Network Vision/LTE - New York City Market

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 8/27/2023 at 9:35 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Anyone know what all of those weird eNBs all over Randall's Island are? My phone keeps picking them up when going over the Triborough going toward the Bronx or Manhattan. They have really weird cell IDs so I'm thinking it's a DAS at Icahn Stadium. If I'm right it looks like there may have been some upgrades recently that are spawning some new 3318xx nodes there.

I have no idea what they are either, but if its DAS, it also has n41 active on it, as a few of the n41 gNBs on the bridge have unique cell numbers. Strange I didn't pick up any on Wednesday, so it might have been a temporary thing.

 

On 8/17/2023 at 1:12 AM, Paynefanbro said:

Looks like you and another user mapped a new eNB 435763 right by East New York Ave station at the end of July. There's even two PCS cells mapped, Cell 11 is near Atlantic Ave and Dewey Place where the line goes under Atlantic, and Cell 12 is right by the East New York Ave stop. So it seems like the tunnel DAS is active from the Barclays Center to East New York Ave.

I have excellent news about this. The tunnel has LTE and NR (NSA and SA) active. It's also the first place where I have seen n71 on a DAS.

I haven't fully figured what is where yet, however eNBs 435763/4/5/6/7/8 all seem to be LIRR DAS related. Jamaica station has antennas on the platform, B2/12/66 was exceptionally great inside the train at Jamaica with pretty good SNR too, and I also spotted a Samsung mmWave panel above Track 13-14. I haven't been able to tell if n41 is on the DAS at Jamaica yet.

In the tunnel, n71 and n41 are both live, matching the bandwidths current macros do. I'll do a few more trips to/from work there, as I think from East New York to the portal near Jamaica they have 2 different cells being used per band, with the split being near the former Woodhaven LIRR Station.

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T-Mobile is expanding the gig+ activities, eNBs 41304 and 47754 have been added to the map. I would add eNBs 41956 and 45654 but I wasn't able to go above 900 with either.

 

[Paynefanbro]

T-Mobile to buy more 5G airwaves from Comcast for up to $3.3 billion

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/12/23870736/t-mobile-low-band-airwaves-comcast-5g-deal

— — — — —

Looks like T-Mobile is gonna have 15MHz n71 here even when Dish's lease is up. We might see 20MHz n71 soon.

[Paynefanbro]

T-Mobile eNB ID 56458 in Crown Heights is now a gig+ site.

[mdob07]

My wife and I were up in NYC for the day today. What an experience, way different than anything I'm used too but honestly it was an awesome experience. We can't wait to come back sometime when we can explore more, we had a very tight window of time in NYC today unfortunately. I had cellmapper and SCP running on both AT&T and T-Mobile today so maybe I caught something useful for you all. I was impressed with how much coverage there was in the tunnels and subway system. We came in from Edison NJ on a train and took the subway to a couple different spots around town. I think we're going to head to Philly tomorrow and see some sights before we drive back to KY on Tuesday. Hopefully we'll be back some day!

[Paynefanbro]

My home site got a backhaul upgrade! As recently as Saturday I was getting high 500's on this site. They must've provisioned it overnight. I'm picking up my iPhone 15 Pro Max on Friday so it'll be interesting to see what kind of speeds I can get on 4xCA vs 3xCA this 14 Pro Max.

 

— — — — —

We can also remove Sprint eNB 253884 from the keep site map. It got decommissioned.

[Paynefanbro]

T-Mobile eNB 45796, 47199, 51075, 53488, and 42339 are all gigabit sites now. Looks like a number of Crown Heights sites are getting the upgraded backhaul treatment.

Also there's a VoNR toggle on the iPhone 15 that works exactly as advertised. Phone was on 5G, ran a speedtest while on a call and got n41 speeds and my typical ~40ms standalone ping. Weird that Speedtest reads the 15 Pro Max as the iPhone16,2.

