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Sprint took to Chicago today to announce new network expansions for those who still aren’t hooked up with the best network they hav to offer. For starters, 4G LTE spreads to 28 new markets today including Seattle, Cleveland and San Jose. We’re still digging for the exact list of new cities but that brings Sprint’s current total up to an impressive 471 markets.
[Update]: Here’s the full list of new cities receiving 4G LTE:
- Johnson City, TN
- San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
- Bend, OR
- Klamath Falls, OR
- Aberdeen, WA
- Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
- Shelton, WA
- Pine Bluff, AR
- Bloomington-Normal, IL
- Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
- Fremont, OH
- Cheyenne, WY
- Dover, DE
- Wilmington, DE-MD
- Yakima, WA
- Jonesboro-Paragould, AR
- Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
- Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA
- Reading, PA
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
- Seneca, SC
- Bangor, ME
- Barre, VT
- Burlington-South Burlington, VT
- Lewiston-Auburn, ME
- Rutland-Bennington, VT
- Port Angeles, WA
To add to that, Sprint also brought Spark network upgrades to three more markets today. Folks in St. Louis, Winston-Salem and Greesnboro, N.C. will now enjoy improved and more reliable network access, faster speeds and more with compatible Sprint Spark smartphones. That brings Spark’s list up to 27 cities comprised of the following:
- Austin, Texas
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- Fort Worth, Texas
- Houston
- Jacksonville, Fla.
- Kansas City, Kan./Mo.
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York
- Newark, N.J.
- Oakland, Calif.
- Orlando, Fla.
- Philadelphia
- Provo, Utah
- Salt Lake City
- San Antonio
- St. Louis
- Tacoma, Wash.
- Tampa, Fla.
- Trenton, N.J
- Waukegan, Ill.
- Winston-Salem, N.C.
- Greensboro, N.C.
- West Palm Beach, Fla.
And Sprint hopes to cover 100 million more people with the upgrades by the end of this year. Sprint promises average speeds between 6 megabits and 15 megabits per second, while they claim the network (under the most ideal conditions, we’re sure) can deliver speeds up to 50 and 60 megabits per second. The new high frequency spectrum also improves building penetration so you can get a stronger signal in less favorable locations.
Those without Spark-enabled phones still benefit from these network upgrades as less congestion equals more bandwidth. Be sure to give it a spin if you have a compatible smartphone and you live in one of these new markets.
Avg. 6-15mbps? Um yea Ill pass. That is still slow compared to Tmobile, ATT & Verizon. smh I avg’d around 25-35mbps for all of them with Verizon being the slowest at around 15-25.
They’re talking about a conservative nationwide average. Verizon advertises a 5-12mbps average. There are plenty of markets that are higher than that. T-Mobile even initially advertised an average of 5-12mbps to match Verison when they began their LTE rollout over a year ago, but they’ve backed away from that as real world speeds have been much faster.
Bottom line is that you shouldn’t take the stated 6-15 to mean set in stone. Sprint is trying to be conservative so that those in slower markets get what’s advertised.
It really depends on a lot of different factors. Tmobile, att nor verizon will ever come out and promise any specific speeds anywhere near 25 to 35 mbps, you know why? Because there are just way too many variables that will determine network performance per individual per device per location. I have sprint in atlanta and in some areas I am guaranteed to get no more than maybe 5 to 7 mbps and in other areas I can get 50 mbps all day every day. Same can be said for other carriers as well.
All market lower than actual. I often get 30-50 on Sprint, up to 60 but only in Spark areas with a Spark phone.
Uh, no. It’s average for ALL of them. YMMV applies to everyone, naturally. So, just because you average higher doesn’t mean everyone else will. This whole pissing contest on which carrier has the fastest speeds is 110% stupid.
this is true, but he did say its too slow since he personally gets way more than their advertised speeds. If you are already getting higher than during peak times than what Sprint is advertising, there is very little incentive to even consider switching… in hopes that you get higher than their projected speeds.
Dude, it’s better to have realistic estimates instead of far off estimates. Real world > Theoretical
I have a co worker with Sprint and I just updated her phone since there was an update but it still didn’t change for her. Still on 3G that goes in and out on her Galaxy S4 and this is on the east side on Senter RD
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
Good to Know..in 91737….sprint is no bueno….
I spend most of my time in these areas and signal was junk so I jumped ship 2 months ago after being a customer for over 10 years. The final month was the worst since 2 of the towers that served my area were down. Hopefully sprint is really turning themselves around.
I was thinking of the s5 on virgin but as I said in the previous comment that my buddy with sprint was saying his lte speeds are slower than AT&T 3g speeds I’ll keep my unlocked s4 I have using straight talk I just hope we get a nexus this year now. I hope the rumors of Google killing the nexus program are not true.
I’m in hemet part of the Riverside area I just asked a buddy who has sprint if he is getting lte. He said he started getting it about two months ago but the speeds are still slower than he got from AT&T’s 3g
Getting 55mbps down in st louis
Here in MD we get a steady stream of Sprint 200kbps. LOL So glad I left them 5 months ago for AT&T. I feel sorry for my friends on Sprint. Their phones are unusable outside of WiFi.
I know Sprint’s 800MHz service is active in the Atlanta area. Just haven’t seen the “Spark” band yet.
I know some of the dates are old, but I live in Brooklyn and any of the speeds above 30 mbs is near where I live. Can’t say for those other speeds though.
Here are my scores
They have too many different technologies, slow your role Sprint and stick with one
Spark still hasn’t been announced for Atlanta yet and my contract is up in 4 months, I just may end up going to T-Mobile at least they have good 4G speeds around here, there have been times that I’ve only pulled 2 mbps down with 4 bars showing.
http://www.FramilyMeeting.com to share Sprint Framily IDs for collective savings.