Did Sprint Just Launch 4G In The Bay Area?

At roughly 2 PM yesterday, he was able to secure 2-3 bars of 4G signal at Original Mel’s Diner in Walnut Creek, which is just 30 minutes away from San Francisco. To ensure that it wasn’t erroneous, he kept checking signal strength as he made his way across Walnut Creek over the next several hours. To his surprise, 4G was everywhere in the city. Naturally, as a tech enthusiast, he ran several speed tests from various parts of the city. Download speeds peaked at nearly 3,000 kbps, but averages were only around 2,000 kbps when connecting to the Los Angeles SpeedTest.net server. As for Upload speeds, it reached the Sprint-set cap of 1,000 kbps just about every time. Latency times averaged at 126 ms as well, but it might have been even less if he choose the closer San Francisco SpeedTest.net server.

The numbers are great, especially considering that Sprint’s 4G infrastructure probably isn’t fully ready. According to Hong, the 4G speeds were nearly 3 times faster than the 3G speeds in the same areas. The introduction of 4G will be great for customers, since those in 4G areas can simultaneously place voice calls and access data, not to mention faster speeds with the Mobile Hotspot feature. While AT&T and Verizon Wireless cap monthly data usage, Sprint offers a truly unlimited plan.

According to Twitter, there have been reported sightings on 4G working across the Bay Area. Mentioned areas include: Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Jose, and nearby areas. Until we get word straight from Sprint, Skatter Tech needs your help. If you own a 4G device, whether it’s an Overdrive or a HTC EVO, turn it on and see if you can connect to a 4G network if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Report your findings to us by replying in the comments with the date/time, location, and upload/download speeds.

Links: Sprint.com/4G