Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[ChiWestLoop]

Ha yeah right, I noticed the same problem at Soldier Field a year ago.  Same problem at Wrigley Field now and a year ago, same problem at the United Center now and a year ago.  Some things never change.  I also saw a ton of complaints about this area; Solider Field, Museum Campus, Northerly Island, etc, on Sprint's forums.  Everyone seems to have the same no service no connectivity issue.  How has a pico site not been deployed?  And I hope and pray the two, count em two towers that are near this area, haven't received their fiber backhaul yet, b/c they are LTE active and if they have received it than its obvious Sprint's infrastructure would then be too lacking to provider proper service in one of Chicago's most heavily trafficked areas.

I keep getting more convinced to jump ship. It seems Sprint will not make it happen in downtown Chicago. What a shame. I have waited 2 years for nothing........

[Joeynach]

I keep getting more convinced to jump ship. It seems Sprint will not make it happen in downtown Chicago. What a shame. I have waited 2 years for nothing........

The clock is ticking for me as well.  I was with my sister at the game, she has ATT with iPhone5.  Her's was working fine, she was having no problem sending and receiving texts, picture messages, doing snapchats, updating FB, uploading Pics to FB, etc etc.  Meanwhile Im sitting right next to her with no service.  And its not a temporary network vision transition thing, its a Sprint has very little capacity in this area thing.  I still have a year to go until my contract is up, if by then I still see a myriad of the same issues I'm gone.  No service at Lolla is one thing, no one has service there are 200K people there it happens 3 days of the year, but no service at every Wrigley, United Center, Soldier Field event which is repetitive and frequent is not acceptable.

[gnoj]

Meanwhile Im sitting right next to her with no service.  And its not a temporary network vision transition thing, its a Sprint has very little capacity in this area thing.

 

It seems strange that there would be no service at all. Was it just data that was out or voice too? You're right that it shouldn't be a NV transition issue, as both of the two closest sites to Soldier Field are 3G/4G accepted, and at least one has 1x SMR. It's definitely true that Chicago is one of Sprint's most spectrum-constrained markets with just 20 MHz of PCS, but if the site was overloaded I would think you'd still have some service, albeit very slow.

 

It's the responsibility of every major carrier to have adequate coverage at all major events, including something on the scale of Lollapalooza, since these are otherwise well coordinated gatherings planned out months in advance. Put out some COWs or better yet, install permanent small cells. It is precisely these sorts of places where people get together that they have the opportunity to compare cell phone service, and if they can't step up I'm sure it will lead to churn.

 

The USCC network is due to shutdown on January 31, so if capacity is the problem then we can only hope Sprint will rapidly deploy their newly acquired 20 MHz of PCS to bolster voice capacity and 3G speeds.

[Joeynach]

It seems strange that there would be no service at all. Was it just data that was out or voice too? You're right that it shouldn't be a NV transition issue, as both of the two closest sites to Soldier Field are 3G/4G accepted, and at least one has 1x SMR. It's definitely true that Chicago is one of Sprint's most spectrum-constrained markets with just 20 MHz of PCS, but if the site was overloaded I would think you'd still have some service, albeit very slow.

 

It's the responsibility of every major carrier to have adequate coverage at all major events, including something on the scale of Lollapalooza, since these are otherwise well coordinated gatherings planned out months in advance. Put out some COWs or better yet, install permanent small cells. It is precisely these sorts of places where people get together that they have the opportunity to compare cell phone service, and if they can't step up I'm sure it will lead to churn.

 

The USCC network is due to shutdown on January 31, so if capacity is the problem then we can only hope Sprint will rapidly deploy their newly acquired 20 MHz of PCS to bolster voice capacity and 3G speeds.

I probably only had service, where the 3G or 4G icon actually showed up about 20% of the time.  The other 80% my phone was showing what I showed in my attachment from my earlier posts, full bars no icon whatsoever = no service.  When I did have the 3G or 4G icon the phone rarely worked, I was able to get out a couple texts, no other data went through for browsing or apps, just timed out or said not available, calls wouldn't go through either.  It was a disaster, again not the first time.

