Jump to content

Network Vision/LTE - Charlotte Market


darnell89

Recommended Posts

Happy to report my first LTE connection in central Asheville, NC, near Mission hospital, Biltmore Ave, and the Kenilworth neighborhood.

 

Nice, looks like a second blip showed up right by the hospital. I guess you'll be the Asheville mapper, heheh...

 

Looks like LTE stretches a good 14 miles down I-40 from Statesville to almost Claremont and there's a blip in Granite Falls now too. Also a stretch on Hwy 74 between Monroe and Indian trail.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So close to my home in Conover but so far away. I traveled that stretch of I-40 last night with Sensorly running, but I'm not sure that was me as it didn't show on the map until today. Also, along that stretch between Claremont and Statesville, my 1X/EVDO signal was so bad (no bars at times) that I'm surprised I didn't switch to roaming. Either Sprint has some panels down or my EVO 4G LTE is messed up (unlikely). I realize that is hilly terrain, but there are plenty of towers Sprint should consider co-locating along that stretch. Claremont (Exit 135) needs a Microcell mounted on top of the Super 8 Hotel to cover that stretch of I-40 and that area. It is practically a dead zone as the signal is extraordinarily bad outdoors and completely lost if you go indoors, like at Boxcar Grille or Lowe's Foods.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand about being so close yet so far away. I work off Harris and 85 and LTE is 2-3 miles away from there in TWO different directions now. Maybe if you called Sprint enough about service and pressed them to send enough to send it to be checked for a field survey, they may just do something like that? Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

unccjester, I have a CMTS ticket already open for extraordinarily slow data speeds at my place of work in Hickory. Perhaps I can mention this when I call back for further "troubleshooting" tomorrow. They want to get more info from the debug screen on my phone, but it has to be lack of capacity at the surrounding two towers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice, looks like a second blip showed up right by the hospital. I guess you'll be the Asheville mapper, heheh...

 

Looks like LTE stretches a good 14 miles down I-40 from Statesville to almost Claremont and there's a blip in Granite Falls now too. Also a stretch on Hwy 74 between Monroe and Indian trail.

 

I see a new spot popped up on Sensorly in Granite Falls today. Way to go Sprint! Is it safe to say that: CR03AW146 and CR04AW123 are 4G complete?

 

Those new spots (circled in red below) are courtesy of me B) Went from Huntersville, NC to Boone, NC and back. Was constantly cycling airplane mode to see where LTE was the entire trip.

 

8442765119_059f9732bb.jpg

Sprint LTE Mapping (02/03/13) by rrxingmtr, on Flickr

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those new spots (circled in red below) are courtesy of me B) Went from Huntersville, NC to Boone, NC and back. Was constantly cycling airplane mode to see where LTE was the entire trip.

 

Nice, did either of those 2 areas come up without you having to cycle airplane mode? It's so goofy that many of us have to do that. :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice, did either of those 2 areas come up without you having to cycle airplane mode? It's so goofy that many of us have to do that. :wacko:

 

Cycling airplane mode is just a way to get the phone to re-scan for an LTE signal. There is a pretty good amount of time between scans, especially if your phone hasn't picked up LTE in the area before, so if you are in the middle between scans, it can take the phone a while to pick up LTE. If you held still long enough, it would pick it up as long as the signal is strong enough. If it is a weak signal, no amount of toggling airplane mode will make you connect to it. As LTE is more widespread, and you don't move in and out of coverage all the time, it will become a non-issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cycling airplane mode is just a way to get the phone to re-scan for an LTE signal. There is a pretty good amount of time between scans, especially if your phone hasn't picked up LTE in the area before, so if you are in the middle between scans, it can take the phone a while to pick up LTE. If you held still long enough, it would pick it up as long as the signal is strong enough. If it is a weak signal, no amount of toggling airplane mode will make you connect to it. As LTE is more widespread, and you don't move in and out of coverage all the time, it will become a non-issue.

