Network Vision/LTE - Norfolk Market (Hampton Roads/Virginia Tidewater)

[WiWavelength]

Alright, Norfolk market, enough is enough.  Go take a flying leap into the Chesapeake.  S4GRU has made it clear that we do not host Sprint complaints.  If you want to leave for another provider, get lost.  We do not care.  But you cannot vent, complain, or rant here.

 

AJ

[SteveO_148]

Alright, Norfolk market, enough is enough. Go take a flying leap into the Chesapeake. S4GRU has made it clear that we do not host Sprint complaints. If you want to leave for another provider, get lost. We do not care. But you cannot vent, complain, or rant here.

 

AJ

All of this information has been extremely helpful. Thank you everyone that has taken the time to respond.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[SteveO_148]

Ok, that's an eCSFB issue. Aclatel-Lucent still needs to integrate the 3G side of the NV equipment, once that happens, you'll be able to get LTE there again. It has been deployed, there's just an issue with tri-band devices. It should be fixed soon.

 

For more info, see Robert's article on the wall: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-357-nexus-5-and-lg-g2-experience-temporary-sprint-lte-connectivity-issues-due-to-circuit-switched-fallback-technology/

From my understanding once that is fixed in the Hampton roads area, my LG G2 will get standard LTE. Then when the phone software update is out and spark is turned on by mid to late of 2014, I will get spark 4g LTE on my LG G2 in the Hampton Roads area... am I understanding all the information correctly?

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[theyoungluser]

I got a Nexus 5 the other day, and no LTE (of course). Went through the whole rigamarole with *2 and dialer codes, even went through and Enabled the other bands and set priority from 0 to 1 for them. LTE would flash for a moment at times, but quickly go back to 3G.

 

I spoke with a lady at *2, who said that 4 towers were being worked on in the Norfolk region. She didn't say what kind of work was being done, but did say that the scheduled/predicted day of completion of work was January 23. She gave the caveat that the work could be done before or after that date, and that was just a scheduled completion date.

 

Just as a note, I went from an HTC One, which had LTE working just fine on the very same day I activated the Nexus 5.

PRL on Nexus 5 is 55017, running 4.4.2 (though I don't think this has any bearing on anything).

 

 

So MAYBE LTE will work for triband phones by Jan 23? Or at least for band 25?

[Androidingly]

I spoke with a lady at *2, who said that 4 towers were being worked on in the Norfolk region. She didn't say what kind of work was being done, but did say that the scheduled/predicted day of completion of work was January 23

 

 

Or at least for band 25?

edited to show what's going on here in Norfolk.

[mrknowitall526]

I got a Nexus 5 the other day, and no LTE (of course). Went through the whole rigamarole with *2 and dialer codes, even went through and Enabled the other bands and set priority from 0 to 1 for them. LTE would flash for a moment at times, but quickly go back to 3G.

 

I spoke with a lady at *2, who said that 4 towers were being worked on in the Norfolk region. She didn't say what kind of work was being done, but did say that the scheduled/predicted day of completion of work was January 23. She gave the caveat that the work could be done before or after that date, and that was just a scheduled completion date.

 

Just as a note, I went from an HTC One, which had LTE working just fine on the very same day I activated the Nexus 5.

PRL on Nexus 5 is 55017, running 4.4.2 (though I don't think this has any bearing on anything).

 

 

So MAYBE LTE will work for triband phones by Jan 23? Or at least for band 25?

 

Sounds like the eCSFB problem, which is related to incomplete 3G upgrades.  There's a whole post about it on the main page of S4GRU.

[SteveO_148]

I got a Nexus 5 the other day, and no LTE (of course). Went through the whole rigamarole with *2 and dialer codes, even went through and Enabled the other bands and set priority from 0 to 1 for them. LTE would flash for a moment at times, but quickly go back to 3G.

 

I spoke with a lady at *2, who said that 4 towers were being worked on in the Norfolk region. She didn't say what kind of work was being done, but did say that the scheduled/predicted day of completion of work was January 23. She gave the caveat that the work could be done before or after that date, and that was just a scheduled completion date.

