Network Vision/LTE - Washington DC Market

[Trip]

The outdoor stations do well.  I commute from Huntington to Smithsonian every day via L'enfant Plaza and have B41 LTE service at Huntington (sometimes falls back to 3G while waiting on train since the station's built into the hillside) and Eisenhower.  I usually see 1X 800 in the tunnel north of Eisenhower, then B25 or B26 LTE at King Street and Braddock Road.  (Building permits suggest that B41 is coming soon to the towers missing it along the way.)  B26 LTE hangs on very usably through the tunnel north of Braddock and then I get B41 LTE back as I approach DCA.  Then it's decent 3G in the underground stations and roaming onto Verizon 1X (VERY slow) in the tunnels except for a few holes here and there when stopped in the tunnels.  I get B41 LTE on the Yellow Line bridge over the Potomac.

 

- Trip

[BlackBerryRulez]

That's cool you're able to use the silver line for your commute. I bet enough people will complain and WMATA will do something about it. There's demand for better wireless service. Eventually something will happen. Good to know that the outdoor stations do well.

[ggalmin]

Well slightly good news to report in Frederick. I was coming home past the Harry Grove stadium last night and noticed LTE service, about 2-3 bars worth. It stayed connected until I just reached the school for the deaf and switched back to 3G service.

 

However didn't switch over to LTE when I drove past there to drop my kids off at school this morning.

Edited December 12, 2014 by ggalmin

[kg4icg]

I picked up a Sharp Aquos Crystal last night and discovering I have band 41 in Herndon and around the Dulles airport at work. With this phone, I can actually overlay the engineering screen as I work the phone normally.

[BlackBerryRulez]

I picked up a Sharp Aquos Crystal last night and discovering I have band 41 in Herndon and around the Dulles airport at work. With this phone, I can actually overlay the engineering screen as I work the phone normally.

 

That's cool, looks like you're getting fast speeds with that B41, too.

[JimBob]

I spent the last few days in meetings and travel around DC, Northern VA, and MD.  The Sprint experience was satisfactory, but there were still noticeable pockets where I dropped to 3G.

[grapkoski]

I spent the last few days in meetings and travel around DC, Northern VA, and MD.  The Sprint experience was satisfactory, but there were still noticeable pockets where I dropped to 3G.

 

Yeah, without Clear you'd see much diminished service within the District. It really shows how powerful B41 can be even if it stands on its own. Unfortunately, a lot of the remaining sites are either difficult or waiting for back haul. Every week it gets better though!

[Trip]

It seems like every time I go out I find a new B41 deployment.  Today it was on Rt 7 between Seven Corners and I-66.

 

- Trip

[RedSpark]

Is DC unique in that the coverage map shows LTE here, but the market hasn't officially launched yet?

[Trip]

There are still a large number of untouched sites in this area.  At home, I'm on a Clearwire site, as I am at the grocery stores at Beacon Hill, but not at Safeway in Rose Hill, which is still 3G only.  There's a tower near L'enfant Metro which is 3G only still, as is the tower nearest to Smithsonian Metro (which grabs weak LTE from a more distant location), Pentagon City Mall is still 3G, and there are many others.  Granted, these are just in places that I go regularly, but I can understand why Sprint might want to hold off until the LTE coverage is more consistent.

 

- Trip

[RedSpark]

Agreed. What's been the cause of the major delays in the DC market? Permits? Equipment? Crews? Backhaul?

[kct1975]

Agreed. What's been the cause of the major delays in the DC market? Permits? Equipment? Crews? Backhaul?

Not that I have any real knowledge, but from what I have read both in this thread and from other sources, all of the things you mentioned are reasons for the delay.

 

Just from what I have read in this thread, it seems that Backhaul and Permits are the biggest problems in Maryland, permits seem to be the biggest problem in DC, and equipment delays seem to be the problem in NoVA.

[Trip]

I noticed the three towers nearest to me with only 3G are all cell towers sticking up through power distribution towers.  I've been wondering if there's a special crew or special arrangement that needs to be made to work on those.

