Network Vision/LTE - New York City Market

[twospirits]

I've noticed the signal is pretty bad from Citifields in Flushing Meadows Park all the way down the van wyke corridor to JFK, including my neighborhood of S Ozone Park. 

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 9/8/2022 at 12:36 PM, wispiANt said:

Still enabled on certain sites in the Bed-Stuy/Williamsburg/Bushwick area.

Yeah, in the areas of the city with 100 MHz n41 they still do 20+20, as there is a tower near 125th and Lexington Avenue that does it as well. Still only a targeted area thing though, with Bay Ridge, Staten Island, maybe the Bronx being the only areas where they are doing 20+15 instead. 

 

2 hours ago, RAvirani said:

I’m at the US Open in Flushing Meadows right now and the T-Mobile service is horrendous. My phone is bouncing between unusable NR, unusable LTE and no service.

Looks like they’re trying to make use of DTX/DRX/short inactivity timer/etc but I’m getting more RRC connection failures than successes. My phone has dropped down to no service for extended periods of time despite T300 being set to only a couple seconds as well  

Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon are both delivering 100+ Mbps .

I have stood at the eastern end of the Willets Point station on the 7 and had the same experience. The area is a RF nightmare, and makes the data experience awful since numerous sectors from multiple towers point into the area. 

[Paynefanbro]

On the flip-side, performance in southern Brooklyn has been improving quite a lot recently despite being stuck at 40MHz n41. 600Mbps+ is becoming a lot more common and 400Mbps+ is quickly becoming the norm.

This result is from Coney Island tonight. Phone was also reporting NRCA but unfortunately I don't know what the second NR carrier is or the size of it.

[T-MoblieUser207]

15 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

On the flip-side, performance in southern Brooklyn has been improving quite a lot recently despite being stuck at 40MHz n41. 600Mbps+ is becoming a lot more common and 400Mbps+ is quickly becoming the norm.

This result is from Coney Island tonight. Phone was also reporting NRCA but unfortunately I don't know what the second NR carrier is or the size of it.

When I checked my relatives' S21 in April, n41 was 40+20 in Bay Ridge, but now it's bumped to 40+40, so I would assume Coney Island is the same way.

The PCC switched to B66 during the scroll capture of the screenshot, hence why B2 shows twice.

[Paynefanbro]

Found two more new Crown Castle Fiber small cells yesterday. One in Long Island City located at (40.765999786777634, -73.93646507570648) and one in Manhattan at (40.73974895511102, -74.00523143962101). I didn't stop to check the one in Manhattan but the one in LIC wasn't T-Mobile's.

I also stopped at the Crown Castle NG small cell in Downtown Brooklyn by BAM. Unfortunately I was unable to determine if T-Mobile was on it because there's a T-Mobile macro within spitting distance. Because of that I want to say it isn't T-Mobile's but if it was it wouldn't be the first time they've deployed a small cell virtually right under one of their macros.

[AirlineFlyer]

5 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

I also stopped at the Crown Castle NG small cell in Downtown Brooklyn by BAM. Unfortunately I was unable to determine if T-Mobile was on it because there's a T-Mobile macro within spitting distance. Because of that I want to say it isn't T-Mobile's but if it was it wouldn't be the first time they've deployed a small cell virtually right under one of their macros.

Here's a better shot of that one. And yea, it's literally a block away from a T-Mobile site that even has mmWave.  This particular site would fill a nice mmWave gap for Verizon, though. But as of this weekend I didn't notice any real change from it.

[T-MoblieUser207]

Dish has co-located on Verizon eNB 81069, but their panels haven't been plugged in yet, just installed on the new rack. I think they are also co-located with Verizon eNB 81717, but I'm not 100% sure about it. 

 

There are a few new converted eNBs all over the map, I'll probably get around to making the list this weekend. There are also quite a few more Sprint keeps popping up here and there as well in Queens, at some point I'll locate and add them as well.

[Paynefanbro]

Stopped by the infamous Greenpoint Sprint keep site and it's not broadcasting anything. Antennas still up though.

[AirlineFlyer]

56 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

Stopped by the infamous Greenpoint Sprint keep site and it's not broadcasting anything. Antennas still up though.

Thanks for confirming that my switch to Verizon a year ago was still the right one 😂

[Paynefanbro]

21 hours ago, AirlineFlyer said:

Thanks for confirming that my switch to Verizon a year ago was still the right one 😂

If you find yourself in that part of Greenpoint a lot then it makes sense. I know if I lived up there I wouldn't be on T-Mobile lol.

Luckily Crown Heights is the complete opposite experience. 500-700Mbps almost everywhere.

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 9/17/2022 at 2:32 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Stopped by the infamous Greenpoint Sprint keep site and it's not broadcasting anything. Antennas still up though.

That is 2 keep sites that are now dormant. Definitely not good at all.

