MrZorbatron Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Now that the IBEZ issues have cleared up, what form will the retrofit take? Will they just add the 800MHz radio with its own antenna or will it entail removal and replacement of all of the existing 1900MHz-only antenna hardware and then adding the 800 radio? We do have a number of higher capacity sites with twin PCS setups, so those seem to have a straightforward answer. I live in Michigan, where most of the state is PC only. This even includes a couple of brand new sites that I have inspected. It seems extremely short sighted to install all of these goofy PCS antennas, only to replace them shortly. I suppose it is possible that they will install the dual band antenna with its own two radios at every site, leaving the existing PCS antenna and its radio installed and functioning. This would be good from the standpoint of redundancy and signal range due to radio limitations. Unfortunately, it would also make too much sense for a major cellular carrier to consider it. There is also the issue of the situations in which the PCS hardware, due to its compactness, is simply lashed directly to the tower mast. This would need to be replaced by dual band setups, if they even fit at all. Just a few thoughts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilotimz Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Now that the IBEZ issues have cleared up, what form will the retrofit take? Will they just add the 800MHz radio with its own antenna or will it entail removal and replacement of all of the existing 1900MHz-only antenna hardware and then adding the 800 radio? I live in Michigan, where most of the state is PC only. This even includes a couple of brand new sites that I have inspected. It seems extremely short sighted to install all of these goofy PCS antennas, only to replace them shortly. I suppose it is possible that they will install the dual band antenna with its own two radios at every site, leaving the existing PCS antenna and its radio installed and functioning. This would be good from the standpoint of redundancy and signal range due to radio limitations. Unfortunately, it would also make too much sense for a major cellular carrier to consider it. There is also the issue of the situations in which the PCS hardware, due to its compactness, is simply lashed directly to the tower mast. This would need to be replaced by dual band setups, if they even fit at all. Just a few thoughts. Antenna swapout 1 for 1, addition of RRH-C2, addition of 800 mhz UADU in MMBS, and software parameters for SMR 800 antennas. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZorbatron Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Antenna swapout 1 for 1, addition of RRH-C2, addition of 800 mhz UADU in MMBS, and software parameters for SMR 800 antennas. That's what I was afraid of. Stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylorcox75 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Antenna swapout 1 for 1, addition of RRH-C2, addition of 800 mhz UADU in MMBS, and software parameters for SMR 800 antennas. Wait what? Tucson aka 100 miles from Mexico here, does this mean B26/ 800 1x is on the way? Link? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caspar347 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Gah! Why didn't they put up dual band antennas initially?! Supply issues? Oh well. I hope that they can do a quick rollout of 800 in IBEZ without taking away from 8T8R deployment. (I know they are handled by separate teams, but they pull workers from the same pool don't they?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilotimz Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 That's what I was afraid of. Stupid. 1900 mhz RFS antennas are a LOT cheaper than the 800+1900 varieties Sprint uses.. like 50% the cost (~$1000-2000 vs $2000-4000). It made sense for them to do use the much cheaper 1900 only antennas early on especially with the bean counters making the decisions and the then unknown progress of the Canadian SMR rebanding. Wait what? Tucson aka 100 miles from Mexico here, does this mean B26/ 800 1x is on the way? Link? Mexican IBEZ has compatible antennas from the get go minus the SMR 800 equipment. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylorcox75 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Mexican IBEZ has compatible antennas from the get go minus the SMR 800 equipment. So has the IBEZ been approved meaning they will start 800 rollout? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilotimz Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 So has the IBEZ been approved meaning they will start 800 rollout? IBEZ deployments begin whenever the other side has cleared out enough spectrum. It's region by region with actual deployment in many areas not expected until later this year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Now that the IBEZ issues have cleared up, what form will the retrofit take? Will they just add the 800MHz radio with its own antenna or will it entail removal and replacement of all of the existing 1900MHz-only antenna hardware and then adding the 800 radio? I believe the confusion taylorcox75 has is due to the very first sentence. It explicitly implies that everything has been resolved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZorbatron Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 I believe the confusion taylorcox75 has is due to the very first sentence. It explicitly implies that everything has been resolvedRight. I should have said that a solution gas been determined, though not necessarily applied yet. I still think the 1900 hardware should be left, especially in rural areas like mine, with very large areas served by individual sites. These are cases where the radios run at their maximum power levels. The more carriers that a radio is required to broadcast, the less power is available to be put into any individual carrier. Throwing all of the CDMA stuff on one radio and the one or eventually two LTE carriers onto another would be a great way to increase LTE 1900 coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismheim Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Right. I should have said that a solution gas been determined, though not necessarily applied yet. I still think the 1900 hardware should be left, especially in rural areas like mine, with very large areas served by individual sites. These are cases where the radios run at their maximum power levels. The more carriers that a radio is required to broadcast, the less power is available to be put into any individual carrier. Throwing all of the CDMA stuff on one radio and the one or eventually two LTE carriers onto another would be a great way to increase LTE 1900 coverage. Rural areas usually only have one PCS 1X carrier, and one evdo carrier on the CDMA side. I don't really see a need to keep multiple panels and radios up unless its a high capacity site. