Sprint 4G info - and EVDO to expand to 260m population

Please be specific. The maps are considered very accurate by users over on evdoforums.com. In fact, Sprint has been conservative with the maps. There are many users reporting areas not marked with EVDO that actually have it.

http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/evdoEnterZip.jsp

Both Sprint and Verizon claim to have 150m population coverage with EVDO. Verizon has outskirts of some metros better covered. Sprint is in many many more markets under 1.5m. Verizon has slowed down the rollout likely due to the 800mhz tower issue (smaller markets don't have 1900 towers). Sprint is still plugging away at upgrading 1900 towers.

If anything, I'd question Verizon's claim of 150m as they are in far fewer markets.

 

Verizon claimed 150m in December. I don't exactly question it but if you are going to say that Sprint is not 150m, then Verizon definitely is not.

http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/wirelessHighSpeedData_tabC.jsp

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorController?requesttype=newsearch
(Select Vcast)

Sprint is in Buffalo, Nashville, Omaha, Honolulu, Puerto Rico, Wichita, Birmingham, Tulsa/OK City and other cities over 500K-1M+ (and small markets), which Verizon is not in. There is no major market (1.5m+) that Verizon is in that Sprint is not. Verizon does have outer edges covered better for some markets though, but likely not enough to equate with the cities Sprint is also in. Core small cities will tend to have more people per sq. mile than beyond suburbia of large markets.

So if Verizon covers 150m, then Sprint likely covers over 150m, especially since the Sprint second phase rollout still continues with the target to 260m. Verizon is restricted with 800mhz towers in smaller markets while Sprint is not and Verizon has not announced a rollout beyond 150m. Verizon has long stated that they will cover 150m when rollout completes.

Nice try guys. Call me a fanboy but I'm simply giving information based on analysis, not bias. I used to have Verizon EVDO and loved it, but they are behind now in overall coverage and performance and terms of service. I supposed if I lived in exurbia, Verizon might work out better.

 

Please show reasonable sources that also challenge that. Here's one that confirms the claims are reasonable...

http://www.citymayors.com/gratis/us-census2000.html

"In 2003, more than half the US population lived in metro areas with populations of one million or more."

Both Sprint/Verizon claim to cover 150m population with EVDO. If half the US population (298m) is in cities over a million, and Sprint does have about all 1m+ metros covered with EVDO (and many many markets under 1m), then the 150m claim is reasonable, likely closer to 160m. Verizon does not have several 1m+ markets covered and is in few small markets so the 150m claim may or may not be bloated.

You are obviously convinced of that and I won't attempt to change your beliefs as you have not been able to come up with sources for your other flippant comments.

 

Now that's grasping for straws. Do a google for US population on the subject. It's commonly shown by the Census Bureau that more than half of the US population is in metro areas over 1m.

In most of your posts, you've been attempting to twist information to your bizarre biased logic. Sprint has EVDO in all markets over 1m (as well as many under 1m) and Verizon is in most over 1m with some under 1m. It's pretty reasonable claims that they have, but you guys seem to want to spin it as some kind of alien conspiracy. The coverage claims for EVDO are very reasonable.

 

You said the info I posted was 'incorrect'. If my attempts to validate info is 'getting all excited' then challenging info into something else with no source to support is "twisting into a spinmeister".

 

Sprint claimed about 150m coverage back in December so if the case, they are now over 180m coverage with EVDO. But I'd think that 13m rate would slow down once denser areas are fully covered.

Meanwhile, Verizon has no major expansion plan announced and I haven't seen any new cities announced since Dec. They very well may be adding more markets but with the 800mhz tower limitation, you gotta wonder if they close to hitting a peak.

 

This is interesting. While Verizon (and Cingular on some points) specifically state no streaming video, music or online gaming, Sprint actual promotes it. Sprint has no major restrictions other than unlawful use. Sprint does not restrict legal P2P filesharing.

http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/wirelessHighSpeedData_tabB.jsp

Permits More Business Applications—With Sprint you can:
* Stream a meeting to a national employee audience
* Download multimedia content (i.e., sales presentations or training video), music or games.






Verizon looks draconian...

