If you’re in Nashville, TN, on Sprint, there’s some good news for you on the 4G LTE front. In an odd set of circumstances, while writing a piece on how bad the 3G network has become in my town, I went to Speedtest for proof, turned off WiFi, and something I’d only seen once while in Atlanta appeared in my notification bar: a 4G icon.
A couple tests resulting in 14,000+kbps had me convinced I was still somehow on my work’s WiFi, especially since the 4G snapped on in less than a second and my 3G generally took several seconds to appear.
A quick visit to the American Registry for Internet Numbers confirmed that the IP address I had was owned by Sprint, which is not the network that my building’s WiFi connects to.
It’s not on the Sprint coverage map, but it’s alive and running as now out in the Metrocenter area. This may explain why the 3G has been abysmal in Nashville for the last few days, as people in other markets have complained that the turn on of 4G usually equates to miserable 3G for a few days.
It looks like North Nashville might be getting an early Christmas gift, although with how things roll, there’s a chance Sprint might yank this down until testing is complete or the roll out is officially announced.
For now, though, it looks like Sprint is actually doing something and the sales people at the Nashville Sprint stores are not just blowing smoke when they say 4G will be here soon – at least in Metrocenter, where I don’t need it due to my WiFi coverage, it’s going strong.
One other thing that may or may not be related is that phone calls are always ringing now. Generally, when testing my cell phone from my landline at work, it would ring roughly four rings before the EVO even started ringing, if it did at all. Today, it’s at half a ring before the EVO’s awake and ringing.
I’ll be interested in seeing if the 4G LTE is elsewhere, but for now I feel like I switched from a scooter to a drag racer.
If you’re in Nashville, let me know if it’s live for you and where you’re at.
Throughout the last week I have actually caught the 4G signal on my 4G LTE several times. Not only in Nashville but also surrounding cities such as Brentwood, Franklin, and even Spring Hill.
I saw an interdependent cell phone service checking company show that Kingston Springs, TN and some areas of Sylvan Park, but when I was in SP I didn’t see anything.
Right now it looks like the LTE idle is beating the WiFi idle according to battery monitor widget… fairly impressed by my phone again.
Lowell Massachusetts into Nashua NH south end of town 4G SERVICE!
a small area of Hollywood and Pembroke Pines, FL are getting 4G… nothing near downtown Miami or Ft Lauderdale though…
Paul, check network.sprint.com to see if you had an voice improvements near that area. I’m having trouble with voice right now, too, but that might be a good way to see if Sprint actually did something in addition to just LTE.
There’s 1 voice upgrade listed here, unfortunately that’s nor terribly useful information because it doesn’t say what the upgrade was or when it occurred.
Sort of like it says there’s a data speed and voice upgrade at the tower a block from my house and there’s no LTE and people go straight to voicemail and 3G is beyond miserable.
I went to visit family in Bartlett, TN (just north of Memphis ) and LTE is active there.
Memphis is already listed as one of the live cities unless I’m mistaken – went live a little while back didn’t it?
it is here in Memphis, just in select areas.
As a note, as of 3pm the LTE signal shut off in metro center
12,7 UP 12,4 down
Nashville. Whitebridge and HW 40!
sweet… mine was off at 3pm in Metrocenter.
The White Bridge / 40 was where the independent review site I saw said there was through Sylvan Park (roughly 2 weeks ago) although never was live when I checked it.
3:30pm in South Nashville now, looking at a Sprint tower, no LTE, phone rings multiple times on Google Voice/Gmail/GrooveIP before the Sprint cell call wakes the phone from sleep.
Nothing in Mount Juliet yet..
Nothing in Inglewood yet : (
Hey, I didn’t know you were based in my city!
I’ve been tracking the spread of 4G around Nashville using the Sensorly app. You can find it in the Play store. It’s a crowd-sourced map of cell coverage. I try to submit when I can but I’m running CM10 and 4G doesn’t seem solid on the ROM yet (or it could just be them working on the towers).
Anyway, Sprint says in their 4G press releases that markets will get 4G signal before the market is declared “live” and that we are just free to use it when we pick it up.
I live just a couple miles south of Nashville. It figures the 4G signals would start on the exact opposite side of the city. :-/ I’ve been experiencing very poor 3G data speeds all over the area though so it makes sense why now!
I was at metrocenter again today, 11:40 there was 4g, 12:30 there was no 4G. This on MeanROM… same scenario as yesterday – worked great for a while and then disappeared, even a reboot didn’t show it any more.
Oh, and glad to meet another Nashvillian… native here, born at St Thomas, moved to NY for a couple years when I was in my 20′s, back after that.
I’m based in Nashville, everyone else is somewhere else (Hawaii, Illinois, overseas, etc)… makes a company picnic a daunting task.
I don’t think I’ve even ever spoken to anyone else at Pocketables now that I think about it – just emails…
Very cool!
