Disclaimer/Note: The authors have nothing to do with
Sprint other than using a few of their phones and/or data products as
paying subscribers. While we will try to keep these lists current, you
should test them out for yourself and not use this as a dispositive and
authoritative source of information as to Sprint's cellular service (or
lack thereof). In other words, these are just our and/or other's
observations -- we try to be accurate, but we make no representations
other than what we have observed (and if others notice we are wrong about
a given drop, please mail us so we can test the drop and modify the list
accordingly.)
Sprint Cellular Dropped Call List by State
Connecticut
...or click here for
additional details.
Fairfield County, Danbury: Sprint calls drop on US-7 south of I-84,
where the "super-7" configuration transitions to the "widened" US-7
allignment north of Ridgefield. (US-7 was supposed to be a full freeway
from Norwalk well past New Milford, and all the land has been acquired for
the the highway, but typical of ConnDOT and CT (and much like US-6)
nothing has been built for 50 years, and a slow, narrow US-7 has to be
continuously widened as a sub-optimal solution which has and continues to
ruin the character of the local towns along US-7 rather than building the
freeway away from the towns and moving through traffic more efficiently
and with much less local disruption.) Drop last observed: 07/16/2015
Fairfield County, Westport: Sprint calls drop along I-95 at the JCT
with the Sherwood Island (Beach/Park) Connector (connecting the beach,
I-95, and US-1; ConnDOT lists it as "secret route" CT-476). This has
always been an area of poor coverage for Sprint, and sometimes even
Verizon drops in the area (more on the data side than voice cellular),
but Sprint's drop in Westport is much more regular and predictable. Drop
last observed: 03/12/2017.
Fairfield County, Wilton: Sprint Cellular calls drop at the JCT of
US-7 and CT-33 in Wilton. Traveling southbound, calls begin to deteriorate
south of New Canaan, and by the time the CT-33/US-7 split is reached,
calls drop completely. Northbound, calls drop more suddenly, and with
little notice will drop passing through the CT-33/US-7 merge as CT-33
approaches from the right. Drop last observed: 7/16/2015
Hartford County, Farmington: Sprint wireless calls drop along
CT-4/Farmington Ave just east of "The Exchange" shopping/business area.
Drop last observed: 03/01/2015.
Litchfield County, Bantam: Sprint call disconnects and drops occur at
the JCT of US-202 and CT-341 (which comes from NY State and ends at the
JCT with US-202), and an area of poor/no coverage continues southwards
along US-202 until the JCT with CT-41 north of New Milford. There is
effectively no useful coverage between CT-341 in Bantam and CT-41 in
northern New Milford. Most recently observed: 04/26/2016
Litchfield County, Kent: Sprint drops calls just west of JCT of US-7
and CT-341, between the Kent School (where coverage is OK) to just before
entering the state of New York. (The reverse is true for calls transiting
between NY to CT.) Most recent instance occurred on 04/15/2017.
Litchfield County, Gaylordsville (to NY): NY/CT-55 Sprint drop
along/near the CT/NY border: Sprint calls placed along US-7 will drop on
CT/NY-55 at the border between NY and CT. Calls placed on either side of
the NY/CT border will drop along CT/NY-55 just west of the CT border
(westbound), or just east of the NY border (eastbound). Additionally,
west of the NY border, for approximately 2 miles, Sprint has no
service/coverage until at or slightly west/south of the JCT with NY-22.
Unlike Verizon, which
will hold at times with an external antenna (on cloudy days!),
Sprint calls will not hold even with the same external equipment. Most
recent drop occurred on 12/07/2020.
Litchfield County, Norfolk/East Canaan: Sprint calls drop occur along
US-44, between the JCT with CT-272 in Norfolk, heading west uphill over to
East Canaan. Coverage degrades approaching the apex of US-44 between
Norfolk and East Canaan, and doesn't maintain (eg, drops) heading
down/westward to East Canaan. Typical poor (closer to non-existent!)
wireless coverage in Litchfield County by Sprint, and both of the lower
tier carriers (Sprint and TMO) have virtually no coverage in the
Litchfield County/NE CT to speak of, of which this drop is just one of
many examples. Most recently observerd: 09/22/2019
Litchfield County, Sharon: Sprint Wireless calls drop and experience
poor coverage along CT-4/Cornwall Bridge Road, between US-7 (Cornwall) and
CT-41 (Sharon) in a number of locations, one being at the intersection
with Dunbar Road. There is little Sprint Wireless coverage between the
CT-41 and US-7 segment endpoints, and calls initiated at each end drop
repeatedly traveling from one "side" of the CT-4 segment to the other.
Last observed: 07/02/2019
Middlesex County, Durham: Sprint calls drop along CT-79 about halfway
between the CT-80 rotary and CT-148, in the general area of Steppan Rd.
Heading northwards past the JCT with CT-148, there is no Sprint service at
all until the JCT with CT-17, where there is spotty coverage and a number
of drops until Middletown. Drop last observed: 08/22/2016.
New Haven County, Branford: Sprint drops calls along I-95 just north
(east, really) of the Branford Rest Areas. Most recent drop occurred on
02/15/2017.
New Haven County, Madison: Sprint calls drop along CT-79 near the JCT
with Horse Pond Rd/"Secret" CT-450 (which becomes the Hammonasset
Connector south of I-95), at Green Hill Rd, and then again at Wickford Rd.
Finally, approaching CT-79 from the Connector, Sprint's service drops
calls within 1/2 a mile either north or south of the flashing light at the
intersection of CT-79 and CT-450. Drop last observed: 10/30/2017.
New Haven County, Madison: Sprint drops calls along CT-79 south of
the JCT with CT-80 rotary. There is generally poor coverage along CT-79
from North Madison south to I-95, with frequent audio drop-outs and full
call drops. Last observed: 10/30/2017.
