By Sometime within the next 20 or so days, Sprint will be flipping their 4G switch for Los Angeles subscribers. This follows a lengthy period of testing not unlike what New York went through before getting their 4G love (and what San Francisco is currently going through leading up to their inevitable launch.)
It’s harder to get these radios up in large and busy metropolitan cities due to how many people will be on the network at any given time and due to other inconvenient nuances they must work around such as obnoxiously tall buildings. The news comes to us as Stephanie Vinge from Sprint tweets the following message:
“Shhh… don’t tell anyone: Sprint to launch #4G in LA by Dec 1.”
Couldn’t get any simpler than that. Be on the lookout and tip us off whenever you start seeing spots of 4G coverage in LA!
I want to know what the define as ‘LA’. LA County? City? Including surrounding areas like Orange County? LA is far too ambiguous.
My wife’s Epic has been able to connect to 4G in the SF Valley for a couple of weeks now. She did have a lot more problems with dropped calls when it’s switched on though. It may be a coincidence but we usually (both on Sprint) have dropped calls on our end extremely rarely.
Jokes on you if it turns out to be Louisiana.
@Tyler man… I didn’t even think about that. Haha, that would suck. (Not because it’s Louisiana, but because anyone who reads this article is thinking Los Angeles.)
Is South Bay getting 4G when SF does? There’s limited 4G in Santa Clara (using it now) but I’m waiting for sweet, sweet 4G all over.
what abour san diego?
WTF WHERE IS SAN DIEGO 4G.
I live in Los Angeles. How come my two brother have been able to get 4G on their Evo’s for months now? Is it not true 4G or what?
who cares? sprint is Garbaaaage
They should really stop calling it 4g, false advertising.
We’ve been getting 4G in LA and OC in various spots for months now – they are really filling in for the 12/1 official light. Here’s what I got in Manhattan Beach this morning.http://www.speedtest.net/android/18513748.png
Wonder when the smaller markets will get this…. I have heard Ft Myers FL will get it by the end of the year by several sprint stores… because we are between tampa and miami… hope it happens sooner than later…
It is hillarious that a tmobile user would have the audacity to call sprint garbage. Just sayin.
What if LA=Lower Arkansas. Then I’d be in heaven. Stephanie, don’t toy with my emotions!
…But of course, no such thing as a true “4G” network exists today—nor will one anytime soon. If it did, then we’d be getting gigabit+ download speeds on our mobile phones—and most surely, we are NOT (nor will we be soon).
“4G”, as a term, has been defined by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union)—but also bastardized completely, by big service providers who’ve adopted the term and utterly distorted its meaning.
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/the-4g-lie-gets-worse-165
I think I’ll advertise my car as being “six-cylinder”, even though it has only four (but four slightly better ones than your four). Would this not be even more amusing?…
Hey phandroid, why arent your putting 4g in quotes? Sprint doesn’t have real 4G. (thats right bitches, as long as you fags say it for tmobile ill say it for sprint)
Been getting strong 4G signal along 60 FWY and Colima Blvd in Hacienda Heights on my Evo 4G for a couple of weeks now. Max upload speed is 1 MB/s and I have clocked 6MB/s downloads
Nobody cares what the ITU says. I wish people would stop quoting them. NOBODY went by their definition of 3G. One of their 3G standards was that it had to have simultaneous voice and d Bata. So, I guess Sprint nor Verizon have 3G. Only ignorant GSM fanboys might say that. My point is that ITU is not the authority, and nobody cares what they say. So, stfu about this fake 4G BS.
I don’t care what tmobile calls their hspa+. The reasons you are seeing it put in quotes and questioned so often are: 1. It is an upgrade to hspa, which is a 3G tech. 2. Nobody else in the world is calling hspa+ 4G. 3. They waited til the last minute to decide on calling it 4G. 5. When they go to LTE, it will be faster. Are they going to call it 5G, while everybody else using it calls it 4G? Wimax, unlike hspa is a whole new tech, a 4th generation technoligy. Regardless of upgrades for faster speeds, it will still be based on the same tech, wimax. Btw, everybody using wimax and lte in the world right now call it 4G.
I heard from a sales rep earlier this week that Cincinnati is getting “4G” December 1st as well.
I think the sales guys are just blowing smoke, as they have no Idea when we will or will not get it.
@Tim242, no 1 has 4g period!!!!! And will not have for at least a couple of yrs, LTE and Wimax are NOT 4G, LTE 2 and I’m not sure about the offical name for the actual Wimas true 4g, but those are TRUE 4g, and I’m a T mobile customer and I don’t just have the audacity but I got the right to call sprint trash, because I have try there service in orlando been a “4G” city and it was the worst I have ever experience with the epic 4g. There 4G coverage was a joke and there 3g speed was if not the same at times slower than my G1 at 3G, and yes I have a G1,got it day 1, I been on android and 3g speeds more than most people have know or own anything other than the iphone, and I have also tried verizon service with is the best in the country period, but I just don’t like droid line for sum reason, going back now sprint service as far as coverage and “4g” is a joke but there customer service was best out of the 3 companies I tried
If no one has true 4G then they should name it what it really is. The terms “4G” and “3G” are international standards. You wouldn’t go and change what a “kilometer” or “mile” is just to suit your needs and improve your image would you?
I got a 4G signal, on my EVO, between North Hollywood (Camirillo and Lankershim is the strongest) and Burbank. I work on the Disney Lot, and the 4G signal strength is pretty strong here.
I went to sites with heavy flash and video content, and it rendered the pages pretty quickly. Faster than 3G, not quite as fast as wifi.
But the signal is spotty.
Clearwire (You know, the company that provides Sprint with 4G :) ) announced Dec. 1 as the launch date for Los Angeles back in October, just check out their newsroom. Clear’s coverage maps haven’t been updated yet with planned 4G coverage in LA, but I expect that to change soon.
I’m glad to see some people are seeing a signal throughout the LA area. Expect coverage to be much more robust come Dec. 1.
I am getting a weak 4G signal on my EVO in Tustin which is in Orange County. Holy crap Batman!!! 2643 kbps down and 254 kbps up that’s using the speedtest.net app. WTF!!! a second test came back with 3019 kbps down and 343 kbps up. That is with only 1 of the 3 bars on my EVO.
@Ryan, maybe but Cincinnati is on the list to get it before years end so it sort of makes sense. There’s also been reports of people getting some 4G coverage downtown and by the airport.
Both pre-4G LTE and Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) are consider as 3.9G but both are next generation technology using frequency-domain equalization schemes where HSPA+ is consider as 3.5G and essentially is current 3G WCDMA enhancement.
Speeds with 2 bars out of 3 with evo in Long Beach 2 days ago using speedtest.net app.
Down: 7310 kpbs … uh wow!
Up: 1021 kpbs …….. uh wow!
That is almost the same as my wifi!