Sprint 4g in more cities..including the Plains

[Billy Griffin]

Looks like DFW just announced they are now live with Sprint 4G !!!

The southern plains will have some really nice 3G/4G mobile broadband connections available in a lot of the hot spots for planning your final target during chase day or even streaming live data.

And we're still waiting for it here in Seattle (sigh); supposedly the techiest city in the US ??? Arghh.

[David Drummond]

From what I can determine getting any of the 4G stuff is going to mean yet upgrading the datacard AGAIN as only one listed on the Sprint website works with the 4G stuff, and of course it's the most expensive one they sell.

[Billy Griffin]

Yes, that's correct, David. The U300 is the only 4G compatible device currently sold by Sprint.

The nice thing though, it IS backward-compatible with 3G. I have the U300 and it works fine on 3G and I can occasionally pick up a 4G signal, so obviously Seattle is upgrading towers and hopefully (hopefully) they'll launch 4G area-wide in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area very soon.

The 4G speed is absolutely incredible, having used it just a few times. Looks like there are numerous coverage areas in the Texas panhandle and south plains. Good for chasers this coming season, for sure!

[David Drummond]

Does the u300 have an external antenna connection on it?

[Jerry Prsha]

Originally Posted by David Drummond

Does the u300 have an external antenna connection on it?

From what I've been reading.. No.

And it sounds like it doesn't have much range either. I guess if you're IN one of those cities, you're in luck. Drive outside and no dice...

[Jason Foster]

The U300 is manufactured by C-Motech (link below)

http://www.cmotech.com/

I couldn't find the product with a quick search of the site, but later I'll see if I can find it. From the various photos I've seen online, there are not other ports on the device...for an antenna or memory card (like the other Sprint cards have).

If you google the model number with the manufacturer name, you guys might find the info before I can get back to it.

[Billy Griffin]

No, no external antenna port. Although, I will say I've had no issues with connection to 3G and poor signal. I've been very happy with the card, just sucks no 4G area-wide up here yet.

When I do get a 4G signal, the speed is all it's advertised to be and more, I will say that!

There is a USB extension cable that comes with is, allowing about 3' of USB cable and you to mount the card on top of your laptop, or I suppose, maybe on the dash or window for a better signal while traveling (???) I've never needed it, always get a strong 3G signal, but perhaps that would help when mobile?

The real benefit of this where I can see is that it is backward compatible, so one could get all the 3G data in the rural areas, and when in the larger towns/cities, switch over to 4G for the really high-speed data.

[David Drummond]

A lot of the area where I am on Sprint is still 1xRTT, which is why I was wondering about the antenna port. They show the 4G available in Lubbock, Amarillo etc, the bigger cities our here, but that's it. Everything else is 1x unless you roam on the Alltel towers.

[Jason Foster]

I wouldn't be so rushed to get 4G right now anyway. Remember it's brand new, and you should expect problems. I see blogs about issues a lot with up time. I would plan for 2011 rather than 2010 for chase use.

As David pointed out...many areas never even got 3G...so there isn't going to be a rush to upgrade the wide open and lower income areas in the Central Plains with 4G before they have nearly all the coastal cities taken care of.