Sprint has improved dramatically

Every year around Christmas here, I complain that the shopping area has horrible service with Sprint.  As of the Christmas season 2018, I can complain about it no longer.  We didn't get 100 Mbps service but the service was never unusable as it had been in the past few years since I arrived in 2014.

Further, I had jury duty in Stockton, which has generally had the worst of everything and I had a solid 4 bars downtown, especially on the 7th and 12th floors of the court house, but even on the ground it was exemplary.

I haven't had a lot of praise for Sprint, except for EVDO/3G in 2005 when the others were far behind them, and several years later when WiMAX was delivering data well before LTE was available in even a few places.

I'm pleased to say that the company has done better lately and I'm not sure why but I hope they continue to improve.  I'm almost okay with the T-Mobile merger, as long as we don't end up on GSM.  I hate having a voice conversation with anyone on T-Mobile because of the way it distorts and echoes.

VoLTE (Voice over LTE) should have been implemented already, so that we could rid ourselves of GSM and CDMA.  I expected it would be in place in 2015, even if it wasn't widespread, but it doesn't seem to have gone very far at all.

Update 2019.02.24: Sprint is now advertising that LTE Advanced is in use.  They also have "Calling Plus" for Android-based phones, which appears to be VoLTE, as they mention that you can use the internet while on a call, etc.

Apparently, 5G service will be launched in a few cities in May.  It seems that they've not bothered with Philadelphia or Miami, which is a big change from earlier times.

Don't you love how AT&T/SBC is finally going to LTE Advanced and is calling it 5Ge, as if it's something better than everyone else.  It's similar to when they enhanced their 3G service and called it 4G, even though it wasn't much different from T-Mobile.   By the original definition LTE Advanced is 4G, and we're not quite there yet, as far as a nationwide implementation goes.  I still see 1xRTT on occasion.

Update 2020.02.17: Apparently, 2020 is the year that 5G will penetrate our lives.  According to news, Verizon couldn't cover the Super Bowl stadium with 5G service, so I'm not sure how great it's going to be.  I'm still waiting for 4G/LTE Plus to be everywhere--and for 2G to go away.

Update 2020.04.24: The Sprint/T-Mobile merger happened and the two companies are cooperating on LTE, but will remain two operations otherwise.  I'm glad that they're not getting rid of CDMA.  I wonder if MetroPCS is still using CDMA, as they were prior to their acquisition by T-Mobile.  They were known as the worst carrier, but I'm not certain that they were the worst.

In any case, it should be interesting to see how everyone's service goes.  Hopefully, it's better and Verizon and AT&T sweat some.

I bought an iPhone 5c (over the LG G2) and stayed with my carrier, Sprint

There is always hope, but sometime, it's almost minimal.  That's how things are today.

Friday, I went back to the local Sprint store and traded my iPhone 4S for an iPhone 5c.  Everyone working at the store was wearing an LG G2 t-shirt.  I really thought about buying a G2 or the Google Nexus 5.  I wasn't 100% sure about either for various reasons.  They're both big.  The Nexus 5 didn't have Otterbox or similar brand cases, and it only came in a 16 GB capacity.  The G2 had 32 GB capacity but I was uncertain about operating system updates and the various complaints against the interface, even though it has the Sprint ID crap on top of the Sprint version--something I know that didn't get in the way too much.

You can call me cheap but the iPhone 5c fits my conservative feeling about technology.  I've already read too much about weirdness with the iPhone 5s, as I read about troubles with the iPhone 5 when it was new, and I generally don't go for the first of Apple's trial runs because I've paid painfully for being first.

The iPhone 5c is slightly more technically than the iPhone 5, in a newer design.  It has 2 bands for LTE, rather than 1.  If Sprint were deploying all 3 bands soon, and LTE was my main goal, then the G2 or Nexus 5 would have been better choices.  However, the 1900 MHz and 2500 MHz bands will do, with the 800 MHz band coming later.  The Sierra Wireless/Netgear mobile hotspot I have only does 1900 MHz for LTE and 2500 MHz for WiMAX, and only 1900 MHz for EVDO.  By the time I get my next phone, everything will be settled.

Still, US199.99 for the 32 GB iPhone 5c and a trade-in value of $143 for my iPhone 4S, made a difference of $56.99, which is a cheap price to switch a generation (or two, if you look at the timing).  Of course, I had to buy another AppleCare+ plan for $99.00 but that's not bad, and then, a cable with a Lightning connector.  It wasn't cheap, but for the quality, it wasn't expensive really.  Monoprice would have a better deal, but I didn't order it ahead of time and deals at Target or Best Buy were worse than Sprint.  I ended up giving all of my extra iPhone 4S accessories to a friend who still has his.  At some point, Lightning cables and accessories will become common, and therefore, inexpensive.

The only thing that doesn't seem a great deal is the Ottberbox Defender case for US$49.99.  Of course, it's changed for the new form.  What seemed sloppy in the iPhone 4S case is taut and what was taut in that case is now loose.  The screen protector is no longer hard plastic and there is a gap, so you must press the plastic against the display.  Does this protect it better?  I don't think so because dust can enter through the opening for the Home button and the speaker/front camera opening.  Oddly, the porthole for the Apple logo is not correctly placed.

