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BRUCEinGR

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BRUCEinGR last won the day on September 1 2020

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About BRUCEinGR

  • Birthday 06/20/1962

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  • Phones/Devices
    HTC one (m8) > LG G5 > LG V20 > OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren
  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
  • Here for...
    4G Information
  • Favorite Quotation
    If you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down
  • Interests
    Ham Radio, Computers, Cameras, Phones, Electronics, Etc...

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  1. Yeah, I'm now very sure it will involve TVision, not sure on all the details, what I posted above was just a guess. After my post above, I remembered this article from 3 months ago... https://9to5google.com/2020/07/23/t-mobile-android-tv-fcc-leak/ The logo on the device remote, has the same "arrow in the O" as the O in "It's ON" that is seen on Mike's screen in the background of that video. Unfortunately, in the limited areas where TVision is available now, $90/mo. for 154 channels is not a real compelling price point. Probably not out of line with other options, (royalty and carriage fees need to be passed to the consumer) but still, not cheap. Packaging all the services together, might make things more appealing to the masses.
  2. My guess, a new bundle. T-Mobile has had their core mobile phone business They also have the T-Vision service, that required the subscriber to provide a separate Internet connection. The more recent T-Mobile Home Internet, is now more widely available. I live in Grand Rapids, the first place they released Home Internet on a wide scale, and I have had the service since August, and it works great for streaming, and everything else. It has been stated, in the past by T-Mobile, that you could NOT use T-Vision on a T-Mobile Home Internet service, yet, but they hoped to someday have such an offer. (Oddly, they don't seem to have a problem with me using it to stream Hulu, or Sling, or YouTube or Amazon or any other similar service). So, I'm guessing provide T-Vision, with Home Internet service, that you can combine with your mobile service, one company, one bill, MOST of your communications needs in one step. That would go head to head with Comcast and Spectrum, that have wired Internet & TV service, and mobile service through their MNVO with Verizon. Also ATT, with their wired Internet and TV packages (or DirecTV) and their own mobile service. Everything could all be handled through one customer service point, and no more waiting on installers to come to your home, they send you a box, you hook it up and are ready to enjoy in about 10 minutes (for most reasonably tech savvy people). Such a plan could be a big announcement, if priced at an affordable amount.
  3. Something that showed up in my Google recommended articles today... https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/how-t-mobile-weaved-cisco-ericsson-nokia-into-its-5g-sa-core/2020/09/
  4. Just something from my local TV news that might be of interest here. https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/kent/5g-internet-antennas-being-installed-in-east-gr-not-everyone-happy-about-it **** Ya know, you people are all wanting this 5G stuff, but if you took the time to learn about it, you would realize it causes Corona-Virus, which will lead Bill Gates to administer a vaccine right through your Windows 10 computer, that will indoctrinate you into a baby eating zombie cult. /sarcasm
  5. My guess, Verizon is having whatever is the opposite of "buyer's remorse". Maybe regretting that they decided to sit it out on the 600 MHz "Incentive Auction", that they laughed at T-mobile for bidding in. I'll drop a couple links below, no big breaking news in them, they are all many years old, but offer insight into how things were playing out years ago, like this: https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/home-banner/verizon-exec-takes-aim-at-t-mobile-over-600mhz-sale Of course, Verizon may have thought they could work some deals with Dish, until the T-Mobile/Sprint merger left Dish entwined so closely with New T-Mobile. https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/why-verizon-didn-t-buy-any-600-mhz-spectrum-and-what-it-means-for-big-red Ah, the taste of sour grapes. Maybe it seemed like fun to laugh at T-Mobile's 600 MHz idea's, until they saw it in action... https://www.rcrwireless.com/20130917/carriers/cca-fall-2013-t-mobile-us-looks-to-keep-pressure-on-with-un-carrier-strategy-courts-rural-partners ...and realized Neville Ray might be smarter than they thought. It might even be that those comparison 5G coverage maps already make Verizon look silly!
