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

[digiblur]

800 deployment only requires a carrier card and a system update. Doesn't require any new equipment since all of that is already there.

I know in the Samsung BTS I think it's called a LTE Access Module that requires three fiber connections that plugs into the backplane. Not sure how the fiber is routed to the RRU since I don't see two fiber ports on the RRU. But regardless it should be an easy install. Provision higher fiber speed.. Install module, plug in fibers, and rock and roll.

[Fraydog]

The iPhone has way more LTE bands than any other LTE smartphone I can think of, but TD-LTE 41 didn't make the cut. I'm surprised because of both Sprint and SoftBank holding 41. Then again, Apple probably didn't know for sure if SoftBank would complete the Sprint acquisition when it was time to make a call on this. I don't think there's going to be that much TD-LTE anyway. 

 

Like the usual, if the e-penis is your cup of tea, you should look at buying a non-Apple product.

[digiblur]

The iPhone has way more LTE bands than any other LTE smartphone I can think of, but TD-LTE 41 didn't make the cut. I'm surprised because of both Sprint and SoftBank holding 41. Then again, Apple probably didn't know for sure if SoftBank would complete the Sprint acquisition when it was time to make a call on this. I don't think there's going to be that much TD-LTE anyway.

 

Like the usual, if the e-penis is your cup of tea, you should look at buying a non-Apple product.

Think you are missing the point really. Goes both ways... when PCS is slammed and so is 800 and data basically doesn't work. 2600 is there to save the day. If all the new phones were triband including the Iphone5x then maybe the other bands could offload some of that data to users in 2600 range. Regardless it's just bad for everyone all around since these phones will be around for a while.

[Fraydog]

Think you are missing the point really. Goes both ways... when PCS is slammed and so is 800 and data basically doesn't work. 2600 is there to save the day. If all the new phones were triband including the Iphone5x then maybe the other bands could offload some of that data to users in 2600 range. Regardless it's just bad for everyone all around since these phones will be around for a while.

 

Even still, you have the rest of the Sprint smartphones that will pick up TD-LTE. How much bad will be left on the 800/1900 bands? I don't see it.  Also remember that SoftBank already has experience managing this sort of traffic in Japan with their 900/2600 based LTE network there. 

[digiblur]

Even still, you have the rest of the Sprint smartphones that will pick up TD-LTE. How much bad will be left on the 800/1900 bands? I don't see it. Also remember that SoftBank already has experience managing this sort of traffic in Japan with their 900/2600 based LTE network there.

I can easily see some areas with the two lower 5mhz channels being slammed packed. Hell even in my low percentage of Sprint users, they fired up a site and within 2 days the site was unusable from Monday thru Friday 9-4. Forcing your phone to 1x is about the only answer for any data as the other 3 EVDO carriers are useless as well.

 

So in this instance, the iPhone users will have a dead phone. Others will be streaming along. The dumb customer will just say.. "Apple sucks.. Piece of junk." after looking at their friend's phone.

 

So maybe it's a good thing.. Kinda like how Sprint sets it up for Android users to use 800smr 1x quite a bit and Apple users to only use it when only absolutely necessary.

[Fraydog]

I can easily see some areas with the two lower 5mhz channels being slammed packed. Hell even in my low percentage of Sprint users, they fired up a site and within 2 days the site was unusable from Monday thru Friday 9-4. Forcing your phone to 1x is about the only answer for any data as the other 3 EVDO carriers are useless as well.

 

So in this instance, the iPhone users will have a dead phone. Others will be streaming along. The dumb customer will just say.. "Apple sucks.. Piece of junk." after looking at their friend's phone.

 

So maybe it's a good thing.. Kinda like how Sprint sets it up for Android users to use 800smr 1x quite a bit and Apple users to only use it when only absolutely necessary.

 

Two points.

 

1. With the others buying new phones using 2600 how much load will there be?  The ones having 1900 only LTE phones will be the ones stuck if overloading happens first, at least the Apple users will have 800 LTE going. 