A few changes to the map:

1. Sprint eNB 196271 has been converted, but when I passed by on Saturday, it wasn't active.
2. Sprint eNB 6867 added, location unknown.
3. Sprint eNB 6290 moved to its new Cellmapper estimated location.
4. New estimated sites: T-Mobile eNB 216222, 331166, 879491, and 875326.
5. New converted site: T-Mobile eNB 880559.

[AirlineFlyer]

Spotted a Dish site in Brighton Beach, co-located with T-Mobile eNB 894983.

[Paynefanbro]

1. Northern Jersey market Sprint conversions:
   1. T-Mobile eNB 876455/56/57
      1. Location: (40.61113401914055, -74.2524862287992)
   2. T-Mobile eNB 219129/30
      1. Location: (40.75352065564415, -74.12406427496255)
          
2. NYC market Sprint conversions: 
   1. T-Mobile eNB 875964/66
      1. Location: (41.39722227227573, -74.33717864431144)
         1. This one is in Orange County but was still part of ex-Sprint's NYC market.
   2. Sprint eNB 6881 -> T-Mobile eNB 216104/05
      1. Location: (40.89755146946985, -73.80013909444185)
         1. In Pelham, just outside of the Bronx

[wispiANt]

• Sprint eNB 899078/899079 is now live and is broadcasting T-Mobile eNB 219280/219281
• T-Mobile eNB 331166 isn't a Sprint convert. All carriers used to be located at 88 East 111th Street, but relocated once new construction wrapped up next door (at 94 E 111th St). Confirmed via DOB.
• Sprint eNB 6867 (planned, location unknown) is actually a duplicate of Sprint eNB 6867 (Planned) in east Greenpoint
• I think Sprint eNB 253661 is the Sprint site at the Steinway and Sons factory. Haven't been able to confirm
• T-Mobile eNB 875326 is at 40.87448416330753,-73.83759099992582. Confirmed via Streetview.

[wispiANt]

Also, spotted two brand new Dish deployments in Harlem:

First was at 320 St Nicholas Ave.

Second was at 128 Edgecombe Ave.

[Paynefanbro]

Went to Rolling Loud NYC at Citi Field this weekend. Over 100,000 people in attendance.

Verizon is a sponsor of the festival this year so naturally they had a ton of COWs set up at the festival. I counted at least 4. As a result, they were virtually the only carrier consistently able to provide a data connection. I didn't see any Verizon 5G, only LTE.

T-Mobile on the other hand was a very interesting experience. I was seeing an eNB 331804 which I'm 99% sure is a COW. They also seems to be doing some sort of traffic management because I noticed that if I left my phone idle in my pocket, it would drop down to No Service/SOS or sometimes it would sit on EDGE. But the second that I needed to send a text, make a call, or even use Twitter my phone would switch over to LTE or 5G to complete the task. In an active data session, my phone would constantly flip between Band 2, Band 66, and Band 41. Sometimes, I'd catch myself on the COW and other times I'd get pushed over to eNB 875868, the relatively new Sprint conversion nearby. The network moved at a snails pace though. Where Verizon took about 15 seconds to load Twitter or send a pic, T-Mobile could take up to a minute to complete the same task.

Here's some photos of the COWs I spotted. I think that the first two are Verizon and the one in the distance in the third pic is T-Mobile's single COW, not nearly enough for an event that size.

— — — — —

Edit: Also no more Sprint at Citi Field

 

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 9/22/2022 at 4:10 PM, Paynefanbro said:

1. Northern Jersey market Sprint conversions:
   1. T-Mobile eNB 876455/56/57
      1. Location: (40.61113401914055, -74.2524862287992)
   2. T-Mobile eNB 219129/30
      1. Location: (40.75352065564415, -74.12406427496255)
          
2. NYC market Sprint conversions: 
   1. T-Mobile eNB 875964/66
      1. Location: (41.39722227227573, -74.33717864431144)
         1. This one is in Orange County but was still part of ex-Sprint's NYC market.
   2. Sprint eNB 6881 -> T-Mobile eNB 216104/05
      1. Location: (40.89755146946985, -73.80013909444185)
         1. In Pelham, just outside of the Bronx

On 9/22/2022 at 11:06 PM, wispiANt said:

• Sprint eNB 899078/899079 is now live and is broadcasting T-Mobile eNB 219280/219281
• T-Mobile eNB 331166 isn't a Sprint convert. All carriers used to be located at 88 East 111th Street, but relocated once new construction wrapped up next door (at 94 E 111th St). Confirmed via DOB.
• Sprint eNB 6867 (planned, location unknown) is actually a duplicate of Sprint eNB 6867 (Planned) in east Greenpoint
• I think Sprint eNB 253661 is the Sprint site at the Steinway and Sons factory. Haven't been able to confirm
• T-Mobile eNB 875326 is at 40.87448416330753,-73.83759099992582. Confirmed via Streetview.

