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Network Vision/LTE - Upper Central Valley Market (Sacramento, Stockton, Redding, Eureka & Reno/Lake Tahoe)


iwalkthrowwalls

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This goes into a little more detail about the injunction that lilotimz mentioned:

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sprint-shutdown-suspended-nonprofits-win-preliminary-injunction-protect-internet-for-300000-americans-300173565.html

 

I had been a happy Clear customer for several year (at 5 Mbps), but made the switch in April to Sprint when Sprint/Clear dropped email service.  Then my family found that our Oppo bluray player does Netflix and the rest is history.  I'm on the Sprint 120GB/month plan, but only getting 8 Mbps.

 

I'm desperately waiting for Sprint to upgrade my Clear tower.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

 

 

There is  a unlimited (though throttled) option hotspot from Karmo Go called "Neverstop" where it throttles at 5 mbps up / down but unlimited data for $50. Maybe that'll be a cheaper option for you for your increasing data usage if the 120 GB data plan for your hotspot is used up so rapidly. 

 

See: https://blog.yourkarma.com/introducing-neverstop

 

Other than that, we're all part of the waiting game now. 

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Thanks, but they say only 5 Mbps:

 

Pay $50 a month and use as much data as you need at up to 5Mbps.  No contracts, no fine print. Cancel anytime you'd like.

 

 

To their credit, it is offered where my home is;  "good" on their coverage map.

 

Thanks anyway for the tip, but I need speed...  5Mbps is so 20th Century.  :)

Scott

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You will never see an unlimited hotspot at full speed on LTE. It would destroy a network. In my home, I have a 200Mbps internet that I share with no one. It's great and very useful.

 

But with Sprint B41 LTE, you are sharing one 80Mbps connection with everyone in your sector. I don't think people get that. Two or three people running full HD streaming on that 80Mbps to a device on hotspots and all of a sudden that carrier is maxed out and everyone else has a reduced experience.

 

On a 5MHz carrier, everyone in that sector is sharing ONE 37.5Mbps connection. LTE networks are shared ecosystems that cannot support many people using them as full speed ISP replacements where people are full definition streaming. That's not going to happen with the way technology is now and the way networks are deployed now.

 

LTE cannot be used for a home ISP without significant handicaps. Throughput speed or data limits. Otherwise millions would switch their ISPs to wireless and the networks would crumble overnight.

 

Whether people like it or not, you're sharing 37.5Mbps, 80Mbps or possibly up to 160Mbps in some situations with dozens or hundreds of other customers. And in a stadium it can be thousands. That's what a wireless network does. We try to educate out that ignorance.

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

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  • 3 weeks later...

You will never see an unlimited hotspot at full speed on LTE. It would destroy a network. In my home, I have a 200Mbps internet that I share with no one. It's great and very useful.

 

But with Sprint B41 LTE, you are sharing one 80Mbps connection with everyone in your sector. I don't think people get that. Two or three people running full HD streaming on that 80Mbps to a device on hotspots and all of a sudden that carrier is maxed out and everyone else has a reduced experience.

 

On a 5MHz carrier, everyone in that sector is sharing ONE 37.5Mbps connection. LTE networks are shared ecosystems that cannot support many people using them as full speed ISP replacements where people are full definition streaming. That's not going to happen with the way technology is now and the way networks are deployed now.

 

LTE cannot be used for a home ISP without significant handicaps. Throughput speed or data limits. Otherwise millions would switch their ISPs to wireless and the networks would crumble overnight.

 

Whether people like it or not, you're sharing 37.5Mbps, 80Mbps or possibly up to 160Mbps in some situations with dozens or hundreds of other customers. And in a stadium it can be thousands. That's what a wireless network does. We try to educate out that ignorance.

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

 

Thanks.  Unfortunately I use wireless as my home's ISP since I don't have any alternative (DSL is only 3 Mbps where I am, cable doesn't come to my house, and I'm avoiding satellite due to the delay). I'm one of those underserved internet folks that Washington keeps talking about.  T-mobile has a horribly low monthly data plan, Verizon's home plan is $440/month for the amount of data I use (and then only 8-12 Mbps), AT&T coverage here is spotty here, and Cricket limits the data rate to 5Mbps.

 

I don't mind paying for data (I'm on Sprint's 120 GB per month plan).  So based on your comments it looks like I just have wait for Sprint to upgrade their backhaul at my tower. 

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

I don't mind paying for data (I'm on Sprint's 120 GB per month plan).  So based on your comments it looks like I just have wait for Sprint to upgrade their backhaul at my tower. 

 

I noticed this morning that Sprint's coverage map has removed the "Spark" entry (12/31/2015).  I was there the last time I checked several weeks ago. So the maximum now listed is 4G LTE.  Perhaps the marketing folks got overruled...

