Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[njjdnt]

... Whatever NV Phase 1 is, ...

How do you not know what NV phase 1 is? 

[WiWavelength]

I remember expressing a similar sentiment about a month ago.  I left Chicago during rush hour pulling down sub dial up LTE speeds and below 3 SNRs in the Loop.  45 min later out in the south suburbs BOOM, pulling down 5-10Mbps and SNRs 15+.  The difference, population density.  If your a suburbanite you prolly have a completely different experience with Sprint and NV.  Whatever NV Phase 1 is, its not made to handle the traffic of urban centers when all users demand access to one 5x5 carrier of LTE, and I see similar complaints on Sprint's board in relation to NYC, San Fran, etc.  Its just disappointing.

 

To put in perspective, though, VZW and AT&T are not necessarily doing any better with their respective LTE 750 and LTE 700 single 10 MHz FDD carriers.  They each have twice the bandwidth but also twice the subs.

 

Honestly, some of you may just need to lower your expectations about data use in densely crowded locations.  Too many people have smartphones and want to use too much data.  The problem is not going to get that much better without massive deployment of small cells -- similar to that of municipal Wi-Fi -- and that will take years to accomplish.

 

AJ

[Joeynach]

How do you not know what NV phase 1 is? 

Just a term that has been thrown around on this board when talking about the rip and replace process on Sprint's towers to get the LTE equipment in place.

[Joeynach]

To put in perspective, though, VZW and AT&T are not necessarily doing any better with their respective LTE 750 and LTE 700 single 10 MHz FDD carriers.  They each have twice the bandwidth but also twice the subs.

 

Honestly, some of you may just need to lower your expectations about data use in densely crowded locations.  Too many people have smartphones and want to use too much data.  The problem is not going to get that much better without massive deployment of small cells -- similar to that of municipal Wi-Fi -- and that will take years to accomplish.

 

AJ

I agree with you in theory, however too many times over the last 6 months I have speed tested my Sprint LTE device right next to a friend or family members LTE device on ATT/VZW and found startling differences at many downtown Chicago locations.  Conversely, I have noticed very little difference at suburban location doing the same tests.  In fact my last test about a month ago in Homewood, my Sprint LTE device was crushing my sisters ATT LTE, problem is I spend about 95% of my time in the Loop and Lincoln park.  Naturally this has started to change my opinion.

[Madfelon]

Haven't been down there in a while, but this makes me wonder if another 5x5 carrier will be enough in the loop. Unfortunately many people do not have tri band phones and it will take at least a year or more for a significant percentage of subscribers to have these phones in hand to take advantage of the other bands. And when you take into account moral hazard, even if a secondary carrier does improve capacity to some extent, people will be inclined to use even more data once they see it starts working faster again and they may just end up right back to where they where.

 

Obviously I hope this isn't the case, but anyone feel that this might happen if Chicago does get another 5x5 band 25 carrier?

 

 

Had a chance to test drive the HTC One Max here in Chicago and boy was it a disappointment. I was connected to Spark yet the fastest speed I was able to attain was 13.3 Mbps download and 8.8 Mbps upload. In contrast my Iphone5 would be 5.4 Mbps and 3.4 Mbps at the same areas when speed tests were conducted. Think Sprints claims of 50-60 Megabits per second (Mbps) peak speeds are going to be another falsehood. I am hoping they get it right by June, if not its time for a new carrier.

[tommym65]

Had a chance to test drive the HTC Ogoodne Max here in Chicago and boy was it a disappointment. I was connected to Spark yet the fastest speed I was able to attain was 13.3 Mbps download and 8.8 Mbps upload. In contrast my Iphone5 would be 5.4 Mbps and 3.4 Mbps at the same areas when speed tests were conducted. Think Sprints claims of 50-60 Megabits per second (Mbps) peak speeds are going to be another falsehood. I am hoping they get it right by June, if not its time for a new carrier.

If you were on Band 41 LTE, you were on old (slow) Clearwire backhaul, and 13 Mb speeds are pretty good. If you were on Band 25, 13 Mb is excellent in most parts of Chicago due to heavy traffic. When Sprint starts installing B41 on sites with NV backhaul, 60-plus Mb should be attainable as an optimum, but keep in mind that traffic and distance always reduce throughput.

[S4GRU]

Just a term that has been thrown around on this board when talking about the rip and replace process on Sprint's towers to get the LTE equipment in place.

