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

[digiblur]

Or folks who have kept up with their market, mapped it out, along with the PNs over the years from the EVDO launch.

[koiulpoi]

In my experience most of rural Indiana has CDMA 800 already.  Almost all of 30 is already covered so I wouldn't expect you to have any problems.  Just don't expect much improvement in EVDO, I haven't found much of that yet....

That makes sense. Improvements to 3G EV-DO are separate. While I'm not certain, it seems plausible that on a handful of sites you might have 1X 800 broadcasting, but still have legacy EV-DO. While Network Vision sites are supposedly able to broadcast ~20% further, even advanced backhaul won't help you if your EV-DO carriers are all overloaded. Only more carriers, more cell sites, or offloading to 4G or WiFi can help the network then.

[Guest oldjohnny]

We are not currently accepting CDMA 800 reports from members. There is too much possibility of messing up 1x 800 signals with how far they propagate. You would have to track PN numbers and have access to Sprint Market Playbooks to compare PN numbers. Only our staff and Sprint employees can do this.

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Makes sense. SignalCheck Pro displays all the correct base station locations when the phone is on the PCS band for 1x. When connected to SMR, totally different story. I have connected to at least 4 different towers with SMR in the last two days but all of them display the same BSL.

[mikejeep]

Makes sense. SignalCheck Pro displays all the correct base station locations when the phone is on the PCS band for 1x. When connected to SMR, totally different story. I have connected to at least 4 different towers with SMR in the last two days but all of them display the same BSL.

 

Out of curiosity -- same BSL (base station location) address, or same BID (base station ID)?  Most sites will have three BIDs (one for each sector), and in markets where the BSL represents the site location, all three should show the same BSL.  Of course it's only as good as the site's configuration.  I have numerous SMR sites live in my area, and I have not seen any discrepancies.  I did connect to a newly-activated SMR site that clearly had the wrong coordinates programmed the other day, unless my CDMA signal was coming from 50 miles away, leapfrogging dozens of sites in between..

 

I haven't given up on trying to get PN information into the app, but no progress yet.

 

-Mike

[Guest oldjohnny]

All three towers that I know are 800 enabled are showing up with the incorrect Base Station location.

 

I know I should have paid attention to the BIDs, but since Asurion just replaced my Evo 3D with a Galaxy S3 (don't ask how), I've been too distracted playing around with LTE. 800 first showed up on my old 3D early last week but just as it caught it the phone would quickly go back to the PCS band. Once I activated the S3, it automatically connected to CDMA 800 and stayed there for good. I will try to determine if the BIDs are all the same next time i get a chance.

Edited August 12, 2013 by oldjohnny

[burnout8488]

Still learning as I go, so bear with me...

 

Once I have a full 800Mhz tower upgrade in my market, what would a 1x speedtest produce? As we all know, 1x data is just terrible, only achieving a few KB/s on the upload and download.

 

And to clarify, 800Mhz upgrades are for 1x and LTE only, correct? Not normal 3G.

[Ascertion]

I heard something like 170kbps in an ideal situation. And ditto, no 3g 800 MHz. 1x + LTE on 800 only.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[burnout8488]

Interesting!

 

170Kbps = 21KB/s so, I guess not a huge upgrade from where we're at. But, 1x data should become a little harder to come by so I suppose there's not much to complain about.

[SWMich4G]

All three towers that I know are 800 enabled are showing up with the incorrect Base Station location.

 

I know I should have paid attention to the BIDs, but since Asurion just replaced my Evo 3D with a Galaxy S3 (don't ask how), I've been too distracted playing around with LTE. 800 first showed up on my old 3D early last week but just as it caught it the phone would quickly go back to the PCS band. Once I activated the S3, it automatically connected to CDMA 800 and stayed there for good. I will try to determine if the BIDs are all the same next time i get a chance.

Hmm..maybe Samsung markets are different.  When they turned on 800 MHz here they also updated the BSLs (or at least SignalCheck Pro started displaying different addresses/coordinates).  While they used to be off by 1-2 miles and different for every sector, they changed them to exact locations (within feet), and they show up the same for each sector on the same site. 

 

Unless it's Mike putting this data in, this is how close the location being broadcast by Sprint is from the location given to sponsors here (coordinates blurred to keep private):

 

They both lie within the site fence, and the one given by Sprint is probably a few inches closer to the actual tower itself.  My phone is also always listing the closest or second closest site to my location, so it seems like it's pretty exact to me.  What am I missing?

[mc_gusto]

What's the supposed max speed of 800 lte on sprint?

 

Sent from my Android HP Touchpad using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[z250kid]

My work relies on cell coverage to do jobs.  I would take a solid 1x over weak 3g signals.  Sometimes its faster Verizon that is.

[digiblur]

What's the supposed max speed of 800 lte on sprint?

 

Sent from my Android HP Touchpad using Tapatalk 4

 

If it is 5mhz in the area, then the same speed as the PCS band LTE.

[jamesinclair]

Maybe to get the best Samsung™ reception, you need a Samsung™ phone?

[Deval]

Interesting!

