Has anybody had any luck with streaming audio in a moving vehicle...? (T-Mobile, 3G)

[tvdxer]

...on their smartphone or other 3G/4G device?

I have a Virgin Mobile EVO V 4G (EVO 3D), which works on the Sprint 3G and 4G Wimax networks. Coverage in Duluth (3G) is spotty and drop-outs are common. You can listen to a radio station for about 5-10 minutes without it dropping out as a maximum driving around town. I experience the same thing or even worse in the Twin Cities, which have a Wimax "4G" network built out. I apparently get a minimum of 1500 down on the 4G network, but I did not have luck going down I-35W in Minneapolis at 55 mph. The radio station played for about 50% of the time.

What's your experience been?

[Peregrine]

I stream Slacker Radio all over Cleveland, Ohio. No problems, rarely ever a *buffer*.

[dontaskwhy]

Granted that I am not in the same city, but I never have an issue here in N. Central Florida like the OP described. All comes down to coverage in your particular area. It all comes down to the network, not the phone.

[Thegonagle]

It's the network. Virgin Mobile, as you probably already know, homes on the Sprint network, and Sprint has been known for slow data on their 3G network, and poor coverage on their 4G. Sprint was having a bit of a cashflow crisis up until about a year ago, so they haven't invested in their network like they really should have--specifically, they've failed to upgrade their data bandwidth for all the smartphones coming online over the past few years. The result is too many smartphone users sucking data through a tower connection originally built to handle e-mail, picture messaging, and WAP browsers on 2-inch screens. Sprint claims to be working on it through their "Network Vision" initiative, but that's nowhere near completion--I don't even know whether they've announced a completion date.

Unfortunately for your wallet, if you want good data in the rural areas, you'll probably want to use the Verizon or AT&T networks. Sprint (Virgin) obviously doesn't cut it, and from personal experience, T-Mobile probably won't cut it either unless you're in a city or town. T-Mobile's 3G/4G coverage areas will generally give good performance (certainly better than Virgin), but their rural towers are still pushing 2G data.

Personally, I use Verizon and it usually works as expected. I stream music over Pandora, and radio stations using the Tune-In Radio app, and I really don't have many problems in MN and WI. They've updated their 3G network so that it still performs acceptably, but more importantly, they're moving fast with their 3G to 4G conversion. In MN, they already have all the cities, towns, and huge rural areas covered in LTE, and they should have the rest of their coverage area upgraded by mid-year. According to their coverage map, you should now be able to pick up 4G the entire way on I-35 between Minneapolis/St.Paul and Duluth.

[RedZin]

I've streamed on AT&T with my iPhone over LTE. No problems unless I'm in an area with poor cellular reception.

[SD4020]

I streak Pandora through my iPhone 5 into the blue tooth radio in my Pickup.

[tvdxer]

Hmmmm....interesting.

I haven't had any trouble walking around with my EVO V 4G and streaming audio on 3G (4G WIMAX is not available nor will ever be in Duluth). On the other hand, it regularly cuts out when driving. In some areas it's fine, but the course of a normal drive will include many poor signal areas where streaming is shoddy or non-existent.

[CHTransplant]

Originally Posted by SD4020

I streak Pandora through my iPhone 5 into the blue tooth radio in my Pickup.

I've given up streaking (mostly), but I do stream Pandora into a bluetooth receiver/FM transmitter from both an iPhone 4 and 5.

[ragnarkar]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

...on their smartphone or other 3G/4G device?

I have a Virgin Mobile EVO V 4G (EVO 3D), which works on the Sprint 3G and 4G Wimax networks. Coverage in Duluth (3G) is spotty and drop-outs are common. You can listen to a radio station for about 5-10 minutes without it dropping out as a maximum driving around town. I experience the same thing or even worse in the Twin Cities, which have a Wimax "4G" network built out. I apparently get a minimum of 1500 down on the 4G network, but I did not have luck going down I-35W in Minneapolis at 55 mph. The radio station played for about 50% of the time.

What's your experience been?

I have the exact same phone on the exact same network and don't have too much trouble streaming, even on 3G. In fact, you might want to turn off 4G when streaming esp if 4G coverage is hit or miss in your area; switching between 3G and 4G causes your connection to drop temporarily. I found that 3G is good enough for Pandora.

Previously, I had a Samsung Intercept (3G only) and it streamed Pandora alright even in rural areas (I-5 between Los Angeles and Sacramento.)

[Count David]

I also have the same phone on Virgin (as does my wife ), and to stream TuneIn, IHeart, etc, you have to turn off 4G if you want a steady stream, and if you have any sort of battery saver app (2X Battery, etc), disable it while you stream.

4G only works well if you are stationary, a la Wi-Fi, unfortunately. I'm in Denver, and I've learned where the sweet spots are. However, it would be nice if they could find a fix for the network switching and concurrent streaming drops.

I'll take Virgin's quirks so I can keep my $55/mo phone bill. We just bought a CDMA Tracfone for those trips into Virgin's white areas (Wyoming north of Cheyenne, Eastern CO/Western KS, south of Pueblo), which is almost never anyway. Works well in surprising rural mountain areas around here.