LTE building penetration

[steveo27o]

After years of slow 3g speeds in my office, I couldn't wait for LTE to lauch in Houston. Went bought new phone and signed my life away agian. and my luck no 4G LTE where I work in Houston. So I waited and WAITED, and this morning I get to work and I HAVE LTE!!!!! for about three steps into my office. and back to 3G. What the Hell!!!! I have full bars and the 4G before did about the same. If I recall didn't Sprint say that the building penetration would be better? I don't mean to Vent but this SUCKS

[irev210]

A lot of it has to do with thresholds. Also, don't forget that the Houston market has a LONG way to go before being fully built out. There are LOTS of sites that are not upgraded yet.

 

As AJ and Robert have explained, the LTE link is much more fragile than the "less complicated" 3G. While EVDO goes strong past -105dB, LTE seems to sputter out around -95dB.

 

The coverage is better, by about 5dB, because of the modern antennas and new remotely mounted radios (which cut down on line loss)... but you are still subject to where your Sprint tower is located and the building you are in.

 

The next step is Sprint putting LTE on old iDEN spectrum (ESMR in the 800MHz band) in 2013. Coverage is, according to Robert, within about 3% of Verizon's "beachfront" 700MHz upper C block band. Coverage will see another large bump (especially indoor with that band) when that is complete.

 

While you might not be happy waiting another year (and another device that will support LTE on the ESMR band), things are what they are.

 

I would first wait until Sprint finishes building out Houston. I am guessing coverage will improve as the build-out continues. When you are in the office, you could be on a totally different tower (that's the case for me in Boston).

[S4GRU]

The strength indicator does not show LTE signal strength, ever. Even when the icon says 4G. The signal strength shown is always for 1x. So you likely had a very weak LTE signal outside and then you went inside and the signal was too weak to penetrate where you were at. I just got back from LTE Performance testing in Waco and I can tell you that the Sprint LTE penetration characteristics are far better than WiMax.

 

To find out the LTE signal strength, you must go Settings>About Device>Status. Go down to Mobile Network Type and confirm it is LTE. If so, read the signal strength listed above. If it is a number greater than -115dBm on the EVO LTE (or -90dBm on the GS3, GNex, Viper), then you have a pretty weak LTE signal.

 

More and more coverage is constantly being added every week. If you are just now on the edge of service, you likely will be fully covered in the future. Everyone with an EVDO signal strength of -98dBm or better will likely get LTE service at build out.

 

Robert

[leerage]

Like irev210 said, wait for Sprint to complete the build out in Houston. If you can't or don't want to wait, switch carriers. Venting on S4GRU really won't solve your problems.

 

If you feel a need to complain, call Sprint.

[S4GRU]

Also, note I have changed the title of the thread, because Sprint LTE signal penetration does not suck, you are just being misinformed about what you are seeing from your device.

 

Robert

[Dkoellerwx]

Took too long to post looks like. no new info here!

 

Edit again:

 

To find the LTE signal info on the EVO LTE, it's Setting >> About >> Network

[steveo27o]

sorry didn't mean to vent, my office is at Airline and Tidwell maybe I'm on the edge of a tower. Well I hope they upgrade one closer. Thank for the info!!

[wjrandon]

I'm glad you made the remarks. Steve for better or worst, I feel your frustration here in Atlanta. I'm trying my best to remain positive and patience.

[S4GRU]

I'm glad you made the remarks. Steve for better or worst, I feel your frustration here in Atlanta. I'm trying my best to remain positive and patience.

 

Well, I'm not. You all can ask questions, or explain your observations. Even negative observations. However, jumping to conclusions that penetration sucks when the information available to make the determination is faulty is not a good way to voice your concerns around S4GRU.

 

Everyone has a bad day, and make assumptions. I even do it sometimes. But congratulating someone for making a mistake and then making negative comments about it is not helpful.

 

Robert

[wjrandon]

I'm simply stating his frustration is shared.

[egonadrian]

Has anyone compared Wimax to LTE building penetration? Would really like to know how much better the signal penetration is since here in Puerto Rico all houses are made of concrete. Wimax signal here would just completely be lost as soon as you go in a house . :/

[S4GRU]

Has anyone compared Wimax to LTE building penetration? Would really like to know how much better the signal penetration is since here in Puerto Rico all houses are made of concrete. Wimax signal here would just completely be lost as soon as you go in a house . :/

 

Yes. I spent a few days in Waco this past holiday weekend doing LTE radio performance testing. I am working up articles to explain the difference. LTE on 1900 is significantly better than WiMax on 2600.

 

Robert

[VW Maverick]

I got this sitting INSIDE the Subway in Statham, GA this evening. Working pretty good for me.

Mav.

 

Sent with Apple's permission on my Galaxy Nexus.

[feteru]

The strength indicator does not show LTE signal strength, ever. Even when the icon says 4G. The signal strength shown is always for 1x. So you likely had a very weak LTE signal outside and then you went inside and the signal was too weak to penetrate where you were at. I just got back from LTE Performance testing in Waco and I can tell you that the Sprint LTE penetration characteristics are far better than WiMax.