  6. Hey folks, I haven't been around here in a long time. I guess I just got distracted by other things, especially after Sprint 4G LTE became commonly available for me. Then, in February of 2018, I defected from Sprint to T-Mobile. That move allowed me to get on the "T-Mobile ONE 55+" plan, (yeah, I'm an old geezer) and at the time, grab a limited time offer add-on called "ONE Plus International" that adds a lot of features, but most importantly "UNLIMITED 4G LTE Hotspot" on a phone. The move was both for the service and price. I was paying Sprint $179 for service on one phone, and one USB 3G modem. The modem was what kept me with Sprint for so long. I bought it in 2007, when mobile data was just starting to catch on in popularity. Everyone else had low data caps and high overage charges at the time, but, Sprint was slow to jump on that bandwagon. They even had an ad campaign at the time, something like: "Use all the data you want, have fun"! I bought the modem outright, and paid $59.99/mo for unlimited 3G data. As an over the road truck driver, at the time, that was the same price I paid Comcast for home Internet, that was hardly home to use. I canceled Comcast, and that USB thing became my only non-phone Internet connection. The bad part of that was, shortly after I got that deal, Sprint discontinued that plan, and I was stuck. If I made ANY changes to that line/device, I would lose that plan, and have to take whatever offers were current. I couldn't activate any new device on the data account. So I milked that device and plan for just over 11 years, until Feb. 2018. After so long, the device was struggling, and the data was just damn slow. After my upgrade to T-Mobile, I have my main phone, (currently a OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren edition), an Aristo 2 Plus, used mostly as a hotspot, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10" with unlimited 4G LTE, all for $132.41. About $45 a month less than what I gave Sprint, and I have one extra device, and all with much faster data. On Sprint, my average speed was usually less than 15/2, on T-Mobile I get over 100 down and around 40 up. Of course with this arrangement, one day I will find myself in a similar situation, a line stuck on old tech, even though I CAN upgrade my T-Mobile device, the data add-on specifically says "4G LTE data", So I hope that sticks around for a while as 5G becomes a thing. If I make any changes on that line, I will lose that add-on. Sorry for all the rambling, I just looked at all the stuff I just typed, and can't bring myself to delete all that work. I guess I just got nostalgic when Facebook on Tuesday showed me a memory post from 2013, the pics are below. My first cell phone was a Nextel, that's how I wound up on Sprint, after that merger. It was 7 years ago already, that Sprint shut off Nextel. Now, Sprint is about to be shut off by T-Mobile. Everything changes. You can't see the date on the pic with "NO SIGNAL", those old Nextel phones didn't even have a proper clock, it just displayed what the network sent it, so, no signal, no clock. How far we have come. Anyway, I guess with the merger, I'm back in the family, so here I am looking to learn about a new rollout, this time 5G on 2.5 GHz, specifically in the West Michigan area. Sent from my HD1925 using Tapatalk
  7. OK, I got it, not sure why I can't get it to work with Dialer Codes, but I can get it using the shortcuts in Signal Check Pro. Actually that is probably an easier way to do it, I had just forgot about it. Not to mention, it looks like Signal Check shows frequency on it's screen, just noticed that. Anyway, thanks for your help!
  8. Well I guess I can answer my own question now. Saturday I strolled into one of the local Best Buy stores and left with a brand new M8 and was happy to find that at least CSFB or maybe even eCSFB are active in my area since I get LTE! Not sure if there is a way to tell the difference or not. I was also surprised (and happy) to see the SPARK logo show up and it even spins like a happy little pinwheel sometimes, so I must be connecting to it! Didn't know that was active in my area yet. Overall this phone ROCKS! As so many other reviews point out. I'm still a bit disappointed about SVLTE, but for everyone else's sake, I'll quit beating that dead horse. I'll get a better idea about how well the device works compared to my EVO on Monday when it goes riding with me in the truck for work. And more importantly for this thread, how much SPARK I can find in the West Michigan area. Oh, one more thing, does anyone know if there is a way tell which band my LTE is using? (800, 1900 or 2500) Sent from my HTC one (M8) with Tapatalk.
