Sprint Signs LTE roaming deals with smaller carriers .

[Gordon Spencer]

This might help chasers using sprint for data.

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20140905...te-roaming-deals-with-15-rural-operators-tag2

 

[Matt Tottle]

LOL! I live in a NexTech Wireless area (an SRP that Sprint dropped last June, so I've been 'roaming' ever since).. They announced the first wave of SRP/LTE agreements back in the middle of June - which included NexTech - and I am STILL waiting for that damn triangle to go away.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

lol @ Sprint. I had them for 3 months in 2010 from Sept to end of Dec. my first smartphone. Dumped them in January and got verizon unlimited and I have never looked back and still have my unlimited text, talk and data plan.

There isnt another carrier with a network like Verizons.

Sprints network is a joke. a pathetic technological abortion is what it really is.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Good luck with that when you try to upgrade. As of August 24, they won't let you keep the unlimited data unless you buy the new phone outright. If you reup the contract they'll dump you onto a 2GB plan that costs more than what you have now.

Sprint gets a lot of crap they don't deserve. They remain the ONLY company that offers unlimited everything - and it costs less than any other carrier's 2GB plan.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Sprint gets a lot of crap they don't deserve. They remain the ONLY company that offers unlimited everything - and it costs less than any other carrier's 2GB plan.

What good is unlimited data if it's very much limited by inferior coverage and speeds? That "unlimited" data only applies to the limited areas where you're on their network. Elsewhere, unlimited is actually 300 megabytes.

I don't mind paying more for coverage and a fast network, but last I checked Verizon actually had very competitive rates compared to Sprint's. It's not like you're going to use more than 2GB chugging along on Sprint's network anyway.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Actually it's 300MB or a majority of your data usage, whichever is greater. And these agreements reinstate a lot of the "pseudo-native" coverage that was lost over the past couple years - a lot of it will return as LTE.

And yes, you can burn over 2GB in 24 hours just streaming Slacker.

I haven't had a service issue with Sprint in 16 years (except for the recent roaming thing, but that's not really their fault at this point). I have learned that the grass is always greener elsewhere until you get there.

 

[Skip Talbot]

And yes, you can burn over 2GB in 24 hours just streaming Slacker.

Except over vast portions of the plains where you'd never have the speeds close to achieving that kind of bandwidth.

I use Sprint as a backup during the regular season and as a primary in the off season. It took a week since the transfer speeds were so slow, but I hit that 300 mb limit on a chase trip across the midwest and northern plains resulting in a suspension of roaming data. I'd say that's a pretty significant service issue. If you don't chase or travel through areas of the plains that aren't part of Sprint's regular network this might not be an issue for you, but as a data provider for storm chasers, relying on Sprint could be quite debilitating.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

I have Verizon's family plan where we all share 10 GB. The problem is as a family, we use less than 2 GB per month thanks to home and work WiFi. But I didn't have WiFi while chasing this year very much. In the 1 week of chasing away from home, I used about 1 GB total. But I don't stream Slacker or anything because of how data hungry those types of programs are. It's better to just invest in Sirius XM anyways since there isn't pockets of no data to worry about. Why people stream Slacker, Pandora, or anything to their cars is beyond me. Especially when there's a good chance you'll be in data gaps for a while, all while tearing into your data.

Also, while Sprint does have $100/mo family plan, the other companies are creeping down to that price. AT&T is now only $130/mo. Verizon is still $160 but OMG it is the God tier of coverage and speeds on the Plains.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Except over vast portions of the plains where you'd never have the speeds close to achieving that kind of bandwidth.

I use Sprint as a backup during the regular season and as a primary in the off season. It took a week since the transfer speeds were so slow, but I hit that 300 mb limit on a chase trip across the midwest and northern plains resulting in a suspension of roaming data. I'd say that's a pretty significant service issue. If you don't chase or travel through areas of the plains that aren't part of Sprint's regular network this might not be an issue for you, but as a data provider for storm chasers, relying on Sprint could be quite debilitating.

Ok first of all if you're roaming, any slowdown of your 3G or lockdown to 1xRTT is being done by the system you are roaming on. Second, what math are you using? Even at 1xRTT (150kbps), if you're using it continuously that's 1.7GB in 24 hours (19KB per second, 1.2MB per minute, 68MB per hour). And sorry, but they don't nail you for going over once or twice by a gig or so. Like I said, it's 300MB or a majority of your data. It's not a hard cap, they DO NOT just 'suspend' your roaming at 301MB. If you are a repeat offender (and I mean you have to burn like 5-10 gigs on roaming every month for 3 months straight, unless you are 100% roaming then they use the 300MB point), they send you a nastygram telling you to watch your roaming. They don't care about the guy who goes over by a couple hundred megs a couple times a year.

And then again, once these agreements go into force, it restores home status (and now LTE) to a huge chunk of the plains that has lost it over the past few years. There's nothing that can be done about the northern part right now - ND/SD/MT - because that was due to decommissioning of CDMA equipment by companies that were acquired by AT&T.. But for example the NexTech agreement will give back all of western Kansas and eastern Colorado. The Pioneer Cellular agreement will give back southeast Kansas and a big chunk of Oklahoma.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I have Verizon's family plan where we all share 10 GB. The problem is as a family, we use less than 2 GB per month thanks to home and work WiFi. But I didn't have WiFi while chasing this year very much. In the 1 week of chasing away from home, I used about 1 GB total. But I don't stream Slacker or anything because of how data hungry those types of programs are. It's better to just invest in Sirius XM anyways since there isn't pockets of no data to worry about. Why people stream Slacker, Pandora, or anything to their cars is beyond me. Especially when there's a good chance you'll be in data gaps for a while, all while tearing into your data.