Added and modified them all!

I took a trip through the L train tunnel between 1st Avenue and Bedford Avenue recently and found n41 live in the tunnel. It's 80 MHz, speeds were 250-300, and I didn't have time to check if n71 is there. Some stations speeds slow wayyyy down when a train pulls in now, even the ones with B2 at 15 or 20 MHz, so any upgrade is great sight to see.

[wispiANt]

A whole bunch more:

• Sprint eNB 79606 (40.75132648431523,-73.90146879382196) --> T-Mobile eNB 310071
• Sprint eNB ?? (40.76217959031908,-73.98290725716903) --> T-Mobile eNB 306359
• Sprint eNB ?? (40.73515112286398,-74.05620754132336) --> T-Mobile eNB 219100
• Sprint eNB 74287 (40.70103618706469,-73.88568221202024) --> T-Mobile eNB 307512
• Sprint eNB ?? (40.61153605033678,-73.97809151056654) --> T-Mobile eNB 216122 
• Sprint eNB ?? (40.85506888812853,-73.8833696864961) --> T-Mobile eNB 894975
• Sprint eNB 74711 (40.8825393882436,-73.8824177643403) --> T-Mobile eNB 894014 
• Sprint eNB ?? (40.853581236454886,-73.96895437356767) --> T-Mobile eNB 878599
• Sprint eNB ?? (40.858543517828,-73.99069077095734) --> T-Mobile eNB 879007
• Sprint eNB 103747 (40.72050408418687,-74.05430368479026) --> T-Mobile eNB 216911
• Sprint eNB ?? (40.71543795248539,-74.04311338634996) --> T-Mobile eNB 894452

[Paynefanbro]

NextWave re-emerges with 2.5 GHz private network service 

https://www.fiercewireless.com/private-wireless/nextwave-re-emerges-25-ghz-private-network-service

https://www.nextwave5g.com/nextwave-news

Quote

NEW YORK, NY -- September 26, 2022 - NextWave, a private network service provider, today announced the launch of wide-area Band 41 (2.5 GHz) network services in the New York metro area by its affiliates and NextWave NYC subsidiary.  The initial Phase I network deployment provides coverage over large portions of Manhattan and the immediately surrounding boroughs, including major transportation and industrial operation areas.  Phase II deployments will cover the entire New York metro area of approximately 15 million people by early 2023.

— — —

The NextWave New York Metro service on Band 41 (2.5 GHz) will be fully commissioned over the next month. The network will expand to other key metro markets, with service launches expected in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia by early 2023.   

 

The only way for T-Mobile to get up to 190MHz now is to either buy out NextWave in it's entirety or wait until NextWave's lease is up and attempt to "outbid" them for the right to lease the spectrum from the Archdiocese.

I'm really curious what NextWave wants for the spectrum that neither Sprint nor T-Mobile were willing to pay them to get off of it. Also what caused them to decide to finally put it into use? Did T-Mobile threaten a lawsuit? Luckily T-Mobile has 60MHz of C-band + DoD and a ton of PCS to make up for it.

[transitwatch889]

21 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

The only way for T-Mobile to get up to 190MHz now is to either buy out NextWave in it's entirety or wait until NextWave's lease is up and attempt to "outbid" them for the right to lease the spectrum from the Archdiocese

Yeah totes saw that article and I was like! Well damn hahaha there won't be expansion of band 41 then in areas of the Upper Manhattan/Bronx and Westchester then if that is the case otherwise we would have seen it. 

[wispiANt]

Found CBRS at another location in Manhattan, but haven't been able to test it just yet. Here's the Streetview.

 

Plus, one more Sprint convert in the Bronx:

• Sprint eNB ?? (40.86715407494202,-73.90311136271255) --> T-Mobile eNB 894795

 

[mirskyc]

16 hours ago, wispiANt said:

Found CBRS at another location in Manhattan, but haven't been able to test it just yet. Here's the Streetview.

 

Plus, one more Sprint convert in the Bronx:

• Sprint eNB ?? (40.86715407494202,-73.90311136271255) --> T-Mobile eNB 894795

 

wow very close to the site on 31st and Park.  Which also has CBRS but I've never connected to it. I believe the Fold 4 is able to. Maybe T-Mobile has the band disabled? 

[wispiANt]

SA n41 is back on my home serving site in the Bed-Stuy/Bushwick area. Interestingly enough, my S21U seems perfectly happy to idle on it.

 

Bonus pic:

[mirskyc]

Recently in Astoria my phone has been parked on SA N41 100mhz + 20mhz. Made a few calls to see if calls go over 5G but the phone drops down to VoLTE. I've also started to see SA N71 Primary with N41 secondary on Long Island. 

[mirskyc]

Anyone know why Signal check Pro shows NR38 when connected to SA NR41?