Network Vision/LTE - Kansas Market (including KC, Topeka, Wichita, St. Joseph)

[BPHusker]

I was down in KC this weekend and got to experience LTE for the first time. It seemed like I dropped 4G quite a bit. I would have a great connection and then it would drop to 3G and I would have to toggle airplane mode to connect to 4G again. Is this normal or is something going on with my EVO LTE?

Edited November 5, 2012 by BPHusker

[Dkoellerwx]

I was down in KC this weekend and got to experience LTE for the first time. It seemed like I dropped 4G quite a bit. I would have a great connection and then it would drop to 3G and I would have to toggle airplane mode to connect to 4G again. Is this normal or is something going on with my EVO LTE?

 

Unfortunately that's fairly normal for the EVO if you have a competing 3G signal that is stronger (signal wise but not speed) than LTE. What part of KC were you in? Johnson county has the densest deployment so far, but the north and east sides of town are catching up.

[opguy]

Has anyone heard when LTE will be 100% deployed in the KC metro area? I mean KC and the surrounding suburbs in KS and MO, such as Overland Park, Olathe, Grandview, Belton, etc.?

[S4GRU]

Has anyone heard when LTE will be 100% deployed in the KC metro area? I mean KC and the surrounding suburbs in KS and MO, such as Overland Park, Olathe, Grandview, Belton, etc.?

 

The truth is even Sprint does not know. And 100% complete is not as important as 100% coverage. At this point, total coverage in the KC area is probably not until Spring. But it will get better and better every week until then.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[opguy]

The truth is even Sprint does not know. And 100% complete is not as important as 100% coverage. At this point, total coverage in the KC area is probably not until Spring. But it will get better and better every week until then.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

You are right, I should have said coverage. It's so frustrating being in an area that is just out of coverage and everything around me is covered. I guess I need patience LOL I get LTE at home off and on but it's just not reliable yet and the signal strength is usually above 114 dBM and the speeds when connected are certainly better than WiMax but not what they will be when my tower NV enabled. Thanks again. Happy Thanksgiving.

[Dkoellerwx]

Nevada, Missouri on the map!

[WiWavelength]

Nevada, Missouri on the map!

 

Well, which is it? Nevada or Missouri?

 

 

AJ

[Dkoellerwx]

It's Nevaaaada ;-)

 

 

 

[S4GRU]

I still have the scar from being bludgeoned the first time I tried to pronounce Nevada, Missouri. I said NUH-VAH-DUH, like the Silver State. The guy said, "You ain't from 'round here, boy. It's said NUH-VAY-DUH, MIZZ-URR-RAH."

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[JoSe_RaUL_96]

Im from New Orleans and we still waiting for NV, i just wanted to hear from people living in NV cities, how the network has improved? is 4G almost everywhere in the city, what kind of speeds you get, is 3G faster? is NV worth the wait?

[S4GRU]

Im from New Orleans and we still waiting for NV, i just wanted to hear from people living in NV cities, how the network has improved? is 4G almost everywhere in the city, what kind of speeds you get, is 3G faster? is NV worth the wait?

 

I was in Wichita Falls, Texas over Thanksgiving weekend. The experience was so awesome, I even had fantasies of moving there. I was last there on Labor Day weekend and they had no upgraded sites. The 3G network was unusable. Now 3/4 of the sites have been upgraded. LTE was around 4-7Mbps with a weak signal and 25-37Mbps with a strong signal. 3G was 1-2Mbps on upgraded sites.

 

Outdoors LTE blankets approx. 90% of the city, except a small patch in the Southern part of the city. Indoor coverage was only available within 1.5-2 miles of a site. But will be more uniform when all the sites are complete. Sprint LTE outperformed VZW LTE and Tmo 4G in every test I performed.

 

I cannot wait for NV improvements to come to my area.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

[JoSe_RaUL_96]

I was in Wichita Falls, Texas over Thanksgiving weekend. The experience was so awesome, I even had fantasies of moving there. I was last there on Labor Day weekend and they had no upgraded sites. The 3G network was unusable. Now 3/4 of the sites have been upgraded. LTE was around 4-7Mbps with a weak signal and 25-37Mbps with a strong signal. 3G was 1-2Mbps on upgraded sites.

 

Outdoors LTE blankets approx. 90% of the city, except a small patch in the Southern part of the city. Indoor coverage was only available within 1.5-2 miles of a site. But will be more uniform when all the sites are complete. Sprint LTE outperformed VZW LTE and Tmo 4G in every test I performed.

 

I cannot wait for NV improvements to come to my area.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

Its good to hear NV will do what they advertise, the thing is i dont think they are taking care of the network the currently have thats why is performing so bad, so wile we wait well have to use the slow unreliable network. The only thing keeping me with them is knowing those improvements are coming someday, and that combined with the good price and plans is awesome.

[V12]

 

 

I cannot wait for NV improvements to come to my area.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

+1000

 

Any update on the Oklahoma market? Just hoping there is some news or development.

[S4GRU]

Its good to hear NV will do what they advertise, the thing is i dont think they are taking care of the network the currently have thats why is performing so bad, so wile we wait well have to use the slow unreliable network. The only thing keeping me with them is knowing those improvements are coming someday, and that combined with the good price and plans is awesome.

 

They are not upgrading the legacy network in places where they are actively deploying Network Vision. It's wasted money. You can expect the legacy network to get worse and worse in the New Orleans market now that NV work has started. But soon when NV sites start going live, it will get better and better one site at a time.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[lynyrd65]

+1000

 

Any update on the Oklahoma market? Just hoping there is some news or development.

