[Motorola Photon 4G] gemini6180:
Let me explain this pic. We can see in the lower right area of the pic there is a 4g wimax tower. A little farther up and to the left you can see my location. This is Bremerton, WA, a city that is a hour ferry from downtown Seattle. There are no other wimax towers for miles.

If I am walking by this building on the way to the ferry, I get 12 Mb download speeds.

If its anytime during daytime hours from morning until 9 or 10PM and I am in my house which is only blocks away my speeds are around 1-3 down, and maybe .5 up.

The only time I can get decent speeds is late at night between 12AM until 7. At those hours I can get a decent speed of 6-7 Mb down and up to 1.5 up.

And in my house it constantly just drops out, having to wait on average about 60 seconds before reconnecting.

So, wimax is line-of-sight, no doubt about that. Damn buildings all to hell.

Now I guess I would consider myself an average consumer, meaning that when I went into Radio Shack in FEBRUARY this year, what I wanted was 4g speeds and a higher end device.

I was actually looking to get the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch which was 200 bux. The guy there said because they had a special deal on the Photon that I should go with that. I got the photon for 49.99 with a 2 year plan and it came with a zagg invisible shield and a 16 gig micro SD card. I did put down a $250 dollar deposit.

My plan comes to about 79.99 a month. Mind you my first bill last month was $193 dollars. I pay a ten dollar fee supposedly for my phone being "SO SMART" and "4g" speeds.

I DO NOT consider myself to be getting "4g" speeds.

Its more like "3.232845 g".

So I wasn't thrilled with the first month of service. My Phone? Couldn't be happier. This phone is a beast. My life is now complete and I have purpose (Hahaha!) And with the forums here at XDA, I don't get much sleep.

Now here is what really pisses me off and I am writing this to you today to get your advice and opinions on a few things.

Did Radio Shack know the EOL for the Photon was in April just two months after buying it? I had no idea and if I would have I would not have bought it. He also sold me on the FACT? that it would be receiving the "ICS" Android update.

That might not even happen.

He also never once mentioned that Sprint was saying F--K it to WIMAX and chasing the LTE bandwagon instead.

The first 30 days has come and gone and I feel totally deceived being conned into buying a "LEGACY" phone with wireless technology that is being SCRAPPED.

And even tho I love my phone...if I could walk in there and cancel without a fee and get a full refund, I would.

I bought the photon 4g thinking it was a current high end phone. It is, but IT ISNT.

I signed a plan expecting 4g coverage where I live.

I DONT.

What can I do? Am I just screwed. I don't want to believe that since this is pretty fresh.

Can we here at XDA put our brains together and find a way to strengthen the 4g signal and range by a DIY method. Meaning an signal booster? Or an antenna? Is this possible? It might sound silly but here is the thing. I have many friends that have houses all around bremerton. We have to have something that could be cheaply built and put on top of our roofs to get better 4g signal. Is that even legal?

Anyway just wondering if you feel the same frustration as I am.

Thanks.:)