Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[Bird_Chicago]

Not sure what handset you have, but maybe loading digiblur's prl to force 800 might help that. If your signal is weak, it should be grabbing it automatically.

I have the same issues using the following phones: Nexus 5, HTC One, and Galaxy S 3/4.

[WiWavelength]

Maybe that's why my calls are clear to my wife. We both have a 5s. Not sure if it's hd capable, but I'm assuming it is.

 

As far as we know, no iPhone HD Voice on Sprint -- only on T-Mobile, possibly AT&T, too.

 

AJ

[Vince]

As far as we know, no iPhone HD Voice on Sprint -- only on T-Mobile, possibly AT&T, too.

 

AJ

Well then, kudos to sprint for their voice quality/coverage.

[drock2750]

The HD voice frequency response is much improved...the old bell labs spec was 300Hz-3kHz, but cell phones typically don't even perform that well. Apparently, sprint is sampling at 16kHz for HD voice, so frequency response should top out around 7 or (theoretically) 8kHz, so there is so much more high end...it's refreshing. Extending frequency response down below 300 would be useless. I would bet that the codec discards that low frequency information.

[WiWavelength]

Does anyone have an understanding of what the spectrum holdings for voice and LTE are for the other major providers in the Chicago Metro area (T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T)?  I am most concerned with the Loop to Elgin area. I am also interested in the frequencies the spectrum is (800, 1700, 1900, 2500, etc.) Are there any other enthusiasts that have already compiled this information?

 

The answer to both of your questions is yes.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

Can anyone remind me again what it means when a site goes from the red label of 3G only to the teal lablel of 3G/800? Does that mean the tower received its hardware upgrades, but is waiting for backhaul before going LTE active? I noticed the two West Loop towers recently went teal from red, still 3G, but I can't remember what this transition means for the prognosis of getting LTE soon.

It just means that now CDMA (think voice and SMS) are now upgraded on 1900MHz and 800MHz. On the maps, 3G = CDMA 1900. And 800 = CDMA 800. This entails 1x voice and data on 1900MHz and 800MHz respectively.

 

This has no bearing whether the backhaul has been upgraded or LTE is immanent. CDMA 800 does not require upgraded backhaul and can run on T1's just fine.

 

There are not many sites in the Chicago market with no LTE. The ones remaining have significant issues and will be handled one at a time as they are resolved. Everything that can be done easily is done.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[drock2750]

Are there limits to how wide an LTE carrier can be? I was under the impression that Sprint had quite a bit more than 20 mHz up in band 41, but are we more likely to see multiple 20 mHz carriers rather than one huge one? I'm not even going to ask about MIMO...don't want to make a post that asks 50 different questions, but if anybody could direct me to a thread which discusses inter and intraband aggregation with spark I'd appreciate it! 

[WiWavelength]

Are there limits to how wide an LTE carrier can be?

 

For most equipment -- both eNodeB and UE -- 20 MHz FDD is the current limit.  Beyond that, carrier aggregation will probably be used if greater than 20 MHz FDD speed and capacity is desired.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

The purpose of this thread is to track Sprint progress in the Chicago market. We aren't going to allow a carrier by carrier analysis over which one is best in Chicago. We are not here to host or provide that analysis for you.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[Joeynach]

Ya know I have one burning question about NV that I have never fully understood.  Maybe anyone on this board can answer.  So when Sprint talks about Tri-Band LTE, are they using one set of infrastructure and broadcasting three frequencies from the same tower/panels?  Like are all Sprint's towers going to be broadcasting all three frequencies, or is Tri-Band an amalgamation of three separate tower networks, Sprint's towers for 1900, Clearwire's for 2500, and Nextel's for 800?

[jamisonshaw125]

Ya know I have one burning question about NV that I have never fully understood.  Maybe anyone on this board can answer.  So when Sprint talks about Tri-Band LTE, are they using one set of infrastructure and broadcasting three frequencies from the same tower/panels?  Like are all Sprint's towers going to be broadcasting all three frequencies, or is Tri-Band an amalgamation of three separate tower networks, Sprint's towers for 1900, Clearwire's for 2500, and Nextel's for 800?