 

Scott

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I noticed this morning that Sprint's coverage map has removed the "Spark" entry (12/31/2015). I was there the last time I checked several weeks ago. So the maximum now listed is 4G LTE. Perhaps the marketing folks got overruled...

 

Scott

You can select enhanced LTE in the list. It is below 4G LTE and isn't the default setting. Kinda weird but that's what they did with spark coverage.

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I noticed this morning that Sprint's coverage map has removed the "Spark" entry (12/31/2015).  I was there the last time I checked several weeks ago. So the maximum now listed is 4G LTE.  Perhaps the marketing folks got overruled...

 

Scott

 

It's been that way for a few weeks now. You have to actually select "Enhanced LTE" to see the formerly "Spark" network.

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Thanks.  Yes, "Enhanced LTE" does indeed appear to be the same as Spark coverage.  So they appear to have dropped the word "Spark".  In searching around through the Sprint web pages, it appears that "Spark" has been removed/replaced with "Enhanced" (or "Plus").

 

And  "Enhanced LTE"  is specifically listed as tri-band:

 

"includes Sprint's tri-band network. Available only on select devices"

 

The link for "LTE Plus" references the same thing.  The LTE Plus link appears to show the same 103 Spark cities (I'm guessing at that; haven't done a line-by-line comparison).

 

 

So their web folks get a  C-  for being confusing. There is  "Introducing LTE Plus"  but the pulldown contains  "Enhanced LTE".

 

 

The  "LTE Plus"  November 2015 announcement is mentioned here:

 

http://www.androidcentral.com/sprint-announces-faster-lte-plus-network-launching-today-77-markets

 

which I assume they rolled out once they took down Clearwire.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

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Thanks.  Yes, "Enhanced LTE" does indeed appear to be the same as Spark coverage.  So they appear to have dropped the word "Spark".  In searching around through the Sprint web pages, it appears that "Spark" has been removed/replaced with "Enhanced" (or "Plus").

 

 

They began removing references to Spark beginning back in October when we found out they were going to re-brand as LTE Plus. I believe LTE Plus refers  to Carrier Aggregation, while Enhanced LTE is just Band 41. It still doesn't actually refer to tri-band, because the coverage is specifically related to Band 41 coverage, rather than 25+26+41. 

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  • 2 months later...

They began removing references to Spark beginning back in October when we found out they were going to re-brand as LTE Plus. I believe LTE Plus refers  to Carrier Aggregation, while Enhanced LTE is just Band 41. It still doesn't actually refer to tri-band, because the coverage is specifically related to Band 41 coverage, rather than 25+26+41. 

 

Now that the Sprint coverage map has been upgraded to include Sprint LTE-Plus, my situation is now obvious.  I contacted the Sprint Network support folks and they confirmed the situation.  The tower near me (Orange Ave. in Patterson; 2 miles away) hasn't been upgraded yet; neither LTE-Plus nor the back-haul infrastructure.  However, a tower 8 miles away is running LTE-Plus (the tower on Crows Landing Road south of Modesto).

 

So I pointed my 24dBi antenna at that tower and I am now getting 17.9 Mbps download and 0.8 Mbps upload. I'm on Band 41.

 

 

At this point, the only problems that I've been having is needing to power cycle my Sprint Netgear 6100D every couple of days. In reading through other threads, this appears to be a common problem with the 6100D.  Sprint no longer sells the 6100D on their web store and they won't comment on when a replacement will be available. Netgear still sells the 6100D but doesn't list a newer model.  But I'm eager to replace my 6100D with something more stable.

 

I use about 100GB/month on Sprint's 120GB plan.

 

Thanks to all,

 

Scott

 

PS  I've reported to Sprint that the new yellow-on-yellow coverage maps are horrible and impossible to tell which yellow is which.  The rep said that they've heard this complaint from users many many times already. Apparently the marketing folks want as much yellow as possible in order to fill in the map (as opposed to using different colors for different coverage services). The other guys seem to game the system the same way (e.g. Verizon with various shades of red).  So doing a screen capture and using the eye dropper to get each color, then changing that color, seems a workable technique.

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So I pointed my 24dBi antenna at that tower and I am now getting 17.9 Mbps download and 0.8 Mbps upload. I'm on Band 41.

 

To follow up on my previous post:  it is  SpeedTerst.net  that said 17.9Mbps.  

 

Last night I downloaded Star Wars (4.7GB) from iTunes and got a peak of 1.3MBps (roughly 13Mbps; with overhead).  So the SpeedTest numbers seem believable for a peak number.  However, the iTunes download varied from a low of 20kbps to a max of 13Mbps.  As a result, the 4.7GB file took about 2 hours to download (4700MB/7200 seconds = 0.6MBps ~ 6Mbps).  Certainly much faster than it was a couple of months ago.