The fit of the case is so much better overall and the Lighning port cover doesn't close accidentally as did the cover for the 30 pin connector.  The case is gray and white, so that seems a bit more appealing (at the moment) than the older, black-only case.  In fact, Otterbox has several color combinations available by special order.  I doubt retailers will carry them all.  (Update 2014.01.05: I've changed to the Ballistic SG MAXX, which has apparently been renamed Hard Jacket Maxx or something like that, plus added an Invisible Shield screen protector because the Defender screen protector made it difficult to work the phone.)

As far as usage goes, the phone feels faster, as it should stepping from the A5 processor to the A6 processor.  It would have been nice to get the A6x but it probably generates too much heat in a small package.  Besides, the cost was likely too much to add it and price the phone were it is.

I had a chance on Saturday to gauge LTE, when I was at a Panasonic photo/video workshop at a camera store in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana.  I was recently at that store for a product introduction for Olympus, and LTE wasn't healthy.  At 0.75 Mbps, I found it mostly useless.  Sprintcare advised me that two towers were down and putting strain on single tower.  Saturday, a couple of months later, I got 1.0 Mbps, which certainly doesn't even look like 5 Mbps or 10, 15, 20, or 25 Mbps that this technology is supposed to allow.  Obviously, the buildout is still in its infancy.

Further into the suburbs, I got not quite 3 Mbps, and there were gaps in coverage along the way.  When I was in Greenwood Park mall, one end switched all the way down to 1xRTT (thankfully not the circle since iOS 7 but it's labeled 1x), but near the Sprint kiosk, there was LTE available, not that it worked very well, but it was present.

I was told to expect LTE here in 6 months.  Given my 60+ mile drive home, I have no doubt that it will be deployed along I-70, as it went quite a way, covering several small towns along the interstate highway.  It stopped in the middle of nowhere, not at an intersection along the highway, which seemed odd to me, but I'm not a communications planner.  With about 38 more miles to get to the town where I am now, it looks like progress is actually happening in a very backward area that only got 3G service in early 2009.

When I was outside Cincinnati today, in the Springdale area, I noticed the LTE indicator on the phone.  Cincinnati is not an announced area, as far as I know, and the WiMAX there is more overloaded than the 3G service, so it was surprising to see the results.

As for the increased resolution, there is room for an extra row of icons and using my backup from the iPhone 4S, it looks a bit lonely toward the bottom.  I wish that they would let me expand the favorite apps at the bottom into two rows.  It's not as though it's a hardship, but it could be more convenient.  Apple is learning, but learning so slowly that the rest of us need a class on patience.

I'm sure someone out there thinks that I'm ridiculously stupid for staying with a CDMA phone.  Here is my reasoning: There was a demonstration of how you could use a $15 phone and a little bit of knowledge to fake a GSM tower and listen to conversations.  It's not that I make a lot of conversations, secretive or otherwise, but it's ridiculous to open yourself up when you give that credit card number over the phone and a third party is listening.

They call CDMA old, but GSM goes back to the 1980s--further than CDMA really.  I'm excited about VoLTE--voice over LTE technology, where we can give up both GSM and CDMA but it's going to be later in the decade.

Update 2013.11.26: Two weeks have passed already?  The phone has proven itself.  LTE, where available, works well.  I don't see that the phone can fix communications problems but at least, it's not making them worse, as it seemed to be with the iPhone 4S or the LG Optimus S.  Perhaps, Qualcomm is better now or it's just that the antenna configuration is much better.  I'm holding the phone the same way as always.  For a moment yesterday, I was thinking of my Sanyo PM-8200 with the pull-out antenna.  That phone had amazing sound but flip phones could be thicker then.  Having a phone that sounded better than a landline phone was incredible at that time.  It was only when I got to the premium Samsung A900 that my expectations went down.

I was going to say that my problem with compass interference had completely gone away, but I can only say that it's minimized.  I haven't seen the actual message about compass interference, but I find that the map is looking the wrong way occasionally.

I haven't seen anything terrible, which is both great and expected of what is mostly a 1 year old phone with some enhancements.  When iOS 7 is more mature, I expect that it will be as good as a phone can be.

My 2013 Google Nexus 7 tablet will fill my need for Android.

Update 2013.12.06: My pro rata bill came and that's always a time for panic as it is big.  The bill was almost exactly the same, except for the US$36.00 activation fee and AppleCare+ for US$99.00, and of course, there was additional tax because of those two.  It's a bit more (~US$60+) than my bill from two years ago when I got the iPhone 4s when they started charging the smart phone premium data fee but I don't recall much about the changes.

Service has been unhappy and great in alternating cycles.  LTE is still months away, though it works in the small town of Eaton in Ohio about 12 miles away, though no longer in the Cincinnati area.  It would be great to have a really good response from the devices, although the iPhone 5c generally works better than the mobile hotspot.  How any carrier buys products to work with their supplied connections, and they don't really work together well, I will never understand.  All the carriers seem to have the same problems and it's never their fault, just like the cable company.

Update 2014.01.05: I am definitely not pleased with service lately.  It's likely because of holiday shopping and ongoing upgrade work, but service at  home is unusable at times.  I don't mean that it's pathetically slow.  I mean that it's time to shut off the phone slow because nothing is getting data.  The mobile hotspot is worse for whatever reason.  Checking the network.sprint.com website shows me that cows and horses about 6 miles east of here have LTE service and it's arriving from all sides, but when tiny towns have the service and a town of 35,000 doesn't, it makes me wonder what the priorities are.  The phone is great however and hasn't disappointed at all.

