Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[aerxx]

LTE still uses 1900mhz. The Sprint tower you use must just be closer than your friends' Verizon tower.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forum Runner

[mellimel2212]

I misposted but I meant to give the lte part to network vision.

 

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Madfelon]

I just got off the phone with Sprint to complain about the dropped calls, and lack of LTE. It was great but this past month this service has been a joke. The 2 iphones on the account hold LTE signal maybe 10 percent of the time, walk into a building and poof its gone. I explained to the rep that before LTE was fantastic and never had a problem. He told me that they are doing upgrades and LTE in Chicago would be done in about 2 weeks, I sure hope so cause that ETF to drop Sprint and go Verizon would be huge.

[Madfelon]

Sorry Im in the Midway airport area.

[aerxx]

This rollout is still a work in progress and there are going to be bumps in the road. I for one think Sprint has done a fantastic job in Chicago with their upgrades.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forum Runner

[Jamal46409]

Have you Chicago folks noticed a difference with the 800 1x network on in-building coverage? Is it as big a difference as Sprint was touting it to be?

 

Defenitely. I work in a building that was built during the 1960's and previously could only get 1 bar wit the cell tower only being a half a mile away. After installing the 800MHZ prl, i'm getting 5 bars all day everyday.

[Joeynach]

Defenitely. I work in a building that was built during the 1960's and previously could only get 1 bar wit the cell tower only being a half a mile away. After installing the 800MHZ prl, i'm getting 5 bars all day everyday.

 

Do you work in the loop?

[Joeynach]

I just got off the phone with Sprint to complain about the dropped calls, and lack of LTE. It was great but this past month this service has been a joke. The 2 iphones on the account hold LTE signal maybe 10 percent of the time, walk into a building and poof its gone. I explained to the rep that before LTE was fantastic and never had a problem. He told me that they are doing upgrades and LTE in Chicago would be done in about 2 weeks, I sure hope so cause that ETF to drop Sprint and go Verizon would be huge.

 

Im not necessarily sure if its a Sprint thing or LTE thing. My phone switches between 3G and LTE all the time. As soon as the signal gets weak it goes right back to 3G and sometimes takes awhile to regain the LTE signal, even though you come out of whatever part of the building or structure you are in has that low signal. Happens all the time in elevators, going in stairwells, parking garages, taking the subway, going inside the interior of a building, going inside a basement, etc etc. This used to happen with my WiMax connection too. For whatever reasons the 4G technologies seems to be more brittle connections and the old 3G are kind of the static, always there, default. Im not a technician so I can't explain why or why not.

 

I was even in Midway and noticed it too. When I turned my phone on while we were taxiing strong LTE bars. When I got into concourse and went to the bathroom, back to 3G, I check again heading to baggage claim and still in 3G until I stepped foot outside the terminal building to get my car. Is that bad LTE? Is that bad or no Network Vision? Is that Sprint? Is that the way all LTE is? I dont know, it seems to be the way LTE just works to me, extremely signal strength sensitive, but I do know the same exact thing used to happen with WiMax.

[Jamal46409]

Do you work in the loop?

 

No. Work and live over in Northwest Indiana. Intrestingly enough though, I also noticed a difference in Chicago. Went to a resturaunt over in Chicago before and after the 800MHZ prl change and notice a 2-3 bar difference as well.

[mellimel2212]

If u can't pick up a signal here then its mos def a phone issue.

 

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[S4GRU]

 

Im not necessarily sure if its a Sprint thing or LTE thing. My phone switches between 3G and LTE all the time. As soon as the signal gets weak it goes right back to 3G and sometimes takes awhile to regain the LTE signal, even though you come out of whatever part of the building or structure you are in has that low signal. Happens all the time in elevators, going in stairwells, parking garages, taking the subway, going inside the interior of a building, going inside a basement, etc etc. This used to happen with my WiMax connection too. For whatever reasons the 4G technologies seems to be more brittle connections and the old 3G are kind of the static, always there, default. Im not a technician so I can't explain why or why not.

 

I was even in Midway and noticed it too. When I turned my phone on while we were taxiing strong LTE bars. When I got into concourse and went to the bathroom, back to 3G, I check again heading to baggage claim and still in 3G until I stepped foot outside the terminal building to get my car. Is that bad LTE? Is that bad or no Network Vision? Is that Sprint? Is that the way all LTE is? I dont know, it seems to be the way LTE just works to me, extremely signal strength sensitive, but I do know the same exact thing used to happen with WiMax.

 

Elevator shafts and stairwells are fire rated. They are tough to get any signal in them when they are located on the out aside of a building and impossible on the inside. I have two Verizon devices. They also do not work in stairwells and elevator shafts. It's not a Sprint thing...it's a physics thing.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[Joeynach]

Elevator shafts and stairwells are fire rated. They are tough to get any signal in them when they are located on the out aside of a building and impossible on the inside. I have two Verizon devices. They also do not work in stairwells and elevator shafts. It's not a Sprint thing...it's a physics thing.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

 

Oh yes I am well aware signal strength is not supposed to be good by any stretch in places such as stairwells and elevator shafts. Same thing with radio signals in parking garages, I remember from light and optics physic courses in college learning parking structures are concrete bowls which disrupt radio signals. I think my point was more like, several years ago there was no 4G so there was no switching between 3G and 4G. So we notice it a lot more as the phones performance is quite drastic when it changes between them now. Many of the old cellular signal problems feel like they have comeback to life now with using 4G, again with both WiMax and LTE I have noticed this. And I mean like back in the day remember when reception would get poor and signals would fade as soon as you went inside a building, or basement, or garage, or bathroom, or under a viaduct, etc etc. My point is the whole disparity and drops between 3G and 4G seems just as frequent to me as those old call drops and "signal faded lost call" messages I used to get with my startac back in 2000. I was making an assumption that it probably wasn't just sprint's 4G but the technology itself, but I cant be sure since I haven't seen the 4G performance or saturation on other networks.