 

I just can't imagine the two towers that feed this area can be enough.  Those two tower I see on the NV sites complete map have to feed the Hundreds of thousands of residents now living the South Loop, the entire Museum Campus area, northerly island if there is a concert, and Solider Field if there is a game or event.  There is no way two sites alone can handle all that.  Were talking 200K+ people in terms of residents and Museum/Lakefront/Concert/Game goers.  Where is the micro or pico site in this area?  At least on gamedays or concerts.

 

I have seen one, one microsite go up in Chicago.  Its near Wrigley Field in the parking lot on clark that is where that little enterprise rental car is.  Like Patterson and Clark.  I have no idea whose little site that is, its a small tower with three countable cell receptors on it.  I would be shocked if that was Sprints.

[Jamal46409]

Not sure how, I look at the NV sites complete map I see the same as always.  No 4G towers east of i-65.  Still just 3G/800.

Made a mistake with this. I think i'm actually getting LTE from over in Valparaiso. I only get LTE in my apartment (2nd level) in Portage. Not getting it once I go downstairs and/or get in my car.

[Joeynach]

Made a mistake with this. I think i'm actually getting LTE from over in Valparaiso. I only get LTE in my apartment (2nd level) in Portage. Not getting it once I go downstairs and/or get in my car.

The Valpo part makes sense.  I see two lite up LTE towers there, a couple others along route 30 heading west to I-65.  But thats it for active LTE in NW Indiana, so I am still not sure how you get any sniff of LTE in Portage, the nearest towers for LTE from there are in Valpo or up/down I-65....quite far.

[hayzooos]

It seems strange that there would be no service at all. Was it just data that was out or voice too? You're right that it shouldn't be a NV transition issue, as both of the two closest sites to Soldier Field are 3G/4G accepted, and at least one has 1x SMR. It's definitely true that Chicago is one of Sprint's most spectrum-constrained markets with just 20 MHz of PCS, but if the site was overloaded I would think you'd still have some service, albeit very slow.

 

It's the responsibility of every major carrier to have adequate coverage at all major events, including something on the scale of Lollapalooza, since these are otherwise well coordinated gatherings planned out months in advance. Put out some COWs or better yet, install permanent small cells. It is precisely these sorts of places where people get together that they have the opportunity to compare cell phone service, and if they can't step up I'm sure it will lead to churn.

 

The USCC network is due to shutdown on January 31, so if capacity is the problem then we can only hope Sprint will rapidly deploy their newly acquired 20 MHz of PCS to bolster voice capacity and 3G speeds.

 

I was wondering if the US Cellular acquisition would play a part in this or not. I live out towards the Hoffman Estates area and things around here are better than they were months ago, that's for sure. I still run into issues here and there with LTE not providing much speed (we're talking less than 1Mbps) which is disappointing, but it's better than the literal non-existent speed I'd get from 3G. 

 

The most disappointing thing is at my office. I'm up on the 10th floor right over near Woodfield. I used to get awesome speeds from LTE sitting at my desk, now I get virtually nothing. Sometimes it's okay at best, but most of the time, I have to hook on to our guest wifi and use that to actually do anything data related.

[Joeynach]

I was wondering if the US Cellular acquisition would play a part in this or not. I live out towards the Hoffman Estates area and things around here are better than they were months ago, that's for sure. I still run into issues here and there with LTE not providing much speed (we're talking less than 1Mbps) which is disappointing, but it's better than the literal non-existent speed I'd get from 3G. 

 

The most disappointing thing is at my office. I'm up on the 10th floor right over near Woodfield. I used to get awesome speeds from LTE sitting at my desk, now I get virtually nothing. Sometimes it's okay at best, but most of the time, I have to hook on to our guest wifi and use that to actually do anything data related.

I don't have much exceptions for the acquisition of the US Cellular spectrum.  I think the default view of a corporate merger or sale is that it takes quite a long time, many years, to see a full transition from one service or product to another.  My expectation is that when USC sold their spectrum to Sprint it would be 2-5 years before any of that was actively realized, deployed, and marketed by Sprint, and thus available to the consumers.  Didn't SW Airlines acquire AirTran in 2009, for years later they are still operated as completely separate entities.