Update 2014.03.26: After spending several months with the latest version of Android (4.4.2) and recently updating the iPhone 5c to iOS 7.1, I couldn't be more pleased that I didn't get an Android-based phone.  There is always something just a little bit off about Android.  Thankfully, the tablet isn't bad as its 2012 counterpart was.  I like the 2013 Nexus 7, and it's a much better piece of hardware than the iPad mini but it would be good if Google fixed the operating system, so it wasn't a pig and the battery wasn't half depleted if I leave it off the charger all night.

The iPhone 5c has recently taken up mobile hotspot duties and it works well enough, but there seem to be some flaws in the functionality in iOS 7.1.  Otherwise, the phone is quite good, which should be expected since it is a warmed-over iPhone 5 with dual band LTE.  LTE works quite well, and I've seen over 12 Mbps with it.  However, at home, I'm still struggling with service.  I suspect the technician is the same one who couldn't get 3G/EVDO working on schedule, and can't keep the network working consistently either.

I'm no longer using the Otterbox Defender case.  I switched to a Ballistic SG MAXX case, tossed the screen protector, and bought an Invisible Shield screen protector.   It was a lot of money, but not wasted.

Update 2014.11.26: It's been over a year with the iPhone 5c and it's still a good phone.  Thankfully, the rather broken iOS 7.x has been replaced with the somewhat broken iOS 8.1.1 finally.  I think Sprint is still my biggest hurdle, but I don't see good alternatives.  My service is only really bad at home.

Given that I'm using the SG MAXX case (and they've changed the name of that model), there have been no destructive drops.  I'm pleased that the case is both strong and that I can remove it easily.

If there is one odd problem with the phone, it's something that seems to have happened recently.  Syncing with the computer has become flaky.  I switched from the long, Sprint-supplied cable to the original, short Apple-supplied cable and it is more reliable, but not 100%.

However, part of the problem could be that I upgraded to OS X 10.9.5 about the same time as I upgraded the phone to iOS 8.1.  It could also be that my MacBook Pro is often in the backpack with me, but that shouldn't loosen just the USB ports.  I'd expect that it would loosen practically everything.

32GB seems not to be quite enough, possibly because the apps are arriving in 32-bit/64-bit combos with enhanced artwork for the upgraded resolutions for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.  I have a little bit over 16 GB of music (256 Kbps mp3 encoding), so the rest of the storage is related to apps.  Asphalt 8 and Galaxy on Fire 2 (HD) take a lot of storage for data.

In any case, I'm still pleased with the iPhone 5c.

Sprint is more worried about their executives than their customers

I keep hearing about the wonderful improvements to Sprint's network.  They're happening everywhere, but apparently, where I go.

Sprint made a big deal about having LTE available for the Super Bowl last year.  This summer, I was on Georgia Street in downtown Indianapolis with the Tri-Fi mobile hotspot and my computer trying to do some work before an event.  0.75 Mbps (or 1.0 Mbps on 2013.11.09) on LTE didn't seem quite right, even by pathetic standards.  I was told by the @sprintcare team that two towers were having problems and that the third tower in the area was being stressed more than usual.  It's possible.

As I've said in the past, putting one tower in a town and saying that you have coverage is not the same as having useful coverage, but I know that Verizon does that.  Seeing someone with a phone showing "4G LTE" taking two minutes to switch to 3G (EVDO) to actually do the work is sadly amusing.

No one has really good coverage right now, so it's all about who doesn't have the worst coverage.

I was thinking to myself "Why can't Sprint handle their current customers' needs now?"  I decided to take a look at the network.sprint.com site and check on 3 metropolitan areas.

• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Overland Park, Kansas
• San Jose, California

I'm near Cincinnati and WiMAX (4G) is just as overloaded as EVDO (3G) is.  I've yet to see any LTE (4G LTE)  coverage (that changed with my 2013.11.13 visit), but I don't always take my mobile hotspot with me.

Overland Park is where Sprint's headquarters are.  It's in the Kansas City metro area.  The KC metro area is about the same size (~2.3 million people) as the Cincinnati metro area, so I thought that it would be a good comparison.

San Jose is the third largest city in California with just under 1 million people.  It's in the San Francisco Bay Area, but at the furthest south point.  WiMAX is present and worked reasonably well for the first 6 hours of my 3 day stay there.  It was supposedly repaired before I left, but wasn't working correctly, so perhaps, the problem is that the technicians can't be bothered to test.

I must be confused.  If the KC metro area is no bigger than the Cincinnati metro area (and Overland Park isn't that much of the metro area), why are they receiving roughly 4 times the enhancements?  They're even receiving more than San Jose, California, which has about 4 times the population.

The only thing I can reason is that the executives complain about their inconvenience and plan around themselves.  I can't imagine any other logical explanation because I would think that they would want to convince people who aren't Sprint employees to go with their service, especially when Sprint employees get a discount (100%?) for service, unlike typical customers.  It also seems that with the recent addition of 70 new LTE locations that many were planned as vacation destinations for Sprint executives.

I had learned in the past that they had no way to gauge data performance.  I suspect that they're just not collecting any information, so that they can't be blamed for what they don't know.  Having worked with internal networks at various companies, there are tools for Quality of Service (QoS), so I find it difficult to believe that the major carriers aren't using similar tools on their data networks, except to escape blame.

