Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[Joeynach]

T-Mobile does have a lot better spacing in some parts of Chicago though. The University of Chicago campus and most of Hyde Park is an absolute deadzone for LTE (and 3G sometimes too, hopefully it will get better with optimized B26) but T-Mobile has smaller sites on campus and in the area. 

Yeah I noticed recently too, I was down there for a graduation ceremony a couple weeks ago.  There service was putrid.  Can only hope the two bands really help fill in the missing services down on campus there.

[WiWavelength]

There's one thing that agitates me about all this... Sprint is still 4th in the latest RootMetrics measurements in Chicago for call reliability. 

 

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/RootMetrics+Report%3A+T-Mobile,+Verizon+Share+Recognition+as+Best+Overall+Carriers+in+Chicago/9585816.html

 

I throw my hands up at this. I thought CDMA 1X Advanced would have jetted Sprint to the top of the metrics here. It hasn't. 

 

I've racked my brain trying to come up with an explanation. I can't. 

 

The differences are so minimal that they could be due to experimental margin of error.  Of course, that does not stop click bait sites from writing stories.

 

AJ

[gusherb]

It's AWS spectrum LTE, It might have a wider pipe, I believe its 10x10 in Chicago, so speeds should be great, even during peak times, but its signal propagation characteristics are probably quite similar to the B25 we have now.  I'm sure LTE drops off just as much if not more than our B25 in the same profiles; basements, building interiors, parking garages, elevators, subway stations, old crappy brick/cinder buildings.

  

 

I'm test driving TMO on my N5 this month and it's true, but I'm noticing that they have northern lake county in NWI filled out better with LTE on AWS then Sprint does with it's newly deployed B26 that hasn't been optimized yet. I can drive around just about everywhere and not lose LTE while so far I still fallback to 3G a lot on Sprint.

They've got one site that's not been upgraded to LTE yet (and of course it's the one by my house), but I still often pick up AWS from 1.5-2 miles away through trees and houses. And I got 35 Mbps from that distant LTE signal while sitting on my front porch.

 

 

There's one thing that agitates me about all this... Sprint is still 4th in the latest RootMetrics measurements in Chicago for call reliability. 

 

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/RootMetrics+Report%3A+T-Mobile,+Verizon+Share+Recognition+as+Best+Overall+Carriers+in+Chicago/9585816.html

 

I throw my hands up at this. I thought CDMA 1X Advanced would have jetted Sprint to the top of the metrics here. It hasn't. 

 

I've racked my brain trying to come up with an explanation. I can't.

 

It should've. I can't remember the last time I've dropped a call! Or not been able to make a call. (Except Saturday when the damn site by my house went out all day hahaha) I'm very very happy with Sprints voice service in Chicagoland.

[Fraydog]

It should've. I can't remember the last time I've dropped a call! Or not been able to make a call. (Except Saturday when the damn site by my house went out all day hahaha) I'm very very happy with Sprints voice service in Chicagoland.

Maybe there's been improvements with the extra PCS bandwidth and voice carriers, that have been widely implemented since the test frame. Anyway, I'm glad real customers are having no issues.

[Vince]

I actually still drop a few calls every week, and it's usually on the Dan Ryan or the Stevenson. It can be annoying, especially when you get those back-to-back-to-back drops. But overall, the quality is phenomenal. My friends on AT&T sound terrible.

[gusherb]

Hmmm maybe Sprint is particularly good in NWI/South Chicago area with voice reliability. My mother talks on the phone a lot and I have her trained to report when something goes wrong and I haven't heard a peep in awhile. I have driven up from about Remington, IN to Griffith and held the same call the entire time before.

 

I notice mainly just the latest phones on AT&T are sounding good, older iPhones etc still sound like crap like back when I had an iPhone 4 on them. Same thing with Verizon. Sprint is sounding better to me since I got the 5S with HD voice.

[cdk]

There's one thing that agitates me about all this... Sprint is still 4th in the latest RootMetrics measurements in Chicago for call reliability. 

 

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/RootMetrics+Report%3A+T-Mobile,+Verizon+Share+Recognition+as+Best+Overall+Carriers+in+Chicago/9585816.html

 

I throw my hands up at this. I thought CDMA 1X Advanced would have jetted Sprint to the top of the metrics here. It hasn't. 