2. We know who gets blamed... when Verizon and AT&T (and now T-Mobile users in large cities with LTE) users cruising along, if Sprint iPhone users have trouble, Sprint is going to get blamed. That's how it goes down. 

 

I'm not panicking about this at all, mainly because I think SoftBank knows how to deal while the Old Sprint Nextel didn't. It's just going to take time for investment to be put down and perceptions to change.

[danlodish345]

how doi know that 800 is here its gonna be deployed soon because i talked to a network management team manger the top of the top and all so i know that 2600 wil be deployed as well

[maxsilver]

So in this instance, the iPhone users will have a dead phone. Others will be streaming along. The dumb customer will just say.. "Apple sucks.. Piece of junk." after looking at their friend's phone.

I wish that's how it worked, but I suspect it will go more like this :

 

Sprint iPhone users will have a dead phone (both 5x5 LTE channels maxed out, as it is in some LTE places today). They'll look at their friends iPhones streaming along (the Verizon ones will have new SpectrumCo AWS LTE, and AT&T ones will have new Cricket AWS LTE + the remains of their own AWS LTE. Both carriers will be pushing roughly double the LTE bandwidth to iPhones than the Sprint ones will have).

 

The customer will see that and say "Sprint sucks...Piece of junk. My friends iPhones all work fine" after looking at their friend's phone.

 

iPhones already cater to the less technically inclined individual (in general). They'll notice when it doesn't work, but I don't expect them to clearly notice *why* it doesn't work.

[mikejeep]

sprint is deploying 800 megahertz lte and voice to east brunswick its finally here

how doi know that 800 is here its gonna be deployed soon because i talked to a network management team manger the top of the top and all so i know that 2600 wil be deployed as well

 

There is a difference between "its here" and "its gonna be deployed soon".  We don't need "top of the top" management to tell us that 800 MHz service is coming.. we already knew that

 

-Mike

[SpenceSouth]

I don't like that it is missing the TD-2600 band, but who's really surprised here? Apple doesn't need good specs or capabilities to sell their phones.  Nor do they particularly care to cater to the consumer in that regard. 

Honestly, I'm just happy that iPhone users will be able to have LTE-800, which in my personal opinion is the more favorable of the two bands. I'm more of a coverage guy than a speed demon. 

[thensley1983]

i think the iphone didn't get the 2600 band 41 due to sprint saying it was going to be a "hotspot" band back when they started making the iphone it wasn't till last month that they said they were going to put it on most if not all towers 

[digiblur]

i think the iphone didn't get the 2600 band 41 due to sprint saying it was going to be a "hotspot" band back when they started making the iphone it wasn't till last month that they said they were going to put it on most if not all towers 

 

No, it has been the plan for quite some time now even before Sprint bought Clearwire.

[digiblur]

I think you are a bit off base here.  The lack of 2600 is not going to ruin the LTE experience for iPhone users.  If those 5mhz channels are jam packed it is probably going to set a bad experience for every Sprint user, not just iPhone users.  Think about it:  If you're inside a building, especially a basement, 2600 is probably not going to reach you anyway (or 1900 for that matter), what makes you think that having an Android device is going to be beneficial?  Get off your high horse.

 

Here you guys go with the iPhone Android thing again..open your eyes and pull your head out of the sand.  No high horse here except for adding you to my ignore list.  Have a great day!

[S4GRU]

I think the next iPhone will be out before we start seeing LTE deployed network wide in band 26. I think band 41 will get there first (it already has a head start).

Network wide? Probably. However, the people who live in the 8 markets where Band 41 has been launched, and the 70 more that should be launched between now and Spring 2014 may not care about network wide.

 

Robert via Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 using Tapatalk

 

 

[dmaxx67]

Connected to a tower which I think it is the same tower I connected to a few nights ago. E ceptx I think they changed where it is reporting.

