Everything 800mhz (1xA, LTE, coverage, timeline, etc)

[bucdenny]

Thanks guys. I will download signalchecklite and check out Sensorly. I miss AT&T's beautiful LTE speeds. 40-50Mbps but I sure as hell don't miss going over each month. Metered data is ridiculous. Verizon and AT&T are scum. I believe Sprint will get it together but they gotta do it faster. They are really in a great position right now. I hope they dont mess this up. 

 

They won't screw it up.  Softbank had said to build Sprint as good or better than Verizon & AT&T in speed and coverage.  Once they have fiber delivered to all their sites, it won't slow down in the future.  I am getting max 37.5Mbps on my HTC EVO LTE all the time in San Diego on many of the fiber sites.  

 

Can't wait for Tri-Band 800Mhz and 2500Mhz! 

 

[gnoj]

I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blueline.signalchecklite it puts a real decimal read out on the menu bar and can show both the LTE and CDMA signal levels if you set it up. 

 (actually I use the pro version has a couple more features)

 

The readouts on the menu bar are actually one of the features of SignalCheck Pro. For only $1.99 I do recommend picking it up given how much you'll find yourself addicted to using it. I actually gave in and finally created a Google Wallet account just to pay for that app!

 

Bear in mind that LTE signal strength is reported in RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), not RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), so your LTE signal is not necessarily as weak as it appears at first glance. I believe that as a rule of thumb Sprint usually adds about 14 dBm to RSRP to convert it to it's RSSI equivalent.

[linhpham2]

The readouts on the menu bar are actually one of the features of SignalCheck Pro. For only $1.99 I do recommend picking it up given how much you'll find yourself addicted to using it. I actually gave in and finally created a Google Wallet account just to pay for that app!

 

Bear in mind that LTE signal strength is reported in RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), not RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), so your LTE signal is not necessarily as weak as it appears at first glance. I believe that as a rule of thumb Sprint usually adds about 14 dBm to RSRP to convert it to it's RSSI equivalent.

The apps Real Signal and Advanced Signal Status might be more helpful than signalcheck pro

[linhpham2]

They won't screw it up. Softbank had said to build Sprint as good or better than Verizon & AT&T in speed and coverage. Once they have fiber delivered to all their sites, it won't slow down in the future. I am getting max 37.5Mbps on my HTC EVO LTE all the time in San Diego on many of the fiber sites.

 

Can't wait for Tri-Band 800Mhz and 2500Mhz!

 

Sprint is only using a 5x5 mhz carrier for 800 lte (much smaller than their competitors). The coverage for 1900 and 2.5 isn't as good as sub 1 ghz. The speeds you're seeing is only the initial phase. It falls off fairly quickly after a few months.

[Dkoellerwx]

Sprint is only using a 5x5 mhz carrier for 800 lte (much smaller than their competitors). The coverage for 1900 and 2.5 isn't as good as sub 1 ghz. The speeds you're seeing is only the initial phase. It falls off fairly quickly after a few months.

 

It may fall off some, but once the network is complete, you should see a solid 10+Mbps, and in most locations likely more. Sprint ordered scale-able backhaul, so as demand increases, they can increase the backhaul. And with 2500, 1900 and 800 on nearly every site, there's little chance that sites will be overloaded except in extreme conditions. In cases currently where speeds have taken a dive, it's usually related to the fact that all the neighboring sites are not complete, so it's shouldering a heavier burden than it will when the network is complete, or there is an issue with the site. In a few rare cases, the network is overburdened already, but the addition of the 2500 network and 800 network will help tremendously with that. 

[linhpham2]

It may fall off some, but once the network is complete, you should see a solid 10+Mbps, and in most locations likely more. Sprint ordered scale-able backhaul, so as demand increases, they can increase the backhaul. And with 2500, 1900 and 800 on nearly every site, there's little chance that sites will be overloaded except in extreme conditions. In cases currently where speeds have taken a dive, it's usually related to the fact that all the neighboring sites are not complete, so it's shouldering a heavier burden than it will when the network is complete, or there is an issue with the site. In a few rare cases, the network is overburdened already, but the addition of the 2500 network and 800 network will help tremendously with that. 

Most of the upgrades and construction won't be done until the end of 2014. I can't upgrade my phone until 2015 - so  no 800 or 2.5 for me (unless I smash my phone). Still, 10+ mbps is still a bit laggy for everyday use.

[Dkoellerwx]

Most of the upgrades and construction won't be done until the end of 2014. I can't upgrade my phone until 2015 - so  no 800 or 2.5 for me (unless I smash my phone). Still, 10+ mbps is still a bit laggy for everyday use.

