Official Magic Box discussion thread

[chamb]

No, exactly what Anthony said above is what happens to mine.  I'm letting the battery drain completely on mine just to see if that makes any difference.

Did you look at your account on Sprint.com to see if the MB is there. It will also have a phone number assigned probably only used for tracking.

[jonathanm1978]

this photo is under ideal conditions, I assume. Where I am, I took the magic box to a true fringe area where band 26 is decent and 25 comes and goes.

This tells me that above zero in the CINR is best, and the further negative and away from zero is worst.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[ingenium]

CINR below 0 is effectively below the noise floor. This means the noise is greater than the actual signal. The only thing I'm aware of that functions below the noise floor is GPS (by design). LTE will not be very good with a negative CINR, and in fact I'm surprised it works at all.

 

It's akin to trying to understand someone speaking in a crowded bar, when the noise from everyone else is louder than the person you're trying to hear.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[SeanK_]

This box is pretty decent now that I can get workable LTE. I am glad I'm able to turn the Airave off.

[shaferz]

For anyone following my story...

 

I pulled our camper to the campground today and brought the magic box along.  As soon as I got camp set up, I plugged the MB in next to a wall that is east facing since that is the closest macro.  Went back outside to finish setting all of our stuff up and about 20 minutes later, checked the MB.  It was connected to the macro with B25 as the relay (where our phones always bounced between 3G and B26!) - at this point, my phone was still not connected to the MB.

 

Left the campsite for about 2 hours to go home and get my family and our golf cart.  Upon return, my phone latched to the MB before I got out of the truck.  . Wife's phone still wouldn't connect.  Logged onto our sprint account and removed "wifi calling for iCloud device' from my wife's phone (support dude today said that might have been an issue with mine??). Waited 10 minutes and did a ##UPDATE# on her phone and then after another 45 minutes or so, she says "wow.. I have full signal!"

 

Not sure if it just took time or if the wifi calling on our lines had anything to do with it, but it seems to be working great for now!  

 

Previously would get speeds of 1-4Mbps down/ .5-1Mbps up on B26, and 3G was essentially useless for anything but text messaging.  Now sitting in the camper with full B41 signal from the MB and getting speeds of 22-26Mbps down and 4-8Mbps up.  Unreal.  Crossing my fingers that this thing is through with its 'growing pains' and is now ready to keep on kicking butt!

Last two mornings I have woke up at the campground, my phone is off the MB. :/ Wife's phone, of course, seems to stay connected to it all the time now. Haha. Will let the thing (and my phone) do some 'learning' over the next couple of days and will see what happens I guess. :shrug:

[bill875]

Did you look at your account on Sprint.com to see if the MB is there. It will also have a phone number assigned probably only used for tracking.

Yes, it was on my account the day it shipped and is assigned a Suburban Chicago Area Code (630), despite living in Western NC (828).  So I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

[chamb]

Yes, it was on my account the day it shipped and is assigned a Suburban Chicago Area Code (630), despite living in Western NC (828).  So I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

I am not sure if the number has to be local or not, but my number is very local. It sure is something to look at.

[WiWavelength]

The only thing I'm aware of that functions below the noise floor is GPS (by design).

 

CDMA1X.  Ec/Io always is negative (by design).

 

AJ

[anthony.spina97]

Parked in a parking lot one mile from a Sprint site with line of sight, with my Magic Box plugged into my inverter in my car (for power other than the battery), and with my phone sitting on 3-4 bars of band 25 (wouldn't latch onto band 41 for whatever reason, and can't tell what RSRP because Apple takes even more Field Test features away in iOS 11). Sat there for about 20 minutes, and got the exact same error as I was getting at home. "Initialization Timed Out". After bill875's experiment, and now mine, I'm beginning to think he is on to something when he says that he thinks this is an issue with our market, rather than our MB location/signal strength. It would be interesting to see if there is any insight on this problem.

 

-Anthony

[travisc]

I got this email yesterday saying I needed to call sprint to confirm my magic box order, just a heads up for anyone still waiting for theirs. The lady I talked to said they are waiting for another shipment to arrive, anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 months....

 

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[derrph]

I got this email yesterday saying I needed to call sprint to confirm my magic box order, just a heads up for anyone still waiting for theirs. The lady I talked to said they are waiting for another shipment to arrive, anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 months....

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I got the same email as well. I called and got everything squared away. The rep told me 7 to 10 days. Hopefully this works for me I have b41 outside but once I get inside I get 6-8mbps on b26 and b25. Which is cool but I'd love to have b41 inside my apartment.

 

 

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[shaferz]

Our MB continues to be sporadic. 70% of the time, our phones connect fine and the MB works great. The other 30%, our phones will not connect to it. MB has not moved or been reset in a few days now.

 

Sent an email last night and they are sending a return label and instructions and then will be sending a replacement out. For now, we'll hang onto this one and use it whenever it wants to work fine I guess. With as much hype as there was around these, I'd have to think that the intended operation was for it to work like ours does right now. Hopefully the replacement works more consistently than this one.

