Network Vision/LTE - Jacksonville Market (including Gainesville/St. Augustine/Ocala)

[Nomadicgeek]

I was over at Costco yesterday and checked to see if I was getting any 4G, but no luck. From the maps, it looks like the closest tower to that area is southwest of the Town Center, next to the FBI office. I haven't been over that way lately, but that should be the one to watch for work.

 

It still surprises me that they have done such a poor job of covering that area. Like others have noted, the data service in that area is horrible. If there was not wifi available, I would be able to get any data access. It certainly isn't very good for Sprint when you go out for dinner or shopping and your friends on other networks are able to use data on their phones, and you just have a brick in your pocket.

 

Hopefully soon.

[Nomadicgeek]

Just saw this. I hope that Sprint will be able to do the same thing. 80 Mb/sec on LTE sounds pretty awesome to me. 

 

http://phandroid.com/2013/10/15/verizon-lte-tower-upgrades/

 

 

 

[Ascertion]

Just saw this. I hope that Sprint will be able to do the same thing. 80 Mb/sec on LTE sounds pretty awesome to me.

 

http://phandroid.com/2013/10/15/verizon-lte-tower-upgrades/

Sprint will be able to pull up to 90mbps download with 40mbps upload on 2600 spectrum. And we'll have some proof soon once the G2/HTC Max is released.

[Terrell352]

Sprint will be able to pull up to 90mbps download with 40mbps upload on 2600 spectrum. And we'll have some proof soon once the G2/HTC Max is released.

Verizon theoretical is 150 when aws in included. What is 2600 theoretical?

[Ascertion]

Verizon theoretical is 150 when aws in included. What is 2600 theoretical?

I read somewhere that 168mbps is the maximum speeds on a 20x20Mhz carrier.  Sprint also has the Spectrum to upgrade the speeds when the time is necessary.

[Terrell352]

Its proabably true that Verizon is still capable of being faster than sprint but since they have double the customers and a little more than half of the spectrum Sprint has I believe sprint speeds will be the same. For example at bestbuy mobile they was bragging about how Verizon can consistently pull down 12 mbps and is the fastest in the city. I pulled out my phone and showed them a speed test I did by my moms house that was 38 down 11 up and they couldn't believe it. They was under the impression that sprint was dirt slow. I told them they are dirt slow in places where they haven't upgraded which unfortunately is the places that matter most is the last towers remaining but once the busy part of town sees the upgrades I will be laughing. The worst part for me is I feel at the current pace network vision is rolling out I will be holding in that laugh for a long time.

I read somewhere that 168mbps is the maximum speeds on a 20x20Mhz carrier. Sprint also has the Spectrum to upgrade the speeds when the time is necessary.

[tybo31316]

I believe when Sprint is done with their build. They won't be the fastest but they will have the best overall experience while being unlimited. Unlike the big two that has tiered data in place and still getting bogged down.

 

I've convinced my fiancée and my relatives that sprint will be a lot better in the future. Also people that I know with sprint are noticing the service is getting better and they are getting LTE everywhere they go around town. One of my friends went and switch to the my way plan because he said he's going to be with sprint for life and he wants unlimited.

 

Now that tri band phones are about to be released us sprint customers can show others what they are missing out on.

[The Dave]

I am anxious as hell to get my hands on my G2. Even my wife keeps asking if I have seen any word on them shipping yet. Before I forced her to go to an AT&T store so I check it out, she was adamant that her Evo 3D was fine and didn't want want to be forced to upgrade.

[Terrell352]

I believe when Sprint is done with their build. They won't be the fastest but they will have the best overall experience while being unlimited. Unlike the big two that has tiered data in place and still getting bogged down.

 

I've convinced my fiancée and my relatives that sprint will be a lot better in the future. Also people that I know with sprint are noticing the service is getting better and they are getting LTE everywhere they go around town. One of my friends went and switch to the my way plan because he said he's going to be with sprint for life and he wants unlimited.

