Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[tommym65]

Sprint? Chicago?  Oh,  THAT'S the thread we're in!  Now I remember! 

[gusherb]

I think he is referring to ATT..

I was lol. Never hurts to talk about what the competition is doing!

[mhammett]

When you're comparing latency, make sure that you pull a trace route as well to see how you're getting there. That can tell an awful lot about the quality of a connection.

 

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.he.networktools

[kyle_4thousand]

How much LTE capacity does each carrier have currently deployed in the Chicagoland area? I know Sprint has a total of 15 MHz FDD ( 2 5x5 PCS, 1 5x5 SMR) and 40 MHz TDD ( 2 20MHz BRS/EBS) in some areas. How about the others?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gusherb]

How much LTE capacity does each carrier have currently deployed in the Chicagoland area? I know Sprint has a total of 15 MHz FDD ( 2 5x5 PCS, 1 5x5 SMR) and 40 MHz TDD ( 2 20MHz BRS/EBS) in some areas. How about the others?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Verizon has a total of 60 MHz deployed, AT&T; 50 MHz on the Illinois side and 30 MHz on the Indiana side, T-Mobile; 20 MHz, and Sprint; including the second B41 carrier, 70 MHz.

[ChiWestLoop]

Anyone experiencing problems inside structures at the Loop and the West Loop? I just want to know if this is something that will improve in the months ahead.

 

Thank you,

[Vince]

Anyone experiencing problems inside structures at the Loop and the West Loop? I just want to know if this is something that will improve in the months ahead.

 

Thank you,

What kind of problems? No service? LTE->3G drops? Slower data?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

[ChiWestLoop]

What kind of problems? No service? LTE->3G drops? Slower data?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

When in my office building at the Loop or my apartment on the West Loop my phone keeps changing antenna connections and usually latches to seemingly congested antennas. In my office building my phone has a tendency to latch to a band 41 antenna with close to 0 throughput. In my apartment it usually latches to a band 26 antenna with a very good throughput but for some reason it frequently drops that connection and connects to a 3G antenna. It's kind of frustrating. Overall service is better but it's still not reliable, especially inside structures.

Edited April 30, 2015 by ChiWestLoop

[Vince]

When in my office building at the Loop or my apartment on the West Loop my phone keeps changing antenna connections and usually latches to seemingly congested antennas. In my office building my phone has a tendency to latch to a band 41 antenna with close to 0 throughput. In my apartment it usually latches to a band 26 antenna with a very good throughput but for some reason it frequently drops that connection and connects to a 3G antenna. It's kind of frustrating. Overall service is better but it's still not reliable, especially inside structures.

That seems to still be an ongoing issue in our market. The band switching/load balancing issues haven't been completely ironed out yet, on top of many sites/clusters not being optimized for the best signal.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

[lilotimz]

That seems to still be an ongoing issue in our market. The band switching/load balancing issues haven't been completely ironed out yet, on top of many sites/clusters not being optimized for the best signal.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

 

Load balancing software they pushed out to several markets recently had some very noticeable "issues" which I assume they've pushed back to their Chicago testing clusters after reverting to the old software backups. 

 

Best part of being in Chicago for Sprint subs is that it's their most advanced market. Worse part of it is that you all are basically the guinea pigs since whatever they push out is done first in Chicago. 

[gusherb]

When in my office building at the Loop or my apartment on the West Loop my phone keeps changing antenna connections and usually latches to seemingly congested antennas. In my office building my phone has a tendency to latch to a band 41 antenna with close to 0 throughput. In my apartment it usually latches to a band 26 antenna with a very good throughput but for some reason it frequently drops that connection and connects to a 3G antenna. It's kind of frustrating. Overall service is better but it's still not reliable, especially inside structures.

 

 

That seems to still be an ongoing issue in our market. The band switching/load balancing issues haven't been completely ironed out yet, on top of many sites/clusters not being optimized for the best signal.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

 

 

Load balancing software they pushed out to several markets recently had some very noticeable "issues" which I assume they've pushed back to their Chicago testing clusters after reverting to the old software backups. 

 

Best part of being in Chicago for Sprint subs is that it's their most advanced market. Worse part of it is that you all are basically the guinea pigs since whatever they push out is done first in Chicago. 

 

This is exactly what I had a problem with ever since I first upgraded to a dual band phone March 2014, then when I got my Tri-Band iPhone 6 it seemed ok for a bit then got real bad over the winter/beginning of Spring. 

 

I'd like to know what Sprint did in KC a year ago because they had everything running PERFECTLY then, in terms of optimization/load balancing. (IDK how it is now I haven't been back) 

 

I hope for the sake of everyone having problems in Chicago that Sprint gets this fixed ASAP, a year is too long to wait with those kinds of issues IMO. 

