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Chicago and Boston LTE discoverable on Sept 21


Rasta Cheesehead

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So true. Until LTE is rolled out on every site in a market, there is going to be mass confusion about LTE performance. People are going to wonder what the problem is when they think they have full bars of LTE that is pulling down less than 3Mbps. They are going to assume that Sprint is already experiencing LTE congestion. When in reality they just have a really weak LTE signal and just have no idea that it's weak because they have full bars in their strength indicator.

 

I am constantly having to explain this over and over. I am going into detail about it in my Waco FIT article so I will have a reference doc to refer people to about it.

 

Robert

 

It made me realize that perhaps my judgement of 2.5GHz propagation was too harsh. I think the bigger issue was clearwire's deployment.

 

For example, in the downtown area of Boston, Sprint has 17 native sites while Clearwire only has 11. Out of the 11 sites, 10 overlap with Sprint (the 11th site is close to Sprint just across the street).

 

It's just amazing how indoor coverage is impacted yet outdoor coverage is fine. I am seeing this even more clearly with the Sprint 4G LTE rollout. If I could turn off 3G radios all together and just keep the 4G radio on, I could do even more testing. Edit: using *#*#4636#*#* to just keep 4G on

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Not west of Springfield, yet. The Pittsfield area will be one of the last parts converted in the Boston market.

 

Robert

So the Springfield area has some LTE sites? Cool, I didn't think this area was on the face of this earth. Chicopee, Holyoke, , et are just a few miles from . Lots of happy people come d day.

 

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So the Springfield area has some LTE sites? Cool, I didn't think this area was on the face of this earth. Chicopee, Holyoke, , et are just a few miles from . Lots of happy people come d day.

 

There are currently 3 sites complete with LTE improvements in the Springfield area. More will be added in the coming weeks. We track completed NV/LTE sites in our NV Sites Complete thread that gets updated every week. It is in our Sponsor section. For more information about becoming a Sponsor, you can visit this thread: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/

 

Robert

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It will technically be able to work on Verizon. However, will Verizon let unlocked phones from the Sprint network on theirs is the million dollar question? There is no reason for them not to. But it's not known at this time. You could sell it on eBay and then buy a used VZW iPhone 5 in its place.

 

Robert

 

Verizon tech support can allow sprint phones to work on their system, but most phone reps are not aware of that or how its done, so you have to call multiple times to get someone who knows how to do it.

 

So true. Until LTE is rolled out on every site in a market, there is going to be mass confusion about LTE performance. People are going to wonder what the problem is when they think they have full bars of LTE that is pulling down less than 3Mbps. They are going to assume that Sprint is already experiencing LTE congestion. When in reality they just have a really weak LTE signal and just have no idea that it's weak because they have full bars in their strength indicator.

 

I am constantly having to explain this over and over. I am going into detail about it in my Waco FIT article so I will have a reference doc to refer people to about it.

 

Robert

 

Doesnt wimax 4g status thing show signal strength? Why not do that with lte?

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So the Springfield area has some LTE sites? Cool, I didn't think this area was on the face of this earth. Chicopee, Holyoke, , et are just a few miles from . Lots of happy people come d day.

 

Also the LTE core is in Springfield that's why it was one of the first places to get LTE. Otherwise I agree I wouldn't have expected it either. I would have assumed that western ma would have been on the end of the Boston rollout

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Also the LTE core is in Springfield that's why it was one of the first places to get LTE. Otherwise I agree I wouldn't have expected it either. I would have assumed that western ma would have been on the end of the Boston rollout

 

From what I remember the 4G core location does not indicate tower rollout locations.

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From what I remember the 4G core location does not indicate tower rollout locations.

 

I have not seen a correlation.

 

Robert

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So on the 21st Sprint say that they'll turn on LTE in the Boston market will it be only the 4G complete sites or are they going to turn on LTE on the 3G only sites also

 

They essentially will just stop blocking complete LTE sites.

 

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

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There's not to many 4G complete sites in Boston market

 

Yes, but it would be good to use what is complete.

 

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

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i just hope the 3G only sites turn in to 3G/4G sites soon

 

Almost all of the new 4G sites in the Boston market every week were previously 3G only.

 

Robert via CM9 Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

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There's not to many 4G complete sites in Boston market

 

I am loving my limited 4G.

 

Better to have limited 4G vs. noG?

 

It's nice when I go to areas that are covered that I benefit from faster speeds instead of going to an area that is actually 4G but stuck on 3G - just seems silly when everything is ready to go.

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I have been getting eHPRD signals in the Park Ridge//Des Plaines//Niles area for the first time. Sometimes I am getting 1.7 down and 0.6 mbps up. The other half I get the typical low data rates. Is this the beginning of turning on the switch on 9.21.12 for the towers that have been completed?

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So true. Until LTE is rolled out on every site in a market, there is going to be mass confusion about LTE performance. People are going to wonder what the problem is when they think they have full bars of LTE that is pulling down less than 3Mbps. They are going to assume that Sprint is already experiencing LTE congestion. When in reality they just have a really weak LTE signal and just have no idea that it's weak because they have full bars in their strength indicator.

 

I am constantly having to explain this over and over. I am going into detail about it in my Waco FIT article so I will have a reference doc to refer people to about it.

 

Robert

 

Yes, it might get ugly and Sprint might once again get a really bad rap for it. I got my first LTE connection (on SGS3) this Saturday during my kids soccer games in Gilberts (NW Suburb of Chicago). Full bars showing 4g connection - and let's just say the performance was a bit underwhelming!

 

2012-09-15122515.png

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Yes' date=' it might get ugly and Sprint might once again get a really bad rap for it. I got my first LTE connection (on SGS3) this Saturday during my kids soccer games in Gilberts (NW Suburb of Chicago). Full bars showing 4g connection - and let's just say the performance was a bit underwhelming!

 

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And you probably really had zero bars of LTE. Either two signal strength indicators is needed or they should have it switch to read LTE signal strength when a LTE connection is made.

 

Robert via CM9 Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

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And you probably really had zero bars of LTE. Either two signal strength indicators is needed or they should have it switch to read LTE signal strength when a LTE connection is made.

 

Robert via CM9 Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

 

yeah, they need to sort out the signal strength meter problem ASAP or customers are going to be really upset...

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