Sprint WiMAX 4G Coverage
Sprint's existing WiMAX 4G network covers about a third of the U.S. population. It's in most major cities, but you can't quite call it nationwide.
Sprint's 2014 LTE Coverage
Sprint's goal for its LTE network is to have nationwide coverage. Sprint would cover the green areas itself, and lean on smaller rural carriers for the blue areas.
WiMAX vs. LTE Speed
Here are the speed results from our 20-city tests last year. Sprint's 4G is WiMAX; Verizon's and MetroPCS's are both LTE. You can see the range of performance.
Early WiMAX Device - Nokia N810
Sprint squandered its lead in 4G by building its network much too slowly. Early WiMAX devices weren't that compelling, either; this Nokia handheld computer was a cult hit, but a market failure.
Current WiMAX Device - HTC EVO Design 4G
Sprint finally hit its stride with the EVO line of phones. The recent EVO Design 4G is an affordable, well-designed Android phone with WiMAX built in.
Sprint's LTE Phone Plans
Sprint says 15 LTE devices will be coming in 2012. So far, the company has only announced three: the LG Viper, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and a Sierra Wireless hotspot.
Sprint LTE Phone: LG Viper
LTE devices are more mature than WiMAX devices were when Sprint started out. We gave the LG Viper, Sprint's first LTE phone, four stars.