Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[Joeynach]

It's not that, some people don't have a triband device.

Some people don't have a triband device ($400 upgrades without contract aren't for everyone), and some people don't have B26 or B41 service in their areas.  Even you know all of Chicago isn't covered.  Glad to hear US Cellular Field has some tri-band service nearby but what happens at Joliet Raceway when its B25 only still, or out by Oak Brook mall on a crowded summer day when tri-band isn't up and running in that burb yet.  Is at acceptable for us to just shrug our shoulders when we go to typical events and places and have an unusable network because we haven't shelled out for a new phone or because we know B26 and B41 are still scheduled for a later date?  Honestly, I have mixed feelings, I am asking for other opinions here.

[Vince]

Some people don't have a triband device ($400 upgrades without contract aren't for everyone), and some people don't have B26 or B41 service in their areas. Even you know all of Chicago isn't covered. Glad to hear US Cellular Field has some tri-band service nearby but what happens at Joliet Raceway when its B25 only still, or out by Oak Brook mall on a crowded summer day when tri-band isn't up and running in that burb yet. Is at acceptable for us to just shrug our shoulders when we go to typical events and places and have an unusable network because we haven't shelled out for a new phone or because we know B26 and B41 are still scheduled for a later date? Honestly, I have mixed feelings, I am asking for other opinions here.

Unfortunately, that's the nature of a 5x5 PCS LTE carrier being deployed. It's going to get saturated. We just have to play the waiting game for uscc/26/41. Help is on the way, and has been for some time. It's just taking far too long. Band 41 clearwire and NV 2.0 is understandable because it requires a physical build.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[Joeynach]

Unfortunately, that's the nature of a 5x5 PCS LTE carrier being deployed. It's going to get saturated. We just have to play the waiting game for uscc/26/41. Help is on the way, and has been for some time. It's just taking far too long. Band 41 clearwire and NV 2.0 is understandable because it requires a physical build.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

My disappointed experiences with LTE haven't just come in Chicago, where we know Sprint found more spectrum via the USCC acquisition.  I have had difficulties in several cities where LTE is mature and post NV 1.0.  Should I just accept that the network won't work for me (as advertised) at a basketball game or a crowded day at the beach because I either haven't upgraded to tri-band or the area I am in hasn't been upgraded with tri-band service.  Honestly, this is the question. 

[kojitsari]

My disappointed experiences with LTE haven't just come in Chicago, where we know Sprint found more spectrum via the USCC acquisition. I have had difficulties in several cities where LTE is mature and post NV 1.0. Should I just accept that the network won't work for me (as advertised) at a basketball game or a crowded day at the beach because I either haven't upgraded to tri-band or the area I am in hasn't been upgraded with tri-band service. Honestly, this is the question.

I have a n5 that is effectively a single band phone right now(no spark update yet). So far the only negative experience I've had on Sprint is not having LTE at my current residence in the middle of no where(the big two barely get LTE to here with their lower spectrum so its expected), and being unable to connect to LTE in Columbia Missouri. Other than that my experience on Sprint's network in St Louis, Springfield, local small towns(3k-10k populations), and on the interstates that travel through almost unpopulated areas has been phenomenal, loads better than when I had AT&T. Now Kansas city is in a category of its own. I had LTE in every place I went, including some old stone buildings. My lowest speed I saw was 15mb down and 7mb up. This was a pure b25 experience, I can't imagine how it'd have been with a spark enabled phone. I fully believe if you can hold out and suffer through the growing pains Sprint is having right now that you will have a least as good of an experience in Chicago as I did in Kansas city. Maybe when your contract expires you can pick up an n5 off contract(so you can take it to another carrier if that's what you end up doing) and get to try the spark experience. Actually I can tell you that so far my experience on Sprint has been better than my Dads on his Verizon work phone(we switched the same time, both of us had AT&T before then) in the majority of the places.

Also major sporting events are a crap shoot for every carrier...they need to plan more effectively for them as a whole. Its not just Sprint that has trouble.

