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

[Boosted20V]

I was looking at the completed NV sites and I was rather struck by how Samsung (in Chicago) has 800 Mhz 3G sites live, is their some difficulty in covering Chicago or is Samsung more technically proficient that they alone have the 800 band live, where as Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent haven't yet? I have to say Sprint has certainly kept things exciting, I can't wait to see what they have in mind for the future under Softbank.

 

I would say they made a large push to get 800mhz up and running due to being spectrum constrained there.

[gusherb]

I was looking at the completed NV sites and I was rather struck by how Samsung (in Chicago) has 800 Mhz 3G sites live, is their some difficulty in covering Chicago or is Samsung more technically proficient that they alone have the 800 band live, where as Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent haven't yet? I have to say Sprint has certainly kept things exciting, I can't wait to see what they have in mind for the future under Softbank.

 

there are quite a few more sites live with CDMA 800 then even the site maps show around Chicagoland

[Thomas L.]

What's involved when they have to go back to the towers to install equipment for LTE 800? Is it just an additional carrier card or are they actually going to have to go up the towers and do a lot of additional work? How labor and time intensive is it compared to the original network vision upgrade of sites? I'm just curious as to, when they actually start rolling it out, how long that overlay will take. Also, what are the FIT markets for LTE 800? Is it Waco again? Do they have it up?

[Rawvega]

New Orleans and somewhere in Montana was the word.

[lilotimz]

What's involved when they have to go back to the towers to install equipment for LTE 800? Is it just an additional carrier card or are they actually going to have to go up the towers and do a lot of additional work? How labor and time intensive is it compared to the original network vision upgrade of sites? I'm just curious as to, when they actually start rolling it out, how long that overlay will take. Also, what are the FIT markets for LTE 800? Is it Waco again? Do they have it up?

 

Basically if you look at the images of the numerous network vision panels posted around here, it's quite simple. The basic NV panel is 2 1900mhz on opposite sides while the 800mhz is squashed in the middle between the two. The 800mhz is not hooked up yet but everything is already there. All you need to do is go back to the towers and phsyically hook it up and do a few "magical" things and it's up and running. Should be much quicker than completely replacing all the old panels, dig up the T1 lines and get the fiber lines all set up, and replacing the old / outdated / inefficient hardware on sites. It's like 6 old boxes to 1 compact boxes.

 

In short, much easier/faster than the initial deployment.

[Kevster1321]

How are the handoffs between 1900mhz and 800mhz and vice versa when on a call.

[DaQue]

eHRPD handles the data handoff seamlessly. I imagine the voice hand off would be seamless too. I know Sprint has been rated best for call quality and fewest drop off so they know how to handle handoffs.

[digiblur]

How are the handoffs between 1900mhz and 800mhz and vice versa when on a call.

 

I am guessing here... They are different SIDs so I would think there wouldn't be any but to be honest I have no idea. You would have to ask the Chicago folks to test that.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

 

[WiWavelength]

I am guessing here... They are different SIDs so I would think there wouldn't be any but to be honest I have no idea.

 

Oh, there will be handoffs -- inter frequency hard handoffs. Different SIDs usually mean different MSCs, but not in this case.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

 

Oh, there will be handoffs -- inter frequency hard handoffs. Different SIDs usually mean different MSCs, but not in this case.

 

AJ

 

I hope so.. I would like to see someone test it while watching the 1x debug screen.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

 

[WiWavelength]

I hope so.. I would like to see someone test it while watching the 1x debug screen.

 

I would not worry about it. VZW manages hyper band hard handoffs on its CDMA1X 850/1900 mixed network all the time.

 

For Sprint, the separate SID/NID pair will not be an issue, since SID/NID are used for idle state acquisition but not for traffic state handoff.

 

AJ

[gusherb]

I could only get my phone to connect to CDMA 800 by starting a PRL update and then it would connect, and stay connected continuously until I traveled into 1900 only area's.

I did make some phone calls while in a basement with the 1x debug screen open and did witness it handoff to 1900 after the call was made, and connect back to 800 after hanging up but that was only once. It wouldn't repeat that afterwards, and even with very poor signal it won't connect to 800 on it's own.

 

Not sure if it has to do with the fact that the towers by me aren't officially deployed with 800 SMR or not but I haven't had any luck with getting my GS3 to stay connected on it's own or connect automatically. I've been on 1900 continuously since I stopped forcing it over to 800 even in very poor signal spots.

[digiblur]

Cool news! The only PRLs left with SMR are 25009 and 24009.

 

I assume you are in Chicago?

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

 

[gusherb]

Cool news! The only PRLs left with SMR are 25009 and 24009.

 

I assume you are in Chicago?

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

Just outside of Chicago. I'm on 25009.

[rjw]

I would say they made a large push to get 800mhz up and running due to being spectrum constrained there.

 

Which is also why the US Cellular spectrum acquisition should further bolster Sprint 1900 spectrum position in Chicago.

[Boosted20V]

Not sure if this has been asked before, didn't find it in a search. Is there any way to tell you are connected to a network using 1X Advanced vs. regular 1X? And to expand on that, are all towers upgraded with legacy panels removed broadcasting 1xAdvanced over 1900mhz?

