Jump to content

Sprint VoLTE Discussion thread [was Sprint partners with BroadSoft for VoLTE]


Recommended Posts

I'm pretty confident at this point based on conversations with my sources that CDMA Fallback is not ever going to be ready for prime time. Sprint can really only go VoLTE when B26 is on every site nationwide and optimized for coverage.

 

Sent using Nexus 6P on Tapatalk

 

So chances are realistically that this isn't going to happen until post NGN?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

B26 actually does seem to be optimized here in NW Chicagoland. My nearest tower is a mile and a half away and I still get at least 2 bars in my house. When they first turned it on it was pretty similar to B25 penetration, so I would bounce to 3G a lot.

 

I'll drop to 3G in my basement now but it's not a huge deal since I have pretty good wifi.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

B26 appears to be optimized in SF as well. Very few sites don't have B26 (basically every B25 site does). I think we'd be able to get away with VoLTE.

 

That said, I don't see the harm in enabling it, but letting it default to off. Don't advertise the feature yet. Let users discover it and turn it on in the settings. Sprint can use the data to fill in the coverage gaps and work out the bugs before an official, advertised rollout.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If VoLTE is a need, I suggest using Hangouts for Android. I pose a guess facetime or Apple calling equivalent for iPhone. Like a few I don't make a lot of calls. Hangouts works well for my family to communicate. When we upgrade devices and the network is improved by our home it should be flawless, but it also works on my dual band router pretty slick so no worries at home.

 

On the opposite side /general consumer I see it being nice as a simple included dialer feature, and not denting a data bucket of course. If VoLTE is good make the call or fall back if needed. Same old one push; don't mess with that last part of telephony on devices. I would be disappointed of course since the network is as suggested not ready in many places. Several doods up top here have explained what would happen in call craptasticity rates. When I travel rural South Carolina, and sometimes not so, I am CDMA roaming so I know I have to keep that antenna on should I travel.

 

It is just a fact that it isn't going to be an option for a while. Barring a breakthrough in reverse enginerring that none of the many smart folks here have heard of yet. Except maybe something Arsyn can come up with in a new thread.

 

Gotta admit guy has some cool ideas. I am confident his write up will be done by tomorrow. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

B26 appears to be optimized in SF as well. Very few sites don't have B26 (basically every B25 site does). I think we'd be able to get away with VoLTE.

 

That said, I don't see the harm in enabling it, but letting it default to off. Don't advertise the feature yet. Let users discover it and turn it on in the settings. Sprint can use the data to fill in the coverage gaps and work out the bugs before an official, advertised rollout.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

That would be nice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Report it to sprint via sprint zone app

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

I have been since I got my Note 5, didn't have this luxury with my Nexus 5. :P I am reporting every place that I have shitty service and that's not many places, just two that I frequently visit. I doubt it will help though. :P 

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At least you have B26 lol they don't have B26 at all in seattle

Not haveing band 26 does Sucks. in Seattle tho Sprint has 10X10 on band 25? Have you ever connected to that? Dont know how many towers that is on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sprint deploying VoLTE = major disaster, in my eyes. I still remember vividly just how botched the wifi calling deployment for iPhone was. I think they need to hold off for yet awhile longer. And their low band LTE implementation is nothing like at&t's, so a VoLTE deployment wouldn't be nearly like theirs either. AT&T actually went around and super finely tuned it's B17 signal before deploying VoLTE and pretty much "forced" B17 to reach everywhere even with lighter tower density. I wouldn't trust a Sprint implementation to work unless they did the same thing, even in stronger areas in stronger markets.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not haveing band 26 does Sucks. in Seattle tho Sprint has 10X10 on band 25? Have you ever connected to that? Dont know how many towers that is on.

 

Yea I was the one that reported 10x10 in Seattle.  It's kind of interesting the way that band 41 LTE worked out...because of the Clearwire conversions I 99% of the time find myself on either band 41 or 3G.  Seeing B25 is extremely rare.  There are only two places I know that I can still get band 25 lol with my iPhone 6S.  I check on B25 with my old iPhone 5S though from time to time.  The big problem is that LTE normally dies when towers are at ~-92 dBM and because of the tower spacing, hilliness and the number of trees here, I find myself on 3G mostly when I'm indoors.  I cannot wait for Canada to finish rebanding because B26 here would make LTE 100% ubiquitous.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yea I was the one that reported 10x10 in Seattle.  It's kind of interesting the way that band 41 LTE worked out...because of the Clearwire conversions I 99% of the time find myself on either band 41 or 3G.  Seeing B25 is extremely rare.  There are only two places I know that I can still get band 25 lol with my iPhone 6S.  I check on B25 with my old iPhone 5S though from time to time.  The big problem is that LTE normally dies when towers are at ~-92 dBM and because of the tower spacing, hilliness and the number of trees here, I find myself on 3G mostly when I'm indoors.  I cannot wait for Canada to finish rebanding because B26 here would make LTE 100% ubiquitous.  

