Network Vision/LTE - Chicago Market

[njjdnt]

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/162029-sprint-turns-on-lte-tdd-allowing-it-to-compete-with-att-and-verizons-coverage-and-performance

  Instead of linking to Robert's post, you link to an external site that quotes/links to Robert's post?

[nexgencpu]

  Instead of linking to Robert's post, you link to an external site that quotes/links to Robert's post?

Gotta make believe the rest of the world also cares whats going on in the sprint world! Also, I was just being lazy.. LOL!

[mellimel2212]

I still love sprint but I never got these lte speeds downtown that early before.

 

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[mhammett]

Got a call from someone in Network operations this morning. They gave me a direct line to call when I'm having issues for them to troubleshoot it. They're still standing by having 99% success on their EVDO network out here, which I find laughable.

[kyle_4thousand]

Anyone know what's going on in Cary/Crystal Lake? The Sprint maps say that there should be coverage but NOPE still getting 3G. I am getting 1x800 though, so that's definitely a good sign

[mhammett]

Anyone know what's going on in Cary/Crystal Lake? The Sprint maps say that there should be coverage but NOPE still getting 3G. I am getting 1x800 though, so that's definitely a good sign

The official map is worthless.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[drock2750]

This was one of the busiest site acceptance updates that I've seen for Chicago...a trend to continue I hope. Does anybody know what it means when the total number of updates for a market is larger than the number of LTE updates, 3G, cdma 800 updates, and iDen conversions combined? 

Edited July 29, 2013 by drock2750

[Joeynach]

This was one of the busiest site acceptance updates that I've seen for Chicago...a trend to continue I hope. Does anybody know what it means when the total number of updates for a market is larger than the number of LTE updates, 3G, cdma 800 updates, and iDen conversions combined? 

It has something to do with any site that has received any sort of an NV upgrade.  Its not specific to LTE or backhaul or 3G. 

[Joeynach]

Well if anyone cares the Loop continues to creep forward in NV build out.  Today I noticed three of four new sites, unfortunately all 3G/800 as of right now.  One near Navy Pier, One near Lake/Wacker, Two Near the Merchandise Mart.  Its been about two months since the last time I noticed multiple loop sites upgraded on the map, that seems to be about the pace.  3-4 site upgrades, every two months.  Quite slow compared to the speed of upgrades that came through the burbs and city neighborhoods.  Oh well.

[ChiWestLoop]

Well if anyone cares the Loop continues to creep forward in NV build out.  Today I noticed three of four new sites, unfortunately all 3G/800 as of right now.  One near Navy Pier, One near Lake/Wacker, Two Near the Merchandise Mart.  Its been about two months since the last time I noticed multiple loop sites upgraded on the map, that seems to be about the pace.  3-4 site upgrades, every two months.  Quite slow compared to the speed of upgrades that came through the burbs and city neighborhoods.  Oh well.

How many locations are to be completed in the Loop area? I have noticed more reception bars and "decent" 3G in many areas that were horrible in the past.

[Joeynach]

How many locations are to be completed in the Loop area? I have noticed more reception bars and "decent" 3G in many areas that were horrible in the past.

Signal strength is not measured in bars for LTE, engineering screen only or get an app for it. There are more than 50% of sites (17/25) that now show on there NV Sites complete map, but a good half of those show 3G only as of right now.  IMO the 3G still is inoperable; slow and full of time outs. So thats only about 8 Loop sites with active LTE, most of them clustered around the financial district.  There are 25 total, so in reality the loop has 8/25 or 32% LTE coverage.  That's why I was saying earlier no LTE available around McCormick Place, North Mich Ave, Beaches, West Loop.  I was even at Solider Field yesterday for the Gold Cup.  Forget about LTE, there wasn't even a shred of 3G.  I was on 3G roam the whole time.  All our Sprint phones were in-operable.  What a joke.

[Joeynach]

Here is my comprehensive update on the Tower situation in the Loop.  I am defining the Loop as the bound made my Ohio St (North), 90/94 (West), Congress (South), Lake Shore Dr (East).

 

• 26 Towers in this location, all 26 slated for NV upgrades
• All 26 towers now show a pin on the NV Sites complete map
• 15 / 26 (57%) towers show 4G service on the NV Sites complete
• 11 / 26 (43%) towers show 3G only service on the NV Sites complete
• I see one tower near Mich and Randolph that doesn't have an NV site complete pin, but I see an extra tower on the Merchandise Mart (3G Only) that says "new tower 7/25/13".  So there is still one tower missing in the Loop near millennium park to make 27 in the Loop actually.

Other notable areas:

 

• There are two towers at McCormick Place, both 3G only.  Its bad there.
• There are four towers up the Mag Mile portion of Mich Ave (from the River to LSD) that are still missing from NV sites complete.  Its also bad here.
• There are three towers in the West Loop bound by Grand-Damen-i290-90/94, only one of the three shows 4G service, the other two 3G only.