 

Ahh yes, that makes sense, just forgot about the whole 5 minute LTE scan timer setting. Honestly, I'd just go into the dialer menu on edit mode and push my LTE Scan Timer to 1 (minute) so that I wouldn't have to cycle airplane mode on a new trip, then move it back to 5 when I'm done. B) That'd take up less battery power since there would be less interaction with the phone.

 

Looks like Asheville's lighting up nicely! I zoomed in quite a bit and there are three different areas that have been mapped:

  • The area by the hospital in central Asheville
  • College St / Tunnel Rd / 694
  • Merrimon Ave / W T Weaver Blvd

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like Old Concord Rd, Grier Rd, and Plaza Ext. out to Harris Blvd have all been filled in now too. Harris Blvd along Hwy 21 and I-77 have been filled in as well. Looks like the tower for that area is showing as in progress. The latest map update in the Sponsor section shows a TON of newly added In-Progress sites all over our market! :tu: I wasn't expecting that many to be started on at this point.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Next time you're out there, would you mind using NetMonitor or something similar to see what tower you're connecting to on the map tab? I'm curious to see just how far off that Note 2 of your's is reaching, since there's no tower in the very immediate vicinity that's in progress. I'll do the same if I run by there.

 

Funny you mapped Hudspeth Rd - that was part of my cheesewagon route over 17 years ago. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Next time you're out there, would you mind using NetMonitor or something similar to see what tower you're connecting to on the map tab? I'm curious to see just how far off that Note 2 of your's is reaching, since there's no tower in the very immediate vicinity that's in progress. I'll do the same if I run by there.

 

Funny you mapped Hudspeth Rd - that was part of my cheesewagon route over 17 years ago. :lol:

 

Keep in mind there is no app currently that reliable gives the location of the tower you are connected to. And even when they do get it right, they are showing the 1x tower you are connected to, and not necessarily the LTE tower.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep in mind there is no app currently that reliable gives the location of the tower you are connected to. And even when they do get it right, they are showing the 1x tower you are connected to, and not necessarily the LTE tower.

 

True on the 1x vs. LTE, but NetMonitor seems to map out the 3 towers nearest to me dead on vs. Rob's interactive NV maps. I can see where it might not work all the time, but it's got at least those three down pat.

 

If you look at the Interactive Sponsor NV maps, I'm having a hard time fathoming the tower that feeds the edge of Harrisburg reaching all the way up to the Speedway area.

 

Well, after using the maps lab distance measurement tool, I suppose it's possible to hit that tower over by Reedy Creek Park (since it's already mapped on Sensorly). It's about 4.6 miles over air to the corner of Hudspeth Rd. and over 5.3 miles to the edge of where ke.morris mapped on Sensorly. That's really impressive!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

True on the 1x vs. LTE, but NetMonitor seems to map out the 3 towers nearest to me dead on vs. Rob's interactive NV maps. I can see where it might not work all the time, but it's got at least those three down pat.

 

If you look at the Interactive Sponsor NV maps, I'm having a hard time fathoming the tower that feeds the edge of Harrisburg reaching all the way up to the Speedway area.

 

Well, after using the maps lab distance measurement tool, I suppose it's possible to hit that tower over by Reedy Creek Park (since it's already mapped on Sensorly). It's about 4.6 miles over air to the corner of Hudspeth Rd. and over 5.3 miles to the edge of where ke.morris mapped on Sensorly. That's really impressive!

 

In about 1/2 of Sprint markets, NetMonitor will be accurate for 1x site locations. But it doesn't ever show LTE locations, unless you just coincidentally are connected to the same 1x and LTE site.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In about 1/2 of Sprint markets, NetMonitor will be accurate for 1x site locations. But it doesn't ever show LTE locations, unless you just coincidentally are connected to the same 1x and LTE site.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

Oh, so you can be connected to one site for 4G and another for 1X at the same time? I'm assuming by this that 4G doesn't carry voice/text, only data, whereas 1X/3G towers carry everything? I've also seen the 3G/4G towers, which I'm also assuming carry everything because of the previous sentence?

