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Official Magic Box discussion thread


lilotimz

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Rural and cell edge users here with newer home, can confirm all of the Mods advice from one year of intense signal hunting in the new compound.  

A shelf on a wall can be amazing versus next to a window in a newer home. I have been all over our home looking for the best signal for our use; we used a Nexus 5 with cheater radio, Netgear Fuse & 6100d, none of these devices could get a fair signal directly near a window, and all are good performers or had externals. I would carefully put the N5 on the lightswitch in the spare room, got 8mb p/s down once! The Fuse on the cupboard scored 3-5, and the 6100d in the garage got about 4-5 tops after many hours of tuning. 

Gave up on all of that when I realized we could utilize the attic. Now, we ended up running a ton of antennas to get better signal,(blah blah this will stay on topic) we found that area was best for our home, while not having to go outdoors and build a pole and deal with what the neighbors would think of that. A small table or shelf could be set up in an attic, garage, maybe an ancillary or non living area that may be overlooked. I ran an outlet I turn off with the attic light switch and all of my gear is out of the way of the HVAC. My Nexus 6p gets searching in the house, but it gets great WiFi from one LTE radio>modem in the attic or from the other one feeding ethernet to the 6100d in the office. 10 feet higher, quality signal, I don't even have to look at it(though I like to) and it turns off when I leave.

Who knows what that could do for a magic box? I hope to find out soon.

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Something is still amiss with my Magic Box.  When I woke up this morning, my phone was connected to it.  I power cycled my phone and now it will not connect to the magic box.  Wife's phone has not ever connected to it.  

 

I got an email last night from Sprint asking if I could verify that it is working correctly, and I replied saying that something was still amiss.  I spent probably over 3 hours trying to troubleshoot this thing with the guy I was working with and it still isnt working correctly, so I rather bluntly just asked if it makes sense at this point to try replacing the unit.  I can not imagine that Sprint's intention was to have these things sporadically working.  

 

Just frustrating. :-/  I've seen it work long enough on my phone that I REALLY want it to work all the time now.

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Something is still amiss with my Magic Box.  When I woke up this morning, my phone was connected to it.  I power cycled my phone and now it will not connect to the magic box.  Wife's phone has not ever connected to it. 

What is the relay signal strength and band coming into the box?

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Highest I got was 20. I'm thinking of sending it back and get the Airave 3 instead since it's so big for my house for a window.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

You are aware of the technical differences between the two devices??

 

I have the airave, but when I walk out of my house, it pretty much loses it's ability to provide a reliable calling signal ...

And 3G is all you're gonna get...

 

The magic box is LTE... which means data only.

You're not gonna improve you're calling by getting a magic box.

You're not gonna get better data speeds by getting a Airave.

 

Now, the upside to the MB, when sprint goes to VO-LTE, then you'll see the MB helping with calls.

Until that point, you're gonna see calls on CDMA, and data on LTE.

 

The airave is eventually going to become outdated...as the CDMA network begins to be shut-down...

i'd say within 8-10 years is what is estimated for CDMA.

 

Likely, if a merger of some kind occurs between Sprint + Tmo..it could happen sooner..

 

I really don't pay much attention to my Airave anymore.

Sometimes I run it for a couple weeks, sometimes i unplug it and let it sit..

 

I try to leave it unplugged for a few days (so I will know when there is work in the area that could improve my reception)...

 

I hope to see B26 soon in my area...or a 2nd B25 carrier...but with the airave, it's not going to be obvious to me at my house.

 

(I will say this, the MB reaches a LOT farther than the airave. I get nearly 1/2 a mile of LTE around my house...which is really surprising for such a small device)

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What is the relay signal strength and band coming into the box?