Maryland
Baltimore County, Avalon/Relay/Ellicott City: Sprint calls drop and
suffer from very poor coverge along River Rd. on the south side and Glen
Artney Rd. on the north side of the Patapsco River in the Patapsco Valley
State Park. Essentially, there is little to no coverage from Relay (where
the Thomas Viaduct of the B&O Railroad heads south to DC and the old main
line to Point of Rocks - one of the oldest rail lines still in service in
America, splits off along the Patapsco River to Ellicott City, up to I-70,
and then westward) to the western edge of the park heading towards
Ellicott City along a spearate section of River Road which follows the
Patapsco River westwards. Interestingly, the park lies directly under
I-95, and within a mile of I-195 and I-895, all of which have acdeptable
coverage with all major carriers. Why the park itself is not covered (the
lower elevation perhaps?) is unclear, but no carrier has acceptable level
of coverage in the park, and coverage only gets better heading west along
River road at the JCT with Thistle Rd. (which connects River Rd with
MD-144/Frederick Rd. at a higher elevation). Last observed: 05/18/2017.
Baltimore County, Mt. Hebron/Ellicott City: Sprint calls drop at the
transition from US-29N to I-70E, along the "high speed" dual-laned ramp.
Last observed: 10/14/2015
Baltimore County, Towson: Sprint drops calls along the Baltimore
Beltway/I-695 within a mile of the JCT MD-542/Loch Raven Blvd. (which also
intersects with Cromwell Bridge Rd. at the same JCT at Exit 29A/B), on
both the inner (eastbound in the Towson area) and outer (westbound) loops.
Last observed: 06/06/2017.
Baltimore County, White Marsh: Sprint calls (voice and data) drop at
Mile Marker 69 on I-95, two miles north of the JCT with MD-43/White Marsh
Road. Last observed: 12/23/2014
Baltimore County, Woodlawn: Sprint call drops occur on I-70 just west
of the JCT with the Baltimore Beltway/I-695. Calls initiated at or before
I-70's JCT with US-29 will drop between the Patapsco River bridge crossing
and the ramps to the Beltway. (Nextel used to exhibit the same drop
pattern on the iDEN network as well, in the same area.) Last observed:
05/26/2016 -- In early 2017 this appears to have been fixed; we will wait
till summer when the leaves are on the trees (the water in the leaves can
interfere with some cell frequencies) to see if this has been permanently
fixed, of if it's just due to the barren trees in the winter; 03/15/2017.
Cecil County, Childs: Sprint calls drops along I-95 near the overpass
for MD-545, at Mile Marker 103.5, in both the northbound and southbound
directions. Last observed: 01/14/2016
Cecil County, Conowingo Dam: Sprint calls initiated south of the
Conowingo Dam (a free crossing on the Susquehana; I-95 and US-40 are
outrageously tolled North/Eastbound to pay for some idiotic MDOT projects,
one of which, the ICC, would have been free and placed along a more useful
routing (and aligned better with the eventual crossing to VA) if some nut
lady on the Montgomery County Council hadn't passed some laws in the late
1980's (?) restricting how land already planned for the ICC and the
Rockville Facility could be used...so typically when it comes to highway
construction these days, it was built 30 years later, and 30 times the
cost, is ridiculously tolled so no one uses it except when traffic is bad,
and it has bankrupted the MDOT budget to the extent that other toll
facilities, including the two south of Conowingo at Havre de Grace, are
now ridiculously tolled )... But back to Sprint! Sprint calls initiated
south of the Conowingo Dam will drop on the downhill northbound approach
on US-1 as it curves slightly northwestward to accommodate the orientation
of the dam. A known problem with Sprint for years, and a heavily traveled
road for smart drivers who don't want to prop up MDOT's bankruptcy (in
every sense of the word!), so one would expect Sprint to have had it fixed
years ago, but well, it IS Sprint, so it's doubtful that anyone's suprised
that it hasn't been remedied. Last observed 01/29/2015. -- It has been
noted that as of late 2016/early 2017 the drops have improved heading
north along the dam, and Sprint calls will hold across Conowingo. This may
be perhaps due to the lack of foliage in the winter (the leaves have
water, which can block certain cell frequencies), so this will be tested
further as soon as winter thankfully ends (and hopefully soon!) and the
leaves come out for what will hopefully be a long, warm, sunny, hot
summer! 03/15/2017. Yes, this was correct - the Sprint drops at Conowingo
resumed when the leaves came out, and all summer long (2017) Sprint calls
have been dropping on US-1 travelling northbound over Conowingo. (They
will drop generally no later than the Royal Farms gas station at the JCT
of US-1/US-222N, at the idiotic traffic light which used to favor US-1
traffic with a constant green unless there was someone on US-222, but now
for some reason changes every 20 or seconds, slowing everyone down
needlessly, and adding to pollution in the Conowingo area... Typical
local town (lack of) planning...). Last observed: 09/28/2017.
Cecil County, Port Deposit: Sprint Wireless calls drop along I-95 at
the Havre DeGrace bridge (over the Susquehanna River), generally along the
main span of the bridge over the Susquehanna River. Sprint has always had
a drop at Havre since service started (as it does on Amtrak as the
parallel rail bridge crosses the river); as of 6/2017 southbound calls
have not been regularly dropping, but drops are still experienced
northbound near the toll plaza. Most recently observed on 06/14/2019.
Frederick County, Frederick: Sprint call drops occur while driving
west on I-70 after passing the westbound Frederick rest area, reaching the
top of the hill where the rest area is located and then proceeding
downward (westward) for approximately one mile. Coverage is generally good
before and after this drop, however it appears that handoffs do not take
place between the Frederick area and the I-81/Harrisburg corridor service
area which appears to cover the western side of the hill. Most recently
observed on 07/23/2012.
