Cell Phone Carrier for Streaming

[acheron1982]

Alright guys, I need your help/expertise.

I'm currently in a financial bind and am trying to reduce some of my expenses. One of my hobbies is radio. I have a bias interest in alternative rock and my current city has no alternative station. I have family that lives about 3 hours away in rural South Georgia so I do a lot of driving and stream radio through my phone. My app of choice is TuneIn because my station is the Alternative Got Radio stream and you can't get this through Iheart radio.

Now, I have a Droid 2 phone. I have coverage through Verizon because at the time I purchased my cell phone service, I decided Verizon would be best with coverage for talking. With my Verizon Droid 2, my streaming quality is fair at best. Most of the time, I stream music at 64 because the quality is not that much different from 128 and while I have unlimited data, I want to conserve as much as possible so I can get use to monitoring data usage for when I'm on a data plan (Verizon does not have unlimited data anymore). The stream comes in without an issue with only a few buffers here in there. Sometimes, however, the stream is so horrible that I have to switch over to FM because the buffering is just too much. I'm not sure why that is. I was under the impression it might be because of capping by the carrier but those days of poor quality can come at the beginning of my billing period so I'm assuming it could be something else.

Well, I'm at a cross roads as I'm up for a renewal and am looking at the Iphone 5 (I'm done with Droid). So my question is should I switch over to Sprint for unlimited data or stick with Verizon. Has anyone switched from VERIZON to SPRINT and have some examples of streaming quality? I'm afraid if I go to Spring to save money and have unlimited data, I will be sacraficing qualitiy of streaming. Right now, I have fair streaming but I'm afraid under Sprint, it may become poor with reduce coverage in rural areas. Does Sprint use other companies towers in dead areas? Any help you can provide me with making my decision will be appreciated. Stick with Verizon and pay over $100 a month for service with a data package or pay $80 for unlimited data under Sprint. Is it worth the $20 something bucks I save or does Sprint stream well. I'm also wondering if I will see improvement once I upgrade to a Iphone 5 from my current Droid 2 or if any of that has to do with streaming radio and buffering. Finally, I'm using tunein, are there other apps that may buffer less? Pandora sound quality sucks.

Oh, another reason I'm thinking sprint is because I just realized I could make my phone a hotspot using an appa and will not be charged through the cell phone company other than for data. Using Sprints unlimited service, data will not be an issue so I can save money on internet at home as well. Thanks again for any help!

 

[scanman1]

I have an iPhone 4 on Sprint and it works very well for me. If I go into open country, most of the time the stream stays on, but there are times when it will drop out frequently if I go onto "back roads" (understandable since there won't be a lot of towers in the country off the main highways).

So, to answer one of your questions, yes, it is worthwhile to switch to Sprint unlimited data, more so since you're upgrading to an iPhone 5. You should not suffer loss of quality in streaming audio. Hope this helps.

 

[acheron1982]

Do we see Sprint eventually ending the unlimited data service?

 

[scanman1]

I hope not! I see it as an advantage to Sprint, over the other carriers, to have unlimited data packs available so folks like us who love to stream audio and video can do so and not have to worry about overages. Let's face it, soon most of our audio and video entertainment will be available only on the internet, further increasing Sprint's unlimited data advantage.

 

[Kent]

Sprint technically doesn't offer unlimited data either. If you read the fine print in Sprint contracts, you can be terminated for too much data roaming (as little as 250 MB). If traveling to areas where you find yourself roaming back onto Verizon, you'll have problems with keeping service. Some phones will let you block data roaming, but that's something you need to check, too.

Also, much like T-Mobile, Sprint at least used to ration speeds. However, you'd have unlimited data on the Sprint network at the speeds you were authorized to use. In other words, you have (or had to) to pay extra to use 3G or 4G. I believe 3G is included on all Sprint data plans now, but you may still have to pay extra for 4G. As far as I know, neither AT&T nor Verizon are charging extra for 4G at this time.

 

[audiomusiclover]

Sprint technically doesn't offer unlimited data either. If you read the fine print in Sprint contracts, you can be terminated for too much data roaming (as little as 250 MB). If traveling to areas where you find yourself roaming back onto Verizon, you'll have problems with keeping service. Some phones will let you block data roaming, but that's something you need to check, too.

Also, much like T-Mobile, Sprint at least used to ration speeds. However, you'd have unlimited data on the Sprint network at the speeds you were authorized to use. In other words, you have (or had to) to pay extra to use 3G or 4G. I believe 3G is included on all Sprint data plans now, but you may still have to pay extra for 4G. As far as I know, neither AT&T nor Verizon are charging extra for 4G at this time.