 

Just as a note, I went from an HTC One, which had LTE working just fine on the very same day I activated the Nexus 5.

PRL on Nexus 5 is 55017, running 4.4.2 (though I don't think this has any bearing on anything).

 

 

So MAYBE LTE will work for triband phones by Jan 23? Or at least for band 25?

That is the same thing I am experiencing with my LG G2.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[theyoungluser]

Sounds like the eCSFB problem, which is related to incomplete 3G upgrades.  There's a whole post about it on the main page of S4GRU.

Yep, saw it.

 

Incidentally, I was around the 23707 zip code, and LTE was working fine-- stayed active. Speeds weren't great, but at least it kept a lock. Made a call and received a call, and it quickly would shut LTE off (presumably because it has to for this phone or something like that I read somewhere), but LTE popped back up very quickly. It was seamless.

 

On return home, though, no LTE, stayed in 3G.

 

So maybe there's some hope after all.

[Dkoellerwx]

From my understanding once that is fixed in the Hampton roads area, my LG G2 will get standard LTE. Then when the phone software update is out and spark is turned on by mid to late of 2014, I will get spark 4g LTE on my LG G2 in the Hampton Roads area... am I understanding all the information correctly?

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

Yes, that's correct. Sorry, I did not see your post until today.

 

The Spark update for the G2 should be coming out in the next two weeks, as Sprint promised to have it this month. However, as software updates tend to be late, it may not come until mid-February.

 

Most areas along and south of 264 and west of 464 should have had their eCSFB issues corrected by this point. The immediate Portsmouth and Norfolk areas (inside of 64, east of 464) have not. 

 

Unfortunately, since you do not have a current WiMax network, your area will not be on the first round of Spark updates. However, after Quarter 2 of this year, Sprint will begin adding Band 41 to most Network Vision sites in urban areas. When that happens, you will have access the Band 41, and the speeds that go along with it (up to 60Mbps download).

 

Just to be clear, there is no standard or spark LTE. Spark is just a name Sprint is using. LTE is still LTE. What Sprint is calling Spark is Band 41 (2500-2600MHz). Sprint is currently deploying three different bands of LTE across the country, all of which will be available in your market.

 

Band 25: PCS LTE (1900MHz), coverage near that of current EVDO, speeds up to 37.5Mbps

Band 26: SMR LTE (800MHz), expanded coverage, speeds up to 37.5Mbps

Band 41: TD-LTE (25-2600MHz), limited coverage, not as good indoors, speeds up to 60Mbps. (tighter site spacing helps to make up for the poor indoor performance)

 

 

I got a Nexus 5 the other day, and no LTE (of course). Went through the whole rigamarole with *2 and dialer codes, even went through and Enabled the other bands and set priority from 0 to 1 for them. LTE would flash for a moment at times, but quickly go back to 3G.

 

I spoke with a lady at *2, who said that 4 towers were being worked on in the Norfolk region. She didn't say what kind of work was being done, but did say that the scheduled/predicted day of completion of work was January 23. She gave the caveat that the work could be done before or after that date, and that was just a scheduled completion date.

 

Just as a note, I went from an HTC One, which had LTE working just fine on the very same day I activated the Nexus 5.

PRL on Nexus 5 is 55017, running 4.4.2 (though I don't think this has any bearing on anything).

 

 

So MAYBE LTE will work for triband phones by Jan 23? Or at least for band 25?

 

The lack of LTE you are seeing is due to the eCSFB issue. It should be corrected soon, though we can't say with any certainty how soon.

 

 

Yep, saw it.

 

Incidentally, I was around the 23707 zip code, and LTE was working fine-- stayed active. Speeds weren't great, but at least it kept a lock. Made a call and received a call, and it quickly would shut LTE off (presumably because it has to for this phone or something like that I read somewhere), but LTE popped back up very quickly. It was seamless.

 

On return home, though, no LTE, stayed in 3G.

 

So maybe there's some hope after all.

 

Tri-Band devices have only one transmission path, therefore they can only connect to one technology at a time. Either CDMA1x, EVDO, or LTE. That seemless fallback to CDMA1x from LTE is provided by eCSFB. Without it, your phone cannot detect incoming calls or texts, or make outgoing calls. That is why in areas that have not yet had the eCSFB update, your phone will not connect to LTE.

