Network Vision/LTE - West Washington Market (Seattle/Puget Sound Region)

[S4GRU]

I'm curious about something I heard. I heard Sprint only uses 10MHZ total so only 5 MHz upstream and 5 MHz downstream, which he said would mean lower speeds. Can someone describe if this is true and/or what this exactly means? Thanks

In Band 25/26, Sprint will be using 5MHz FDD channels which max out at 37.5Mbps. In Band 41 they are using 20MHz TDD channels which max out around 100Mbps.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[JThorson]

Thank you Robert. That helps a lot.

[jthawks]

Hey so fyi. My mom is in Seattle (go hawks) I'm Seahawks fan too in Denver, anyways lte towers show live on your maps and I told my mom. She was on the phone with Sprint and they say lte didn't show on their maps saying it's not live. I warned her that they will say that. So is there anyone out there than can give me some speeds? She is in north Seattle off 125th and sand point way. Thanks

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[JThorson]

Hi jthawks. I'm not exactly sure what is going on with the lte around here. I'm fairly close to sand point way, I can head up that way tomorrow and let you know what I find.

 

I like the go hawks comment.

[oversight]

Does anyone have any insight why nothing really seems to be happening in King County? Mostly the East - West corridor that stretches from just north of Lake Washington, South to the Kent/Renton area (the solid blotch of purple). Are the crews just busy in other parts of WWA? Are there issues that are holding up progress? Waiting for backhaul? Will the crews eventually descend en masse on King County?

 

Just a curiosity as I've observed the maps over time.  Lots of purple and very little red or yellow, with lots of tiny red dots.

 

I do like the small red dots for sites that are still waiting for upgrades, but it's also kind of sad just to see how many there are.  

[jondeaux79]

i know right, I only have 1 site showing 4g near me. It would be nice to see more stuff light up out this way

[Bumbershoot]

Does anyone have any insight why nothing really seems to be happening in King County? Mostly the East - West corridor that stretches from just north of Lake Washington, South to the Kent/Renton area (the solid blotch of purple). Are the crews just busy in other parts of WWA? Are there issues that are holding up progress? Waiting for backhaul? Will the crews eventually descend en masse on King County?

 

Just a curiosity as I've observed the maps over time.  Lots of purple and very little red or yellow, with lots of tiny red dots.

 

I do like the small red dots for sites that are still waiting for upgrades, but it's also kind of sad just to see how many there are.  

I'm guessing that the purple 4G King County sites indicate where Samsung ran into trouble with the Circuit Switched Fallback problem.  King County seems to get a start on the rest of the market, then there was a big pause in the summer, after which Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties got attention, but those counties all got 3G or 3G/4G upgrades (red and yellow), not 4G upgrades (purple) only.  Western Washington is a non-incumbent market for Samsung, if I understand things correctly, which is the source of the CSFB problem.

 

If they have to circle back and restart work in King County, there may be new permitting issues to deal with, as well.

 

Again, I'm just guessing.

[Bumbershoot]

For those who're interested, this map that shows the northern International Boundary Exclusion Zone.  For us in the greater Puget Sound area, it appears that they're be no band 26 LTE (800MHz) deployed until the necessary treaties and deals are in place to make this happen. 

 

This site has loads of information.

 

 

 

 

[S4GRU]

Does anyone have any insight why nothing really seems to be happening in King County? Mostly the East - West corridor that stretches from just north of Lake Washington, South to the Kent/Renton area (the solid blotch of purple). Are the crews just busy in other parts of WWA? Are there issues that are holding up progress? Waiting for backhaul? Will the crews eventually descend en masse on King County?

 

Just a curiosity as I've observed the maps over time. Lots of purple and very little red or yellow, with lots of tiny red dots.

 

I do like the small red dots for sites that are still waiting for upgrades, but it's also kind of sad just to see how many there are.

They are in a mad dash to bring up NV 3G in King County because of the CSFB problem. They have recently launched 3G clusters in the South Sound. They are scrambling to finish up all of King County soon. I would have to imagine the first King clusters are coming soon.

