Network Vision/LTE - Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands Market

[jamisonshaw125]

yup...i called in one shot too..i got bout 20 bucks off..and it seems like my data sped up...which speed test you guys feel is more accurate...sensorly or ookla

Ookla

[Sam]

Hi guys. Anybody know is Sprint have 800mhz and 2.6mhz in Puerto Rico to roll out their new Spark? I read it has 800 in one thread of this forum some time ago, but want to now any news because 800mhz it was in reconfiguration or something like that. Happy to hear that everything is going fine in Virgin Islands, we need to pray a hurricane don't take our 4g hahaha, take care.

[lilotimz]

Hi guys. Anybody know is Sprint have 800mhz and 2.6mhz in Puerto Rico to roll out their new Spark? I read it has 800 in one thread of this forum some time ago, but want to now any news because 800mhz it was in reconfiguration or something like that. Happy to hear that everything is going fine in Virgin Islands, we need to pray a hurricane don't take our 4g hahaha, take care.

800 mhz is not being deployed their anytime soon due to spectrum issues. 2.6mhz will never be deployed there as it'd reserved for a government entity. 2.6ghz may make an appearance though in the future.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

 

[themuffinman]

Looks like the lone tower in St. John just got upgraded to 4g which is great for the those in the red hook area. 

[D-Relo Pondebass]

seems like more was flipped on...only 3 left! woot woot...lets get that spark!

[Sam]

800 mhz is not being deployed their anytime soon due to spectrum issues. 2.6mhz will never be deployed there as it'd reserved for a government entity. 2.6ghz may make an appearance though in the future.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

What kind of bad news is this, hahaha. It's OK. I'm right now in a framily plan with 7 people and I'm enjoying a good price for my plan. But is sad to hear about that. Thanks for the info. They plan to complete Spark in U.S. and Puerto Rico in 2016. I can wait. I hope that in a near future they include some quantity of tethering data. T-Mobile includes this and seen like a strong competidor in every aspect. But happy for a while.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

[lilotimz]

What kind of bad news is this, hahaha. It's OK. I'm right now in a framily plan with 7 people and I'm enjoying a good price for my plan. But is sad to hear about that. Thanks for the info. They plan to complete Spark in U.S. and Puerto Rico in 2016. I can wait. I hope that in a near future they include some quantity of tethering data. T-Mobile includes this and seen like a strong competidor in every aspect. But happy for a while.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

Sprint NV 2.0 B41 TDD-LTE has begun deploying on the mainland and I would expect the same to happen soon in PR as well. Keep yours eye peeled for new Sprint antennas! I have a Sprint NV 2.0 B41 antenna spotting guide on the main forums. 

[Sam]

That sound very good. Thanks for the info. I will start reading about this. Excellent news.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

[jorgevazquez87]

Hello everyone,

 

Anyone knows how far for complete is Puerto Rico on Network Vision Deployment? Is Sprint Spark available anytime soon in the island?

 

I live in Juncos, Puerto Rico and I had to request a Airave 2.5+ due signal issues in my house (roaming in an out, dropped calls, etc.)

 

I like Sprint customer service and prices but in Puerto Rico for me, they are way too far from getting face to face with other carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T and Open Mobile which they already are 4G and have more decent speeds compared to my 4G LTE on my HTC One M7.

 

Sprint coverage map shows that my area is supposed to have full 4G LTE but is not true.

 

When Puerto Rico will see true improvements on Sprint 4G LTE?

[Sam]

Jorge, if you don't have good signal in your home I suggest you test the air rave, the wifi calling or change your carrier. Air rave and wifi calling are very good ways to improve your coverage. For wifi calling you need a compatible device like the Note 3 or the galaxy s4. The airrave is compatible with a more rage of devices but you must have some signal. Sprint is a good company and things are going better every day. Like others said, Sprint do not have a specific date for Spark launch in Puerto Rico, but lilotimz said that LTE - A is on the way. If any of this works, consider change to other carrier. Because cellphone in home is a most. In the future with 800mhz things will going better and better, but for now, you need something useful.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

[jorgevazquez87]

Jorge, if you don't have good signal in your home I suggest you test the air rave, the wifi calling or change your carrier. Air rave and wifi calling are very good ways to improve your coverage. For wifi calling you need a compatible device like the Note 3 or the galaxy s4. The airrave is compatible with a more rage of devices but you must have some signal. Sprint is a good company and things are going better every day. Like others said, Sprint do not have a specific date for Spark launch in Puerto Rico, but lilotimz said that LTE - A is on the way. If any of this works, consider change to other carrier. Because cellphone in home is a most. In the future with 800mhz things will going better and better, but for now, you need something useful.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

Thank you Sam for the information.

