If there's one thing the iPhone 4S seems to be screwing up after its very successful debut, it would seem to be Sprint's 3G. Since the launch of Apple's newest iThing, Sprint 3G speeds have absolutely tanked for users in many areas. How widespread is the problem? Well, this 45-page (and growing) thread with nearly 700 replies over on the Sprint Community forums would seem to indicate the answer is "very."
The problem has affected everyone - as shown by lackluster results from some of our own Sprint devices of late while on 3G.
Samsung Epic 4G:
DL: 370kbps
UL: 306kbps
Ping: 165ms
Motorola Photon 4G:
DL: 214kbps
UL: 542kbps
Ping: 963ms
iPhone 4S users are reporting speeds even lower than these, sometimes much lower (like 50kbps). It seems that Sprint's network is having difficult handling the recent addition of the iPhone 4S to the carrier's handset repertoire. Here's an iPhone user's results (these are among the worst observed):
iPhone 4S:
Ping: 413ms
DL: .07 Mbps
UL: .01 Mbps
What about you? Has Sprint's 3G all but ground to a halt during peak hours in the last week on your phone? Let us know in the comments.