 

I've racked my brain trying to come up with an explanation. I can't. 

 

Has RootMetrics fixed the bug where it automatically fails triband phones when testing the call reliability?

[Fraydog]

Has RootMetrics fixed the bug where it automatically fails triband phones when testing the call reliability?

 

Wouldn't that affect data instead of voice?

[cdk]

Wouldn't that affect data instead of voice?

 

No, for some reason it (RootMetrics) only sees the data connection (at least when connected to LTE). When it doesn't see a 1x signal it just marks it the voice portion as failed. That was when I stopped using it about 6 months ago,

[Fraydog]

No, for some reason it (RootMetrics) only sees the data connection (at least when connected to LTE). When it doesn't see a 1x signal it just marks it the voice portion as failed. That was when I stopped using it about 6 months ago,

I'm not certain that Root uses that for their drive testing. I may have to check.

[cdk]

I'm not certain that Root uses that for their drive testing. I may have to check.

 

It has been a while since I ran a RootMetrics test, however I distinctly remember it failing the voice check (and I had no problem making a phone call in that same location) when connected to LTE.

[saywhatman]

It has been a while since I ran a RootMetrics test, however I distinctly remember it failing the voice check (and I had no problem making a phone call in that same location) when connected to LTE.

 

The call reliability score is based on making a call and attempting to hold the call throughout the testing cycle, not their app. They haven't fixed the issue yet, but it's pretty unfixable, there's technically no way to access the (CDMA) signal for calls while the application is connected to LTE on triband phones, as they're not connected to 1x at the same time. 

[WiWavelength]

I'm test driving TMO on my N5 this month and it's true, but I'm noticing that they have northern lake county in NWI filled out better with LTE on AWS then Sprint does with it's newly deployed B26 that hasn't been optimized yet. I can drive around just about everywhere and not lose LTE while so far I still fallback to 3G a lot on Sprint.

They've got one site that's not been upgraded to LTE yet (and of course it's the one by my house), but I still often pick up AWS from 1.5-2 miles away through trees and houses. And I got 35 Mbps from that distant LTE signal while sitting on my front porch.

 

At most sites, T-Mobile is using one legacy antenna and two modernized antennas.  The two antennas do mitigate the AWS path loss disadvantage to a degree.

 

AJ

[mhammett]

Nah, I'm marrying a lady, but I'm cool with it. It's like a football kind of butt smack. "Good signal penetration out there today, bro."

"Good... penetration... bro."

[gusherb]

At most sites, T-Mobile is using one legacy antenna and two modernized antennas. The two antennas do mitigate the AWS path loss disadvantage to a degree.

 

AJ

Your talking about panels right? Around here the sites I've seen only use two panels per sector. When they were upgrading the site down the street from me they were up there, IDK if they were changing a panel too or just adding a RRH but it didn't appear to be a new panel to me. When they come back to do the water tower I'll know more as I pay far more attention to that site.

[Joeynach]

  

 

I'm test driving TMO on my N5 this month and it's true, but I'm noticing that they have northern lake county in NWI filled out better with LTE on AWS then Sprint does with it's newly deployed B26 that hasn't been optimized yet. I can drive around just about everywhere and not lose LTE while so far I still fallback to 3G a lot on Sprint.

They've got one site that's not been upgraded to LTE yet (and of course it's the one by my house), but I still often pick up AWS from 1.5-2 miles away through trees and houses. And I got 35 Mbps from that distant LTE signal while sitting on my front porch.

I guess I am more interested in what the LTE service characteristics are like in the city vs. the wide open suburban landscape of Lake County.  If you get a chance to do more testing down in the Loop, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville area let me know.  I am looking for how their AWS LTE compares to B25 LTE, its more apples to apples than trying to compare blue and red's low freq bands of LTE.  My assumption is they are similar, but who knows.

[Joeynach]

I actually still drop a few calls every week, and it's usually on the Dan Ryan or the Stevenson. It can be annoying, especially when you get those back-to-back-to-back drops. But overall, the quality is phenomenal. My friends on AT&T sound terrible.