 

In its current location:

 

RSRP:       -108 dBm

CINR:          15.7 dB

Frequency:  2648000

Band:           41 High

Status:         Connected

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In its current location:

 

RSRP:       -108 dBm

CINR:          15.7 dB

Frequency:  2648000

Band:           41 High

Status:         Connected

Ok it isn't that then. In weak signal areas the unit is prone to drop the relay and even when it comes back up devices may not connect to it initially. On mine, the first time I left the house it took my phone hours to connect to it when I got back.

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Ok it isn't that then. In weak signal areas the unit is prone to drop the relay and even when it comes back up devices may not connect to it initially. On mine, the first time I left the house it took my phone hours to connect to it when I got back.

 

Yeah - that is what is so frustrating.  Signal levels are all solid.  :(

 

Guess time will tell what they want to do.  We are leaving home later today to take a long camping trip - a trip in which I intend to take the Magic Box along because it is also in a fringe B25 area on our phones.  Guess this is a good way to test to see if this is somehow caused by the macro donor site.  MB always seems to connect to GPS and Relay super quick, but seems to take a while for 'LTE' to connect on it.  The support dude didn't act like that was out of the ordinary, but I would honestly think that both the GPS and Relay signals would take the longest. :shrug:

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Yeah - that is what is so frustrating. Signal levels are all solid. :(

 

Guess time will tell what they want to do. We are leaving home later today to take a long camping trip - a trip in which I intend to take the Magic Box along because it is also in a fringe B25 area on our phones. Guess this is a good way to test to see if this is somehow caused by the macro donor site. MB always seems to connect to GPS and Relay super quick, but seems to take a while for 'LTE' to connect on it. The support dude didn't act like that was out of the ordinary, but I would honestly think that both the GPS and Relay signals would take the longest. :shrug:

The LTE connected portion is indeed the longest. It's been the case since the original model. Perfectly normal.

 

I suspect, as someone else mentioned, that your phone isn't really scanning for neighbors on its own (depends on make and model likely). It's using the LTE neighbors list being pushed by the macros, which currently don't show your MB. After a few days these will auto update to tell devices to also look for your MB, once the MB is fully integrated into the network.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

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You are aware of the technical differences between the two devices??

 

I have the airave, but when I walk out of my house, it pretty much loses it's ability to provide a reliable calling signal ...

And 3G is all you're gonna get...

 

The magic box is LTE... which means data only.

You're not gonna improve you're calling by getting a magic box.

You're not gonna get better data speeds by getting a Airave.

 

Now, the upside to the MB, when sprint goes to VO-LTE, then you'll see the MB helping with calls.

Until that point, you're gonna see calls on CDMA, and data on LTE.

 

The airave is eventually going to become outdated...as the CDMA network begins to be shut-down...

i'd say within 8-10 years is what is estimated for CDMA.

 

Likely, if a merger of some kind occurs between Sprint + Tmo..it could happen sooner..

 

I really don't pay much attention to my Airave anymore.

Sometimes I run it for a couple weeks, sometimes i unplug it and let it sit..

 

I try to leave it unplugged for a few days (so I will know when there is work in the area that could improve my reception)...

 

I hope to see B26 soon in my area...or a 2nd B25 carrier...but with the airave, it's not going to be obvious to me at my house.

 

(I will say this, the MB reaches a LOT farther than the airave. I get nearly 1/2 a mile of LTE around my house...which is really surprising for such a small device)

I think he is referring to the Airave 3 coming out soon which includes LTE.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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The LTE connected portion is indeed the longest. It's been the case since the original model. Perfectly normal.

 

I suspect, as someone else mentioned, that your phone isn't really scanning for neighbors on its own (depends on make and model likely). It's using the LTE neighbors list being pushed by the macros, which currently don't show your MB. After a few days these will auto update to tell devices to also look for your MB, once the MB is fully integrated into the network.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Thanks for the added color.  I can at least chew on that as a possible issue.

 

My phone did connect to the MB at some point this morning.  Was out working on our camper and noticed on my phone that I had 5 'bars' (-82 B41) signal out in my yard.  I placed a quick phone call, then hung up.  My phone is now latched back onto the macro tower and not my MB.

