Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[ChiWestLoop]

I don't know, my gut tells me the Red Line project contract is structured that way b/c the project is funded by and serves public domain.  I doubt there are anything near the kind of scheduling penalties the Red Line project has in comparison to the NV build out by Samsung here in Chicago.  I think the emphasis on Chicago comes strategically from Sprint marketing.  They have been very very active in promoting, promising, and now flaunting their new all LTE network in Chicago.  Their are signs, ads, and sponsorships tags everywhere in this city now.

How's LTE working around the Loop and West Loop lately? Did they flip the switch on 800MHz voice already? I'm planning to upgrade to the iPhone 5S very soon and as I own a 4S I don't currently have LTE. 3G around the Loop and West Loop has been improving lately but I'm anxious to leave that old technology behind.

[mhammett]

Where are these acceptance reports?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Dkoellerwx]

Where are these acceptance reports?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3913-network-vision-site-acceptance-report-updates/page-4

 

Have you really been missing these all this time?

[athens]

Recently came to Sprint from USCC. Got the 1900 mHZ LTE Moto X. Out on the street in front of my house signal was all LTE,

 

Speedtest showed 57 ms latency and 4mb/sec downloads.

 

Walked inoto the house: 1st floor, which is double masonary construction: 1 bar 3G signal,

120 ms latency, download speeds <300 kb/sec.

 

Now I walk upstairs where the construction is frame and voila: 4G signal just like outside the house

 

Will the launch of 800 mHz here in Chicago is there any chance the 1900 mHz signal will improve to allow 4G to penetrate the walls of the masonary part of the home?

 

Or am I better off swapping to a dual band device like the I-Phone 5S to catch the 800 mHz signal when it goes live?

 

Thanks to all in advance.

[Dkoellerwx]

Recently came to Sprint from USCC. Got the 1900 mHZ LTE Moto X. Out on the street in front of my house signal was all LTE,

 

Speedtest showed 57 ms latency and 4mb/sec downloads.

 

Walked inoto the house: 1st floor, which is double masonary construction: 1 bar 3G signal,

120 ms latency, download speeds <300 kb/sec.

 

Now I walk upstairs where the construction is frame and voila: 4G signal just like outside the house

 

Will the launch of 800 mHz here in Chicago is there any chance the 1900 mHz signal will improve to allow 4G to penetrate the walls of the masonary part of the home?

 

Or am I better off swapping to a dual band device like the I-Phone 5S to catch the 800 mHz signal when it goes live?

 

Thanks to all in advance.

 

Did you not get an answer in the other thread you posted this in?

[mhammett]

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3913-network-vision-site-acceptance-report-updates/page-4

 

Have you really been missing these all this time?

Hah, apparently so.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Joeynach]

How's LTE working around the Loop and West Loop lately? Did they flip the switch on 800MHz voice already? I'm planning to upgrade to the iPhone 5S very soon and as I own a 4S I don't currently have LTE. 3G around the Loop and West Loop has been improving lately but I'm anxious to leave that old technology behind.

Progress creeps along slowly but surely, a few sites turn 4G every month.  One of the two towers at McCormick Place turned 4G, one of the towers on North Mich Ave turned 4G.  Heck Sprint even got with the program and tied into the DAS at Solider Field and now offers much improved service there.  I was told the remaining two towers in the West Loop are schedule for 4G within the next 90 days.  It appears the end of 2013 really is the date they want to finally have all the towers slated for 4G finally upgraded.  Makes NV phase 1 and 18 month project when you think about it.

 

I can't say much for the switch to 800Mhz LTE, I have a GS3 so I won't be able to pick it up anyway without getting a phone that accepts the 800Mhz band like the new iPhone 5S.  However, I dont believe they have actively made the switch to turn on 800Mhz LTE yet.  Lord knows it will be such an improvement when they do granted you have a capable phone.  LTE goes bye bye in 80% if the buildings and homes I walk into right away.

[Luke0536]

Made a mistake with this. I think i'm actually getting LTE from over in Valparaiso. I only get LTE in my apartment (2nd level) in Portage. Not getting it once I go downstairs and/or get in my car.

tower at us30 and Randolph, nwi, was just updated to lte. the lte reaches the deep river park on county line, not much further north. I mapped it on sensorly. I'm also getting signs of lte on my back deck around 10 pm near central ave and union st in lake station. hope that's a good sign.