 

Now that tri band phones are about to be released us sprint customers can show others what they are missing out on.

Still think it will be a while before we can show others what they are missing out on. Verizon will likely have wide spread AWS before network vision 1.0 is finished at this rate. Most sites don't have 800 CDMA, 800 LTE, and there's still plenty of 1900 LTE/CDMA 1900 work to be done. I honestly do not believe all of this can be done by the second quarter of next year regardless of how much backhaul becomes available to ram up deployment it will never be done as fast as the other carriers because this is not a overlay but a true future proof upgrade.

[SpenceSouth]

Haven't been able to place outgoing calls just outside of Town Center all day today.  Got my fingers crossed that this is indicative of more tower work nearby. 

[tybo31316]

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/0xqb7vvb3athjcu/_MeEJi-O7z

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/7cvalspkjf9ovn5/snL3WqMlLT

Looks like a happy day for you. I'm having a sad day with my fiance's bday gift (iPhone 5s). Connectivity issues.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[Terrell352]

Can anyone tell me if this looks like network vision? It is a sprint tower and there was a white pick up truck that came here and left the gate open all night. I assume they will be back in the morning. They even left porapoties lol.https://www.dropbox....5n1z/FHlvwcplEi
https://www.dropbox....ulls/Np2d_O3gHn
https://www.dropbox....hjcu/_MeEJi-O7z
https://www.dropbox....ovn5/snL3WqMlLT 

[tybo31316]

Well after exchanging my fiancés 5s we received a replacement and it was doing the same thing as the first one. It would only max out at 3 of 5 bars and would hover around one bar and even roam. I took the cheap $5 Walgreen's case and the reception is great.

 

The phone picks up LTE in many more places than my EVO does. Her phone is pretty much connected to LTE all the time. If 1900 LTE is this good freaking 800 LTE will be great. Now my only problem is I don't really like the g2 after playing with it at best buy. The one max turned me off with the s600 and the crappy finger print scanner. I'm in love with the note 3.

 

What should I do?

[Ascertion]

Well after exchanging my fiancés 5s we received a replacement and it was doing the same thing as the first one. It would only max out at 3 of 5 bars and would hover around one bar and even roam. I took the cheap $5 Walgreen's case and the reception is great.

 

The phone picks up LTE in many more places than my EVO does. Her phone is pretty much connected to LTE all the time. If 1900 LTE is this good freaking 800 LTE will be great. Now my only problem is I don't really like the g2 after playing with it at best buy. The one max turned me off with the s600 and the crappy finger print scanner. I'm in love with the note 3.

 

What should I do?

What do you dislike about the g2?

[tybo31316]

What do you dislike about the g2?

The UI is bad (my opinion). I don't like the button placement as much as I wanted to I couldn't get myself to like it. Also I've never considered getting an LG device until the nexus 4 was released.

[The Dave]

Software isn't difficult to get around if you don't mind rooting and installing a custom ROM. The button placement either takes time to get used to or you won't. I don't really have a problem with it. Besides, with the knock on feature and software volume controls, you technically don't even have to use the buttons. You can always wait for the Nexus 5 or something else to come along, too.

[tybo31316]

Software isn't difficult to get around if you don't mind rooting and installing a custom ROM. The button placement either takes time to get used to or you won't. I don't really have a problem with it. Besides, with the knock on feature and software volume controls, you technically don't even have to use the buttons. You can always wait for the Nexus 5 or something else to come along, too.

I may sit back and see what's released between now and January then decide. I was thinking about getting the GN3 now and next year use one up to get the latest and greatest device. By that time Sprint's network will be full throttle with CDMA 800 and LTE running on all three bands.

 

Edit - I root all my devices. I didn't take into account that I could put a custom ROM on but I like to keep my phones near stock. I'm running mean bean on my EVO LTE.

