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Network Vision/LTE - Dakotas Market (including Fargo, Grand Forks, Alexandria MN)


mozamcrew

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Has anyone noticed with Signal Check that the towers are back on EVDO (Rev 0 in my case) as compared to eHRPD? I've checked at both home and work (two separate towers) even after power cycling and toggling airplane mode but I still connect to EVDO. Still broadcasting voice on 800 MHz though...

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Has anyone noticed with Signal Check that the towers are back on EVDO (Rev 0 in my case) as compared to eHRPD? I've checked at both home and work (two separate towers) even after power cycling and toggling airplane mode but I still connect to EVDO. Still broadcasting voice on 800 MHz though...

no

 

Evo LTE

 

 

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Has anyone noticed with Signal Check that the towers are back on EVDO (Rev 0 in my case) as compared to eHRPD? I've checked at both home and work (two separate towers) even after power cycling and toggling airplane mode but I still connect to EVDO. Still broadcasting voice on 800 MHz though...

Occasionally, depending on location...on eHRPD right now in West Fargo.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

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Yeah I am now on eHRPD at home now... but at work its been fairly consistent EVDO whereas I was getting eHRPD. I wonder why the towers are bouncing back and forth; 800 and 1x, EVDO and EHRPD.

 

I hope it means something good is happening soon but I am definitely not holding my breath.

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Not to excite anyone, as it could be pure coincidence...

But on my way to work checking the towers, I saw a road crew putting up orange barrels and "Road Work Ahead" signage near the 38th St SW/40th Ave S intersection (across the street from the tower). I am fairly confident the sign on the truck said "Excavating Inc" which is a company out of Fargo here. Not totally 100% sure since I was on the motorcycle so I had to keep an eye on the other cars nearby.

 

Maybe they are getting ready to start digging/ditch-witching to put in the new fiber optic backhaul? I'll check again tomorrow and report what I see.

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Last night I asked about LTE in Fargo to @sprintcare via twitter. Today I was asked to provide my zip and cross streets...then was given this nugget:

 

@N8Tab Thanks for the info. The tower is currently being upgraded, pls bear with us; Techs are working as fast as quality allows. -JMC

 

I'm hoping that is true and isn't just a scripted answer, but it seems like a familiar response.

 

*Fingers crossed*

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

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Last night I asked about LTE in Fargo to @sprintcare via twitter. Today I was asked to provide my zip and cross streets...then was given this nugget:

 

@N8Tab Thanks for the info. The tower is currently being upgraded, pls bear with us; Techs are working as fast as quality allows. -JMC

 

I'm hoping that is true and isn't just a scripted answer, but it seems like a familiar response.

 

*Fingers crossed*

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 

 

In Fargo I think all the NV equipment has been installed as pretty much everything there is 3G complete.  I think the holdup on LTE is they are still waiting for the backhaul to be installed. I've noticed some weirdness with texts and data though. They may have some tweaking to do before everything settles back to normal.

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Yeah I don't trust a damn thing @sprintcare says. I've posted up my rant and tweets with them a few pages back. And Moza is right. Everything is installed in the area. We're just waiting on the backhaul to be put in and then the integration team come and take care of the rest. It'd be interesting to see if the building permits have even been applied for yet for the digging work that will be needed.

 

Anyways double checked the area I saw yesterdayand yeah it was excavation and yeah they were digging...

 

... but not for fiber optics. They were getting at some city sewer lines. :(

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I just got a text from Sprint saying that work in the Alexandria area is happening :D that would explain my terrible service the last week and a half.

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

Edited by frecklenutz
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I just got a text from Sprint saying that work in the Alexandria area is happening :D that would explain my terrible service the last week and a half. Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

That makes sense since it looks like they started out by Jamestown in the Dakota's market and have been working their way west. They just finished Fergus Falls last week and a bunch of areas to our NE (Perham, Pelican Rapids, Park Rapids Wadena, etc). Looks like it's just you guys and Grand Forks left mostly. (No one in this market has LTE though. I think they are all waiting on backhaul)

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In Fargo I think all the NV equipment has been installed as pretty much everything there is 3G complete.  I think the holdup on LTE is they are still waiting for the backhaul to be installed. I've noticed some weirdness with texts and data though. They may have some tweaking to do before everything settles back to normal.

 

 

Yeah I don't trust a damn thing @sprintcare says. I've posted up my rant and tweets with them a few pages back. And Moza is right. Everything is installed in the area. We're just waiting on the backhaul to be put in and then the integration team come and take care of the rest. It'd be interesting to see if the building permits have even been applied for yet for the digging work that will be needed.

 

Anyways double checked the area I saw yesterdayand yeah it was excavation and yeah they were digging...

 

... but not for fiber optics. They were getting at some city sewer lines. :(

 

I don't think they ever finished NV on the tower  on 43rd Ave & S Univ Dr, which is the tower closest to my house.  I haven't seen any action on it at all over the past few months.  My phone still locks onto the 1x800 signal coming from further away  on 32nd Ave unless I change my PRL to one without 800 SMR enabled.  