 

Really really confused as to how this thing/network/phone is programmed.  I assumed that if I was connected to the magic box, then place a phone call/reboot/cycle airplane mode, the phone would first scan for the last connected system (in this case, the magic box.)  That is apparently wrong.  In this case, for whatever reason, the phone connects to LTE from the macro tower.  I still do not understand at what point my phone decided to switch over to the magic box.  I had already tried a phone reboot as well as cycling airplane mode which I thought would force it to 're-scan' and then grab the Magic Box, but it never grabbed onto it, and still hasn't 30 minutes later.  Makes zero sense to me.  

 

Is anyone with a fully functional magic box able to test the above instance and see what happens?  Ensure you are connected to the Magic Box, then place a phone call, then after the phone call, see how long your phone takes to reconnect to the magic box.  Just wondering if this is common.  :(

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Thanks for the added color.  I can at least chew on that as a possible issue.

 

My phone did connect to the MB at some point this morning.  Was out working on our camper and noticed on my phone that I had 5 'bars' (-82 B41) signal out in my yard.  I placed a quick phone call, then hung up.  My phone is now latched back onto the macro tower and not my MB.

 

Really really confused as to how this thing/network/phone is programmed.  I assumed that if I was connected to the magic box, then place a phone call/reboot/cycle airplane mode, the phone would first scan for the last connected system (in this case, the magic box.)  That is apparently wrong.  In this case, for whatever reason, the phone connects to LTE from the macro tower.  I still do not understand at what point my phone decided to switch over to the magic box.  I had already tried a phone reboot as well as cycling airplane mode which I thought would force it to 're-scan' and then grab the Magic Box, but it never grabbed onto it, and still hasn't 30 minutes later.  Makes zero sense to me.  

 

Is anyone with a fully functional magic box able to test the above instance and see what happens?  Ensure you are connected to the Magic Box, then place a phone call, then after the phone call, see how long your phone takes to reconnect to the magic box.  Just wondering if this is common.   :(

 

It's common with all small cells. These units are self optimizing and self configuring just like the bigger and more powerful brethren on light poles or wooden poles. I like to joke around that they take time to "grow" after install because that's how these things work generally. 

 

Once installed in an area, they will slowly learn their RF environment and neighboring sites and handoffs become smoother and quicker. Sometimes it still bugs out and won't reconnect manually with airplane modes or reboots but they always eventually  find their way back to it after a few hours of leaving it alone. Basically it just needs time. 

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Thanks lilotimz.

 

Just had another call with the support folks, and their indication was that the phone should grab back onto the MB pretty quickly.  He did notice that on my phone line, wifi-calling was still turned on (even though its off on my phone,) so he turned it off on their end as well to see if that made a difference.  Has now been 20 minutes since I got off the phone with him and I am still not connected to the MB.  The MB tech's are supposed to call me back now within 24 hours. :shrug: The support guys I have spoken with so far all seem to think that there may still be something wrong, but they just aren't seeing any errors indicating anything is wrong.  Maybe there isn't actually anything 'wrong' with my unit, but they all still seem to think that my phone should grab onto the thing nearly immediately.

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It's common with all small cells. These units are self optimizing and self configuring just like the bigger and more powerful brethren on light poles or wooden poles. I like to joke around that they take time to "grow" after install because that's how these things work generally. 

 

Once installed in an area, they will slowly learn their RF environment and neighboring sites and handoffs become smoother and quicker. Sometimes it still bugs out and won't reconnect manually with airplane modes or reboots but they always eventually  find their way back to it after a few hours of leaving it alone. Basically it just needs time. 

 

I had given up on the day that I was installing the MB...I actually had sat in in the spot it currently resides as a last-ditch effort...

Then I just left it, came inside and started playing my Ps4...

I happened to grab my note5 and noticed it said B41 MB on SCP...and I was like "hey, it worked!!"

 

It had sat for probably 2 hours...just searching. It seemed to fix itself from the 20% issue.

