Since last year, Sprint mobile broadband speeds (3G & 4G collectively) have increased 170%. Here’s the kicker though, neither Sprint or any carrier actually has 4G speed:
Like mobile broadband, the definition of 4G changes based on who you ask.
The International Telecommunications Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R, say that three times fast), defines 4G as "a cellular system that must have target peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbps for a high mobility connection (read: mobile broadband) and 1 Gbps for low mobility (think: wireless Clear 4G modems that don’t move too much).
With that being said, no U.S. provider offers true 4G service.
Sprint advertises 3-6 Mbps downloading with bursts up to 10 Mbps along with up to 1 Mbps uploading. While that’s definitely faster than their advertised 3G speeds (0.6 Mbps – 1.4 Mbps down and 0.3 – 0.5 uploading) it’s not exactly 100 Mbps.
On the other hand, it is much faster relative to their 3G speeds.
What Kind Of 3G & 4G Speeds Will You Actually Get?
Brian Nadel of Computerworld.com pitted Sprint’s 4G speed against its 3G speed. Here’s what he found:
First, the good news: It’s fast. Really fast.
The 4G network delivered an average download speed of 4.1Mbit/sec. — about what you’ll get with a wired DSL or cable modem connection. It was seven times faster than Sprint’s 3G service, which averaged 550Kbit/sec. I received a peak 4G download speed of 11.2Mbit/sec. at one location, nearly 10 times faster than the 1.2Mbit/sec. of throughput available on Sprint’s 3G network at the same location two minutes later.
Now for the bad news: I found uploading data painfully slow on both services. While 3G mustered a 25Kbit/sec. throughput from notebook to server, 4G was able to move 41Kbit/sec. — not a terribly significant improvement. Clearly, this service is more useful for downloading large chunks of data, such as monster spreadsheets, videos and presentations, than for tasks such as uploading content to a Web site or sending e-mails bulging with attachments.
While this is representative of the general difference between Sprint 3G and 4G speeds, the speeds you’ll get can vary widely from city to city.
That’s where PCWorld.com comes in.
Laptop & Smartphone 4G Speeds By City
The charts below list the cities in the leftmost column; moving rightward across the chart, you can see the speed averages and network latency times for each of the four wireless networks.
Speeds are expressed in megabits per second (mbps). Latency (or the time it takes a single small packet of data to travel to a network server and back) is represented in milliseconds. We recorded download and upload speeds and latency times during our laptop-modem tests, and download and upload speeds in our smartphone tests.
- PCWorld.com
With regards to Sprint 4G speeds, its important to note that the city-by-city tests weren’t chosen based on where 4G was available. Rather, they were selected to be consistent with previous tests.
As a result, not all cities tested had 4G speeds. When 4G was not available, 3G speeds were tested.
Use the charts below as a 4G speed reference guide only if Sprint 4G coverage was available in the city tested.
Clicking on the images below will take you to PCWorld’s enlarged versions.
Sprint 4G LTE and 4G WiMAX Together?
While Sprint had beaten everyone to the 4G punch 2 years ago, they run the risk of falling behind.
While other carriers have been aggressively expanding speed and coverage, Sprint’s 4G network isn’t seeing the aggressive expansion it saw last year. While they say nationwide 4G coverage will happen within 2 years, financial issues with their WiMAX partner Clear (Clearwire) may be slowing down progress.
The solution?
The answer might be to build an LTE network that would complement the existing Clearwire WiMAX network. The phones connected to that network would need to be tri-band, meaning that they will contain new CDMA chipsets that also support LTE, with a WiMAX radio "velcroed on." The fact that Sprint is even talking about such tri-band radios for it phones is proof that it’s serious about LTE.
How soon would it happen? According to a Sprint executive, the decision to transition from WiMAX to LTE could be made this year.
Bottom-Line on Sprint 4G Speeds
Sprint’s 4G network is definitely faster than 3G.
While it’s not nearly as fast as Verizon’s 4G LTE, it’s more than enough for most people. Furthermore, since they’re the only truly unlimited mobile broadband provider of the bunch, that servers as a serious competitive advantage if you’re looking for a cable or DSL replacement.
For now, their 4G speed is still competitive but is losing ground to the upgrades of T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. In addition to increasing speeds in the future, they’ll need to expand 4G coverage to many more places.
Next, Sprint 4G Coverage
"Coverage has always been their Achilles’ heel in 4G, and financial problems at [WiMAX partner] Clearwire have slowed down their 4G network expansion nearly to a stop," says Sanford C. Bernstein’s Moffett. "A year ago, they were first to market; now they’re at real risk of falling behind.
Is Sprint 4G coverage in your city? If not, when will it get there?
Also in this review:
Can you add Clear to your list of broadband?
I am in Nashville, TN. My Sprint EVO actually produces SLOWER download speeds on 4g than on 3g. .2 mbps compared to .8 mbps, and the upload is faster on 4g 1.1mbps 4g to .3mbps on 3g. What gives?
That is really strange. What has sprint said?