 

Also, how far do you think a 4G tower could carry its signal in mileage over the air, more or less, given not too much interference and towers, such as in downtown/uptown areas?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, so you can be connected to one site for 4G and another for 1X at the same time? I'm assuming by this that 4G doesn't carry voice/text, only data, whereas 1X/3G towers carry everything? I've also seen the 3G/4G towers, which I'm also assuming carry everything because of the previous sentence?

 

Also, how far do you think a 4G tower could carry its signal in mileage over the air, more or less, given not too much interference and towers, such as in downtown/uptown areas?

 

Every tower broadcasts 1xRTT (Voice) EVDO (Data) and eventually LTE (Data) and 800 1xRTT (Voice).

 

Towers that have legacy equipment are only broadcasting 3G Voice and Data. NV Towers that have complete NV upgrades are broadcasting 3G Voice and Data, plus 4G data, and 800 Voice. You can be simultaneously connected to one tower for voice, and a completely separate tower for data.

 

Under ideal conditions, LTE can travel 10+ miles from the towers. Generally, this is in more rural locations, but it's not surprising at all to pick up LTE 5 miles from the tower. In more populated areas, the downtilt on the panels shrink the coverage of the cell so that more sites can be packed in to maximize capacity.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • I assume that any agreement is not perpetual and has an end date. - Trip
    • I think it is likely that T-Mobile will be forced to honor any existing US cellular roaming agreements in those areas as a condition of them taking over the spectrum.  In that case, there would be no improvement of service unless T-Mobile improves the service offering in those areas.
    • My understanding is the MNO carriers are the one who have objected to the use of cell phones in commercial planes.  I understand that it ties down too many cell phones at once, thus I can not see this changing. However this depends on how it is structured. Use of a different plmn for satellite service might make it possible for planes only to connect with satellite. Private pilots have been using cellphones in planes for many decades. Far fewer phones at a lower altitude.
    • On Reddit, someone asked (skeptically) if the US Cellular buyout would result in better service.  I'd been pondering this very issue, and decided to cross-post my response here: I've been pondering the question in the title and I've come to the conclusion that the answer is that it's possible. Hear me out. Unlike some of the small carriers that work exclusively with one larger carrier, all three major carriers roam on US Cellular today in at least some areas, so far as I know. If that network ceases to exist, then the carriers would presumably want to recover those areas of lost service by building out natively. Thus, people in those areas who may only have service from US Cellular or from US Cellular and one other may gain competition from other carriers backfilling that loss. How likely is it? I'm not sure. But it's definitely feasible. Most notably, AT&T did their big roaming deal with US Cellular in support of FirstNet in places where they lacked native coverage. They can't just lose a huge chunk of coverage whole still making FirstNet happy; I suspect they'll have to build out and recover at least some of that area, if not most of it. So it'd be indirect, but I could imagine it. - Trip
    • Historically, T-Mobile has been the only carrier contracting with Crown Castle Solutions, at least in Brooklyn. I did a quick count of the ~35 nodes currently marked as "installed" and everything mapped appears to be T-Mobile. However, they have a macro sector pointed directly at this site and seem to continue relying on the older-style DAS nodes. Additionally, there's another Crown Castle Solutions node approved for construction just around the corner, well within range of their macro. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Verizon using a new vendor for their mmWave build, especially since the macro site directly behind this node lacks mmWave/CBRS deployment (limited to LTE plus C-Band). However, opting for a multi-carrier solution here seems unlikely unless another carrier has actually joined the build. This node is equidistant (about five blocks) between two AT&T macro sites, and there are no oDAS nodes deployed nearby. Although I'm not currently mapping AT&T, based on CellMapper, it appears to be right on cell edge for both sites. Regardless, it appears that whoever is deploying is planning for a significant build. There are eight Crown Castle Solutions nodes approved for construction in a 12-block by 2-block area.
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...