Galaxy Note 8 update brings unwelcome Sprint nostalgia
I’ve had my share of problems with Sprint over the past few years, but this latest Galaxy Note 8 update they pushed has put me and quite a few loyal Note 8 owners into feeling like it’s 2013 when Sprint’s blazing fast LTE and 3G were about the same speed in most places.
tl;dr – Paul’s sitting waiting on a new server to do a thing, sleep meds have kicked in, and he’s recalling how bad Sprint used to be because the Note 8 is now the speed of 2013. Probably reads as angry, it’s not.
We knew then that coverage maps were garbage, and even perfect coverage didn’t meant the connection from the tower to the internet was any good.
Over the past two days I’ve spent more time attempting to get my phone fixed than it’s worth at this point. I’d like to get the blazing fast 10mbit I can sometimes get on their overloaded network in a “full coverage” zone, but after three minutes of no signal my phone finally settles on about a 2mbit (if that,) 3G signal.
Interestingly, hotspot fails claiming I’m not subscribed to it now, so can’t use my phone for letting my kiddo watch anything on the 30 minute trek home. 2mbit is enough to watch some low res YouTube Kids on her iPad. But no.
I guess my main beef at the moment, and I know Samsung is probably the company that’s going to have to fix this issue, is that although testing didn’t catch it on the Note 8, the issues were very prevalent on the S10 updates, and the radio firmware is from the same manufacturer, and Sprint is still pushing it out.
(Hey, I’m glad it’s working for 88% of you, you don’t need to mention it’s fine for you, this isn’t about you)
I spent about an hour and a half talking to tech support, 42 miles driving to get to a corporate Sprint store for a SIM card, then to another store in an attempt to activate a backup phone that used a NanoSIM that the corporate store didn’t have.
Of course I get there and they say my dual sim Doogee S90 won’t work, but he’s not entirely sure if it’s because Sprint doesn’t support dual SIM phones or because it’s not a phone they’ll let on their network. And I can’t leave with a NanoSIM because they have to be inventoried out on an activation.
Also totally ghosted by tech support email I was told to follow up with…
Yeah, feels like old Sprint. I know it’s a series of bad for everyone coincidences, but seems like in 2019 things would be a little more streamlined with radios. Sprint’s corporate footprint wouldn’t be spread so thin. Someone would give me a hug and a teddy bear.
