Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[bucdenny]

It's fantastic. Coverage for voice and data in Chicago have been excellent for a year or so. I always have a great signal wherever I go. I've never had a call not go through, or have people tell me it's going straight to voicemail ever since network vision 1.0 basically completed here. Dropped calls were never an issue for me until last week when I suddenly began dropping several calls per day in different areas on the south side. Not sure if that was some weird fluke, or if some kind of network tuning was going on at the time. There's so much potential from Sprint, especially here in Chicago. They just need to get the ball rolling a little faster on things. Patience will pay off. Not to mention, with Framily I've been able to knock my line down to $46/mo with insurance. No carrier can beat that price for unlimited everything.

 

How did you the price down to $46?  25+20+11?  Must be a huge discount somewhere.

[Joeynach]

I get mad at my phone when it switches to 1900 pcs, because 800 is so much better. I have typically 4 to 5 bars on 800 to 2-3 though in areas that pcs would have one if you were lucky.

Same exact feeling here, when my phone is on 1XRTT I get upset, I can tell the difference in voice coverage and quality.  I have call quality issues when connected to 1XRTT, it can get choppy at times, and yes thats indoors in city locations (home, office, shopping centers).  When I am connected to 1x800 for voice I don't have any issues.  For whatever reason I still see 1xRTT connections probably about 40% of the time around town daily.

[AMD64]

How did you the price down to $46? 25+20+11? Must be a huge discount somewhere.

I like to know too lol . my bill is $150 for 2 lines and that's after %25 work discount

 

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[Vince]

How did you the price down to $46? 25+20+11? Must be a huge discount somewhere.

I have a framily of 10 people. And yes, 25+20+11.

 

Edit: I meant that my bill is 56. I originally stated it was 46.

[Vince]

I get mad at my phone when it switches to 1900 pcs, because 800 is so much better. I have typically 4 to 5 bars on 800 to 2-3 though in areas that pcs would have one if you were lucky.

Same exact feeling here, when my phone is on 1XRTT I get upset, I can tell the difference in voice coverage and quality. I have call quality issues when connected to 1XRTT, it can get choppy at times, and yes thats indoors in city locations (home, office, shopping centers). When I am connected to 1x800 for voice I don't have any issues. For whatever reason I still see 1xRTT connections probably about 40% of the time around town daily.

There is no difference in quality between the two frequencies. It's just some kind of placebo effect where you just think it's better. Yes, 1x800 has better coverage, but to say the voice quality is better is just nonsense. This is digital technology we're talking about. There's little degradation. You either have a working signal or you don't.

[Joeynach]

There is no difference in quality between the two frequencies. It's just some kind of placebo effect where you just think it's better. Yes, 1x800 has better coverage, but to say the voice quality is better is just nonsense. This is digital technology we're talking about. There's little degradation. You either have a working signal or you don't.

I meant quality not in turn of bandwidth of the voice channel and HD quality levels, I meant in terms of the 1900Mhz signal gets choppy indoors as signal strength rises and falls, its much more sensitive to subtle movements and your placement indoors (near window, basement, bathrooms, stairwells).  When connected to 1x800 for voice those issues tend to go away, I assume because the signal is natively stronger, even indoors.  But my point was I am not 100% connected to 1x800 around Chicago, I still see 1xRTT (1900Mhz) a decent amount and when that happens I get choppy voice calls from time to time.

[Vince]

I was out in Elmhurst running some errands earlier when I saw this little guy on York St. and I-290. This tower can't be taller than 25'. Probably the lowest cell tower I've ever seen.

 

From York St.

 

From EB I-290

[cdk]

I was out in Elmhurst running some errands earlier when I saw this little guy on York St. and I-290. This tower can't be taller than 25'. Probably the lowest cell tower I've ever seen.

 

Wow. That is low.

[runagun]

ya, those where former nextel sites mainly for capacity.  Theres a few more if you were to take 290w on your right hand side.

[Vince]

Does anyone else check the nv sites complete map when trying to decide between bars and restaurants? This is where my life is right now. Friends of mine picked a bar in the south burbs 3 miles from a tower in one of my known "terrible 3G" zones. Tonight would be a great night for band 26 to appear around here

[jamisonshaw125]

Does anyone else check the nv sites complete map when trying to decide between bars and restaurants? This is where my life is right now. Friends of mine picked a bar in the south burbs 3 miles from a tower in one of my known "terrible 3G" zones. Tonight would be a great night for band 26 to appear around here

Recently made a trip to Miami. I checked every single area of where I was going to be to see how my LTE service would be. The condo I stayed in had amazing coverage even on the 10th floor ( and this was in a very populated area at both night and day). I was very impressed.

[cdk]

Does anyone else check the nv sites complete map when trying to decide between bars and restaurants? This is where my life is right now. Friends of mine picked a bar in the south burbs 3 miles from a tower in one of my known "terrible 3G" zones. Tonight would be a great night for band 26 to appear around here

 

On my trip home over the holidays I planned my route to pass the maximize number of unmapped towers on Sensorly....

[mhammett]

US cellular spectrum. Might as well do this if they are working on these sites at present. There is possibly already good back haul infrastructure in the area feeding the university.

