15 replies to this topic

[verodad]

Help me out if you will...

I live in Vero Beach, FL ... which is in the Orlando Market. I know that NV upgrades are coming in the near future but I have a few questions.

I have 3 towers near my house ... 2 miles, 2.5 miles and 3.5 miles away.

Inside my house I get between 0 - 2 bars of signal strength. I drop calls constantly if I move my head the wrong way. Me and my two kids all have EVO 4G phones. (Original EVO).

My download speeds tested with the speedtest.net app are between 30 - 150 kbps usually.

Now to my questions.

1. I have read that the signal strength should be stronger after NV upgrade ... do to the new radios and such ... Realistically how much stronger should I expect? If I am getting 0 - 2 bars now.

2. If my signal improves ... then I should stop dropping calls ....?

3. Testing the data rates side by side at the Sprint Store with my EVO and the 4G LTE (Galaxy s3 not there yet.)... my EVO was around 500kbps and the 4G LTE was usually over 1200kbps. I am looking to upgrade to the Galaxy S3... Do you think the new phone would perform better in my house currently? Maybe drop calls less?

Thank you in advance...

Gary

[S4GRU]

 verodad, on 30 June 2012 - 11:49 AM, said:

Help me out if you will...

I live in Vero Beach, FL ... which is in the Orlando Market. I know that NV upgrades are coming in the near future but I have a few questions.

I have 3 towers near my house ... 2 miles, 2.5 miles and 3.5 miles away.

Inside my house I get between 0 - 2 bars of signal strength. I drop calls constantly if I move my head the wrong way. Me and my two kids all have EVO 4G phones. (Original EVO).

My download speeds tested with the speedtest.net app are between 30 - 150 kbps usually.

Now to my questions.

1. I have read that the signal strength should be stronger after NV upgrade ... do to the new radios and such ... Realistically how much stronger should I expect? If I am getting 0 - 2 bars now.

2. If my signal improves ... then I should stop dropping calls ....?

3. Testing the data rates side by side at the Sprint Store with my EVO and the 4G LTE (Galaxy s3 not there yet.)... my EVO was around 500kbps and the 4G LTE was usually over 1200kbps. I am looking to upgrade to the Galaxy S3... Do you think the new phone would perform better in my house currently? Maybe drop calls less?

Thank you in advance...

Gary

It is all about radio performance in your device. Network Vision sites will give you a 20% signal increase. So in the same device, it might be enough for a "one bar" improvement. You may notice a moderate improvement in voice performance, without dropped calls anymore. However, 3G data performance will be much better. And even with 3 bars of LTE signal, you should have screaming fast speeds compared to 3G.

But if you upgrade to a device that has a weaker radio than your EVO (like the Galaxy Nexus), then any improvement in NV signal will be negated by the weaker radio. We are planning a radio performance comparison article next week.

However, I will say this, if the nearest site is two miles away, and you live in a block home (like most Floridians) then that is most likely your problem. CMU (cinder block) and concrete and stucco are not good for a PCS signal...especially at 2+ miles. If this is your case, you will not get a lot of relief until Sprint depolys 800MHz service in your area. Sprint is deploying 800 service in two waves...CDMA 800 (voice) will be deployed first and is starting this Fall. LTE 800 will not start deployment until the second half of 2013. We do not have any specific dates yet on 800 deployments. And you would need to have an 800 capable device.

Robert

[WiWavelength]

With your closest sites that far away and somewhat equidistant, you probably should not rely on unassisted wireless for inside coverage at your house, neither before nor after Network Vision. Use a landline or get an Airave (IP backhaul femtocell).

AJ

[jason1980]

i have a femtocell and it definitly helps

[S4GRU]

Here is an article we wrote with info about getting a free Sprint femtocell (Airave) for your home: http://s4gru.com/ind...erage-problems/

Robert

[xenadu]

 verodad, on 30 June 2012 - 11:49 AM, said:

Help me out if you will...

I live in Vero Beach, FL ... which is in the Orlando Market. I know that NV upgrades are coming in the near future but I have a few questions.

Hah, I was born in Vero and lived there until I was 16. Your question has been answered but I wanted to say hello to my hurricane buddies in FL.

P.S. these Dallas Texans don't know what rain is.

