Network Vision/LTE - Richmond & Southern Virginia Markets

[Raheim_M4]

So I been researching. I love Sprint but,Tell me why My S5 can't connect to band 25 at all but my mother's Note 3 can? Matter infact why when I get LTE I can only get band 41 Sprint Spark? I know Nextel band 26 doesn't exist in the area but 1x800 does. Why can my phone connect to 1 bar of Sprint Spark but not band 25? I thought this was a "tri band phone " yes I know about network vision 2.0 and blah blah blah. But lemme get this Straight on my Galaxy S5 if I dial ##3282# aka ##data# and go to LTE only mode and allow roaming I can get full bars of LTE on band 25. If I'm not roaming my phone will upgrade to That 1 bar of Band 41 Spark and hold it for hours till it roams again. Guess who I'm roaming under? Wholesale partner NTELOS! Wow. So you're telling me If I force LTE on my phone I connect to Ntelos with full bars? So why can Ntelos customers connect to 6 bars worth of Sprint Standard LTE aka band 25 but my Spark S5 can't even find the native Band 25 Signal? Some prime time member needs to explain this photo. The funny thing is 1 bar of band 41 is still faster than band 25, but what I don't get is why can't we connect to Ntelos without forcing LTE if we have a CCA roaming agreement?

[Raheim_M4]

This is the roaming proof.

[Raheim_M4]

Here is NTELOS LTE speedtest.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Raheim_M4

[nexgencpu]

Consistently fast in Henrico and downtown Richmond. I personally can't believe it myself but I've also been consistently getting speeds in the 150+ Mbps during peak hours in areas with spark (pretty much everywhere in Henrico and Richmond that I travel to). 

Try to run the test using Sensorly, these seem invalid, since it should be limited to 80mbs..

[Hurrcayne_dre]

Consistently fast in Henrico and downtown Richmond. I personally can't believe it myself but I've also been consistently getting speeds in the 150+ Mbps during peak hours in areas with spark (pretty much everywhere in Henrico and Richmond that I travel to). 

I have yet to see anything close to 80 mbs .

It been hit or miss, areas where I didn't have lte I get good speed and coverage and areas that I normally get LTE  will sometimes drop to 3g wtf?  I can be at work and walk around some of the building and mostly 3g, go into the bathroom and get LTE??

[lbui]

How far along are tower upgrades in Richmond? I was in the Church Hill neighborhood and MCV campus and had LTE drop multiple times to 3G and had multiples times when "No service" appeared on my phone. While some parts of downtown had speeds I was satisfied with, I was disappointed I was getting DL/UL speeds of less that 5 Mbps for the majority of the locations I was in, especially since Richmond has Spark and I have a tri-band device. Is this what we are to expect from Sprint's Spark coverage?

[DanielB]

How far along are tower upgrades in Richmond? I was in the Church Hill neighborhood and MCV campus and had LTE drop multiple times to 3G and had multiples times when "No service" appeared on my phone. While some parts of downtown had speeds I was satisfied with, I was disappointed I was getting DL/UL speeds of less that 5 Mbps for the majority of the locations I was in, especially since Richmond has Spark and I have a tri-band device. Is this what we are to expect from Sprint's Spark coverage?

 

Nah, it's still very much "in progress" here in the RVA. They are nowhere near close to completion. I am in regular contact with both Sprint employees and contractors who are responsible for the network development in the area, so can say with certainty it'll get much better. Now, as for when exactly this will occur - I cannot say, but for my sake (and all of yours) I am hoping it is soon! My understanding is there are still several towers with backhaul delivery needs, but the job at this point primarily consists of optimization and any site adds that may come down the pike.

[kelmelzer]

Woot! As of 3/23, one more of the 4 towers in Smyth County is no longer 1X! This is the random "Southern Virginia" county separated from the rest of the region by the nTelos abyss and where I grew up.  It was miserable with Sprint there.  Only more 1 more 1X tower to go and then maybe some LTE?

[Galaxyguy]

Woot! As of 3/23, one more of the 4 towers in Smyth County is no longer 1X! This is the random "Southern Virginia" county separated from the rest of the region by the nTelos abyss and where I grew up. It was miserable with Sprint there. Only more 1 more 1X tower to go and then maybe some LTE?

I saw that too. I probably wouldn't normally have noticed but I was at Hungry Mother State Park last fall and the service was pretty poor when I was in Marion, which is part of that 4 tower cluster. In the park itself, I roamed on US Cellular but it worked pretty decent for calls and texts. Hopefully they get those 4 up and running with LTE soon. Another interesting thing about those towers is that they are Ericsson and the rest of the southern VA market is ALU. Kinda weird how that happened.

 

Sent from my Note 4.

[kelmelzer]

I saw that too. I probably wouldn't normally have noticed but I was at Hungry Mother State Park last fall and the service was pretty poor when I was in Marion, which is part of that 4 tower cluster. In the park itself, I roamed on US Cellular but it worked pretty decent for calls and texts. Hopefully they get those 4 up and running with LTE soon. Another interesting thing about those towers is that they are Ericsson and the rest of the southern VA market is ALU. Kinda weird how that happened.

 

Sent from my Note 4.

 

Yeah, Verizon is actually excellent there with LTE everywhere, and I'm on the dark (red) side at the moment until nTelos/Sprint can get their acts together in my area.  I don't even think I roamed on Verizon ever in that county with a Sprint phone.

[kelmelzer]

Sweet! And now the final 1X tower is 3G.  Coming back to Sprint is looking even more promising here.

[Galaxyguy]

Sweet! And now the final 1X tower is 3G. Coming back to Sprint is looking even more promising here.

Now to just get them some backhaul...

 

Sent from my Note 4.

