Network Vision/LTE - Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands Market

[osva]

In front of el amal

 

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[vamp07]

In front of el amal

 

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I'm currently on AT&T but playing with a one on sprint thinking of doing the switch. So far I am impressed with sprint. I don't know if these speeds will be maintained as more users come online but coverage on Sprint is not significantly worse then AT&T. At least not in the metro area. I know in the mountains it's another story and when I ride my motorcycle on the weekends I may be disappointed. We shall see. Nothing suck more then not having a signal when you really need one.

 

 

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[osva]

 

I'm currently on AT&T but playing with a one on sprint thinking of doing the switch. So far I am impressed with sprint. I don't know if these speeds will be maintained as more users come online but coverage on Sprint is not significantly worse then AT&T. At least not in the metro area. I know in the mountains it's another story and when I ride my motorcycle on the weekends I may be disappointed. We shall see. Nothing suck more then not having a signal when you really need one.

 

 

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Yep, I know. I guess im lucky that my company service provider is att. So right know i have the best of both worlds.

 

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[megabytepr]

 

Yep, I know. I guess im lucky that my company service provider is att. So right know i have the best of both worlds.

 

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I currently carry AT&T, T-Mobile & Sprint, and maybe deep deep in some areas of the center of the island AT&T is better but around the big metro areas it's LTE is almost unusable I have seen speeds as low as .10 on LTE their network congestion is getting worse by the day It reminds me of back in the days of the i

[megabytepr]

 

Yep, I know. I guess im lucky that my company service provider is att. So right know i have the best of both worlds.

 

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I currently carry AT&T, T-Mobile & Sprint, and maybe deep deep in some areas of the center of the island AT&T is better but around the big metro areas it's LTE is almost unusable I have seen speeds as low as .10 on LTE their network congestion is getting worse by the day It reminds me of back in the days of the iPhone 3GS and its congested network.

[Impulse]

Kind of boneheaded of Sprint to put up this huge hanging banner in San Patricio's food court, announcing LTE in the one metro area I frequent that still has none whatsoever... Hopefully work gets underway soon!

[vamp07]

 

I currently carry AT&T, T-Mobile & Sprint, and maybe deep deep in some areas of the center of the island AT&T is better but around the big metro areas it's LTE is almost unusable I have seen speeds as low as .10 on LTE their network congestion is getting worse by the day It reminds me of back in the days of the iPhone 3GS and its congested network.

 

I have not seen LTE speeds on att that I would describe as bad. I do agree that they are more congested but even in those cases I can still get a reasonable speed test. The worst att offers is still better then sprint 3g speeds. What amazes me in recent testing is that sprint really does have good coverage. In some cases better then att. The cases at the margin like deep in a building in Santurce or in the back of supermarket X Att seems to always work while sprint is a wild card. Is this because they have more towers or is it the lower frequency of att? My gut is that it is a frequency issue. Out off curiosity when and where have your seen att speeds collapse because of congestion?

 

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[vamp07]

Kind of boneheaded of Sprint to put up this huge hanging banner in San Patricio's food court, announcing LTE in the one metro area I frequent that still has none whatsoever... Hopefully work gets underway soon!

 

Saw something like this on the highway and had no LTE when I checked. Having said that tower completion is still moving along nicely in the metro area. I get the feeling that the number of crews has been reduced recently.

 

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[megabytepr]

 

 

I have not seen LTE speeds on att that I would describe as bad. I do agree that they are more congested but even in those cases I can still get a reasonable speed test. The worst att offers is still better then sprint 3g speeds. What amazes me in recent testing is that sprint really does have good coverage. In some cases better then att. The cases at the margin like deep in a building in Santurce or in the back of supermarket X Att seems to always work while sprint is a wild card. Is this because they have more towers or is it the lower frequency of att? My gut is that it is a frequency issue. Out off curiosity when and where have your seen att speeds collapse because of congestion?