[mdob07]

Not only was the site acceptance report update the most activity I've ever seen from Chicago, but it seems they've been pretty productive in other cities as well!. I wonder if Sprints contract with Samsung has penalties for each day that the project is behind the original completion date. I know the contractor doing the red line reconstruction has to cough up thousands of dollars per day if they don't finish on time. Funny how that can get a contractor to stick to a schedule! 

Should have seen the reports from a year ago when Chicago was in full swing. One week period, Oct last year:

 Chicago (217),

[Rawvega]

 

Will the launch of 800 mHz here in Chicago is there any chance the 1900 mHz signal will improve to allow 4G to penetrate the walls of the masonry part of the home?

 

 

Or am I better off swapping to a dual band device like the I-Phone 5S to catch the 800 mHz signal when it goes live?

 

 

The launch of 800MHz LTE won't improve 1900MHz signal. It may free up some capacity on the 1900MHz LTE network as more subscribers begin to utilize LTE 800.

 

Being in the Chicago market with 2.5GHz TD-LTE ready to go, you really would better off trying to finagle some kind of way to hold off swapping devices until a tri-band phone such as the G2 or Galaxy S4 mini is available. Since Apple chose not to include SVLTE (simultaneous voice and LTE) in the new iPhones, there just isn't any advantage, besides time to market, in getting one of their dual band phones instead a tri-band phone unless you just prefer iOS. However, since you currently have a Moto X, I'm guessing that that's not the case.

[athens]

Do you have any suggestions for how I might be able to finagle a future swap date for a tri-band Android device?

 

Since I would never consider a Phablet like the LG G2, the Galaxy 4 mini sounds tempting...though I'm really used to Moto's superior battery charge life.

 

Again explain to me, in lay terms, why the dual-band I-Phone 5s wouldn't be advantageous for pulling data on 800mHz.

 

As I said Sprint has told us we have 60 days No Risk cancellation here in Chicago

 

Will the Galaxy 4S Mini be here within that time frame ( I have 55 days remaining).

 

Is the HTC One Mini headed Sprint's way in Tri-Band, or the Moto X?

 

(FYI again the 3G signal is so weak inside my house this morning that the Moto X can't sync my Yahoo Email.)

[cdk]

 

 

Again explain to me, in lay terms, why the dual-band I-Phone 5s wouldn't be advantageous for pulling data on 800mHz.

 

As I said Sprint has told us we have 60 days No Risk cancellation here in Chicago

 

Will the Galaxy 4S Mini be here within that time frame ( I have 55 days remaining).

 

Is the HTC One Mini headed Sprint's way in Tri-Band, or the Moto X?

 

(FYI again the 3G signal is so weak inside my house this morning that the Moto X can't sync my Yahoo Email.)

 

The iPhone would be able to pull 800 MHz LTE once it is available. It won't be able to pull the 2500/2600MHz LTE though, and from information that is out there we know Chicago will probably have widespread 2500/2600 LTE first (and soon). I think that is why people are suggesting a tri-band phone.

 

I don't think the One- Mini or Moto X will be triband, but I maybe wrong. I would look in smart phone section and read there.

[athens]

Thanks

[mhammett]

Yeah, it was installed in 2011. Last I heard only Vzw was tied into it.  But this was a few years back. 

 

On a side note I gotta tip my hat to ATT. They've been hauling ass building DAS sites all across the country. Its Great they make them for all carriers to tap into.  

 

Where is it at? All of the carriers seem to have towers around NIU, so I'm not sure who would be on a DAS.

[mhammett]

I felt a sharp prod but only because I stumbled upon this thread. If you want my input, you need to let me know more explicitly.

 

AJ

 

Do you have any numbers as far as how much real world traffic saturates the airlinks? I'm not talking the 37.5 meg best case.

[runagun]

Couldn't tell ya. Its been so long since I talked to someone in IT about it. 

 

www.niutoday.info/2011/08/29/verizon-wireless-enhancement-benefits-niu/

 

 

Where is it at? All of the carriers seem to have towers around NIU, so I'm not sure who would be on a DAS.

[aerxx]

Couldn't tell ya. Its been so long since I talked to someone in IT about it. 

 

www.niutoday.info/2011/08/29/verizon-wireless-enhancement-benefits-niu/

 

 

Where is it at? All of the carriers seem to have towers around NIU, so I'm not sure who would be on a DAS.