[Joeynach]

Just curious if there is an absolute end date to Samsung's work to the Chicagoland's area towers. Like a date on the calendar where their contract with Sprint ends and all work must be finished and all towers upgrades complete. Perhaps it doesn't work like that, but if it does is there a date in mind that we could all point to an say XXx-yy is the day every Tower in Chicago area will be fully upgraded and all work complete.

[S4GRU]

Just curious if there is an absolute end date to Samsung's work to the Chicagoland's area towers. Like a date on the calendar where their contract with Sprint ends and all work must be finished and all towers upgrades complete. Perhaps it doesn't work like that, but if it does is there a date in mind that we could all point to an say XXx-yy is the day every Tower in Chicago area will be fully upgraded and all work complete.

 

There probably is. But it is not info that we have been privy to.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[mhammett]

Elevator shafts and stairwells are fire rated. They are tough to get any signal in them when they are located on the out aside of a building and impossible on the inside. I have two Verizon devices. They also do not work in stairwells and elevator shafts. It's not a Sprint thing...it's a physics thing.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

 

Sounds like a great use case for an in-building solution. I'm actually surprised there isn't more of this sort of thing... the cellular operators putting leaky coax through the centers of these tall buildings.

 

We WISPs may be behind in some measures, but the cellular guys are just starting things that we thought of 8 years ago. (pico cells)

[supert0nes]

 

Sounds like a great use case for an in-building solution. I'm actually surprised there isn't more of this sort of thing... the cellular operators putting leaky coax through the centers of these tall buildings.

 

We WISPs may be behind in some measures' date=' but the cellular guys are just starting things that we thought of 8 years ago. (pico cells)[/quote']

 

There are plenty of good ideas but you can only do so much at once when you have to deploy in every city across America.

 

Sent from phone

[Joeynach]

Sounds like a great use case for an in-building solution. I'm actually surprised there isn't more of this sort of thing... the cellular operators putting leaky coax through the centers of these tall buildings.

 

We WISPs may be behind in some measures, but the cellular guys are just starting things that we thought of 8 years ago. (pico cells)

 

I work in a very large and iconic building on Jackson. I know for a fact either ATT or Verizon has microsites in our building or on our roof. Our tech staff told me this is the case b/c we made an agreement with them to be our wireless provider, we have over 1000 employees in the building, and we needed better in building coverage. So the carrier put some sites in or on the building to increase coverage and capacity for us.

[S4GRU]

Sprint has thousands of in-building solutions sites inside buildings all over the country. However, IBS sites are requested by the property owner and the property owner provides the backhaul. If your building has AT&T and VZW IBS sites, then that is the carriers your building owner wanted.

 

In public venues, Sprint can set up DAS and micro/pico cells.

 

Robert via LG Optimus G using Tapatalk

 

 

[Luke0536]

 

 

Defenitely. I work in a building that was built during the 1960's and previously could only get 1 bar wit the cell tower only being a half a mile away. After installing the 800MHZ prl, i'm getting 5 bars all day everyday.

 

 

it has made a difference. I could only get lte in the parking lot where I work at. speed test would show about 10 mbs and once in the door the phone would go into 3 g. last night I was pulling 5 to 6 mbs throughout the whole building.

 

merrillville Indiana

[aerxx]

That could simply be a radio tilt adjustment on a tower or another tower going active to further saturate the area youre in.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forum Runner

[Adam G]

I work in a very large and iconic building on Jackson. I know for a fact either ATT or Verizon has microsites in our building or on our roof. Our tech staff told me this is the case b/c we made an agreement with them to be our wireless provider, we have over 1000 employees in the building, and we needed better in building coverage. So the carrier put some sites in or on the building to increase coverage and capacity for us.

FWIW, we have a US Cellular tower on the roof of 105 W. Adams. I work for the building owner.

[Joeynach]

Anyone know why this situation would happen. So I am at the Bulls game last night with my buddy, both of us have the exact same phones, both have Sprint, both have the exact same plan actually. So we are sitting in our seats and for most of the game I have no service, either no bars, or searching, and he has full 3G. All my data requests time out, can't even send texts. His though slow b/c of 3G, was working just fine. How could this be with the same plan, provider, and phone?

[WiWavelength]

How could this be with the same plan, provider, and phone?

 

The two phones hashed to different carrier channels.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-318-can-toggling-airplane-mode-actually-improve-your-3g-data-speeds/

 

AJ

[Joeynach]

The two phones hashed to different carrier channels.

 

http://s4gru.com/ind...3g-data-speeds/

 

AJ

 

Awesome, thank you. Makes a lot of sense too.

[Joeynach]

So Chicago Loop has a couple of new NV towers, the first of which I have seen in a couple months. CH03XC001 is now LTE, located on Ohio and LSD. CH03XC0022 is now 3G/800, located on Washington & Clinton. Great news, should provide better service to the Navy Pier, Oak St Beach, Streeterville and Ogilvy/Union Station areas just ahead of the busy spring and summer season.

 

Add the tower directly across from Wrigley Field and Clark & Addison to this list too, now 3G/800. Hopefully this really helps to coverage and capacity in and around the ballpark with opening day just two weeks away. Really glad to see Sprint get the timing right on that one.