Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[WiWavelength]

Which faction is it? :-p

 

You made a typographical error.  Instead of "faction," did you mean "fiction," "fixation," or both?

 

AJ

[briank101]

So the Band Priority is 41>25>26 when all signals have good signal, right? So when the signal is non-existent on 41, marginal on 25 (< 0.5 Mbps), and great signal on 26, will you get 26, or will it stay on 25 right down to dial-up speeds, and then switch you to 26, assuming air-link capacity is not the issue?

 

Also once all bands (esp. 26) are switched on at all sites, should one expect near zero dropouts due to insufficient signal and perhaps near zero <dial-up speed events due to load balancing between the bands.

 

I think the 2nd 5X5  PCS LTE carrier (on former USCC spectrum) is the one that will have the biggest positive initial impact on the typical user with their existing device, but I'm not sure if that's the first priority for Sprint or is it better to have have short-term pain and long-term gain, although their short-term pain is going on for how many years now?

[Joeynach]

When you're in US Cellular Field, the network is horrible, but my friend with Verizon had no problems. Funny thing was, I bet there were more people there that had verizon phones than those who had Sprint phones

 

 

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I reported this a couple weeks ago as well.  I was at The Cell on a nite there was probably 15K fans there.  The service was un-useable on the LTE side of things.

[Calvin200]

I was visiting Chicago during the Memorial Day weekend and it's definetly not a 4G paradise oasis.  I pulled down some decent downloads in certain locations, but uploads......yawn.  I know it's still in process, but makes me wonder how long it's going to be for everything to be taken care of 90 miles north in Milwaukee. 

[Joeynach]

I was visiting Chicago during the Memorial Day weekend and it's definetly not a 4G paradise oasis.  I pulled down some decent downloads in certain locations, but uploads......yawn.  I know it's still in process, but makes me wonder how long it's going to be for everything to be taken care of 90 miles north in Milwaukee. 

Thats just what the reality of the LTE situation is here.  Its anchored to a mere 5x5 carrier, and since last fall when both tower and device saturation started growing rapidly everyone's performance on the LTE network diminished severely.  Those with tri-band have been lucky enough to pick up some B41 in various pockets around the city, and there is some B26 starting to filter in, but for a majority of users, independent of device, LTE service in Chicago still means one 5x5 carrier for everyone.  It doesn't work all that well.  The mysterious 2nd 5x5 carrier from USCC has been spotted by some users here, but so far it hasn't appeared to make an earth shattering difference in LTE service.

[always_learner]

When you're in US Cellular Field, the network is horrible, but my friend with Verizon had no problems. Funny thing was, I bet there were more people there that had verizon phones than those who had Sprint phones

 

 

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It was reported a couple weeks ago that Spark Band 41 was active at the location with 40+mbps download speeds.  I realize not everyone has a Spark capable device, but I was just throwing that out there.

[UnlimitedDataIsInBeta]

You made a typographical error. Instead of "faction," did you mean "fiction," "fixation," or both?

 

AJ

All of the above.

 

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[Joeynach]

It was reported a couple weeks ago that Spark Band 41 was active at the location with 40+mbps download speeds.  I realize not everyone has a Spark capable device, but I was just throwing that out there.

Yeah Vince reported, which is great, but that goes right by back to my post before that alludes to the fact that when a majority of users use or critique their LTE service it is still by default in association with the original B25 service which is just one 5x5 carrier in a majority of Chicagoland locations.  Spark device adoption is prolly sub 10% and although B41 and B26 maps can be found in the premier section, it would be foolish to assume its available at most of the tower locations in which the average Chicagoan finds their B25 signal now, things are still fairly scattered.

[Vince]

Over the long weekend, just about every tower I connected to had the second pcs carrier broadcasting. This is from willowbrook, to oak brook, Carol stream, down to Orland/tinley, evergreen park/Beverly, to other parts of the far south side of Chicago. Crazy. I wish I could correlate 26 with that second carrier, but that's not always the case. While I did find some 26 in new areas, I think they're firing up the second carrier first because that truly benefits every LTE device, then coming back around and turning on 26 and filling in the holes.

[WiWavelength]

All of the above.

 

Oh, I left out "figment."

 

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Has no one verifiably reported the secondary band 25 LTE carrier EARFCN?  Remember, I have a thread for that.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5454-network-vision-and-spark-earfcn-logging-thread/

 

AJ

[Vince]

Has no one verifiably reported the secondary band 25 LTE carrier EARFCN? Remember, I have a thread for that.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/5454-network-vision-and-spark-earfcn-logging-thread/

 

AJ

Posted.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

[Calvin200]

Chicago a Spark market or what?  I guess this comes down to- tell them you're getting it, wait till you're almost done and say it's almost done, or say you have it and then scare people away.  This conversation has been had before. 

I have Spark , I had some great areas with 30 something downloads and I am OK with that.  I can deal with not being lightning fast as long as it's consistently fast.  I'm just concerned because this has been around the corner for a long time and I'm starting to worry how long it will take to fire up my city.  I do understand Chicago being so large and the US Cellular signal gives them a bigger hurdle in Chicago.    