 

Are you serious? Most of the upgrades will be done for 1900 by the beginning of 2014. Yeah, some will lag through the middle of the year, but that'll be mostly spotty.

 

Additionally, anything over 3-4Mbps, you're fine. So long as the ping is low, any faster is not going to do you any good unless you're torrenting files or something. Maybe a little bit better for streaming HD videos, but 6-10+ is more than enough. And in many cases, you'll do better than that, even on 1900.

[linhpham2]

Are you serious? Most of the upgrades will be done for 1900 by the beginning of 2014. Yeah, some will lag through the middle of the year, but that'll be mostly spotty.

 

Additionally, anything over 3-4Mbps, you're fine. So long as the ping is low, any faster is not going to do you any good unless you're torrenting files or something. Maybe a little bit better for streaming HD videos, but 6-10+ is more than enough. And in many cases, you'll do better than that, even on 1900.

Sprint says they'll be done with NV by mid-2014. But realistically, it's closer to end of 2014 for everything - 800, 1900, 2.5 and small cells - or even first half of 2015.

 

As for speeds, they'll increase somewhat with the new equipment but should level off. My pings times are fairly high (50-150ms) for LTE vs home internet of 15ms. 1900 still has poor coverage, and I can't upgrade until 2015.

[Dkoellerwx]

Sprint says they'll be done with NV by mid-2014. But realistically, it's closer to end of 2014 for everything - 800, 1900, 2.5 and small cells - or even first half of 2015.

 

As for speeds, they'll increase somewhat with the new equipment but should level off. My pings times are fairly high (50-150ms) for LTE vs home internet of 15ms. 1900 still has poor coverage, and I can't upgrade until 2015.

 

Your market, despite being launched, is no where close to being finished. In a market that is pretty much finished, Kansas City, my speeds average between 15 and 20Mbps, with pings between 30 and 80ms. Even downtown, with the exception of deep inside buildings, I don't have any issues loading videos or browsing the web. I have an HTC ONE, I won't be able to upgrade until December of next year. I'm not worried at all about coverage or speeds, I know they will be there, even without 800 or 2500. 

 

That said, this should probably wrap up soon, or move, taking things a bit off topic here. 

[WiWavelength]

The apps Real Signal and Advanced Signal Status might be more helpful than signalcheck pro

Not likely. Why would those apps be more helpful?

 

AJ

[linhpham2]

Not likely. Why would those apps be more helpful?

 

AJ

Advanced Signal Status shows more info than signalcheck

[jefbal99]

Most of the upgrades and construction won't be done until the end of 2014. I can't upgrade my phone until 2015 - so  no 800 or 2.5 for me (unless I smash my phone). Still, 10+ mbps is still a bit laggy for everyday use.

 

Serious, 10mbps is laggy?!?!? What world are you living in?!?!?!  I know many people that can't get their type of wired services into their homes.  If you need more than 10mbps for "everyday use" then you need a solution that none of the current mobile providers can guarantee you!

[koiulpoi]

 

Advanced Signal Status shows more info than signalcheck

He was looking for specific examples, I think

 

Edit: SignalCheck Pro appears to show considerably more info...

[linhpham2]

On my phone, Advanced Signal Strength shows the LTE RSSI and %'s based on ranges defined by 3GPP (not calibrated by Sprint)

[utiz4321]

Sprint is only using a 5x5 mhz carrier for 800 lte (much smaller than their competitors). The coverage for 1900 and 2.5 isn't as good as sub 1 ghz. The speeds you're seeing is only the initial phase. It falls off fairly quickly after a few months.

Depends on cell site densities. If you are willing to spend the money you can have a 1900 network that has as good coverage (and more capacity) than 700. Further, AT&T and Verizon make their 700 lte network mimic the coverage of their voice network by requiring stronger signal strengths to connect to lte. This means in markets where they have 1900 voice their 700 lte looks to the end users as 1900 lte as far as coverage goes while having the capacity problems of 700. Since spring has voice on 800 and 1900 there is no need for them to do this, meaning in many markets sprint's lte will have better in building coverage than either AT&T or vzw.

[linhpham2]

Serious, 10mbps is laggy?!?!? What world are you living in?!?!?!  I know many people that can't get their type of wired services into their homes.  If you need more than 10mbps for "everyday use" then you need a solution that none of the current mobile providers can guarantee you!

Someone else who's considering switching to Sprint is getting speeds comparable to my home internet on AT&T: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4408-questions-about-returning-to-sprint/

 

[koiulpoi]

On my phone, Advanced Signal Strength shows the LTE RSSI and %'s based on ranges defined by 3GPP (not calibrated by Sprint)

I'm not even sure what that means. Please elaborate.

