Network Vision/LTE - Charlotte Market

[bill875]

Wow, CLT is filling in nicely on Sensory, especially in just the last few weeks. I'm starting to think we will see an official launch in not so distant future.

 

Meanwhile, I've been driving around Hickory, Newton and Conover, NC trying to map the area on Sensorly as much as possible. I've probably burned through at least a 1/3 of a tank of gas doing it, but it's worth it (in a sick, LTE addict kinda way).

[unccjester]

Wow, CLT is filling in nicely on Sensory, especially in just the last few weeks. I'm starting to think we will see an official launch in not so distant future.

 

Meanwhile, I've been driving around Hickory, Newton and Conover, NC trying to map the area on Sensorly as much as possible. I've probably burned through at least a 1/3 of a tank of gas doing it, but it's worth it (in a sick, LTE addict kinda way).

 

IIRC, it's just you and one other person on the forums mapping that area too...you two have covered a good bit of distance up there! Luckily, I can take a bunch of different ways from point A to B between where I live and work and not lose too much time. I have to take 29 to work in the morning because of the wretched morning traffic around where they're building the turbine interchange at 485/85, but can take 85 home, so I cover two major roads most every weekday as towers pop up.

[trox1971]

Charlotte is sure filling up.On my trip to Asheville this weekend I had lte all the way to Kings mountain. Then just west and east of Shelby (Mapped on sensorly). I picked up lte on 74A west of Lake lure and in Fairview (sadly i forgot to run sensorly)

[smkyle]

 

4G popped up when I was on 85 near Gastonia so I figured I would map 85 all the way to Concord. I got my 53 points in Gastonia and then... Nuthin

 

DOUBLE YOU TEE EFF!

[unccjester]

4G popped up when I was on 85 near Gastonia so I figured I would map 85 all the way to Concord. I got my 53 points in Gastonia and then... Nuthin

 

DOUBLE YOU TEE EFF!

 

Looks like you have a lot going on up there that's suckin' down data. The EVO doesn't seem to like to switch to 4G that much when I have just Pandora running which is caca, but that's just the case. I can tell you right meow that 4G is definitely on from Ikea Blvd or so all the way up to Poplar Tent. A little bit pokes out from the towers around exits 54 and 55, then it comes on again from about mile marker 57 almost to exit 60, so your EVO just didn't switch for whatever reason. You should become a sponsor and see what towers are lit up! I could be wrong, but I'm guessing you didn't cycle airplane mode.

 

On the Concord note, Hwy 73 is lightly lit up for about 2 miles heading into Concord from I-85. The signal picks back up at Central Dr from there and is pretty strong in the area. I just mapped that area today on Sensorly. Off Central, I did a SpeedTest with a -103 RSRP and actually pulled 10.1 down and 4.7 up, which is impressive for that signal strength.

[bill875]

Last night I noticed that eHRPD disappeared from CR03AW150, which is right by my home in Conover, NC. I find this odd as the next tower along I-40 heading west is live with LTE. Would this not cause site handoff issues?

 

Also, I noticed the SID and BID has changed. The SID is now 1522 and BID 5009. This used to be SID: 4376 and BID 347. This site has not had any tower work done as of yet, however the permits were approved on 3/7/2013 for all of the work to start. I cannot easily access the tower site to see what is going on as it's protected by an American Tower gate at the roadway.

 

Does anyone know what may be happening at this point when the SID/BID changes?

[digiblur]

The SID didn't change on that site, your phone connected to a different system. 1522 is Carolina wireless cell system. I bet the channel number is different as well.

 

1522 is marked as native Sprint coverage since they have a alliance agreement.

 

Sent from my little Note2

[bill875]

Wow, OK, so Sprint must be offline on that sole tower that serves my house which is right down the road (-76 dBm typical). Thank you so much for the information. I was wondering why the CDMA Field Test App app was showing correct, spot on, tower location info when I mapped the base station. It showed me connected to the tower right next to the one Sprint is located on. Hopefully this indicates that some form of contractor work is being done at the site for NV.

[smkyle]

I drove from north Charlotte to Pineville and then from north Charlotte to Midland with both my EVO LTE and my wife's Optimus G running sensorly. She caught roughly 6 times as many 4G points averaged out. I had about two hours of conversation with Sprint reps at various levels and the bottom line is that they could give me another EVO (I'm on my second) or downgrade my phone. But! Once 4G is official in Charlotte, they will have more options because they will then start guaranteeing 4G coverage. So for those with EVO LTEs you might be able to negotiate your way into an S3 in the near future

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[drhenning]

I drove from north Charlotte to Pineville and then from north Charlotte to Midland with both my EVO LTE and my wife's Optimus G running sensorly. She caught roughly 6 times as many 4G points averaged out. I had about two hours of conversation with Sprint reps at various levels and the bottom line is that they could give me another EVO (I'm on my second) or downgrade my phone. But! Once 4G is official in Charlotte, they will have more options because they will then start guaranteeing 4G coverage. So for those with EVO LTEs you might be able to negotiate your way into an S3 in the near future

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

Were you running LTE Discover which toggles Airplane mode???? that's the only way to force a search for an LTE signal.. maybe the Optimus looks more often???? LTE Discover works every time if you are in an LTE area.. There are times when it switches automatically..