[theyoungluser]

For kicks, I called *2, stating I wasn't getting LTE/4G in my home area, but was getting it in other cities around Hampton Roads with my Nexus 5.

 

She said that towers are being worked on in Norfolk, some for maintenance/dropped calls/data which she explained is a catch-all for everything. She also said "here's a little inside information," and specifically mentioned the Spark network, changing from NV, and that one of the towers is marked as having this kind of upgrade complete by January 23, but that it may take up to a week before the upgrade/software/etc. is tweaked and fully functional. She stated Hampton is definitely on the shortlist for Spark upgrades.

 

Pretty friendly representative. I'm not entire convinced this is all true, based on Sprint customer support experience, but may offer some hope.

[GoWireless]

remember that Sprint did built a tiny WiMax network in the Hampton Roads area. Maybe they are upgrading those few towers over to Spark sooner rather than later.

[S4GRU]

remember that Sprint did built a tiny WiMax network in the Hampton Roads area. Maybe they are upgrading those few towers over to Spark sooner rather than later.

It is possible that Protection Sites might get upgraded to Band 41. Most Protection Sites used gear by Huawei. Sprint agreed to remove all Clearwire Huawei gear as a condition of sale. So it is plausible when Sprint replaces the Huawei gear, that they use Band 41 LTE equipment.

 

However, if they don't upgrade the backhaul too at those WiMax Protection Sites, it won't matter much. It won't run faster than existing Sprint sites in the area. It may even run slower. Most protection sites use AAV backhaul available at the site. Typically good for 10-50Mbps, split between three sectors. There are some that were even connected to T1 lines and run at really slow speeds.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[theyoungluser]

Just updating: been running Signal Check Pro app, and it recently went from consistent ePHRD to consistent EV-DO, with very brief moments of LTE signal pickup (I'm talking it'll blip and sound a tone I've set, then go back to EV-DO/3G). This is in 23507.

 

LTE lock is consistent in surrounding Hampton Roads when I travel about.

 

I have all 3 bands enabled, priority from *#*#3282#*#* is:

Band 25 1

Band 26 3

Band 41 2.

 

Preferred network type is LTE (Recommended).

Again, don't know if this means anything.

[GoWireless]

It is possible that Protection Sites might get upgraded to Band 41. Most Protection Sites used gear by Huawei. Sprint agreed to remove all Clearwire Huawei gear as a condition of sale. So it is plausible when Sprint replaces the Huawei gear, that they use Band 41 LTE equipment.

 

However, if they don't upgrade the backhaul too at those WiMax Protection Sites, it won't matter much. It won't run faster than existing Sprint sites in the area. It may even run slower. Most protection sites use AAV backhaul available at the site. Typically good for 10-50Mbps, split between three sectors. There are some that were even connected to T1 lines and run at really slow speeds.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I don't know if they were "protection sites" or a the beginning of a bona fide effort by Clear to build a network in the region. As I mentioned before, Hampton Roads is the largest metro area on the Eastern seaboard in which Clearwire did not launch service. It could be that they meant to but then ran out of money.

[S4GRU]

I don't know if they were "protection sites" or a the beginning of a bona fide effort by Clear to build a network in the region. As I mentioned before, Hampton Roads is the largest metro area on the Eastern seaboard in which Clearwire did not launch service. It could be that they meant to but then ran out of money.

They are protection sites. They are labeled in the Clearwire database that way.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[theyoungluser]

LTE live, consistent, and working for me in 23507 for Nexus 5. Speeds reasonable-- seems about the same as when I had LTE working on my HTC One with various radios, but right now I can hold steady LTE signal in my kitchen/basement, when before with HTC One I never, ever had one.

 

See screencaps. WiFi turned off.

- 12:12 is when I woke up, turned on SignalCheck Pro when streaming music. From middle of house.

- 12:53 are speedtests from middle of house. (I took it after all speedtests, see below).

- 12:56 is from kitchen/basement. Never lost lock.

- 12:58 is from outside of house, some trees/houses but otherwise clear skies.

