Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[GooGooMuck]

Well, 65535 is a null value. That periodic flicker seems to be an LG and/or Samsung engineering screen phenomenon. To be completely accurate, though, unless the handset is transmitting, it is not truly connected to any uplink carrier, hence the null value.

 

AJ

 

 

Learned something new today, Thanks.

[bitslizer]

surprisingly, today I was able to pull 12mbps while in the ped bridge between Merchandise mart and IIA on 1900LTE

[Joeynach]

I think this question has probably been answered in this forum sometime in the past, but I need a refresher.  If a site is showing it has had NV activity, but is still 3G only (or 3G/800), does that always mean it's non LTE b/c waiting for backhaul?  Or can there be other reasons, like can it be waiting for LTE panels or other equipment, would that always be in place if its showing NV activity, even if its 3G.

[ChiWestLoop]

surprisingly, today I was able to pull 12mbps while in the ped bridge between Merchandise mart and IIA on 1900LTE

What time of the day?

[bitslizer]

What time of the day?

 

1PM, I was waiting there to meet somebody for an appointment

[Joeynach]

1PM, I was waiting there to meet somebody for an appointment

Are you using a Tri Band to Dual Band LTE Device?

[bitslizer]

Are you using a Tri Band to Dual Band LTE Device?

What do you mean? I'm using a htc one max

[GooGooMuck]

Last week I was getting 12-14 Mbps at the Caribou Coffee by Michigan and Madison, but only in the mid 2s on Washington and Franklin. The area was packed with day after Thanksgiving shoppers. This was using a N5 without b41 or b26 enabled. This past Monday and into Tuesday though, I could barely load a webpage in the NW burbs where the speeds were in the 12-14 Mbps range before. Today all is good again. Unfortunately Signalcheck doesn't show the SNR value on the N5 to know if there was a difference.

[Vince]

What do you mean? I'm using a htc one max

Then yes, you're using a tri-band device, and were likely connected to band 41. Speeds like that downtown, while not impossible, are highly improbably on band 26 LTE.

[gr8nuguy]

Then yes, you're using a tri-band device, and were likely connected to band 41. Speeds like that downtown, while not impossible, are highly improbably on band 26 LTE.

you mean band 25 not 26. ????

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[smalltimehack]

I know you guys have more experience with snr down in Chicago and how it effects signal and speeds. Do I want a lower snr or higher? My home tower is close to 20 the majority of the time.

[bitslizer]

Duplicate post deleted

Edited December 7, 2013 by bitslizer

[bitslizer]

Then yes, you're using a tri-band device, and were likely connected to band 41. Speeds like that downtown, while not impossible, are highly improbably on band 26 LTE.

No, my original post that was being referred to clearly stated that I was on lte 1900 / band 25, I confirmed that with the engineering screen. I was very surprised myself

[tommym65]

I know you guys have more experience with snr down in Chicago and how it effects signal and speeds. Do I want a lower snr or higher? My home tower is close to 20 the majority of the time.

 

SNR:  20 is to die for.  10 is very good.  5 is OK.  0.4 (like much of downtown Chicago much of the time) is between terrible and "You've got to be kidding!". 0.0, just throw your phone in the river, it is useless for data.

[WiWavelength]

0.0, just throw your phone in the river, it is useless for data.

 

Plus, if you hold it flat and throw it sidearm, you can probably make it skip a few times.

 

AJ

[JosefTor]

I know you guys have more experience with snr down in Chicago and how it effects signal and speeds. Do I want a lower snr or higher? My home tower is close to 20 the majority of the time.

I just picked up a new nexus 5 for my wife and I have the Galaxy s3. My Galaxy s3 in the same spot will have a low or negative SCR versus >30 on the Nexus 5 and we both receiver the same speeds on speedtest apps. I think the SAN on the Galaxy is broken but it doesn't matter.

[smalltimehack]

SNR: 20 is to die for. 10 is very good. 5 is OK. 0.4 (like much of downtown Chicago much of the time) is between terrible and "You've got to be kidding!". 0.0, just throw your phone in the river, it is useless for data.

Ahhh. Okay. That's awesome! I would hope my snr is good being that I'm a half mile away from my tower with little to no traffic. Sorry for you guys in Chicago.

[tongboy]

Plus, if you hold it flat and throw it sidearm, you can probably make it skip a few times.

 

AJ

I wonder which phone would skip across the water further... S4 or One... :-)

[bitslizer]

I know you guys have more experience with snr down in Chicago and how it effects signal and speeds. Do I want a lower snr or higher? My home tower is close to 20 the majority of the time.