 

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Here you go AT&T LTE

 

http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/496200962.png

 

http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/520745074.png

[megabytepr]

 

 

Saw something like this on the highway and had no LTE when I checked. Having said that tower completion is still moving along nicely in the metro area. I get the feeling that the number of crews has been reduced recently.

 

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I noticed that two but 3G speeds on that area are over 1.5 Mbps not a lot but consistent and better than before.

[megabytepr]

 

 

I have not seen LTE speeds on att that I would describe as bad. I do agree that they are more congested but even in those cases I can still get a reasonable speed test. The worst att offers is still better then sprint 3g speeds. What amazes me in recent testing is that sprint really does have good coverage. In some cases better then att. The cases at the margin like deep in a building in Santurce or in the back of supermarket X Att seems to always work while sprint is a wild card. Is this because they have more towers or is it the lower frequency of att? My gut is that it is a frequency issue. Out off curiosity when and where have your seen att speeds collapse because of congestion?

 

 

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That type of situation you describe is because of AT&T using lower 700mhz LTE AND 850mhz voice.

 

[Impulse]

Yeah, AFAIK lower frequency = better building penetration, but it also requires more towers to cover the same general area (if you ignore structures), so it's always a tradeoff one way or the other.

[lilotimz]

Yeah, AFAIK lower frequency = better building penetration, but it also requires more towers to cover the same general area (if you ignore structures), so it's always a tradeoff one way or the other.

 

No. Lower frequency (cellular 850, SMR 800, upper 700, lower 700) can propogate farther and penetrate further into materials thanks to its lower frequency. Thus it needs less cell sites to cover the same area that higher frequency (AWS/PCS/ etc) spectrum require.

 

At the same time, lower frequency spectrum can only handle so much capacity before it degrades thanks to its spectrum characteristics.

 

Just imagine it as a sine wave. Lower frequencies have a smaller amplitude while higher frequencies have larger amplitudes. At the same position where both lower frequency and higher frequency waves hits, the higher frequency wave will be able to transport more of whatever thanks to its larger amplitude compared to the lower frequency with the smaller amp.

 

Basically -- Higher frequency = more cell sites per area but can be depended upon for capacity

-- Lower frequency = less cell sites per area but provides greater coverage and penetration capabilities.

[vamp07]

 

Basically -- Higher frequency = more cell sites per area but can be depended upon for capacity

-- Lower frequency = less cell sites per area but provides greater coverage and penetration capabilities.

 

 

All this makes sense. Does double the mhz mean double the data handling capacity? I wish we could see tower maps for att and the other carriers to see how committed each is to this market.

 

 

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[vamp07]

<br /><br />I currently carry AT&amp;T, T-Mobile &amp; Sprint, and maybe deep deep in some areas of the center of the island AT&amp;T is better but around the big metro areas it's LTE is almost unusable I have seen speeds as low as .10 on LTE their network congestion is getting worse by the day It reminds me of back in the days of the i

<br /><br />megabytes, <br /><br />What is your opinion of T-Mobile

[egonadrian]

<br /><br />megabytes, <br /><br />What is your opinion of T-Mobile

 

Im not megabytes but my opinion is that T-mobile is good only in the metro area. Anywhere outside the metro area prepare to be stuck in edge or 2g.

 

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[Rawvega]

^^^Pretty much like the mainland...

[vamp07]

 

Im not megabytes but my opinion is that T-mobile is good only in the metro area. Anywhere outside the metro area prepare to be stuck in edge or 2g.

 

I played with them several years back it was not bad but I remember on a trip to ponce I was on 2g after cayey. That was not what they advertised on their coverage map. Who knows maybe a glitch that day.

 

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[megabytepr]

<br /><br />megabytes, <br /><br />What is your opinion of T-Mobile

 

It's difficult to find a way to the describe it here in this market but I think the word that comes to mind is inconsistency. It's great in some places not only metro areas like others have said. But I believe when they finish shutting down their 2g here and concentrate on HSPA+ DC and LTE it will be great. Their monthly unlimited plans are amazing and include all you could want. Sprint and T-Mobile will make a comeback at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014. The reason I say inconsistent is because I can stand just in front of their main office in Rio Piedras and speed test (that for some reason never reflect real speed) and get 1mb, I move down to the highway and I can get 10mb. In most areas they provide a consistent 3 to 5 mb also voice quality is much better than AT&T based on clarity.

