Feeback on cell carrier- Sprint specifically

[bakerhillpins]

All

So I am slowly trying to solve my internet problem (satellite sucks). Due to the fact that I live in Bum F@#k Egypt the only options I have are none, dialup, satellite, or cell carrier. DSL is not available and will never be since there isn't enough profit to serve my area.  Well, I have done the first 3 and now it's time to "upgrade". I have determined that I can use a Wilson Electronics booster to get a cell signal at the house where normally I don't get any bars. 3G service is available but not 4G. I would have to get a second booster to support the 4G frequency bands which are not in this area yet apparently. I could, however, get a 4G plan that downgrades to 3G when 4G is not available so that when it arrives (possibly never) I am all set without having to upgrade my plan.

So now I need feedback on Cell companies as I would like to get both voice and data from a single carrier. I currently use Verizon and for voice and have used them for data via the company's cell modem on business trips which seems to work well. (I'm not concerned with customer service at this point) Plus there are very few places that I go that I can't get a Verizon tower.

My mom and a co-worker have AT&T. In my moms case she always complains about not getting service and I know from first hand experience in both cases there are lots of times where I get Verizon signal when they get none.

Sprint has some attractive voice and data options but I have zero experience with them and would like to get feedback from others. Specifically from folks who live/travel outside of metropolitan areas (which is primarily where I spend my time) on the eastern seaboard.

Anyhow, Any feedback on Sprint (or any of the others) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks 

[chargerboy69]

I have had Sprint for roughly 12 years. I do a great deal of traveling through the mid-west for my business, even getting up near the U.P. once a month. I have never had major issues with their service.  The couple times I was having issues, it turned out to be a problem with my phone, and not the tower signal.  Another plus would be I have never once had a issue with my billing from Sprint, which is really good for as long as I have been using their service.  I highly recommend Sprint, and for $89.00 a month for two phones with unlimited text and minutes, the prices are hard to beat. My contract is up and I am eligible for another free phone, however the LG phone I currently have performs flawlessly.  I will probably wait until is stops working before renewing.

[2Gunz]

I would say get a prepaid cell phone on the sprint network and see how well it works in your area.

You should also check out Clear.com.  I think they lease airtime from sprint.

They have attractive pricing and no contract.

The website is all about 4G.... but they do have a 3G option that they dont talk about much.

They are the biggest bunch of incompetent, inept asshats that I have ever have had the displeasure of dealing with.......

HOWEVER   Ive been bonding two 4G wireless cards with some pretty amazing results.  No internet possibility .... then bam 24 down and 3 up.

Your result will be a lot slower because of the 3 G thing...... but its an idea anyway.



You might also look into finding somebody with fast internet paying part or all of there bill and set yourself up a point to point WIFI system.

[bakerhillpins]

I would say get a prepaid cell phone on the sprint network and see how well it works in your area.

You should also check out Clear.com.  I think they lease airtime from sprint.

They have attractive pricing and no contract.

The website is all about 4G.... but they do have a 3G option that they dont talk about much.

They are the biggest bunch of incompetent, inept asshats that I have ever have had the displeasure of dealing with.......

HOWEVER   Ive been bonding two 4G wireless cards with some pretty amazing results.  No internet possibility .... then bam 24 down and 3 up.

Your result will be a lot slower because of the 3 G thing...... but its an idea anyway.



You might also look into finding somebody with fast internet paying part or all of there bill and set yourself up a point to point WIFI system.

Getting a prepaid phone is a good idea and something that hadn't even occurred to me. 

Point to point WIFI was something I had discussed with a few of my neighbors at one time but we are all non line of sight and/or .5 mi or more from each other and none of us can get anything other than dial-up or sat anyhow. One guy that owned his own company (who has since moved) was paying huge $$ for some super satellite system and talked about sharing the bill but the shared cost was prohibitive. The folks with a high speed option are close to 2mi away.

What 3G speeds do you see? I realize there are a lot of factors in play, just wondering.

One of the big things I am trying to overcome is weather shutting down my connection, though any increase in speed is welcome. Sat gives me a whopping .5Mbits down and .06 up when it's clear skies. 

[PocketThunder]

We have had sprint for 12 years now also and the reception is great when we are in town or near a freeway.  But when we get off the beaten path in middle of nowhere Wisconsin the signal is gone.  But, my spouses blackberry gets signal longer into the woods than my cheapo samsung.  So maybe the phone effects some of the signal.

Paul

Just pretend its 1997 and your waiting for a page to load up... 

[stripedelete]

Until a few years ago I traveled for business.  I always had a signal with Verizon when people on other carriers didn't.   

From past experience, the only way to get coverage with AT&T is to have a wire going into a wall.

I'm right with you on your DSL situation.  It's not available at my shop IN THE MIDDLE OF METRO ATLANTA :RantExplode.  All the office buildings, apartments, etc, around me have DSL.  But, because my property has never been developed, I still have a couple copper wires running to a switch down the road and they won't make any changes for one customer.

But DSL situation led me to CLEAR which has worked great.  Unfortunately, I think it's only a metro play or you wouldn't have started this thread.

Good luck.

[NHCharger]

I had Sprint for years. Whenever I would cruise the White Mountsins the minute I got past Wakefield which is just above Rochester I would have absolutely no service, and barely anything north of Lake Winnapasaukee. I switched to Verizon about three years ago. I now have cell service in about 50% of the White Mountains.
I have my Dad on both plans, and he and my Mom use to travel quite a bit. He said Verizon was a huge improvement over Sprint.

[Dino]

I'm in the same boat, I get free dial up at home thanks to my job but that's it.  There's no way I'm paying for sat internet, sat tv is bad (and expensive) enough.  I hate not having cable but it's about the only bad thing living outside of town.