[Proxcee]

800mhz should be awesome once deployed. I just got an AT&T LTE phone (runs on 700mhz)...and when I say its fast....its fast. I know that Sprints LTE is currently deployed on 1900mhz. My typical speeds "indoors" with sprint is aprox. 8megs down and about 4-5 megs up. On AT&T LTE "indoors" ...aprox. 30 megs down 18 megs up....max 45 megs down. If this is any indicator of whats to come...i can't wait for 800mhz to be deployed!!! With 800 mhz we should get much much better building penetration...hopefully the 100mhz difference wont make that much difference.

 

One thing that I am not sure about is how much bearing the channels have on the speed (5x5 vs.10x10). Anyone know?

[S4GRU]

800mhz should be awesome once deployed. I just got an AT&T LTE phone (runs on 700mhz)...and when I say its fast....its fast. I know that Sprints LTE is currently deployed on 1900mhz. My typical speeds "indoors" with sprint is aprox. 8megs down and about 4-5 megs up. On AT&T LTE "indoors" ...aprox. 30 megs down 18 megs up....max 45 megs down. If this is any indicator of whats to come...i can't wait for 800mhz to be deployed!!! With 800 mhz we should get much much better building penetration...hopefully the 100mhz difference wont make that much difference.

 

One thing that I am not sure about is how much bearing the channels have on the speed (5x5 vs.10x10). Anyone know?

 

I'm pretty sure AT&T has 10x10 in Atlanta. AT&T LTE should be faster than Sprint regardless of 1900 or 800, at least until it bogs down. VZW 10MHz LTE channels are bogging down and AT&T likely will too. But there are a lot more VZW LTE devices out there than AT&T at the present time.

 

The biggest issue between AT&T and Sprint LTE is the amount of current coverage. Sprint still doesn't even have half the market converted.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[WiWavelength]

Yes, AT&T LTE 700 in Atlanta is dual license 10 MHz FDD.

 

AJ

[DaQue]

About 4,000 if 38,500 have part of NV done. A lot of those are 3G only in some areas so I bet the % with LTE on is more like 5-8%.

 

They gotta get moving but all signs are they were kicking it up a notch before Sandy. In 2 years I hope to buy another new phone with all the 800 LTE goodness. I wonder what the specs will be like then, 2 Ghz quad core and 1080P 6" display maybe with 4 Gbytes of ram an 64GB flash plus picosd card most likely.

[leozno1]

So I have been wondering, next year if you buy a device that supports LTE 800 what would be the process for which the network decides whether you are connected to LTE 800 or 1900? I would imagine your device will want to connect to the stronger 800mhz signal but if every device is connecting to the stronger 800mhz signal it would start to slow down. So will the network decide to accept any new connections and put them on 1900 by default once 800mhz LTE reaches a certain number of connections?

[pyroscott]

So I have been wondering' date=' next year if you buy a device that supports LTE 800 what would be the process for which the network decides whether you are connected to LTE 800 or 1900? I would imagine your device will want to connect to the stronger 800mhz signal but if every device is connecting to the stronger 800mhz signal it would start to slow down. So will the network decide to accept any new connections and put them on 1900 by default once 800mhz LTE reaches a certain number of connections?[/quote']

 

It will connect to 1900 first and once signal strength drops below a certain level, it will start looking for 800 and connect if it is available.

[gusherb]

Today in the local indoor mall where Sprint signal was horrid (no DAS for all 4 of the major carriers in this place) I found my phone searching for a usable channel on EVDO, and then it was also searching channels on 1X, eventually it landed on band class 10, channel 476, Sprints CDMA 800. Only thing is it didn't have any luck getting a better signal on that.

 

What I'm getting at is the fact that for me my GS3 is only hunting for 800 SMR when 1900 is too weak. Some have said that it will park itself on 800, and other info states that it won't connect until 1900 signal is almost completely dead. For me it was the latter, although 800 SMR is not really fully setup and live around that mall so I was still unsuccessful in using it this time.

[TheForce627]

Today in the local indoor mall where Sprint signal was horrid (no DAS for all 4 of the major carriers in this place) I found my phone searching for a usable channel on EVDO, and then it was also searching channels on 1X, eventually it landed on band class 10, channel 476, Sprints CDMA 800. Only thing is it didn't have any luck getting a better signal on that.

 

What I'm getting at is the fact that for me my GS3 is only hunting for 800 SMR when 1900 is too weak. Some have said that it will park itself on 800, and other info states that it won't connect until 1900 signal is almost completely dead. For me it was the latter, although 800 SMR is not really fully setup and live around that mall so I was still unsuccessful in using it this time.

smr probably wasn't on the closest tower to the mall but was coming from a distant tower

[Boosted20V]

Today in the local indoor mall where Sprint signal was horrid (no DAS for all 4 of the major carriers in this place) I found my phone searching for a usable channel on EVDO, and then it was also searching channels on 1X, eventually it landed on band class 10, channel 476, Sprints CDMA 800. Only thing is it didn't have any luck getting a better signal on that.

 

What I'm getting at is the fact that for me my GS3 is only hunting for 800 SMR when 1900 is too weak. Some have said that it will park itself on 800, and other info states that it won't connect until 1900 signal is almost completely dead. For me it was the latter, although 800 SMR is not really fully setup and live around that mall so I was still unsuccessful in using it this time.

 

I thought with SMR removed from the most recent PRL, it wouldn't connect to 800 at all?