 

At this moment I have a Sprint Airave for free and I have full 3G bars in my home which is way much better than nothing including roaming. When I drive to my work (Caguas) I have LTE but speeds are basically 3G (less than 3Mpbs download). In metro area I have LTE with very good results (10-20 Mbps). 

 

I think the priority for Sprint is metro area rather than rural (my home) and I can only see one tower that is nearest to my house but in a very tall area.

 

Thanks again for your response.

 

Jorge

[Dkoellerwx]

Hello everyone,

 

Anyone knows how far for complete is Puerto Rico on Network Vision Deployment? Is Sprint Spark available anytime soon in the island?

 

I live in Juncos, Puerto Rico and I had to request a Airave 2.5+ due signal issues in my house (roaming in an out, dropped calls, etc.)

 

I like Sprint customer service and prices but in Puerto Rico for me, they are way too far from getting face to face with other carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T and Open Mobile which they already are 4G and have more decent speeds compared to my 4G LTE on my HTC One M7.

 

Sprint coverage map shows that my area is supposed to have full 4G LTE but is not true.

 

When Puerto Rico will see true improvements on Sprint 4G LTE?

 

Every site in Puerto Rico is Network Vision complete. It was one of the first markets to be completed. However, that just means the new equipment has been installed. It doesn't mean every site has LTE.

 

The vast majority of sites do have LTE though. Both sites that serve Juncos are LTE completed, so if you are not getting LTE, that likely means you are out of range, and there's not much Sprint can do at this point aside from adding new towers. 

[jorgevazquez87]

Every site in Puerto Rico is Network Vision complete. It was one of the first markets to be completed. However, that just means the new equipment has been installed. It doesn't mean every site has LTE.

 

The vast majority of sites do have LTE though. Both sites that serve Juncos are LTE completed, so if you are not getting LTE, that likely means you are out of range, and there's not much Sprint can do at this point aside from adding new towers. 

 

Thank you Dkoellerwx,

 

It's good to know that information, thank you.

 

If I have LTE in Caguas on my HTC One but the speed is like between 3G and LTE, that means the site needs some kind of configuration to deploy the full speed in the cell tower I am attached?

[Dkoellerwx]

Thank you Dkoellerwx,

 

It's good to know that information, thank you.

 

If I have LTE in Caguas on my HTC One but the speed is like between 3G and LTE, that means the site needs some kind of configuration to deploy the full speed in the cell tower I am attached?

 

No, it means it's at capacity. Once a site has LTE live, everything is configured properly. If speeds are slow, that means the network in that area is saturated. There are too many people connecting to that cell site and using data.

 

There is not much that can be done about that at this time, since Sprint is unable to deploy 800MHz LTE in PR right now.

 

Sprint might be able to deploy another LTE carrier (like another channel) at some point, but I am not familar with the their spectrum situation in PR.

[Sam]

Jorge, I have some good speed test in Toa Baja, Bayamón, San Juan, Manatí and other towns. But you have a point. Unlimited is not very good with low speed. But let me tell you that I'm very happy with my services. Now in my 7 Framily plan I pay $94.02 for me and my wife $94 for two unlimited lines. I save more than $600 yearly with this. They applied government discount (15%) for the data charges. The signal is good and very few drop calls since the network vision upgrade. In summer they will release HD voice. And today they announced that is you have 6 Framily or more you can get Spotify for $5 bucks. What a deal! I tell you, things will going better with time.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

Edited April 30, 2014 by Sam

[jorgevazquez87]

No, it means it's at capacity. Once a site has LTE live, everything is configured properly. If speeds are slow, that means the network in that area is saturated. There are too many people connecting to that cell site and using data.

 

There is not much that can be done about that at this time, since Sprint is unable to deploy 800MHz LTE in PR right now.

 

Sprint might be able to deploy another LTE carrier (like another channel) at some point, but I am not familar with the their spectrum situation in PR.

 

Jorge, I have some good speed test in Toa Baja, Bayamón, San Juan, Manatí and other towns. But you have a point. Unlimited is not very good with low speed. But let me tell you that I'm very happy with my services. Now in my 7 Framily plan I pay $94.02 for me and my wife $94 for two unlimited lines. I save more than $600 yearly with this. They applied government discount (15%) for the data charges. The signal is good and very few drop calls since the network vision upgrade. In summer they will release HD voice. And today the announced that is you hace 6 Framily or more you can get Spotify for $5 bucks. What a deal! I tell you, things will going better with time.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

Sam,

 

I completely agree with you that Toa Baja, San Juan and Manatí have excellent speeds. My aunt is from Toa Baja and months ago I did a speed test while on the car and I hit almost 20 Mpbs. In the other side, Juncos only have two towers and both of them are way more far than 500 meters (that's why I got Airave 2.5+).

 

What Dkoellerwx say's about the saturation makes a lot of sense to me since there are only two towers nearest to my home. I really Sprint can expand their towers in my area since we have more than 4 pharmaceutical fabrics and this is considered a key place to develop medicine.