Born and raised on Long Island, NY. Then moved to Nashville after college and now I’m starting a family here.
Love the articles you guys post. Keep it up! And here’s to all of us cruising on Sprint 4G some day!
What part of LI? I was born in Islip and grew up in Ridge and Middle Island.
Yeah, what part? I moved to Farmingdale in 97 and worked at a computer shop in Massapequa
Over the last 2 days I have been seeing some signs of LTE in Mt Juliet. On my GSIII. 4G indicator appears intermittently in the evenings for a few minutes here and there. One time I caught it long enough to do a quick speedtest. Nothing to write home about( 4.5Mb down,) but definitely quicker than standard 3g. Hopefully the final product is a little quicker.
I caught it again yesterday around lunchtime in Metrocenter. about 15 meg down when I started. About 13 minutes later it was 5 meg. Then the signal disappeared.
Think they’re doing some sort of band testing
What part of Mount Juliet?
I was just walking into my apartment after leaving my phone in my car. I noticed the LTE and didn’t believe it. I ran speed test and it came back on the slower side of 4G speeds. I have iPhone 5. And, I’m in “fake” Franklin, aka Cool Springs. Anyone from Nashville originally should know what I mean by that
I had to search for others getting LTE. This is great news. I thought it would be summer before we actually got it. I’m glad to know Sprint is being diligent about upgrading.
LTE just showed up north metro of the twin cities! 13 mbps down and 11 mbps up. Thanks you Sprint!
Sprint lte has been working in the North Franklin area(Cool Springs) today as well. Seeing 11-14 down 2-3 up.
I had LTE in murfreesboro a couple of times for the past several days. It was very fast, videos completely loaded within 5-10 seconds. I’m so mad i’m not connecting to LTE since. Grrr…I was so excited, thought it had arrived!!!!
Last night I was by the lake in Gallatin right across from mount Juliet TN and It was the first time I had seen LTE ob my iPhone 5 and it cranked out at 30 mbps on the speed test
I deliver to Nashville every Thursday and have noticed it live near Brentwood/cool springs mall / Franklin .. I was getting up to 28 down and up to 9 up.. I also got it in Kingston Springs and sylvan park while stuck in a wreck on 40 east..
I live in Sylvan Park, and I’ve never seen LTE work on my phone. I live closer to West End though, which doesn’t show up as having LTE per Sensorly’s coverage maps. I drove near Charlotte pike and I-40 this morning, in the middle of the LTE coverage area according to Sensorly, and still nothing. Grrr!
I had LTE for about 10 minutes between Smyrna and LaVergne. I was only getting about 4 MB down, but it was loads faster than 3G. Wish Sprint would go ahead and just flip the switch!
Thanks for the good news Paul. I’m in Smyrna on the iPhone 5 and haven’t seen it yet….. but I checked Sprint and sure enough, you’re right! Nashville is now listed
Sprint 4g map: http://bit.ly/gsQevW
I last checked it in October and we (Nash) were “coming soon” back then. I assume when Sprint says 4g, they mean 4g LTE, as they make no other distinctions on any of their maps. Yes, no?
I checked the Sprint coverage map, and sho’nuff it shows full 4g LTE availability–until you note that it varies by device [???]. If I ask it to check coverage for my HTC EVO 4G LTE, I get nothing–and spot checking several other devices yields nothing as well. What’s going on? Why should the device matter?
I just realized–the “4G” coverage displayed at http://bit.ly/gsQevW is apparently WiMax, *not* LTE.
I live in Smyrna and work in Franklin. I’ve been getting pretty good 4g lte speeds in both places.
In Smyrna, it’s pretty spotty. I get strong 4g lte in my house but that’s about it.
In my office building in Franklin, it seems to switch between 4g and 3g intermittently. However, when outside or around coolsprings, I get really good 4g speed.
I had 4g LTE speeds in cool springs and i live in Antioch, Tn. and i think/HOPE they are building a tower near my home. Actually at the end of my subdivision. Richards rd. and unaantioch.
XXXXX my fingers that it is sprint building the tower because it is next to my house!
I’m on the EVO LTE in Hermitage and no 4g LTE as of yet. I drive for a living and have yet to see the 4g LTE indicator come on anywhere in TN, KY, or AL.
Charlotte and White Bridge seems to be up every time I’ve been there. Metrocenter seems a bit wonky going up and down all the time but if you’re near the dominican campus it’s there. Cool Springs galleria area had it when I was down there…
Here it is Jan 3, and the only place I’ve seen 4G is in LaVergne. Downtown/Vandy I still get 3G, at my home in Smyrna, still 3G.
Confirming the spotty 4G in Cool Springs this past weekend…not today though.
4G LTE around Centennial Park in Nashville. Wasn’t there last week. And yes, 3G has been crappy for a while, now, recently.