[Madfelon]

 

Here is my comprehensive update on the Tower situation in the Loop.  I am defining the Loop as the bound made my Ohio St (North), 90/94 (West), Congress (South), Lake Shore Dr (East).

 

• 26 Towers in this location, all 26 slated for NV upgrades
• All 26 towers now show a pin on the NV Sites complete map
• 15 / 26 (57%) towers show 4G service on the NV Sites complete
• 11 / 26 (43%) towers show 3G only service on the NV Sites complete
• I see one tower near Mich and Randolph that doesn't have an NV site complete pin, but I see an extra tower on the Merchandise Mart (3G Only) that says "new tower 7/25/13".  So there is still one tower missing in the Loop near millennium park to make 27 in the Loop actually.

Other notable areas:

 

• There are two towers at McCormick Place, both 3G only.  Its bad there.
• There are four towers up the Mag Mile portion of Mich Ave (from the River to LSD) that are still missing from NV sites complete.  Its also bad here.
• There are three towers in the West Loop bound by Grand-Damen-i290-90/94, only one of the three shows 4G service, the other two 3G only.

 

Maybe that is why my service has been a complete joke these past few days at work. I usually get LTE downstairs in my station, and all around the area of 3150 W Harrison but not even 3G to fall back on. Just the little o symbol on my iphone.

[Joeynach]

Maybe that is why my service has been a complete joke these past few days at work. I usually get LTE downstairs in my station, and all around the area of 3150 W Harrison but not even 3G to fall back on. Just the little o symbol on my iphone.

I really dont see how the two are related 3150 W Harrison is so far west of the Loop and West Loop there is 0% chance those are the towers you use all the way at Kedzie and i290.  Im sure there are towers within your neighborhood, perhaps there is something wonky going on there. This happened to me recently, Sprint didn't say a word till I called and complained but I lost LTE in my neighborhood for over two weeks now.  They claim they are doing upgrades. 

[niuzeus]

Is it really worth it?

 

Man, where to begin....

 

I've encountered basically EVERY Sprint inconvenience, issues, error, etc. that everyone has listed on here, and there is definitely a lot of them.

 

But my question is if this wait is really going to be worth it? I use my phone a lot (like everyone else) for both business and personal use, all over the Chicagoland area. Sprint is the only cell phone provider that I've had, same for my wife, I've had them for around 7 years and my wife for a around 8-9 years. Between both of us we have 8 lines. 

 

I feel every single person on here's frustration and have come to the tipping point of whether to leave Sprint or not... New acquisition of Clearwire, newly acquired by Softbank, but we're 1yr+ from that making a difference...

 

The store employees are useless as too are most of the people you call in to talk to over the phone; I bet a lot of people from this website can do a better job than an entry level Sprint tech can. No help in that area, I've given up on calling mainly because I get nowhere and I;m just calling to make sure they take notes on my account of the same issues still happening but I don't accept a credit to my account because at this point the problems are never ending...

 

What does everyone think, is it worth it to stick with Sprint? I'm all ears...

[tongboy]

We need a bit more info. What problems are you having? Most of the Chicago area is awesome, except for a few horrid exceptions. Do you live in one of these areas?

 

Do you do a lot of traveling?

 

Sent from my EVO LTE

 

 

[tommym65]

Maybe that is why my service has been a complete joke these past few days at work. I usually get LTE downstairs in my station, and all around the area of 3150 W Harrison but not even 3G to fall back on. Just the little o symbol on my iphone.

 

Is it really worth it?

 

. . .

 

What does everyone think, is it worth it to stick with Sprint? I'm all ears...

 

Is it worth it?  That is a very personal decision.  I myself have been a Sprint subscriber for about 15 years, and overall have been fairly satisfied.  I travel nationally, and only rarely has Sprint been unavailable or of unusable quality.  But much of my Sprint experience thus pre-dates the smart phone era.

 

Frankly, Chicagoland, especially the City itself and the ex-urbs, have kind of taken it in the shorts over the past several years, with bad coverage due to aging equipment and too little spectrum.  However, voice and text service have improved markedly in the past few months as 800 MHz voice has been deployed, and the 1900 MHz LTE works very well where it is available.

 

And just this week, 2500 MHz LTE has crept into the area: Today's Sprint results call apparently said that Sprint will deploy it everywhere, and quickly. Of course, that's only with a hot spot right now, as no phones are yet available that will pick it up.

 

With current technology and spectrum in the 800, 1900, and 2500 frequencies, with deployment of 800 MHz LTE on the old Nextel spectrum within the next few months, and with the addition of new spectrum when the US Cellular sites in Chicagoland are shut down (next year?), Sprint's future is rosy.

 

But what about now?  Parts of Chicagoland continue to have no usable LTE (I live in one), and Loop and near-Loop Sprint service is spotty and frequently awful.  Certainly Verizon has better overall coverage in the area.  AT&T says they do, but their coverage maps are no better than Sprint's, overall.  (They have the advantage of deploying LTE on 800 or 850 MHz [i don't remember which], so at this moment, their building penetration is better than Sprint's.  That will change very soon.)

