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

[Thomas L.]

It really is completely ridiculous. Sprint really isn't even an option for those folks in SoCal compared to the other big 3. Just too many holes without 800. And until that changes there is no way I'd use Sprint if I lived there. The times I've been in Los Angeles and San Diego, I was appalled at how inferior the Sprint network was out there compared to here in the Southeast.

 

Same. T-Mobile is so much better than Sprint in LA it's embarrassing. I could understand it if it were just an indoor coverage issue or if it were in the suburban areas, but for West LA, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and Downtown ALL to be places where you drop back to 3G constantly is just inexcusable. It seems like Sprint set their site spacing at the absolutely maximum distance for 1X and EV-DO performance, and that means band 25 LTE is just unworkable. Sprint has some half way decent deals with plans and unlimited, so it's a shame they aren't a contender in SoCal. 

(PS. This isn't supposed to be a Sprint bashing post or T-Mobile fanboy post, just my observation after 8 years as a Sprint customer and now having my main driver be T-Mobile.)

 

It really is completely ridiculous. Sprint really isn't even an option for those folks in SoCal compared to the other big 3. Just too many holes without 800. And until that changes there is no way I'd use Sprint if I lived there. The times I've been in Los Angeles and San Diego, I was appalled at how inferior the Sprint network was out there compared to here in the Southeast.

It is sad, especially for those of us that stuck with it thinking at NV completion it would be great.

 

Stupid San Bernardino County! They are the worst county for re-banding ever!

 

 

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The worst county for a lot more than re-banding, just saying 

 

That is one incredibly high cost increase for the project.

 

I was a trustee for a community college district. You would approve a budget for a project and the managers were so used to getting the money they asked for I actually had someone come to the board asking for a huge budget increase for work that they had already been done without permission from the board. Government spending is a massive inflating shit balloon in local governments like this.

[bigmachine]

I think a heavy prioritization of installing a ton of macro cells is more desirable than small cell placement at this point.  So Cal has one of the largest metro areas and simply is just a very tough market to cover even the urban areas. 

 

It would be prudent for Sprint to deploy both macro sites and small cells.  Small cells may have the advantage of faster deployment, especially if Sprint uses B41 backhaul.

[Thomas L.]

I think it's fine they park on B26.  But it needs to be that they move to B25 or 41 immediately when data starts to be used in any significant amount.  Ideally B26 needs to be used by only devices that have no other bands available.  If it is bogged down just because too many people are parked on B26, then they need to configure it that when B26 performance drops below 5-6Mbps in a given sector, that all the devices with B25 or B41 in sight get shunted over.  So B26 performance can be preserved for customers not in "view" of higher bands.

 

AT&T in my area is 5MHz B17 (700MHz) and 10MHz B4 (AWS).  AT&T keeps everyone on B4 if you have a useful connection.  Even it is weak.  It keeps B17 running 4-8Mbps in most places.  And even a weak B4 signal runs 10-12Mbps.  Granted, there is a reduction in battery life than if we were all parked on B17.  However, the difference is not catastrophic.  It seems if I park on B17 all day, I get 24 hours life out of my Nexus 6.  If I park on a weak B4, I get 20 hours life out of my Nexus 6.

 

Personally, I'd rather take the slight battery hit and plug in sooner than to have B17 run 500kbps-2Mbps.  It works well for AT&T and their customers don't even complain.  But their data works well everywhere they have an LTE signal here.

 

Just out of curiosity, why does parking users on B26 bog it down if they're not really using any data? Does each connection reduce available bandwidth some amount even if it is just parked there?

 

Tommy

[WiWavelength]

Just out of curiosity, why does parking users on B26 bog it down if they're not really using any data? Does each connection reduce available bandwidth some amount even if it is just parked there?

 

Yup.  I cannot put the analogy more simply than this.

 

Even when a car is parked in a stall, not moving in a parking lot, it occupies some valuable space.

 

Wireless networks are no different.

 

AJ

[conquereddroiduser]

It would be prudent for Sprint to deploy both macro sites and small cells. Small cells may have the advantage of faster deployment, especially if Sprint uses B41 backhaul.

Anyone have a link to explain what using b41 for backhaul would look like? I tried searching the forums and generally on the web but couldn't find anything that made sense to me.