There is already a ton of fiber out here. It has been that way for years. The entire county has good fiber coverage. I have fiber at my farm house (though I am special). That's why the delays were so dreadful. There was already non-ILEC fiber at or in front of most Sprint towers. Also, there is no USCC sourced spectrum out here. The Kane/DeKalb County line is where the split is. The site that has been lit up is a high or super high density site (not sure which). There are multiple NV sectors serving a given 120 degrees.

 

I don't know much about Dekalb, but with 22K students and the native population of the city of about 45K I wouldn't expect too good of an LTE experience while accessing this tower, especially on the sectors facing north (campus). Were talking a population of about 65K and one LTE active tower. The other campus and city tower are likely going to have be activated before the LTE experience probably reflects the LTE experience most are expecting/waiting for. Maybe Mhammett can chime in since he is on the ground in that area.

I pointed it out above, but the lit one does have several panels. The other sites will be needed for coverage. The other campus tower is a wholly new site. A lot of the edges can already get some LTE from the rural and Sycamore sites.

 

I am not sure Dekalb had any WiMax coverage from Clearwire.

Clear passed over us. The nearest sites were in the Wasco/St. Charles/Geneva area.

 

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[mhammett]

I was out in Elmhurst running some errands earlier when I saw this little guy on York St. and I-290. This tower can't be taller than 25'. Probably the lowest cell tower I've ever seen.

 

From York St.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1394309789.503582.jpg

 

From EB I-290

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1394309814.670176.jpg

There is a short one on 90 between 290 and 94.

 

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[mhammett]

talk You could be getting LTE from the tower on University Rd. or possibly (though doubtful) Lee Rd. The new site (Lincoln Tower Apartments) is pretty low elevation and may have reduced TPO or heavy downtilt to not interfere with the GYP site.

[mhammett]

I'm by Lincoln Tower Apartments and no LTE. LTE Discovery keeps cycling.

 

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[mhammett]

Okay, I believe only one out of the five or six PCS radios has LTE running. I drove an almost complete circle around it and it seems like one out of two radios on one sector was doing LTE. I had Sensorly running, so we'll see how the signal maps out. I'm guessing it was only over 60° north to northwest.

 

Also, I went to a hill to the south, so I was close to 0° elevation WRT the roof. No LTE and a poor (given the circumstances) 1x. eHRPD peaked at -49 about 3/4 mile away.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/qiq3sca7tmwf785/hNJtYbfqY9

 

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[Mobilesolutions]

I was out in Elmhurst running some errands earlier when I saw this little guy on York St. and I-290. This tower can't be taller than 25'. Probably the lowest cell tower I've ever seen.

 

From York St.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1394309789.503582.jpg

 

From EB I-290

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1394309814.670176.jpg

 

That's a 40 footer!  The shortest of it's kind 

[Vince]

Can't be. That overpass is like 14-15 feet (I'm a trucker and observe bridges daily). Maybe 30.

[Joeynach]

Okay, I believe only one out of the five or six PCS radios has LTE running. I drove an almost complete circle around it and it seems like one out of two radios on one sector was doing LTE. I had Sensorly running, so we'll see how the signal maps out. I'm guessing it was only over 60° north to northwest.

 

Also, I went to a hill to the south, so I was close to 0° elevation WRT the roof. No LTE and a poor (given the circumstances) 1x. eHRPD peaked at -49 about 3/4 mile away.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/qiq3sca7tmwf785/hNJtYbfqY9

 

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What exactly are you trying to say here, is this about the one active LTE site in Dekalb?

[mhammett]

What exactly are you trying to say here, is this about the one active LTE site in Dekalb?

 

Correct, it is about DeKalb's LTE site. Does that clear it up?

[Joeynach]

Correct, it is about DeKalb's LTE site. Does that clear it up?

I think you are saying there is something up with that one LTE site, that its not fully broadcasting LTE in all direction, one just one of the six panels?  If so why would that be, is this normal to see?

[mhammett]

I think you are saying there is something up with that one LTE site, that its not fully broadcasting LTE in all direction, one just one of the six panels?  If so why would that be, is this normal to see?

That is what I am saying and I do not know why. My Sensorly data is now live so you can kind of see what I'm talking about. I didn't get time to do a more thorough drive, but I'll try to this week.

 

Actually, now that I conferred with network.sprint.com, I actually think that S4GRU has incorrect information. All of our LTE sites that have been live for a while show, "2 data speed upgrades". The ones that haven't only show one. The new site in town shows two upgrades whereas the one indicated as upgraded on S4GRU only shows one. More extensive driving will hopefully bear some of this out.

[S4GRU]

That is what I am saying and I do not know why. My Sensorly data is now live so you can kind of see what I'm talking about. I didn't get time to do a more thorough drive, but I'll try to this week.

 

Actually, now that I conferred with network.sprint.com, I actually think that S4GRU has incorrect information. All of our LTE sites that have been live for a while show, "2 data speed upgrades". The ones that haven't only show one. The new site in town shows two upgrades whereas the one indicated as upgraded on S4GRU only shows one. More extensive driving will hopefully bear some of this out.

 

Please message me any sites that you think could be mislabeled.  We now have an automated system for updates and things may go awry.  i can manually go back and look at acceptance reports and verify if something appears incorrect.  Thanks.

 

Robert

[mhammett]

Please message me any sites that you think could be mislabeled. We now have an automated system for updates and things may go awry. i can manually go back and look at acceptance reports and verify if something appears incorrect. Thanks.

 

Robert

I'll reserve official complaint until I'm certain. ;-)

 

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