[Vince]

Don't forget, that with the tens of thousands, if not more tourists, players, media, and NFL people in town this weekend for the draft, every cellular network will surely be crushed downtown. They're all on their phone.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

[ChiWestLoop]

Don't forget, that with the tens of thousands, if not more tourists, players, media, and NFL people in town this weekend for the draft, every cellular network will surely be crushed downtown. They're all on their phone.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

My issue has been ongoing for many months now. It's not due to the NFL Draft.

[WiWavelength]

Don't forget, that with the tens of thousands, if not more tourists, players, media, and NFL people in town this weekend for the draft, every cellular network will surely be crushed downtown. They're all on their phone.

 

 

AJ

[awsum gam3r]

Don't forget, that with the tens of thousands, if not more tourists, players, media, and NFL people in town this weekend for the draft, every cellular network will surely be crushed downtown. They're all on their phone.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

Poor Verizon and ATT, I'm sure they're the top two used networks for everyone their. I wonder if they have mobile cell sites somewhere

[Vince]

Poor Verizon and ATT, I'm sure they're the top two used networks for everyone their. I wonder if they have mobile cell sites somewhere

Well, they had that whole draft town set up in Grant Park or Millennium Park, I forget which one. I didn't go, but I can guarantee some, if not all providers had a C.O.W there. That seems to be the norm these days with large gatherings in cities.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

[Joeynach]

Poor Verizon and ATT, I'm sure they're the top two used networks for everyone their. I wonder if they have mobile cell sites somewhere

Yeah I was there.  I saw COWs parked on Columbus on both sides of the festival (North and South entrance).  I have no idea what carrier they belonged to.  I was thinking I really wished that they would label them with color or Logo so customers can tell if they carrier is "going the extra mile" at their local event.  Wouldn't that be nice.

 

Anyway, I only used my TMO device there, calls were fine.  Data was so-so at best.  Had plenty of LTE, but it went in and out of usability.  One second I can check scores, FB, and upload videos just fine and the next I can't do a thing and it all times out.  That was a crowd of probably 50K, imagine the old Taste of Chicago crowds or Lolla, 250K people!!!

[gs5eric]

For everyone that isn't premier sponsors, now is the time to become one. I know Robert is doing a tax time special, The Chicago premier forum will be tracking the second carrier of band 41.You will be able to see which 8t8r  sites have verified/confirmed second carrier. Such great news for Chicago, love how this market is coming along and becoming the staple for other markets

p

 

How can i become or join to track what sites are 8t8r?

[saywhatman]

How can i become or join to track what sites are 8t8r?

 

That information is located here! Basically, any level of contribution to the site will get you access to Sponsor information, which includes site locations and their 3G/4G upgrade status. This expires after a year if you don't make any more donations. Donate $100 or more to the site (not necessarily all at once, all donations count towards your Premier status), and you'll earn Premier Sponsor status, which grants you access to NV Schedule maps, 8T8R deployment information and a bunch of other goodies! As a Premier Sponsor, I can guarantee you it's worth the money. 

[milan03]

Just the heads up, Rockford and Elmhurst, IL have been identified and confirmed as Carrier Aggregation areas, all with 8T8R and Beamforming (TM8) according to SRG.

 

If you have a capable CA device and are willing to drive there, it may be worth checking this out.

[lilotimz]

Just the heads up, Rockford and Elmhurst, IL have been identified and confirmed as Carrier Aggregation areas, all with 8T8R and Beamforming (TM8) according to SRG.

 

If you have a capable CA device and are willing to drive there, it may be worth checking this out.

Fit areas. CA is not enabled for subscribers devices .

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[milan03]

Fit areas. CA is not enabled for subscribers.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

I'd say it's worth checking it out. That transmission mode 8 should still provide a nice improvement in median throughput when in low mobility, low multipath and LOS environment.

[Arysyn]

Fit areas. CA is not enabled for subscribers devices .

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

Is there a timeframe when it will be enabled?

[Vince]

Just the heads up, Rockford and Elmhurst, IL have been identified and confirmed as Carrier Aggregation areas, all with 8T8R and Beamforming (TM8) according to SRG.

 

If you have a capable CA device and are willing to drive there, it may be worth checking this out.

Would this result in anything other than "2" being displayed on an iPhone 6 under transmission antennas?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

[milan03]

Would this result in anything other than "2" being displayed on an iPhone 6 under transmission antennas?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

According to SGR, they're not using 4x2 configuration on their 8T8R sites at all so it will still say "2" on iPhone.

Samsung devices with Qualcomm chipset typically display TM in AS INFORMATION.

 

Apparently they have 4x2 MIMO active on a few legacy Sprint (non Clearwire) undisclosed sites.