Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[lilotimz]

Wait, the bottom rack isn't the Sprint rack?

Please consult the Samsung equipment spotting thread on my post signature...

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Dkoellerwx]

Wait, the bottom rack isn't the Sprint rack?

No...

[Vince]

No...

Then I guess it isn't a high cap, 2 rrh per sector site.

[tongboy]

The middle rack looks like sprint with the original 800/1900 antenna and RRUs as well as one 8t8r I think. It also looks like clear is/was on the top.

 

I can't remember seeing a high capacity site in Chicago with the multiple RRUs per band. Do you know of any? The sites I have run across with two LTE carriers and three Evdo still looked like they had one rru per band per sector.

[mhammett]

The middle rack looks like sprint with the original 800/1900 antenna and RRUs as well as one 8t8r I think. It also looks like clear is/was on the top.

 

I can't remember seeing a high capacity site in Chicago with the multiple RRUs per band. Do you know of any? The sites I have run across with two LTE carriers and three Evdo still looked like they had one rru per band per sector.

Somewhere I have posted some pictures of a site in DeKalb that has multiple panels per sector.

[mhammett]

 

.....

 

https://plus.google.com/photos/113290727794626880879/albums/5988904207091210113

.....

[Joeynach]

 

You're not gonna start talking about Jordan Lynch now after the 4th preseason game are u?

[mhammett]

You're not gonna start talking about Jordan Lynch now after the 4th preseason game are u?

-.-

[gusherb]

Just as I thought, second carrier is on all over my area. I found myself on B26 more then I thought normal today too, but it doesn't look like optimization has started yet.

[Joeynach]

Service was unusually poor today.  I haven't been around all week, but back in the loop today and I was having a real big problem just holding and maintaining any signal.  Usual good spots turned into 1XRTT only, in and out of coverage.  Something must be up downtown.  Anyone else notice?

[kyle_4thousand]

Service is great at North Coast. On both B25 carriers and some B41. No B26 yet

[gusherb]

It's hard to tell, my service has been excellent since I switched to my N5 from the 5S. Idk if it's coincidence or the iPhone sucks that much.

[Cubbiefan82]

It's hard to tell, my service has been excellent since I switched to my N5 from the 5S. Idk if it's coincidence or the iPhone sucks that much.

I would go with the last thing you said

[Dkoellerwx]

It's hard to tell, my service has been excellent since I switched to my N5 from the 5S. Idk if it's coincidence or the iPhone sucks that much.

Probably the latter.

[gusherb]

I think the lack of B26 optimization wreaks havoc with it, causing it to fallback to 3G a lot. (In places my old 5 never did).

[always_learner]

Just started seeing the second B25 carrier a couple weeks ago in Joliet.  Also, B26 seems gets stronger and stronger as the weeks go by.

 

Admittedly, the best Sprint service is at home (where I really don't need it since I'm on WI-fi).  However, it's nice.  My local home Sprint tower(s) has/have been upgraded so that they broadcast both B25 carriers, B26, and B41.  My Nexus 5 (with the 1.15 radio) likes to stay connected to a closer Clear B41 tower though.

 

Carrier aggregation will be interesting.

[Deval]

Just took a road trip to Chicago over the weekend. Stayed over in Naperville, visiting downtown to see the sights (the bean!). My biggest gripe was the coverage in Naperville, at the house I stayed at. My phone would bounce between B26 and 1x and EVDO, even though I was pretty close to the site.

 

Very impressed with Sprint's deployment, picked up all three bands on my Spark enabled phone, and had consistent speeds throughout. It was great being able to upload pictures on Facebook without watching my phone icon spin away and do nothing.

 

My B25 iPhone 5 was fine with iMessage and some light web surfing, but the vast majority of my useage came off my Spark device.

[conquereddroiduser]

Spent some time in Geneva yesterday and overall things were better than when I was there last year. There was a fair size crowd for the festival (dunno what its called but it's on the island on the south side of town) but things were always useable.