 

To find out the LTE signal strength, you must go Settings>About Device>Status. Go down to Mobile Network Type and confirm it is LTE. If so, read the signal strength listed above. If it is a number greater than -115dBm on the EVO LTE (or -90dBm on the GS3, GNex, Viper), then you have a pretty weak LTE signal.

 

More and more coverage is constantly being added every week. If you are just now on the edge of service, you likely will be fully covered in the future. Everyone with an EVDO signal strength of -98dBm or better will likely get LTE service at build out.

 

Robert

Ooh! Have you become more optimistic (or pragmatic through testing at Waco), since if I remeber correctly, just a couple of weeks ago, you had said that it would be -90dBm or better to get LTE service. Or is that for a usable signal, and -98dBm is just service?

 

I got this sitting INSIDE the Subway in Statham, GA this evening. Working pretty good for me.

Mav.

 

Sent with Apple's permission on my Galaxy Nexus.

Now, the real question is, how does it compare to your speeds outside of the subway?

Edited September 5, 2012 by feteru

[VW Maverick]

Now, the real question is, how does it compare to your speeds outside of the subway?

 

Good question, but as it was raining pretty damn hard at the time, I was unable to test 4G in the open air.

I will check it out and post up my findings.

 

Mav.

 

Sent with Apple's permission on my Galaxy Nexus.

[feteru]

Good question, but as it was raining pretty damn hard at the time, I was unable to test 4G in the open air.

I will check it out and post up my findings.

 

Mav.

 

Sent with Apple's permission on my Galaxy Nexus.

Thanks! On a side note, does overcast weather affect LTE and other cellular signals? Common sense tells me it would, but I don't know for sure.

[S4GRU]

Ooh! Have you become more optimistic (or pragmatic through testing at Waco), since if I remeber correctly, just a couple of weeks ago, you had said that it would be -90dBm or better to get LTE service. Or is that for a usable signal, and -98dBm is just service?

 

Based on my observations in Waco, you could keep LTE up to -98dBm RSSI (-123dBm RSRP). However, it's usefulness was variable when the signal was worse than -93dBm RSSI (-118dBm RSRP).

 

Robert

 

Thanks! On a side note, does overcast weather affect LTE and other cellular signals? Common sense tells me it would, but I don't know for sure.

 

Overcast mornings in Waco had no noticeable effect on signal. However, extremely heavy rain may have a mild effect, probably only noticeable to users with a fragile link at the edge of service.

 

Robert

[WiWavelength]

Thanks! On a side note, does overcast weather affect LTE and other cellular signals? Common sense tells me it would, but I don't know for sure.

 

Overcast means complete cloud cover. Are your cell site antennas mounted so high that they are in or above the clouds?

 

AJ

[steveo27o]

Robert you are right. I have a very weak signal RSRP(dBm) -109, RSRQ(db)-11. Went to Subway @ 45N and Tidwell and had (dBm)-82. and ran a speed test got 34.51 up and 12.50 down

but half a mile away the signal drops. How far is a good signal "suppose" to go?

[TheForce627]

Ok to Get the difference in rssi and rsrp you add 25? I thought it was supposed to be 14

[spacesurfer]

I got this sitting INSIDE the Subway in Statham, GA this evening. Working pretty good for me.

.

you must mean the sandwich place and not an underground train station. I got good lte in target on Lawrenceville Suwanee rd

[S4GRU]

Ok to Get the difference in rssi and rsrp you add 25? I thought it was supposed to be 14

 

According to Sprint FIT reports I've seen, they reference a 25dBm difference. So that is what I have been using. And based on my observations in Waco this past weekend, I tend to think it's accurate.

 

Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

[WiWavelength]

Robert you are right. I have a very weak signal RSRP(dBm) -109, RSRQ(db)-11.

 

Your RSRP (signal strength) is not "very weak." That is just a moderate signal. You have at least a 10 dB margin before reselection to eHRPD. However, your RSRQ (signal quality) is not great.

 

Went to Subway @ 45N and Tidwell and had (dBm)-82.

 

That RSRP is exceedingly strong; you are almost certainly within a stone's throw of the site.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

 

Based on my observations in Waco, you could keep LTE up to -98dBm RSSI (-123dBm RSRP). However, it's usefulness was variable when the signal was worse than -93dBm RSSI (-118dBm RSRP).

 

Robert

 

 

 

Overcast mornings in Waco had no noticeable effect on signal. However, extremely heavy rain may have a mild effect, probably only noticeable to users with a fragile link at the edge of service.

 

Robert

 

Seeing that number scares me along with the EVO LTE. In my area its normal to have -90 signal or worse. I won't see 4g much. Definitely keeping my insurance until at least one tower is online here and I can go to the Sprint store to complain until they give me a different phone that doesn't have Lte issues.

 

A decent rain in the south doesn't really kill my signals but it seems to make 3g just about unusable. Is it because of noise or just everyone checking the radar loop to see if it is raining at their house?

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

[steveo27o]

AJ the tower is on top of a building across the street. But the antenna don't have the little box behind them, like I have seen in other pic. So I thought it wasn't upgraded. I'll try to get a pic next time I go that way.