Network Vision/LTE - Milwaukee Market (including Madison)

[dequardo]

Agree. This area has been waiting WAY too long IMO. I call b.s. until it's proven otherwise,

[mr.phoneguy]

Just talked to a Sprint rep and he informed me that they are completing 3g upgrades on the towers in the area and that is why my data has been shady lately.... Won't be long before the lte work gets in full gear...

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

According to sprint.com/network, all the tower upgrades (except nv work) have been completed. Really hope all these data disconects are nv related.

[Jswets]

According to sprint.com/network, all the tower upgrades (except nv work) have been completed. Really hope all these data disconects are nv related.

 

I would assume the data disconnects are all related to NV. Other than terrible data speeds i have not had disconnect issues at all in my 8 years of having Sprint service in the MKE area.

[S4GRU]

Back in like November, my tower (at PD and Seminole) in Madison had like zero voice and text service. I called Sprint, obviously, and they told me it was for NV upgrades and LTE. However, after more calls and conversation, they back tracked on this and said it was for non NV related issues.

 

So, I'm not sure anything NV was done (speeds are still abysmal here) since no sites have been accepted as complete in our area according to Robert.

 

I have nothing new to report. Here's a shot of our tower as of today 4/22/13

 

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

No NV work visible in your picture, I'm afraid.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[S4GRU]

Does nv work happen on towers at night time? I was running speed test's in my apartment at midnight last night. One test I was getting 2.5 meg down with full bars, the next test would not even connect to 3g, down to only one bar, and couldnt get a 3g connection for 30 minutes. My friend accross town also had the same issues on the tower he connects to at home, at night. Otherwise I have no issues during day time. I know the switch from legacy equipment to nv equipment in Chicago had connection issues, thats why I ask.

 

Installation work does not happen at night, except in very rare instances. However, testing and bringing online often do happen at night.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[S4GRU]

Just talked to a Sprint rep and he informed me that they are completing 3g upgrades on the towers in the area and that is why my data has been shady lately.... Won't be long before the lte work gets in full gear...

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

There have been no NV upgrades accepted to date in the Milwaukee market. Not 3G nor LTE, yet. All work shown on Sprint maps have been related to the legacy network.

 

The Milwaukee market is behind schedule. It is the only market that was supposed to start before the end of Winter that didn't. However, a Samsung source told me a few weeks ago that all Samsung markets will be moving before summer.

 

So at the latest, we should be seeing some sites accepted before the end of June. I do believe they are working now in the market and we will have sites accepted in May. But it's hard to remain optimistic about Milwaukee.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[Jswets]

Thanks for the update Robert! Atleast we have something to look forward to next month. Should be an interesting summer.

[mangurt]

Robert,

 

Thanks for the update, but man, it's hard to see areas around the Milwaukee Market (La Crosse), Chicago, and Northern Wisconsin getting LTE, and we are stuck sucking buttermilk. I saw that Sprint announced that LTE was up and running in Fargo...Lucky them....

[mmark27]

 

No NV work visible in your picture, I'm afraid.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

 

Yeah, I figured as much after looking at other pictures on this site. I at least have a record now so if things do change I'll be able to tell.

 

Thanks Robert for the updates!

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[tommym65]

Yeah, I'm about to bail on my only-8-month old contract and pay the ETF... I left sprint years ago (not long after the nextel merger, because of the migrating over to the nextel billing system exposing just how truly awful sprint's C.S. had become by that time).

 

I came back because of NV, and have pretty much been regretting it ever since. The C.S. is still attrocious, and now the service is worse than ever.

 

I rely on SMS's for pages for work. For months now, those don't work periodically during the week. Those don't work at all between about midnight on Fri - about 11 am on Saturday. Being oncall, this is not helpful.

 

I went 2 days w/o being able to do any data on my phone (it said "connected at 3g", but could do NO data). Sprint said "sounds like hardware" and you didn't buy the extended coverage, so pay us more money to look at it. No thank you. In short, I did a wipe of the phone, took it in to a store offer sprint one last chance (I'm skipping several interactions to get to this point) to salvage my relationship with them, and a manager did something (and it infuriates me that he wouldn't say what) that sounded analagous to reprovisioning the phone; and data started working again.

 

All of these outages/interuptions of service that I'm paying for, and what has sprint offered in recompence? Nothing.

 

 

Bye-bye.

 

Verizon's Sensorly map shows good 4G coverage in Milwaukee. Try not to use too much data, though.

 

AT&T has some 4G in Milwaukee, but not very much. TMo currently has none.

 

If 4G is what your are looking for, then Verizon is your answer, at least for the moment.

 

If reliability is what you seek, then . . . who knows?

 

Perhaps you jumped back on to Sprint too early. Sprint certainly hasn't promised you NV during your 8-month stay, and while your impatience is understandable, it really won't fix anything or speed things up.

