Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[S4GRU]

 

the GNEX has a dedicated GPS - it's a very good SiRF SiRFstarIV GTD4T-9600B chip

 

I think a lot of the problems with the Epic related to the GPS built-in to the qualcomm CDMA chip.

 

I haven't spent a ton of time comparing the GNEX GPS to the EVO 4G LTE's 28nm qualcomm built-in GPS' date=' but I think the GNEX is better. While the EVO has GLONASS support and the GNEX doesn't, the GNEX seems to lock faster (instantly!) and provide more consistent info.

 

It's strange though because if you just go based off GPS test, the EVO is more accurate and has more satellites in view (double because of GLONASS, but it doesn't use them if USA sats are in view)... but in real world use, the GNEX seems to be better.

 

Bottom line, at least both work well. If I had to guess, it seems like the dedicated GPS chip has better algorithms to deal with near by buildings and what not - giving it better real-world performance.[/quote']

 

Great assessment. And I concur with the results as someone with both the EVO LTE and Galaxy Nexus. The GNex is the first Samsung product with a well performing GPS that Ive ever used. My E4GT was awful at first. But after several ICS updates it did improve to a pretty usable state.

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[mellimel2212]

When NV is being deployed in the north side of Chicago proper, is it going to cause lots of issues for Sprint? I only ask because I have lots of friends on Sprint there.

 

Maybe a couple of dropped calls but nothing major

 

Sent from my Nexus S 4g using Tapatalk 2

[preyloood]

I believe we are getting closer to NV deployment in my area (Carol Stream/Bloomingdale area). I recently went to costco (bloomingdale) and I was waiting in line so I did a speed test and voila! 1500 kbs up and 700 kbs down. However, my house (which is 2 miles away from costco) in Carol Stream is a little bit slower which ranges from 500-600 kbs and 43 up is still in development.

[runagun]

A few sites by me have been Fully NV'd. Legacy network has been taken down and out. A few pics are attached. Sadly for me at my home it has yielded worse signal then before. Hopefully their still tweaking. The pics are of the Marengo site that were first posted A few months ago.

 

 

 

[SashilKapur]

I was at my parents in the NW suburbs (Hoffman Estates) on Sunday and at 5pm I got some crazy speedtest results. The best was 2.21Mbps down and 0.73 up. CRAZY! I can't wait until these speeds are sustained!

 

Oh wait...LTE IS COMING! MUA HAHAHA.

[Fraydog]

I was at my parents in the NW suburbs (Hoffman Estates) on Sunday and at 5pm I got some crazy speedtest results. The best was 2.21Mbps down and 0.73 up. CRAZY! I can't wait until these speeds are sustained!

 

Oh wait...LTE IS COMING! MUA HAHAHA.

 

Good to hear.

[aerxx]

I believe we are getting closer to NV deployment in my area (Carol Stream/Bloomingdale area). I recently went to costco (bloomingdale) and I was waiting in line so I did a speed test and voila! 1500 kbs up and 700 kbs down. However, my house (which is 2 miles away from costco) in Carol Stream is a little bit slower which ranges from 500-600 kbs and 43 up is still in development.

 

I work in Carol Stream and travel between there and Glendale Heights for work on a regular basis. NV has to be completed and active in the bloomingdale area, the speeds and even my signal strength (including building penetration) have been so much better in the past month. I don't think Carol Stream and Wheaton area are completed yet.

[MacMn_1]

I drop at lease 20 to 30 calls a day i`ve called sprint and all they say is we are updating to network vision im thinking bout leaving that how bad it is.

[jefbal99]

I drop at lease 20 to 30 calls a day i`ve called sprint and all they say is we are updating to network vision im thinking bout leaving that how bad it is.

 

That would be a very poor decision, Sprint is actively accelerating the NV deployment in Chicago due to these issues. Chicagoland will probably have the best Sprint experience for quite sometime when the upgrade is complete.

[MacMn_1]

That would be a very poor decision, Sprint is actively accelerating the NV deployment in Chicago due to these issues. Chicagoland will probably have the best Sprint experience for quite sometime when the upgrade is complete.

[MacMn_1]

If you where dropping calls like i am you would see my frustrations i called to end my contracts but it would had been almost 600 dollars so i said ill wait but they need to get there act together my phone is my life.

[bigzeto]

If you where dropping calls like i am you would see my frustrations i called to end my contracts but it would had been almost 600 dollars so i said ill wait but they need to get there act together my phone is my life.

 

If it were me, I would force roam until they finish with the upgrades.

[jefbal99]

If you where dropping calls like i am you would see my frustrations i called to end my contracts but it would had been almost 600 dollars so i said ill wait but they need to get there act together my phone is my life.

 

I understand the frustration. I had to get an Airrave for my parents house because the coverage is very spotty where they live. While I wouldn't say my phone is my life, it is always in my hand being used (work, family, friends, etc). If you make a donation, you can see the sponsor maps that have the completed NV sites in the Chicagoland area. There are known issues of calls/service dropping between Legacy and NV towers. There is a good article on this forum from a month or so ago that I'll add in a few minutes.