Part of network vision was decommissioning thousands of sites. This is only possible because they are converting each tower into multi-modal towers (able to broadcast more than one frequency in this case). So yes, from 1 tower 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp_jpIdr_uw

Good video explaining.

[cdk]

Ya know I have one burning question about NV that I have never fully understood.  Maybe anyone on this board can answer.  So when Sprint talks about Tri-Band LTE, are they using one set of infrastructure and broadcasting three frequencies from the same tower/panels?  Like are all Sprint's towers going to be broadcasting all three frequencies, or is Tri-Band an amalgamation of three separate tower networks, Sprint's towers for 1900, Clearwire's for 2500, and Nextel's for 800?

 

The panels and other equipment that are being deployed as part of NV 1.0 are capable of broadcasting on 800 & 1900. These locations are existing Sprint locations. In some cases new towers have been added. From the information we have a 100 Nextel sites are also being converted to NV with the same equipment.

 

NV 2.0 will see the deployment of 2500 (and the needed equipment) at the current Sprint sites (and eventually other sites).

 

The initial 2500 deployment that is occuring at the former Clearwire locations.Some of these sites are separate sites, some are shared sites. I haven't seen any information to suggest that the current shared sites are having their equipment consolidated into the same rack or cabinets. This will probably happen sometime during NV 2.0.

 

The frequencies being used are an amalgation of the three networks, however the equipment isn't.

[Joeynach]

The panels and other equipment that are being deployed as part of NV 1.0 are capable of broadcasting on 800 & 1900. These locations are existing Sprint locations. In some cases new towers have been added. From the information we have a 100 Nextel sites are also being converted to NV with the same equipment.

 

NV 2.0 will see the deployment of 2500 (and the needed equipment) at the current Sprint sites (and eventually other sites).

 

The initial 2500 deployment that is occuring at the former Clearwire locations.Some of these sites are separate sites, some are shared sites. I haven't seen any information to suggest that the current shared sites are having their equipment consolidated into the same rack or cabinets. This will probably happen sometime during NV 2.0.

 

The frequencies being used are an amalgation of the three networks, however the equipment isn't.

Im curious what Sprint is doing with all the de-commishined Clearwire WiMax sites.  There have to be hundreds in each markets and tens of thousands nation wide; towers, panels, cabinet hardware.  What is to be done with all that?

[cdk]

Im curious what Sprint is doing with all the de-commishined Clearwire WiMax sites.  There have to be hundreds in each markets and tens of thousands nation wide; towers, panels, cabinet hardware.  What is to be done with all that?

 

They aren't decommisioning the Clear sites. They are being converted. If they are in the same location as a current Sprint site, the equipment will eventually be moved to the same rack on the tower and same cabinets on the ground (but that is not happening yet). The separate Clear sites will in general remain as 2500 only locations.

[jamisonshaw125]

NEvermind: I accidentally the internet. Please delete. 

 

[tommym65]

Im curious what Sprint is doing with all the de-commishined Clearwire WiMax sites.  There have to be hundreds in each markets and tens of thousands nation wide; towers, panels, cabinet hardware.  What is to be done with all that?

 

At this time, there is no indication that Sprint has decommissioned any Clear sites.  The Premier Sponsor maps show essentially all of the Clear sites as scheduled for 2500 LTE, at least in those markets where any schedule is shown.  Specifically in Chicagoland, I have charted a bunch of Clear sites between Elgin and the Loop, some of which seem to be stand-alone and some co-located, but all of which are carryovers from Wimax.  Again, The Band 41 maps for Chicagoland show all of the local Wimax sites as being scheduled for upgrade to LTE.

 

[Edit: And it's Clear that cdk types faster than I do. ]

[cdk]

[Edit: And it's Clear that cdk types faster than I do. ]

 

I am rarely accused of being fast at anything....

[WiWavelength]

I am rarely accused of being fast at anything....

 

That is NOT what she said.