I subbed to XM for 11 years.. I was a very early adopter back in 2000 - when everyone told me I was nuts for paying $10 a month for radio, living in northern NJ where there wasn't a blank spot on the dial.. But that was when it was a service worth paying for. It was a great service until the Sirius merger. Since then it's been driven into the ground, the playlist rotations and depth have basically gone to shi+, and it now costs twice as much. It's basically become nothing more than FM that you pay for. I told them where to stuff it when I was informed that I would need to change to the $18.99 a month plan to keep getting what I was already getting for $14 at that time.

And what just irks me to no end is that even now, 6 YEARS after the merger, you STILL can't put an XM and a Sirius radio on the same account to get the multi-radio discount.

So now for $4 a month I get 100% commercial-free music on Slacker (which makes Pandora its b*tch by the way), and I can cache stations if necessary to get me through data dead zones. It doesn't have talk/comedy/sports, but there are apps for that too.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

Good luck with that when you try to upgrade. As of August 24, they won't let you keep the unlimited data unless you buy the new phone outright. If you reup the contract they'll dump you onto a 2GB plan that costs more than what you have now.

Sprint gets a lot of crap they don't deserve. They remain the ONLY company that offers unlimited everything - and it costs less than any other carrier's 2GB plan.

I have never upgraded any of my phones since they did away with the unlimited plan. i always buy used or brand new on craigslist. Talked to a Verizon rep in July and he said as long as I never upgrade my phones or downgrade my plan, Verizon can never take my unlimited plan from me...said something about it being against the law but didnt exactly get the jist of why.

My last free upgrade was from my Droid Incredible to my Droid Razr. Bought used phones since because they did away with the unlimited plan and its just too valuable for me to lose.

with unlimited text, talk and data plus NFL mobile premium I pay $133 a month. I consistently use 100-140GB per month. I use it to chase with, I tether to my laptop and use it in my truck when out on the road.

Thats where the bean counters at Verizon look at my usage and plan and go

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

Sprint gets a lot of crap they don't deserve. They remain the ONLY company that offers unlimited everything - and it costs less than any other carrier's 2GB plan.

when I lived in Murfreesboro, TN and was in college at MTSU...I got my service with sprint Sept 2010. Mboro is a pretty big suburb of Nashville and not at all in a rural area.

2 bars of service was the best I could get anywhwere in that town. it wasnt until I went to nashville proper I could get 4-5 bars of service. it was so maddening trying to use a new smartphone and learn everything and explore. 3 months of that crap and that was the end for me.

Sprint gets all the negative rep they deserve because their network is a joke (so is their customer service dept but we wont get into that discussion here).

like Skip said what good is unlimited if you cant get signal anywhere to actually use it?

 

[Skip Talbot]

Even at 1xRTT (150kbps), if you're using it continuously that's 1.7GB in 24 hours (19KB per second, 1.2MB per minute, 68MB per hour).

Have you ever tried to hold a continuous 1x connection at 150 kbps while traveling through the plains? I don't think you have. The policies and numbers you cite sound ok on paper, but they don't really work in practice.

And sorry, but they don't nail you for going over once or twice by a gig or so. Like I said, it's 300MB or a majority of your data. It's not a hard cap, they DO NOT just 'suspend' your roaming at 301MB.

Again, that might be what you read about Sprint's policies, but it's not always put into practice, so I think I'd hold back citing it like it's fact. In August I was shut down at 307 MB after my first overage as I was on Verizon through July:

For storm chasers, Sprint is effectively worthless. I mean you literally can't buy data. You get *300 megabytes* and then you're done. At least on Verizon you can buy additional bandwidth, something I would gladly do if I needed it. I don't mind paying for data, or paying relatively more for data if it's faster and has greater availability. I don't seem to have that option on Sprint, which is ultimately why I'm terminating my account with them. They simply have no data coverage across North and South Dakota, Nebraska, large chunks of Iowa and Missouri. These are places that I routinely chase through.

The light green areas are where your Sprint data is limited to 300 megabytes. So if you're a storm chaser, rather than someone who lives and does light traveling in the dark green area, Sprint is effectively worthless.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I stand corrected. I've never seen that before. It must be something that they just started doing. I have been 99% roaming since last June, and I have gone over 300MB several times. Once month I went over 1GB. This past May I got the nastygram saying that if I continue to use 'excessive roaming data' that my account would be terminated.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I have never upgraded any of my phones since they did away with the unlimited plan. i always buy used or brand new on craigslist. Talked to a Verizon rep in July and he said as long as I never upgrade my phones or downgrade my plan, Verizon can never take my unlimited plan from me...said something about it being against the law but didnt exactly get the jist of why.

That's correct. When you are grandfathered on a plan, as long as you do not make any changes to the account that affect the plan (ie: a subsidized upgrade, or up/downgrade of the plan itself) they can not take it away from you. However there does come a point when they are allowed to dump the plan in its entirety (x number of years after the plan was last offered), and when that happens they drop everyone at once - giving them the option of going with a then-current plan or walking out the door.

There was a loophole that people were using to get subsidized upgrades and keep the unlimited data, but that was effectively closed as of last month. Now the only way to keep it is to pay full boat on a new phone or buy used (and hope it's not stolen) and simply do an ESN swap - because that does not affect the plan, only the phone using it.

And I can tell you, when they decide to pull fully the plug on the unlimited, it will be because of people like you. People like you are the reason Sprint originally lost their SRP with NexTech.. Less than 20 customers in Kansas were consuming literally 90% of all the native roaming bandwidth.