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

[mrknowitall526]

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

 

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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.

[shamrock 505]

Thanks for the info Robert-hopefully the remaining 60% doesn't take too long

 

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[shamrock 505]

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

 

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[ConchadeBBAA]

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.

[shamrock 505]

The tower on Lackawanna overrides the one on Wyoming-that's why it's spotty-hopefully soon-thanks for the reply

 

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[RedArmyNews]

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?

[124chase]

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.

[stinkntoad1922]

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.

[S4GRU]

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

 

[RedArmyNews]

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?  

[ufergus]

I thought GMO sites could broadcast LTE, no?

 

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[S4GRU]

I thought GMO sites could broadcast LTE, no?

 

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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

 

 

[burnout8488]

I think I just saw a tech hooking up an 8T8R antenna on a tower at the beginning of the PA turnpike in Scranton.

[JDD]

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.

[burnout8488]

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. 

[shilton363]

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?

[cdk]

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...

[S4GRU]

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

[shilton363]

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. 

[chamb]

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.

[S4GRU]

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

[124chase]

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

Edited July 15, 2014 by 124chase

[S4GRU]

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

[jeremyandrew]

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.

[RedArmyNews]

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.