[tybo31316]

4 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile eNB 45796, 47199, and 42339 are all gigabit sites now. Also there's a VoNR toggle on the iPhone 15 that works exactly as advertised. Phone was on 5G, ran a speediest and got n41 speeds and my typical ~40ms standalone ping. Weird that Speedtest reads the 15 Pro Max as the iPhone16,2.

Does enabling SA on the 15 Pro Max cause the phone to heat up like the 13pro line?

[RAvirani]

49 minutes ago, tybo31316 said:

Does enabling SA on the 15 Pro Max cause the phone to heat up like the 13pro line?

Been doing it for a for couple now and no issues yet…

[Paynefanbro]

2 hours ago, tybo31316 said:

Does enabling SA on the 15 Pro Max cause the phone to heat up like the 13pro line?

I haven't had any problems with it heating up so far but I also didn't have any problem with the 14 Pro Max either.

[RAvirani]

On 8/29/2023 at 11:11 AM, RAvirani said:

I’ll be at Arthur Ashe for the US Open next week. Last year the service was abysmal; hopefully it’s better this year. 

Forgot to follow up on this. The service was once again abysmal .

[wispiANt]

Backhaul on eNB 40986 has been upgraded, as well.

[Paynefanbro]

Sprint eNB 5923 -> T-Mobile eNB 876889

— — — — —

T-Mobile eNB 41182 is a gig+ site.

— — — — —

T-Mobile eNB 126303 is a gig+ site.

[Paynefanbro]

More Sprint conversion permits coming through:

1. Sprint eNB Unknown: 
   1. Address: 154-16 Northern Blvd, Queens, NY 11354
   2. Coordinate: 40.76430107252133, -73.8103819211325
2. Sprint eNB 6801: 
   1. Address: 1001 Woodycrest Ave, Bronx, NY 10452
   2. Coordinate: 40.83283089933321, -73.92828029142079
3. Sprint eNB Unknown:
   1. Address: 77 W 104th St, New York, NY 10025
   2. Coordinate: 40.79793637576428, -73.96329487090424
   3. Notes: This conversion will likely replace T-Mobile eNB 41229 which is on a shorter building next door and is still Band 2/12/66 only.
4. Sprint eNB 6147:
   1. Address: 995 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
   2. Coordinate: 40.8021535655733, -73.96408168567169

Also two expired/denied conversion permits were recently resubmitted.

1. Sprint eNB 6714
   1. Address: 102 North End Ave, New York, NY 10282
   2. Coordinate: 40.715017343146336, -74.01552991638661
   3. Notes: This is a resubmission. T-Mobile initially submitted a conversion permit for this site over a year ago but no work was completed and the permit expired. This is the site on top of the move theater in Battery Park City.
2. Sprint eNB 6256
   1. Address: 1155 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
   2. Coordinate: 40.73839858377396, -73.95614025871389
   3. Notes: This is the infamous Greenpoint Sprint site that should make a world of difference for T-Mobile customers in both Greenpoint and LIC. A permit was initially submitted sometime last year but it got denied. It was recently resubmitted and approved with an expiration date in December 2023 so expect this to finally be converted before year-end.

 

[Paynefanbro]

On 12/9/2022 at 5:45 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Got a Samsung Galaxy A13 5G. It's Dual SIM and I have a cheap Boost Mobile 2GB plan for mapping AT&T in one SIM slot and an inactive T-Mobile SIM in the other but it still connects to the network. Now I'm able to map both carriers at the same time. So glad to be back in action lol.

Went to Samsung 837 and switched to the A54 5G yesterday. I'm loving it so far. It doesn't have two physical SIMs but it does support eSIM so I put the Boost SIM in one slot and switched my Tello line to eSIM as the secondary line. ServiceMode on this phone is significantly more detailed than my A13 5G. I'm guessing it's a difference in SOC since the A54 uses Exynos while the A13 used a MediaTek chip.

