Sprint iPhone Users Complaining of Slow 3G Data Speeds

Some Sprint customers are reporting slow data speeds now that the iPhone has finally launched on the country's number three network.

sprintspeed
There is a lengthy thread on Sprint's discussion boards, with iPhone 4S owners reporting extremely slow data speeds on launch day. Some report having difficulty using Siri over 3G because Sprint's data network was being so unreliable. One user said his Samsung Epic Touch with 4G turned off returned 3-times faster speeds than his iPhone 4S in the same location. Another Sprint user claims that his new iPhone and his Evo 3D are both slow.

A thread in the MacRumors forums shows that while some users are having poor data speeds on Sprint, others are having no problems, so it could be a signal strength or location issue rather than a widespread network problem. Gizmodo's unscientific speedtest survey is showing dramatically slower speeds for Sprint than either Verizon or AT&T. Sprint is the only U.S. iPhone carrier that offers unlimited data to new customers.

It's unclear if this is just launch-week jitters, a more widespread problem with Sprint's network, or something in between -- as more and more Sprint iPhones arrive in the wild, we should get a clearer picture of Sprint's ability to handle lots of new data-hungry iPhone customers.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...

Top Rated Comments

Ounce Avatar
167 months ago
Welcome to the party, Sprint.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kabeyun Avatar
167 months ago
I love that in Oklahoma the ad wants you to get satellite TV, but in LA you're expected to be looking for a piece of a$$.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
troop231 Avatar
167 months ago



Nice advertisement ;)
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Saberj Avatar
167 months ago
it amazes to see the supposed #1 country in the world.

How poor their infrastructure is, in norway/Sweden you easily get 7-8 mbps on 3g, and we also have 100/100 fiber fairly cheap

This was 0.18 mbps, how is that even workable.

Thanks to Siri, we can see that Norway is 125,021 sq mi.

Sweden is 173,860 sq mi.

The US is 3.719 million sq mi.

I think I can forgive them for having some shoddy infrastructure. That is a huge difference in land area to cover.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fox777 Avatar
167 months ago
It's not problem with an Iphone it's just SPRINT'S NETWORK IS SLOW.

I walked into Sprint store and wanted to install speedtest app on their Iphone 4S to see how fast their network is. Unfortunately you can't download apps to their demo units so salesperson offered me her android 3G phone to test Sprint's speed.

After I DLed speedtest app and ran it, it showed me how SLOW sprint's network really was. Download was 0.3mpbs and upload 0.27 mbps.

To compare I bench 8 mbps down and 5 up on my Samsung Galaxy S2 on ATT and 3.5 down and 3.0 up on my Iphone 4S Verizon



I actually feel sorry for existing Sprint users who had slow network before and now with additional huge data load that Iphone puts - whole sprint's network will be CRAWLING for everybody
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wordoflife Avatar
167 months ago
Sprint's network wasn't top notch to begin with.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)