Weird that you barely see band 25. Where I live Minnesota we see alot of band 25 and, 41 but, barely see band 26.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sprint deploying VoLTE = major disaster, in my eyes. I still remember vividly just how botched the wifi calling deployment for iPhone was. I think they need to hold off for yet awhile longer. And their low band LTE implementation is nothing like at&t's, so a VoLTE deployment wouldn't be nearly like theirs either. AT&T actually went around and super finely tuned it's B17 signal before deploying VoLTE and pretty much "forced" B17 to reach everywhere even with lighter tower density. I wouldn't trust a Sprint implementation to work unless they did the same thing, even in stronger areas in stronger markets.

Sprint will NOT be deploying VOLTE until there is a VOLTE to CDMA fallback. What I mean is if VOLTE signal is to weak the call will drop like it can on Verzion because, it cant fall back to CDMA. Sprint wants it to fall back to CDMA when LTE signal is to weak for phone calls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sprint will NOT be deploying VOLTE until there is a VOLTE to CDMA fallback. What I mean is if VOLTE signal is to weak the call will drop like it can on Verzion because, it cant fall back to CDMA. Sprint wants it to fall back to CDMA when LTE signal is to weak for phone calls.

 

I'm pretty confident at this point based on conversations with my sources that CDMA Fallback is not ever going to be ready for prime time. Sprint can really only go VoLTE when B26 is on every site nationwide and optimized for coverage.

 

Sent using Nexus 6P on Tapatalk

 

 

This is the problem...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the voice quality on VoLTE that much better than 1x Advanced?  I think the major reason Sprint customers want VoLTE so badly is for the need for SVLTE.  I guess the second benefit is the hopes that Sprint will shut down most of its CDMA and EVDO carriers and refarm that spectrum to LTE.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the voice quality on VoLTE that much better than 1x Advanced? I think the major reason Sprint customers want VoLTE so badly is for the need for SVLTE. I guess the second benefit is the hopes that Sprint will shut down most of its CDMA and EVDO carriers and refarm that spectrum to LTE.

I don't think there's much quality difference. It rly for simultaneous data and voice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think there's much quality difference. It rly for simultaneous data and voice.

 

As much as I want simultaneous data and voice on LTE, there is no way in hell I am confident enough for Sprint to switch over to that yet.  There are way too many 3G only areas in the market which I would lose reception which is not worth it.  Sprint's network needs massive densification because its just too spotty for LTE.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sprint would likely be starting with 12.6 Kbps VoLTE like the other three so I don't know how big of a leap forward that would be on voice quality. I'm sure there would be improvement due to the higher bit rate, but I don't know if it would be a quantum leap. Sprint's in a hard position here and I don't see an easy choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the voice quality on VoLTE that much better than 1x Advanced?  I think the major reason Sprint customers want VoLTE so badly is for the need for SVLTE.  I guess the second benefit is the hopes that Sprint will shut down most of its CDMA and EVDO carriers and refarm that spectrum to LTE.

 

Let us be clear.  VoLTE is not the same thing as SVLTE -- simultaneous voice and data over different airlinks.  Those different airlinks can be, for example, W-CDMA and LTE or CDMA1X and LTE.  Few handsets -- I think none in the US -- have supported SVLTE for W-CDMA and LTE.  But many have supported SVLTE for CDMA1X and LTE.

 

AJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the voice quality on VoLTE that much better than 1x Advanced?  I think the major reason Sprint customers want VoLTE so badly is for the need for SVLTE.  I guess the second benefit is the hopes that Sprint will shut down most of its CDMA and EVDO carriers and refarm that spectrum to LTE.

If sprint did shutdown CDMA and, EVDO they would Refarm it for LTE. I dont know what the highest they could go is 20X20 NOT sure tho. I only see Sprint shutting down EVDO down the line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If sprint did shutdown CDMA and, EVDO they would Refarm it for LTE. I dont know what the highest they could go is 20X20 NOT sure tho. I only see Sprint shutting down EVDO down the line.