 

 

AJ

[jreuschl]

Sprint coverage maps seem to indicate most of Chicago is Spark ready. Doesn't sound like that is true?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[tommym65]

Sprint coverage maps seem to indicate most of Chicago is Spark ready. Doesn't sound like that is true?Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

See my post 3 up from yours, and also one I just did in the Milwaukee thread. Chicago is in fact pretty Sparky.

[jreuschl]

See my post 3 up from yours, and also one I just did in the Milwaukee thread. Chicago is in fact pretty Sparky.

 

My bad.  Didn't see many users commenting it and if that helped speeds, I did see one that made marginal improvement!

 

Any comments from others if they are getting any improvement if you have a LTE multi-band device?

[Joeynach]

So I have been monitoring my LTE signal strength around town now that I upgraded to Signal Check Pro.  Though I am wondering is the 1xRTT signal strength (which operates on 800Mhz freq right?) an indication of what we can expect once we have full B26 LTE on 800Mhz in place?  Needless to say that 1XRTT signal is very very strong all over town, indoors and out, basements, stairwells, etc.  As most know the LTE signal on 1900Mhz is usually gone once inside a big structure or lower level.

[tommym65]

So I have been monitoring my LTE signal strength around town now that I upgraded to Signal Check Pro. Though I am wondering is the 1xRTT signal strength (which operates on 800Mhz freq right?) an indication of what we can expect once we have full B26 LTE on 800Mhz in place? Needless to say that 1XRTT signal is very very strong all over town, indoors and out, basements, stairwells, etc. As most know the LTE signal on 1900Mhz is usually gone once inside a big structure or lower level.

"1xRTT" on Signal Check is 1900 voice/text - if you're on 800 voice/text, Signal Check shows "1x800". People in this forum far more knowledgeable than I am have suggested that B26 usability will fall somewhere between 1900 LTE and 800 voice: The RSRP (or RSSI or whatever) will be similar to 800, but due to the fragility of the LTE protocol itself, 800 LTE will not usable quite as far away from the antennas or as deep into structures as 800 voice.

[Joeynach]

"1xRTT" on Signal Check is 1900 voice/text - if you're on 800 voice/text, Signal Check shows "1x800". People in this forum far more knowledgeable than I am have suggested that B26 usability will fall somewhere between 1900 LTE and 800 voice: The RSRP (or RSSI or whatever) will be similar to 800, but due to the fragility of the LTE protocol itself, 800 LTE will not usable quite as far away from the antennas or as deep into structures as 800 voice.

Thanks for the clarification, didn't realize I was getting 1900 Voice/Text on 1xRTT.  I do get a strong 1x800 signal in my office where my LTE is weak and borderline fallback, so right there in that instance the idea of 800LTE will probably broadcast a stronger more useable signal there.  Even if as you 800LTE will fall somewhere between 1900LTE and 800 voice, it will be a considerable upgrade in not only my office, but many high rises and urban structures downtown.  To bad I don't have a B26 device.  Oh well.

[JossMan]

Thanks for the clarification, didn't realize I was getting 1900 Voice/Text on 1xRTT.  I do get a strong 1x800 signal in my office where my LTE is weak and borderline fallback, so right there in that instance the idea of 800LTE will probably broadcast a stronger more useable signal there.  Even if as you 800LTE will fall somewhere between 1900LTE and 800 voice, it will be a considerable upgrade in not only my office, but many high rises and urban structures downtown.  To bad I don't have a B26 device.  Oh well.

We are all here to help, if we keep gaining knowledge from each other we will be able to maintain Sprint's new network once all the new hardware goodies are installed and 100% completed.    But yes 1x RTT stands for "1 times radio transmission technology," which is 1900MHz PCS.  1x 800 will do a good job penetrating walls, buildings, dense areas, etc...but has its downs as well just as other higher frequencies.  I use to be a police officer/firefighter for 5 years and we utilized a county-wide radio system that was a Motorola 800 trucked system, every time we had to go down into a parking garage or apartment tower no radio service which was a safety issue.  But again this was a radio system and I'm 90% sure site/repeater spacing was the biggest culprit.  Sprint has plenty of sites here and 1900 does a good job around here so hopefully 800 will just make the experience even better.