Really, they must not have HD voice compatible phones?  I have a family member who has one, the voice quality was pretty darn good when I was trying it out on his device.  Yeah the legacy voice quality sucks.

[JosefTor]

The differences are so minimal that they could be due to experimental margin of error. Of course, that does not stop click bait sites from writing stories.

I try not to discredit rootmetrics personally because once the spark network has all bands running and optimized, I'm pretty sure Sprint will place in the top two spots (Reference Chicago airport). At that point, we'll be able to savor sweet victory.

 

Also, although I agree about the results of one city being due to margin of error.... In aggregate, I'm pretty sure it isn't an anomaly that Sprint has been typically fourth.

[radem]

There's one thing that agitates me about all this... Sprint is still 4th in the latest RootMetrics measurements in Chicago for call reliability. 

 

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/RootMetrics+Report%3A+T-Mobile,+Verizon+Share+Recognition+as+Best+Overall+Carriers+in+Chicago/9585816.html

 

I throw my hands up at this. I thought CDMA 1X Advanced would have jetted Sprint to the top of the metrics here. It hasn't. 

 

I've racked my brain trying to come up with an explanation. I can't. 

I drive through a coverage hole in the western suburbs quite often.  I still lose every voice call that I make or am continuing while in this area on an iPhone 5s.  This hole is one mile south of Central DuPage Hospital to the northern border of Naperville in the village of Winfield and has been there for at least the past two years.  I had a call dropped in that area again today.  I had hoped that B26 would fix the problems in the Winfield Road forest preserve area but they have not had any impact so far.  Hopefully there is more optimization to occur.

 

Sprint really needs to measure the calls dropped from their towers.  That would help them adjust their coverage in most areas.  Remember the Verizon "Can you hear me now" commercials?  That is what Sprint needs to do as they optimize B26.

[UnlimitedDataIsInBeta]

I drive through a coverage hole in the western suburbs quite often. I still lose every voice call that I make or am continuing while in this area on an iPhone 5s. This hole is one mile south of Central DuPage Hospital to the northern border of Naperville in the village of Winfield and has been there for at least the past two years. I had a call dropped in that area again today. I had hoped that B26 would fix the problems in the Winfield Road forest preserve area but they have not had any impact so far. Hopefully there is more optimization to occur.

 

Sprint really needs to measure the calls dropped from their towers. That would help them adjust their coverage in most areas. Remember the Verizon "Can you hear me now" commercials? That is what Sprint needs to do as they optimize B26.

They do. Both by tower, and by user (phone number). Ask at your local Sprint store if any of the technicians have access to Glance, Top Tower, or Service Trender. They probably won't show you, but it never hurts to ask.

 

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

[gusherb]

While waiting in traffic on 35th street in front of Sox park on a game day I picked up the second carrier and got 3.5/1.2 Mbps, and then my phone switched over to the G block carrier and I got the same speeds again. Looks like the second carrier is doing it's job! Without it LTE would've crashed I'm sure.

T-Mobile LTE appears to be loaded up around here as well as I've only been able to pull down 3-8 Mbps and 3-10 up. This was heading northbound on the Dan Ryan and getting of at 35th st toward Halsted.

 

(I'd upload pictures but uploads seem to be blocked)

[Calvin200]

A shot of B41 right in the middle of that problem could do the trick?!

[Vince]

A shot of B41 right in the middle of that problem could do the trick?!

That's already present in and around Sox park. The second carrier is new over there. It just needs to be fully functional along side PCS-g, and band 26.

[Joeynach]

That's already present in and around Sox park. The second carrier is new over there. It just needs to be fully functional along side PCS-g, and band 26.

I wish we had some details around the deployment, activation, and locations of the 2nd B25 carrier.  It's been this mysterious factor in Chicago now for like a year.

[Vince]

I wish we had some details around the deployment, activation, and locations of the 2nd B25 carrier. It's been this mysterious factor in Chicago now for like a year.

Not in the western/southern suburbs. There have been a couple of actual downtown second pcs carrier reports. Not sure what the hold up is, but it should happen just as rapidly as it did outside of the city. It was literally in the span of a few days from nothing to fully blanketed. Maybe the tighter spaced sites in the loop are a problem with interference or something.