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

[tybo31316]

Went to the Town Center today. While getting into the car in the parking lot of Petsmart, I noticed my phone began to chime. I had LTE with a -113 dBm signal. Held it until I left the parking lot and onto Town Center Parkway. Had LTE off and on with a faint signal from Baymeadows until a mile past Old St Augustine Rd. Looks like progress..

Nice town center finally getting some love.

[The Dave]

It was a really faint signal. But with that said, I have tried hard to find LTE there before and never had any luck.

[tybo31316]

It was a really faint signal. But with that said, I have tried hard to find LTE there before and never had any luck.

Your g2 connectivity getting any better?

[The Dave]

Your g2 connectivity getting any better?

Yes, I am connected to LTE nearly all the time now. It is just spotty on i95 and i295 on southside of Jax. I think they upgraded the towers in Jax recently, because besides today I had zero LTE there.

[tybo31316]

Yes, I am connected to LTE nearly all the time now. It is just spotty on i95 and i295 on southside of Jax. I think they upgraded the towers in Jax recently, because besides today I had zero LTE there.

I'm pretty dead set on the nexus 5 as my next phone out of the tri band devices only thing now is. Do i wait for my upgrade on Jan 1 or buy it from google play

[SpenceSouth]

Went to the Town Center today. While getting into the car in the parking lot of Petsmart, I noticed my phone began to chime. I had LTE with a -113 dBm signal. Held it until I left the parking lot and onto Town Center Parkway. Had LTE off and on with a faint signal from Baymeadows until a mile past Old St Augustine Rd. Looks like progress..

 

Of course my Evo didn't pick up any LTE there today.... Ready for this Nexus to come in already.

[SpenceSouth]

I'm pretty dead set on the nexus 5 as my next phone out of the tri band devices only thing now is. Do i wait for my upgrade on Jan 1 or buy it from google play

 

Tough one... It's certainly worth considering buying from the Play Store so you can save your upgrade.

[The Dave]

I'm pretty dead set on the nexus 5 as my next phone out of the tri band devices only thing now is. Do i wait for my upgrade on Jan 1 or buy it from google play

If you get it from the Play Store, definitely go for the 32 gig version. It is only a little bit more money, but makes it worth the premium over buying it subsidized from Sprint. If I didn't have the G2, I'd definitely get the N5. It's a nice phone. I also recommend the black version since it has a nice matte texture as opposed to the glossy plastic feel of the white version. 

[tybo31316]

If you get it from the Play Store, definitely go for the 32 gig version. It is only a little bit more money, but makes it worth the premium over buying it subsidized from Sprint. If I didn't have the G2, I'd definitely get the N5. It's a nice phone. I also recommend the black version since it has a nice matte texture as opposed to the glossy plastic feel of the white version.

That's what I had in mind. A black 32gb from the play store. Stock android is boring compared to some of the OEM skins but my nexus 7 made me fall in love with the nexus line. The only reason I didn't get the nexus 4 was it was GSM only. Also the tri band support and the updates from Google is another reason why I want it so badly.

[The Dave]

I am really intrigued by ART. I wish I had access to it, but hopefully once the 4.4 update gets pushed, I would like to see if it does improve performance and battery life. Another good reason to go for the Nexus. 

[SpenceSouth]

I am really intrigued by ART. I wish I had access to it, but hopefully once the 4.4 update gets pushed, I would like to see if it does improve performance and battery life. Another good reason to go for the Nexus. 

 

I got 4.4 on my Nexus 7 and it doesn't seem to have an option for ART.  I'm wondering if all phones/tablets will get the option or not.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Yes, I am connected to LTE nearly all the time now. It is just spotty on i95 and i295 on southside of Jax. I think they upgraded the towers in Jax recently, because besides today I had zero LTE there.

I'm on LTE 98% of the time in Jax. It's VERY rare that I fall down to 3G at all. I literally get it almost everywhere. The last stronghold was the Town Centre for me and the Atlantic Blvd (from hodges to San Pablo area. Other than that, I have an LTE signal and my average speeds have been increasing. I rarely see less than 8-10mbps and frequently see 20-30mbps daily, in all kinds of different areas. My service is awesome.

 

FWIW, I have an iPhone 5, which has really good RF reception.

[The Dave]

That has been my experience in St Augustine. I get LTE basically everywhere that Sprint has a signal. I see 22-33 mbps almost all hours of the day. It is almost too good to believe. Add to that the 24-30 hours between charges and I cannot imagine how I was able to survive the 2 1/2 years of wimax purgatory..

