LTE Plus / Enhanced LTE (was "Sprint Spark" - Official Name for the Tri-Band Network)

[S4GRU]

The most spectrum I'm using on one site is 230 MHz. :-)

Now make it 8x MIMO. And watch our heads explode.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[mhammett]

Now make it 8x MIMO. And watch our heads explode.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Only 2x :-(  The 6x stuff costs just way too damn much and actually doesn't deliver a significant amount more gross throughput, just better link budgets and closer to max bandwidth longer.

[crazy_vag]

Only 2x :-( The 6x stuff costs just way too damn much and actually doesn't deliver a significant amount more gross throughput, just better link budgets and closer to max bandwidth longer.

Probably good at concert venues.

[sprintmobilefan]

Finally got my MiFi 500 upgrade from freedompop, it's not a branded device though, says Sprint everywhere!  Coverage map says regular LTE in Topeka but display says spark and the band listed in debug mode is one of the 800mhz ones!

[Faction]

Is there anything specific that needs to be change on the account side of my service, to allow me to connect to B41? I have the iPhone 6 and have yet to touch any B41. I'm in the Jacksonville market. 

[newboyx]

Is there anything specific that needs to be change on the account side of my service, to allow me to connect to B41? I have the iPhone 6 and have yet to touch any B41. I'm in the Jacksonville market.

No, your device should connect automatically if it is capable and there is band 41 available.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Is there anything specific that needs to be change on the account side of my service, to allow me to connect to B41? I have the iPhone 6 and have yet to touch any B41. I'm in the Jacksonville market.

B41 is everywhere in Jax. Try going to a known B41 site and see if you can connect.

 

Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

[Faction]

B41 is everywhere in Jax. Try going to a known B41 site and see if you can connect.

 

Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

 

I don't think the tower I'm closest to, and use the most, is broadcasting B41. But I did ride around the OP/NAS JAX area and picked up some B41 connections. What areas have you caught B41?

[tybo31316]

I don't think the tower I'm closest to, and use the most, is broadcasting B41. But I did ride around the OP/NAS JAX area and picked up some B41 connections. What areas have you caught B41?

Downtown is blanketed in b41. Blanding in OP is covered from the mall down to Kingsley. Roosevelt near i10 and near the Publix near San Juan. Jax beaches is covered pretty good.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

I don't think the tower I'm closest to, and use the most, is broadcasting B41. But I did ride around the OP/NAS JAX area and picked up some B41 connections. What areas have you caught B41?

Downtown, Springfield, Riverside, San Marco, Avondale, Lakewood and Mandarin is almost totally covered in Clear B41. Clear B41 covers most of Jax, in fact.

I don't think the tower I'm closest to, and use the most, is broadcasting B41. But I did ride around the OP/NAS JAX area and picked up some B41 connections. What areas have you caught B41?

 

Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

[hercules rockefeller]

It's still hard to say. But I'll take a stab at it. If all the users were just loading static webpages and using apps that pull static data, each sector of a 5MHz channel could support hundreds of users. Maybe even 400-500. If they were each just pulling up a new page every 2-3 minutes. It could probably be pushing a thousand. So long as they all didn't hit ENTER at exactly the same time!

 

And each Band 41 channel can handle about 3x the traffic of a Band 25 5MHz channel. So you can triple those numbers for B41. And Sprint can deploy between 3-8 B41 carriers in each market. Meaning when deployed to maximum capacity, B41 could support from 9x to 20x more capacity per sector than B25.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

In practical terms the difference is going to be even bigger in the long term, because each sector will be geographically smaller than PCS sectors and will therefore be less likely to ever need to serve that many users. I know that's exactly what greencat was asking, but I think it bears repeating that B41's biggest shortcoming (poor signal propagation compared to lower frequencies) will eventually become an advantage, once the network is built out to it's full density.

[Galaxyguy]

Not sure where else to put this so I'll put it here. Has anyone else noticed how similar the spark logo is to the Walmart logo? I never noticed it until I recently installed the Walmart app on my phone.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

[gr8nuguy]

Not sure where else to put this so I'll put it here. Has anyone else noticed how similar the spark logo is to the Walmart logo? I never noticed it until I recently installed the Walmart app on my phone.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

that has been noticed many many times, since the first ever spark capable phone that had the logo spinning LOL

[greencat]

If my RSRP fluctuates between 96 and 105 and avgs 99-101 what would be a reasonable expectation for band 41 strength?

