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Sprint HTC One LTE Connectivity Issue in Select Markets?

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It looks like the Sprint HTC One may have some troubles connecting to 4G LTE signal in areas where Sprint has not officially announced LTE rollout. I’ve read through several forums where users are having problems across the country in pre-release Sprint 4G LTE markets.

I have been able to confirm that this may also be the case in the San Francisco Bay Area where my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S4 review unit gets lit up with good LTE signal whereas the One is stuck on 3G. San Francisco is not yet an official LTE market for Sprint, though the carrier has been lighting up LTE towers in this pre-announcement phase.

However, customers in areas where Sprint has announced full LTE coverage have not been having issues connecting the flagship HTC One handset to the carrier’s 4G LTE network.

The HTC One is having some trouble pulling in a 4G LTE signal in pre-launch Sprint LTE markets, like in San Francisco, California.

The HTC One is having some trouble pulling in a 4G LTE signal in pre-launch Sprint LTE markets, like in San Francisco, California.

It’s unclear what the problem is right now–if it’s a matter of firmware, hardware, or the design of the HTC One.

We’ve reached out to Sprint and are waiting for the carrier to research the issue.

In the past, HTC’s handsets were criticized of antenna issues due to metal construction, similar to the Antennagate issues of the iPhone 4, but HTC rectified this with injecting plastic into the metal body so the phone has a better signal receiver on the One with the new zero-gap design process. This means that the design of the phone shouldn’t be an issue, especially considering that Sprint customers in areas with announced LTE service are faring fine.

The other two possibility for this would be that the phone may need a firmware to access Sprint’s network in areas where there is LTE signal, but the network isn’t yet live, or that Sprint still needs to tweak its network before allowing certain devices access. The latter case may be odd as the Galaxy S4 is doing fine on Sprint in my pre-launch LTE market.

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Tony

    04/26/2013 at 5:59 pm

    Sprint sucks, period.

    • Colin

      04/27/2013 at 2:51 pm

      I have had sprint for years and I have no issues with them. I have full LTE service and it is quite good, it’s not Verizon but my bill is 30 dollars less per month. I travel frequently and have no issues with my service. Ever since LTE HTC has had numerous issues with their antennae but it eventually gets worked out. Thirty more days till my upgrade.

  2. Techtranny

    04/27/2013 at 5:26 pm

    I don’t understand how it’s having connectivity issues in locations where it’s not even rolled out (lte) . Very misleading title

  3. julius

    04/27/2013 at 11:15 pm

    why do people create problems on LTE connection in areas where LTE service has not officially been launched?

  4. cj burg

    04/29/2013 at 8:32 am

    This is a stupid article. There’s various reasons why some devices connect to let and others don’t in a market that hasn’t been announced. Its not an issue or a bug. Every device on the spectrum is on a diff gateway. Something that is often disabled when fine tuning the network before launch. Please stop making stupid articles.

  5. GMR12000

    04/29/2013 at 10:14 am

    I am having the same issues the writer is dead on. I bought an HTC ONE that worked on 4g but when I returned it due to unrelated issues the next one I bought would not connect to LTE. I’m on my third one now and the last two are not working, but the first one did.

    • george

      04/29/2013 at 11:47 am

      I am in Charlotte, by the way!

  6. Justin Charlebois

    04/29/2013 at 11:06 am

    Having issues in Houston.

  7. Aamir Vishwas

    04/30/2013 at 3:29 am

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  8. JT

    04/30/2013 at 5:37 pm

    In Chicago and having serious issues not only with LTE connectivity, but connectivity period (was roaming for an hour today in the city). Took HTC One into a store and rep advised Sprint is having LTE issues citywide. Had better connectivity on my EVO with wimax.

  9. BIGLOU

    05/01/2013 at 9:02 am

    I’m in the Altamonte Springs area (Orlando market) and there are spots that i can sit with my wife’s GSIII and Ill pick up the LTE signal but the ONE, nada. I hope is just the they are tuning the system and once it’s officially rolled out it will sort it self out. I have been in other areas in town and picked up LTE thought the speeds weren’t blazing

    • carlos

      05/03/2013 at 2:38 pm

      I live in Orlando as well and my wife has the GS4 and we both had GS3’s before and the One definitely is not getting 3g when the others are/were…I will say I’ve done lots of speed tests and sometimes when the other phones are showing 4g the speeds are like 3g…I think what the previous post said about different gateways makes sense and I’ll blame it on that…hopefully its not a real issue…or I’m going to make my wife switch with me since she’s a stay at home mom and she has access to WiFi lol

      • carlos

        05/03/2013 at 2:43 pm

        Dang meant to say 4g not 3g in the beginning of my comment

  10. Joey

    05/08/2013 at 8:48 pm

    I’m in Hartford Connecticut, and I’m having troubles connecting to 4G, it’s annoying me. Had my HTC One for only a week now, lucky I have WiFi in my house but out my house it’s really slow. Sprint needs to hurry with trying to fix this problem because people are paying monthly for good service.

  11. Brett Johnson (@brettbjohnson)

    05/14/2013 at 8:38 pm

    The HTC One does about the same as the HTC Evo 4g LTE which is dissapointing. I just traded my HTC Evo4g LTE in and got a Note 2 after extensive research and testing of all high end Sprint LTE devices. The Galaxy Note 2 and the Galaxy S3 are just about dead even on LTE performance and both much better than either HTC device. They even do slightly better than the I-Phone 5 on LTE. The Galaxy S4 also does well on LTE about the same as the S3 and Note 2. The only other phone that does as good is the LG Optimus G but I did not want that phone it has overheating issues and dims the screen automatically and will not let you turn up the brightness a lot of the time. Since I already had the S3 and the S4 is so similar I went with the Note 2 and could not be happier. Even though it is getting old in phone life it is stiill awesome and it’s screen is even better than my S3 screen by a little. I have been testing all of Sprints phones for the last 2 years and I have never seen a phone with a metal shell out perform one with a plastic shell with signal strength on LTE or Cellular. It is just a matter of physics that is very difficult to overcome and unfortunately the price you pay when owning a Aluminum uni-body HTC phone. I was really hoping HTC would overcome this with the HTC One because I wanted that phone. What good is a beautiful phone if the LTE does not work worth a damn though ? None as far as I can tell and that is why I will be using a Note 2 and a Galaxy S3 for while now until my next upgrade.

  12. [email protected]

    05/22/2013 at 9:05 am

    Writer is DEAD on…I have an HTC One, just got it. Was all excited to see it in action, I live in an area where 4G has officially launched and Have not ONCE, EVER, NOT ONE SINGLE TIME gotten a 4G connection. My S3 has a strong connection though, every single other person that I know with 4G has a great connection. Definitely a problem with this suckass garbage phone.

  13. Bond

    06/04/2013 at 12:34 pm

    LTE is officially annouced in my area (LA metro). Actually I have very strong LTE signal in my neiborhood. I used an app to check the signal information, which showed that I have -70dB LTE signal. However, I just can’t connect to LTE. I don’t know what is happening, and don’t know whom to blame, Sprint or HTC

  14. Scott

    08/10/2013 at 9:28 pm

    Same here.. I live .3 miles from a tower and my LTE on the One is horrible next to my note 2. Its on- then off -then on -then off. It drives me crazy!!! The Note 2 stays locked 24/7. I’m in a pre-launch market

  15. Larry B

    08/07/2015 at 11:26 am

    Go to settings, mobile data, network mode, and select LTE/CDMA.

    If it’s connected to WiFi, it won’t try to connect by LTE.

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