[Ascertion]

That has been my experience in St Augustine. I get LTE basically everywhere that Sprint has a signal. I see 22-33 mbps almost all hours of the day. It is almost too good to believe. Add to that the 24-30 hours between charges and I cannot imagine how I was able to survive the 2 1/2 years of wimax purgatory..

I agree, anytime I'm out I have LTE in at least 80% of the areas I frequent now.  There is, however, a small chunk of deadzones in SE Jacksonville (St Johns County), but it's being patched up and once this one specific site comes online, I'll be golden!

 

The G2 is an amazing device and while the Nexus 5 had outstanding LTE performance, it lacked the battery and UI that the G2 had.  So, I'm back on my G2.  Letting my bro play with the N5 until I decide to sell it. Lol

[The Dave]

If the Nexus had a bigger battery, the ir blaster and 13 mp camera, I may have gotten it. But then again, I also like the buttons in the back. A Play Edition G2 would make an extremely compelling device... 

[SpenceSouth]

If the Nexus had a bigger battery, the ir blaster and 13 mp camera, I may have gotten it. But then again, I also like the buttons in the back. A Play Edition G2 would make an extremely compelling device... 

 

I think the battery of the N5 will be fine for me assuming it's at least equal to that of the Evo LTE.  I do wish it had a better camera, mostly just a wider aperture and a better image processor.

 

The buttons on the back of the G2 still have me shaking my head lol.  I don't know how you guys got used to that. 

[tybo31316]

 

Connected to 1x 800 again outside the Pepsi plant on Bowden road.

[tybo31316]

Actually connected and make a phone call.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

 

Connected to 1x 800 again outside the Pepsi plant on Bowden road.

Wow. I wonder which tower this is coming from. This is in my back yard, practically.

[tybo31316]

Wow. I wonder which tower this is coming from. This is in my back yard, practically.

For some reason signal check won't detect the location of the site.

[tybo31316]

CDMA 800 going strong in this location. Its staying connected and not dropping so whatever site is broadcasting must be online and past the test phase.

[digiblur]

CDMA 800 going strong in this location. Its staying connected and not dropping so whatever site is broadcasting must be online and past the test phase.

You are pretty far from it. Check the 1x engineering screen and see if you can pull the lat long there. In Ericsson markets the coordinates are offset but would give you a good indication of where it is.

 

EDIT:  I thought that SID looked weird.  I see you are using a test 800 PRL as stock PRLs do not have that SID:

22433,Sprint Nextel,Pendleton OR; Sandpoint ID; Spokane WA

 

You'll notice you might have odd data issues and other weirdness since your phone is idling in the wrong geographic of the PRL and probably scanning the wrong EVDO channels for Florida.

[SpenceSouth]

You are pretty far from it. Check the 1x engineering screen and see if you can pull the lat long there. In Ericsson markets the coordinates are offset but would give you a good indication of where it is.

 

EDIT:  I thought that SID looked weird.  I see you are using a test 800 PRL as stock PRLs do not have that SID:

22433,Sprint Nextel,Pendleton OR; Sandpoint ID; Spokane WA

 

You'll notice you might have odd data issues and other weirdness since your phone is idling in the wrong geographic of the PRL and probably scanning the wrong EVDO channels for Florida.

 

I'm assuming it is your PRL has those SID's?  

[tybo31316]

You are pretty far from it. Check the 1x engineering screen and see if you can pull the lat long there. In Ericsson markets the coordinates are offset but would give you a good indication of where it is.

 

EDIT: I thought that SID looked weird. I see you are using a test 800 PRL as stock PRLs do not have that SID:

22433,Sprint Nextel,Pendleton OR; Sandpoint ID; Spokane WA

 

You'll notice you might have odd data issues and other weirdness since your phone is idling in the wrong geographic of the PRL and probably scanning the wrong EVDO channels for Florida.

Everything was fine except when I was on a call on 1x 800 and traveled out of 800 range the call dropped instead of switching over to 1x RTT.

[digiblur]

I'm assuming it is your PRL has those SID's?

Yes. You will see it listed in the OP of those threads.

 

Everything was fine except when I was on a call on 1x 800 and traveled out of 800 range the call dropped instead of switching over to 1x RTT.

That was my experience as well when it we had a a few sites fired up. One of the reasons I had to stop using the higher priority PRL. I think it was also the reason they blocked it here since a lot of people found themselves using it since the site spacing sucks here. Once they were on it, it would drop the call when they got out of range instead of handing off. There were just no other 800 sites around to hand off. That was months ago and nothing has changed on the 800 scene here in my market. Glad to see things happening in another Ericsson market.