 

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[Vince]

You didn't pick up any band 26 in KC? I hear it's a great market for that.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[kojitsari]

You didn't pick up any band 26 in KC? I hear it's a great market for that.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

Well we don't have the spark update yet and my phone is completely stock right now, I haven't even enabled the extra bands manually(I was primed for the update that never came lmao). So I really do have a single band n5 right now, no band 26/41 goodies for me:P.

 

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[Vince]

Well we don't have the spark update yet and my phone is completely stock right now, I haven't even enabled the extra bands manually(I was primed for the update that never came lmao). So I really do have a single band n5 right now, no band 26/41 goodies for me:P.

 

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Get your msl and enable those bands. A stock n5 picks up 26 with no problem. It's 41 where it struggles.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[kojitsari]

Get your msl and enable those bands. A stock n5 picks up 26 with no problem. It's 41 where it struggles.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

Oh I know, I had them enabled and was on the .15/.17 radios respectively. I just put that in their to emphasize how mature of a market Kansas city is, and how Chicago shouldn't be very far behind it. It is in my opinion the best example of what Sprint is like when its completely built out(at least to the best of my knowledge). They can and will compete with the big two in metro areas once they're built out, once the roaming association thing(CCA maybe?) is up and going they'll even be able to go toe to toe in rural areas with one major difference...real unlimited data.

 

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[Joeynach]

I have a n5 that is effectively a single band phone right now(no spark update yet). So far the only negative experience I've had on Sprint is not having LTE at my current residence in the middle of no where(the big two barely get LTE to here with their lower spectrum so its expected), and being unable to connect to LTE in Columbia Missouri. Other than that my experience on Sprint's network in St Louis, Springfield, local small towns(3k-10k populations), and on the interstates that travel through almost unpopulated areas has been phenomenal, loads better than when I had AT&T. Now Kansas city is in a category of its own. I had LTE in every place I went, including some old stone buildings. My lowest speed I saw was 15mb down and 7mb up. This was a pure b25 experience, I can't imagine how it'd have been with a spark enabled phone. I fully believe if you can hold out and suffer through the growing pains Sprint is having right now that you will have a least as good of an experience in Chicago as I did in Kansas city. Maybe when your contract expires you can pick up an n5 off contract(so you can take it to another carrier if that's what you end up doing) and get to try the spark experience. Actually I can tell you that so far my experience on Sprint has been better than my Dads on his Verizon work phone(we switched the same time, both of us had AT&T before then) in the majority of the places.

Also major sporting events are a crap shoot for every carrier...they need to plan more effectively for them as a whole. Its not just Sprint that has trouble.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

We have had different experiences here with LTE service over the past couple years.  Suburb folks vs. city folks have already produced far different impressions of the network.  We also had a giant debate last fall around weak SNR's everyone was picking up and the mysterious 2nd LTE carrier from USCC that Sprint purchased.  No need to revisit the details.  I have certainty accepted the fact that network is properly utilized when all three bands are in play, by the carrier and the user's device, and that I do not have the capabilities to access the network in this way.  I would agree that degraded service is likely at some of the larger events, and even expected (for all carriers), but within the same merit I have a hard time just shrugging off constant no connectivity and no service at such venues, no matter what market I visit or what kind of device I am using.

[Vince]

I'm satisfied. I can deal with it until everything comes together with all our spectrum additions. Until then, these kind of speeds will suffice. This is the future that I'm holding out for.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[kyle_4thousand]

I'm satisfied. I can deal with it until everything comes together with all our spectrum additions. Until then, these kind of speeds will suffice. This is the future that I'm holding out for.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

I've never been able to get a signal strength that good on B41. Where you like literally up against the panel? lol usually the best i've seen on B41 standing next to the site in the "sweet spot" is -72 dBm

[Joeynach]

I've never been able to get a signal strength that good on B41. Where you like literally up against the panel? lol usually the best i've seen on B41 standing next to the site in the "sweet spot" is -72 dBm

Correct me if I am wrong Vince, but I think that speed test is pulled that from a B26 site, that N5 he's working with is not enabled for B41 yet.  Amazing what LTE speeds look like on uncrowded airwaves isn't it.