 

All University owned phones are on Verizon.

[tommym65]

A Miracle has apparently happened!!!!!

 

Site CH[censored] at Routes 31 and 176 in Crystal Lake, IL, has gone live with Band 25 LTE only 14 months after the NV hardware was installed!  This morning, I clocked data speeds up to 34.4 Mbps down and 10.4 Mbps up, with pings between 53 and 85 ms.

 

 

Why is this important? Because several sites in the far Chicago exurbs (Crystal Lake, Dekalb, others) have been stalled for months, for no visible reason. The upgraded Network vision hardware was visibly installed (new antennas, RRUs) in the summer of 2012, and in a number of cases, 800 SMR for voice and text was activated in the late spring and early summer of this year, and that has been a good thing.  But LTE has been completely missing.

 

3 NV-upgraded sites remain without LTE in Crystal Lake and Cary, and now one can only hope that they get their LTE soonest.

 

Now what will I rant about?  Hmmm.  Well, I was actually chasing Band 41 on a co-located Clear site when I found the new Band 25. No Band 41 evident.  And I have been chasing an elusive Band 41 site in Algonquin, IL, for weeks.  I KNOW where it is, and I get Band 41 signal from it on my Zing only in really odd places, but never near the site itself (so I can't get good speed numbers).  And, oh, yeah, where's that pesky new Band 26?  I guess I'm not out of topics yet.

 

But I am so irrationally happy over today's discovery, I am almost tempted to forgive Sprint for all of its past indiscretions.  Almost. ( )

[kyle_4thousand]

A Miracle has apparently happened!!!!!

 

Site CH[censored] at Routes 31 and 176 in Crystal Lake, IL, has gone live with Band 25 LTE only 14 months after the NV hardware was installed!  This morning, I clocked data speeds up to 34.4 Mbps down and 10.4 Mbps up, with pings between 53 and 85 ms.

Screenshot_1013-09-22-09-05-48.jpg Screenshot_2013-09-22-08-51-23.jpg

 

Why is this important? Because several sites in the far Chicago exurbs (Crystal Lake, Dekalb, others) have been stalled for months, for no visible reason. The upgraded Network vision hardware was visibly installed (new antennas, RRUs) in the summer of 2012, and in a number of cases, 800 SMR for voice and text was activated in the late spring and early summer of this year, and that has been a good thing.  But LTE has been completely missing.

 

3 NV-upgraded sites remain without LTE in Crystal Lake and Cary, and now one can only hope that they get their LTE soonest.

 

Now what will I rant about?  Hmmm.  Well, I was actually chasing Band 41 on a co-located Clear site when I found the new Band 25. No Band 41 evident.  And I have been chasing an elusive Band 41 site in Algonquin, IL, for weeks.  I KNOW where it is, and I get Band 41 signal from it on my Zing only in really odd places, but never near the site itself (so I can't get good speed numbers).  And, oh, yeah, where's that pesky new Band 26?  I guess I'm not out of topics yet.

 

But I am so irrationally happy over today's discovery, I am almost tempted to forgive Sprint for all of its past indiscretions.  Almost. ( )

 

That's some great news, my parents live in Fox River Grove and when I was home from school over the summer I noticed there was a dead spot in CL along route 31 and in Cary. I'm guessing the sites at Cog Circle by Portillo's and the water tower in downtown Cary are still not live with LTE? When I'm out there I mostly see my phone connecting to those sites when I'm in Cary or Crystal lake. When I'm at home in Fox River Grove it's usually a split between Cold Spring Rd, the downtown Cary water tower and the Kelsey Rd site, and LTE being pretty scarce.

 

I know that there is a Clear site located on the Ski Jump in FRG, and that there is a USSC site on top of the FRG water tower. I hope they convert those to NV eventually, because Sprint doesn't have the best coverage in FRG.

 

And those sites that still aren't live with LTE, don't they have microwave back haul installed?

[tommym65]

A Miracle has apparently happened!!!!!

 

Site CH[censored] at Routes 31 and 176 in Crystal Lake, IL, has gone live with Band 25 LTE only 14 months after the NV hardware was installed!  This morning, I clocked data speeds up to 34.4 Mbps down and 10.4 Mbps up, with pings between 53 and 85 ms.