[rackhivee]

I think my MB is running a single carrier of B41 backhaul. I get speeds of a third of what my phone can get in the one room in my house that gets any B41 with 3 CA. Between 10 and 16 Mbps where the phone alone can reach 30 to 50 Mbps download.

[Terrell352]

I think my MB is running a single carrier of B41 backhaul. I get speeds of a third of what my phone can get in the one room in my house that gets any B41 with 3 CA. Between 10 and 16 Mbps where the phone alone can reach 30 to 50 Mbps download.

Mine runs like that too. Uploads increased and download decreased. The magic box running a single carrier would explain alot.

[shannonbrian]

Wonder if there will ever be mb 2.0 .

[bigsnake49]

All of you that are getting lower upload and downloads from the MB than from the macros please send them back. They are not intended for you. You did not need them in the first place. Sprint should do a better job screening candidates for these MBs so that Sprint's coverage is increased and speeds are also increased.

[Paynefanbro]

Mine is out for delivery today so I'm pretty excited.

[jefbal99]

Love the MagicBox, took it to the cabin for Labor Day weekend up in Charlevoix, it latched on to B25 and blanketed the area with a clean B41 signal.  It was so nice have a stable connection.  I'll take it to deer camp too in the same area

 

Noticing one odd thing, certain devices seem to like the MB much better than others.  My Nexus 6P and my Dad's LG G5 both hooked right up and parked on the MB carrier.  My Mom's Samsung Galaxy S6 only connected to it once or twice.  My Samasung Galaxy Tab E at home I don't think has ever connected to the MB (need to check the SCP logs).  On the Samsung devices, i did run profile updates.

 

Anyone else noticing some devices not hooking up to the MB?

 

Other odd thing, when connected to the MB, all the connected devices location services are going to Kennesaw, Georgia.  Guessing its an IP addressing thing, hopefully it straightens out soon.

[Paynefanbro]

Score of 48, it's using a -107dbm Band 41 signal as backhaul. My own phone doesn't even connect to that Band 41 signal. It took me about 30 minutes to setup and I had no issues along the way. No sticking at 20% or freezing. My phone instantly connected to the Magic Box.

[nexgencpu]

Score of 48, it's using a -107dbm Band 41 signal as backhaul. My own phone doesn't even connect to that Band 41 signal. It took me about 30 minutes to setup and I had no issues along the way. No sticking at 20% or freezing. My phone instantly connected to the Magic Box.

Hows it performing? Before and after..

[Paynefanbro]

Hows it performing? Before and after..

 

Speeds went from about 8 down 2 up to 20 down and 6 up. So an over 200% increase.

[S4GRU]

All of you that are getting lower upload and downloads from the MB than from the macros please send them back. They are not intended for you. You did not need them in the first place. Sprint should do a better job screening candidates for these MBs so that Sprint's coverage is increased and speeds are also increased.

Possibly. But they may not have a signal in a portion of their house, or a basement. And if these are indeed due to an upcoming VoLTE play, Sprint may want these people to have them. But I don't disagree with your sentiments in general. Just wanted to add that caveat.

 

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[shaferz]

Love the MagicBox, took it to the cabin for Labor Day weekend up in Charlevoix, it latched on to B25 and blanketed the area with a clean B41 signal.  It was so nice have a stable connection.  I'll take it to deer camp too in the same area

 

Noticing one odd thing, certain devices seem to like the MB much better than others.  My Nexus 6P and my Dad's LG G5 both hooked right up and parked on the MB carrier.  My Mom's Samsung Galaxy S6 only connected to it once or twice.  My Samasung Galaxy Tab E at home I don't think has ever connected to the MB (need to check the SCP logs).  On the Samsung devices, i did run profile updates.

 

Anyone else noticing some devices not hooking up to the MB?

 

Other odd thing, when connected to the MB, all the connected devices location services are going to Kennesaw, Georgia.  Guessing its an IP addressing thing, hopefully it straightens out soon.

 

Iphone 7+'s here and ours will sporadically connect and then disconnect and reconnect. Would be awesome if they would stay connected all the time.  Sending this MB back for a replacement.  Just waiting on the return label.  

[red_dog007]

So, I put in the RMA request this morning.  Should get a new box in the next 3-5 days I guess. 

 

So, having my broken MB, it makes a WiFi signal called AU-WIFI.  I can connect to it, but cause my box never gets a cellular signal the wifi off the MB has no internet.  Is this wifi always there and can non-Sprint customers use it?

[rackhivee]

Before MB I was usually parked in lackluster B25 and B26 in and outside my house, pulling less than 1 Mbps. Only had B41 ocassionally in my bedroom on the second floor. I managed to test that B41 service a few times at -115 dBm and pulled 30 to 50 Mbps, but only in my bedroom. Not in the front yard, not in my backyard or anywhere else around my neighborhood. Now I get around 10 Mbps throughout the house and around my property, which is a 10x increase from before, uploads remained consistent at around 3 to 5 Mbps.

Obviously if I constantly had B41 service I wouldn't have requested the MB.