[nobius]

Why are people talking about 2600 in the 800 thread?  There's another thread about 2600.

[SpenceSouth]

Why are people talking about 2600 in the 800 thread?  There's another thread about 2600.

 

People are just discussing it in the context of it not being included along with the 800 band on the new iPhone.  I'm sure this won't be developing to an in-depth discussion of 2600, but thanks for the gentle reminder to stay on subject. 

[MacPCS]

I wish that's how it worked, but I suspect it will go more like this :

 

Sprint iPhone users will have a dead phone (both 5x5 LTE channels maxed out, as it is in some LTE places today). They'll look at their friends iPhones streaming along (the Verizon ones will have new SpectrumCo AWS LTE, and AT&T ones will have new Cricket AWS LTE + the remains of their own AWS LTE. Both carriers will be pushing roughly double the LTE bandwidth to iPhones than the Sprint ones will have).

 

The customer will see that and say "Sprint sucks...Piece of junk. My friends iPhones all work fine" after looking at their friend's phone.

 

iPhones already cater to the less technically inclined individual (in general). They'll notice when it doesn't work, but I don't expect them to clearly notice *why* it doesn't work.

I think most iPhone users (and mobile phone users in general) don't care if it's the super-fastest internet ever, just as long as it's fast enough.  Sprint 3G - Not fast enough.  Sprint LTE - Fast enough.  Clearwire LTE - Win.  

 

A similar scenario also applies to Verizon.  EV-DO just isn't enough for people to say oh yeah this is good.  They will just say well, it works, but....   at least it works.  

 

It's the vocal minority like us here that care about the difference between 6 Mbps and 25 Mbps.  Joe Phone User doesn't, as long as it works fast enough.  For them, I think 800MHz is going to be more important for coverage.  The TDD-LTE 2.5/2.6GHz though is what's going to enable that 800MHz and 1900MHz to function properly for them long-term.  Fat data pipes for the bit hogs in metro and densely populated areas (Stadiums, for example).  

[maxsilver]

I think most iPhone users (and mobile phone users in general) don't care if it's the super-fastest internet ever, just as long as it's fast enough.

 

It's the vocal minority like us here that care about the difference between 6 Mbps and 25 Mbps.  Joe Phone User doesn't, as long as it works fast enough.

I completely agree.

 

Sprint 3G - Not fast enough.  Sprint LTE - Fast enough.

 

It's the vocal minority like us here that care about the difference between 6 Mbps and 25 Mbps.  Joe Phone User doesn't, as long as it works fast enough.

I think you missed my earlier post (it might be in the 2500/2600 thread, where this discussion probably belongs) but this is exactly where I'm concerned.

 

If it were truly a difference of 6mbps to 25mbps, I'd agree with you. But it's not, it's often a difference between 0.25mbps (Sprint 1900 LTE in urban areas, today) and 5-25mbps (Future expected Sprint/Clear TD-LTE speeds, when in active use).

 

Regular people don't notice a difference between 6 and 25, I agree. But I believe they will notice getting 0.5mbps instead of 6mbps (and 0.2 to 0.6mbps is what LTE maxes out at right now, in my 75% launched market). When Sprint adds 800 LTE, the local 0.4mbps average will jump...to 0.8mbps. And (for iPhone users), will stay stuck there. For a full two years. 

 

That's why I'm worried about the lack of TD-LTE.

 

Average Urban Speeds - http://i.imgur.com/huez1aE.jpg

Average Suburban Speeds - http://i.imgur.com/j1gfR2L.jpg

[Paynefanbro]