[stlman314]

At -99-101 you could still easily pull 20mbps down. 

[greencat]

If my RSRP fluctuates between 96 and 105 and avgs 99-101 what would be a reasonable expectation for band 41 strength?

sorry forgot to mention that is band 25.

[greenbastard]

sorry forgot to mention that is band 25.

I get similar numbers at home for Band 25. In my case, I don't get Band 41 (Clear legacy LTE and both B25 and B41 are coming from the same tower).

 

Now of course, each situation is different and a lot depends on the tower. For example, I'm sitting on a null area when looking at the old Clearwire maps. There is also a lot of space protection due to it being close to 2 Clear B41-only sites. Maybe it'll be different for you. Nobody can say for certain until you try it out. I'm hopeful my situation will change once 8T8R antennas are deployed here. Either way, it doesn't effect phone calls/texts and I have cable broadband for internet.

Edited October 16, 2014 by greenbastard

[cyclone]

sprint isn't using band 41 for 3G services as well as LTE are they? I uploaded a few screen shots in succession to show the time at the bottom was updating, but my phone was showing 3G and band 41 at the same time

[Galaxyguy]

sprint isn't using band 41 for 3G services as well as LTE are they?

No, it just got stuck there. Sprint is still only using PCS (1900) for 3G.

 

Sent from my Note 4.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

No, it just got stuck there. Sprint is still only using PCS (1900) for EVDO.

 

Sent from my Note 4.

Fixed it for ya.

 

1xRTT is still considered 3G and encompasses both 1900 and 800mhz. EVDO is only on 1900mhz and there is zero 3G tech on Sprints 2.5mhz service.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+ using Crapatalk

[Galaxyguy]

Fixed it for ya.

 

1xRTT is still considered 3G and encompasses both 1900 and 800mhz. EVDO is only on 1900mhz and there is zero 3G tech on Sprints 2.5mhz service.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+ using Crapatalk

Correct, EVDO is the more correct term. (Or "more better," if you prefer)

 

Sent from my Note 4.

[mhammett]

1x is technically 3G and nothing we have is technically 4G (Yea, I know they changed it). I swear people that keep saying 1x is 3G need to find a hobby. Sane people only call EVDO (in the CDMA world) 3G.

[maxsilver]

I swear people that keep saying 1x is 3G need to find a hobby. Sane people only call EVDO (in the CDMA world) 3G.

 

Yup. And if folks are letting 1x pretend to be 3G on the standards definition alone, than all EDGE coverage has to count too, since EDGE is also technically 3G (in that it also formally complies 'IMT2000/3G' standard).

 

Folks can't have it both ways. It's not honest to claim that 1x is "3G", but then also claim that EDGE is "2G".

 

Either your following actual performance (in which neither 1x nor EDGE count as '3G' service), or your following the letter of the spec (in which both 1x and EDGE are technically "3G technologies" by spec). 

[S4GRU]

Yup. And if folks are letting 1x pretend to be 3G on the standards definition alone, than all EDGE coverage has to count too, since EDGE is also technically 3G (in that it also formally complies 'IMT2000/3G' standard).

 

Folks can't have it both ways. It's not honest to claim that 1x is "3G", but then also claim that EDGE is "2G".

 

Either your following actual performance (in which neither 1x nor EDGE count as '3G' service), or your following the letter of the spec (in which both 1x and EDGE are technically "3G technologies" by spec).

The only one I've ever seen refer to EDGE as 2G is T-Mobile, ironically. So I say it in jest to mock Tmo. Their official coverage maps refer to EDGE coverage as 2G.

[maxsilver]

The only one I've ever seen refer to EDGE as 2G is T-Mobile, ironically. So I say it in jest to mock Tmo. Their official coverage maps refer to EDGE coverage as 2G.

 

Sprint also referred to 1x as 2G, until the last two years or so.

 

Older parts of the site still refer to it as "not 3G", such as  http://shop2.sprint.com/en/stores/popups/compare_data_speeds_popup.shtml 

 

For business customers, they claim 1x as 2G as well : http://m2m.sprint.com/m2m-solutions/2g-network and http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=2570