Frederick County, Thurmont: Sprint calls drop along US-15 at Mile
Marker 25 near Thurmont, MD. While driving northwards from Frederick
towards the Pennsylvania borded, Sprint calls deteriorate passing an RV
lot east of US-15 (clearly visible from the road) and upon reaching the
JCT with MD-806, calls drop completely. Southbound the deterioration
starts near MD-550, and by the time the RV lot is reached, Sprint's
service drops completely as well. Most recently observed: 09/10/2016.1
Harford County, Level/Aldino: Sprint call drops occur on MD-155 near
the JCT of Paradise Rd when traveling in either direction on MD-155. Most
recent instance occurred on 06/14/2019.
Washington County, Sideling Hill: Sprint calls drop heading west on
I-68 past the Sideling Hill "cut" and rest-area, and has no coverage for
about 30 miles until approaching Cumberland near the Dan's Mountain State
Park exit. Post-pay sprint customers may be able to roam on US
Cellular's 1794 CDMA system (the same one which Verizon customers roam
on), but we have no evidence that this is the case. Pre-pay,
"no-contract", and resale/MVNO customers, such as Boost and Virgin mobile,
have no coverage at all along this stretch of I-68 (and generally can't
roam on any of the carriers which Sprint post-pay customers may
be able to roam on). Last observed; 06/12/2016.
Massachusetts
Berkshire County, Great Barrington: Sprint Wireless calls drop along
MA-41 at the JCT/intersection with Long Pond Road, just north of the JCT
with US-7. Sprint and T-Mobile also drop in the same spot, but AT&T
Wireless does not drop, and provides through-coverage along
MA-41 all the way to US-20 (near the Hancock Shaker Village) and then
along US-20 into Pittsfield. If AT&T Wireless can cover MA-41 so well,
why can't Sprint? Most recently observed: 07/07/2019.
Berkshire County, Great Barrington: Sprint drops calls along MA-41
(West) just west of the US-7/MA-41 southern JCT. Calls initiated on US-7
and transiting to MA-41 heading west will drop shortly after the
Housitanic Railroad tracks (which will hopefully someday soon see the
resumption of passenger rail service). Essentially, it appears that Sprint
aspires to cover US-7 (not too successfully); head west or east of US-7 a
little and there is more or less no coverage. How typical. Most recently
observed: 08/16/2019.
Berkshire County, Lee/Lenox town line: Sprint drops calls along US-7
at the town line between Lee (to the south) and Lenox (to the north).
Calls drop just south of the JCT between US-7 and US-20, where they merge
and both head northwards towards Pittsfield. See a similar drop with
T-Mobile on the T-Mobile
Dropped Call List - and these two as of Oct 2017 want to
merge? Why, so Sprint and TMO can consolidate their drops and
poor coverage to make dropped calls more predicatable to their customers?
:). US-7 and US-20 are main trunk routes through Western Mass, and one
would think these issues should have been remedied by now! Most recently
observed: 10/05/2017.
Berkshire County, New Marlboro/Monterey/Great Barrington: Sprint
Wireless voice/data cellular drops as part of a large gap in coverage
along MA-57 from the eastern New Marlboro town line all the way through
southern Monterey (MA-23 goes through Monterey, while MA-57 runs roughly
parallel to the south) onwards the western end of MA-57 at the junction
with MA-23 a few miles east of the MA-23(END)/US-7 Junction in Great
Barrington. Motorists familiar with the area will know that heading
westwards, this is approximately the area from where MA-57 is a potholed,
horrid road (even after repaving) with a 25 MPH zone, all the way past the
JCT with MA-183, and onwards to the end of MA-57 at MA-23. Effectively,
there is no coverage for about 15 miles on somewhat heavily traveled state
route. (To be fair, no other carrier - neither AT&T Wireless, Verizon, nor T-Mobile - covers the area either.)
This extensive lack of coverage along a major route may be problematic for
customers of OnStar and other similar built-in auto emergency services as
if they were to break down along this strech of road or suffer an
emergency they may be surprised to find they have no coverage at all! Of
course this is Sprint, so expecting coverage in an area like this is
wishful thinking, but as Sprint generally defaults to roaming on Verizon's
significantly more extensive network (how convenient for Sprint to have
another carrier with which to fill its large gaps in coverage!), and with
Verizon itself having no coverage there (see the Verizon Wireless Drop
List), Sprint customers are stuck with a useless phone along this
stretch of MA-57. Most recently observed: 10/14/2015.
Berkshire County, Otis: Sprint calls drop in any direction outside of
Otis, that is, traveling north or south on MA-8, or east or west on MA-23
(MA-23 and MA-8 meet in Otis), calls drop, and coverage doesn't resume
until MA-9 to the north; Winstead, CT to the south (at JCT US-44), I-91
to the east, and US-7 in Great Barrington to the west. Typically poor New
England coverage for Sprint, as they are essentially useless in Western
Mass other than on the Masspike/I-90. T-Mobile has similarly poor coverage, Verizon is somewhat better
, but only AT&
T Wireless has drop-free coverage along MA-23 and MA-8 to the above endpoints. Most recently observed: 09/07/2020.
Berkshire County, Williamstown: Sprint calls drop at the Williamstown
"rotary", where US-7 and MA-2 East meet. Sprint calls will generally
transit all the way from Pittsfield to just south of the US-7/MA-2 East
rotary (just west of Williams College), and drop passing through/around
it. Similarly, calls initiated along MA-2, coming west and down off the
hairpin turn in North Adams will drop at or just past the rotary
traveling north of south of US-7 (MA-2 is concurrent with US-7 until a
few miles to the south where it breaks away west and heads to NY state).
Most recently observed: 08/30/2018.