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZorbatron Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Rural areas usually only have one PCS 1X carrier, and one evdo carrier on the CDMA side. I don't really see a need to keep multiple panels and radios up unless its a high capacity site. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk Radio power. Most of my area isn't extremely rural. Near me there are 2-4 EVDO and 2-3 1x carriers at most sites. I know this by talking to technicians at sites. Spacing is very sparse, however. I know that several local rural-ly spaced Sprint sites were served by T3s (43Mbps) before being upgraded. LTE 1900 here has lots of holes in it, which is really annoying. This dual rig idea would clear that up a lot, I think. What is really interesting is that we have had EVDO data speeds 600Kbps-1.2Mbps for years in most of my area, well before Network Vision,so I never really understood the awful data rates so many people complained about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnwk Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Any links to the source saying "IBEZ issues have cleared"? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrZorbatron Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Any links to the source saying "IBEZ issues have cleared"? Discussions here, including in restricted areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnys8913 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 800 would be nice to see in NY state (near the border ex: Buffalo, Rochester) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4GRU Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Any links to the source saying "IBEZ issues have cleared"?IBEZ issues are clearing this year. On the Canadian side, they will begin as the other side is certified clear. One region at a time. On the Mexican side, they will begin each region as the American side is clear. Regions will start one at a time as they are clear starting mid year. Sprint wants to be started in all regions before the end of 2015. Sprint will begin installing equipment before areas are clear so they can be fired up immediately after certification. I am the source. However, it was eluded to in the last Sprint Quarterly Conference call when Marcelo said they plan to have B26 under way in all regions before the end of the year. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnys8913 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 IBEZ issues are clearing this year. On the Canadian side, they will begin as the other side is certified clear. One region at a time. On the Mexican side, they will begin each region as the American side is clear. Regions will start one at a time as they are clear starting mid year. Sprint wants to be started in all regions before the end of 2015. Sprint will begin installing equipment before areas are clear so they can be fired up immediately after certification. I am the source. However, it was eluded to in the last Sprint Quarterly Conference call when Marcelo said they plan to have B26 under way in all regions before the end of the year. awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHooten Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 So here's a question - I am due for an upgrade in August (currently on a non-Spark 5s). Is it worth hanging on to upgrade to a 6/6s or other Spark compatible device in the Detroit area? By August should I see improved download speeds (better than the mostly less and 1 Mbps I get now)? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacinJosh Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 So here's a question - I am due for an upgrade in August (currently on a non-Spark 5s). Is it worth hanging on to upgrade to a 6/6s or other Spark compatible device in the Detroit area? By August should I see improved download speeds (better than the mostly less and 1 Mbps I get now)? Thanks. If your upgrade date is in August, I would wait until the 6s/6s+ to upgrade. Maybe by then we will have Band 12 LTE on iPhone, and then it's fully compatible with the CCA/RRPP. Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk 3.1.1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHooten Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 If your upgrade date is in August, I would wait until the 6s/6s+ to upgrade. Maybe by then we will have Band 12 LTE on iPhone, and then it's fully compatible with the CCA/RRPP. Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk 3.1.1 What is band 12? I was only aware of bands 25/26/41 for Sprint LTE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacinJosh Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 What is band 12? I was only aware of bands 25/26/41 for Sprint LTE? LTE Band 12 is lower 700a/b/c. T-Mobile and a number of the smaller carriers, members of the CCA, use that band for LTE. Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk 3.1.1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiWavelength Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 What is band 12? It is the name of my progressive rock band. We play Jewish klezmer music combined with Tuvan throat singing. AJ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlodish345 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 LTE Band 12 is lower 700a/b/c. T-Mobile and a number of the smaller carriers, members of the CCA, use that band for LTE. Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk 3.1.1 band 12 is everything of the A B C blocks including AT&T band 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacinJosh Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 band 12 is everything of the A B C blocks including AT&T band 12 AT&T uses Band 17 for lower 700 b&c. This is also known as a subset band, and Band 12 was authorized first. Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk 3.1.1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmartine3 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 If your upgrade date is in August, I would wait until the 6s/6s+ to upgrade. Maybe by then we will have Band 12 LTE on iPhone, and then it's fully compatible with the CCA/RRPP. Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk 3.1.1 Yeah, Band 12 is T-Mobile's issue, not Sprint, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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