Network Vision/LTE - Pittsburgh Market

[Jones]

I was just searching the South Hills news on the post gazette website:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2015/02/02/Upper-St-Clair-board-approves-building-on-McMurray-Road/stories/201502020197

 

Came across this:

The board also set a public hearing date of 7:30 p.m. on April 6 to establish regulations for distributed antenna systems (DAS), which are alternatives to traditional cell towers.

The low-powered antennas are installed on existing street light poles to close gaps in cellular service coverage.

I guess there are plans for an outdoor DAS in Upper St. Clair.

[Jones]

I know it has been discussed in the Tampa and NYC market threads but...my data and even voice calls wouldn't work at all yesterday afternoon into this AM.

Everything seems to be working now though. I will admit it was quite frustrating not being able to make calls - I can see why "pardon our dust" didn't appease many people. (free iphones would have though )

[Flompholph]

I stayed in wifi range most of yesterday so I didn't notice. Does it seem like LTE bands are more balanced?  Recently I did not have a problem with band balancing. Just small holes that required a quick airplane mode toggle going down the highway.

[Flompholph]

As I am driving around I am finding a good number of band 41. I just wish I was going closer to downtown maybe I will get "lost" sometime. I did find another site getting ~48Mbps in Washington, PA. I think it could of been faster if I had better signal strength.

[Flompholph]

Looks like Sprint added Spark to Pittsburgh on their coverage map. It's overblown like normal but it is nice to see sprint acknowledge what they have live. I started a thread to track what is going up and where in the Premier section.  http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/6852-pittsburgh-nv-20-mapspreadsheet/  The thread has a couple of neat things a spreadsheet with a lot of information, a user reported map, an all-in-one NV complete map for Pittsburgh, and a NV chart showing the percentage of how many 3g vs the many 4g accepted. I hope to add a schedule map soon to that thread.

 

If you have any information I can add to the spreadsheet  you can PM me or post in the premier thread. If you are not a sponsor you can post your screenshots here I appreciate any SignalCheck Pro logs. All you have to do is turn on "Location Service" and "Site Logger" go about your day. Then PM me the log when you go into a new area and I will go through it when I have time.  I need help downtown and to the east from Fox Chapel to McKeesport. If anyone can help in those areas I would appreciate anything.

[Flompholph]

Rootmetrics 1st half of 2015 is out http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/pittsburgh-pa pretty much a four way tie except data speeds where sprint lags. Sprint is at 11 Mbps. Which is pretty good in my opinon because you can doing everything with 11 Mbps. Now to get them to fix the outer ring of the market.

[Jones]

11 mb/s down is great!

I am on wifi at home and work and average less than a Gig/month but when wifi goes down I can consistently load webpages and maps with ease. I haven't had an HD call though...at least no calls on my log shows as being an HD call.

 

Got the sweep today! GO BUCS!

[WiWavelength]

Now to get them to fix the outer ring of the market.

 

Yinz would like that, wouldn't yinz?

 

AJ

[Flompholph]

Yinz would like that, wouldn't yinz?

 

AJ

Whadda jagoff At least you didn't post a pittsburgh dad youtube video.

 

By the way it you be  "yinz would like at, wuhn cha"  

 

For future reference a pittsburgheze translator. http://www.pittsburghese.com/translator.shtml

[WiWavelength]

Whadda jagoff At least you didn't post a pittsburgh dad youtube video.

 

By the way it you be  "yinz would like at, wuhn cha"  

 

For future reference a pittsburgheze translator. http://www.pittsburghese.com/translator.shtml

 

What're yinz doin' postin'?  Shouldn't yinz be dahn at da Eat'n Park?

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Yinzes should know that Cricket don't work aht dere at Kennywood.

 

 

AJ

[Josh]

Yinzes should know that Cricket don't work aht dere at Kennywood.

 

 

AJ

That poor kangaroo...

[powinmo]

Yinzes should know that Cricket don't work aht dere at Kennywood.

 

 

Oh boy.  Clicked on this a while back, now my family can't stop watching this guy lol.

 

From what I remember Sprint 3G was fine in the park, so I'm guessing the cricket phones were on ATT after the buyout.