Franklin County, Deerfield: Sprint calls drop along I-91 just south
of the Deeffield Rotary/JCT MA-2 West/MA-2A East interchange. While this
used to be a problem area with all carriers, Verizon, AT&T, and yes,
even T-Mobile have no problems in the area any longer, and
Sprint, inexplicably (or maybe not so inexplicably - it
isSprint, after all!) can't seem to remedy a drop at a heavily
used interchange on a major north-south Interstate highway!. Most
recently observed; 10/01/2016
New Jersey
Mercer County, Lawrenceville: Sprint drops calls along
US-206/Lawrenceville Rd (Main St. in Lawrenceville), between Princeton and
Lawrenceville, just west of the JCT with CTY-569/Carter Rd. Heading south
from the Sprint drop at the Harrison Rd. intersection (below; the one
timed just to make people stop in the middle of the night along US-206; so
much for 'environmentalism' in Princeton...), calls initiated in
Princeton will drop just west of the intersection with Carter Road.
Additionally, Sprint calls initiated on CTY-569/Carter Rd. near Cherry
Valley Rd. will drop either just south of CTY-604/Rosedale Rd. (the one
which goes along the north side of Bristol-Myers which is used currently
(5/2016) for the Carter Rd. detour to US-206), or, if the detour is not
taken, along US-206 just south of JCT where Carter Rd. ends. Basically,
poor coverage to the northwest and soutwest of Princeton, which, needless
to say, Verizon has no problem covering, despite all the "I don't want a
celltower ruining my view" wealthy landowners who supposedly are the
reason why coverage on Sprint is so poor there. Verizon also used to have
problems there, but they fixed them in the mid-2000's. Why (as always)
can't Sprint? Last observed: 05/17/2016.
Mercer County, Princeton: Sprint calls drop on US-1 just north of the
intersection with Harrison Rd. (Harrison has a poorly set traffic light
which for no reason in the middle of the night turns red, apparently just
to slow traffic down on US-1. So much for Princeton's 'environmentalist'
goals -- causing cars to stop and then accelerate southwards up US-1
towards Forrestal certainly helps stop unnecessary pollution! ;(
). By way of comparison to other carriers, Verizon no longer has coverage
drops there, even though traditionally it had been the demarcation between
the NY-Metro system and the Philadelphia system. If Verizon could fix it's
more systemic problems there, Sprint should be able to fix theirs as
well, especially on the busiest road (US-1) in the area for local
traffic. Last observed: 01/20/2015
Morris County, Parsippany-Troy Hills (Parsippany): Sprint calls drop
on I-287, just south of JCT I-80, and north of JCT NJ-10. Last observed:
06/10/2019.
Passaic County, Wanaque: Sprint drops calls on I-287 at the JCT with
CTY-511/CTY-ALT-511, just where I-287 goes over the old railroad line
which used to head up into "the back way" to Ringwood (eg, not via/along
NJ-208/Skyline Drive; it's a shame the rail line is out of service - it
would be nice to have a NJ Transit train station in Ringood for commuters
to use instead of NJ-208 to the nearest train). Sprint calls drop just at
the rail overpass, a few hundred feet north of the CTY-511/ALT-511 ramps.
Last observed: 06/10/2019.
Somerset County, Bedminster: Sprint calls drop along I-287, just
north of the JCT I-78 merge complex where I-287 splits into two sections
in each direction. Last observed: 06/10/2019.
Somerset County, Raritan: Sprint calls drop along US-206, just south
of the US-202/US-206 split/rotary under US-202, between the East and West
sections of Dukes Parkway. Last observed: 06/10/2019.
New York
New York City 5-Borough/Counties:
Kings County (Brookyln) - Williamsburg: Sprint Wireless voice calls
and data connections experience connection difficulties in the
Williamsburg, Brooklyn area, generally west of Bedford Street (the main
north/south street), from North 10th to South 2nd. All other carriers
(ATT, Verizon, TMobile) suffer similar issues to a greater or lesser
extent, and it's suspected that the problem stems from interference with
signals from tall buildings immediately across the East River in Manhattan
(similar to some issues in Battery Park City (Manhattan) along the Hudson
River Promenade, where signals from Jersey City/Hoboken appear to compete
with signals from the Manhattan-side, affecting voice and data
performance). Essentially, when one is west of Bedford Street, data calls
take a long time to set up and have slow throughput, text messages are
slow to arrive, and voice calls are slow to set up outgoing and often miss
incoming. It doesn't appear to be a signal stregnth issue (phones show
ample signal stregnth), but more that a given phone or mobile device can't
lock on a signal/channel reliably. Last observed: 06/02/2016.
New York County (Mahattan): Sprint voice and data calls drop going
from Penn Station going either north (eastward towards Long Island on the
LIRR, or on the Northeast Corridor towards CT and Boston on Amtrak), or
heading south (westward, towards NJ via NJ Transit or Amtrak to DC and
Florida). While there is coverage in Penn Station, calls will drop
entering either the East River Tubes or the Hudson River Tubes. While
Verizon Wireless does have "through coverage" throughout Penn Station and
under both rivers, Sprint will not hand off to Verizon, and calls iniated
on Sprint will drop upon entering either set of tunnels to the east or
west. Last observed: 12/05/2014.
New York County (Manhattan): Sprint drops calls while traveling
through the Battery Park Underpass; calls drop upon entering and there is
no coverage (or extremely weak coverage) until the other end of the
underpass is reached. Last observed: 12/14/2018.
Richmond (Staten Island): Sprint drops calls on I-278/Verrazano Bridge
about 1/3 of the way heading east from the (ex-)Staten Island side toll
plaza area. Calls initiated on Staten Island will drop just prior to the
apex of the roadway. Calls drop on both levels and in both directions
(from Staten Island to Brooklyn (east) and from Brooklyn to Staten Island
(west). Despite it (foolishly) never being finished in NJ and connecting
with I-78 and NJ-24, I-278 carries significant volumes of traffic at all
hours of the day, and how Sprint could, after so many years, allow the
drop to continue speaks volumes of their quality control, or lack
thereof. Last observed: 01/04/2019.