 

Your frustration is clear, but your experience is certainly not universal. I personally pay for 2 Sprint phones that live on the north side of Milwaukee, and I visit there myself fairly often. My experience has been nothing like yours. Yes, data is slow, but voice and text perform adequately.

 

My recent experience with Sprint customer service has been good, though it wasn't always as good in the past, and I have used Sprint for 15 years. Hesse and company have done a good job of fixing a lot of things that got broken over those years.

 

And while you weren't happy with the way that Sprint fixed your recent problem, they did fix it.

 

So, and I am sure many other members of this forum will agree with me, it sounds like you are a prime candidate to move on. We have all heard of (and in many cases personally experienced) problems and frustrations with Sprint. Ranting to us about them will get you little sympathy here.

 

But before you go, think about donating $10 or $20 to S4GRU, become a sponsor, and get access to the threads that talk about how things have improved in Sprint-land, and what progress is being made today. You might change your mind. Or you might not.

 

The final choice is obviously yours, and we wish you the best of success with it.

[Fraydog]

I realize the Milwaukee market is a particularly sore spot. Still, this forum isn't a complaint forum.

 

If you have to leave, that's a decision each person has to make. We aren't Sprint CS people. We can't fix issues they have. I can only guess the rush to get Chicago done due to the dropped call issues there left MIL on the back burner. Sucks for you guys but no one on here can do anything about it.

[Jswets]

So how does Sprint handle Stadiums and Arena's for coverage? Do they add more carriers/panels on the towers closest to these venue's?

[dequardo]

If they do (and I doubt it) they sure skipped Miller Park. I'm in Waukesha also and recently found the 3G service to be essentially non-existent. I was maybe pulling 30kbps up and down. You?

[dequardo]

Yeah, I'm about to bail on my only-8-month old contract and pay the ETF... I left sprint years ago (not long after the nextel merger, because of the migrating over to the nextel billing system exposing just how truly awful sprint's C.S. had become by that time).

 

I came back because of NV, and have pretty much been regretting it ever since. The C.S. is still attrocious, and now the service is worse than ever.

 

I rely on SMS's for pages for work. For months now, those don't work periodically during the week. Those don't work at all between about midnight on Fri - about 11 am on Saturday. Being oncall, this is not helpful.

 

I went 2 days w/o being able to do any data on my phone (it said "connected at 3g", but could do NO data). Sprint said "sounds like hardware" and you didn't buy the extended coverage, so pay us more money to look at it. No thank you. In short, I did a wipe of the phone, took it in to a store offer sprint one last chance (I'm skipping several interactions to get to this point) to salvage my relationship with them, and a manager did something (and it infuriates me that he wouldn't say what) that sounded analagous to reprovisioning the phone; and data started working again.

 

All of these outages/interuptions of service that I'm paying for, and what has sprint offered in recompence? Nothing.

 

 

 

Sadly have to agree. I find the 3G service essentially unusable and barely moves the speedtest app's needle. Very surprisingly poor data speeds. Does everyone in this market just put up with it?

[randp1]

Speeds are decent in my area, I can do what I want to do reasonably for the most part..

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Jswets]

If they do (and I doubt it) they sure skipped Miller Park. I'm in Waukesha also and recently found the 3G service to be essentially non-existent. I was maybe pulling 30kbps up and down. You?

 

During peak times data speeds are pretty terrible. Off peak i usually get 500kbps. They definately skipped miller park. Rediculous.

[mmark27]

During peak times data speeds are pretty terrible. Off peak i usually get 500kbps. They definately skipped miller park. Rediculous.

 

Ha, have you guys been to a Badger Football game in the fall? You can't use a Sprint phone in the entire city of Madison for the day. Phone calls won't go through, texts - forget about it, and data? no way jose.

 

I think that cellular traffic around stadiums is always going to be awful, they can't handle that density no matter what. Now, if you look at what New Candlestick Park is doing in SF, that's going to be impressive. Every fan in the stadium could be connected to their WiFi at one time with speeds on average of 15-30 Mbps down/up -> at least they say they have the tech to accomplish this feat.

 

For what we're charged for seats at professional sports, every stadium should do this for their fans that shell out ridiculous amounts of money for merch and food.

 

I'm sorry to ramble on there.

[mr.phoneguy]

Sadly have to agree. I find the 3G service essentially unusable and barely moves the speedtest app's needle. Very surprisingly poor data speeds. Does everyone in this market just put up with it?

Do we just put up with it? Yes, Pretty much. Sprint is best in terms of price for a national company. Personally, I really do think Sprint hates the Milwaukee market for whatever reason? obviously I'm not complaining because I've had sprint since 2007 and could go elsewhere but dont. Thats just my opinion. People in this market have very negitive views of sprint due to all the delays in service improvements (never getting wimax and pushing back of LTE), bad indoor coverage, awful data speeds, ect. Once again I'm not complaining, works just fine for me.