 

I can't say Sprint prices are high, actually they are the cheapest with unlimited data in Puerto Rico plus my wife have 25% discount for being employee on a store but you know, nothing it's perfect.

 

I really look forward to see more improvements on data speeds which for me, matter most.

[silverthornne]

I have an HTC One M8 that worked fine for two weeks and then suddenly couldn't hold on to LTE and would drop calls constantly. After various talks with Sprint reps one of them said that Spark devices will have problems in non-Spark areas. Is this true or was he making it up? It just makes me concerned that I bought a pretty paperweight. Anyway, I ended up reactivating my M7 and will see if they let me return it since it's past the 14 day return window.

[Sam]

I have an LG G2 and I have no problem with LTE. But some time like month ago I have trouble receiving calls. People don't hear me when they call. When I call I have no trouble. Something is happen. With my note 3 I have no problem. Somebody know is other people is experience trouble with Spark phone in non Spark area? Let us know. My other family use iphone. They don't have trouble.

 

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[elkaku]

Im back guys!!!! Been out for a while but up and running again!!

[elkaku]

I have an LG G2 and I have no problem with LTE. But some time like month ago I have trouble receiving calls. People don't hear me when they call. When I call I have no trouble. Something is happen. With my note 3 I have no problem. Somebody know is other people is experience trouble with Spark phone in non Spark area? Let us know. My other family use iphone. They don't have trouble.

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

Anyone knows if the spark technology will eventually support voice and data at the same time?!?!?

Just got an LGG2 and it drops data whenever a phone call is placed

 

To me this is going backwards!!!!!

[Sam]

Elkaku do you read the news? Now the people in Framily can only get 5gb and the data will be throttle. Thanks Sprint. I will not let Sprint, but this is the kind of decisions we start thinking in T-Mobile. Welcome back friend!

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

[mrknowitall526]

Elkaku do you read the news? Now the people in Framily can only get 5gb and the data will be throttle. Thanks Sprint. I will not let Sprint, but this is the kind of decisions we start thinking in T-Mobile. Welcome back friend!

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

It's only if they are in the top 5% of users on a certain tower. And only if it is congested. Post the whole story not just parts!

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

[Sam]

I think not. Robert write an article about that. We will have iPhones in our hand that can never handle voice and data in Sprint. But in the future, when VoLTE comes to life we will see voice and data simultaneously again. For now if you have a Note 3 like me, you can still enjoying voice and data at the same time

 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

[Sam]

Mrk. They say top users 5% is every person uses more than 5gb. Every of us. Congested areas is another confusing definition. They will apply that to all. But we have faith. We must wait.

 

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[Paynefanbro]

Elkaku do you read the news? Now the people in Framily can only get 5gb and the data will be throttle. Thanks Sprint. I will not let Sprint, but this is the kind of decisions we start thinking in T-Mobile. Welcome back friend!

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

Mrk. They say top users 5% is every person uses more than 5gb. Every of us. Congested areas is another confusing definition. They will apply that to all. But we have faith. We must wait.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

What you just said is wrong. According to a user Sprint will be doing a latency throttle, so the top 5% of data users, not people who use over 5GB, users get throttled.

 

Here is the exact quote:

 

"Network prioritization is an effective throttle. T-Mobile uses it, CBW used it, AT&T uses it with Aio and Cricket, Verizon uses it with prepaid, and Sprint is just now going to start using it. It's not a throughput throttle, it's effectively a latency throttle. It's a technique to enforce an effective packet processing order that pushes out the simplest/smallest requests ahead of larger ones.

 

I figured everyone already knew that when I mentioned it earlier about T-Mobile's throttle strategy. On unlimited plans, the throttling isn't on throughput, it's on latency. Believe me when I say higher latency hurts way more than lower throughput (though there is a point where low latency+low throughput still hurts a lot).

 

Sprint uses a throughput and latency throttle on prepaid, while it only implements a latency throttle on postpaid. That's very important to keep in mind.

 

T-Mobile implements a throughput throttle on all plans that don't have unlimited high speed data that triggers after reaching your high speed data limit and sends you down to 128Kbps. Latency throttles are implemented in unlimited high speed data plans, but only activated if automatic network load rebalancing (where connections are forced from one sector/cell to another to even out the load) doesn't work."

 

AT&T has a permanent throughput and latency throttle on Aio/Cricket, which is why you only get HSPA 7.2 speeds on its LTE network there. There's a second level throughput throttle that activates after you've hit the proscribed high speed data limit that drops you down to 64Kbps.

 

Verizon implements a latency throttle on prepaid, but doesn't need a throughput one because prepaid users can't use LTE. And besides, Verizon isn't allowed to use throughput throttles on a permanent basis in LTE plans anyway.