New York State Counties other than New York City:
Columbia County, Austerlitz/Spencertown: Sprint calls drop numerous
times between the Taconic State Parkway's JCT with NY-203 (which already
has spotty coverage) all the way east to the end of NY-203 at JCT NY-22 in
Austerlitz. Calls drops repeatedly heading eastward, to the point of
making the phone unuseable, and bouncing back and forth between Sprint's
spotty (at best) network and Verizon's (significantly better) network
makes it difficult to receive incoming calls as well. (If you have a phone
which can be set to roam by default [onto Verizon], this is as a good a
place as any to set such a setting!) By the time the JCT of NY-203 and
NY-22 is reached, there is no coverage at all on Sprint. Continuing north
on NY-22 to the Masspike, there is no coverage on Sprint until one
approaches the Masspike's coverage radius near the NY/MA border. Last
observed: 09/28/2016.
Columbia County, Gallatin: Sprint Wireless calls drop along CTY-7 at
the JCT with Tinker Hill Rd. at the Gallatin Town Hall. Sprint coverage is
typically poor in the general area, and from CTY-3/NY-22 in Boston
Corners, west to Ancram, Gallatin, and Silvernails there is little to no
useful coverage; Sprint's coverage only resumes (partially) near the
Taconic State Parkway, which is even limited there. Most recent instance
occurred: 10/08/2016.
Columbia County, Linlithgo: Sprint calls drop along NY-9G at the JCT
of CTY-33/Hover Rd. Driving both northwards or southward on NY-9G, Sprint
drops in the general area of the JCT with CTY-33 within a few hundred
feet in either direction. Last observed: 10/01/2016.
Dutchess County, Amenia: Sprint calls drop along NY-343 at the
JCT with CTY-2/Leedsville Road. While driving east (towards Connecticut),
or west (towards Amenia), calls will not hand off along CT-343 despite
generally good coverage in the area. Last observed: 06/28/2019.
Dutchess County, Beekman: No Sprint Wireless service along NY-55 in
Beekman, NY, near the JCT with Beekman Rd. / CTY-9. Sprint has generally
poor coverage in eastern Dutchess County (other than some acceptable areas
of moderate coverage along NY-22), and NY-55 is no exception: There is no
coverage from about 2 miles west of the JCT of NY-55(West)/NY-22 all the
way west to the Taconic Parkway; post-pay/subscription customers can
generally roam on Verizon along NY-55, while pre-pay/"no credit check"
customers can not, and will have no coverage and a generally useless
phone/plan along eastern sections of NY-55. Last observed: 01/20/2017
Dutchess County, Beekman: Sprint drops occur along NY-55 just east
of the JCT with Walker Road, and about 1.5 miles west of the JCT with
CTY-9/Beekman Road. Last observed: 01/21/2017.
Dutchess County, East Fishkill/Shenadoah: Sprint drops calls on the
Taconic State Parkway at Mile Marker 34 between Miller Hill Rd./Shenandoah
Rd. and Horton Hill Rd, approximately 3 miles south of the JCT with I-84.
T-Mobile also drops in the same location (its own network, not roaming on
ATTWS), while Verizon appears _generally_ (50%+ attempts) able to maintain
calls in the area, albeit with some typical digital/CDMA audio
distortion/drop-out/loss if the call does not drop. Sprint generally drops
in the area (unless the Sprint customer is roaming on Verizon.) Most
recent instance occurred on 07/10/2016.
Dutchess County, East Fishkill: Sprint calls drop approximately 50%
of the time traveling on the Taconic State Parkway at the JCT with NY-52.
The drop occurs most often for established calls, eg, calls initiated at
least a few miles away (generally to the south, such as at the JCT with
NY-301), rather than calls placed closer to NY-52, such as along I-84.
Most recent instance occurred on 12/01/2016.
Dutchess County, Holmes: Sprint wireless voice and data coverage
drops along NY-292 at Waley Lake, near the JCT with South Road. (AT&T
Wireless and T-Mobile also have difficulty to greater or lesser extents
covering the area; Verizon doesn't drop and generally has superior
coverage in the local area and throughout the County.) Initially observed:
09/25/2015 / Most recently observed: 01/22/2017
Dutchess County, LaGrange: Sprint's coverage drops (both voice and
data) along the Taconic State Parkway at the intersection with Beekman Rd.
Last observed: 01/22/2017
Dutchess County, LaGrange: Sprint drops calls along the Taconic State
Parkway at the intersection with NY-82 (lower intersection; NY-82 again
crosses the Taconic in Columbia County further north). Verizon used to
drop here as well, but Verizon fixed its drop here over 5 years ago.
Sprint, on the other hand, still continues to drop. Last observed:
12/20/2014
Dutchess County, LaGrange: Sprint calls drop along the Taconic State
Parkway north of the JCT with NY-55 (near James Baird Park's access
ramps), and, besides regularly dropping calls, suffers from poor call
continuity and "lossy" service (for both voice and data), which continues
up to the Taconic/US-44 JCT. (Service north of NY-55 on the Taconic is
poor to begin with, and by the time US-44 is passed, generally becomes
increasingly sparse the further north one travels; for post-pay Sprint
customers this shouldn't be too much of a problem since Sprint uses their
"reliable backstop" of Verizon for coverage (and even Verizon has drops
and coverage issues on the northern Taconic, see the Verizon Voice and Verizon Data (3G/4G) drop lists
for details), but for PRE-pay Sprint customers and those on Sprint MVNOs
(like Boost and Virgin Mobile), they may experience no coverage at all for
good portions of the Taconic north of US-44. Last observed: 01/22/2017.
Dutchess County, Unionvale/Billings: Sprint calls drop along NY-82,
between the JCTs with NY-55 and US-44. Sprint voice and data calls are
barely useable by the midpoint of this segment, and both voice and data
calls drop frequently (or can't be established if a new call/data
session) at the midpoint of the segment. Last observed: 07/16/2016.