 

And, as if by magic, the upgrade shows up in lovely green on today's updated Sites Accepted map!

[tongboy]

And, as if by magic, the upgrade shows up in lovely green on today's updated Sites Accepted map!

Did the other Crystal Lake sites have improved 3g speed now?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[tommym65]

That's some great news, my parents live in Fox River Grove and when I was home from school over the summer I noticed there was a dead spot in CL along route 31 and in Cary. I'm guessing the sites at Cog Circle by Portillo's and the water tower in downtown Cary are still not live with LTE? When I'm out there I mostly see my phone connecting to those sites when I'm in Cary or Crystal lake. When I'm at home in Fox River Grove it's usually a split between Cold Spring Rd, the downtown Cary water tower and the Kelsey Rd site, and LTE being pretty scarce.

 

I know that there is a Clear site located on the Ski Jump in FRG, and that there is a USSC site on top of the FRG water tower. I hope they convert those to NV eventually, because Sprint doesn't have the best coverage in FRG.

 

And those sites that still aren't live with LTE, don't they have microwave back haul installed?

 

There are 3 remaining non-LTE sites in CL and 1 in downtown Cary (the water tower near Rt. 14). 

 

The Cold Spring Road site is LTE. I think Kelsey Road is LTE.

 

I don't know if the downtown Cary site has NV hardware yet, but I would guess that it does. 

 

The CL sites at 14/31 (Portillo's) and 14/176 are NV-hardware upgraded, have active 800 SMR, have microwave antennas installed, and seem to be waiting for some backhaul issue to be resolved.

 

The last CL site was on a water tower near Bard Rd. that is supposedly being repainted (no work yet), and was temporarily moved to a wooden pole about 3 or 4 weeks ago, so who knows when it will be upgraded. It has neither LTE nor 800 SMR. According to a contractor that I talked to on-site, it has fiber already, and it does have really fast ping for a 3G site. (It is co-located with at least 2 other carriers.)

[tommym65]

Did the other Crystal Lake sites have improved 3g speed now?

 

 

Not that I saw today.

[mhammett]

Couldn't tell ya. Its been so long since I talked to someone in IT about it.

 

www.niutoday.info/2011/08/29/verizon-wireless-enhancement-benefits-niu/

 

 

 

Where is it at? All of the carriers seem to have towers around NIU, so I'm not sure who would be on a DAS.

Hrm, I guess so. If VZ had it installed, its not likely to be open to other carriers. I thought they took care of campus with the clock tower.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[athens]

 

A Miracle has apparently happened!!!!!

 

Site CH[censored] at Routes 31 and 176 in Crystal Lake, IL, has gone live with Band 25 LTE only 14 months after the NV hardware was installed!  This morning, I clocked data speeds up to 34.4 Mbps down and 10.4 Mbps up, with pings between 53 and 85 ms.

Screenshot_1013-09-22-09-05-48.jpg Screenshot_2013-09-22-08-51-23.jpg

 

Why is this important? Because several sites in the far Chicago exurbs (Crystal Lake, Dekalb, others) have been stalled for months, for no visible reason. The upgraded Network vision hardware was visibly installed (new antennas, RRUs) in the summer of 2012, and in a number of cases, 800 SMR for voice and text was activated in the late spring and early summer of this year, and that has been a good thing.  But LTE has been completely missing.

 

3 NV-upgraded sites remain without LTE in Crystal Lake and Cary, and now one can only hope that they get their LTE soonest.

 

Now what will I rant about?  Hmmm.  Well, I was actually chasing Band 41 on a co-located Clear site when I found the new Band 25. No Band 41 evident.  And I have been chasing an elusive Band 41 site in Algonquin, IL, for weeks.  I KNOW where it is, and I get Band 41 signal from it on my Zing only in really odd places, but never near the site itself (so I can't get good speed numbers).  And, oh, yeah, where's that pesky new Band 26?  I guess I'm not out of topics yet.

 

But I am so irrationally happy over today's discovery, I am almost tempted to forgive Sprint for all of its past indiscretions.  Almost. ( )

 

 

Yesterday stopped at the big Starbucks with the drive-thru on US 14 in Crystal Lake.

 

While inside the car I witnessed nothing but 3G on my Moto X with 273 ms ping times and download speeds... when the network would stay connected...of a pathetic 80 kb/sec.

 

Hopefully that has all changed.