[Sam]

Guys. Sprint is better than ever. No more drop calls for me from UPR to Toa Baja and vice versa. Very good LTE speed. UPR Río Piedras Campus have LTE everywhere and usable 3g if LTE isnt available. I'm very happy with the change. Is feel like a new cell phone company, faster and reliable. To be better, they can include some Internet tethering for free. At least 500mb and people like me will be more than happy.

 

Great customer service, very reasonable plans, unlimited data, subsidized phones, great phones, good LTE coverage, roaming, unlimited calls to cell and unlimited text messaging and mms, discount for a lot of people (government employees 15%, Sears 25%, Burger King 25% etc.). For me guys, is the best cell company in Puerto Rico. Before NV very bad. With LTE and new sites is the best. They still need to improve coverage in the island and their business here will be very profitable.

[Gab2012]

I agree 100% for me its the best company when it comes to prices.

 

$271 a month for 5 smartphones with everything unlimited(family 1500 plan with unlimited incoming calls + 25% American Airlines employee discount)

 

NV is the icing on the cake since I got used to having terrible service for so long.

[egonadrian]

Guys. Sprint is better than ever. No more drop calls for me from UPR to Toa Baja and vice versa. Very good LTE speed. UPR Río Piedras Campus have LTE everywhere and usable 3g if LTE isnt available. I'm very happy with the change. Is feel like a new cell phone company, faster and reliable. To be better, they can include some Internet tethering for free. At least 500mb and people like me will be more than happy.

 

Great customer service, very reasonable plans, unlimited data, subsidized phones, great phones, good LTE coverage, roaming, unlimited calls to cell and unlimited text messaging and mms, discount for a lot of people (government employees 15%, Sears 25%, Burger King 25% etc.). For me guys, is the best cell company in Puerto Rico. Before NV very bad. With LTE and new sites is the best. They still need to improve coverage in the island and their business here will be very profitable.

 

I agree 100%! The only thing that can make them better is if they were to use the lower frequencies for better building penetration. I feel like it is almost a must here, because of the terrain and the concrete buildings everywhere. Once they do that here in PR, it will be amazing. Not sure if it is possible tough :/

 

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[lilotimz]

I agree 100%! The only thing that can make them better is if they were to use the lower frequencies for better building penetration. I feel like it is almost a must here, because of the terrain and the concrete buildings everywhere. Once they do that here in PR, it will be amazing. Not sure if it is possible tough :/

 

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Not possible. Another entity holds the SMR 800 frequency in PR + there are numerous international boundary issues to work out even if possible (2+ years minimum as they'll be dealing with foreign governments.. look at the mexican & canadian borders).

 

Edit: Been corrected

[Sam]

I agree 100%! The only thing that can make them better is if they were to use the lower frequencies for better building penetration. I feel like it is almost a must here, because of the terrain and the concrete buildings everywhere. Once they do that here in PR, it will be amazing. Not sure if it is possible tough :/

 

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I think the same. Love to see the 800mhz in action. They also need more coverage, this is a small island and they can cover all easy. They are loosing some customer that will be more than happy to change from Claro and AT&T to Sprint.

[egonadrian]

 

I think the same. Love to see the 800mhz in action. They also need more coverage, this is a small island and they can cover all easy. They are loosing some customer that will be more than happy to change from Claro and AT&T to Sprint.

 

I think it is very well covered, it is just in need of a lower frequency. It would be too costly for sprint to cover the inside of the island and other places where the signal cant reach. If they could deploy in 800mhz, im absolutely sure all those little deadzones around the island would be covered. Concrete here just absolutely kills the signal!

 

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