Which screen/value are you guys getting the snr from? I don't see it in the engineering screen unless it's the rsrq?

[smalltimehack]

Which screen/value are you guys getting the snr from? I don't see it in the engineering screen unless it's the rsrq?

Signalcheck shows it.

[infideltaco]

New user here, so forgive me if I'm not posting in the correct thread.

 

I recently switched to Sprint from US Cellular since USCC is in the process of exiting the Chicago market and wanted to get some insight from people more in the know that I.

 

While overall I'm satisfied enough with Sprint's call quality (dropped calls somewhat regularly, not as good as USCC), I am pretty upset with Sprint's data service. I did quite a bit of research on the matter, and learned all about Network Vision, rip and replace of the old network, etc. Sprint Customer Service tells me the Chicago market is complete, and I should not be experiencing any issues. They have issued me a trouble ticket and assure me that engineers will be checking out the towers in my area (not holding my breath on that) in the following week. I have also taken my phone (HTC One) to a corporate Sprint store to make sure the device itself isn't faulty and that all its settings are correct. They ran a number of tests, including adjusting the phone's reception compatibility and profile updates (which all sound like pointless busy work, really) but concluded that nothing was wrong with the device.

 

What worries me is Sprint customer service telling me that they have completed Network Vision in Chicagoland, because that's essentially telling me my service isn't going to be getting any better. I keep hearing that Chicago is supposed to have a huge density of Sprint towers in comparison to other markets in the US, and that the 4G service here is supposedly among the best in the US for Sprint, but I'm not seeing it. What is the opinion of everyone here regarding the data network in Chicago? I'd love to keep my phone (which is awesome) and stick with Sprint, but it just seems like it might be all too much to deal with. Paying the hefty ETF might be worth it in the long run rather than paying 2 years for lackluster service.

 

I've run speed tests on Ookla, Sensorly, and the FCC app and for the most part, I do not get above 1mbps (sometimes as low as 0.01 mpbs up/down) at home (Near West Cook burbs) or work (Berwyn), whether I'm connected to 3G or 4G. A bit of a different story in the city, where at 4G I can get speeds upwards of 6 to 8 mpbs in the Loop, Wicker, Lakeview, etc. and ~2 mpbs on 3G. But even then, inside buildings that can drop down to 1 to 2 mbps on 4G and lose data entirely if on 3G.

 

TL;DR: Do I merely live, work and play in a coverage black hole, or is Sprint still rolling out network upgrades in Chicago? And if so, how much longer until Sprint begins to compare favorably to AT&T and Verizon?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[UnlimitedDataIsInBeta]

New user here, so forgive me if I'm not posting in the correct thread.

 

I recently switched to Sprint from US Cellular since USCC is in the process of exiting the Chicago market and wanted to get some insight from people more in the know that I.

 

While overall I'm satisfied enough with Sprint's call quality (dropped calls somewhat regularly, not as good as USCC), I am pretty upset with Sprint's data service. I did quite a bit of research on the matter, and learned all about Network Vision, rip and replace of the old network, etc. Sprint Customer Service tells me the Chicago market is complete, and I should not be experiencing any issues. They have issued me a trouble ticket and assure me that engineers will be checking out the towers in my area (not holding my breath on that) in the following week. I have also taken my phone (HTC One) to a corporate Sprint store to make sure the device itself isn't faulty and that all its settings are correct. They ran a number of tests, including adjusting the phone's reception compatibility and profile updates (which all sound like pointless busy work, really) but concluded that nothing was wrong with the device.

 

What worries me is Sprint customer service telling me that they have completed Network Vision in Chicagoland, because that's essentially telling me my service isn't going to be getting any better. I keep hearing that Chicago is supposed to have a huge density of Sprint towers in comparison to other markets in the US, and that the 4G service here is supposedly among the best in the US for Sprint, but I'm not seeing it. What is the opinion of everyone here regarding the data network in Chicago? I'd love to keep my phone (which is awesome) and stick with Sprint, but it just seems like it might be all too much to deal with. Paying the hefty ETF might be worth it in the long run rather than paying 2 years for lackluster service.

 

I've run speed tests on Ookla, Sensorly, and the FCC app and for the most part, I do not get above 1mbps (sometimes as low as 0.01 mpbs up/down) at home (Near West Cook burbs) or work (Berwyn), whether I'm connected to 3G or 4G. A bit of a different story in the city, where at 4G I can get speeds upwards of 6 to 8 mpbs in the Loop, Wicker, Lakeview, etc. and ~2 mpbs on 3G. But even then, inside buildings that can drop down to 1 to 2 mbps on 4G and lose data entirely if on 3G.