Dutchess County, Unionvale/LaGrange: NY-82, approx 3 miles north of
the JCT with NY-55; calls drop north of the firehouse located on the east
side of NY-82. Last observed: 02/04/2015
Dutchess County, Unionvale: Sprint calls drop on CTY-21 along the
S-curve near the Unionvale Town Hall as CTY-21 heads southwestward towards
NY-55 and Poughkeepsie. There is generally very poor coverage in Dutchess
County north of approximately where NY-55 runs, and thus coverage on
CTY-21 is spotty at best the further northeast one drives from NY-55.
Last observed: 01/07/2015.
Nassau County, Bayville: Sprint drops occur along the legnth of the
(small) beach area in Bayville, and suffers poor to no coverage in the
parking lot, as well as the dining/amusement area directly south/across of
the beach. Sprint calls initiated to the west of the Bayville Beach area
(for example, at Skunk's Misery Road) will drop in a area spanning the
amusement park all the way to the traffic light just to the east of the
beach area. Coverage then remains poor until passing the Bayville
firehouse, where some modicum of coverage returns, but still is spotty
progressing eastward until passing under the LIRR tracks in Oyster bay.
Last observed: 10/02/2017
Nassau County, Cold Spring Harbor: Sprint calls drops on NY-25A at
the JCT with NY-108/Woodbury Rd, near Cold Spring Harbor Labs. Most recently
observed on 05/11/2017.
Nassau County, Cold Spring Harbor: Sprint wireless calls drop along
Woodbury Road at the JCT with NY-108. Calls initiated along NY-25/Jericho
Turnpike will drop northbound along Woodbury road by the time NY-108 is
reached; calls initiated along NY-25A/Northern Blvd heading south will
drop along NY-108 by the time it intersects with NY-108. Most recently
observed on 05/11/2017.
Nassau County, Cold Spring Harbor: Sprint calls drop along NY-25
approximately 1/2 mile west of the JCT with Cold Spring Harbor Rd.
Verizon used to drop in this sot 15 years ago but has long ago corrected
the problem; why Sprint is unable to after all these years is typical of
their laissez faire attitude towards call disconnects and drops even on
heavily travelled roads. Most recently observed on 02/26/2016.
Nassau County, East Norwhich/Oyster Bay: Sprint Wireless calls drop on
NY-25A approx. 1/2 mile west of the JCT with NY-106/Oyster Bay-North
Jericho Rd. This is the stretch of NY-25A running between NY-107 (to the
west, near CW Post) and NY-106 (which heads up to Oyster Bay) to the east.
Verizon, AT&T Wireless, and even T-Mobile have no problem covering the
area without drops, yet Sprint has never been able to provide drop-free
coverage on this stretch of NY-25A. Last observed: 06/30/2015.
Nassau County, Great Neck: Sprint drops calls on the Long Island
Expressway(LIE)/I-495 at the Nassau/Queens County border. Calls initiated
in Nassau County will drop heading west on the LIE approaching Little
Neck Parkway. Last observed: 01/06/2022
Nassau County, Hicksville/East Norwich: Sprint calls drop and data
connections disconnect along NY-107, between the JCT with NY-25 in
Hicksville and the JCT with NY-25A in East Norwhich. Calls degrade in
either the northbound or southbound direction along NY-107, and upon
reaching NY-25 (driving southbound) or NY-25A (driving northbound), calls
generally dorp or at best are so distorted they are inaudible. Last
observed: 05/11/2017.
Nassau County, Laurel Hollow/Cold Spring Harbor: Sprint drops on
NY-25A at the intersection with Laurel Hollow Rd. NY-25A is a main E/W
road along the North Shore and one of the main access roads to the Cold
Spring Harbor Labs and the towns of Laurel Hollow and Cold Spring Harbor,
yet Sprint calls drop in a number of locations, including the instant one,
on the extent of road between Laurel Hollow and Cold Spring Harbor. Most
recently observed on 01/06/2015.
Orange County, Slate Hill: Sprint drops calls along I-84 at/near Mile
Marker 10 in Slate Hill. While there is acceptable coverage both closer to
the PA/NY line and hill/rest area (over which Verizon calls still drop but
ATTWS, Sprint, and TMO manage to hold) as well as towards the east near
Middletown, for whatever reason, Sprint calls drop in the area around
MM10. Most recently observed on 05/25/2018.
Putnam County, Philipstown/Cold Spring: Sprint calls drop (voice and
data) along NY-301, approximately 3 miles west of the JCT with US-9.
(T-Mobile drops there as well; Verizon/AT&T maintain calls along NH-301
in the area.) Last observed: 08/12/2017.
Rensselear County, Hoosick/Pine Valley: Sprint calls drop at the western
JCT of NY-7/Hoosick Road and NY-22. Heading east from there along NY-7,
Sprint has no coverage until near the VT border, where NY-7 splits and
heads to VT-9 in Bennington, and also heads northeast to connect with
VT-289/US-7 Bypass and coverage resumes. Most recently observed: 10/04/2016.
Rockland County: Sprint calls drop along the Palisades Interstate
Parkway between Exit 16 and Exit 19 (at and near the US-6/Palisades
rotary/interchange). There is poor Sprint Wireless coverage between the
Bear Mountain Bridge Rotary westwards to the Palisades/US-6 West rotary,
and Sprint calls drop heading west from the Bear Mountain Bridge & Rotary
towards the US-6/Palisades Rotary and Interchange. There is very poor to
no coverage south of the Palisades rest-area/Welcome Center, and Sprint
calls drop on the apex of the hill just south of the Welcome Center as
well, with the poor/no coverage extending for at least 5 miles south on
the Palisades until leaving Bear Mtn Park. Generally, any road/area not
immediately on the Hudson River (such as along US-202), but west of it
will have no Sprint coverage and thus drops while traveling through the
area. Most recent instance occurred on 08/28/2021.