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Thanks lilotimz.

 

Just had another call with the support folks, and their indication was that the phone should grab back onto the MB pretty quickly.  He did notice that on my phone line, wifi-calling was still turned on (even though its off on my phone,) so he turned it off on their end as well to see if that made a difference.  Has now been 20 minutes since I got off the phone with him and I am still not connected to the MB.  The MB tech's are supposed to call me back now within 24 hours. :shrug: The support guys I have spoken with so far all seem to think that there may still be something wrong, but they just aren't seeing any errors indicating anything is wrong.  Maybe there isn't actually anything 'wrong' with my unit, but they all still seem to think that my phone should grab onto the thing nearly immediately.

 

i wonder if updating the PRL on your iPhone would help? 

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i wonder if updating the PRL on your iPhone would help? 

 

Per this site, the 'PRL' should have nothing to do with LTE.

 

But to be safe, I have done a total of about 15 ##UPDATE# 's over the past 3 days.

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Is anyone with a fully functional magic box able to test the above instance and see what happens? Ensure you are connected to the Magic Box, then place a phone call, then after the phone call, see how long your phone takes to reconnect to the magic box. Just wondering if this is common. :(

When I first got my MB it would switch to B26 after a phone call from the macro and then eventually go back to the MB. Now it's instantly back on the MB. You just need to wait for it to finish optimizing and integrating. It could take a few days.

 

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

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Shaferz have you tried going to a 3g only place in/near your home?

 

To connect for the first couple times you may need to teach the network there is a MB nearby.

 

Yes - I did that based off of a post I saw on reddit (i think?)  It didn't make any difference.

 

And now an hour and 30 minutes after I hung up with the support guy, my phone is now connected to the MB again.  :lol::blink: 

I have noticed, however, that the field test screen on my iphone (which is know is poor) seems to indicate that when I am connected to the MB, under Neighbor Measurements > Neighbor Cells List > 0 > there is nothing that populates there.  However, when I am connected to the macro, values populate.  Will be interesting to see if they populate over the next few days.  Ah well. I must be patient.  :)

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I should know the answer to this...but in the magic box "relay" status -- are we looking for a higher "CINR" or a lower "CINR"??

 

I'm getting a -121 with -2.1 CINR..

 

What is ideal...lower than that or higher than that?

 

*btw* this is on b25..if that matters.

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I should know the answer to this...but in the magic box "relay" status -- are we looking for a higher "CINR" or a lower "CINR"??

 

I'm getting a -121 with -2.1 CINR..

 

What is ideal...lower than that or higher than that?

 

*btw* this is on b25..if that matters.

Carrier to interference noise ratio.

 

In the most basic terms it's a description of the quality of a received LTE signal is. Similar to SINR. The closer to 0 cinr is, the worst the signal quality be.

 

ie a CINR of 15 is far superior to a CINR of 2.

 

Edit: rf is black magix

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Carrier to interference noise ratio.

 

In the most basic terms it's a description of the quality of a received LTE signal is. Similar to SINR. The closer to 0 cinr is, the worst the signal quality be. 

 

ie a CINR of -15 is far superior to a CINR of -2.  

 

No, Tim, just the opposite.  Both are negative CINR:  interference + noise exceeds carrier.  For many airlinks, including LTE, that is poor to unusable.  A 15 dB CINR, on the other hand, would be superior to a 2 dB CINR.

 

AJ

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Folks, if you are getting a negative CINR with the Magic Box, it is not going to work well, if at all.  The Magic Box is not the right solution for your situation.

 

AJ

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Folks, if you are getting a negative CINR with the Magic Box, it is not going to work well, if at all.  The Magic Box is not the right solution for your situation.

 

AJ

 

Mine has been working fine for a week now, with a -3.5 or so CINR and -120db on band 25..

Not to say it will be great forever, but it's doing it for now.

 

~5mbps down, 1.8mbps up

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