Good news in Oklahoma. Most Sprint sites have upgraded (not NV related) backhaul for much improved 3G speeds and Sprint announced that the Oklahoma market is being worked on with official LTE coverage launching in Ardmore in the next few months.

 

OT:

I see you are from Jenks. I graduated high school from there.

[V12]

 

Good news in Oklahoma. Most Sprint sites have upgraded (not NV related) backhaul for much improved 3G speeds and Sprint announced that the Oklahoma market is being worked on with official LTE coverage launching in Ardmore in the next few months.

 

OT:

I see you are from Jenks. I graduated high school from there.

 

Lately I have noticed that, when I have been out and about town and Googled something, its been much faster. That is good, because it has been an absolutely awful mobile experience the last several years. But I'm confused, was upgrading the backhaul already in the works? Taking Robert's comments above into consideration, would they do this work if it wasn't NV related? Anyway I wish adding sites were also part of the plan, without an air rave service at home is nonexistent for several blocks in all directions. Not even voice mail.

 

It looks like Oklahoma's 2 metro areas are slowly being closed in on. Ardmore from the SW, Wichita and Joplin from the N, and Ft. Smith from the W. I would have thought we would have LTE before most if not all of these places. But I can't wait for LTE nonetheless.

 

Yes I live in Jenks. I have 2 daughters in Jenks, I however graduated from BTW. That was not a pretty game this year. I was torn.

[lilotimz]

Lately I have noticed that, when I have been out and about town and Googled something, its been much faster. That is good, because it has been an absolutely awful mobile experience the last several years. But I'm confused, was upgrading the backhaul already in the works? Taking Robert's comments above into consideration, would they do this work if it wasn't NV related? Anyway I wish adding sites were also part of the plan, without an air rave service at home is nonexistent for several blocks in all directions. Not even voice mail.

 

Upgrading backhaul has been the plan. Current sprint towers are serviced by bundles of T1 (3 or so iirc) which is easily crushed under the usage of modern smart phones. Network Vision calls for upgraded back haul to be in place so work can begin as they can't light up LTE without upgraded backhaul. IIRC, Sprint backhaul usually is fiber or microwave [which i think is fed by fiber].

 

Basically, old towers get upgraded backhaul first. Then sprint sees upgraded backhaul and other things are ready and work on the tower.

[WiWavelength]

I see you are from Jenks. I graduated high school from there.

 

Jenks Trojans. But not the condoms.

 

 

AJ

[V12]

 

 

Upgrading backhaul has been the plan. Current sprint towers are serviced by bundles of T1 (3 or so iirc) which is easily crushed under the usage of modern smart phones. Network Vision calls for upgraded back haul to be in place so work can begin as they can't light up LTE without upgraded backhaul. IIRC, Sprint backhaul usually is fiber or microwave [which i think is fed by fiber].

 

Basically, old towers get upgraded backhaul first. Then sprint sees upgraded backhaul and other things are ready and work on the tower.

 

Thanks for the once through. I've been trying to pick up a few things here and there along the way. But, I think I'm just becoming more dangerous!

 

I took Robert's comments about not upgrading the legacy network in places where they are actively deploying NV to include backhaul as well. But I now gather that there must be a great deal more to upgrading the network than just backhaul, and it would appear that upgrading backhaul is a necessary first step in kicking off NV! Or is it a component of NV??? I think I got it though!

 

Thanks!

 

[lynyrd65]

Jenks Trojans. But not the condoms.

 

 

AJ

It was always funny when the visiting announcer at football games announced a tackle. Inevitably, for at least one game a year one of them would say, " (player name) ran for two yards. He was taken down by a pack....er....host of trojans"

[owensri2]

I arrived in Kansas City last night. I'm here for training for work for 2 weeks. I've done some pretty good testing of the LTE around town. Near the hotel I'm staying at in Independence, MO, the download speeds are a bit slow, 3-7 Mbps. Elsewhere, seems pretty good with consistent 8-12 Mbps download speeds. The upload speeds are about 7 Mbps consistently as well.

 

What a difference it really makes when most towers are upgraded to LTE! The difference between my trip to Atlanta and here is like night and day. Not once have I dropped back to 3G since I arrived, even in elevators and inside buildings. I'm happy to say that I feel confident now that I've been able to experience a true "full coverage" 4G LTE network from Sprint that it'll be awesome once they cover the entire footprint with it.

 

I also picked up the Galaxy Note II tonight as well, so I'm tinkering with it.

[owensri2]

Did some Sensorly mapping on my way to Baldwin City, KS from KC. The areas circled in red are the ones that I added where there previously wasn't any:

[owensri2]

I recommend if you want to test Sprint 4G LTE out, come to Kansas City. It's totally awesome! Coverage is excellent, and still, I have yet to drop back to 3G at all, even while inside buildings and out in rurual areas as well. You don't get the random 4G drops like you do with Verizon. So all of you out there in active deployment areas, don't get disappointed with coverage early on. Wait until your market is just about finished. It'll get better, I promise!

 

Here's a Speedtest from the other night just outside my hotel in Independence, MO:

[Rickie546]

Site in Hutchinson, KS is now complete with panels and RRU's

 

[nick149]

Hi there ! I am working on NV project in Kansas City Since last march as Field tech via Sub contractor to Ericsson....I can tell you that by seeing 340 tower completed upgrade out of Access of 600 sites in 10 months. Kansas City Market will be completed by july-August 2013. then they might stretch month or two to do some Cluster test...SO Kansas Market will be fully Completed by Sep-2013..