[xenadu]

 S4GRU, on 30 June 2012 - 01:05 PM, said:

Here is an article we wrote with info about getting a free Sprint femtocell (Airave) for your home: http://s4gru.com/ind...erage-problems/

Robert

Robert, any word on the various text messaging troubles when using the Airave? I've heard about a lot of problems with notifications, texts, voice mails, etc so I've been reluctant to try it.

[S4GRU]

 xenadu, on 30 June 2012 - 01:13 PM, said:

Robert, any word on the various text messaging troubles when using the Airave? I've heard about a lot of problems with notifications, texts, voice mails, etc so I've been reluctant to try it.

I hear mixed results. I hear some people say they have no problems and others complain. It seems like the people with the most problems are within coverage areas, but use the Airave out of convenience. It seems like people who live completely out of coverage or in very poor coverage areas do not have issues. I'm certain someone will come in here and disagree with me, but this is the common denominator I've noticed. Since Sprint gives them out for free, no harm in trying it out.

I love my Airave. It's 250' tall and in my front yard.

Robert

[verodad]

I tried the Airave ... Sprint sent me one and was worse ... I have Comcast Internet ... 30mb down and 5 mb up ... the calls would get garbled ... not constantly ... however enough so that it was worse than not moving my head too much to keep from dropping a call ... :-)

Thanks all and Robert ... yes I have a Stucco house. Stucco over frame.

Xenadu ... Greetings back ... have lived here since 90 .... grew up in Ft. Pierce though ... Hopefully we will dodge most of the hurricanes this year too...

[S4GRU]

 verodad, on 30 June 2012 - 01:21 PM, said:

I tried the Airave ... Sprint sent me one and was worse ... I have Comcast Internet ... 30mb down and 5 mb up ... the calls would get garbled ... not constantly ... however enough so that it was worse than not moving my head too much to keep from dropping a call ... :-)

If you used an older Airave, you may want to try one of the new ones.

Robert

[xenadu]

 verodad, on 30 June 2012 - 01:21 PM, said:

I tried the Airave ... Sprint sent me one and was worse ... I have Comcast Internet ... 30mb down and 5 mb up ... the calls would get garbled ... not constantly ... however enough so that it was worse than not moving my head too much to keep from dropping a call ... :-)

Thanks all and Robert ... yes I have a Stucco house. Stucco over frame.

Xenadu ... Greetings back ... have lived here since 90 .... grew up in Ft. Pierce though ... Hopefully we will dodge most of the hurricanes this year too...

Yeah my grandmother lived in Ft. Pierce. We lived in Lakewood Park for a time. We were lucky, never had a major hurricane hit directly while we were there, but still had to haul out the plywood to board up, stock the batteries & food, etc.


Tried to give the number a call but they are only open M-F 9-9 CST. I will try again on Monday... Guess I can always unplug it if it makes things worse.

[S4GRU]

I lived in Florida for 7 years. I don't miss it one bit. I like to visit...in the Winter only.

I melt at 85 degrees. That's why I live in the mountains now. People in Florida always told me I would get used to the heat and humidity. And I never did. Because I always knew there was somewhere cooler in the summer.

Robert

[danielholt]

26 years in Orlando... I miss it everyday.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forum Runner

[verodad]

Robert ... brand new ... made in March of this year ... Sprint sent it to me when I called and complained about dropped calls. Thought it was a great idea ... I have a Magicjack ... and it works great. However didn't have as good of luck with the Airave.

I moved the car today .... the temp was 103 sitting out on the sun... a little toasty.... :-)


Xenadu .... Lakewood park is 2.5 miles from me ... that is where one of my towers are ....

[Rickie546]

 S4GRU, on 30 June 2012 - 01:21 PM, said:

I hear mixed results. I hear some people say they have no problems and others complain. It seems like the people with the most problems are within coverage areas, but use the Airave out of convenience. It seems like people who live completely out of coverage or in very poor coverage areas do not have issues. I'm certain someone will come in here and disagree with me, but this is the common denominator I've noticed. Since Sprint gives them out for free, no harm in trying it out.

I love my Airave. It's 250' tall and in my front yard.

Robert

I do have one and I live in fringe coverage area, texts are good most of the time, sometimes have to reboot the box to fix it.
Robert,I thought your tower was in your side yard??

[CuriousTim]

https://network.spri...0Beach%2C%20FL/. Any chance the tower/s by you are scheduled for a voice upgrade - "You're more likely to get clearer calls with fewer dropped connections."