A number of early iPhone 4S adopters who chose to purchase their device with a commitment from Sprint have been plagued with painfully slow data speeds when using the carrier’s 3G network. Despite having a full signal, some users have been subjected to data connections that are just unusable.
Following a recent statement that promised its data speeds matched those of its competitors, Sprint is now investigating the issue of slow data speeds, but claims that it is unable to replicate the problem.
A support discussion on Sprint’s website related to slow iPhone 4S data speeds has now received over 1,291 replies and more than 240,000 views, indicating it’s not just one or two users who are plagued by the issue. One user even reports to have had a three times faster data connection on the Samsung Epic Touch than on the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4S during testing.
What’s comforting to Sprint subscribers is that the company is at least looking into the issue, even if it does seem as though it is trying to brush it off. Its head of product development, Fared Adib, told CNET that although it is investigating the issue, there is nothing significant to report yet:
We’re taking the reports of problems from a small number of customers seriously. There’s nothing of significance to report yet. We don’t see anything that is easily replicable.
A screenshot that surfaced from a The Next Web report last week revealed some Sprint subscribers are suffering data speeds as little as 0.01Mbps, even with a full 3G signal, a speed that is next to useless when you want to browse the web or use apps that require a data connection.
The iPhone 4S has been a huge success for Sprint, with the carrier announcing shortly after its launch that the device provided the best sales day in Sprint’s history. It is also the company’s debut iPhone. However, that success isn’t likely to continue if it cannot quickly rectify its data issues.
[via AppleInsider]
