Jump to content

Network Vision/LTE - Western & Central Pennsylvania Markets (Lancaster, Scranton, Erie, State College, Williamsport)


jeremyandrew

Recommended Posts

Sprint announced scr/w-b today-I can't tell-still spotty all over

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

I figured that was coming ... I noticed the coverage map was orange up there.

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre came a LONG way very quickly ... in the mean time things are moving at a snail's pace down here in the Lehigh Valley.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

LTE bouncing all over the place today in downtown Scranton-hopefully good things to come very soon

I'm not sure why you're not getting LTE downtown. Didn't you say you live in one of the buildings overlooking courthouse square? The tower at Wyoming and Pine should reach you. My fiancée works at a building ~3 blocks to your north and get 4-5 bars.

 

Hopefully things improve for you once they hookup the LTE-supporting backhaul to the tower on Lackawanna. Who knows what the hold up is. You could try searching the city/county websites for permits at that address. I think the address is 430 Lackawanna Ave.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ok guys, I gotta ask about Erie again. Much of the city and surrounding areas continue to have horrible data speeds. Ohio border, 4G. NY border, 4g. But nothing in NW PA. When will this madness end?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have my sympathies. Erie is PA's 4th largest city, yet it is a pocket of sub-par data speeds. An earlier post read that North and Central PA may be the last place in the US to get the 3G upgrade and 4G, even after Hawaii. You still deserve an estimated implementation time, provided that someone knows this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have my sympathies. Erie is PA's 4th largest city, yet it is a pocket of sub-par data speeds. An earlier post read that North and Central PA may be the last place in the US to get the 3G upgrade and 4G, even after Hawaii. You still deserve an estimated implementation time, provided that someone knows this.

 

I live in Lancaster which is considered part of the Central PA market.  We just announced LTE about 3 weeks ago but have been seeing it for apporx 6-9 months.  The northern part of Central PA might be waiting a while.  This is coming from my Sprint IAE.  As far as Lancaster getting 800, I was told that is should happen in the next 6 months, we will wait and see i guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Erie is all GMO sites. I haven't heard one peep about these starting to be converted to NV Full Build yet. I think it will still be a long time still.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have my sympathies. Erie is PA's 4th largest city, yet it is a pocket of sub-par data speeds. An earlier post read that North and Central PA may be the last place in the US to get the 3G upgrade and 4G, even after Hawaii. You still deserve an estimated implementation time, provided that someone knows this.

 

Thank you for your sympathies, it's pretty crazy out here.  We were told in March of 2013 they were starting the NV upgrades and they'd be done by August.  August turned into October, October turned into January and here we are in April with no timetable at all...rocking LESS THAN 1Mbps down in a city of >130,000 people while tiny towns to the east and west and south get to enjoy 4G LTE.  And nobody can give me a straight answer as to why it's taking so long, other than "this is former IPCS territory"...yet other "former territories" have been completed?

 

My ISM said we probably won't start seeing anything happen until the end of this year at the earliest.  Incredibly frustrating.  Does anybody have Masa's phone number?   :w00t:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought GMO sites could broadcast LTE, no?

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

It is technically possible at a lot of sites. About 3-5% of GMO's do have LTE live.

 

However, Sprint did not order backhaul at most GMO sites until recently. So there is no backhaul to feed most of them. And since GMO conversion to full build is already occurring in several places, I presume most of them will not see LTE until they are full built.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I understand this correctly a lot of sites near me in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Hazleton area are GMO. I am mostly interested in the Mountain Top area which is in-between Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton. These sites have recently started broadcasting ehrpd, Is the 800 service coming soon (mostly voice data is not a big issue) to these sites? Then are these going to become full build sites sometime soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We haven't really seen much conversion of GMO to full build yet. The only one I know of is in Elmira NY, and even that lacks proof that it went full-build. (It got LTE accepted and was a GMO prior) The whole 81/476 corridor is just stagnant, they're likely waiting until NV1.0 is wrapped up before re-visiting these highway sites connecting cities in PA. My guess is that they'll get some attention starting mid-year, but I base that off of pure speculation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Does anyone have any info at all on the areas in and around State College, PA?  I've asked before.  It seems that when you drive 20 minutes any direction you have decent coverage and LTE speeds yet Sprint has remained totally silent about what's happening here.  At this juncture I think I'd be happy if they just said hey we're running late but its happening in October 2015 if that's the date but I find it very frustrating that they won't say anything.  Anyone with inside knowledge whose able to explain what's going on and when in the market?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing specific. We do know that in other markets GMO sites have been converted to full build. We also know of several GMO sites in other markets that are broadcasting LTE.

 

I would hope that they have some plans to move forward particularly in State College and Erie sometime soon...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have any info at all on the areas in and around State College, PA? I've asked before. It seems that when you drive 20 minutes any direction you have decent coverage and LTE speeds yet Sprint has remained totally silent about what's happening here. At this juncture I think I'd be happy if they just said hey we're running late but its happening in October 2015 if that's the date but I find it very frustrating that they won't say anything. Anyone with inside knowledge whose able to explain what's going on and when in the market?