Oh, and by the way, marketing has created a new boasting area to talk about their plans for tri-band LTE: http://faster.sprint.com/category/spark/?INTCID=TSC:UHP:103013:spark&adSelectData=1:Module_spark_103013

I'm with a lot of the comments that say "I'll believe it when I see it." but they talk about 2014 and 2015.  2014 isn't that far off, but I have a feeling that I won't be seeing LTE at home until 2016 at the rate they're going.  Whether it will be reliable or not is another matter.  I don't consider any data communications technology sufficient if it struggles to get my e-mail, although I've been told several times by Sprint support (not customer service) that if sometime during a 24 hour period the data rates are within their advertised numbers, they are acceptable rates.

Update 2013.11.11: I had recent conversations with local Sprint employees and ended up extending my relationship with the company by buying a new iPhone 5c.  They said, according to the local network technician, this area will have LTE about 6 months from now.   Whether it will be working (well) or not is another matter.  Returning from Indianapolis the other day, I noticed that the phone was showing LTE for all but about the last 38 miles of my drive, so it seems they're working their way across the state.

Update 2013.11.13: I was in the Springdale area, just outside Cincinnati and was surprised to find LTE.  Speedtest.net told me that it reached a little over 10 Mbps at the peak, and settled on 7 Mbps.  That's good, but as with my experience with WiMAX being overloaded in the area, they're going to need a lot of capacity.

Springdale, Ohio

Update 2013.11.26: I was in Eaton, Ohio today.  It's a town just big enough by state law to be designated a city.  LTE was working there but has not been officially announced yet.  My previous experience is that the town had 3G data service prior to where I am now, since Sprint had bought the area's wireline business, apparently.  Verizon had bought the service in this town.  In any case, it seems that LTE is closing from all sides and it's going to be pleasant until everyone moves over to LTE.

Eaton, Ohio

 I really love the Sprint Zone app.  It's so precise with the Free Memory figure.  Additionally, the Data Connection is hard-coded to show 3G no matter whether 1xRTT is there (even roaming), or LTE is the current connection.  It doesn't matter how many times I've mentioned it to them.  It's like the Sprint Speedtest.net vanity page saying that connections are in Megabytes per second, rather than Megabits per second.

3G connection while LTE or 1xRTT is active...hmm

Update 2013.12.27: I was able to use Sprint's LTE in the Dayton, Ohio area today.  It was less than spectacular, but the availability hasn't been announced yet.  Since they don't actually provide much coverage when they announce an area, I don't think it will be good for a while anyway.  Indianapolis, Indiana was announced quite a while ago, and it's consistent with what a good EVDO connection should be.

Update 2014.01.21: I got a text message from Sprint today:

I'm actually somewhat hopeful that things are changing, even though bandwidth seems severely constrained at the moment.  On Monday, I was in the small city of Eaton, OH using their LTE, which has yet to be announced.  Instead of the 7 Mbps I was receiving previously, I only got 2.48 Mbps, and there was a hole where 3G/EVDO showed up that wasn't there previously.  It almost looked as if they'd re-deployed equipment already.

LTE is finding its way into every area

Of course, the text message I received says to me that out of 4 towers in town--there should be at least 5 but they've ignored a large area south of town--should be equipped but I'm not exactly convinced.  I was expecting everything from the noted area on the coverage map east to the Ohio state line to be covered, but that may be more hope than reality.

Update 2014.12.02: It's been a bit over a year and the company has made some progress toward their LTE buildout.  That's a good thing, but they're still failing.  They're still far too interested in helping themselves than helping their paying customers.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, my phone usually works on LTE and generally works well.  There are still some really ugly problems but they are fewer than I'd seen in other parts of the country.  Being that I live about 75 miles from San Jose, there are more ugly problems the further away from California's third largest city.  Surprisingly, I had very good service in San Francisco itself, which is a tough city to cover.  Since WiMAX has been decommissioned, along with Nextel's iDEN network, Sprint has two more frequency bands to use.

However, the numbers of the changes to towers--their "upgrades"--still show too much activity around their headquarters, compared to taking care of their paying customers.  I would assume that Sprint employees don't pay a lot for service, so why are the rest of us paying to help them when many of us are still dealing with poor service?

I've noticed that they're not interested in showing us where LTE is being deployed any longer.  The only press releases I've seen lately as concerned with telling the story that they have good service in individual cities.

Why am I on 1xRTT so often if LTE is everywhere?

Where is the roaming zone now?

In my own town, I noticed that they hid a large roaming zone from customers' view, even though service is often unusable.  Apparently, the @sprintcare people were not informed, so they kept telling me about the roaming zone, only stopping when I showed them the coverage map I could see.

Thinking: iPhone 5(s|c) or LG G2 or HTC One or LG Optimus G

I'm still thinking about a new phone.  Next month, will be the end of my two year contract.  I've been eligible to trade up since July.  One thing that keeps me thinking is service, billing, and support.

When I was looking for a mobile hotspot I tried AT&T, Verizon, and finally, decided on Sprint.  Why?

AT&T billing--they charged me for data when the device was being shipped
Verizon service--they had the worst service where I live now
Sprint--it wasn't as bad as Verizon, and I'd been a customer since 2000

Given that Softbank put a lot of money into Sprint, the LTE rollout should be accelerating, if that's even possible.  Also, decommissioning Nextel's network frees up the lower 800 MHz band, plus the 2.5 GHz band will be freed from WiMAX as they replace WiMAX in areas where it's already running.  WiMAX has worked fine for me, and LTE shows promise.

