Sprint Framily

[marmasatt]

Someone else called it a pyramid scheme besides me? I guess there's got to be something there then. I thought I invented that.

No offense taken. I said it.

Can you or anyone (in english this time) explain what does your spectrum paragraph imply? Is that some kind of coverage jargon?

I'm on the fence about 1) starting a framily, 2) going with metro PCS and getting myself a $29 Android phone or lastly trying 35orless.

I had no idea this decision was going to be so difficult. The market has become really competitive.

Spectrum:
Sprint does not have 20x20. They have 5x5 in the 800mhz, 5x5 and I believe 10x10 in some markets for 1900mhaz, and then 20mhz to use in the 2500mhz total to use as an up or down link. They can theoretically get a total of 30mhz down since they are apparently aggregating the bandwidth. The 800mhz and 2.5ghz is slowly deploying.

Opinion:
I like the idea that Sprint is taking a page from the MVNOs using their network and trying to compete with T-Mobile it its own unique way. Sprint has had horrible service in the past, but they have been stepping up although it still largely depends on your area.

*Begin rant*
Not directed at marmasatt, but I dislike some people calling it a pyramid scheme. It is a sustainable business model and both the account owner and all other users on the account benefit the EXACT same. Obviously when all users benefit the same it could resemble a pyramid at all.
I can definitely understand people complaining about the service though as I've been on their network for about 12 years.
*End rant*

 

[paperwastage]

Can you or anyone (in english this time) explain what does your spectrum paragraph imply? Is that some kind of coverage jargon?

Basically, your phone connects to the cell tower using a frequency (eg 1710-1720mhz AWS) that your cell phone provider bought (from FCC, or from someone else who bought it from FCC)

typically, lower frequency is better (better building penetration, better coverage). t-mobile until recently doesn't have any lower frequency spectrum, so their service is usually spottier than at&t in the same area

looks at this website-> http://specmap.sequence-omega.net/

if you "own" AWS-1 Block A (1710-1720 up, 2110-2120 down), you get 10mhz of bandwidth in both direction(uplink/downlink), therefore 10+10. theoretical max bandwidth for LTE 10+10 is 75mbps. if you own AWS Block A and B, you get (1710-1730, 2110-2130), so 20+20, giving you 150mbps max theoretical bandwidth

sprint DOESN'T have continous blocks of frequency... therefore, in order to transfer more data, they need to do carrier aggregation across different blocks of spectrum in order to transfer larger blocks of data. it's more complicated than contiguous spectrum because you need phones and equipment to supports all those spectrum and manage it properly(different spectrum penetrate buildings differently, so you need to be able to manage the data coming in via 2 different spectrums)

t-mobile (and at&t/verizon) managed to get contiguous spectrum from buying/selling/transfering spectrum from other companies

this image showed t-mobile having HSPA+, CDMA, LTE on the AWS band. eventually, when they move HSPA+ and CDMA off the AWS band, they can use all the AWS band that they have (20+20) for full LTE speed (they did this first in Dallas in December 2013)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428132,00.asp

I'm on the fence about 1) starting a framily, 2) going with metro PCS and getting myself a $29 Android phone or lastly trying 35orless.

I had no idea this decision was going to be so difficult. The market has become really competitive.

I'm sticking with t-mobile (post-paid) because I support what they're doing, and I have the option to upgrade to (truly) unlimited data when I need it month-to-month

it's a good thing that t-mobile is shaking up the market

 

[marmasatt]

cool. thanks for the explanation. why is t-mobile shaking up the market? how are they different metro or 35orless?

 

[ImDonly1]

cool. thanks for the explanation. why is t-mobile shaking up the market? how are they different metro or 35orless?

Metropcs is t-mobile, they merged.
35orless is also t-mobile, a prepaid reseller.

Postpaid has roaming, better tech support, and different plans from prepaid.


T-mobile has done things differently by...
1. discontinued contracts/gave discounts to people once their contract is up. att/verizon/sprint if your contract ends... your month-to-month fee stays the same.
2. they offer free global data roaming (throttled)
3. unlimited data
4. pay your etf to switch to them

Att/sprint/verizon have all been trying to copy t-mobile lately, even though poorly. T-mobile gained a lot of customers last quarter which made them all worry.

This explains some stuff
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-ces-mobile-pricewar-20140111,0,3079129.story

While discounts are always welcomed by consumers, the intensifying competition is a new challenge to a U.S. industry long used to imposing its will on consumers, and analysts fear it could result in the loss of billions of dollars of revenue.

Investors knows att/verizon rip everyone off and are now worried t-mobile is trying to ruin their profits by being too competitive.

 

[paperwastage]

cool. thanks for the explanation. why is t-mobile shaking up the market? how are they different metro or 35orless?

t-mobile is the underdog (4th out of the 4 carriers: verizon, AT&T, sprint)

they've been struggling to get more customers. in 2013, they were able to start deploying LTE to a lot of markets, get more customers, reduce churn from existing customers... a lot of it based on the breakoff arrangement from the failed merger with at&T - 3 billion in spectrum and 1 billion in cash

t-mobile has done a lot in 2013. i hope they continue in 2014 with 20+20 deployment in the major cities and use of 700mhz band A from verizon

as postpaid customer, you get better priority, more data roaming opportunities, free int'l text/data roaming

 

[SnuggleTheBear]

I like the idea that T-Mobile shaking up the market, although the smaller MVNOs (Republic Wireless, Ting, etc.) sure have more innovative and interesting options and usually at better value.

I'm guessing the 700mhz will take awhile for T-Mobile to deploy, as you have to have phones compatible and towers up. (I haven't kept up to date on T-Mobile.)
I'm pretty hopeful that Sprint will turn around the Softbank merger, as it sounds they will be pumping more money into them.