 

After they fire up the NV 3G upgrades and CSFB is accessible from them, then all the existing Band 41 sites can be used by Triband smart phones. Then they will go back and fire up Band 25 LTE on the NV 3G sites that have had their backhaul upgraded. Last they will add LTE to the remaining sites one by one as upgraded backhaul is ready at each complete NV site.

 

It will feel like nothing is going on until the upgraded 3G clusters start firing up. Then the acceptances will start occurring more frequently. We have been watching this same pattern occur in other Samsung markets over and over all winter.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[oversight]

They are in a mad dash to bring up NV 3G in King County because of the CSFB problem. They have recently launched 3G clusters in the South Sound. They are scrambling to finish up all of King County soon. I would have to imagine the first King clusters are coming soon. After they fire up the NV 3G upgrades and CSFB is accessible from them, then all the existing Band 41 sites can be used by Triband smart phones. Then they will go back and fire up Band 25 LTE on the NV 3G sites that have had their backhaul upgraded. Last they will add LTE to the remaining sites one by one as upgraded backhaul is ready at each complete NV site. It will feel like nothing is going on until the upgraded 3G clusters start firing up. Then the acceptances will start occurring more frequently. We have been watching this same pattern occur in other Samsung markets over and over all winter. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

Thanks Robert (and Bumbershoot). I figured it was something along those lines. 

[jthawks]

Hey can anyone give me some speeds up in the north Seattle area. I just got my mom on Sprint and she is getting her g2 today. She lives off sandpint way and like 95th. I see two towers off 86th and 35th ave 4g and the other tower is 85th and between 20th ave and 21st and. So I'm curious on what band these are and what speeds people are getting. Thanks

 

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[JThorson]

jthawks- Sorry for the delay, I went up Sandpoint today and only had 3G speeds by 95th. d/l was .76 and u/l was .1. I'm not positive how to check which band it was on. Sorry for not more info. If I can out more info I will let you know

[jondeaux79]

##Debug# should give u band info i think

 

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[jondeaux79]

so far the only active 4g towers im running into are all B25

[jondeaux79]

 

This is very good news for us. Just got this automated text.

 

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[Bob Newhart]

jthawks- Sorry for the delay, I went up Sandpoint today and only had 3G speeds by 95th. d/l was .76 and u/l was .1. I'm not positive how to check which band it was on. Sorry for not more info. If I can out more info I will let you know

 

If you're using your s3, that would be on the 1900 Mhz frequency.

[oversight]

 

This is very good news for us. Just got this automated text.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

I just got one of those text messages a few minutes ago.  Good news.  Maybe the one just down the street in Juanita and by my office in Yarrow bay will go live soon.

[Bumbershoot]

 

This is very good news for us. Just got this automated text.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

I got that text yesterday on Vashon Island. We've already got LTE here already, amazingly enough. I'm starting to think about a tri-band phone!

[Beejis]

My wife got the message and we live in Marysville.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

 

[Bob Newhart]

I got a nonsensical text to my phone, just a bunch of codes that made no sense. Another household member got one in English though.

[jondeaux79]

here we go fans, Just found this on the sprint page, 

 

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Find_and_update_the_software_version_on_your_LG_G2/WServiceAdvisory_542_GKB55011

 

LG G2 spark update, Looks like is happening TODAY!, 

[cdk]

here we go fans, Just found this on the sprint page, 

 

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Find_and_update_the_software_version_on_your_LG_G2/WServiceAdvisory_542_GKB55011

 

LG G2 spark update, Looks like is happening TODAY!, 

[jthawks]

Jthorson. No worries. Thanks for trying I appreciate it. My was a little sad when she activated her phone and only 3g but I told her just wait. Not everything is live yet. I just got the spark update and the icons for it are cool, also my 3g icon changed

 

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[JThorson]

I got a text stating over the next month, the new network will be largely completed. If it's within a month I'll be really happy. I hope it's true!

Edited January 27, 2014 by JThorson

[Dkoellerwx]

I got a text stating over the next month, the new network will be largely completed. If it's within a month I'll be really happy. I hope it's true!

 

That text went out to almost every Sprint subscriber. Even ones who no longer live in a Sprint coverage area. The consensus is it is just marketing, and doesn't mean much. Don't get expectations up too much.