Sprint has started pre-orders for the LG G2, the successor to the LG Optimus G, a phone I really liked.  At a resolution of 1280x768, it was quite capable of showing video clearly.  Since the G2 has a resolution of 1920x1200 (or is it 1080?), it can show media in full HD resolution, which is awesome in a handheld device.  They've also added the Google Nexus 5 to their pre-orders.  It's based on the G2 but with various differences.  I like that it will have priority and a straight path to system updates.  I just wish that Sprint were selling a 32 GB version.  The 32 GB G2 is US$50 more at US$199.99 with 2 year contract and the 16 GB Nexus 5 is US$149.99.  They're US$100.00 cheaper for new customers.

LG has tried to fix Android to work better for their customers, as has HTC and Samsung and even Motorola made some laughter with their attempt.  Having tried the original Nexus 7 tablet, I'm not sure that Android can be fixed, and that's why I'm hesitant to return, having had 3 Android-based products that really didn't work well for me.

Apple is not without their problems.  They want you to like what they like, as with Mercedes-Benz years ago, but guess what?  Mercedes-Benz changed.  Apple won't.  They know better than we do about what we want.

The best thing about Apple is that I know that an app will work for me.  If I'm on a newer operating system on a device with reasonable RAM, an app will work.  My iPhone 4S, and previously my second generation iPod touch, proves that to me every day.

I've been watching developers struggle with 64-bit apps on the iPhone 5s.  I'd probably avoid it, unless there is a point where the mess is resolved.  However, the supplies are constrained and I probably couldn't find one until the new year.

The iPhone 5c felt great, worked quickly, and was better and faster than my current phone, plus it has LTE capabilities.  Since it's almost completely an iPhone 5, the technology has been worked out.  It would be good to have LTE data speeds (where available, disclaimers apply) although I suspect that LTE will be bogged down by all the people switching at once.

I'm still not sure about the HTC One.  I really like the style and the fact that there are two speakers on the front, but I really dislike the fact that the company might not survive.  Who will provide me with software updates, if the company is gone?  Unfortunately, no matter how many colors they have available, I think people know about a sinking boat and are ready to look somewhere else.

Service, software, and more keep me thinking.  I'll probably let my contract run out, something I've not done since 2002.  I used my Star Tac for a total of 4 years, 2 of which were without contract.  Two years after I replaced it, it still was able to power on.  If I went a couple of days without charging a current phone, I bet it would be completely dead.  Of course, software-wise, my iPhone 4S would be completely dead by 2015.

Update 2013.10.30: I've really been giving the iPhone 5c more thought.  It's priced nicely for what's basically year old hardware with extra LTE bands thrown into it.  Besides that, I don't need to learn all new quirks and foibles, as I would with LG or HTC Android-based phones, which work differently.  That's not to say that I've decided, but it does push me in a certain direction.  The HTC One has a lot going for it and so does the LG G2.

One thing may delay my decision: cases.  I checked four different stores for a Ballistic or Otterbox case for the iPhone 5c and found none.  You can order them through the manufacturers' web sites, and Otterbox has a pick your combination selection, but I need to coordinate that carefully.  No case, no phone.

Update 2014.11.14: One year later or so, the iPhone 5c has been good.  The HTC One M7 has been replaced with the M8, both of which are brilliant.  I've also had a 2013 Nexus 7 tablet from about the same time and I don't regret not having an Android-based phone.  The operating system needs work, even at version 4.4.4, though I find iOS 7 and 8 to be rough also.  It feels as though it will be 30 years before things will be really good.  Of course, if Google and Apple actually tested their operating systems with real people, they'd be surprised at how much they'd find to improve.

LG has changed a lot with the G2 being the basic platform for the Nexus 5.  Overall, they feel like a company that you can trust.  The G3 is quite amazing, but as with Samsung, promoting a device through a power-hungry display seems a problem.

Still considering another phone

July 1st has come and gone.  Its only real significance is that it opened up my new phone upgrade window.  It's a long time until my contract ends in November, so Sprint has made things available much earlier than their previous 22 month period.  My two previous phone switches happened around 12 months from the prior change, as I was part of their Premier programme.

Apparently, they weren't making enough money but they made a lot of customers happy.  Of course, smart phones have an ETF of $350 and feature phones are at $200, I believe, but they weren't getting enough of that within 1 year, so the price of happiness was too high, indeed.

I currently have an iPhone 4S with 32 GB of storage.

I'm thinking about:

• LG Optimus G(2)
• HTC One
• Apple iPhone 5S

Of course, the iPhone 5S won't be out until October or so.  Apple has just revealed that they've added the iPhone to the university sale that they do in autumn, so until the current supplies are gone, no one gets the new products.  This also explains why the MacBook Pro wasn't revised at WWDC, as all products they feel are desired by students will be discounted and after stock runs out, the revised models will be announced.

In any case, I want something fairly current but I'm not sure how far I would want to go.  The displays of all three will be high density displays.  I'd like a tablet but it's too much extra to carry, especially with the laptop computer.  A high density display on a phone will allow me to read and write Japanese, Chinese, and Korean more easily.

Update 2013.07.08: About 1 month from now, there is an announcement from LG, which is expected to be the Optimus G2.  I noticed that Sprint has reduced the price of the Optimus G from US$199.99 to US$99.99, according to my contract upgrade.  It's still a quad core phone and it sucks battery life as with all the rest--will the new one need a humongous battery and still suck the life out of it?

One thing that concerns me is that Android always has a problem where some app doesn't work with some phone.  These two phones are well known but will all apps work with them?  They have a good chance, but is that enough?

Of course, it has taken time for various apps on iOS to support the iPhone 5 and newer iPad displays.  It matters but there may not be a problem by the time October/November arrives.