  9. Just a quick note, I was in a hurry when I typed my previous post that ended with... So it looks like more waiting, first it was waiting for 3G, then 4G LTE, then TriBand and now SvLTE. Seems like always waiting, and as Tom Petty said "The Waiting, is the hardest part"! SvLTE is something I'm not waiting for, I'm lamenting it's demise after a brief cameo appearance. At least in current devices. What I actually meant there was VoLTE. Anyway, something I noticed tonight, if this is to be believed, it looks like Big Red somehow managed to have SvLTE capability on their variant of the M8. http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one-m8/376693-verizon-one-m8-supports-svlte-but-not-svdo-volte-radio-info-inside.html
  10. Hi Robert, thanks for the info. I might have over reacted when this notion first hit me. I had been waiting for the M8 to come out (still waiting to get my hands on it) and when I saw some of those posts on other sites about the missed calls, I remembered reading your wall article last fall. That hit not just like rain on my picnic, but more like a Severe Thunderstorm on my picnic! Yeah, things like using navigation and having a voice call come in (I still use voice a lot) and stop the nav is a bit of a headache, had that a few years ago with Blackberry Curve. I was so happy it went away with the EVO. I'm still not thrilled with the idea of losing it again, but having to stay on CDMA to not lose voice function would really suck, especially on a high end device that has some awesome data capabilities. There are other times too, like while in a voice call with other truckers (I do that a lot) and we talk about weather, road conditions or routing in certain areas, the ability to look up these and other things while in a call (parked of course) is pretty important. Anyway, was just looking for info from real people in the area with real experience on the fallback thing. Your words are encouraging. The LTE/NV in my area seems to be very good, I would estimate at least 80-90% of the time I now get good data connections in the places I'm at most. (and that's on an EVO) I guess the thoughts of having an awesome device like the M8 and tri-band seemed like it had to be an all win. Then the SvLTE snag was kind of a disappointment. One lucky thing for me is my plan has always been to retain my EVO as a spare, so I can always go back if need be. I guess I will just take my chance, continue with getting the M8, and check the hell out of it during my 14 day window. I really do want that device. So it looks like more waiting, first it was waiting for 3G, then 4G LTE, then TriBand and now SvLTE. Seems like always waiting, and as Tom Petty said "The Waiting, is the hardest part"!
  11. kineticman, thanks for the reply. I do need to check in more often, but with life sometimes, things divert our attention in other directions and in this case, with LTE being widely available in the West Michigan area, I guess it seemed less urgent to stay on top of developments in the market.
  12. Hey folks, I haven't been around here much lately, but tried looking around and didn't find what I'm looking for, so maybe someone can offer some input... I went to Best Buy last week and did a pre-order for the new HTC ONE M8. They still haven't gotten the device in, and I haven't given them any money yet. I've been bummed it was gonna take so long to get my hands on it, but maybe that was actually better. I was reading some reviews about the device on a few Android related sites and noticed people talking about missing calls/texts on Sprint. It is most likely that Circuit Switched FallBack thing. So my question is, does anyone have a Spark compatible device, and are you having any issues in the West Michigan area? If this is going to be an issue, I might need to back out before I go any further into this transaction. I've already been a bit ticked off at the idea of losing simultaneous voice and data (even though I know that puts me in the minority around here, because for some reason most people just seem to think that's no big deal, just get used to it, well I for one will really miss that) But, if I have to disable the high speed data and go to CDMA only mode just to make sure I can get calls and texts to work properly, I'd probably be better off just to run my EVO LTE until it goes dark. Any input about the status of the Fallback system in the West Michigan area, or if anyone has had problems with it would be appreciated.
  13. The ArtPrize idea might be right on, looks like the local news is reporting big red was having some problems this weekend... http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/268764/14/Verizon-resolves-to-fix-ArtPrize-voting-issues
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