- 13:01 are speedtests (I remembered to scroll up to screencap earlier tests).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So anyway, seems to be working. YMMV. As above, LTE would work in other cities/areas around Hampton Roads. Running rooted, stock 4.4.2, on Nexus 5.

I have all 3 bands enabled, priority from *#*#3282#*#* is:

Band 25 1

Band 26 3

Band 41 2.

 

Hope this is worth some information to you folks. s4gru.com rocks!

(Sorry it took so long to post and if the images are too big. I have no upload space for attachments here on s4gru, then read that imgur links work, then found the originals were way too big for the post, so I had to shrink them.)

 

 

 

[SteveO_148]

I just finally was able to get 4G LTE in downtown Newport News today with my LG G2.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[truefan31]

I just finally was able to get 4G LTE in downtown Newport News today with my LG G2.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Where downtown? Like shipyard?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SteveO_148]

Where downtown? Like shipyard?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, just outside the shipyard.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

 

[SteveO_148]

I am getting so frustrated with my LG G2. I had LTE in downtown NN till Friday. Since Friday, I can not get LTE on the peninsula, but my wife can is get s3 and my son can with his note 3. :-( maybe I should have gotten the s4.

 

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Edited February 10, 2014 by SteveO_148

[SteveO_148]

Can anyone with a tri-band phone (LG G2 or nexus 5) comment on being able to get LTE in the 757?

 

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[S4GRU]

I am getting so frustrated with my LG G2. I had LTE in downtown NN till Friday. Since Friday, I can not get LTE on the peninsula, but my wife can is get s3 and my son can with his note 3. :-( maybe I should have gotten the s4. Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

You are in an Alcatel Lucent market where they are replacing Motorola gear.  The Alcatel Lucent gear, when fully operational supports CSFB, which your Triband LTE device needs in order to keep an LTE signal.  Whereas a Uniband LTE device like the GN3 and GS3 do not need CSFB and can use Band 25 LTE always.

 

AlcaLu is mad scrambling to get the CSFB upgrades completed and fully operational in the Norfolk market.  When complete, you will have the same Band 25 signal that all Uniband LTE devices get, plus the ability to use Band 26 and Band 41 when you travel to other markets, and eventually when the other bands arrive in the Norfolk market.

 

More info about the CSFB issue can be found here:  http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-357-nexus-5-and-lg-g2-experience-temporary-sprint-lte-connectivity-issues-due-to-circuit-switched-fallback-technology/

 

Robert

[SteveO_148]

You are in an Alcatel Lucent market where they are replacing Motorola gear. The Alcatel Lucent gear, when fully operational supports CSFB, which your Triband LTE device needs in order to keep an LTE signal. Whereas a Uniband LTE device like the GN3 and GS3 do not need CSFB and can use Band 25 LTE always.

 

AlcaLu is mad scrambling to get the CSFB upgrades completed and fully operational in the Norfolk market. When complete, you will have the same Band 25 signal that all Uniband LTE devices get, plus the ability to use Band 26 and Band 41 when you travel to other markets, and eventually when the other bands arrive in the Norfolk market.

 

More info about the CSFB issue can be found here: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-357-nexus-5-and-lg-g2-experience-temporary-sprint-lte-connectivity-issues-due-to-circuit-switched-fallback-technology/

 

Robert

That makes sense with the one then off again LTE signal. Do you have any idea when bands 26 and 41 will be available in Hampton Roads?

 

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[S4GRU]

That makes sense with the one then off again LTE signal. Do you have any idea when bands 26 and 41 will be available in Hampton Roads?

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

I don't have dates for either band in this market. Band 26 will likely start in 2014 some time. I have no idea on Band 41, yet. The market is slated for Band 41 deployment, but Band 41 dates outside WiMax markets are still being scheduled.

 

However, Band 41 is very prevalent (or becoming so) in Richmond, DC, Baltimore, Philly, Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, etc. So if you travel, Band 41 will be useful to you.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[SteveO_148]

I have noticed that some texts have been taking a long time to get to me. I think it started after the update. But they are also working to update the sCFSB hardware in my area... Could that be the cause?

 

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