Suffolk County, Kings Park: Calls drop on NY-25A at the intersection
with Sunken Meadow Road, approximately 1/2 mile west of the JCT with the
Sunken Meadow Parkway. NY-25A and the Sunken Meadow Parkway are heavily
traveled roads on the North Shore, and drops here should have been
detected and corrected long ago, but, typical of Sprint, nothing is done.
Most recently observed on 01/06/2015.
Suffolk County, Mt. Sinai: Sprint repeatedly drops calls along Mt.
Sinai-Coram Road, and particularly at the JCT with North Country Road
(likely an old alignment of NY-25A, as it is along other stretches of the
North Shore as well). Calls drop in both directions (heading northwest to
Mt. Sinai or southeast to NY-25A). Part of a series of drops and an area
of generally poor coverage north of NY-25A along North Country Rd, from
just east of downtown Port Jefferson, all the way along North Country (or
other primarily E/W roads along the North Shore) to Miller Place (near the
firehouse), where North Country then heads east/southeast to rejoin the
current NY-25A. Note this isn't unique to Sprint; all the other carriers
(including, surprisingly Verizon) have poor coverage and multiple drops
from Mt. Sinai to Miller Place as well. Most recent instance: 11/02/2017.
Suffolk County, Smithtown: Sprint calls drop on near the intersection
of Landing Ave at the intersection with Landing Hollow Road, approximately
1/4 of a mile west of the LIRR Port Jefferson Branch tracks. Most recently
observed on 01/06/2015.
Westchester County, Peekskill: Sprint calls drop on Highland Ave /
US-202 / US-6 / "The Goat Path" between the US-9 rotary and the Bear
Mountain Bridge, or more specifically, about 1/2 mile south of the
overlook/rest area. Most recently observed on: 08/01/2018.
Westchester County, Shrub Oak: Sprint drops calls along the Taconic
State Parkway just north of the NY-132/Shrub Oak exit and south of that
with US-6. A short period of audio distortion is generally experienced
prior to the drop, which follows quickly thereafter. Most recently
observed on: 08/01/2018.
Pennsylvania
Adams County, Gettysburg/Round Top: Sprint drops calls along US-15, at
or around Mile Marker 6, near the JCT with PA-134/Taneytown Road. North of
MM 6, Sprint has poor to no coverage until the JCT with PA-97. Last
observed: 09/10/2016.
Bucks County, Newportville: Near the new I-95/I-295 JCT (the second attempt at completing I-95 in New Jersey; the first connection was built about 15 years earlier and for some reason not used via the PA-413 interchange with I-95 just to the south of
the current I-276 interchange. The project(s) are a pathetic excuse to complete I-95 (and get tons of toll revenue of course) instead of building the Somerset Freeway, which would have connected I-95 from Philadelphia to I-287 in NJ, and would have provde
d a toll-free bypass around NYC. The Princeton, Pennington, et. al. locals would have nothing to do with it, nor would the NJ Turnpike Authority (Heaven forbid - think of all the lost money to them!), so the Sommerset Freeway/I-95 was never built, and the
I-276 connection was completed in Pennsylvania 40 years later. In the meantime, all the locals who opposed I-95 are no longer there, and the people living there now have to put up with excessive traffic along US-206 and NJ-31, to the point where US-206 i
s being turned from a small road into another US-1, so how is this any better than a limited exit I-95 Sommerset Freeway? Another example of the consequences of not building needed FREE highways!) Anyhow... Sprint calls drop along I-95 along the transitio
n/connection to I-276, and where the old I-95 (now I-295) continues to the Scudders Falls Bridge (which is anoter disgraceful project where the previously FREE bridge is now tolled in the southbound direction). Last observed: 12/16/2021.
Chester County, Oxford: Sprint calls drop on US-1 (the 1960's upgraded
freeway segment from the Maryland line through Chester County) at Mile
Marker 10.5, near the State Police station which also appears to be right
next to a cell tower as well. Last observed: 08/16/2015
Lackawanna County, Scranton: Sprint calls drop along I-81 at Mile
Marker 164, near/at the junction with PA-29/South Cross Valley
Expressway. (This USED to be the same PA-29 which went to Philadelphia's
western suburbs, but was split into two sections in 1966; the section in
question for the Sprint drop is considered to be the "northern section",
which goes up to the NYS border and becomes NY-7.) Last observed: 09/10/2016
Lancaster County, Ephrata: Sprint drops calls on US-222, at the JCT
with US-322, in Ephrata. This is a few miles south of the JCT with the PA
Turnpike/I-76, and along a relatively flat, unchallenging land topography;
T-Mobile drops here as well, but AT&T and Verizon do not. Last observed:
01/20/2018.
Lehigh County, Hellerton: Sprint calls drop on I-78 at Mile
Marker 68, approximately 3 miles heading west after the JCT with PA-33
and approximately 1.5 miles before the JCT with PA-412. Last observed:
01/29/2015.
Pike County, Bushkill (Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area):
Sprint Wireless calls drop along US-209/Federal Road from the junction
with Broadhead Rd to the north all the way to where US-209 crosses Suzie
Creek and US-209's name changes to Milford Road, where coverage resumes,
for a distance of about 5 miles. Sprint, as well as ATT Wireless and
Verizon to varying degrees, had very poor to non-existent coverage along
US-209 in the park for many years. More recently, Sprint, ATT, and
Verizon (but NOT T-Mobile, which, typically, has practically no coverage
along US-209 in the park even in 2018!), have made some improvements
since this specific drop in the Delaware Water Gap Rec Area was posted in
2015, and as a result, we've tested Sprint for most of US-209 and found
improved coverage with fewer drops and one 3 or 4 mile stretch of
poor/no coverage near Digman's Ferry. So overall, better, but they still
need to fix the Buskill (this) and the Digman's Ferry area drops before
Sprint offers through-coverage in the park.
