on the plains

[DRMabe]

Just wondering from those of you that may use Sprint, how is the coverage out on the plains? I was looking at their coverage maps, looks decent.....but it always looks better on a map than how it really is. I have a HTC Evo 4g phone, and plan to activate the Mobile Hotspot and use my phone as a wireless 3g/4g modem for my laptop when I start chasing locally this year. Won't come to the plains until next year, but hoping to do the same thing out there. Wondering how the coverage is and where are the main dead areas.

 

[Scott Bennett]

I have a good blog post on this here http://www.endlessweather.com/2010/12/27/choosing-a-datacardtether-for-chasing/

But I tend to feel Sprint has some of the best coverage, just not the fastest service.
It's really about roaming when it comes to Sprint.

 

[DRMabe]

Good info Scott. I glanced over it a bit, getting read to head for work. I'll give it a good read over once I get to the hotel in the morning.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I can tell you Sprint has 98% solid 3G coverage in Kansas and Oklahoma west of I-35 (they are a rural wireless ISP here). However, anywhere else they are pretty much limited to highways and metro areas. AT&T has ZERO 3G ANYWHERE in the plains except for Wichita, KC Metro, and OKC. Their voice coverage is sorely hit-or-miss off the highways as well. Verizon has the best coverage hands down (and Sprint has a FREE roaming agreement with them - technically giving the coverage advantage to Sprint). BUT, they have a hard 5GB cap for their own customers, and Sprint roaming customers are only allowed about 300MB per month before you get a nastygram threatening disconnection. So you really have to watch your roaming usage.

Also, be aware that there are apps for the Evo that allow you to tether without having to pay for Mobile Hotspot.

 

[Jane Herbert]

Only places that we had much difficulty with Sprint was the western part of the Texas Panhandle, the Nebraska sandhills and bits of NW OK...otherwise, pretty happy with Sprint and that was with no boosting either...this year we plan to boost the signal and see what difference that makes - we had Sprint data and a Verizon cell and Sprint coverage won out!

 

[Brett Roberts]

Having used Sprint service through Millenicom last year, I can say that at least for the southern and central Plains, coverage was very impressive. Using my amplifier, I was cruising on 3G all the way through Cherry Co., as well as some of the most remote sections of SD on 5/22.

In fact, the only times I was without data for extended periods were not because of poor coverage, but overloaded towers from chaser convergence. I have to admit, that situation had me punching my door and screaming profanities on a few occasions (particularly near Bowdle on 5/22), but I'm not sure that's avoidable with any carrier these days once you get 200+ chasers into areas with less population than that over a 15-mile radius.

EDIT: Jane's post reminded me... I did have a few issues in NW OK, especially just N and W of Watonga. That's one of the worst areas for both Sprint and Verizon, and probably the only in the entire Plains where AT&T might have them both beat.

 

[Jason Foster]

From my research, I'm planning to keep Sprint for data, verizon for voice when out in the plains this season.

 

[Andy Jackson]

I'm coming up on my drop/renewal of my Sprint broadband plan. For whatever reason (I guess it was operating system), I went with Sprint. It seems I did have some surprise data in areas that were not marked by the coverage map. One problem I ran into was by early May my roaming had capped out and certain areas were blocked with a nice web message from Sprint. I attributed this to some trips I made up to the Northern plains in April. Anyway FWIW I had hopes Sprint would get their act together and increase their broadband coverage but it seems their business model doesn't support it.

It seems Millenicom might be a logical next step to take does anyone have any experience with them? Or is there any other services that are similar.

 

[John Wetter]

I think Sprint and Verizon are the only two real contenders for data on the plains. I think Sprint has more thorough coverage everywhere, but Verizon is edging them out on 3G coverage in the northern plains now. Sprint lost their roaming agreements for 3G data in the Dakotas and Montana due to the Verizon/Alltel merger and needing to divest certain areas (see: http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?26887-Sprint-losing-a-LOT-of-3G-in-the-Dakotas ), so that has hit them hard. Until 4G LTE coverage becomes more commonplace, I'm not finding a convincing reason to leave either one.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I just bought a new 4G phone (Samsung Galaxy S II - AWESOME phone if you're looking for a new one!), and I can confirm that despite what the Sprint map says, Russell and Hays do have 4G coverage (although a bit spotty). My phone was able to connect to the 4G network. This confirms my suspicion that one can use the Clearwire 4G map to find 'localized' 4G, aside from the "4G cities" listed on the Sprint map (Clearwire is who Sprint teamed up with to roll out WiMAX). It looks like they have single towers in some of the larger towns, but nothing along the highways.