[Cubbiefan82]

I don't have much exceptions for the acquisition of the US Cellular spectrum.  I think the default view of a corporate merger or sale is that it takes quite a long time, many years, to see a full transition from one service or product to another.  My expectation is that when USC sold their spectrum to Sprint it would be 2-5 years before any of that was actively realized, deployed, and marketed by Sprint, and thus available to the consumers.  Didn't SW Airlines acquire AirTran in 2009, for years later they are still operated as completely separate entities.

This is a little different then airline, the airline had to get FAA approval to operate as one airline and then they got to merge the routes together. Airtran is uses a lot of 717's and some 737's. Southwest uses just 737, they also have to write standard operating procedures for the one combined airline, They have to merge websites and reservation centers etc etc. The uscc sale, sprint just bought it for the spectrum and uscc dump the subscribers on them too. Sprint has been sending out letters to uscc customers telling them that they need to switch over. As it says above, it will be shut down on january 31 or sooner. Then they will re-purpose that really quickly, it is already built into the phones, so no new phones to buy. Over all I cant wait for what is going to happen in chicago, I know they have some trouble spots, but overall everyone (on s4gru) knows that sprint is going to have a awesome network next year at this time. By then I can upgrade to tri-band and smoke everyone out of the water who has att or verizon and still have unlimited

[gnoj]

This is a little different then airline...

 

Yes, I agree. The 20 MHz of PCS from USCC lies in the B block. All new NV site equipment supports PCS A-G (and some of it may also support the future H block), and all handsets (including USCC phones that Sprint refused to accept on to it's network as a condition of the merger) support at least PCS A-F if not also G. Sprint will not have to manage or upgrade any of USCC's network infrastructure, nor are they taking responsibility for their subscribers by, for example, honoring their contracts (although they are offering some incentives to them to go with Sprint). It was purely a spectrum transfer. Other than reprogramming the PCS carrier card to add the desired number of 1x, Ev-DO, or even LTE carriers, and rejiggering the guard bands, I don't think much else needs to be done to deploy the spectrum. Therefore, there's no reason (no technical reason, at least) for it to take that long to do so.

[lilotimz]

The USCC spectrum is already being broadcasted by Sprint at a reduced power setting to avoid interference with still active USCC sites. 

[drock2750]

The USCC spectrum is already being broadcasted by Sprint at a reduced power setting to avoid interference with still active USCC sites. 

I didn't know that. Since USCC covered every inch of this city, does that mean some sites have already been shut down? 

[Joeynach]

This is a little different then airline, the airline had to get FAA approval to operate as one airline and then they got to merge the routes together. Airtran is uses a lot of 717's and some 737's. Southwest uses just 737, they also have to write standard operating procedures for the one combined airline, They have to merge websites and reservation centers etc etc. The uscc sale, sprint just bought it for the spectrum and uscc dump the subscribers on them too. Sprint has been sending out letters to uscc customers telling them that they need to switch over. As it says above, it will be shut down on january 31 or sooner. Then they will re-purpose that really quickly, it is already built into the phones, so no new phones to buy. Over all I cant wait for what is going to happen in chicago, I know they have some trouble spots, but overall everyone (on s4gru) knows that sprint is going to have a awesome network next year at this time. By then I can upgrade to tri-band and smoke everyone out of the water who has att or verizon and still have unlimited

How long did it take for Cingular Wireless to dissolve into ATT, wasn't that a strict GSM to GSM network acquisition, no site conversion.  IIRC it took a matter of years, not months.  And if we have learned anything in this forum on how long something is supposed to take or should take given given the technical complexity (or lack there of) it appears to have, it's not to assume a time frame given technical complexity at all.  Just ask our friends in Lake County, IL about their non used MIcrowave backhaul station sitting un connected for a year, just ask our friends in Portage County IN still stuck in 3G only b/c their sites haven't received backhaul, just ask anyone who know anything about Sprint's backhaul delays and political red tape surrounding the provider of the service....their competitor ATT.  So I'm sorry, while I understand from a technical perspective this should be a light and easy transition, my expectation is from this point in time it will be years, not months, until we see the full effects of what the USCC spectrum acquisition will yield to Sprint customers.