 

170Kbps = 21KB/s so, I guess not a huge upgrade from where we're at. But, 1x data should become a little harder to come by so I suppose there's not much to complain about.

 

Yeah but the whole point of putting 1xA on 800mhz is to give enhanced voice coverage and SMS capabilities. 

[mikejeep]

Hmm..maybe Samsung markets are different. When they turned on 800 MHz here they also updated the BSLs (or at least SignalCheck Pro started displaying different addresses/coordinates). While they used to be off by 1-2 miles and different for every sector, they changed them to exact locations (within feet), and they show up the same for each sector on the same site.

 

Unless it's Mike putting this data in, this is how close the location being broadcast by Sprint is from the location given to sponsors here (coordinates blurred to keep private):

 

They both lie within the site fence, and the one given by Sprint is probably a few inches closer to the actual tower itself. My phone is also always listing the closest or second closest site to my location, so it seems like it's pretty exact to me. What am I missing?

I promise, I am not manually entering cell site coordinates into the app! It takes the latitude/longitude the site is broadcasting and geocodes it. Don't put any thought into the small difference in marker locations, at that accuracy they are certainly indicating the same site.

 

The contractors might be re-programming the BSL coordinates when they activate 800.. instead of using the offset, they put in the actual site location. Or, Samsung's 800 equipment broadcasts separate BSL coordinates, independent of the 1900 equipment. That would be my guess. In my area (Boston, Alcatel-Lucent), the locations did not change at all when 800 started broadcasting. Either they programmed the exact same coordinates for the 800 radios, or there is only one set of coordinates for their sites.

 

-Mike

[digiblur]

The BSL could also just be snagging the location received by the GPS of the equipment on Samsung sites.  It would all depend on where that GPS antenna is on the site then.  The combine that with the variance of the Google maps satellite/45 degree overlay and there you go.

[ericdabbs]

Everyone has their priorities.

 

I think CDMA 800 and LTE 800 are both very important to Sprint.  While data is very important to most folks nowadays since people tend to use their smartphone more for internet browsing and watching video but voice is still very important for those that are in rural areas to reduce Verizon roaming charges.

[koiulpoi]

Ummm, I definitely was not born in 1996.  Nor did I graduate in 1996.  But it does show the year I was married.  

 

Robert

I think I speak for all of (some of) us when I say, awww!

 

I personally care more for 800 mhz voice than I do LTE. Low signal kills battery life and I often find myself having to go nearer to windows on the current Sprint 1900 mhz signal I get.

Aaactually, here in Grand Rapids, there's only a (very) small handful of 800 MHz 1X towers turned on. I've seen some devices that, when stuck on 800 with low signal (and for some reason not jumping back to the superior 1900 signal (yes it happens)), have become "ear warmers" with bad battery life. I know it will get supremely better once 800 is everywhere, but it's not.

[Guest oldjohnny]

I promise, I am not manually entering cell site coordinates into the app! It takes the latitude/longitude the site is broadcasting and geocodes it. Don't put any thought into the small difference in marker locations, at that accuracy they are certainly indicating the same site.

 

The contractors might be re-programming the BSL coordinates when they activate 800.. instead of using the offset, they put in the actual site location. Or, Samsung's 800 equipment broadcasts separate BSL coordinates, independent of the 1900 equipment. That would be my guess. In my area (Boston, Alcatel-Lucent), the locations did not change at all when 800 started broadcasting. Either they programmed the exact same coordinates for the 800 radios, or there is only one set of coordinates for their sites.

 

-Mike

This is an example of what I am seeing. There is just no way I this good of a signal almost 10 miles out. There are too many pine trees in between for this to happen. 

Edited August 13, 2013 by oldjohnny

[Guest oldjohnny]

And here is another one from earlier today. These are the only two addresses that have been shown every time I connect to CDMA SMR. (Southwest Frwy and Humble, TX)

[digiblur]

This is an example of what I am seeing. There is just no way I this good of a signal almost 10 miles out. There are too many pine trees in between for this to happen. 

 

Guess you'll just have to hunt them down.

[WiWavelength]

Guess you'll just have to hunt them down.

 

Be very, very quiet...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiEUDzIrEQE

 

AJ

[Guest oldjohnny]

Guess you'll just have to hunt them down.

I did for one tower. The one showing showing  BSL at 5737 Southwest Frwy is actually coming from the tower at 8111 Eastex Freeway. I got a steady -55 dbm when I had a clear line of sight. The signal slowly started to degrade as I drove away from it.

Edited August 13, 2013 by oldjohnny

[digiblur]

I did for one tower. The one showing showing BSL at 5737 Southwest Frwy is actually coming from the tower at 8111 Eastex Freeway. I got a steady -55 dbm when I had a clear line of sight. The signal slowly started to degrade as I drove away from it.

Figured you would see stronger than that. How far were you from it?

[Guest oldjohnny]

Figured you would see stronger than that. How far were you from it?

I was driving past it on the freeway but the tower was not obstructed in any way from my view.  

https://www.google.com/maps?ll=29.834287,-95.334755&spn=0.0023,0.00284&t=h&dg=opt&z=19

You can see the tower on the northwest corner of the car yard.