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

[dbswoot]

Is anyone experiencing issues with reception on the 1x 800 band? I have had absolutely terrible service for the last few weeks. I can't complete a phone call and it is constantly cutting out to the point that I can't understand anyone on my Galaxy S4. I get a great -73-83dbm signal strength on 1x800 so I am not sure why I am having issues. Is anyone else experiencing this?

 

[bmoses]

Is anyone experiencing issues with reception on the 1x 800 band? I have had absolutely terrible service for the last few weeks. I can't complete a phone call and it is constantly cutting out to the point that I can't understand anyone on my Galaxy S4. I get a great -73-83dbm signal strength on 1x800 so I am not sure why I am having issues. Is anyone else experiencing this?

 

i have this off and on with 1x800 here too. some calls will be perfect, some calls will be crap. deployment is still under way here and most people i talk to on the other end are on sprint too. so it could be where they are thats causing the issues and not with my end. i have no idea what causes it though, i just know sometimes its great and sometimes its not, and even other times the call will dial and connect on 800 and then within a few seconds of the call punt me over to 1900. then when the call finishes my phone goes back to 800 (running the 800 priority PRL)

[Guest DigiClaws]

How far can a 800Mhz cell signal propogate in a rural area that is for the most part flat? Maybe some tress that are no more than 40 feet tall. Just trying to figure out how much the Sprint voice coverage will expand at the perimeter towers and if it will fill any roaming gaps inside of native coverage.

[SpenceSouth]

How far can a 800Mhz cell signal propogate in a rural area that is for the most part flat? Maybe some tress that are no more than 40 feet tall. Just trying to figure out how much the Sprint voice coverage will expand at the perimeter towers and if it will fill any roaming gaps inside of native coverage.

 

Not sure how accurate this is, but on more than one occasion some of our members have reported connecting to sites that are nearly 10 miles away.

[Bob Newhart]

The border zones for Canada area are a minimum of 100 Km (62 miles).

 

I have used cell phones in the middle of Death Valley in the past with towers being 30+ miles away.

[lilotimz]

Not sure how accurate this is, but on more than one occasion some of our members have reported connecting to sites that are nearly 10 miles away.

50 miles*

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

 

[SpenceSouth]

50 miles*

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

I must've missed that post lol.

[estarkey7]

Yeah last week I was around 40 miles from an 800Mhz tower.

 

Also when I was in Sharon, PA I had a super strong 800Mhz signal that just wouldn't budge off of five bars even as I drive up and down steep hills.

 

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk

 

 

[estarkey7]

If you are a premium member (which I strongly suggest you become!), the site acceptance reports have 800Mhz towers going live in IBEZ Zones like crazy. Become a member and check it out!

 

I don't know how they pulled it off, but I'm happy.

 

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk

 

 

[hercules rockefeller]

How far can a 800Mhz cell signal propogate in a rural area that is for the most part flat? Maybe some tress that are no more than 40 feet tall. Just trying to figure out how much the Sprint voice coverage will expand at the perimeter towers and if it will fill any roaming gaps inside of native coverage.

I've personally had several customers in rural Texas complain of a lack of coverage after migrating from iDEN to CDMA, and when I looked up their location they had been 7-8 miles away from the nearest iDEN tower. They swore that they had flawless Nextel coverage even though our maps showed them as being in a marginal coverage area. I know it's apples and oranges to compare CDMA and iDEN even on the same frequencies, and in a lot of these areas in Texas feature ideal terrain for wide coverage; flat land, tall towers, low vegetation, etc. But when you figure that the new towers will be 800 mhz and use newer technology, I think there'll be coverage pretty far out there in the rural areas.

[nobius]

I also think it will be interesting to see how far out into the ocean coverage will work as well. I bet people on cruise ships will be able to get signal much further away from port than before.

[bitslizer]

I also think it will be interesting to see how far out into the ocean coverage will work as well. I bet people on cruise ships will be able to get signal much further away from port than before.

 

Will help for sure, but not as well as on land i don't think, i remember reading that the water vapor/moisture really degrade the signal much faster than over dry land

[jamesinclair]

Will help for sure, but not as well as on land i don't think, i remember reading that the water vapor/moisture really degrade the signal much faster than over dry land

 

Also from what I understand, all towers by the coast have their antennas pointed towards land.