We don't have any specific dates, but State College will be one of the last Sprint cities to get LTE. Not likely to even begin for more than 6 months.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So today I sent Sprint a message via their Facebook Page and in a very short time someone got back to me to confirm that a new tower with LTE and possibly 800MHZ service is being constructed right now in zip code 16804 which is the area of the Penn State Campus however they also went on to say that there are still no plans and no timetable available for 16801 and 16803 at all which would be the general metro areas of State College.  I guess I am having a very hard time understanding this seeing how they've been saying for ages that our buildout is coming soon.  Just how hard could it be?  I'm trying hard to be patient but my contract's up in November.  Pretty sure if I don't see massive improvements by then I will bounce. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So today I sent Sprint a message via their Facebook Page and in a very short time someone got back to me to confirm that a new tower with LTE and possibly 800MHZ service is being constructed right now in zip code 16804 which is the area of the Penn State Campus however they also went on to say that there are still no plans and no timetable available for 16801 and 16803 at all which would be the general metro areas of State College.  I guess I am having a very hard time understanding this seeing how they've been saying for ages that our buildout is coming soon.  Just how hard could it be?  I'm trying hard to be patient but my contract's up in November.  Pretty sure if I don't see massive improvements by then I will bounce. 

Yes, you have a valid complaint.  State College is in poor condition right now.  I might be tempted to change carriers too if I were in your situation.  HOWEVER, I can tell you that once the upgrades are completed, the network is very very good.

 

I do see one issue that might pop up.  If they do activate a NEW NV enabled site without upgrading the other older sites, this can cause issues.   One new NV site in a sea of old non-upgraded sites can cause issues until they finally get all sites upgraded. If you can stick to the new site or stick to only the old sites you are ok.  But if you have to move between the new and old sites, the calls sometimes drop.  It causes some pain for awhile, but after they get it all upgraded, the service is about as good as it gets. Somebody has to be last, and you get the award this time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, you have a valid complaint. State College is in poor condition right now. I might be tempted to change carriers too if I were in your situation. HOWEVER, I can tell you that once the upgrades are completed, the network is very very good.

 

I do see one issue that might pop up. If they do activate a NEW NV enabled site without upgrading the other older sites, this can cause issues. One new NV site in a sea of old non-upgraded sites can cause issues until they finally get all sites upgraded. If you can stick to the new site or stick to only the old sites you are ok. But if you have to move between the new and old sites, the calls sometimes drop. It causes some pain for awhile, but after they get it all upgraded, the service is about as good as it gets. Somebody has to be last, and you get the award this time.

State College is all upgraded to NV. They just are GMO sites without LTE. Shouldn't be a problem so long as they are connected to the same MSC. That's the only way CDMA 800 would hand off to 1900 in the area.

 

I don't expect any LTE on State College's existing sites in 2014.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I noticed a 4G LTE Sensorly blip in downtown Erie. Could this be real?

 

It might be.  I was recently notified that Sprint was moving forward with upgrading backhaul throughout the Western PA market.

 

Robert

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Backhaul upgrades are moving along nicely in Erie(and the rest of PA), but no LTE as of yet. I know what that blip is and I wish I could tell you that you will be seeing more of them, but all of the sites are still ground mounted.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed a 4G LTE Sensorly blip in downtown Erie. Could this be real?

 

I just looked this up, unfortunately that's the switch.  I've been waiting patiently - for years - for Erie to get 4g.  I don't understand why they aren't working on the towers in Erie every day to expedite this...I feel like they should buckle down and just focus on our towers we could have some LTE in a more acceptable timeframe.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Posts

    • In the conference call they had two question on additional spectrum. One was the 800 spectrum. They are not certain what will happen, thus have not really put it into their plans either way (sale or no sale). The do have a reserve level. It is seen as great for new technologies which I presume is IOT or 5g slices.  They did not bite on use of their c-band or DOD.  mmWave rapidly approaching deadlines not mentioned at all. FWA brushes on this as it deals with underutilized spectrum on a sector by sector basis.  They are willing to take more money to allow FWA to be mobile (think RV or camping). Unsure if this represents a higher priority, for example, RVs in Walmart parking lots where mobile needs all the capacity. In terms of FWA capacity, their offload strategy is fiber through joint ventures where T-Mobile does the marketing, sales, and customer support while the fiber company does the network planning and installation.  50%-50% financial split not being consolidated into their books. I think discussion of other spectrum would have diluted the fiber joint venture discussion. They do have a fund which one use is to purchase new spectrum. Sale of the 800Mhz would go into this. It should be noted that they continue to buy 2.5Ghz spectrum from schools etc to replace leases. They will have a conference this fall  to update their overall strategies. Other notes from the call are 75% of the phones on the network are 5g. About 85% of their sites have n41, n25, and n71. 93% of traffic is on midband.  SA is also adding to their performance advantage, which they figure is still ahead of other carriers by two years. It took two weeks to put the auction 108 spectrum to use at their existing sites. Mention was also made that their site spacing was designed for midrange thus no gaps in n41 coverage, while competitors was designed for lowband thus toggles back and forth for n77.  
    • The manual network selection sounds like it isn't always scanning NR, hence Dish not showing up. Your easiest way to force Dish is going to be forcing the phone into NR-only mode (*#*#4636#*#* menu?), since rainbow sims don't support SA on T-Mobile.
    • "The company’s unique multi-layer approach to 5G, with dedicated standalone 5G deployed nationwide across 600MHz, 1.9GHz, and 2.5GHz delivers customers a consistently strong experience, with 85% of 5G traffic on sites with all three spectrum bands deployed." Meanwhile they are very close to a construction deadline in June for 850Mhz of mmWave in most of Ohio iirc. No reported sightings.
    • T-Mobile Delivers Industry-Leading Customer, Service Revenue and Profitability Growth in Q1 2024, and Raises 2024 Guidance https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-q1-2024-earnings — — — — — I find it funny that when they talk about their spectrum layers they're saying n71, n25, and n41. They're completely avoiding talking about mmWave.
    • Was true in my market. Likely means a higher percentage of 5g phones in your market.
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...