 

I moved over the weekend to my new condo near Providence and Queens.. If I go out of my building on Queens Rd, I get LTE... Inside, the Sprint signal wavers on the ground floor.. Only 3G currently at my unit... At my previous apt off Providence near Fairview, I got LTE inside without an issue..

[smkyle]

Were you running LTE Discover which toggles Airplane mode???? that's the only way to force a search for an LTE signal.. maybe the Optimus looks more often???? LTE Discover works every time if you are in an LTE area.. There are times when it switches automatically..

 

I moved over the weekend to my new condo near Providence and Queens.. If I go out of my building on Queens Rd, I get LTE... Inside, the Sprint signal wavers on the ground floor.. Only 3G currently at my unit... At my previous apt off Providence near Fairview, I got LTE inside without an issue..

 

My goal wasn't to map as many LTE spots as possible. My goal was to do a side by side comparison between my phone and my wife's to see which did a better job of connecting and staying connected to LTE. It's been documented in several places that the EVO LTE underperforms compared to other Sprint LTE devices. My device does not appear to be special in that regard. I suspect that nobody else has a special EVO LTE either. I just want to give hope to other people in Charlotte who have an EVO LTE and would like a free way to switch to a device that takes better advantage of LTE =)

[unccjester]

My goal wasn't to map as many LTE spots as possible. My goal was to do a side by side comparison between my phone and my wife's to see which did a better job of connecting and staying connected to LTE. It's been documented in several places that the EVO LTE underperforms compared to other Sprint LTE devices. My device does not appear to be special in that regard. I suspect that nobody else has a special EVO LTE either. I just want to give hope to other people in Charlotte who have an EVO LTE and would like a free way to switch to a device that takes better advantage of LTE =)

 

If you have to take your phone back in for repair, you can ask to switch to a SGS3 instead of getting another EVO. Keep in mind that we're all still under our 1 year warranty for our EVOs, so we just pay the $35 repair fee if we don't have TEP, like me. The only thing is if you switch to a SGS3 and something breaks after 30 days, you're SOL without TEP. I was offered that after my 3rd EVO but declined, since you only get refurbed phones from the repair centers.

 

My EVO will flip over to 4G on its own after the LTE Scan Timer hits its 5 minutes but I find myself cycling airplane mode often enough. It won't be as much of a problem when the Charlotte market fills up with 4G and 3G becomes more of a rare occurrence. I actually turned my connections optimizer off today and was able to jerk my LTE Scan Timer and BSR Max Timer to 1. I'll see if that makes a difference in the EVO finding LTE on its own more quickly. I was with some friends off Speedway Blvd and had a decent LTE signal but could NOT get my buddy's Optimus G to connect to LTE to save my life...how ironic.

 

On a side note, this discussion should probably be continued in the phone forum, not the NV forum here. Just my two cents.

[smkyle]

If you have to take your phone back in for repair, you can ask to switch to a SGS3 instead of getting another EVO. Keep in mind that we're all still under our 1 year warranty for our EVOs, so we just pay the $35 repair fee if we don't have TEP, like me. The only thing is if you switch to a SGS3 and something breaks after 30 days, you're SOL without TEP. I was offered that after my 3rd EVO but declined, since you only get refurbed phones from the repair centers.

 

My EVO will flip over to 4G on its own after the LTE Scan Timer hits its 5 minutes but I find myself cycling airplane mode often enough. It won't be as much of a problem when the Charlotte market fills up with 4G and 3G becomes more of a rare occurrence. I actually turned my connections optimizer off today and was able to jerk my LTE Scan Timer and BSR Max Timer to 1. I'll see if that makes a difference in the EVO finding LTE on its own more quickly.

 

If only that were true... I do have TEP and when I went and got my phone replaced a week ago roughly 10 people (no exaggeration) told me that the S3 was not an option.

[unccjester]

If only that were true... I do have TEP and when I went and got my phone replaced a week ago roughly 10 people (no exaggeration) told me that the S3 was not an option.

 

I was on my 3rd EVO before they offered that to me. FYI, I went to the store in Afton Village off George Liles, near Target.

[smkyle]

I was on my 3rd EVO before they offered that to me. FYI, I went to the store in Afton Village off George Liles, near Target.

 

That's probably the difference. I think there are lemon laws and perhaps sprint policies that kick in and allow for better options after 3 phones.