 

Based upon Sprint current PCS 1900 MHz spectrum holdings, the broadest band 25 carrier after CDMA2000 shutdown is apt to be 15 MHz FDD (i.e. 15 MHz x 15 MHz).  That is the largest extent of any singular PCS license.  And as a spectrum guru, I cannot think off the top of my head of any market with multiple PCS contiguous licenses that are greater than 15 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based upon Sprint current PCS 1900 MHz spectrum holdings, the broadest band 25 carrier after CDMA2000 shutdown is apt to be 15 MHz FDD (i.e. 15 MHz x 15 MHz).  That is the largest extent of any singular PCS license.  And as a spectrum guru, I cannot think off the top of my head of any market with multiple PCS contiguous licenses that are greater than 15 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

To bad their isnt any more PCS for Sprint to buy to increase to that without a CDMA shutdown.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To bad their isnt any more PCS for Sprint to buy to increase to that without a CDMA shutdown.

 

Sprint may be able to trade some holdings with another carrier, allowing 20x20 in some markets in the future.  T-Mobile has been pretty successful horse trading spectrum with AT&T and VZW to get better alignment of contiguous spectrum.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sprint may be able to trade some holdings with another carrier, allowing 20x20 in some markets in the future.  T-Mobile has been pretty successful horse trading spectrum with AT&T and VZW to get better alignment of contiguous spectrum.

 

I wonder which carriers would be interested in swapping PCS with Sprint.  I don't know what sort of offer Sprint could make to entice the carriers to entertain this time of deal.  I assume Sprint would be most interested in acquiring more PCS spectrum to form 20x20 carriers in the largest metro markets which would desperately need it.  

 

If Sprint had some AWS spectrum they could dangle that for trade but sadly they do not.  Unless another carrier is interested in some 2.5 GHz spectrum or only wants cash, I just don't see this happening.  The reason why AT&T, VZW and Tmobile are successful in making these spectrum swap deals is because they have 2 types of mid band spectrum (PCS and AWS) that they could play Tetris to form larger channels and would benefit both companies.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder which carriers would be interested in swapping PCS with Sprint. I don't know what sort of offer Sprint could make to entice the carriers to entertain this time of deal. I assume Sprint would be most interested in acquiring more PCS spectrum to form 20x20 carriers in the largest metro markets which would desperately need it.

 

If Sprint had some AWS spectrum they could dangle that for trade but sadly they do not. Unless another carrier is interested in some 2.5 GHz spectrum or only wants cash, I just don't see this happening. The reason why AT&T, VZW and Tmobile are successful in making these spectrum swap deals is because they have 2 types of mid band spectrum (PCS and AWS) that they could play Tetris to form larger channels and would benefit both companies.

Most of the time the incentive is Sprint has spectrum that also better aligns with their holdings. Most of Tmo's swaps have been no money changing hands, just a mutually beneficial realignment.

 

Sent using Nexus 6P on Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of the time the incentive is Sprint has spectrum that also better aligns with their holdings. Most of Tmo's swaps have been no money changing hands, just a mutually beneficial realignment.

 

Sent using Nexus 6P on Tapatalk

 

Ok that makes sense.  Lets hope Sprint makes it happen. I would love to see all carriers swap spectrum to make it as much efficient as possible for all parties to deploy wide channels.

 

I guess a good example would be if a Sprint market owns all of the PCS A block and if they can swap and acquire the neighboring PCS D block, Sprint could then combine the two blocks and make it a 20x20 LTE carrier.  And that would also go for blocks B and E OR blocks F and C.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok that makes sense. Lets hope Sprint makes it happen. I would love to see all carriers swap spectrum to make it as much efficient as possible for all parties to deploy wide channels.

 

I guess a good example would be if a Sprint market owns all of the PCS A block and if they can swap and acquire the neighboring PCS D block, Sprint could then combine the two blocks and make it a 20x20 LTE carrier. And that was also go with blocks B and E OR blocks F and C.

I definitely want to see carriers swap spectrum for the most unified, efficient use they can get out of it nationwide, and streamlining it much more so there isn't such discrepancies between markets.

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

    • Was able to install the March 1 Android security patch. Seems slightly more accurate with 5g ca band id, but can not swear by it. Updated google play system update through the software information screen to March 1. *#73# still works. Froze updates waiting on SCP update beta to fix n41 showing as n38.
    • Just installed it. Thanks for the info.  71 mb mar 1st date.
    • There's a permit for a new 47 story building at 205 Montague St in Downtown Brooklyn. The problem is that  T-Mobile eNB 48352 is on the building next door and this new building will block two out of 3 sectors of the site. For reference, the new building will be roughly as tall as 16 Court St which is right across the street. This site is the primary site covering Cadman Plaza so I wonder what the plan is. Will they just try to change sector placement, move to a different building, or will this just speed up the conversion of the Sprint site at 25 Monroe Place?
    • At least not recently.  I think I might have seen this a year ago.  Not Sure.
    • Did they previously hop between n38 and n41 in prior version of SCP, or have you always seen n41 displayed properly?
  • Recently Browsing

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