[bigmachine]

Anyone have a link to explain what using b41 for backhaul would look like? I tried searching the forums and generally on the web but couldn't find anything that made sense to me.

 

"B41 backhaul" is probably not the right terminology.  I was attempting to refer to the ability of Sprint to use its massive 2.5 GHz spectrum to deliver backhaul to some of the small cells they would be deploying.

 

I don't have any links to provide that explain what it would look like, but statements from Sprint have hinted a different and faster method of deployment for NGN.  In my mind that opens up the possibility of wireless backhaul.

[ingenium]

Anyone have a link to explain what using b41 for backhaul would look like? I tried searching the forums and generally on the web but couldn't find anything that made sense to me.

I'm guessing it would be similar to what Clearwire's plans were for WiMAX http://www.senzafiliconsulting.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=poRsDqBRr0I%3D&tabid=104&mid=466&forcedownload=true

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

[Thomas L.]

Anyone have a link to explain what using b41 for backhaul would look like? I tried searching the forums and generally on the web but couldn't find anything that made sense to me.

 

I think the reason that there isn't that much information out there re: B41 as a backhaul (which is really using some of their 2.5ghz spectrum assets as backhaul using a non-LTE technology I believe) is that it is a proprietary solution by some company. 

[markjcc]

1X 800 Speedtest 

 

 

[Joski1624]

Those are actually decent speeds for 1x. Basic web browsing or a lower bitrate audio stream would probably be tolerable

[techcj_manzer]

1X 800 Speedtest

 

 

Those looks just like my LTE Speeds [emoji41]

 

 

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[Camcroz]

Those looks just like my LTE Speeds [emoji41]

 

 

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You've got better lte speeds then me

 

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[JonnygATL]

You've got better lte speeds then me

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Since you made the joke, where in Atlanta are you getting poor LTE speeds? Everyone I know with Sprint here in Atlanta - including myself - is blown away by how exponentially improved Sprint is today versus 3 years ago. Not perfect but damn good.

[Camcroz]

Since you made the joke, where in Atlanta are you getting poor LTE speeds? Everyone I know with Sprint here in Atlanta - including myself - is blown away by how exponentially improved Sprint is today versus 3 years ago. Not perfect but damn good.

No complaints with the network in atlanta. I amazed at how far it has come. The last few days though i have been traveling through Tennessee and kentucky and while the network did good in some spots there were others where the speed wasnt to impressive. Im not mad at sprints network in these areas as i expect coverage to be less than average. Some areas had 1 site covering an entire town and I only made the joke because those are the speeds i have been dealing with the last couple days in those areas

 

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[JonnygATL]

No complaints with the network in atlanta. I amazed at how far it has come. The last few days though i have been traveling through Tennessee and kentucky and while the network did good in some spots there were others where the speed wasnt to impressive. Im not mad at sprints network in these areas as i expect coverage to be less than average. Some areas had 1 site covering an entire town and I only made the joke because those are the speeds i have been dealing with the last couple days in those areas

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I'm from Lexington, Kentucky and am, in fact heading to town later this week for a quick, 2 day trip. I never lose signal whatsoever the whole way from Atlanta to my mom's place on the South side of Lexington. In fact, I am on LTE the entire trip except for a short 15 mile stretch in Southern Kentucky but even then I find myself on usable 3G. Lexington and surrounding towns are in desperate need of band 41, however, as speeds are often 2 to 5 mbps at best. Not terrible but living in Atlanta, we know that Sprint can certainly do better.

[Camcroz]

I'm from Lexington, Kentucky and am, in fact heading to town later this week for a quick, 2 day trip. I never lose signal whatsoever the while way from Atlanta to my mom's place on the South side of Lexington. In fact, I am on LTE the entire trip except for a short 15 mile stretch in Southern Kentucky but even then I find myself on usable 3G. Lexington and surrounding towns are in desperate need of band 41, however, as speeds are often 2 to 5 mbps at best. Not terrible but living in Atlanta, we know that Sprint can certainly do better

Ya i can't say what road we took up as i was the passenger and not paying attention to the roads. But i was very impressed with the coverage on the highway. Almost never lost lte and netflix streamed perfectly. My two problems were driving through Nashville because i was stuck on slow clearwire 41 the whole time. I also noticed none of the sprint sites had band 41 panels so i dont know what sprints gonna do when clearwire is shut down. My other problem was on the small towns. Everytime we stopped somewhere for a bite or gas or jus to hang for a couple hours, i was always parked on slow band 26. Otherwise coverage was fine. And yes as you say with us being from atlanta, we know sprint can do better

 

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[nexgencpu]

 My two problems were driving through Nashville because i was stuck on slow clearwire 41 the whole time. I also noticed none of the sprint sites had band 41 panels so i dont know what sprints gonna do when clearwire is shut down. 