Speaking of app compatibility, the HTC One lacks the menu button.  This seems a major flaw, even though some developers have gone out of their way to provide a solution in their applications.

I have a fourth option: do nothing and let the contract expire.  I'm not 100% enamoured of Sprint's service in this area, and my mobile hotspot (Tri-Fi!) regularly has trouble, probably because it doesn't support the lower frequencies and neither WiMAX nor LTE are available at home.  I doubt they'd appreciate losing a 13 year customer, although it would just be the loss of my phone at the moment, as the mobile hotspot has until July of 2014.

It seems to me that they could put better technology into a place that suffers from more trouble, rather than putting poorer, cheaper technology into place.  The signal used to be quite good, but their current technology leaves the mobile hotspot hanging by a 1 or 2 bar thread, where the phone will have double that.  The lower frequency counts, apparently.  Of course, how many times have you seen the number of bars change when you actually started to use the device?  Then again, one the phone, the number of bars represents the voice signal, which could always be fine, while the data signal would be in the toilet.

It's sad to return home from a trip where I was getting around 10 Mbps on WiMAX or LTE to see the connection struggle with e-mail.

I seriously doubt the deal with SoftBank will help in that department.  They'll still consider a small town unworthy of investment, even though the Sprint executives probably live far enough out of Overland Park, Kansas/Kansas City to be consider rural.  I doubt that they have a problem anywhere they go.

Update: 2013.09.10: iPhones 5s and 5c have been announced for September 20th availability.  Could I do with the 5c, which is mostly a warmed-over iPhone 5?  I suppose so but the extra power of the 5s sounds better.  I still haven't seen the LG Optimus G2 available, but Motorola's Moto X is.

Taking a little trip to Philly/Jersey

I'm totally amused by the idea of being able to drive from here to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is about 600 miles/1000 km on one tank of diesel fuel.

Now, I'll panic early and want to fill the tank before I get that close, and I'll probably want to stop at Wawa as soon as possible to get an iced tea.  Still, it's amazing thinking that, if I had to do it, I could do it.

Thinking about previous trips with 3 different Volkswagen gasoline-driven models, I usually made 3 stops for fuel.  I didn't have set places but I would almost have to stop at a PA Turnpike service area since there wasn't any other place, especially when you're driving directly from A to B.

I would enter the PA Turnpike at the New Stanton (exit 11, I believe, but that's the old designation) and I would leave the Turnpike anywhere from Downington (PA route 10) to Philadelphia (U.S. 1), depending on where I lived at the time.  If I had time, I'd often stop in Lancaster County to enjoy the ride a bit more and stop at restaurants along the way.  If you haven't travelled U.S. 30, you're missing out on some great local stuff, along with some awkward traffic around the outlet malls.

I can't wait to see the Atlantic Ocean again.  It's been too long since it last waved goodbye to me.  I'm also looking forward to Mitsuwa Marketplace, a Japanese mall plus the usual hoagie, cheesesteak, and Italian restaurants that you can find all around Philadelphia and New Jersey.  No, I'm not looking to become obese but I am looking for some flavour.

I wouldn't mind looking at the museums again, since it's been too long since I've been there.  I don't care to run up the Art Museum's steps like Rocky again, mostly because I would like to have my car close and you can't drive up the steps.

I was thinking about going to Adorama's street fair in Manhattan on Sunday, 23 June.  I've done quite a bit of mail order but I've never seen the store.  I wasn't that close to it my last time in NYC, starting and ending at Penn Station.

I think the fuel will definitely be the least cost of the trip.  It should be interesting to see the range of prices on the way.  While the local Indiana/Ohio prices have held steady around $3.989, I saw that they're handling diesel at one Sam's Club and it was $3.699.  This is especially significant when gasoline is over $4.00 per gallon in this area--the old Memorial Day to Labor Day gouging, probably.

I look forward to the trip and to see how the engine responds on a long, uninterrupted cruise.  It used to take me around 5 hours, 50 minutes through Pennsylvania.  I wonder if that will change because I won't need to stop for fuel, although I'll need to stop for human necessities.

On the way back, I'm planning to photograph two Madonna of the Trail statues, to add to the other three I've already taken.  It's probably weird, but I'd like to go up to the little town where they filmed Super 8.  I've been wondering how it is to live near a bigger river, and I've been to a few points along the Ohio River in the past year.  It's a trip.  I might as well indulge myself.

I arrived in the motel in Bensalem, PA just minutes outside Northeast Philly.  Sprint's WiMAX is working at 9.9 Mbps accord to the test I just did, which is better than what Red Roof Inn is providing.  I'm glad to see that a technology that people call "useless" and "old" and "pathetic" is doing so much better than the up-to-date technology I don't have.

The car topped out at 48.8 mpg.  I filled up at London, OH, about 80 miles from home, and the car showed 500.2 miles with nearly 1/4 tank remaining, which suggests 664 mile range, instead of the 592 mile range based on the EPA rating of 42 mpg.

Sprint LTE seems to work

I was in the Indianapolis area today, and as I had checked the Sprint coverage page last night, saw that they had gone live with LTE.  The funny thing about their data maps, unlike their voice maps, is that they don't show relative signal strength.  It's all covered in orange, when in reality, it might not be covered at all.

My current home coverage is like that.  It' shows up as a blanket of 3G goodness when, in fact, I often get unusable service.  The voice coverage shows me on the edge of great voice signal strength.