I have been on Sprint for over a year now and stream almost daily with no issues with limitations to 4G (wimax) as long as I am in the 4G area, or 3G as long as I have a reasonable signal. I often travel in the SE region and there are places where drops do occur away from larger population areas, but I have not had an issue with speeds whenever I have a decent cell signal. I also use my phone at home to stream to a home receiver, so I use the highest available bit rates of a station whenever possible there as well. If Sprint is throttling back, I have not noticed it affecting streaming using Win amp or Tune in, the most..... If the data caps are not eventually lifted by the cariers, you will continue to see a spiral down in music quality as we continue to squeeze away over 90% of the original CD music bits and think it is just fine. As we grow more accustomed to their forcing our data habits with their inefficient business models, it won’t be long before we also allow them to determine where we can go to as well, as everyone already sees it becoming a problem on the internet. Now with LTE 4G, the carriers have much more available bandwidth to use and their perceived need to cap should be lowered greatly, but you will probably not see them let go of the caps, unless they add a huge cost premium of going over with a tier model. This is the lone reason I would never go back to AT&T or Verizon. I am just hoping the other carriers will see a reward for not forcing us into a limited plan that most are scared to really use and on top of that, is VERY expensive for the limited use allowed. I hope people will walk away from the CAP carriers and maybe force them to stop treating their customers this way. Okay, the yelling is over. 

 

[acheron1982]

Well few more questions and so far you all have been great so thanks!

1- Where sprint has little to no signal, do they (Sprint) have a contract with another carrier? In otherwords, when I travel out on I-16 down through southeast Georgia, am I virtually screwed.

2- Is sprint growing. Is this company constantly putting out more and more towers.

 

[Kent]

1- Where sprint has little to no signal, do they (Sprint) have a contract with another carrier? In otherwords, when I travel out on I-16 down through southeast Georgia, am I virtually screwed.

Sprint has a contract with Verizon. So, you can use your Sprint phone anywhere you can presently use your Verizon phone. Again, you should read your contract and get as well-informed as possible. The contract clearly states that, if you roam too much onto another carrier, they can take action, up to and including dropping you as a customer. If this is a concern, you might want to check and see if they have a plan that better suits your needs.

2- Is sprint growing. Is this company constantly putting out more and more towers.

I believe Sprint is in the process of buying some of the US Cellular franchises in the Midwest. It's also in the process of merging with a Japanese company. In other words, it may be growing or it may not be. However, I can't imagine the Japanese buying into Sprint with the expectation that it will continue to lag behind AT&T and Verizon in terms of subscribers.

 

[FightingIrish]

Alright guys, I need your help/expertise.

I'm currently in a financial bind and am trying to reduce some of my expenses. One of my hobbies is radio. I have a bias interest in alternative rock and my current city has no alternative station. I have family that lives about 3 hours away in rural South Georgia so I do a lot of driving and stream radio through my phone. My app of choice is TuneIn because my station is the Alternative Got Radio stream and you can't get this through Iheart radio.

Now, I have a Droid 2 phone. I have coverage through Verizon because at the time I purchased my cell phone service, I decided Verizon would be best with coverage for talking. With my Verizon Droid 2, my streaming quality is fair at best. Most of the time, I stream music at 64 because the quality is not that much different from 128 and while I have unlimited data, I want to conserve as much as possible so I can get use to monitoring data usage for when I'm on a data plan (Verizon does not have unlimited data anymore). The stream comes in without an issue with only a few buffers here in there. Sometimes, however, the stream is so horrible that I have to switch over to FM because the buffering is just too much. I'm not sure why that is. I was under the impression it might be because of capping by the carrier but those days of poor quality can come at the beginning of my billing period so I'm assuming it could be something else.

Well, I'm at a cross roads as I'm up for a renewal and am looking at the Iphone 5 (I'm done with Droid). So my question is should I switch over to Sprint for unlimited data or stick with Verizon. Has anyone switched from VERIZON to SPRINT and have some examples of streaming quality? I'm afraid if I go to Spring to save money and have unlimited data, I will be sacraficing qualitiy of streaming. Right now, I have fair streaming but I'm afraid under Sprint, it may become poor with reduce coverage in rural areas. Does Sprint use other companies towers in dead areas? Any help you can provide me with making my decision will be appreciated. Stick with Verizon and pay over $100 a month for service with a data package or pay $80 for unlimited data under Sprint. Is it worth the $20 something bucks I save or does Sprint stream well. I'm also wondering if I will see improvement once I upgrade to a Iphone 5 from my current Droid 2 or if any of that has to do with streaming radio and buffering. Finally, I'm using tunein, are there other apps that may buffer less? Pandora sound quality sucks.

Oh, another reason I'm thinking sprint is because I just realized I could make my phone a hotspot using an appa and will not be charged through the cell phone company other than for data. Using Sprints unlimited service, data will not be an issue so I can save money on internet at home as well. Thanks again for any help!

If you're looking to cut down streaming data, opt for streams in the AAC+/HE-AAC format (labeled just AAC on TuneIn). Many streamers offer that option now. With that format, you can get pretty decent stereo quality around 32-64kbps. CBS all-news stations sound good at 16kbps. IHeart, Pandora, Radio.com, etc. already use AAC+ for streaming (around 56k, IIRC). It's a much more compact format than mp3, wma, etc. Plus, fewer problems with buffering.