EV-DO Only Towers?

[Trip]

This may or may not be a stupid question, but is there such a thing as an EV-DO (eHRPD) only tower?  Yesterday I went driving around in southern Maryland where there are a number of towers that show up with no NV upgrades or with 3G-only NV.  Usually, when I pass towers like that, I get 1X and eHRPD, but on several (not all) that I saw yesterday, I had eHRPD really strong while sitting under them, but 1X was coming from an NV tower somewhere else. 

 

If it was just one, I would say it was an equipment issue at a given site, but this happened at four different sites, at least.  (Still going through my logs.)  Was it just a fluke, a coincidental issue with four towers at once, or are some towers actually only providing EV-DO?

 

- Trip

[ab30494]

Could possible be a GMO site. No all of them are able to get LTE. 

[Dkoellerwx]

Could possible be a GMO site. No all of them are able to get LTE.

That wasn't the question. Many sites are still 3G only. But they all broadcast 1x and EVDO. The question is if a tower can be EVDO only, lacking 1x.

 

Sent from my LG G4

[S4GRU]

I have never seen an EVDO only site before. Any instance where I couldn't get 1x was related to an equipment/network error or an anomaly where the EVDO would propagate further than the 1x (because Tx power, etc.)

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

[markjcc]

I have never seen an EVDO only site before. Any instance where I couldn't get 1x was related to an equipment/network error or an anomaly where the EVDO would propagate further than the 1x (because Tx power, etc.)

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

Tons of 3G only sites here in Maui, Especially in the Wailuku area.. The cell density of 3G compared to LTE is amazing.

[Dkoellerwx]

Tons of 3G only sites here in Maui, Especially in the Wailuku area.. The cell density of 3G compared to LTE is amazing.

But they are still broadcasting 1x as well, they are not EVDO only as per the question.

 

Sent from my LG G4

[Trip]

I have never seen an EVDO only site before. Any instance where I couldn't get 1x was related to an equipment/network error or an anomaly where the EVDO would propagate further than the 1x (because Tx power, etc.)

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

 

See, that's what I thought too, which is why I'm so confused.  Looking at my log and comparing to what I remember from the drive on Saturday, the eHRPD was setting my phone on fire as I sat under the four towers, but 1X was weak and, evidently from my log, from very far away.  What are the statistical chances that four different non-LTE sites have the exact same problem at nearly the exact same time, but other surrounding sites work fine?

 

For example, one of the sites in question was a stealth site near a shopping center.  I remember eHRPD was at -70 dBm or so, and I made a site note in SCP that I was passing the shopping center.  But the BSL (and "strongest signal strength" field) in my log clearly indicates my 1X connection was from a site several miles away.

 

- Trip

[Trip]

I've included more details here:

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/7117-washington-dc-and-southern-virginia-premiere-spreadsheet-and-maps/?p=452923&do=findComment&comment=452923

 

In the Premiere Sponsor thread to avoid divulging site-specific information.

 

- Trip

[zodiac12345]

This may or may not be a stupid question, but is there such a thing as an EV-DO (eHRPD) only tower?  Yesterday I went driving around in southern Maryland where there are a number of towers that show up with no NV upgrades or with 3G-only NV.  Usually, when I pass towers like that, I get 1X and eHRPD, but on several (not all) that I saw yesterday, I had eHRPD really strong while sitting under them, but 1X was coming from an NV tower somewhere else. 

 

If it was just one, I would say it was an equipment issue at a given site, but this happened at four different sites, at least.  (Still going through my logs.)  Was it just a fluke, a coincidental issue with four towers at once, or are some towers actually only providing EV-DO?

 

- Trip

 

Back when I had an SVLTE device (Photon Q), I remember that sometimes the phone would park on a different tower for 1x while placing its EVDO radio on a different tower, resulting in a weird configuration where EVDO was around -114 dBm and 1x was around -73 dBm. I have not experienced this yet on newer single antenna devices, but believe this may be related. 

 

While that case for the Photon Q, sometimes the the 1x radio was roaming on Verizon and EVDO radio was on Sprint native or both radios were native, I do recall my other single band devices (Note 5 and One Max) performing similarly. The phone would go into an area of poor 1x coverage, and inevitably connect to Verizon's 1x network. Once leaving the low coverage area, it would reconnect to Sprint's EVDO network, but remain connected to Verizon's 1x. 

[JWMaloney]

See, that's what I thought too, which is why I'm so confused.  Looking at my log and comparing to what I remember from the drive on Saturday, the eHRPD was setting my phone on fire as I sat under the four towers, but 1X was weak and, evidently from my log, from very far away.  What are the statistical chances that four different non-LTE sites have the exact same problem at nearly the exact same time, but other surrounding sites work fine?

 

For example, one of the sites in question was a stealth site near a shopping center.  I remember eHRPD was at -70 dBm or so, and I made a site note in SCP that I was passing the shopping center.  But the BSL (and "strongest signal strength" field) in my log clearly indicates my 1X connection was from a site several miles away.

 

- Trip

 

I'm going to bet you're connected to 1x800 when this happens? It tends to have that side effect when it's sparsely deployed.

[Dkoellerwx]

See, that's what I thought too, which is why I'm so confused.  Looking at my log and comparing to what I remember from the drive on Saturday, the eHRPD was setting my phone on fire as I sat under the four towers, but 1X was weak and, evidently from my log, from very far away.  What are the statistical chances that four different non-LTE sites have the exact same problem at nearly the exact same time, but other surrounding sites work fine?

 

For example, one of the sites in question was a stealth site near a shopping center.  I remember eHRPD was at -70 dBm or so, and I made a site note in SCP that I was passing the shopping center.  But the BSL (and "strongest signal strength" field) in my log clearly indicates my 1X connection was from a site several miles away.

 

- Trip

 

I see something like what you are describing when traveling between Kansas City and Springfield, although it's usually EVDO that is affect, not 1x. When crossing the market and NID boundary, my phone likes to hang on to the current NID for as long as possible, resulting in EVDO showing an almost non-existent signal from a tower miles away in the MO market, while 1x is connected to a tower basically overhead in the KS market. I used to see a similar effect on 1x as well, resulting in my phone hanging onto a weak signal from the MO market all while I've passed two towers in the KS market.