 

 

Still waiting for my local Sprint tower upgrade and I am eagerly awaiting a replacement for the Sprint Netgear 6100D and its constant need for a hard reboot. Sprint stopped selling it on their web page but the rep won't confirm any upcoming models.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

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Oh and the 3rd Band 41 carrier is live in the market at least around the Sacramento Metropolitan area.

 

Don't know if it's live down towards stockton, modesto but it's highly likely.

 

We now have EARFCNs 40978 / 41176 / 41374.

 

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Were you able to run a speedtest? That is if you're into speedtests.

 

Tops out around ~40ish. 1st and 2nd carriers aggregated usually is double the speed. 

 

It's not carrier aggregation enabled so it's quite the chore to get connected to it consistently with the 5x, G4, and S7 I have access to. 

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Tops out around ~40ish. 1st and 2nd carriers aggregated usually is double the speed.

 

It's not carrier aggregation enabled so it's quite the chore to get connected to it consistently with the 5x, G4, and S7 I have access to.

Still nice to see 3rd channel on....cant wait to see 3xCA and 300 mb download speed.

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Still nice to see 3rd channel on....cant wait to see 3xCA and 300 mb download speed.

 

They'll have to change the network configuration for that to happen. With the current configuration, the max top speed on 3xCA is closer to 240Mbps.

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So I pointed my 24dBi antenna at that tower and I am now getting 17.9 Mbps download and 0.8 Mbps upload. I'm on Band 41.

 

Well, things were looking good  for about a month with an RSRP of -86 after I re-pointed one of my antennas to a Sprint tower 8 miles away that has LTE-Plus.  But starting a couple of days ago, my signal level has dropped down to -105.  My system is the same, the antennas are pointed the same way, and I've rebooted the Sprint 6100D several times.  

 

Speedtest.net still says that I'm getting 14Mbps.  But the issue now is connectivity.  Sometimes for spans of several hours I'm not getting any service at all.

 

Scott

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I've been hibernating for awhile because I have had great service.  But does anyone know if the Corning, CA tower is down?  I have been sitting in the same place in my break room for nearly four years and when I got 4G LTE there it was right after October 2014 now here in 2016 all of a sudden I am not getting it anymore.  I am praying its just a little tower work going on.

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I've been hibernating for awhile because I have had great service.  But does anyone know if the Corning, CA tower is down?  I have been sitting in the same place in my break room for nearly four years and when I got 4G LTE there it was right after October 2014 now here in 2016 all of a sudden I am not getting it anymore.  I am praying its just a little tower work going on.

 

It could possibly be  a tower outage or work going on.

 

I'd contact Sprint support and see if anythings up since no service is no bueno. 

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Well, things were looking good  for about a month with an RSRP of -86 after I re-pointed one of my antennas to a Sprint tower 8 miles away that has LTE-Plus.  But starting a couple of days ago, my signal level has dropped down to -105.  My system is the same, the antennas are pointed the same way, and I've rebooted the Sprint 6100D several times.  

 

Now everything is back to normal and I'm back to an RSRP of -89.  

 

I wish there was a way to capture the signal strength for several weeks and make a graph.  Every time I call Sprint they always say that "there's no tower work going on with your tower, everything is fine".  But I definitely lost 20dB of signal for about a week.  

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

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Now everything is back to normal and I'm back to an RSRP of -89.  

 

I wish there was a way to capture the signal strength for several weeks and make a graph.  Every time I call Sprint they always say that "there's no tower work going on with your tower, everything is fine".  But I definitely lost 20dB of signal for about a week.  

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

Highly likely it's because the tower is being optimized. I've noticed this has become a huge thing for Sprint.

 

It's wise they are doing this considering how much more improved the experience is with a properly tuned antenna.

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Highly likely it's because the tower is being optimized. I've noticed this has become a huge thing for Sprint.

 

It's wise they are doing this considering how much more improved the experience is with a properly tuned antenna.

 

I really wish that were true.  I've been waiting since the Clearwire purchase for a more optimized tower. And certainly since the Clearwire shut-down in November; especially with the order to change-out the hardware.

 

I assume work on a tower would need to be scheduled months in advance. Seems like there should be a list somewhere for tower upgrades but every time I've called Sprint Network Support, they don't have any info on scheduling.

 

Anyway, my absurdly large tri-band anteanna is able to talk to the tower 8 miles away so I'm more happy now than I've been in a year.  At some point they should upgrade the tower a couple miles from me, then I might start to actually see LTE-Plus speeds (Spark, Enhanced, MIMO, etc.).  My other 23dBi Band41 grid parabolic antenna still points to the local tower.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

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