Edited April 25, 2013 by mr.phoneguy

[snowmobiler487]

Speeds on the east side near UWM have gotten much better in the past 3-4 months. In late 2012, data was almost useless during peak times but they have increased enough to make a phone useful. Data speeds are still no where near matching the speeds I have seen in Manitowoc and Green Bay but hopefully that will change soon with LTE.

[Dkoellerwx]

Robert,

 

Thanks for the update, but man, it's hard to see areas around the Milwaukee Market (La Crosse), Chicago, and Northern Wisconsin getting LTE, and we are stuck sucking buttermilk. I saw that Sprint announced that LTE was up and running in Fargo...Lucky them....

 

Just to be clear, Fargo does NOT have LTE, or any sort of NV upgrades at this time. It just happened to be on the list of "coming soon" cities.

[S4GRU]

Just think Milwaukeeans (Milwaukeeites?), with all the people leaving Sprint in droves in SE Wisconsin, you'll have the new blazing network all to yourselves!

 

I cannot make any excuses for Sprint in Milwaukee. They are just plain late. Much later than originally planned. And since it is a Samsung market, it confuses me. Samsung is the most aggressive of all the OEM's. They are already starting or started some 4th Round markets and plans to be starting all markets by early Summer.

 

Why does Milwaukee continue to languish? I don't know. It's painful to watch from here. There has to be a specific problem there preventing a start. I'd love to know what it is. I've reached out to a Samsung engineer who has provided us info in the past. Hopefully he'll have some info, even though he works on another region. I'll report back should I find out more.

 

I do believe early work has started in the market. But will not feel confident without you guys starting to see activity in the field.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[aackmann]

I'm in Milwaukee and yea, I put up with it because I'm on a family plan with something like a 20% discount. It's weird, depending on where you go around Milwaukee / Waukesha, sometimes you get farily decent speeds, like 500k even up to 1.5Mbps or so. But usually it's crawling at sub100k speeds. It's real frustrating when it takes like 5 min for the traffic info to pop up in google maps. I never have problems with texts or voice though. I know people with AT&T around milwaukee that get dropped calls all the time, but I never get that with Sprint. I've just been kept alive by the hopes that LTE will be here soon! But really, it comes down to the price, the unlimited data, and knowing that LTE will be here at some point in the future. That's why I've stayed with Sprint. Even though unlimited data doesn't help at this point with terrible speeds, I know I will be happy I have it once LTE rolls through.

[jreuschl]

What is strange, wasn't Milwaukee one of the first markets for Sprint back in the Sprint PCS days? I can't find that info in Google, but it seems like it. I started my cell phone journey on PrimeCo, which was bought out by Verizon. Sprint also had service here back in those days.

 

I know what happens in the past doesn't = now.

 

I probably put up with Sprint more than I should because I am on SERO so I pay $50/month.

 

Yes, they launched even before NY, SF, and Kansas City!

 

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sprint+PCS(SM)+Launches+Advanced+Wireless+Service-a018947899

[S4GRU]

What is strange, wasn't Milwaukee one of the first markets for Sprint back in the Sprint PCS days? I can't find that info in Google, but it seems like it. I started my cell phone journey on PrimeCo, which was bought out by Verizon. Sprint also had service here back in those days.

 

I know what happens in the past doesn't = now.

 

I probably put up with Sprint more than I should because I am on SERO so I pay $50/month.

 

Yes, they launched even before NY, SF, and Kansas City!

 

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sprint+PCS(SM)+Launches+Advanced+Wireless+Service-a018947899

 

Probably too many SERO customers in Milwaukee.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[Calvin200]

Just think Milwaukeeans (Milwaukeeites?), with all the people leaving Sprint in droves in SE Wisconsin, you'll have the new blazing network all to yourselves!

 

I cannot make any excuses for Sprint in Milwaukee. They are just plain late. Much later than originally planned. And since it is a Samsung market, it confuses me. Samsung is the most aggressive of all the OEM's. They are already starting or started some 4th Round markets and plans to be starting all markets by early Summer.

 

Why does Milwaukee continue to languish? I don't know. It's painful to watch from here. There has to be a specific problem there preventing a start. I'd love to know what it is. I've reached out to a Samsung engineer who has provided us info in the past. Hopefully he'll have some info, even though he works on another region. I'll report back should I find out more.

 

I do believe early work has started in the market. But will not feel confident without you guys starting to see activity in the field.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

Two sites that have had underground work done. I was able to post one pic but apparently I'm limited to pics that I can upload? Both were at a tower with Sprint antennas, one of them was a Sprint only tower.