 

- Trip

[chamb]

I noticed the three towers nearest to me with only 3G are all cell towers sticking up through power distribution towers.  I've been wondering if there's a special crew or special arrangement that needs to be made to work on those.

 

- Trip

This is common in other areas too.   I do think it takes a special crew to get above high voltage lines.  Might be the power company itself that has to do it for Sprint.  I see many that still are only 3G accepted and still have the legacy antennas with RRU's on the ground. In many cases, they can push 1900 LTE out through the legacy antennas and are doing that.

[RedSpark]

This is common in other areas too.   I do think it takes a special crew to get above high voltage lines.  Might be the power company itself that has to do it for Sprint.  I see many that still are only 3G accepted and still have the legacy antennas with RRU's on the ground. In many cases, they can push 1900 LTE out through the legacy antennas and are doing that.

 

They ultimately replace these legacy antennas as part of Network Vision, right?

[chamb]

They ultimately replace these legacy antennas as part of Network Vision, right?

I have not yet seen one that has been upgraded.   Some may have been, but I have not seen it. If they ever want to transmit 800 or 2500 from those sites, they must replace the antennas. I have seen new base stations at the bottom of the high voltage towers and they are active with 1900 LTE. I would question if they would ever put the RRU's up above the high voltage lines in a spot so hard to get to.  RRU's do go bad and I could see a long term outage if the RRU was not easily accessed.

I have some hope that they are going to add the new 1900-800 antennas and the new 2500 antennas at the same time.  But that is just my hope and nothing more.

[fubka]

I have been on band 41 forever at my house.  This morning I am parked on band 25 (yuck).  Anything going on?  TDD-LTE has such better battery life as compared to LTE on bands 25 an 2

[RedSpark]

I have been on band 41 forever at my house.  This morning I am parked on band 25 (yuck).  Anything going on?  TDD-LTE has such better battery life as compared to LTE on bands 25 an 2

 

Perhaps maintenance/optimization or maybe they had to shut down Band 41 temporarily to bring other towers online. If you're experiencing significant speed/coverage issues, you can use the Sprint Zone "Report an Issue" tool to report them.

[fubka]

Is it possible it get Sprint Zone on a custom rom like CM11?

 

I think (and hoping not) that they activated LTE on band 25 here.  Because when I had a Galaxy Nexus, I was on 3G and could not get LTE in home.  I will give it sometime, hopefully band 41 returns. 

Edited January 2, 2015 by fubka

[RedSpark]

Is it possible it get Sprint Zone on a custom rom like CM11?

 

Unlike the iOS version which can be downloaded from the App Store, Sprint Zone is not available as a downloadable app for Android. It's preinstalled on Sprint's Android devices and not available on Nexus devices for that reason.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/11/24/the-stark-contrast-nexus-6-on-sprint-and-t-mobile-vs-att/

 

"This may have something to do with the fact that Sprint Zone (the company's equivalent to a "my account" app) requires system-level integration and thus is not available for download on Google Play. It comes pre-installed on the system partition of just about every Android device Sprint sells that isn't called Nexus, and it updates itself automatically."

[fubka]

Still on band 25 since 9:39 AM according to my LTE Discovery app log.  Anyway to see if they are doing work on my tower?

 

Also, shouldn't band 41 be the preferred band sprint wants people on first?

[grapkoski]

Still on band 25 since 9:39 AM according to my LTE Discovery app log.  Anyway to see if they are doing work on my tower?

 

Also, shouldn't band 41 be the preferred band sprint wants people on first?

 

It really all depends on what the tower wants. I assume this was a clearwire B41 site?

[fubka]

I would say yes, there is WiMax.   I had about the same number of bars on WiMax that I had on HDD-LTE.

[fubka]

Crisis averted, back on band 41.

[ggalmin]

I picked up Sprint LTE service coming out of the Sam's Club in Frederick. It was a faint 2 bars, but still very exciting!