Another thing the A54 does that my A13 doesn't is that it has support for standalone 5G so now I can connect to two 5G networks at the same time. I can see that I'm connected to NSA n2/77 on the Boost line and SA n25/41 at the same time. It seems like the Tello line prefers to sit on SA 5G as opposed to dropping down to LTE so I'm probably gonna be recording a lot more gNB for T-Mobile than ends going forward.

— — — — —

Also eNB 41511 and 44183 are gig+ sites now.

[AirlineFlyer]

On 10/17/2023 at 1:29 PM, Paynefanbro said:

 

1. Sprint eNB 6256
   1. Address: 1155 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
   2. Coordinate: 40.73839858377396, -73.95614025871389
   3. Notes: This is the infamous Greenpoint Sprint site that should make a world of difference for T-Mobile customers in both Greenpoint and LIC. A permit was initially submitted sometime last year but it got denied. It was recently resubmitted and approved with an expiration date in December 2023 so expect this to finally be converted before year-end.

 

Wow, it’s finally happening. I switched to Verizon two years ago after getting fed up for the last time in this area when my iPhone ended up on GPRS out in the open. Absurd. Glad it’s getting patched finally. 

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 9/13/2023 at 2:11 PM, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile to buy more 5G airwaves from Comcast for up to $3.3 billion

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/12/23870736/t-mobile-low-band-airwaves-comcast-5g-deal

— — — — —

Looks like T-Mobile is gonna have 15MHz n71 here even when Dish's lease is up. We might see 20MHz n71 soon.

The FCC docs said the leasing should start on October 10th, Florida seems to have Comcast's spectrum live but I haven't seen it in NYC yet.

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I have added most of the gig+ sites mentioned, and I have added quite a few in Harlem. The keep sites have been updated as well, to add on Sprint eNB 6300 has been converted, but isn't live, I'll update that one soon.

 

For some subway stations, they can anchor NR from the macros now. Before it would support it but not actually anchor NR. Besides Fulton Street station complex in Manhattan, the L train tunnel, and the LIRR under Atlantic, I haven't seen NR anywhere else underground yet.

[Paynefanbro]

4 hours ago, T-MoblieUser207 said:

The keep sites have been updated as well, to add on Sprint eNB 6300 has been converted, but isn't live, I'll update that one soon.

Sprint eNB 6269 has also been converted for a while but still wasn't live as of two weeks ago.

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 9/22/2023 at 6:03 PM, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile eNB 42339 are all gigabit sites now.

I assume a digit is off for this one, as this site is in Maryland.
There is a site within the Bay View Houses complex that can do gig+, but NR isn't properly mapped there, so I don't know which site it is. Also added 49176 to the gig+ map.

Edit:
Here are the latest totals for the map:

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by T-MoblieUser207

[Paynefanbro]

9 hours ago, T-MoblieUser207 said:

I assume a digit is off for this one, as this site is in Maryland.

It's supposed to be 42239, my bad! But it looks like you already got it on the map.

On 9/8/2023 at 2:41 PM, T-MoblieUser207 said:

I have no idea what they are either, but if its DAS, it also has n41 active on it, as a few of the n41 gNBs on the bridge have unique cell numbers. Strange I didn't pick up any on Wednesday, so it might have been a temporary thing.

You were also correct about this. Seems like it's something that T-Mobile spins up whenever there's an event at Icahn Stadium. Same thing with the Arthur Ashe eNBs, they appear during events and disappears when they're over.

— — — — —

I may be wrong but it looks like T-Mobile has been adding n25 to small cells. The only ting that's weird is that they have split-sector cell numbers. Maybe they're using two antennas in the enclosure pointing in opposite directions?

1. eNB 55743-3 -> gNB 1364396-23/29 (First mapped in 2016 so likely a hardware upgrade as opposed to software)
2. eNB 59686-2/12 -> gNB 1364396-22/25
3. eNB 55743-1 -> gNB 1364396-21 (I'm not too certain about this one)

 

[wispiANt]

Threw this together today as I noticed it'd been a while since I had last updated the oDAS map. This should make it significantly easier to update in the future. I'm planning on implementing some basic filtering options later this weekend. 

