Network Vision/LTE - Milwaukee Market (including Madison)

[mmark27]

Great find!  now the question is....just because a tower had a permit cleared in May, does that mean the work has been done since then?!  Makes me really want to go to the one closest to my house and see if the number of antennae matches the permit!

 

Well, it just means that the permit is approved. The length of time on when the work must be complete and inspected can vary.  Some are within 6 months, some within 2 months, etc. Hard to say.  The one closest to your house may have lots of antennas on it from many carriers.  What you should look for is.....are the RRUs like these: http://goo.gl/aWWY1s If they're up there, then your tower is closer than not. You should go to your tower and take pictures, which one is yours?

[aarofloyd]

Well, it just means that the permit is approved. The length of time on when the work must be complete and inspected can vary.  Some are within 6 months, some within 2 months, etc. Hard to say.  The one closest to your house may have lots of antennas on it from many carriers.  What you should look for is.....are the RRUs like these: http://goo.gl/aWWY1s If they're up there, then your tower is closer than not. You should go to your tower and take pictures, which one is yours?

 

both my work and home tower is that tricky one on high crossing blvd.  pretty sure sprint is the only one on top of that building.  problem is that only a foot or so of the top of the antennae is visible.   thats why i was asking about people with pictures of ones mounted on a horizontal surface (roof) rather than a vertical one (building wall or tower). Not sure if that RRU is going to visible from the ground.

[mr.phoneguy]

I checked it, but at -141dbm i know its a very weak signal. Being the closest tower is either Middleton or mount horeb at 10-12 miles away with many large hills in between I cant believe I would be getting anything at all. I get no 3g or 1x from either of those towers.

If I guess correctly, the blsck ea earth signal would be coming from Sauk city. Sauk is currently broadcasting lte according to sensorly

[grumpwagon]

Yeah, I drive by that one every day.  There has been zero work on that tower.  No new cabinets, no new equipment, no backhaul that I can see. There is a fiber line not too far away though, so perhaps it's already run into there. That tower does have some weird boxes of some sort up on the lowest rack.  I haven't seen them in any other locations (for any provider) so perhaps they're for the county, police or something along those lines. I believe that when Sprint antennas do go up there, they will go to the middle rack.

 

However, as I have witnessed with other towers, that could all change in like 3 days.  The tower on Hwy M in Fitchburg had nothing as of early last week, but by Sunday, there were RRUs up there. 

 

Yeah, I went and looked at it today, and you're right, those grey boxes are definitely not RRUs. 

[klrtovfr]

Just double checked the permit reports for Madison, WI for September additions and the rest of the towers are now accounted for, including Hilldale, High Point Rd, Monona area and the aforementioned Badger Interchange, etc.  Therefore ALL towers in the Madison area (by my accounts) now have approved permits (many of these have NV equipment on them). http://www.cityofmadison.com/dpced/BI/permitreports/

 

choose all construction permits, september, 2013....then search the resulting PDF for "sprint"  Really wish all communities had these so readily available.  most of the others are in August, July, May and April.

 

 

 

I don't think the far east side(Burke) is on there its on Crossroads Dr off of high crossing blvd. on top of the park bank. http://maps.google.c....29060539989477

 

[aarofloyd]

I don't think the far east side(Burke) is on there its on Crossroads Dr off of high crossing blvd. on top of the park bank. http://maps.google.c....29060539989477

Yes, if you search the month of may, you will find it...

[norsairius]

Well, my iPhone has indicated "1x" in the top left corner for the majority of this morning in downtown Milwaukee. This is not normal compared to recent performance where data was every slow, but at least reliable. So perhaps that means there's more work going on?

[jreuschl]

Well, my iPhone has indicated "1x" in the top left corner for the majority of this morning in downtown Milwaukee. This is not normal compared to recent performance where data was every slow, but at least reliable. So perhaps that means there's more work going on?

 

Certainly a possibility.  You may want to enter airplane mode/go out or restart to reset the radio, just in case it is a fluke.