[Dkoellerwx]

How far can a 800Mhz cell signal propogate in a rural area that is for the most part flat? Maybe some tress that are no more than 40 feet tall. Just trying to figure out how much the Sprint voice coverage will expand at the perimeter towers and if it will fill any roaming gaps inside of native coverage.

 

 

Not sure how accurate this is, but on more than one occasion some of our members have reported connecting to sites that are nearly 10 miles away.

Multiple, if not numerous, reports of users picking up a usable 1x800MHz signal at distances of 30-50 miles. You can't expect that everywhere, but coverage is certainly going to go up, and fill in any gaps in coverage between sites.

[Soupcan]

So I was skiing today at Lutsen which is less than 60 miles away from the border and noticed I was connected to 1x800. From the IBEZ maps I saw this part of the state was well into the zone. I was up here this fall and 1x800 was not active. I'm not sure if this is helpful or not but I though I would make my observation known. Hopefully the picture works. I'm new to this type of stuff.

 

[WiWavelength]

Also from what I understand, all towers by the coast have their antennas pointed towards land.

 

No, that is not accurate.  Plenty of cellular antennas are coincidentally or even intentionally directed toward the water.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Will help for sure, but not as well as on land i don't think, i remember reading that the water vapor/moisture really degrade the signal much faster than over dry land

 

That, too, is not accurate.  Because there are no obstructions other than the curvature of the Earth, propagation over water tends to significantly exceed that over land.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

No, that is not accurate. Plenty of cellular antennas are coincidentally or even intentionally directed toward the water.

 

AJ

Some companies even build out networks and shoot backhaul from water based location to water based location miles from land. Some guy I know was even crazy enough to climb out there.

[jamesinclair]

No, that is not accurate.  Plenty of cellular antennas are coincidentally or even intentionally directed toward the water.

 

AJ

 

What is the reasoning? Most customers are on land.

[LuisBOSS302]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/73fj3059g5ni5u5/2013-12-21%2008.59.22.png

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m0jkclovxo5nwv4/2013-12-21%2009.00.25.png

 

connected to one approx 45 miles away. on the screenshot it says 43 miles but I got CDMA 800 a couple of miles before I went on google maps and took a screenshot.

 

Had the signal for like 10 minutes before fading.

[The Dave]

What is the reasoning? Most customers are on land.

Many people here in Florida tend to go out miles off coast in yachts, fishing boats, Cruise ships, and plenty of small islands strung all down the coast. Seems perfectly reasonable to expect that a tower pushes a signal out for them.

[lynyrd65]

What is the reasoning? Most customers are on land.

Some people work on oil derricks. I think AT&T's map used to show coverage in the gulf.

 

[digiblur]

Some people work on oil derricks. I think AT&T's map used to show coverage in the gulf.

Anyone want to go cell tower spotting?

 

http://www.broadpointinc.com/coverage-map

[S4GRU]

In my observations, there are areas where they appear to specifically set up sectors along coastlines to maximize coverage on land, and others where they appear that they are intentionally trying to cover water as well.

 

I have noticed in many places along the coasts of Florida and Southern California that they often appear to point sectors directly across the water. However, in Washington State, Oregon and most of Northern California, the sectors seemed to be aimed toward land. (Not including inland bodies of water like SF Bay and Puget Sound)

 

On a cruise through SF Bay and under the Golden Gate, I lost my signal only 1-2 miles out on the open sea. However, I have been able to keep a signal 12-15 miles out of Miami before.

 

I like to look at the sectors when I am along the coast and see where they are aimed. It's fun. Well, at least to me. Occasionally you can find a MW radome pointed straight out to sea.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[jamisonshaw125]

I've also noticed this. A while back I would go out on my friends boat (beautiful Everglades 32 ft, 3 350 engines.... Thing could outrun the coast guard if it had too....ironically we got pulled over once by them and they said its a good thing y'all didn't run because we would've had to call in the chopper.... miss it so much) Anyhow, I would pretty much always have service even several miles off the coast. It was nice. Girls had to be able to upload to Instagram somehow! LOL