Let me know if there are any features you'd like to be added (or if you have any older datasets you'd like to see included).

[mirskyc]

20 hours ago, wispiANt said:

Threw this together today as I noticed it'd been a while since I had last updated the oDAS map. This should make it significantly easier to update in the future. I'm planning on implementing some basic filtering options later this weekend. 

Let me know if there are any features you'd like to be added (or if you have any older datasets you'd like to see included).

Came here to find the oDAS. A few weeks ago I noticed a new one on my daily walk to the train. This morning I saw workers tearing up the road and sidewalk to fun fiber from across the street. 

[Paynefanbro]

Sprint eNB Unknown -> T-Mobile eNB 331168

Located at: 40.7558330, -73.9876660

[wispiANt]

On 10/26/2023 at 5:00 PM, wispiANt said:

Threw this together today as I noticed it'd been a while since I had last updated the oDAS map. This should make it significantly easier to update in the future. I'm planning on implementing some basic filtering options later this weekend. 

Let me know if there are any features you'd like to be added (or if you have any older datasets you'd like to see included).

Filtering implemented.

[Paynefanbro]

I don't know if it was an iPhone issue or an issue with T-Mobile's network but I've noticed my standalone 5G pings have dropped considerably in the past couple of weeks. I used to be able to tell when I was on standalone 5G by looking at the ping on a speed test since it would consistently read 38-40ms. Now it's in the low to mid teens and I can only tell by going into Field Test Mode. 

Edit: Seems like it's not marketwide but instead on some sites vs others. Still encountering sites with the 38ms ping.

— — — — —

Also (maybe old news?) the 15MHz n71 carrier moved up to center on the beginning of the B-block so now we have 15MHz n71 and 5MHz Band 71. 

[T-MoblieUser207]

On 10/26/2023 at 8:32 AM, Paynefanbro said:

I may be wrong but it looks like T-Mobile has been adding n25 to small cells. The only ting that's weird is that they have split-sector cell numbers. Maybe they're using two antennas in the enclosure pointing in opposite directions?

1. eNB 55743-3 -> gNB 1364396-23/29 (First mapped in 2016 so likely a hardware upgrade as opposed to software)
2. eNB 59686-2/12 -> gNB 1364396-22/25
3. eNB 55743-1 -> gNB 1364396-21 (I'm not too certain about this one)

I'll take a spin by these tmm after work. With n41 showing up on small cells, I figured it may be a matter of time before n25 would too.

 

On 11/1/2023 at 9:22 AM, Paynefanbro said:

Also (maybe old news?) the 15MHz n71 carrier moved up to center on the beginning of the B-block so now we have 15MHz n71 and 5MHz Band 71.

So about that... it has been confusing for me and I wanted to hold off until more folks spotted it. Seems like a lot of network changes are happening at once, here is what I know:

1. Some towers got the upgrade to 20 MHz n71. Others (most) are still at 15 MHz, but no B71 live. The changes started happening Oct 31st-Nov 1st.
   1. Here is a Brooklyn tower and a Bronx/Manhattan tower. Bx/Man was yesterday on the left, Brooklyn was tonight on the right.
      
   2. Queens and some towers in Manhattan are still at 15. In Harlem, I was still getting 15 MHz n71, along with 40+40 n41 (Image below). Before my call started, I checked for B71, and wasn't found, but around 2 hours later, the Bx/Man screenshot above was found, yet the macros right outside LGA were still 15, with no B71, as they still are 2 hours ago.
      
2. In n41 news, the border between 100+40 and 40+40 in Manhattan shifted lower. Before it was up in the 150-160 Streets, now towers near 145 are doing 40+40 as well instead of the 100+40 they were doing for months.
3. Besides the one mention I made of 4x NR CA some time ago, I haven't seen it since, and for some towers, they don't even do 3x NR CA depending on the primary band. If the secondary n41 carrier is made the PCC, the device drops to 2xCA with only n41 being used. n71 and n25 usually get 3xCA when they are the PCC.