 

So if "right now" is your concern, you may want to consider moving to one of the other carriers - Verizon seems to have the best coverage, but they are expen$$$ive.  T-Mobile is relatively inexpensive, but their coverage is not as good as VZW.  I have recently divorced myself from all contact with AT&T, so I am not an objective reporter.

 

But before you make any decision, consider spending $15 or $20 (or more, or even less, it's up to you) to become an S4GRU Sponsor ( http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/?hl=membership ).  You will be able to see exactly where Sprint has installed upgrades, and will have access to much deeper discussions of the whole picture.

 

Personally, unless Sprint does something very stupid or expensive, I ain't leavin', but that's only my personal opinion.

[tongboy]

 

Personally, unless Sprint does something very stupid or expensive, I ain't leavin', but that's only my personal opinion.

Have they improved your 3g speed at all yet?

 

Sent from my EVO LTE

 

 

[tommym65]

Have they improved your 3g speed at all yet?

 

Sent from my EVO LTE

 

Unfortunately, where I live I am mostly served by the Bard Road Water Tower site, which purports to have a 3G upgrade, but which has seen only slight connectivity/throughput improvement since last year. I now have an Airave.  Bard Rd. also has no 800 MHz nor does it have LTE.

 

When I drive near Rt 14/176, or Rt 14/31, my 3G speeds are mediocre.

 

In LITH, you should be getting service from Hanson Rd. in Algonquin, from Pyott Road, from Algonquin Road, or from one of the Cary towers, so hopefully you have seen improvements. Have you?

[tongboy]

Unfortunately, where I live I am mostly served by the Bard Road Water Tower site, which purports to have a 3G upgrade, but which has seen only slight connectivity/throughput improvement since last year. I now have an Airave. Bard Rd. also has no 800 MHz nor does it have LTE.

 

When I drive near Rt 14/176, or Rt 14/31, my 3G speeds are mediocre.

 

In LITH, you should be getting service from Hanson Rd. in Algonquin, from Pyott Road, from Algonquin Road, or from one of the Cary towers, so hopefully you have seen improvements. Have you?

Yeah, I usually am served off the Pyott Road tower. Speeds fly here. I know you were struggling up there so I was just wondering if you had any improvement.

 

The microwave dishes are going to corrode and fall down before they are used.

 

Sent from my EVO LTE

 

 

[mhammett]

I've had a VZ phone in addition to my Sprint for three years, partially due to a poor network.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Dkoellerwx]

Is it really worth it?

 

 

 

What does everyone think, is it worth it to stick with Sprint? I'm all ears...

 

This fall is when everything is really going to kick in for the Chicago area.

You've already got 1900 LTE deployed nearly market wide (though not everywhere as noted).

You've got 800 1x (voice) deployed almost market wide.

And now you've got 2500 LTE deployed widely (city, suburbs).

In a couple months, you'll also have 800 LTE deployed market wide. 

 

If you're planning on upgrading phones this fall or early next year, the network will be there and ready for you. Chicago is one of the most complete markets, and while there are still some holes, those should be rapidly filled as we go into fall. 

 

So in my opinion, it would be worth it to stick with Sprint. If/When you upgrade to a Tri-Band device, you'll have access to what will likely be fastest (2500MHz) or at least most consistent (800MHz) LTE network in Chicago. Yes, Verizon has a good network now, but they're already having capacity issues, slowing down the network. Sprint won't have that problem for quite some time, if ever, if they do things right. And with SoftBank at the wheel now, I expect that they will do things right.

[mellimel2212]

Yeah the only reason I left is cause I wanted to get rid of my contact to save money. So far im unlimited with lte the same spots I had lte wit sprint.

 

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[mhammett]

I saw a crew raising gear at an AT&T tower near Kaneland high school. Sprint has two LTE-ready sites near there, so we could easily beat them, just turn the damn thing on!

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Joeynach]

If you're planning on upgrading phones this fall or early next year, the network will be there and ready for you. Chicago is one of the most complete markets, and while there are still some holes, those should be rapidly filled as we go into fall. 

 

I don't disagree with anything you are saying here, but unfortunately I think these "holes" you speak of which I have referenced are almost inexcusable at this point.  We are 1+ year deep into Network Vision in Chicago and some of the most heavily traveled areas of our city that see millions of locals and tourists are still stuck in these holes, on old 3G legacy equipment.  Its a complete failure on Sprints part there here we are in August of 2013 and the Magnificent Mile and McCormick Place Convention area are 3G ONLY service areas.  Right there alone, that tells you their prioritization is off, their attention to detail is off, their process is flawed, or they simply don't know or recognize this fact.  If I wasn't a price sensitive customer I would bail based on this fact alone.