[Vince]

I've never been able to get a signal strength that good on B41. Where you like literally up against the panel? lol usually the best i've seen on B41 standing next to the site in the "sweet spot" is -72 dBm

I was actually sitting on the rack. I felt warm and fuzzy, then my hair fell out. .

 

About a block away, clear L.O.S.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[wobbypetty]

Correct me if I am wrong Vince, but I think that speed test is pulled that from a B26 site, that N5 he's working with is not enabled for B41 yet. Amazing what LTE speeds look like on uncrowded airwaves isn't it.

I don't think you can pull those down speeds on a 5x5 sector like b26 operates on.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Vince]

Correct me if I am wrong Vince, but I think that speed test is pulled that from a B26 site, that N5 he's working with is not enabled for B41 yet. Amazing what LTE speeds look like on uncrowded airwaves isn't it.

No, it was band 41. I was sitting in my truck bored, so I flashed the .15 modem to see if it worked, and it jumped right to 41. It's not stable, and sometimes locks the connection before it falls to 25, but it's something until the spark release drops. Band 25/26 5x5 max out around 37mbps per sector.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[kyle_4thousand]

I was actually sitting on the rack. I felt warm and fuzzy, then my hair fell out. .

 

About a block away, clear L.O.S.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

I don't know how birds can nest up on towers without getting turned into a bucket of fried chicken (I'm sure Robert would be all over that).

 

And there's a flag pole tower directly next to my parking garage for t-mobile, I'm scared to park in the few spaces directly adjacent to it on the 7th floor because I would literally be 10 ft away from the panels

[Dkoellerwx]

My disappointed experiences with LTE haven't just come in Chicago, where we know Sprint found more spectrum via the USCC acquisition.  I have had difficulties in several cities where LTE is mature and post NV 1.0.  Should I just accept that the network won't work for me (as advertised) at a basketball game or a crowded day at the beach because I either haven't upgraded to tri-band or the area I am in hasn't been upgraded with tri-band service.  Honestly, this is the question. 

 

EVERY network is going to struggle in the situation of a basketball stadium or a crowed beach area. Tri-band isn't going the fix that. It will help - some, but it still won't cut it when you have thousands of people in one place. The macro network simply can't handle that many connections. On any band, on any network.

 

The only solution for situations such as these is small cell or DAS deployments to fulfill the enormous capacity needed.

 

 

 

I have a n5 that is effectively a single band phone right now(no spark update yet). S

 

Well we don't have the spark update yet and my phone is completely stock right now, I haven't even enabled the extra bands manually(I was primed for the update that never came lmao). So I really do have a single band n5 right now, no band 26/41 goodies for me:P.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Kansas City is bathed in wonderful B26 now too. If you enabled B26, and are on the .15 or .17 radio (.23 works too I'm told, but haven't personally tested it) you should pick up B26 just fine.

 

 

Correct me if I am wrong Vince, but I think that speed test is pulled that from a B26 site, that N5 he's working with is not enabled for B41 yet.  Amazing what LTE speeds look like on uncrowded airwaves isn't it.

 

You can only get speeds like that on B41. B26 and B25 max out at 37.5Mbps due to the 5x5 deployment. 

[Joeynach]

No, it was band 41. I was sitting in my truck bored, so I flashed the .15 modem to see if it worked, and it jumped right to 41. It's not stable, and sometimes locks the connection before it falls to 25, but it's something until the spark release drops. Band 25/26 5x5 max out around 37mbps per sector.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

Got ya.

[kojitsari]

Kansas City is bathed in wonderful B26 now too. If you enabled B26, and are on the .15 or .17 radio (.23 works too I'm told, but haven't personally tested it) you should pick up B26 just fine.

I'm not there very often yet. So far its just been a few trips for college stuff. I'm hoping to have the spark update before I relocate there in the fall. I hope I wasn't incorrect in using kc to illustrate what an essentially complete Sprint market is like. I see network quality like I experience there as the light at the end of the tunnel for NV.