[powinmo]

I read through this thread and the WestPenn thread... and maybe there is more info about this in the premier forums, but wanted to see if anyone had more insight please.  Apologies if I missed any recent updates posted.

 

I'm in the towns off the I-79 exit 87 and 88, Zelienople, Harmony and Evans City often.  According to the Sprint coverage site, LTE is there, but looks spotty.  Nothing (or barely) on the sensorly, opensignal, or rootmetrics maps but mostly 3G. I saw references in the forums to the tower(s) near Evans City being worked on a while back.  The only coverage I typically receive is 3G.  I've disabled band 41 and 26 just in case during various testing I've tried.  If you drive North on I-79 from Pittsburgh in to the Cranberry (I-79, I-76) areas, LTE and SPARK are decent.  Once you reach the northern boundary of the Cranberry Township area on I-79, LTE seems to just go away as you approach these smaller towns.   Are these areas considered part of the Pittsburgh market (out of my own curiosity)?  I realize the edges of a market area can be very hit and miss.    

 

Anyone go through these areas that can comment in case I'm doing something wrong, if the area might be due up for more upgrades, backhaul issues, etc?  

 

TIA to anyone that lives in the area and has any input.

[Flompholph]

Pittsburgh market extends a little north of I80. There is a map floating around if you google images for "s4gru sprint markets"

 

Pittsburgh has a high number of GMOs. I guess GMOs are waiting on funding as you probably read in the west PA market thread.

[powinmo]

Pittsburgh market extends a little north of I80. There is a map floating around if you google images for "s4gru sprint markets"

 

Pittsburgh has a high number of GMOs. I guess GMOs are waiting on funding as you probably read in the west PA market thread.

 

Thank you for the tip.  I found the maps and saw the boundaries for the Pittsburgh market.  Having a high amount of GMOs in the mid-northern sectors/counties could explain the lack of decent or any LTE through most of the northern stretch of I-79 to I-80.

 

I can say that 800 LTE in the northwestern parts of the market (I-376 to the OH stateline) seem to be decent via LTE Discovery. The current version of Sensorly in the play store does not seem to be recognize/report the proper carrier id, etc for Sprint - so my mapping attempts do not appear to be helping.  Though, I have not had a chance to review posts on sensorly issues with sprint, etc.

[Jones]

Had a great experience at PNC Park today. Got the W and was on mix of B41 and 26. Speeds were quick too.

[dakeshon]

Wanted to show some Carrier Aggregation goodness by the Ft Pitt Bridge!

[Flompholph]

That is the first 2nd carrier for the market. I was afraid we would have to wait til after wimax shutdown.

 

Great work! Thanks for sharing.

[Flompholph]

Came home to find band 41 2nd carrier on a couple towers near me that is nice to see. Hopefully it is widespread in the market by now.

 

[Fraydog]

Had a friend at PNC Park for the Wild Card game come in from Chicago and he was able to send me iMessages and Snapchats with no problem. 

[Josh]

Has anyone in the north pittsburgh area experienced their phone switching back and forth from LTE to ! (no data)?  Toggling airplane mode usually fixes it with my GS6, but 3 times in the last week is more than coincidence, so i'm wondering if anyone else has had their phone act screwy lately.  If it is b/c they are working on 2X CA in Cranberry twp, i'd be thrilled... but my other half does not like to have to work on her phone while driving & is getting increasingly frustrated... my knowledge of cell networks does not mean anything if she isn't able to use it, lol.  

[Flompholph]

Not sure Josh it sounds like they are working on a new B41 site. They have to turn off nearby B41 to bring a new one live. The only thing holding Cranberry up is B41 so the network will crumble. I don't think it is CA. Not sure but I think sites stay down a week for new B41. How long has it been? Have you been reporting it on sprintzone? Reporting seems to help.

[Jones]

With the 'burgh being picked as one of the regional HQ's for Sprint's restructuring does that mean anything for our network?

Will we see a big push from NGN?

I know there are now 2 Sprint stores (non-corporate) in the South Hills Village mall. One just opened next to a T-mobile kiosk the other is on the opposite side of the mall. Not sure if that is an indicator of anything but it's certainly not a bad sign.

[jf15219]

Phone has been kicking over to roaming a LOT lately. Especially between Cranberry and Beaver Valley exits on the Turnpike. Is something up in the area?

 

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