Also, Sprint refers to it in their internal communications as NV1.0

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[Paynefanbro]

I remember expressing a similar sentiment about a month ago.  I left Chicago during rush hour pulling down sub dial up LTE speeds and below 3 SNRs in the Loop.  45 min later out in the south suburbs BOOM, pulling down 5-10Mbps and SNRs 15+.  The difference, population density.  If your a suburbanite you prolly have a completely different experience with Sprint and NV.  Whatever NV Phase 1 is, its not made to handle the traffic of urban centers when all users demand access to one 5x5 carrier of LTE, and I see similar complaints on Sprint's board in relation to NYC, San Fran, etc.  Its just disappointing.

 

It is only partially the case in NYC. As more sites have been coming online, speeds have steadily increased again. And many sites that are collocated with Clear here got their backhaul increased. In an area with thousands of people I still got 8 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up with a ping of about 40ms on Band 25.

[S4GRU]

If you were on Band 41 LTE, you were on old Clearwire backhaul, and 13 Mb speeds are pretty good. If you were on Band 25, 13 Mb is excellent in most parts of Chicago due to heavy traffic.

He doesn't even know what band he was on. He just saw a Spark icon, which doesn't mean anything, as we know. He is just here to bitch.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[Rawvega]

He doesn't even know what band he was on. He just saw a Spark icon, which doesn't mean anything, as we know. He is just here to bitch.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

I agree with you on all  points. However, that illustrates the mistake that Sprint has made with the Spark icon showing whenever a handset is connect to any LTE. The Spark icon should only show when connected to Band 41 otherwise it's just going to lead to skewed perceptions proliferating across the internet and Sprint needs no more of that.

[S4GRU]

I agree with you on all  points. However, that illustrates the mistake that Sprint has made with the Spark icon showing whenever a handset is connect to any LTE. The Spark icon should only show when connected to Band 41 otherwise it's just going to lead to skewed perceptions proliferating across the internet and Sprint needs no more of that.

It is definitely a mistake. But Madfelon has history.

 

Robert

[mhammett]

To put in perspective, though, VZW and AT&T are not necessarily doing any better with their respective LTE 750 and LTE 700 single 10 MHz FDD carriers. They each have twice the bandwidth but also twice the subs.

 

Honestly, some of you may just need to lower your expectations about data use in densely crowded locations. Too many people have smartphones and want to use too much data. The problem is not going to get that much better without massive deployment of small cells -- similar to that of municipal Wi-Fi -- and that will take years to accomplish.

 

AJ

I carry Sprint and VZ. No contest almost everywhere I go the VZ walks all over the Sprint. Its not even the same race. A few times I have seen Sprint best VZ.

 

Often times in dense environments, I'd like to measure my time to send or receive messages (text or picture) in minutes, not hours.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

 

[runagun]

Just curious even with 800 on sprint? Data Ya for sure it's a loss but 1x800 has help for sure around northern IL. Driving around Marengo, Harvard it's helped immensely.

 

I carry Sprint and VZ. No contest almost everywhere I go the VZ walks all over the Sprint. Its not even the same race. A few times I have seen Sprint best VZ.

 

Often times in dense environments, I'd like to measure my time to send or receive messages (text or picture) in minutes, not hours.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

[mhammett]

Just curious even with 800 on sprint? Data Ya for sure it's a loss but 1x800 has help for sure around northern IL. Driving around Marengo, Harvard it's helped immensely.

 

 

I was referring to data. I don't really use the voice aspects of my phone all that much.

[briank101]

I notice 1x800 voice has gone back to 1xRTT voice since last night, at least according to my SignalChech Lite. In all the western suburbs I been around today this has been the case. Can other confirm if they put voice back on the 1900 MHz band, and would anyone know the reason why? 

 

PS: My first post here by the way, after reading thousands of posts. Just got a Moto X smartphone in early Dec. (my first data smart phone) which re-ignited my long time interest in radio, antennas, etc. but now in the CDMA/LTE realm.

[WiWavelength]

I notice 1x800 voice has gone back to 1xRTT voice since last night, at least according to my SignalChech Lite. In all the western suburbs I been around today this has been the case. Can other confirm if they put voice back on the 1900 MHz band, and would anyone know the reason why?

 

Voice will always remain on CDMA1X 1900, too.  There is only one CDMA1X 800 carrier -- not enough capacity for everybody.  So, you will likely bounce between CDMA1X 1900 and CDMA1X 800 as needed.

 

AJ

[Joeynach]

So I just wanted to share this because I thought it was hilarious.  I was exchanging tweets with people who were also noting slow LTE services from Sprint, basically just letting them know they are not alone as we have similar problems here in Chicago.  I then received three separate tweets from three separate people at @sprintcare.  All asking me for the same thing, what are my cross streets and zip code so they can look and see if there is any trouble in my area.  So I gave all three the exact same address, my office at Ogilvy, and low and behold all three responded with a different synopsis.  One responded and said there were outages in my area and towers were being fixed, one responded and said there are no outages in my area and recommended I do a data profile refresh, and the last one responded and said the towers in my area haven't been updated to LTE yet.  I almost keeled over laughing at all three.  That made my day.

[briank101]

Thanks for the info. It's just that in the "1000" times that I have looked at my phone in the last month, I've been on 1X 800 voice and now the 10 or 20 times I've looked since yesterday on the 50 tower/sectors I pass on the commute, it's been 1X 1900 voice. I have been very happy with the 1X 800 voice coverage up to now and now I'm fearing more dropouts with the less penetrating 1900 MHz band.

[S4GRU]

So I just wanted to share this because I thought it was hilarious.  I was exchanging tweets with people who were also noting slow LTE services from Sprint, basically just letting them know they are not alone as we have similar problems here in Chicago.  I then received three separate tweets from three separate people at @sprintcare.  All asking me for the same thing, what are my cross streets and zip code so they can look and see if there is any trouble in my area.  So I gave all three the exact same address, my office at Ogilvy, and low and behold all three responded with a different synopsis.  One responded and said there were outages in my area and towers were being fixed, one responded and said there are no outages in my area and recommended I do a data profile refresh, and the last one responded and said the towers in my area haven't been updated to LTE yet.  I almost keeled over laughing at all three.  That made my day.

 

Giving out bad information is worse than giving out no information at all, IMO.  This is where Sprint customer service really needs an overhaul.  This is systemic and pervasive.  The amount of misinformation that comes from official Sprint customer service channels is staggering.  It is true of all providers, but it would be exceptionally uncarrier of Sprint to tackle it.  And do it before Tmo does.

 

Robert

[S4GRU]

Thanks for the info. It's just that in the "1000" times that I have looked at my phone in the last month, I've been on 1X 800 voice and now the 10 or 20 times I've looked since yesterday on the 50 tower/sectors I pass on the commute, it's been 1X 1900 voice. I have been very happy with the 1X 800 voice coverage up to now and now I'm fearing more dropouts with the less penetrating 1900 MHz band.

 

CDMA 800 is not going anywhere.  Did you get a new PRL recently?

 

Robert

[WiWavelength]

It is true of all providers, but it would be exceptionally uncarrier of Sprint to tackle it.  And do it before Tmo does.

 

T-Mobile specializes in giving out high fives, expletives, and doobies.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

T-Mobile specializes in giving out high fives, expletives, and doobies.

 

AJ

 

Yeah, I hear that the final stumbling block in the details of the Sprint purchase of Tmo, is that Legere is insisting that the new company be headquartered in Denver.  Tmo execs that stay onboard insist on experiencing that Mile High experience.

 

Robert

[WiWavelength]

Yeah, I hear that the final stumbling block in the details of the Sprint purchase of Tmo, is that Legere is insisting that the new company be headquartered in Denver.  Tmo execs that stay onboard insist on experiencing that Mile High experience.

 

Naw, The Man in Denver has a different recommendation for T-Mobile headquarters...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzkeNHGM9d8

 

Then, T-Mobile might finally offer local service in Omaha.

 

AJ 

[S4GRU]

Naw, The Man in Denver has a different recommendation for T-Mobile headquarters...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzkeNHGM9d8

 

Then, T-Mobile might finally offer local service in Omaha.

 

AJ 

 

Oh my Gawd, not the Oh-muh-HAW!!  I find his screaming Omaha so obnoxious.

 

Robert

[WiWavelength]

Oh my Gawd, not the Oh-muh-HAW!!  I find his screaming Omaha so obnoxious.

 

Damn, I wish now that I could find a "Green 18 Green 18" snap count video loop.  That would be far more appropriate for this Chicago thread.  It would give our Windy Citians sausage induced nightmares.

 

 

AJ