 

TL;DR: Do I merely live, work and play in a coverage black hole, or is Sprint still rolling out network upgrades in Chicago? And if so, how much longer until Sprint begins to compare favorably to AT&T and Verizon?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

The big two got a 3 and 2 year head start on LTE, respectively. Sprint had to finish getting its pants on (Nextel) before it could focus on finishing the network anywhere.

 

Sprint probably hasn't finished the rollout in your area (become a sponsor to see!), but you can only placate the masses with "a few months" for so long. So, I imagine many reps are telling people Network Vision is done in Chicago, when that's not really the case. If you live in an area that's completely done, then yes, the network isn't going to get better till they turn on 800LTE or 800SMR, if they haven't already.

 

Complaining about Sprint won't get you far here. Knowing your towers and what they're capable of is going to make your Sprint tenure a better experience.

 

If CSR says a ticket is open, then a ticket is open. That's no lie. Someone will actually be on it.

 

Coverage varies everywhere. It's a cellphone network, not electricity. I regularly get 5-6 down at -108dBm on the one LTE tower in my town. Move just a few blocks over, and the 3G is almost unusable.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[tommym65]

Which screen/value are you guys getting the snr from? I don't see it in the engineering screen unless it's the rsrq?

On the GS3, it's on the 6th line of the LTE Engineering Screen. Not sure if it's on HTC screens. It is, as just pointed out, always on the Signal Check screens.

 

(Holy crap, Samsung corrected the spelling of "Engineering" in Android 4.3!!)

[infideltaco]

The big two got a 3 and 2 year head start on LTE, respectively. Sprint had to finish getting its pants on (Nextel) before it could focus on finishing the network anywhere.

 

Sprint probably hasn't finished the rollout in your area (become a sponsor to see!), but you can only placate the masses with "a few months" for so long. So, I imagine many reps are telling people Network Vision is done in Chicago, when that's not really the case. If you live in an area that's completely done, then yes, the network isn't going to get better till they turn on 800LTE or 800SMR, if they haven't already.

 

Complaining about Sprint won't get you far here. Knowing your towers and what they're capable of is going to make your Sprint tenure a better experience.

 

If CSR says a ticket is open, then a ticket is open. That's no lie. Someone will actually be on it.

 

Coverage varies everywhere. It's a cellphone network, not electricity. I regularly get 5-6 down at -108dBm on the one LTE tower in my town. Move just a few blocks over, and the 3G is almost unusable.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

How would one go about finding out about the towers in their area? I didn't mean to come off as complaining about Sprint, I would like to learn more about Sprint's Network Vision and the timetable for it to be rolled out/completed in west Cook County. 

 

I assume the 800LTE & 800SMR is the spectrum being brought over from Nextel and/or Clearwire. Is there a set schedule for the activation of that spectrum in the Chicago area that I could look up? Also, would such spectrum be available to my existing phone, or just newer phones going forward?

[UnlimitedDataIsInBeta]

How would one go about finding out about the towers in their area? I didn't mean to come off as complaining about Sprint, I would like to learn more about Sprint's Network Vision and the timetable for it to be rolled out/completed in west Cook County.

 

I assume the 800LTE & 800SMR is the spectrum being brought over from Nextel and/or Clearwire. Is there a set schedule for the activation of that spectrum in the Chicago area that I could look up? Also, would such spectrum be available to my existing phone, or just newer phones going forward?

Easiest way to learn your towers and their upgrade path is by becoming a Sprint employee. Fastest way is by becoming an S4GRU sponsor. Maps are available to sponsors that give out tower information. That's all I'll say.

 

Clearwire spectrum is 2.5, Nextel is 800. Your phone can take advantage of the 800SMR, which increases voice coverage. 800LTE is not available for every phone. IIRC, your phone only does LTE on the 1900 band, meaning you wouldn't benefit from 800LTE except where it brings users off 1900, which means faster speeds for you.

 

If you're that concerned about 4G coverage indoors, you'll need a phone or carrier that has a low-frequency LTE with a network to match. 800LTE hasn't really launched anywhere, but it'll penetrate walls better once it has.

 

AT&T is 700 & 1900, same as Verizon. It's really the 700 band that sets the networks apart. Once Sprint gets their 800 fired up, any 800LTE device will get solid 4G indoors.

 

800LTE devices on Sprint so far are the Zing, the MiFi 500, the HTC One Max, the Galaxy Mega, the Galaxy S4 Mini, the LG G2, the iPhone 5c, the iPhone 5S, and the Nexus 5. Look for a Galaxy S4 and Note 3 re-release marketed as "Spark-compatible".

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk