Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[always_learner]

Every site is different. Every time this is asked, the answer is the same. One block to 15 miles. Depends on geography, population density, and tower density.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

I understand. I should have specified that my questions were not general regarding band 26 rather specific to where Vince was at the time. Given that his location was clustered in a relatively small geographic region, given how little band 26 there is in Chicago, and given that there would be few people there are on that band, the question is fair.

[gusherb]

I can't wait until band 26 reaches all the places I frequent! I can think of more then a handful of places where PCS LTE on their rather dense network just doesn't reach that I'm always at! (and anything less then 3 bars of EVDO is usually useless) I hope they get this done quickly as my patience are run very thin. (Especially when the big two have only beefed up their networks here and made it that much more enticing to switch back to the one I used to be with)

 

I will be in the city tomorrow, fingers crossed I can sight some band 26 but not holding my breath!

[Vince]

If it was in fact a cluster (as I suspect it was) I can't wait for Robert to update the LTE 800 map and see exactly where these acceptances are, and how many are out there. I know I was hitting different towers as all the numbers on field test were changing while driving. Signal levels were changing, too. It was handing off very well. I can't seem to connect to 26 now when returning to that area, so the network is doing what it's supposed to do. I'm guessing it's because it's late, and this is usually the time of night in Chicago that band 25 is usable. All the data pigs are tucked away at home on wifi

[ChiWestLoop]

How do I make a donation? I want to see the antenna updates.

[njjdnt]

How do I make a donation? I want to see the antenna updates.

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/

[Vince]

How do I make a donation? I want to see the antenna updates.

For band 26/41 tower updates, you need to be a premier sponsor. That requires a minimum of $100 donated.

[ChiWestLoop]

For band 26/41 tower updates, you need to be a premier sponsor. That requires a minimum of $100 donated.

Ouch.......

[Vince]

Ouch.......

No need to fret. It's a total of at least $100 in donations. It doesn't have to be all at once.

[ChiWestLoop]

No need to fret. It's a total of at least $100 in donations. It doesn't have to be all at once.

 

Ok.

[kyle_4thousand]

How exciting! I hope there are more acceptances in the NW burbs. We have a small cluster accepted near East Dundee/Algonquin, but aside from that I haven't heard of any more areas in that vicinity being accepted for B26. I hope we get fully deployed by the end of the month, that would be amazing!

[Joeynach]

If it was in fact a cluster (as I suspect it was) I can't wait for Robert to update the LTE 800 map and see exactly where these acceptances are, and how many are out there. I know I was hitting different towers as all the numbers on field test were changing while driving. Signal levels were changing, too. It was handing off very well. I can't seem to connect to 26 now when returning to that area, so the network is doing what it's supposed to do. I'm guessing it's because it's late, and this is usually the time of night in Chicago that band 25 is usable. All the data pigs are tucked away at home on wifi

I'm happy to hear B26 is making its presence known in Chicago, but I think you know where I stand.  I am more interested in the core LTE band working as advertised than the B26 glory that say oh currently 3% of Sprint subscribers (outside of this S4GRU community) could even pick up given their device.  Not just because I have a B25 only device, its time is coming to an end, but I believe for Sprint to succeed with NV their 1900 PCS LTE needs to work as advertised. 

 

LTE on PCS 1900 is what a majority of Sprint users access and will continue to access in the future for LTE connectivity, its what 3rd parties/blogs/review sites are testing Sprint against, and since its the first piece of their nationwide LTE build-out its what their reputation as an LTE provider is going to be anchored on.  If B25 is continually stuck in the slow lane, than to me it doesn't really matter how good a few insiders like us feel B26 and B41 are.  Still I am happy to hear B26 is falling in line with the expectations and schedule most of us have to come expect.  That is definitely good news.

[Vince]

I'm happy to hear B26 is making its presence known in Chicago, but I think you know where I stand. I am more interested in the core LTE band working as advertised than the B26 glory that say oh currently 3% of Sprint subscribers (outside of this S4GRU community) could even pick up given their device. Not just because I have a B25 only device, its time is coming to an end, but I believe for Sprint to succeed with NV their 1900 PCS LTE needs to work as advertised.

 

LTE on PCS 1900 is what a majority of Sprint users access and will continue to access in the future for LTE connectivity, its what 3rd parties/blogs/review sites are testing Sprint against, and since its the first piece of their nationwide LTE build-out its what their reputation as an LTE provider is going to be anchored on. If B25 is continually stuck in the slow lane, than to me it doesn't really matter how good a few insiders like us feel B26 and B41 are. Still I am happy to hear B26 is falling in line with the expectations and schedule most of us have to come expect. That is definitely good news.

We have to accept the triband approach as a whole. It's what will make Sprint succeed. Their main pcs rollout is limited to their spectrum holdings. Deploying a 5x5 LTE nationwide carrier doesn't really work well in our technological age. People demand more and more data ever day, and will eventually crush that spectrum, especially in urban areas. Be thankful we live in a band 41 priority area, and work is happening at a rapid clip. Once that is widespread, capacity will be on par or above to all the other cellular providers.

