Network Vision/LTE - Philadelphia Metro Market (including Lehigh Valley/Reading)

[mrknowitall526]

I'm pretty sure I just got off an HD voice phone call - never heard a call that clear!  Both of us have HTC EVO LTE's.  In New Tripoli (Lehigh County)

[bjorn60]

Had all kinds of trouble today in south Philly. Had great 4G outside citizens bank park but could not use 4G for data inside the park, even though I had good LTE and 3G was working.

 

 

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[S4GRU]

I was impressed with Band 25 LTE in Philly Center City and around the Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market. Worked great even indoors. It beat my VZW and AT&T LTE most of the time.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[mrknowitall526]

Can't wait for that to make its way to the rest of the Lehigh Valley!

 

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[bjorn60]

I was impressed with Band 25 LTE in Philly Center City and around the Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market. Worked great even indoors. It beat my VZW and AT&T LTE most of the time.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Can I ask what brought you to our fine city?

 

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[Vince]

Can I ask what brought you to our fine city?

 

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Robert was tired of AT&T in his home town, and wanted to see the NV progress across the nation, so he embarked upon a little journey. It went something like this:

 

[S4GRU]

Can I ask what brought you to our fine city?

 

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A work conference.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[shannonbrian]

Did u get sprint spark

[vitodonuts]

The service in the Philadelphia, king of prussia norristown are has been awful lately especially 3g what gives....i cant switch off 3g most times and 3g hardly works

[rcro]

I gave tmobile breathing down my neck for our business account. Told them I'd take a look and they're giving us a note 3 and iPhone 5 to demo. Will see how they compare. $300 less per month. First two months free. All new devices free. Buyback of sprint devices, but I'll see if I can get more selling them if it happens.

 

Have had more complaining about Sprint's network from our other reps as of late.

 

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Edited May 17, 2014 by rcro

[BlueAngel]

The service in the Philadelphia, king of prussia norristown are has been awful lately especially 3g what gives....i cant switch off 3g most times and 3g hardly works

I was at the mall the other day and thought the service was great, LTE pretty much everywhere.

[Phillycat]

Sitting downstairs in my brick house I'm getting LTE. Signal check pro says I'm on band 26. Whoo hoo!

[rcro]

 

Here's some amazing speeds from my bedroom today (in Bryn Mawr) . Sadly, they were with a Tmo Note 2. When I took out my S4 on Sprint it got worse:

 

Then I took out my S4 Mini, sadly still sitting on a dismal 4.2.2, and had a little redemption thanks to spark.

This is day 1 of carrying my S4 and the demo Note 2. The Mini was bought strictly as a workout and media device, and unfortunately stinks at that because it doesn't have 4.3 and can't connect to BT LE devices yet. I imagine they're jumping to Kitkat, but there isn't an eta. Think US Minis are the only ones not on 4.3.

 

Will be interesting to see how this shakes out. I guess I'll carry the Mini too and see how it compares. I'm more concerned with signal than speed though.

 

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[nexgencpu]

Here's some amazing speeds from my bedroom today (in Bryn Mawr) . Sadly, they were with a Tmo Note 2. When I took out my S4 on Sprint it got worse:

 

 

Then I took out my S4 Mini, sadly still sitting on a dismal 4.2.2, and had a little redemption thanks to spark.

 

This is day 1 of carrying my S4 and the demo Note 2. The Mini was bought strictly as a workout and media device, and unfortunately stinks at that because it doesn't have 4.3 and can't connect to BT LE devices yet. I imagine they're jumping to Kitkat, but there isn't an eta. Think US Minis are the only ones not on 4.3.

 

Will be interesting to see how this shakes out. I guess I'll carry the Mini too and see how it compares. I'm more concerned with signal than speed though.

 

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This looks like B25..does not look like B41, check engineering screen to verify the band your on..

[rcro]

This looks like B25..does not look like B41, check engineering screen to verify the band your on..

Yes, 25. Not like I can choose, correct?

 

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[rcro]

Yes, 25. Not like I can choose, correct?

 

The Mini w/spark and the S4 are both listed on band 25 when I'm in *#0011#.

 

Would it be normal for both phones to be on the same band and have one be about 1/3 slower? Or is the mini using more than one band and just showing being on 25. And is the point moot because you can't pick and choose?

 

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[mrknowitall526]

Someone needs to light a fire under Penn Tele Data and Verizon to get fiber to sites in the Lehigh Valley! This is getting ridiculous.

 

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[burnout8488]

Someone needs to light a fire under Penn Tele Data and Verizon to get fiber to sites in the Lehigh Valley! This is getting ridiculous.