 

My phone will sometimes show EVDO, thinking something might be going on, but goes back to eHRPD after power cycle.

[dequardo]

Either Signal Check is flaky or something changed near State Fair Park area. Seeing -62dBm where it's normally - 107

 

Update : appears to be the app

[jreuschl]

Either Signal Check is flaky or something changed near State Fair Park area. Seeing -62dBm where it's normally - 107

 

Update : appears to be the app

 

I notice that the signal #s on the top bar on my Note II seem to lock on old values.

[kallistos]

What's the situation by UW hospitals? Close to zero signal

If you step into a building!

[mmark27]

What's the situation by UW hospitals? Close to zero signal

If you step into a building!

UW Madison Hospital?

 

Yup its bad over there. Good news is that yesterday by Camp Randall, my Signalcheck chimed at me many times for LTE and 800SMR but nothing locked for more than 3-4 seconds. Testing?? Hopefully.

 

That area will be a true test of 800 MHz as there aren't many towers surrounding that complex for UW hospital (or any UW building) and there's some topology working against it. We'll see soon, hopefully.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

 

[aarofloyd]

Well, it just means that the permit is approved. The length of time on when the work must be complete and inspected can vary.  Some are within 6 months, some within 2 months, etc. Hard to say.  The one closest to your house may have lots of antennas on it from many carriers.  What you should look for is.....are the RRUs like these: http://goo.gl/aWWY1s If they're up there, then your tower is closer than not. You should go to your tower and take pictures, which one is yours?

these antennae are impossible to get a picture of based on how they are mounted...here is the best i could do with my terrible zoomed in camera on my phone...

 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109122972571752715062/albums/5935359360757544529/5935359361123378482?pid=5935359361123378482&oid=109122972571752715062

[apphysics]

these antennae are impossible to get a picture of based on how they are mounted...here is the best i could do with my terrible zoomed in camera on my phone...

 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109122972571752715062/albums/5935359360757544529/5935359361123378482?pid=5935359361123378482&oid=109122972571752715062

I'm not positive, but IMO that does look like NV equipement...

[aarofloyd]

I'm not positive, but IMO that does look like NV equipement...

if it is, that would be interesting because i have not seen testing of any sort being done over here....

[apphysics]

What's the situation by UW hospitals? Close to zero signal

If you step into a building!

 

I will say this however, even if they do fire up the 800mhz, you won't notice a difference as the iPhone 4s does not support sprint's 800 network. I know apple says it does, but what they actually mean is that it supports Verizon's 850 Mhz spectrum because until recently, Apple did not recognize 850 as its own spectrum and thus claimed it to be 800. The first phone that supports true 800, and thus Apple officially recognizes 850 as its own band is the iPhone 5. I just upgraded from my 4s to a 5s and I must say that even without the 800 I have seen better coverage (often ~15-20db) just because the 5s has more power to pull the signal.

[apphysics]

if it is, that would be interesting because i have not seen testing of any sort being done over here....

 

Just because equipment is there doesn't mean they test. The Brown Deer/I-43 tower by me got all of it's NV stuff installed last week and there has been absolutely no testing. They installed the panels and cabinets and then lit out (presumably to another tower in the area?). So they might save testing until several towers in the area are about ready to go live so they can test and then transition right into full coverage of that area.

[mmark27]

these antennae are impossible to get a picture of based on how they are mounted...here is the best i could do with my terrible zoomed in camera on my phone...

 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109122972571752715062/albums/5935359360757544529/5935359361123378482?pid=5935359361123378482&oid=109122972571752715062

 

 

I'm not positive, but IMO that does look like NV equipement...

 

That is a typical arrangement of a NV setup.  It could be that the RRUs are mounted low on the antenna and we wouldn't be able to see them.  The best way to tell is to A) see the RRUs or count the wires going into the antenna or C) getting up on that roof! Considering all three are not possible to do, might just have to hope its done.  Can someone get to that area with a better camera? perhaps a point and shoot with zoom? I won't be able to get over that way for a while.  This is at least encouraging news though.