[gusherb]

There's band 26 at my mothers shop! It took a few minutes to connect, then I walked toward a window, it went to band 25 then dropped to 3G. A few minutes later it was back to band 26, long enough for a speedtest then it went to band 25 again, currently hovering on 25 with around -116 db signal. I wanna see if it will hand off from 25 to 26 on its own instead of drop to 3G again.

 

 

EDIT: it handed off just fine this time as soon as I started using the phone, and this is the fastest I've ever seen a speedtest get where I'm sitting, even when band 25 was relatively empty.

[Vince]

There's band 26 at my mothers shop! It took a few minutes to connect, then I walked toward a window, it went to band 25 then dropped to 3G. A few minutes later it was back to band 26, long enough for a speedtest then it went to band 25 again, currently hovering on 25 with around -116 db signal. I wanna see if it will hand off from 25 to 26 on its own instead of drop to 3G again. EDIT: it handed off just fine this time as soon as I started using the phone, and this is the fastest I've ever seen a speedtest get where I'm sitting, even when band 25 was relatively empty.

Where is this? Please specify a location. Thanks.

[gusherb]

Where is this? Please specify a location. Thanks.

33rd and Halsted. Signal seems to be coming from east of here.

[Vince]

33rd and Halsted. Signal seems to be coming from east of here.

Excellent. That was approximately the end of my several mile band 26 cruise last night. It turned off around Halsted on I-55. Look at your sponsor map. You'll see you're very, very close to a tower. But with a band 26 signal of -114, it's doubtful it was coming from your nearest site. Thanks for the report. Keep them coming, folks.

[gusherb]

Excellent. That was approximately the end of my several mile band 26 cruise last night. It turned off around Halsted on I-55. Look at your sponsor map. You'll see you're very, very close to a tower. But with a band 26 signal of -114, it's doubtful it was coming from your nearest site. Thanks for the report. Keep them coming, folks.

I have a feeling the signal I'm picking up is coming from around China town, which has been a known black hole for most carriers for years. I'll be happier when they get band26 enabled on the sites nearest me, I'll be able to sustain LTE in the basement! As it is now LTE drops out (on 800), and PCS is weak but usable for calls and texts down there.

[Joeynach]

Excellent. That was approximately the end of my several mile band 26 cruise last night. It turned off around Halsted on I-55. Look at your sponsor map. You'll see you're very, very close to a tower. But with a band 26 signal of -114, it's doubtful it was coming from your nearest site. Thanks for the report. Keep them coming, folks.

I dont want to reveal too much from the premier section but you and I both know from Robert's latest LTE800 schedule map there is a huge swath of towers slated for B26 activation first in the the West and SW parts of the city, other city areas will have to remain patient.

[ChiWestLoop]

No more B26 sightings over the weekend around Chicago? Here by the Sears Tower the B26 signal I detected 2 weeks ago has been MIA for the last 7-8 days.

[Vince]

No more B26 sightings over the weekend around Chicago? Here by the Sears Tower the B26 signal I detected 2 weeks ago has been MIA for the last 7-8 days.

Still getting it here on the south side. I usually work nights, but had to pick something up from work just now. For the last week, I could only get 26 when I would step inside the building. Today, I'm getting 26 outside, probably because of daytime band 25 crowding. We won't know exactly where or how many towers have been accepted until Robert posts another LTE 800 update.

[gusherb]

I was getting band 26 Thursday and Friday near south loop.

[Vince]

I must say, band 26 has the propagation that's been promised. I'm in a pretty bad area for signal (near where I suspect that a 26 cluster came online) and I'm sitting in a doctors exam room, in the middle of the building, with 2 doors closed behind me. I have a -98 b26 LTE signal with speeds of 6mbps/4mbps. Awesomeness.

[Joeynach]

I must say, band 26 has the propagation that's been promised. I'm in a pretty bad area for signal (near where I suspect that a 26 cluster came online) and I'm sitting in a doctors exam room, in the middle of the building, with 2 doors closed behind me. I have a -98 b26 LTE signal with speeds of 6mbps/4mbps. Awesomeness.

If B26 wasn't there what would you have gotten.  Any B25?  3G only?

[Cubbiefan82]

If B26 wasn't there what would you have gotten.  Any B25?  3G only?

I can bet 3g, maybe band 25 if you had a nexus(the beast) but it would have been weak band 25

[Vince]

If B26 wasn't there what would you have gotten. Any B25? 3G only?

It wanted 3g more than a bad band 25. And actually, if I pocketed my phone in that room, it wanted to grab 3g. Probably because of scan times. Leaving it out sitting next to me for a minute returned the phone to band 26. Also, an airplane toggle quickly brought it back to 26 without waiting out the rescan.