 

If you become a sponsor, those maps will show you the "good" areas and the "bad" areas. Maybe a slight change in your travel routes might help your dropped call issues a great deal. Or you might learn the current boundaries and be able to stop before a call drops to finish it or advise the other person that you might lose them. I have a couple of areas like that and I always let the person I'm talking to know that they might lose me.

[S4GRU]

Dropped 20 to 30 calls a day? You must be a heavy user. I don't think I use my phone for calls 20 to 30 times per month!

 

Robert via Galaxy Nexus using Forum Runner

[irev210]

If it were me, I would force roam until they finish with the upgrades.

 

Yeah, that's what I would do.

 

Best of both worlds.

[jefbal99]

If it were me, I would force roam until they finish with the upgrades.

Yeah, that's what I would do.

 

Best of both worlds.

 

If the poster is that heavy of a user, he also probably uses the data pretty heavily. That 300MB roaming limit probably would hit him pretty quickly. Don't want to get a termination letter...

[irev210]

If the poster is that heavy of a user, he also probably uses the data pretty heavily. That 300MB roaming limit probably would hit him pretty quickly. Don't want to get a termination letter...

 

If he wants to term out anyway, why not? Beats dropped calls or an ETF...

 

If I needed my phone and was getting 20-30 dropped calls a day, I would roam for a few months until NV blows through. After that, unroam.

[CriticalityEvent]

If it were me, I would force roam until they finish with the upgrades.

 

HOW?!?! God help me, I’ve searched.

 

I work in Gurnee, live in Arlington Heights, but spend a lot of time in Chicago. I have no issues when in Arlington Heights or most of Chicago, but in Gurnee, it’s a whole other story. My data connection is fine until late in the morning, but at that point, it stops connecting altogether and my call quality breaks up to the point where the other person can’t hear me and I frequently get disconnected. My one friend who also has Sprint but lives downtown reports similar issues with dropped calls, but not as frequently as me.

 

I called Sprint on this issue, and they said that there is work being done on some towers in my area at work which was supposed to be done by this weekend. As of today, the problems are still persisting. I used OpenSignal to gather the tower/connection information, but when I look at Sprint’s tower location map on their website, it doesn’t show up. I can confirm that there is actually a tower at the location through which OpenSignal says I’m connecting.

 

OpenSignal also says that I’m connecting at 1xRTT. Shouldn’t I have SOME (albeit slow) data connection? What could account for the horrible call quality if my signal strength is in the -92/-85dBm range? Is the tower just getting that overloaded as people pile into Six Flags? It didn’t do this last year…

 

 

That would be a very poor decision, Sprint is actively accelerating the NV deployment in Chicago due to these issues. Chicagoland will probably have the best Sprint experience for quite sometime when the upgrade is complete.

 

This is what I keep telling my friend, but I’m finding it harder to even convince myself of this sometimes. Fortunately, the novelty hasn’t yet worn off of my new E4GLTE.

 

That would be a very poor decision, Sprint is actively accelerating the NV deployment in Chicago due to these issues. Chicagoland will probably have the best Sprint experience for quite sometime when the upgrade is complete.

 

 

 

:-P

[ceopwong]

If he wants to term out anyway, why not? Beats dropped calls or an ETF...

 

If I needed my phone and was getting 20-30 dropped calls a day, I would roam for a few months until NV blows through. After that, unroam.

 

Or I would go prepaid and utlitze Google Voice number porting service and have it simulring the prepay phone (using another network of course ha ha!) This is a much more cost effective way of riding out the rest of the ETF.

 

This is just my $0.02

 

Patrick

[irev210]

Or I would go prepaid and utlitze Google Voice number porting service and have it simulring the prepay phone (using another network of course ha ha!) This is a much more cost effective way of riding out the rest of the ETF.

 

This is just my $0.02

 

Patrick

 

Why? That's a ton of hassle.

 

Roam Control - force roam for free.

 

If they boot you because of excess roaming (which I doubt) then you will be ETF free. Port your number for free.

 

Why go prepaid to go onto another carrier when you can just force roam 100% free?

[dannible]

If im on an eHRPD network does that mean the tower that Im using is a NV tower? Does that mean that it has 4G LTE on site?

[S4GRU]

If im on an eHRPD network does that mean the tower that Im using is a NV tower? Does that mean that it has 4G LTE on site?

 

Negative. It's my understanding that eHRPD is a software upgrade once the 4G core is ready to start receiving connections from sites in that market. eHRPD is being added as an overlay over an entire market ahead of LTE. Since active data sessions at LTE sites will hand off to eHRPD, every site around an active LTE site must be eHRPD ready. That's why a whole market gets eHRPD deployment in advance of LTE going live.

 

Seeing live eHRPD sites though is a good sign toward the day in the future of having LTE service.

 

Robert

[aerxx]

If im on an eHRPD network does that mean the tower that Im using is a NV tower? Does that mean that it has 4G LTE on site?

 

Where in Chicago are you that this is happening?

[dannible]

Where in Chicago are you that this is happening?

Des Plaines/Glenview. No confirmed NV in the area but last week i was on EVDO and now im on eHRPD at the same tower.

[aerxx]

Des Plaines/Glenview. No confirmed NV in the area but last week i was on EVDO and now im on eHRPD at the same tower.

 

Interesting, I wonder if you caught the crews running the new equipment through the paces during an installation....