 

Frankly, I don't trust any app that reports LTE RSSI instead of RSRP. See:

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-308-rssi-vs-rsrp-a-brief-lte-signal-strength-primer/

[jefbal99]

Someone else who's considering switching to Sprint is getting speeds comparable to my home internet on AT&T: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4408-questions-about-returning-to-sprint/

 

Via a tier data plan that he complained about going over on every month.  I bet if Sprint was tiered data, you could get a bit higher speeds.  5Mhz FDD is max'd out at 37.5mb/s rather than the 75mbps for 10Mhz FDD that the red and blue death stars have, but when they limit your data, good luck.  Sprint is adding an additional 5Mhz FDD LTE in SMR that will help split the load for upcoming devices, plus they are adding 20Mhz TDD LTE in the BRS spectrum that new devices will utilize.  If you find that the Sprint network can't meet your speed/e-penis needs, then don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.  Have fun with tier'd data and overages

[WiWavelength]

On my phone, Advanced Signal Strength shows the LTE RSSI and %'s based on ranges defined by 3GPP (not calibrated by Sprint)

 

RSSI is not a very appropriate metric for LTE because RSSI varies with carrier bandwidth.  And the guy who coded Advanced Signal Status used some suspect equations, including the one for RSSI, which he geared to VZW's 10 MHz FDD carrier bandwidth.  So, it is definitely not correct for Sprint's 5 MHz FDD carrier bandwidth.

 

Basically, we need to get used to RSRP and just know that -110 to -120 dBm is poor signal strength.

 

AJ

[el1117]

When checking my signal with SignalCheck Lite, I some times get 1xRTT and other times (mostly after a reboot) will get 1x800.

 

Does that mean one of the towers I'm picking up has been upgraded to 800Mhz?

 

Could I be pulling these off the same tower?  Or am I picking up two different towers?

 

Could someone please explain these screens, the differences and if the 800 gives any indication to what might be going on in regards to NV in my area? 

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[WiWavelength]

When checking my signal with SignalCheck Lite, I some times get 1xRTT and other times (mostly after a reboot) will get 1x800.

 

Does that mean one of the towers I'm picking up has been upgraded to 800Mhz?

 

Could I be pulling these off the same tower?  Or am I picking up two different towers?

 

 

First example, two very different sites.  The CDMA1X 800 upgraded site is likely miles away, while the EV-DO 1900 site is very close.

 

Second example, the same site.  Both CDMA1X 1900 and EV-DO 1900 (eHRPD 1900) are approximately equal in signal strength.

 

AJ

[linhpham2]

Via a tier data plan that he complained about going over on every month.  I bet if Sprint was tiered data, you could get a bit higher speeds.   If you find that the Sprint network can't meet your speed needs, then don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.  Have fun with tier'd data and overages

I just  renewed my contract in march, so I'm not going anywhere until 2015 (I'm on a family plan, so my share is only $45/month - otherwise I'd leave) I only use about 3-5 GB/month, so overages wouldn't be too bad.

 

Besides data usage and speeds, AT&T and Verizon has more coverage, fewer dropped calls (and higher call quality) and text messages, better located stores (vs most Sprint stores are in strip malls and out-of-way locations for me), better handset selection, and entire plan discounts, (not just data re: new Sprint plans), higher customer service ratings according to JD Power. There's also a social stigma around here if you're on Sprint.

 

Otherwise, it's not too bad for a cheap, low-rent carrier.

[sbolen]

AT&T and Verizon has more coverage, better located stores (vs most Sprint stores are in strip malls and out-of-way locations for me)

If I may...

People still go to brick & mortar retail stores? I've ordered my last two phones online and had them shipped to my home, then activated via telephone. It's a painless process, and I get to cut back on human interaction.

[mikejeep]

I just renewed my contract in march, so I'm not going anywhere until 2015 (I'm on a family plan, so my share is only $45/month - otherwise I'd leave) I only use about 3-5 GB/month, so overages wouldn't be too bad. Besides data usage and speeds, AT&T and Verizon has more coverage, better located stores (vs most Sprint stores are in strip malls and out-of-way locations for me), better handset selection, and entire plan discounts, not just data (re: new Sprint plans).

So.. as much as you would prefer AT&T or Verizon, you just renewed your contract with Sprint anyway. Ok...

 

-Mike

[WiWavelength]

If I may...

People still go to brick & mortar retail stores? I've ordered my last two phones online and had them shipped to my home, then activated via telephone. It's a painless process, and I get to cut back on human interaction.

 

Some peoples gots to pay they's bills in cash.

 

 

AJ