Pike County, Dingman's Ferry (Delware Water Gap National Recreation
Area): Sprint drops calls along US-209 in the Del. Water Gap Rec Area at
the JCT with PA-739, near Mile Marker 14. Although as per the above
Bushkill post, Sprint is apparently improving coverage in 2018,
there is still a 3-5 mile are of poor/no coverage along US-209, and thus
motorists as well as campers and hikers in the Water Gap area may not be
able to summon help or contact authorities should an emergency arise.
Besides tourists visiting the Water Gap/Dingman's Ferry area, US-209
serves as a major thoroughfare between the I-84/Port Jervis Area and the
I-80 corridor, with heavy daytime automobile use (trucks are generally
prohibited), and has never been properly covered since the inception of
cellular service in the area in the early 1990's. Drop first posted on:
10/20/2015, updated 01/22/2018.
Pike County, Lord's Valley: Sprint calls drop along I-84, around Mile
Marker 40, near the JCT with PA-739/Dingman's Turnpike. Last observed:
01/02/2019.
Pike County, Matamoras: Sprint calls drop along I-84 west of
Matamoras, as I-84 leaves the Matamoras/Port Jervis area and ascends a
hill as it heads west to Scranton. Calls initiated in Port Jervis will
drop generally around Mile Marker 47, while calls initiated to the west
(coming FROM the Scranton area) will drop around Mile Marker 46. Last
observed: 09/10/2016.
Pike County, Port Jervis: Sprint drops calls along I-84 in the Port
Jervis area, generally near the NY/NJ/PA border in the area of Mile
Marker 53 (in PA) of I-84. Sprint calls drop in either east or west of
MM53, which, to the east, could be either in NY State or NJ, but for the
sake of simplicity and since the drops seem to occur predominantly in PA,
this Sprint call drop is listed here in the Pennsylvania section. Last
observed: 09/10/2016.
Philadelphia City and County, North Philadelphia: Sprint drops calls
along I-95, in the general vicinity of Girard Ave., just north of
I-676/Vine Street Expressway. Last observed: 12/18/2016.
Wayne County, Hamlin/Lake Wallenpaupack: Sprint calls drop at Mile
Marker 16.4 along I-84. Last observed: 09/01/2015.
Westmorland County, Ligonier: Sprint cellular service has poor to no
coverage on PA-31, between JCT PA-381 heading eastward to Laurel Summit
(on PA-31). At Laurel Summit heading east (down the hill) coverage is
generally better, but both voice and data calls will generally drop
heading westward from the summit going to and past the JCT with PA-381.
Note that when Nextel was still around, calls held in this area (barely),
perhaps due to the better propogation of the Nextel frequencies in the
area. Of course now that Nextel is gone and the Sprint "side" has them it
appears no good use is made of them and, typically of Sprint, it is just
worse, and none of the benefits of all the Nextel frequencies which Sprint
customers were supposedly going to benefit from ever materialized, at
least not here. Typical...Last observed: 05/05/2015
York County, Shrewsbury (PA/MD line): Sprint calls drop on I-83 in
the vicinity of the MD/PA state line. Last observed: 01/29/2015.
Vermont
Bennington County, Searsburg: Sprint calls drop along VT-9 (the
southernmost major east-west route in Vermont) at the JCT with VT-8.
Heading east, coverage is poor into Wilington, and then drops completely
further east at the apex of VT-9 in Marlboro (Windham County) at the
scenic overlook passing through Hogback Mountain park. (And continuing
eastwards along VT-9, there is no Sprint coverage at all until just west
of Brattleboro (nor much for Verizon, either), meaning Sprint customers
will have effectively no coverage along the main southernmost east-west
oroute in Vermont for about 15 to 20 miles, between Marlboro and
Brattleboro.) Last observed: 09/29/2016.
Windham County, Brattleboro: Sprint calls (voice and data) drop on
I-91 near the Vermont Welcome Center at Mile Marker 5.2, just south of the
Welcome Center's exit ramp. First noted on 07/25/2012, most recently
observed on 08/25/2015.
Windham County, Guilford: Sprint cellular calls drop on I-91 at the
VT/Mass border; northbound, calls attennuate in Greenfield, Mass and drop
by the time the Mass parking areas (NB/SB) are reached right before the VT
line; southbound, calls drop south of Brattleboro (there isn't much
coverage in Brattleboro to start with!), and drop by the time the
(northbound) rest area is reached on the opposite side of the road, near
I-91 mile marker 3.2. Basically, there is poor to no coverage on Sprint
between mile marker 3 all the way to one or two miles into Mass. Both
Verizon and AT&T Wireless appear to have remedied these drops many years
ago, but, typically of Sprint, they don't seem to bother/care to fix these
issues, even on the main Interstate into Vermont from the south. Most
recently observed: 10/01/2016.
Corrected Problems
The following were problem drop areas but have apparently been
corrected and/or no longer suffer from regular/repeated drops.
Connecticut
Hartford County, Southington: Sprint calls drop on I-84 Westbound,
between the JCT with CT-72/Bristol-New Britain Expressway and CT-10/Queen
Street. Drops occur approximately 50% of the time in the
Westbound direction only; we have not experienced any drops
heading east. Thus, a Sprint call initiated in Hartford will drop before
the Southington interchange (eg, westbound), but a call initiated in
Cheshire (at I-691 for example) heading eastward towards Hartford will
hold for the entirety of the drive. Drop last observed: 12/24/2014
New York
New York County (Manhattan): Sprint calls drop (50%) or become
highly distorted and generally inaudible crossing from Manhattan to
Queens County on the Queensboro/59th St Bridge. Verizon, the "other" CDMA
carrier, last had this problem circa 2003 or so, and yet Sprint's service
still suffers from this, which is particularly alarming as tens of
thousands of people drive over the Queensboro every day, and yet Sprint
has done apparently very little to remedy the issue. Last observed:
03/04/2015; appears corrected on or before December, 2020.
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