I completely agree. I think you missed my earlier post (it might be in the 2500/2600 thread, where this discussion probably belongs) but this is exactly where I'm concerned. If it were truly a difference of 6mbps to 25mbps, I'd agree with you. But it's not, it's often a difference between 0.25mbps (Sprint 1900 LTE in urban areas, today) and 5-25mbps (Future expected Sprint/Clear TD-LTE speeds, when in active use).Regular people don't notice a difference between 6 and 25, I agree. But I believe they will notice getting 0.5mbps instead of 6mbps (and 0.2 to 0.6mbps is what LTE maxes out at right now, in my 75% launched market). When Sprint adds 800 LTE, the local 0.4mbps average will jump...to 0.8mbps. And (for iPhone users), will stay stuck there. For a full two years.  That's why I'm worried about the lack of TD-LTE. Average Urban Speeds - http://i.imgur.com/huez1aE.jpgAverage Suburban Speeds - http://i.imgur.com/j1gfR2L.jpg

That might just be you because I live in NYC, Brooklyn to be exact, which is the most populated borough in NYC, and I regularly pull over 15Mbps. There is an area called Mill Basin that is serviced by one tower that services thousands and I got 30Mbps on it.

[MacPCS]

I completely agree.

 

 

I think you missed my earlier post (it might be in the 2500/2600 thread, where this discussion probably belongs) but this is exactly where I'm concerned.

 

If it were truly a difference of 6mbps to 25mbps, I'd agree with you. But it's not, it's often a difference between 0.25mbps (Sprint 1900 LTE in urban areas, today) and 5-25mbps (Future expected Sprint/Clear TD-LTE speeds, when in active use).

 

Regular people don't notice a difference between 6 and 25, I agree. But I believe they will notice getting 0.5mbps instead of 6mbps (and 0.2 to 0.6mbps is what LTE maxes out at right now, in my 75% launched market). When Sprint adds 800 LTE, the local 0.4mbps average will jump...to 0.8mbps. And (for iPhone users), will stay stuck there. For a full two years.

 

That's why I'm worried about the lack of TD-LTE.

 

Average Urban Speeds - http://i.imgur.com/huez1aE.jpg

Average Suburban Speeds - http://i.imgur.com/j1gfR2L.jpg

which is why once TD-LTE launches, other traffic will offload to that.

[nobius]

If it were truly a difference of 6mbps to 25mbps, I'd agree with you. But it's not, it's often a difference between 0.25mbps (Sprint 1900 LTE in urban areas, today) and 5-25mbps (Future expected Sprint/Clear TD-LTE speeds, when in active use).

 

Regular people don't notice a difference between 6 and 25, I agree. But I believe they will notice getting 0.5mbps instead of 6mbps (and 0.2 to 0.6mbps is what LTE maxes out at right now, in my 75% launched market). When Sprint adds 800 LTE, the local 0.4mbps average will jump...to 0.8mbps. And (for iPhone users), will stay stuck there. For a full two years. 

 

Not sure what market you're in, but my market is around the same level of completion and the only time I am getting that poor a number on LTE is when I'm on the edge of LTE coverage.  

 

I do  agree with you in that for me, if I'm getting 6MB+ I'm happy, but it does make me smile when I get those 20MB+ down tests on my iPad 5.

[digiblur]

Not sure what market you're in, but my market is around the same level of completion and the only time I am getting that poor a number on LTE is when I'm on the edge of LTE coverage.

 

I do agree with you in that for me, if I'm getting 6MB+ I'm happy, but it does make me smile when I get those 20MB+ down tests on my iPad 5.

Must be nice. I regular cut off LTE to go to EVDO. Sometimes I force down to 1x and eat up the 1x800 carrier to listen to streaming audio. Don't like doing it but data does take a back seat to voice on 1x.

[nobius]

Must be nice. I regular cut off LTE to go to EVDO. Sometimes I force down to 1x and eat up the 1x800 carrier to listen to streaming audio. Don't like doing it but data does take a back seat to voice on 1x.

 

Only time I ever turn off LTE is when I'm in the country to save battery, but that region has been going yellow, so it won't be much longer now.

[digiblur]

Only time I ever turn off LTE is when I'm in the country to save battery, but that region has been going yellow, so it won't be much longer now.

Take a ride down on down I-10 about 3 or 4 hours