I took my mobile hotspot (Sierra Wireless Tri-Fi, as they call it), into the pizza place where I went to eat lunch, along with my laptop computer.  It connected slowly, then disconnected, then connected again.  As I was trying to actually use the connection, the hotspot disconnected from the computer.  C-R-A-P.  This is the second device, as the first one was confused about whether it was fully charged or not, and disconnected regularly.

My guess is that the disconnections happen when the towers are overloaded.  Despite their assurances, I think their capacity upgrades only minimized the horror and they needed 6 or 7 more to put things back to where they were before they started selling Apple's iPhone.  They've been selling smart phones like crazy.  Apparently, nearly half of people in the U.S.A. are using smart phones.  I saw almost great speeds on Christmas Day, so it makes sense.

There was a handy Sprint store around the corner, so I stopped to talk.  I casually asked why it wouldn't connect to LTE and the representative told me that the towers were only about 30 % of the buildout.  That seems consistent with Verizon and AT&T boasting LTE coverage when there wasn't much.  Sad, isn't it?  Still, some is better than none, as long as it works.

After I'd finished my regular shopping, I headed to Sam's Club for gasoline and to see if there was anything else I desperately needed.  $3.079 wasn't bad for regular, since I'd seen up to $3.219 on the way there.

I tried the mobile hotspot again, and it showed the 4G symbol.  Since I knew Indianapolis didn't have WiMAX, I was quite pleased to be connected to LTE for the first time with the device.  I'll upload the screenshot but the PING came back as 70 ms, with a download speed of 4.65 Mbps, and an upload speed of 3.81 Mbps.  Considering the technology, it's slow, but if I'd checked my 3G connection, the LTE speed would look wonderful.  I'm hoping to see much better.  I tried Verizon's LTE in West Carrollton, Ohio and the download speed at that time was ~5.8 Mbps but it was a more mature buildout by that time.  I considered it too slow for the money Verizon charged, and considering that I had minimal coverage in my own town at the time, it didn't make sense.  Since then, they added LTE but it's only good if you happen to be where it works.

Now, I'm thinking that Sprint may try to compete with Verizon since the two have this town sewn up.  T-Mobile doesn't even have 3G service here and there is no MetroPCS or Cricket.  AT&T has 3G service but that could collapse at any moment once their customers upgrade to 3G data phones.  It's not likely they'll have LTE here until the end of the century.  I don't even think that they had EDGE here until 2006 or 2007.

If nothing else, the pizza and breadsticks were good.

Update 2013.11.11: It's going on 10 months since I wrote this.  I see Sprint covering more of the state of Indiana, but service in Indianapolis is anything but exemplary.  Downtown, near where they showcased LTE for the SuperBowl, I've seen service as low as 0.75 Mbps and the other day, it was running at 1.0 Mbps down.  I also got 2.88 Mbps in the suburbs where the buildout didn't seem to be finished.  However, service in the mall was better near the Sprint kiosk, and often dropped to 1xRTT elsewhere.

I'm on my third hotspot now, and this one doesn't seem to be better.  Why doesn't the equipment for their towers work well?

I'm interested to see how Verizon is doing.  About a year ago, I went to visit someone in a small town to deliver a few things.  She was showing me her Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III and I noticed that LTE was lit.  She tried to look up something and it paused for over 1 minute, switched to 3G/EVDO, and returned results finally.  So much for more coverage.  Putting LTE on one tower just doesn't do more than stake a claim.  It has to work.

Oh, and I just had pizza and breadsticks there again the other day.

Holy shhh...WiMAX!

Having just written about 4G or faux G this week, it's interesting to see WiMAX work well here in the Orlando, FL area.

I ran a test at speedtest.net last night and got over 10 Mbps (I've even recorded over 13.5 Mbps).  This is exceptionally good considering that I'm inside a motel room and the 3G connection is fluctuating between 3G and 1xRTT.  10 Mbps is also faster than I've seen from Verizon LTE, by about 4.8 Mbps.  What Verizon has here, I really don't know.  Sprint apparently doesn't have LTE here, as that would have connected.  I may find it somewhere else in the metropolitan area.  Hmm...Oviedo, FL certainly doesn't have access to WiMAX--it barely has 3G service in my friends' house.

It's great to see a download that would take hours, take just minutes instead.

I must say that it's great (sarcasm) to be home where the service barely works at all--and Sprint doesn't think there is a problem.

Give me the real 4G!

It seems that people are so starved for data (or merely terribly impatient) that 4G mobile data can't come soon enough.

I consider how few companies had a 3G presence in the U.S.A. in late 2006 when I got my first 3G data-capable phone and things seem much less advanced for 4G than faux G today.

Given that AT&T and T-Mobile hammer home this message that they have 4G everywhere, and that even LTE itself is not truly considered a 4G technology by ITU, the U.S.A. has very little coverage that's not close to old technologies.  HSPA+ can deliver great speeds but supposedly it's inefficient or they wouldn't be trying to replace it.

I remember looking back to the iPhone launch in 2007 and AT&T had little in the way of 3G coverage.  Verizon's more recent advertising ridiculed AT&T's 3G coverage.  When AT&T realized that it looked ridiculous, they stopped naming places where they had 3G and started telling everyone that they were covered for data access.

I used WiMAX the other day, and if you don't know, WiMAX was the initial 3.5G data technology that was used by Sprint/Clear/ClearWire in the U.S.A. and had thriving networks in several other countries before LTE was available.  WiMAX in the U.S.A. was hampered by some really terrible frequency that allowed it to reach a good distance outdoors but not work much indoors at all, unable to penetrate walls with any consistency.