 

Aarofloyd, since you're a sponsor and can lookup the addresses, could you get to the tower that's south of there off Badger Rd?  Perhaps the one in Monona on the water tower?

 

The one at 30/90/94 Badger interchange could use a photo as well, I'm pretty sure that's upgraded though.

[aarofloyd]

That is a typical arrangement of a NV setup.  It could be that the RRUs are mounted low on the antenna and we wouldn't be able to see them.  The best way to tell is to A) see the RRUs or count the wires going into the antenna or C) getting up on that roof! Considering all three are not possible to do, might just have to hope its done.  Can someone get to that area with a better camera? perhaps a point and shoot with zoom? I won't be able to get over that way for a while.  This is at least encouraging news though.

 

Aarofloyd, since you're a sponsor and can lookup the addresses, could you get to the tower that's south of there off Badger Rd?  Perhaps the one in Monona on the water tower?

 

The one at 30/90/94 Badger interchange could use a photo as well, I'm pretty sure that's upgraded though.

 

I might be able to get a picture from on top of the hill behind it....hard to do without looking creepy though!  lol

 

I am headed down that way this evening, ill try to grab a picture of one or both those if there is enough light.

[aarofloyd]

Just because equipment is there doesn't mean they test. The Brown Deer/I-43 tower by me got all of it's NV stuff installed last week and there has been absolutely no testing. They installed the panels and cabinets and then lit out (presumably to another tower in the area?). So they might save testing until several towers in the area are about ready to go live so they can test and then transition right into full coverage of that area.

if they snuck the equipment up there w/o me noticing, im going to be pissed cuz that would have been like one of the first ones done in madison back this spring since the permit was for may and no testing has been done.... like ive said previously, ive had a close eye on that tower

[kallistos]

I will say this however, even if they do fire up the 800mhz, you won't notice a difference as the iPhone 4s does not support sprint's 800 network. I know apple says it does, but what they actually mean is that it supports Verizon's 850 Mhz spectrum because until recently, Apple did not recognize 850 as its own spectrum and thus claimed it to be 800. The first phone that supports true 800, and thus Apple officially recognizes 850 as its own band is the iPhone 5. I just upgraded from my 4s to a 5s and I must say that even without the 800 I have seen better coverage (often ~15-20db) just because the 5s has more power to pull the signal.

Good to hear! I'll have the 5S this Saturday and hope to see stronger signal!

[apphysics]

if they snuck the equipment up there w/o me noticing, im going to be pissed cuz that would have been like one of the first ones done in madison back this spring since the permit was for may and no testing has been done.... like ive said previously, ive had a close eye on that tower

 

I know for the Brown Deer/43 tower, they started work on Monday and were done on Tuesday. And that's an actual tower. A rooftop would probably be even easier (an thus faster) to work on. So if you lapsed or were gone for even just a day or two, it's possible the work was done then.

[smalltimehack]

I know for the Brown Deer/43 tower, they started work on Monday and were done on Tuesday. And that's an actual tower. A rooftop would probably be even easier (an thus faster) to work on. So if you lapsed or were gone for even just a day or two, it's possible the work was done then.

That's pretty quick. The tower down the street from work took a week or so. I drove down to it everyday to watch the progress and it took forever. This was a few months ago so maybe they've just picked up the pace?

[snowmobiler487]

Has anyone ever seen Extended (roaming) and LTE lit up at the same time??  This happened to me last night in the Waukesha area.  I have a screen shot i can post later of the lock screen showing what I'm explaining and a portion of the Field Test app.

[jreuschl]

Has anyone ever seen Extended (roaming) and LTE lit up at the same time??  This happened to me last night in the Waukesha area.  I have a screen shot i can post later of the lock screen showing what I'm explaining and a portion of the Field Test app.

 

I think a number of pages back someone experienced the same thing.   Technically, LTE and 3G are two different networks in a sense, so yes, that is possible.  It means the Sprint LTE signal is stronger than the 3G/voice one itself.