This is the same thing when all the major carriers tried to switch to 3G at break neck speeds.  How quickly it is forgotten.  Before you say Sprint whatever carrier doesn't have problems...

AT&T and T-Mobile uses 3G and claim it is 4G.  HSPA+ will never hit the 100mbps mark.  This is why AT&T is rolling out LTE as it is close to true 4G(100mpbs).  It can be upgraded to LTE Advanced(100mbps).  T-Mobile is at a crossroads as they don't have enough funds to move to straight 4G.

Sprint Wimax is somewhat true 4G as it can be upgraded to Wimax+.  Sprint isn't doing it on their own.  They are using Clearwire which has already been established and piggybacking off their network.  If you ever had Clear when they first started out...  You probably wouldn't  be happy if you really need 4G.

The problem isn't really the network.  The fallback is with the authentication schemes being different is causing trouble with current 4G devices.  There is various write ups saying why it is happening and not from Verizon, though Verizon has said after they fix the problem what the problem was.

At some point it will get better when Verizon can get everyone off the 3G network onto the 4G network and they use one scheme.  This is the reason why they are pushing 4G devices very hard.  That would alleviate 2/3 of the problem, and the rest will be network stability.

Welcome to new technology and being an early adopter.