In my experience, I haven't seen much difference between the speed of WiMAX and LTE in this area.  Both hovered around 5 Mbps download speed for me, on Sprint and Verizon, respectively.  Once Verizon completes their rollout of LTE, that will likely change, as they'll have a similar number of towers, plus a faster technology.  Of course, Sprint isn't sitting still and with the boost of Softbank, maybe they'll have some decent LTE coverage by the end of 2013.  Maybe, we'll all have some decent LTE coverage by then.

My mobile hotspot supports WiMAX and LTE, plus 3G, so I'm mostly prepared except that Sprint will add a lower frequency once they decommission the last of Nextel's iDEN network, which operates at 800 MHz.  Unfortunately, the mobile hotspot doesn't cover Sprint's lower 3G frequency either, so when things get rough, the tough have to pack it up and forget the internet.  (I was wondering why my phone had better connections than my dedicated, data-only device.  Now, I know.)

I wonder how 4G coverage will change 2G coverage.  There are still places where I see no 3G coverage but I understand that AT&T are re-purposing their 2G towers for 4G spectrum in metropolitan areas.

This weekend, I'll likely be on the move and I should pass through Atlanta (stuck on I-75 isn't much of a place to test), where Sprint already has LTE active in some state of service.  Whether I'll actually find coverage or not will be interesting.  I'm likely to find WiMAX coverage in the Orlando area (10-13Mbps on I-drive!).  WiMAX was a mixed bag in southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and southern New Jersey.  At my motel in Wilmington/Newark/Christiana Delaware, WiMAX was the only reliable technology.  Voice calls were absolutely horrible but I was getting 4+ Mbps from WiMAX in the same location.

If I look back to my entry into 3G data in the second half of 2006 to now, it took probably 4 years for 3G to be strong enough to be considered everywhere.  Can we wait until 2015 or 2016?

Update 2013.10.26: It's nearly a year later and AT&T is claiming to have the fastest and most reliable LTE network.  Verizon seems to have the most coverage, although putting LTE on 1 tower is not really coverage, is it?  Sprint has started their LTE network and they've changed greatly by being 70 some percent owned by Softbank telecommunications of Japan, and Sprint bought Clearwire, of which they were already a majority shareholder and customer.  T-Mobile has accelerated their network buildout by buying MetroPCS and their LTE network.  Still, it's mostly Verizon and AT&T at this point.

New iPhone? Who cares?

In November 2011, I bought my first iPhone, a 4S model with 32 GB of storage.  It's been more than sufficient, but it's also been a pain at times.  In reality, it's no worse or no better than an Android-based phone.  I had one of those the previous year.

Apple and Google are figuring it out as they go along.  For that matter, so is Microsoft.

When I bought the iPhone 4S, someone at the Sprint store said that I'd be buying the new one in a year.  I shook my head, as there was a 2 year contract, and I didn't care that much to switch.  The main reason I switched from my Android-based phone was that it was short on storage and getting so many low storage warnings was annoying.  Gingerbread wasn't any more bug-free than Froyo was.  Had they put Ice Cream Sandwich on it and tripled the storage, I might still be using that phone.

I don't see a reason to pay a huge fee and buy a new iPhone model simply because there is no good reason.  They'll go to a less breakable form using stronger materials?  That's good but it's been said that it's thinner than the current model.  Why?  Keep it the same thickness and increase the protection and/or battery capacity.

It will have a bigger, longer display?  Great, but there isn't anything wrong with the current display for me.  960x640 is a good resolution, and the graphics hardware still doesn't quite keep up with it, although it's better than the iPhone 4 could do.  I'm sure they'll upgrade the hardware but if it only equals the performance of the 4S, they're not doing enough.

The rumour about the LTE capabilities gives me a bit of hope.  They've supposedly decided to work with various carriers around the world to provide compatible LTE frequencies and make the phone worthwhile, as the premium phone it is.  I've used WiMAX and LTE and have found both to be useful.  Besides, for those of us still on 3G technologies, moving people to close-to-4G technologies (WiMAX Plus and LTE Advanced were given 4G branding by ITU) will offload 3G data capacity and help people with older equipment.  Since so many people own smart phones at this time, any diversification would be helpful.  In a country so big (4000km/2800 miles wide on my last trip), you can't hope for coverage everywhere you go.

While I'm glad to see that Apple (and Google) are continuing to make progress, I'm glad to sit this one out and wait for the customers to file lawsuits about something they didn't research.  How much can you expect from people who don't know that hot coffee is hot?

As the new iPhone models will be announced shortly, so will iOS 6 and the latest bugs out of Cupertino, California.  I'm still waiting for iOS 5.2 and hoping for 5.3 but they've stopped.  Apple need to change their behaviour about this.  They do not provide security updates for previous releases.  Mobile phones would seem to be more vulnerable than any other devices simply because they're constantly connected.  If Apple care so much about security (actions speak louder than words, I'm told), then the company should do something to prove it.

Still, I'm looking forward to announcements this week and I'm wondering if a couple new iPad models will be included.

Already, delivery has slipped to 2-3 weeks for pre-orders.  I'm guessing that it's a minor success so far.  I'm expecting to hear how millions were pre-ordered.

One more thing: I just saw "Backside illumination sensor" and I'm thinking that someone will ask why they would want their backside illuminated while doing video with their family.