Unlimited NationalAccess/BroadbandAccess services cannot be used (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games, (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, or (3) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/promotion/controller?promotionType=miniPac&action=miniStart


Cingular is almost as restrictive as Verizon...
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/09/tos_on_cingulars_wir.html

Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, telemetry applications, automated data feeds, continuous jpeg file transfers, Web camera posts or broadcasts, other machine-to-machine applications, and voice over IP. These Services are not intended to provide full-time connections, and the Service may be discontinued after a significant period of inactivity or after sessions of excessive usage.

 

^EVDO is still far better than finding a WiFi hotspot and is more broadly available than anything else in its category. It doesn't claim nationwide coverage. Within a year, if you are in an area of Sprint's native network, the chances are good you'll get an EVDO signal on Sprint. Maybe not 100% but far better chance than other technologies out there, unless you consider satellite as a competitor.

On top of EVDO, Sprint may do WiMAX or similar 4G to cover gaps and many rural areas.

Have you ever tried EVDO? I now have EVDO laptop card set as my primary even though slower than WiFi. I have a WiFi router at home but don't even bother switching since EVDO is always on and fast enough for most everything I do.

 

Might want to check out users over at evdoforums.com who actually use it as we are now beyond theory and potential. Many are pretty pleased with it, at least those who get EVDO signal. I've had both Sprint/Verizon since available in my area and use it often when traveling. I'll take good speeds broadly available over faster WiFi hotspots that are not metro wide.

EVDO is marketed at 400-700Kbits/sec but check out the results of Sprint users as many get well over 1Mbit/sec (over 25%) and the avg is over 700K. There's really not much to be skeptical about as it is delivering beyond what is marketed.

http://www.dslreports.com/archive/spcsdns.net

But I'm sure there are issues in some areas. As more towers are upgraded, the issues should reduce. Some people have ping pong problems between 1xRTT and EVDO towers. As Sprint upgrades all towers to EVDO, that issue will disappear. Verizon may have a challenge with the outstanding 800mhz towers of which most likely won't get EVDO.

 

Yes, Verizon has up to twice as many CDMA users per tower than Sprint and it will likely be that way long term. Verizon also apparently has mostly 800mhz towers, which does not have as much capacity as 1900. This means Sprint has far more capacity partially due to fewer users per tower and partially because Sprint has all 1900 towers. It will likely be that way for years as Sprint continues to add 1900 towers on Nextel sites. As of Fall last year, Verizon had over 23,000 CDMA towers apparently over 50% 800mhz while Sprint had over 24,000 all 1900. Sprint plans to add 14K more on Nextel sites in next couple year.

As far as over 1Mb, I've had Sprint EVDO since June and it has been in my area since May. I still get over 1Mb consistently near window and avg about 700K deep in my concrete condo. At work, dozens of people have a Sprint EVDO card and while most won't be active at same time, I still get over well over 1Mbps.

The 'claimed' speeds aren't fixed. It is posted at this site after the tests and you can't fake the results... I've been tracking results on this site for months and when you avg the results over many months, the data is reasonably accurate.
http://www.dslreports.com/archive/spcsdns.net

As far as 'Sprint users in not officially launched areas', take a look at the maps. Sprint is officially launched in many more markets than Verizon. But agreed, if all users start doing lots of data at once on same tower, it would indeed overwhelm the network, which is why other overlying technologies will be rolled out. In the meantime, there are many pleased EVDO users and it is definitely worth having.

 

Not sure but if you look at maps and ignore marketing terms, Sprint is clearly in more areas, especially in smaller metros between 400K-1.5million. Verizon is missing in several distinct markets over 1m - Nashville, Buffalo, Tulsa, Birmingham and others - perhaps they only have 800mhz towers? Sprint is also in Wichita, Honolulu, Omaha and many 500K+ markets that Verizon is not in. 800mhz markets?

Take another look at Sprint/Verizon performance comparisons. Sprint's network has been out since May but hasn't shown any signs of performance hits. Verizon is slowly decreasing in performance.

http://www.dslreports.com/archive/spcsdns.net
http://www.dslreports.com/archive/myvzw.com