 

[SpenceSouth]

The UI is bad (my opinion). I don't like the button placement as much as I wanted to I couldn't get myself to like it. Also I've never considered getting an LG device until the nexus 4 was released.

 

I feel the same way about it.

[The Dave]

Every review I've read has slammed the UI skin. I still have a feeling that with all the negative feedback, LG may decide to update their UI sometime down the road to quiet some of the concerns that have been addressed.

[SpenceSouth]

The phone picks up LTE in many more places than my EVO does. Her phone is pretty much connected to LTE all the time. If 1900 LTE is this good freaking 800 LTE will be great.

 

I'm looking a used GS3 online now... The Evo has been fine, but I think I really the increased RF performance now.

[Ascertion]

I'm looking a used GS3 online now... The Evo has been fine, but I think I really the increased RF performance now.

I have the GS3 and it's a pretty good LTE performer.  If I recall correctly, the EVO LTE is pretty bad.  A friend of mine had 4G in roughly 50% of the places I did, in the same area, at the same time.

[Terrell352]

Okay everybody after doing lots of testing I can confirm that the EVO is a weak LTE performer but not as bad as everyone thinks. If you put it in LTE only mode and leave it alone for a while it will pick up LTE in spot where normally it never would. Its not as usable as on the GS3 though which also confirms that HTC has 3G set as a higher priority than LTE on the EVO. If I have bad 3G coverage and LTE coverage then LTE seems to hold on longer but if I'm close to a 3g only tower and the LTE signal is around 118 dBm or so it won't connect. I tried it in a lot of places and it seems to work every time.

[tybo31316]

Okay everybody after doing lots of testing I can confirm that the EVO is a weak LTE performer but not as bad as everyone thinks. If you put it in LTE only mode and leave it alone for a while it will pick up LTE in spot where normally it never would. Its not as usable as on the GS3 though which also confirms that HTC has 3G set as a higher priority than LTE on the EVO. If I have bad 3G coverage and LTE coverage then LTE seems to hold on longer but if I'm close to a 3g only tower and the LTE signal is around 118 dBm or so it won't connect. I tried it in a lot of places and it seems to work every time.

With the latest update the EVO does connect more often. Compared to my fiancés iPhone 5s the EVO doesn't perform well. From what I've seen the iPhone connects faster, stay connected longer without bounce back and forth between 3g and 4g, overall better than the EVO. Her iPhone is pretty much connected to LTE all day long and inside buildings.

 

If I can get a phone that has iPhone reception or better I wouldn't need a tri band device right now. I would just jump on the note 3 and get a trip band phone this time next year.

[Terrell352]

With the latest update the EVO does connect more often. Compared to my fiancés iPhone 5s the EVO doesn't perform well. From what I've seen the iPhone connects faster, stay connected longer without bounce back and forth between 3g and 4g, overall better than the EVO. Her iPhone is pretty much connected to LTE all day long and inside buildings.

 

If I can get a phone that has iPhone reception or better I wouldn't need a tri band device right now. I would just jump on the note 3 and get a trip band phone this time next year.

Does not sound like a bad idea at all. I already sprung for the G2. They did some downtilt adjustments to a near by tower and now I get a weak LTE signal on my girlfriend's GS3 but my Evo still won't connect. I will say that at least in Ocala I have LTE 50% of the time around the whole city. Indoor penetration seems to be a issue if your not within a 2 miles of the tower.

[tybo31316]

Does not sound like a bad idea at all. I already sprung for the G2. They did some downtilt adjustments to a near by tower and now I get a weak LTE signal on my girlfriend's GS3 but my Evo still won't connect. I will say that at least in Ocala I have LTE 50% of the time around the whole city. Indoor penetration seems to be a issue if your not within a 2 miles of the tower.

I think that's what I'm going to go with unless the one max pull me away from the note. In which I don't think it will.

 

Those places where you don't connect in doors with another device I guarantee you will connect in those same places.