Some of the cities on the Kansas map include:

Garden City, Liberal, Dodge City, Pratt, Great Bend, Russell, Hays, Ellsworth, Hutchinson, Beloit, Concordia, Manhattan (very spotty), Wichita (very spotty), Lawrence, Topeka, Independence, Coffeyville (very spotty), Emporia, Parsons, and Pittsburgh.

This actually trumps Verizon LTE right now, which is only available in Wichita.

It won't benefit you on the road, but if you're in any of those towns for a break or strategy session, it's worth turning your 4G on while you're there!

www.clear.com/coverage

 

[David Wolfson]

With 4G I'm wondering about three things with respect to the upcoming season.... Do the phones/data cards wheel efficiently between 3G and 4G service on the road, especially when run through a wireless router? Are the upload data rates significantly faster such as to allow higher rez streaming? Is the available data plan generous enough that you can take advantage of the higher download speeds for things like an occasional streamed movie or tv channel without risking blowing through your allotment?

 

[Mark Blue]

Matt,

I know it's not good to be envious, but I really like your phone. I signed up with Sprint last March and have the original Epic 4G. It's a nice phone, but I like the new and improved Galaxy II a lot!

Mark

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[Matt Tottle]

David-

I would not count on having 4g anywhere on the road. As I said, it is very patchwork right now, and Sprint's map doesn't even have it listed outside of KC, and I only found out about the 4G actually being available by accident. I haven't yet tried doing 'outbound' streaming while driving on this phone (I've only had it a couple days! ). I was running Pandora radio while driving in Hays, and I just happened to see the "4G Network Connected" notification flash by. I had somewhere to be, so I couldn't play around with it then, but I also saw it when I came back into Russell. However, it doesn't work in my house (which is why I originally didn't think it would work on Clearwire's signal - according to the map I'm in a good spot), and barely in my driveway, so I'll have to find a place with a good signal to sit and play around with it.

Now I can tell you that when it flipped from 3G to 4G and back, there was no skip in the music stream, but since the music runs through a buffer, I can't tell you how smooth the transition actually was. As far as upload bandwidth, it is supposed to be at least 1meg or better, with download of 10meg or better. Again, I'll have to play with it in a good signal spot.

As far as the data usage, the "on-phone" data (used by the phone browser, apps, etc) is unlimited. So there's no worry about streaming Netflix or Hulu and blowing through a cap. That "on-phone" usage can be USB tethered to a laptop through use of a program called PDAnet or EasyTether, but as far as Wifi/hotspot tethering, that will require your phone to be rooted. Either that or pay the $30 a month for a 5GB bucket of Mobile Hotspot. I installed EasyTether, since I won't have more than one device needing internet (although it's also possible to use the laptop itself as a hotspot with Internet Connection Sharing).

Mark -

Toy envy drives the economy, and don't ever let anyone tell you it's wrong! I love this phone. If you're due for upgrade in March, you'll probably be in time for the Galaxy Nexus to come out, which is supposed to be even sweeter (but that sweetness comes with a $300 pricetag!).. But when that comes out, the S II should take a decent price hit anyway.

 

[Eric Whitehill]

I have a 4G Verizon MiFi that I use for work. When it is not in solid 4G, or right on the edge of 4G and 3G, it seems to have a hard time staying connected. I experienced this in the South Florida and Charlotte areas.

Granted, this is just with a MiFi, and not with a phone, so YMMV.

 

[Matt Tottle]

We're talking about Sprint. Even though the 3G technology (EV-DO) is the same and compatible, Verizon is a completely different 4G system. Sprint uses WiMAX 4G and Verizon uses LTE - the two are incompatible.