[mhammett]

I'm anxious for the NIU students to return and have the already poor service tank even further. It should be any day now...

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[mhammett]

I'm anxious for the NIU students to return and have the already poor service tank even further. It should be any day now...

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[gnoj]

I'm anxious for the NIU students to return and have the already poor service tank even further. It should be any day now...

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Yea, really. I look forward to the same thing happening in Iowa City, where seemingly no work has yet been done. They have some gall to "launch" the DeKalb market when all 3 sites within city limits are still on old backhaul. It's not as if the sites where LTE is live in Sycamore are broadcasting it on SMR which might cover much of the area.

[mhammett]

The word on the street (from a friend of mine that is also on this forum) is that at least one of the DeKalb towers has reverted from eHRPD to EV-DO. Fun. So we're going backwards just as college kids are showing up. He's checking for any workers on-site. I'll monitor it a little more closely as well.

[Joeynach]

The word on the street (from a friend of mine that is also on this forum) is that at least one of the DeKalb towers has reverted from eHRPD to EV-DO. Fun. So we're going backwards just as college kids are showing up. He's checking for any workers on-site. I'll monitor it a little more closely as well.

Is this all because they couldn't get their backhaul installed?  Is this a laying fiber issue or a Microwave installment issue?  An ATT not cooperating with Fiber install issue?

[mhammett]

Is this all because they couldn't get their backhaul installed?  Is this a laying fiber issue or a Microwave installment issue?  An ATT not cooperating with Fiber install issue?

 

The microwave gear has been in place for about a year. Actually, one of the rural Sycamore sites is connected by microwave to sites that are LTE active, but no go for whatever reason.

 

AT&T is not the ILEC, so I assume they are not the backhaul used. That said, AT&T Wireless does have a presence at all three sites believed to be fiber-fed, so maybe that's how they're doing it. Frontier (the ILEC) is the provider to the AT&T Wireless sites in the area.

 

AT&T Wireless is even installing their fourth panel per sector on a lot of sites around here.

[Joeynach]

The microwave gear has been in place for about a year. Actually, one of the rural Sycamore sites is connected by microwave to sites that are LTE active, but no go for whatever reason.

 

AT&T is not the ILEC, so I assume they are not the backhaul used. That said, AT&T Wireless does have a presence at all three sites believed to be fiber-fed, so maybe that's how they're doing it. Frontier (the ILEC) is the provider to the AT&T Wireless sites in the area.

 

AT&T Wireless is even installing their fourth panel per sector on a lot of sites around here.

So whats the rumored hold up on the Sprint side?

[mhammett]

So whats the rumored hold up on the Sprint side?

 

I wish I knew. I'd love to solve it for them.

[mhammett]

I doubt you will see any carrier using unlicensed services for voice. Too many variables that they can not control.

Just got notification that a colleague of mine installed a 5 GHz link for Sprint in the Indianapolis area. Not guaranteed that it was Sprint wireless, but...

 

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[mhammett]

This is the kind of crap we deal with out in DeKalb. The 1x only one was a mile from the tower. I've had this for several weeks.

 

http://db.tt/ywxRsu4e

 

http://db.tt/va8WVkVR

 

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[tongboy]

This is the kind of crap we deal with out in DeKalb. The 1x only one was a mile from the tower. I've had this for several weeks.

 

http://db.tt/ywxRsu4e

 

http://db.tt/va8WVkVR

 

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Evdo have so much noise your phone gives up?

 

I was just out in Dekalb and it is horrible in spots, but even more horrid things will happen once NIU starts up.

 

Sycamore has insane speeds. So close and yet so far...

 

Actually, the second pic looks like evdo isn't even working from that location.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4

 

[mhammett]

Nope, no EVDO. Used to have solid coverage. I'll have a few miles of nothing on some roads. I'm going to assume that whomever is adjusting the downtilts is drunk.

 

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