I have had hit and miss LTE coverage in the cool springs area over the past couple of weeks. Today, I was in Hendersonville and saw the 4G indicator come on. It went away after only a few minutes though.
I am on an Evo LTE w/ stock ROM.
It seems clear to me they are actively working in our area(s) now trying to get us online.
I was just in Cookeville in the industrial area near the high school and I saw the LTE come on for the 1st time. I did a speed test and the results were: download at 14.19mbps, upload at 12.21. It was fast enough to stream on the NBA gametime app without any buffering and the picture quality was outstanding. I am now 2 exits down I-40, still in cookeville, and I’m back to 3g.
I was just having a burger at Five Guys on West End near 21st and had 4G on for about fifteen minutes before it went off.
I saw it near Nolensville and Thomson Lane for about 12 seconds… well, at least the indicator because my phone was booting, found signal supposedly, then immediately switched to WiFi and ran really slow for a couple of minutes while it finished booting.
By the time I turned WiFi off. I saw nothing. Just 3G that the speed is now rated as abysmal.
I have been getting spotty LTE in Lavergne/Smyrna around Sam Ridley and M’Boro Rd. Also been spotty west of Lebanon.
Today I noticed for the first time in south Nashville/Antioch area around Bell rd in Priest Lake area.
Today my Iphone 5 started miss keeping the time. It would suddenly would be an hour behind. I called Sprint and they told me this was due to the towers in the South Nashville area coming online to LTE and should be resolved in the next few days as the towers should be online.
Saw 4G indicator on my Galaxy Nexus the afternoon of 1/23 while at M.L. Rose on the 4400 block of Charlotte Ave. Didn’t try to make use of it, just smiled that the service that I expected back in May when I switched to Sprint is finally showing up in this market.
Before I start, I have the iphone 5. The White Bridge Rd. and Charlotte Ave. intersection has had consistent LTE for over a month now, and it averages 20/up 10/down. I also have seen it come on in consistently in murfreesboro at the Northfield Blvd. and Memorial Blvd. intersection. The one in the boro had the same speeds as White Bridge and it makes me really excited! I’m hoping before Feb!
p.s. I had the same issue with my 5 where the time was around a hour off. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but thank you steve for puting my mind to ease.
Go to Sensorly.com and choose Sprint 4G and you will see where users of their app have experienced LTE. Most of Lebanon and many areas around Nashville are now live and more are being added every week it seems. If you can use the sensorly app to help map the LTE coverage as it becomes available.
I get 4G in Lavergne and parts of Smyrna.
They have 4G in the Madison & old Hickory atea
Not yet in Belmont or Bellevue areas.
Do me a favor, since you’re right next to LTE, could you go and check and see if your connection reads eHRPD:some number?
settings->about->network
That’s an LTE pre-indicator I’m looking at at the moment. Well, at least a potential LTE pre-indicator.
Yeah thats what mine said eHRDP but no 4g
Hi guys. Any updates on this? With the upcoming release of the HTC One and the Galaxy S4 (now both due in April), my phone is on its last legs.
I have an EVO 3D that uses Sprint 4G WiMax but in the event that the phone dies, I have to get a new phone. I’m out of contract and if LTE isn’t in Nashville by then, I may have to jump ship to another carrier.
I simply refuse to downgrade from 4G WiMax to 3G. It would be unbearable like going from broadband to dialup.
it’s spreading…
http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint
That’s a pretty accurate map, although I will point outthe stuff near the zoo is hit or miss right now – it’s there and amazing one day and not the next. Evidently they’re working on it.
Also, it claims it’s crossing Nolensville road via Thomson lane, but I get nothing when I’m in that area… and I’m there every day. I do see it at Nolensville Road and 440 when I’m around.
It’s definitely spreading – you’ll just have to see if it’s in enough areas that you want to be… I’d say it’s doubled in the past three months for what I’m seeing.
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/212-network-visionlte-deployment-running-list/ says we’re at 13% with the official launch scheduled for Spring 2013… whether that means tomorrow (first day of spring) or 3 months from now (last day) I don’t know.
At the moment me and the wife take turns on who has signal/4g.. she’s got wimax, I’ve got LTE, one of us seems to have it at any given moment.
Thanks Paul. That’s somewhat disappointing. I like Sprint, I’ve been with them for a while now but if I have to switch, it won’t be because I wanted to.
As I said previously, my EVO 3D (WiMax) is on it’s last legs. It’s malfunctioning and I honestly don’t know when it’s going to die.
In the event that I have to get a new phone, I don’t want to downgrade to 3G.
Oh well.
Ive had a few high spikes on my optmus g lte but the last few days nothing i live in old hickory ide get a max consistent. Speed of 25 to 27 mbps wich is fastttttt so i called sprint an there testing and updating the tower by my house be happy when its finished