 

I know I sound like a broken record, but they need to upgrade that darn tower for all of us in that area...guess I'm hoping someone, who is in the know, will see this and put my mind at ease. I'd like to have more than  1-2 bars in my house some day.  :(

Edited by lilotimz
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I don't think they ever finished NV on the tower  on 43rd Ave & S Univ Dr, which is the tower closest to my house.  I haven't seen any action on it at all over the past few months.  My phone still locks onto the 1x800 signal coming from further away  on 32nd Ave unless I change my PRL to one without 800 SMR enabled.  

 

I know I sound like a broken record, but they need to upgrade that darn tower for all of us in that area...guess I'm hoping someone, who is in the know, will see this and put my mind at ease. I'd like to have more than  1-2 bars in my house some day.  :(

 

I think all the NV gear is installed, but I don't think all the performance tuning is done, and I don't think all the towers are broadcasting 1x800. For example, I'm getting 1x800 signals from the tower to the east of me in Underwood MN and from the tower south of Fergus Falls (in fact my 1x signal is parked on there currently). I'm not getting 1x800 from the site in the middle of town, or the one north of town that seems to be the source of my current 3G signal. Maybe the one in the middle of town won't get 1x800 due to coverage overlap, but I can't imagine that the north tower won't get it eventually given the large area it covers. So I presume that though these are all 3G accepted, I'd wager that some of them will be getting 1x800 in the future that don't have it already.

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That makes sense since it looks like they started out by Jamestown in the Dakota's market and have been working their way west. They just finished Fergus Falls last week and a bunch of areas to our NE (Perham, Pelican Rapids, Park Rapids Wadena, etc). Looks like it's just you guys and Grand Forks left mostly. (No one in this market has LTE though. I think they are all waiting on backhaul)

I got the text from Sprint yesterday that work was to begin in Grand Forks, and believe it or not, on my way home from work I saw a crew setting equipment up at the tower on Demers Avenue. I thought I was imagining it, but it was real.

I guess they do know where Grand Forks is afterall!

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I got the text from Sprint yesterday that work was to begin in Grand Forks, and believe it or not, on my way home from work I saw a crew setting equipment up at the tower on Demers Avenue. I thought I was imagining it, but it was real.

I guess they do know where Grand Forks is afterall!

Looking at network.sprint.com it's showing they upgraded two towers in the Grand Forks area. One by Demers Ave and University Park and another by I29 and S 42nd Street.

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Yeah, network. Sprint has said that for awhile, but these guys just showed up yesterday and have started working on the Demers one. So, not sure if this is something new, or network. Sprint is showing upgrades before they are started.

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I saw today at the tower on 24th Ave S, the gate was open and a truck inside. So the work on the towers would explain some of the wonky things going on with my phone. No data at times, a couple dropped calls, voice mails showing up with no sign of a missed call. I haven't seen any 800 Mhz voice or anything yet. Probably a little soon for that. I am new to this and not sure what all to look for.

 

If any of you can tell me what I should be looking for that would be great. I have signal check installed. Thanks

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If any of you can tell me what I should be looking for that would be great. I have signal check installed. Thanks

This is what you should be looking for hardware wise:

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4344-how-to-spot-sprint-td-lte-antennas-rrus-samsung/

 

Through signal check, you just want to keep an eye out that you're connected to 1x800 MHz (voice) and eHRPD (switch off between LTE/3G) for data. If you see good signals there and are connected to them pretty currently, it's a good assumption the work is done there. You also may need to load/change/update your PRL for one that supports 800 MHz.

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A few guys from CenturyLink were marking lines and measuring things behind the Essentia Health on University and 17th Ave S in Fargo, so the backhaul for that site should be inplace before the ground freezes...Hopefully.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I saw those crews working at every tower in Grand Forks over the last couple weeks. Not sure what they were doing, but I have yet to see anything that has changed. I was hoping to see some of that 1x800 that some of you have seen, that would at least have given me some hope that progress was being made in GF. But nothing yet.

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Any news on backhaul for any where in the Dakotas market? Nv sites are awesome when your in areas of low congestion, but busy towers during network peaks and suddenly dropped calls and data speeds rock bottom. I'm sure this is due to how the NV towers share the original backhaul of multiple t-1s between voice and data(priority on voice). I mean I am thoroughly pleased where I live, I pull 2.20mbs+ and good low ping. But some areas around town including where I work are just unbearable during the day. I'd care less if we get LTE in 2014, just want new backhaul. Where's the fiber

Edited by ZDuncanZ
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No news. I check the tower closest to me on my way to work each day and no crews have been out digging for the new backhaul. If you read above, it sounds like they may have been at the Sanford site on S. University, but I haven't seen/heard anything other than whats in this thread.

I too can get 2.20+ consistently at night after coming home from work/gym at 2AM haha. It's nice because Google Music is actually usable at that time :)

I know there is cable work going on around town and in my neck of the woods (S. Fargo/Osgood) especially near S 45th and 32nd Ave. I don't know if they are putting down new lays to act as patches between currently existing drops to help integrate the new lines they will be digging to the tower. I have yet to see any telco trucks at these sites as it's just been contractors digging and such. I really wish they would hurry up though. I was seeing snowflakes and the pond in our back yard is starting to ice over at night so that means the ground is freezing and construction work will be coming to a halt pretty soon once the white stuff starts flying. 

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