[bakerhillpins]

Well, I spent a bit looking at the Clear.com coverage map and they are definitely a metropolitan carrier. Outside of the cities you are screwed. On the suggestion that they are using the Sprint network I compared the respective coverage maps and it does look like they are buying air from Sprint in the metro areas only.

I also noticed that I was improperly reading the Sprint coverage maps. The sneaky bastards paint "roaming" as part of their coverage area and then use subtle color changes on the map to denote the difference between in network and roaming.  Turns out all non metro coverage is roaming. At least in my neck of the woods anyhow. Verizon and Clear didn't use that little trick on their maps.

So Sprint isn't going to be a viable choice for me after all and the feedback that you all have graciously provided was pointing in that direction anyhow. Looks like my only choice is Verizon.

Thanks for the comments! Sorry about the goose chase.    Ill update my previous booster thread as I muddle through the rest of the process. 

[bakerhillpins]

I'm in the same boat, I get free dial up at home thanks to my job but that's it.  There's no way I'm paying for sat internet, sat tv is bad (and expensive) enough.  I hate not having cable but it's about the only bad thing living outside of town.

Interesting, I have always liked Sat TV (Dish) over cable. Better packages and price points for my viewing habits.    Sat Inet is HORRIBLE!

[Dino]

I'm in the same boat, I get free dial up at home thanks to my job but that's it.  There's no way I'm paying for sat internet, sat tv is bad (and expensive) enough.  I hate not having cable but it's about the only bad thing living outside of town.

Interesting, I have always liked Sat TV (Dish) over cable. Better packages and price points for my viewing habits.    Sat Inet is HORRIBLE!

I like the quality of the picture, seems to me it's much better than cable, or used to be anyway.  I don't know how much cable is but I pay close to $100 a month for the Dish 250+ channels with 2 receivers.  And if there's a cloud within 100 miles it may crap out.

[bakerhillpins]

Hijack.... 

Yea, I have the 120 package which is plenty for me so I am at around $6x a month with a DVR that feeds 2 TVs. We rarely loose signal completely. Have been seeing a little digital noise every now and then but not to frequent. I's a temp install that I need to get moved one of these years. LOL. Other than that it has been good to me. We are on our 3rd DVR over 3 yrs now though. Its a rental though so it's their dime and easy to switch to the replacement.

[Todd Wilson]

I have had Sprint for roughly 12 years. I do a great deal of traveling through the mid-west for my business, even getting up near the U.P. once a month. I have never had major issues with their service.  The couple times I was having issues, it turned out to be a problem with my phone, and not the tower signal.  Another plus would be I have never once had a issue with my billing from Sprint, which is really good for as long as I have been using their service.  I highly recommend Sprint, and for $89.00 a month for two phones with unlimited text and minutes, the prices are hard to beat. My contract is up and I am eligible for another free phone, however the LG phone I currently have performs flawlessly.  I will probably wait until is stops working before renewing.

My experience with Sprint was the complete opposite.   You get off the interstate or major roads out in the middle of no where and my phone went dead. Usually was ok in town.  Customer service sucked and the billing was always screwed up.  Its been 6-7 years since i had sprint.  I had a local carrier after that and was great. Phone worked everywhere.

I changed to Verizon in early 2011 and its been awesome.  No problems at all with my new Iphone.  Verizon has a small router/hotspot device you can get with your plan to allow computers to hook up and use th einternet. Iphones can do this also. Have to be careful with data limits though. Really keep and eye on that if you go this route. Verizon has also put out a device that can hook into your house wiring and runs your phones in your house just like having a landline.


AT&T I have heard has poor customer service and their 3G network is not in every place.  I have a friend with a Iphone AT&T  and his service crawls in my town. They dont have 3G here so becareful with AT&T  if you get a data plan as you may not be close to their 3G signals.


Todd

[kab69440]

I use a Droid on Verizon 3G for my internet. It is a satisfactory option. One word of warning, stay  away from video. You will die of old age before anything loads.

[bakerhillpins]

I use a Droid on Verizon 3G for my internet. It is a satisfactory option. One word of warning, stay  away from video. You will die of old age before anything loads.

  Yea, it's the same on satellite.   

[2Gunz]

I didnt do any 3G speed tests.

2 Miles point to point is doable.  Ive seen people online doing a few hundred.

Im not sure what gear they are using .  However at least one of them was using an old school linksys at 20 miles if memory serves.


But you will of course need Line of site.

[bakerhillpins]

2 Miles point to point is doable.  Ive seen people online doing a few hundred.

Im not sure what gear they are using .  However at least one of them was using an old school linksys at 20 miles if memory serves.


But you will of course need Line of site.

@ 2 miles I wonder what the data rate was?

Line of site is the issue, I live in a small valley up on a hill. I basically have none.   

[Silver R/T]

I had Sprint for ~7 years, switched to AT&T and have better service

[nh_mopar_fan]

We've had Verizon for years now.

Just as NHCHarger said, our last service AT&T had ZERO in the NH lakes region. I rarely now lose a signal anywhere in the state. The last time I had no signal, I was WAY up on the Canadian border last summer. No one else had a signal either.

[The70RT]

I use a Droid on Verizon 3G for my internet. It is a satisfactory option. One word of warning, stay  away from video. You will die of old age before anything loads.

I have the same as you do, I have a friend on sprint with 4g and I load vids waaaay faster. Maybe it's a connection thnig for you. I have Verizon and I have only found a couple very small areas in the last 7 years that I don't have a signal. I go fishing in the boondocks and no problem.....kinda like the Chevy truck commercial