 

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[gusherb]

I'm not there very often yet. So far its just been a few trips for college stuff. I'm hoping to have the spark update before I relocate there in the fall. I hope I wasn't incorrect in using kc to illustrate what an essentially complete Sprint market is like. I see network quality like I experience there as the light at the end of the tunnel for NV.

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I will be reporting on KC Sunday and Monday. Can't wait to see uninterrupted LTE on I35 and I70! (Hopefully)

[Dkoellerwx]

I'm not there very often yet. So far its just been a few trips for college stuff. I'm hoping to have the spark update before I relocate there in the fall. I hope I wasn't incorrect in using kc to illustrate what an essentially complete Sprint market is like. I see network quality like I experience there as the light at the end of the tunnel for NV.

 

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No, KC is a great example of a completed, well done NV market. I look forward to my trips back to KC just because I know that my phone will actually work when I am there, rather than only half working while I am in Springfield (MO).

 

The difference between KC and Chicago is population density. Sprint has a large part of the market in KC, but the density isn't the same as in Chicago, so Chicago's network got overwhelmed much faster. B26 should continue to come online quickly (the Kansas market only took about a month for the whole market to go live) and that will help tremendously, as will the new PCS LTE carrier that has been spotted.

[WiWavelength]

I don't know how birds can nest up on towers without getting turned into a bucket of fried chicken (I'm sure Robert would be all over that).

 

Broiled pigeon?  Oh, not recently.  Robert read that pigeons were high in cholesterol.

 

 

AJ

[Vince]

Shitter's full

 

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[DsmIowaGuy]

No, KC is a great example of a completed, well done NV market. I look forward to my trips back to KC just because I know that my phone will actually work when I am there, rather than only half working while I am in Springfield (MO).

 

The difference between KC and Chicago is population density. Sprint has a large part of the market in KC, but the density isn't the same as in Chicago, so Chicago's network got overwhelmed much faster. B26 should continue to come online quickly (the Kansas market only took about a month for the whole market to go live) and that will help tremendously, as will the new PCS LTE carrier that has been spotted.

 

Alright now...  I'm thinking we need to change the topic to great movie lines, seems like we turned on another road ! 

 

Interesting post Dk.   I really need to get to KC to see how things are.  You know.. It's so far from Dsm to get down there, probably been 10+ years since I was there - I need to use BBQ as my excuse and go visit a few hotspots to see what that hype is about! However I'm in Chicago tons of times a year.  There are certainly issues in Chgo so I'm anxious how things spread out across B26 to relieve things and even the USCC spectrum.

 

We're sitting pretty good here in Dsm with B25/B26 and stuff seems like B41 is not far off from lots of sites so that should be cool (we'll save that discussion for the other forums!)

 

Lot's of lucky my Chgo friends, I anxiously follow your information on here just like my own stuff here in Central Iowa.

[Joeynach]

Alright now...  I'm thinking we need to change the topic to great movie lines, seems like we turned on another road ! 

 

Interesting post Dk.   I really need to get to KC to see how things are.  You know.. It's so far from Dsm to get down there, probably been 10+ years since I was there - I need to use BBQ as my excuse and go visit a few hotspots to see what that hype is about! However I'm in Chicago tons of times a year.  There are certainly issues in Chgo so I'm anxious how things spread out across B26 to relieve things and even the USCC spectrum.

 

We're sitting pretty good here in Dsm with B25/B26 and stuff seems like B41 is not far off from lots of sites so that should be cool (we'll save that discussion for the other forums!)

 

Lot's of lucky my Chgo friends, I anxiously follow your information on here just like my own stuff here in Central Iowa.

To me the biggest challenge of improving service is tri-band adoption.  With the 2nd carrier trickling through, and the amount of tri-band sites growing steadily, how long will it be before the networks three bands are spreading out the load to handle the demand?  Do we need 25% adoption, 50%, 75% or more?  It literally keeps me up at night thinking we all believe service (on B25) is gonna improve because of tri-band service activation, but we have no idea how many Sprint users need to be using the devices or how long it will or should take to get there.