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Sprint is not shutting down Clearwire sites. They are disabling wimax and turning on second carrier(you cannot have multiple carriers in wimax/lte mode), so expect a really nice upgrade in performance from the clear sites. 

 

BTW, the only Clear sites coming down are the redundant sites that already have Sprint B41 co located and huawei Clear panel sites that will be replaced by Sprint B41 eventually.

[Camcroz]

Sprint is not shutting down Clearwire sites. They are disabling wimax and turning on second carrier(you cannot have multiple carriers in wimax/lte mode), so expect a really nice upgrade in performance from the clear sites.

 

BTW, the only Clear sites coming down are the redundant sites that already have Sprint B41 co located and huawei Clear panel sites that will be replaced by Sprint B41 eventually.

So what will happen the day sprint shuts down clearwire. So far no sprint sites i passed had band 41 panels and there were no clearwire conversions that i knew of on the interstate i took. When sprint shuts down clearwire, Nashville will be without a band 41 network for some time until sprint deploys 41. sprint would have to convert all of these clear sites and add 41 panels to the other sites within the coming weeks to avoid this

 

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[nexgencpu]

So what will happen the day sprint shuts down clearwire. So far no sprint sites i passed had band 41 panels and there were no clearwire conversions that i knew of on the interstate i took. When sprint shuts down clearwire, Nashville will be without a band 41 network for some time until sprint deploys 41. sprint would have to convert all of these clear sites and add 41 panels to the other sites within the coming weeks to avoid this

 

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Thats my point, Sprint is not shutting down LTE portion of the clear sites only the Wimax. Once Wimax is turned off Nov 6th LTE performance will increase significantly. 

[Camcroz]

Thats my point, Sprint is not shutting down LTE portion of the clear sites only the Wimax. Once Wimax is turned off Nov 6th LTE performance will increase significantly.

I think i get it now. I was just a little confused. However one thing i still need explained is why sprint has not deployed 41 on there own sites yet. I get not puting them on sites colocated with clear but i mean the entire highway i was on didnt have 41 even in the city. Even in areas far away from clear signal. Just 1 single band25/26 antenna on the tower. Is there any reason for that.

 

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[Dkoellerwx]

I think i get it now. I was just a little confused. However one thing i still need explained is why sprint has not deployed 41 on there own sites yet. I get not puting them on sites colocated with clear but i mean the entire highway i was on didnt have 41 even in the city. Even in areas far away from clear signal. Just 1 single band25/26 antenna on the tower. Is there any reason for that.

 

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8T8R anttenas likely have been deployed in the Nashville area, you just didn't happen to see them on your trip. Nashville was not a priority market when the rollout began, so deployment has been limited to severely congested sites. Now that the priority rollout has peaked, we'll see more widespread deployment. But, we're getting pretty far off topic I believe.

 

Sent from my LG G4

[norwoodsteel]

i get loads of band 41 in Chattanooga

[Samappz]

Today I was shocked to see to see 1x800 on signalcheck app briefly in the so-cal around the carbon canyon area in Brea. Maybe sprint was doing some testing, in an isolated area, or is it possible they have 1x800 for emergency calls in a natural/regional park area for emergency calls in just that area?

Edited September 29, 2015 by Samappz

[ericdabbs]

Today I was shocked to see to see 1x800 on signalcheck app briefly in the so-cal around the carbon canyon area in Brea. Maybe sprint was doing some testing, in an isolated area, or is it possible they have 1x800 for emergency calls in a natural/regional park area for emergency calls in just that area?

 

I have seen 1x800 before in So Cal around Rowland Heights.  However if you look at the location on SignalCheck its usually from a site located all the way out in like Pasadena area which in that part of LA is allowed to broadcast 1x800.  Even the NV Sites Complete label a portion of LA Metro as Green pins so its not really a surprise.

[Samappz]

Okay makes sense, amazing at how good the 1x800 range is.