[Joeynach]

Chicago a Spark market or what?  I guess this comes down to- tell them you're getting it, wait till you're almost done and say it's almost done, or say you have it and then scare people away.  This conversation has been had before. 

I have Spark , I had some great areas with 30 something downloads and I am OK with that.  I can deal with not being lightning fast as long as it's consistently fast.  I'm just concerned because this has been around the corner for a long time and I'm starting to worry how long it will take to fire up my city.  I do understand Chicago being so large and the US Cellular signal gives them a bigger hurdle in Chicago.    

Tough for us to speak in detail about it here in this forum.  Robert has some pretty strict rules on discussions around B26 and B41 being limited to Premier sections only.  I think in a general sense according to Sprint Chicago is a Spark market, but as we all know from NV 1.0 Sprint would label markets live or launched when only 40-50% of sites were broadcasting LTE, leaving many users with brand new LTE or Spark devices scratching their heads saying where is the LTE.  Just remember there is a huge difference in what Sprint labels or calls a "live" market for sales/marketing rhetoric vs. actual knowledge of site by site broadcast data which we are privy to here at S4GRU (which the public is not).

[Vince]

I've found a dead sector on one of my daily towers. It's becoming quite annoying. It's the "02" (g-block pcs/gamma sector). Now that this particular tower is broadcasting 3 5x5 LTE carriers, I think the techs messed something up. Been like this for over a week. Anyone know of a good way to report this? Maybe Dan@Sprint? I wouldn't dare call tech support with this. They'll probably have me do a prl update.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

[cdk]

I've found a dead sector on one of my daily towers. It's becoming quite annoying. It's the "02" (g-block pcs/gamma sector). Now that this particular tower is broadcasting 3 5x5 LTE carriers, I think the techs messed something up. Been like this for over a week. Anyone know of a good way to report this? Maybe Dan@Sprint? I wouldn't dare call tech support with this. They'll probably have me do a prl update.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

 

I would give Dan@Sprint a try... Include some nice detailed information. I figure you have a 50/50 chance that it'll wind up in the right hands.

 

3 LTE carriers? As in 2 Band 25 and 1 Band 26?

[Vince]

3 LTE carriers? As in 2 Band 25 and 1 Band 26?

Yes.

 

Also, are the tower id's that we use here the same that Sprint would use? Might be easier for reference.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

[cdk]

Yes.

 

Also, are the tower id's that we use here the same that Sprint would use? Might be easier for reference.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

 

Thanks, I was fairly sure that was what you meant. I just wanted to check.

 

I would think so. There have been photos of locations with IDs that match, proof enough for me.

[Joeynach]

I've found a dead sector on one of my daily towers. It's becoming quite annoying. It's the "02" (g-block pcs/gamma sector). Now that this particular tower is broadcasting 3 5x5 LTE carriers, I think the techs messed something up. Been like this for over a week. Anyone know of a good way to report this? Maybe Dan@Sprint? I wouldn't dare call tech support with this. They'll probably have me do a prl update.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

Did you update your Data Profile? Hahaha.  Maybe there is a number for direct to escalated support issues, or just go to a Sprint store and discuss with a tech agent there to file a ticket.

[Joeynach]

Yes.

 

Also, are the tower id's that we use here the same that Sprint would use? Might be easier for reference.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

Yeah they are.  I have verified this with my dealings with Dan@Sprint that went no where.

[eduschean]

It was reported a couple weeks ago that Spark Band 41 was active at the location with 40+mbps download speeds. I realize not everyone has a Spark capable device, but I was just throwing that out there.

I have an iPhone 5c which has band 26, but I guess that isn't up in that location. I do however connect to it on occasion near my home. The only issue I have with it, is it hands off to 3G too quickly even when the connection is stable. Seems like the 3G is a higher priority than band 26 LTE on the iPhones

 

 

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[jamisonshaw125]

I have an iPhone 5c which has band 26, but I guess that isn't up in that location. I do however connect to it on occasion near my home. The only issue I have with it, is it hands off to 3G too quickly even when the connection is stable. Seems like the 3G is a higher priority than band 26 LTE on the iPhones

 

 

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That should clear up eventually. Probably something to do with down tilt of the antennas. 

[mhammett]

ONE!!! ONE!!!!!!!   DEKALB ONLY HAS ONE TOWER LEFT!!!!!!!

I noticed it last night, so I fired up Sensorly to map out where I was. I had much better signal than could possibly be explained from another site. I check the maps today and it's marked.

 

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That last site isn't terribly far from others, so likely won't result in a significant increase in coverage, just capacity.

[Dkoellerwx]

ONE!!! ONE!!!!!!!   DEKALB ONLY HAS ONE TOWER LEFT!!!!!!!

 

I noticed it last night, so I fired up Sensorly to map out where I was. I had much better signal than could possibly be explained from another site. I check the maps today and it's marked.

 

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

That last site isn't terribly far from others, so likely won't result in a significant increase in coverage, just capacity.

Wow! Can't believe it has taken so long, but glad they finally got something done there!

[mhammett]

Maybe 3G will actually be usable now. *shrugs*

 

Maybe I'll resume my out-of-the-way driving to bring some density to Sensorly.