Just my opinion...
If you can get 7 people on a plan then it is totally worth it. Also not sure how long it will take for Sprint to finish expanding to 800mhz and 2.5ghz bands, but if you do get a phone I highly recommend getting a triband phone. For value Nexus 5 is hard to beat if you buy if from the Google store as you should be able to get a SIM card from Sprint.

Never thought I would say you needed a SIM card for Sprint, but it is a changing world.

 

[dagamer34]

I like the idea that T-Mobile shaking up the market, although the smaller MVNOs (Republic Wireless, Ting, etc.) sure have more innovative and interesting options and usually at better value.

I'm guessing the 700mhz will take awhile for T-Mobile to deploy, as you have to have phones compatible and towers up. (I haven't kept up to date on T-Mobile.)
I'm pretty hopeful that Sprint will turn around the Softbank merger, as it sounds they will be pumping more money into them.

Just my opinion...
If you can get 7 people on a plan then it is totally worth it. Also not sure how long it will take for Sprint to finish expanding to 800mhz and 2.5ghz bands, but if you do get a phone I highly recommend getting a triband phone. For value Nexus 5 is hard to beat if you buy if from the Google store as you should be able to get a SIM card from Sprint.

Never thought I would say you needed a SIM card for Sprint, but it is a changing world.

T-Mobile will get the 700Mhz lower A spectrum from Verizon in the middle of the year, have Band 12 devices by the end of the year, and start rollout soon after that in major markets where there is no Channel 51. I expect at T-Mobile's press conference at CES in 2015, they'll have an on stage demo showing it off along with LTE-Advanced via carrier aggregation.

 

[GregMal]

My current Sprint family plan (5 people, all Galaxy S2's, 1500 voice minutes, unlimited text and data) expires in 6-8 months. With everything (taxes, insurance, etc..) I pay $300/mo...$60/person. My son's S2 crapped out. Sprint said we could upgrade early but would have to get the Framily plan. After talking alot this was Sprint's offer...$375 per month, all would get new S4s, one would have unlimited data, the others 1 Gig. So for $75 more per month, we get less. I went thru Assurian, paid the $100 fee, got a refurb S2 (looks brand new), and we're going to keep the current plan as long as we can...

 

[SnuggleTheBear]

My current Sprint family plan (5 people, all Galaxy S2's, 1500 voice minutes, unlimited text and data) expires in 6-8 months. With everything (taxes, insurance, etc..) I pay $300/mo...$60/person. My son's S2 crapped out. Sprint said we could upgrade early but would have to get the Framily plan. After talking alot this was Sprint's offer...$375 per month, all would get new S4s, one would have unlimited data, the others 1 Gig. So for $75 more per month, we get less. I went thru Assurian, paid the $100 fee, got a refurb S2 (looks brand new), and we're going to keep the current plan as long as we can...

I think the reason why the cost is so high is that you have five people on a family plan and you already have each of them on a contract. That would mean $15 x 5 people = $75 per month you are paying for six months. After your contract ends you would end up paying $35 per person a month, plus whoever needs more than 1GB they either would need to pay $10 for 3GB or possibly $20 for unlimited. That would mean at a minimum you would pay $175, but then you have to add taxes and surcharges.

I personally don't use a lot of data like other people, but I want a good solid connection when I do. These types of plans that limit usage are right up my alley.

 

[crashtestdummy]

My current Sprint family plan (5 people, all Galaxy S2's, 1500 voice minutes, unlimited text and data) expires in 6-8 months. With everything (taxes, insurance, etc..) I pay $300/mo...$60/person. My son's S2 crapped out. Sprint said we could upgrade early but would have to get the Framily plan. After talking alot this was Sprint's offer...$375 per month, all would get new S4s, one would have unlimited data, the others 1 Gig. So for $75 more per month, we get less. I went thru Assurian, paid the $100 fee, got a refurb S2 (looks brand new), and we're going to keep the current plan as long as we can...

Just as a reference point, if you went with T-Mobile, had them pay your ETF, got S4's for everyone, it would be a total of $240/month for 500MB data /month, $290/month for 2.5GB data. You could save a lot more on both plans by getting cheaper phones, though (Nexus 5's, for example).

 

[Apex]

Anyone get the Spark update yet? People in Spark-enabled cities are reporting upwards of 56Mbps download speeds.

 

[GregMal]

Update..A few days after our experience at the Sprint store, we were at Sam's Club and started talking to the cell rep there. He had not even heard about the Framily with Sprint.
If I wasn't on contract, we could have updated all of our phones and basically kept the same family plan that we're on. It seems the Sprint stores are only selling Framily and the other contractors (Sam's, BB, Radio Shack) are still selling the old family plans.

 

[slag]

I just cancelled our sprint service and went with verizon. To use sprint at my house in Lawrence, KS, I had to have an airrave device hooked up to my high speed internet and it would sometimes go out, requiring a reboot.. Rarely happened, but it did happen. When that happened, we would lose most of our voice service. Before the airrave, I had to go out on the porch to use my phone. With Verizon, I can take calls in my basement and my data plan works at work in Topeka (I have no 4g at my desk in an office building in Topeka. Sprint has shoddy coverage.

 

[Insomniator]

Its the same BS with all carriers. You are paying more for less. They want people off unlimited so they can nickel and dime you for every byte you use.

I wouldn't give up unlimited on ANY carrier unless I was forced to. At least with Verizon I never have service issues. If I was on some crappy carrier like Sprint and forced to switch to a worse deal I'd be even more mad when I couldn't make a call or was working on EDGE speeds.

 

[jessieqwert]

I would be interested in starting or joining a Framily. PM me if you are interested.