 

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I really expected LV to be totally done by now. I don't even think HD voice is working in Bethlehem when I'm there. 

[mrknowitall526]

I really expected LV to be totally done by now. I don't even think HD voice is working in Bethlehem when I'm there.

I've experienced HD voice most places I go now, it's actually pretty amazing. But the lack of LTE the entire width of the Valley south Blue Mountain and north of Route 22, aside from a few select places in Whitehall and Northampton is really disheartening.

 

I have no cable or DSL at my voice so we use a Sprint hotspot and really could use LTE. However, I know there's a fiber line that runs past my home tower underground along 309 in New Tripoli. Don't know what the hold up with it is!

 

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[chamb]

 

I have no cable or DSL at my voice so we use a Sprint hotspot and really could use LTE. However, I know there's a fiber line that runs past my home tower underground along 309 in New Tripoli. Don't know what the hold up with it is!

 

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The fiber running by your local tower may not be owned by the right company.  It also may be a long haul fiber designed to carry traffic for many many miles between major POPS.  That type of fiber is not normally dug up and cut into for one single cell phone site. In many cases, the fiber used for a cell site is local type fiber and really does not go very many miles until it gets to some type of multiplexer and is combined with other cell sites for eventual transport to Sprint.

[mrknowitall526]

The fiber running by your local tower may not be owned by the right company. It also may be a long haul fiber designed to carry traffic for many many miles between major POPS. That type of fiber is not normally dug up and cut into for one single cell phone site. In many cases, the fiber used for a cell site is local type fiber and really does not go very many miles until it gets to some type of multiplexer and is combined with other cell sites for eventual transport to Sprint.

Ah, that makes sense. This is a long one, and yes, it is for something special like that.

 

So, what you're saying is I should look for a separate line being run. I do know that Verizon copper runs to there, and Blue Ridge Cable passes by there also. If it was coming from a Telco, would it run to the CO? Where would it run to if from a cable company?

 

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[chamb]

Ah, that makes sense. This is a long one, and yes, it is for something special like that.

 

So, what you're saying is I should look for a separate line being run. I do know that Verizon copper runs to there, and Blue Ridge Cable passes by there also. If it was coming from a Telco, would it run to the CO? Where would it run to if from a cable company?

 

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     Very unlikely that they will use copper from Verizon.  But any fiber would normally go back to some building or shack owned by Verizon, a cable company, or some other similar alternate provider.   You might see fiber get installed to a nearby site and then see a microwave hop be installed to get backhaul to this site. 

      If the fiber you do already have is  a local one used for some local purpose, then you may see it get used.   A SMART carrier will always install a fiber cable with extra fibers for later use.

     Running a high capacity fiber data connection to a central cell site and then using microwave to push some of that bandwidth to adjacent sites can be cost effective in rural areas or even high density areas.   My own local cell site is fed by a microwave system in another state.  It works fine.  A brand new digital microwave system was installed to handle the backhaul.  They were able to get a high speed fiber connection from the cable company in a neighboring state at a cell site close to the state border.  They microwaved some of that capacity across state lines to at least 3 cell sites in my local area.

[mrknowitall526]

Very unlikely that they will use copper from Verizon. But any fiber would normally go back to some building or shack owned by Verizon, a cable company, or some other similar alternate provider. You might see fiber get installed to a nearby site and then see a microwave hop be installed to get backhaul to this site.

If the fiber you do already have is a local one used for some local purpose, then you may see it get used. A SMART carrier will always install a fiber cable with extra fibers for later use.

Running a high capacity fiber data connection to a central cell site and then using microwave to push some of that bandwidth to adjacent sites can be cost effective in rural areas or even high density areas. My own local cell site is fed by a microwave system in another state. It works fine. A brand new digital microwave system was installed to handle the backhaul. They were able to get a high speed fiber connection from the cable company in a neighboring state at a cell site close to the state border. They microwaved some of that capacity across state lines to at least 3 cell sites in my local area.

Well, I can see the tower from my house and don't see any microwave stuff on it yet. This is getting so tiring! And yes, I know they won't use copper. Just meant that the Telco is Verizon.

 

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[rcro]

I was at the mall the other day and thought the service was great, LTE pretty much everywhere.

3. 13 down 1. 21 up at Costco just now. Tmob: 20.09 down 10.43 up on LTE, 5.22/2.12 on HSPA.

 

Are Spark phones the only ones that come close to getting consistent double digit speeds?

 

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[mrknowitall526]

Once again very minimal work in the Lehigh Valley. Come on already!!!

 

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