[kelmelzer]

Now to just get them some backhaul...

 

Sent from my Note 4.

 

Looks like they just got it!  4G as of 4/15 on the new maps.  That was quick.  I also see some B25 and B26 scheduled on the other maps in next 90-180 days (as of March).

[Raheim_M4]

So does anyone know what's going on with the Midlothian/Genito Tower? Still have yet to connect to Band 25 no matter how my band priorities are set up. Band 41 from the tower is still averaging about 7 megs down and 2 up. If Robert could come inform that'll be great cuz I feel Sprint has the 804 on the backburner. I thought If my Triband phone can connect to Band 41 if there's a stronger Band 25 signal you'd expect it to connect well that isn't the issue as of right now my S5 is either Sprint Spark or 3G no band 25. Why is that if my mother's note 3 can find the 2 bar signal, why can't my s5 find it? They're both connected to the same site so I'm assuming the site has Band 41 & 25 from experience of my S4 from last year and my s5 this year. Is there a handover issue that Spark phones have or is this the tower issue? Another question I'm asking, does anyone know when band 26 LTE will be active on this site? I been around Richmond and VCU but can't connect to 800 LTE my phone only finds Band 41 all of my bands are enabled. This isn't a rant I just want someone with more insight give me a straight answer with no run arounds.

I even have LTE Discovery to chime when I (if ever)connect to Band 26. I'm assuming my site doesn't have backhaul if I keep getting slow speedtest results from a tower that's only 2 miles away. Like I said in the past, standing right in front of the tower will only pull about 15 megs DL if you're ever lucky. I feel like this tower should be strong since it's in a line with AT&T and then a skinny Verizon site followed by Sprint and Tmo is last in line, lol all the sites are in a straight line or side by side if viewing from the riverisde Sports complex on genito. The inconsistencies is real on LTE from such a small distance away even my tmobile friends are connecting to their site in the same area on genito next to the sports complex. Is this because the tower is half powered or something? My 3G to LTE Ratio is 30% LTE and 70% 3G based off an hourly estimate sheet I'm creating to log in the type of Data I'm using every hour without including switching over/back. Meaning every hour has a log of what connection I have regardless of if the phone finds LTE @6:00 but not @6:01

Edited May 12, 2015 by Raheim_M4

[JossMan]

Woot! As of 3/23, one more of the 4 towers in Smyth County is no longer 1X! This is the random "Southern Virginia" county separated from the rest of the region by the nTelos abyss and where I grew up.  It was miserable with Sprint there.  Only more 1 more 1X tower to go and then maybe some LTE?

Those last four sites that run along I-81 in Smyth County should be completed now.  I don't understand why Sprint just didn't add them to the Nashville market instead of the Southern VA market since Ericsson hardware was used and they connect to the switch in Johnson City, TN.  *Shrugs*

[Hurrcayne_dre]

something interesting.

 

Sprint is using the Clear B41 tower behind Well Fargo on Belt Blvd and Hull St, City of Richmond I guess  to fill in the density of the network.  

[nexgencpu]

something interesting.

 

Sprint is using the Clear B41 tower behind Well Fargo on Belt Blvd and Hull St, City of Richmond I guess  to fill in the density of the network.

 

I'm assuming you mean they are adding Sprint equipment to an existing Clear site.

[Hurrcayne_dre]

I'm assuming you mean they are adding Sprint equipment to an existing Clear site.

yes, making the Clear site a Sprint site. 

[lbui]

I was in Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore this weekend and I have never experienced such horrid service from Sprint. Even with 1 or 2 bars, I had blocked calls about 90% of the time. When calls connected, the audio quality was so poor it wasn't worth staying on the phone. I couldn't receive or send texts and data wasn't even present. Had to pray that I would roam on Verizon (?) to even get any voice or data service. Such a disappointment, especially since Sprint has upgraded the area towers.

[DanielB]

I was in Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore this weekend and I have never experienced such horrid service from Sprint. Even with 1 or 2 bars, I had blocked calls about 90% of the time. When calls connected, the audio quality was so poor it wasn't worth staying on the phone. I couldn't receive or send texts and data wasn't even present. Had to pray that I would roam on Verizon (?) to even get any voice or data service. Such a disappointment, especially since Sprint has upgraded the area towers.

 

That really blows. Do you know which tower you were connected to? Have you ever been there before, and if so how did service compare?

[lbui]

That really blows. Do you know which tower you were connected to? Have you ever been there before, and if so how did service compare?

I have never been there before so I can't compare. I did have friends on Verizon and AT&T that had no problems with their networks though. I believed I was connected to NO72XC023 as I was closer to that tower but I may have also been connected to NO72XC011

[DanielB]

I may be out that way again soon and will test. I know back across the bay in VA Beach, things are working outstandingly. Cant remember if ES is part of the Tidewater or Maryland markets, though.

[Hurrcayne_dre]

I have never been there before so I can't compare. I did have friends on Verizon and AT&T that had no problems with their networks though. I believed I was connected to NO72XC023 as I was closer to that tower but I may have also been connected to NO72XC011

 

 

I may be out that way again soon and will test. I know back across the bay in VA Beach, things are working outstandingly. Cant remember if ES is part of the Tidewater or Maryland markets, though.

 

It is under Baltimore/Annapolis ES

[DanielB]

1H Rootmetrics report out. Sprint definitely showing some nice improvement.

 

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/richmond-va/2015/1H

[marioc21]

1H Rootmetrics report out. Sprint definitely showing some nice improvement.

 

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/richmond-va/2015/1H

 

Still last place in data speeds though. I wonder if that's because Sprint just can't get enough fiber to its cell towers. Even band 41 doesn't seem to be particularly fast.