 

B26 filled in several coverage gaps that were annoying walking around down town last year, but my guess is the tower spacing still isn't good enough to get useable LTE in all the shops. Overall a big improvement though!

[runagun]

Yeah, sadly I've been experiencing that since day one.  Seems Like something is not quite right.  Its either not tuned or hurry up and put another panel that goes in a different direction to densify the network. Im not sure if they accounted for signal penetration when removing two or three panels and replacing it with just one. Today, I was in Chana, IL. and the network was unusable for data. 4G was not in sight and ehrp/evdo was going in and out which meant all I was doing was timing out. These things shouldn't be happening anymore.  Not a good experience for new subs that we poach from the big boys.     

 

Just took a road trip to Chicago over the weekend. Stayed over in Naperville, visiting downtown to see the sights (the bean!). My biggest gripe was the coverage in Naperville, at the house I stayed at. My phone would bounce between B26 and 1x and EVDO, even though I was pretty close to the site.

 

 

[Dkoellerwx]

 Today, I was in Chana, IL. and the network was unusable for data. 4G was not in sight and ehrp/evdo was going in and out which meant all I was doing was timing out. These things shouldn't be happening anymore.  Not a good experience for new subs that we poach from the big boys.     

 

Based on tower locations, that's not all that surprising. The coverage maps show coverage, but we all know how reliable those are. I would bet the local towers are designed to cover the highways in the area, and that's about it. 

[Deval]

Yeah, sadly I've been experiencing that since day one.  Seems Like something is not quite right.  Its either not tuned or hurry up and put another panel that goes in a different direction to densify the network. Im not sure if they accounted for signal penetration when removing two or three panels and replacing it with just one. Today, I was in Chana, IL. and the network was unusable for data. 4G was not in sight and ehrp/evdo was going in and out which meant all I was doing was timing out. These things shouldn't be happening anymore.  Not a good experience for new subs that we poach from the big boys.     

 

I made sure to report it via SprintZone.

[Vince]

Yeah, sadly I've been experiencing that since day one. Seems Like something is not quite right. Its either not tuned or hurry up and put another panel that goes in a different direction to densify the network. Im not sure if they accounted for signal penetration when removing two or three panels and replacing it with just one. Today, I was in Chana, IL. and the network was unusable for data. 4G was not in sight and ehrp/evdo was going in and out which meant all I was doing was timing out. These things shouldn't be happening anymore. Not a good experience for new subs that we poach from the big boys.

Surely, you looked at the nv sites complete map for Chana, right? I think I see the problem out there.

[mhammett]

Yeah, sadly I've been experiencing that since day one. Seems Like something is not quite right. Its either not tuned or hurry up and put another panel that goes in a different direction to densify the network. Im not sure if they accounted for signal penetration when removing two or three panels and replacing it with just one. Today, I was in Chana, IL. and the network was unusable for data. 4G was not in sight and ehrp/evdo was going in and out which meant all I was doing was timing out. These things shouldn't be happening anymore. Not a good experience for new subs that we poach from the big boys.

Nobody is in Chana except the sale barn.

Spent some time in Geneva yesterday and overall things were better than when I was there last year. There was a fair size crowd for the festival (dunno what its called but it's on the island on the south side of town) but things were always useable.

 

B26 filled in several coverage gaps that were annoying walking around down town last year, but my guess is the tower spacing still isn't good enough to get useable LTE in all the shops. Overall a big improvement though!

Tower spacing in Geneva is terrible for just about everybody. AT&T does have a microcell on an electric pole on 25 just south of the tracks. Geneva would be a good DAS candidate.

[runagun]

Haha, that's exactly why I was there.

 

Nobody is in Chana except the sale barn.

[gusherb]

Went out to Orland Park today, these speed tests were taken at Orland Square mall, B41 and 3G. When I was there last B26 and second carrier B25 weren't live yet, and 3G was useless. There was no B26 signal in the center of the mall, but toward the outer edges of the building I picked up B41.

 

Over at my aunt & uncles dead zone of a home, was weak but steady B26 outside, and would fade in and out inside. Much better then before.