[trox1971]

If only that were true... I do have TEP and when I went and got my phone replaced a week ago roughly 10 people (no exaggeration) told me that the S3 was not an option.

 

My daughter's Evo 4g LTE has problems holding on to LTE service in the Charlotte. After three exchanges I requested an S3, being a former employee (and still on an employee plan - as part of my seperation agreement) I got no where for months until I went to the store @ w t harris and tryon. A tech reviewed my history and got customer care to send me an S3.

 

We own two properties on Rocky River rd, one in Cabarrus county near robinson church rd and other in Charlotte near Reedy creek park. My younger daughter's Iphone 5 gets sprint LTE signal near Milllen rd / rocky river rd, but the the two previous evo did not. The evo would switch to lte for about a second and then swith back to 3g

[unccjester]

We should probably take the phone discussion to the phone section, just my two cents.

 

Hwy 29 in Concord just got another tower lit up this morning, apparently! Coming from Kannapolis, I would always lose LTE right at Roberta Church Rd over the last couple weeks but this morning, I was running Sensorly and SignalCheck and saw SC handoff LTE to another tower at that intersection!

 

Looks like the tower at Pitts School & 29 is now broadcasting, as I did a Speedtest at this intersection and got 24.9 down and 10.4 up! Once I got to the Speedway, I handed off to another tower that's been broadcasting for at least a few weeks now and got service up until about 1000-1500 feet before I-485, so Hwy 29's pretty close to solid coverage between the Kannapolis city limits and Charlotte! LTE picks back up at the intersection of 29 and Mallard Creek.

 

It may take a while for the Pitts School area to darken up on Sensorly, as it's been previous mapped multiple times as a weak area but I'm sure it'll get darker quickly enough.

[SuSuMcKi]

I was in the Charlotte/University Area, NC yesterday with my mother who has an iPhone 5 with Verizon and I have an iPhone 5 with Sprint, both had 4 bars of signal. I did some speed tests and the average results were as follows:

 

Sprint Verizon

11.68 mbs down 6.13 mbs down

4.41 mbs up 2.8 mbs up

64.5 ms ping 58.5 ms ping

 

So it seems to me that the Sprint NV will be well worth it once it all gets finished. Just an observation.

Edited March 28, 2013 by SuSuMcKi

[smkyle]

4G goodness in Highland Creek at my crib!

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[unccjester]

The tower off I-85 & Hwy 73 is definitely broadcasting now, although not QUITE as strongly as I would like - hopefully, they'll do some minor adjustments or crank up the power just a bit. I had fair signal in Afton Ridge, over by Target and Party City... average RSRP was -90 to -100 out in the parking lots and I lost it in the back half of Target with my EVO. I'm not very impressed, seeing as though Afton Ridge is maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 a mile from the tower with a VERY clear line of sight. My EVO also didn't hand off to the tower that's been broadcasting at Hwy 29 and I-85 either, so meh... it definitely picked up cleanly from the one further down George Liles off Old Speedway Dr though.

I had Sensorly running the the entire time and it's showing up on the closer zoom levels. Some areas were previously mapped very weak, so it'll take some time to darken them in. Other areas make it quite obvious.

[owensri2]

I had fair signal in Afton Ridge, over by Target and Party City... average RSRP was -90 to -100 out in the parking lots and I lost it in the back half of Target with my EVO. I'm not very impressed, seeing as though Afton Ridge is maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 a mile from the tower with a VERY clear line of sight. My EVO also didn't hand off to the tower that's been broadcasting at Hwy 29 and I-85 either, so meh... it definitely picked up cleanly from the one further down George Liles off Old Speedway Dr though.

I had Sensorly running the the entire time and it's showing up on the closer zoom levels. Some areas were previously mapped very weak, so it'll take some time to darken them in. Other areas make it quite obvious.

 

I don't care which Target you go to, inside of every one I've ever been to I've roamed inside. It's ok until about half way back inside the store, then bam. Maybe the building material they use or something.

[unccjester]

I don't care which Target you go to, inside of every one I've ever been to I've roamed inside. It's ok until about half way back inside the store, then bam. Maybe the building material they use or something.

 

I've always had relatively good 1X/3G inside that one...it's just the LTE signal's a tad under par for that tower IMO... then again, it wasn't broadcasting when I last passed through there Wednesday evening, so it's only been on a day or two at most - they may still come back to it.

[WyldeStile]

I'm getting 4G in Salisbury near the mall. I haven't had time to do a speed test yet. I will later today then post the results.

[unccjester]

I'm getting 4G in Salisbury near the mall. I haven't had time to do a speed test yet. I will later today then post the results.

 

Run Sensorly too and help us map the market out.

[WyldeStile]

Run Sensorly too and help us map the market out.

I've been doing it for a while. Just check out the maps on sensorly.