Network Vision/LTE - West Michigan Market (Grand Rapids/Lansing/Kalamazoo)

[S4GRU]

Today has been crazy weird, i have gotten usable 2mbps+ LTE signals (-95 to -100dBm) and unusable speeds that cause Chrome/Falcon/FB/Google Now/etc to time out.  I really hope that something is going on to make the service around here better, but only time will tell.

 

Have you been watching your LTE Engineering screens?  Is it from the same site?

 

Robert

[jefbal99]

Have you been watching your LTE Engineering screens? Is it from the same site?

 

Robert

I will tomorrow, stupid Samsung not giving data to signal check pro

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

 

 

[jefbal99]

Have you been watching your LTE Engineering screens?  Is it from the same site?

 

Robert

Being on a Note 2, how can I tell what site I'm connected to?

 

I've got the following fields:

 

IMSI

PLMN ID

Serving Cell

UL/DL Channel

[S4GRU]

Being on a Note 2, how can I tell what site I'm connected to?

 

I've got the following fields:

 

IMSI

PLMN ID

Serving Cell

UL/DL Channel

Serving cell. This will be unique to a specific sector. So if you change sector or site, this number will change.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[jefbal99]

Serving cell. This will be unique to a specific sector. So if you change sector or site, this number will change.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Serving Cell 110 at my desk, CDMA 1xA speeds on LTE

Serving Cell 137 and 236 in the Conf Room about 30ft away expected LTE speeds.

 

Now I need to find out what site has service cell 110 and what has 137/236

[jefbal99]

Found 236 on the drive home

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

 

 

[Theot]

Hello everyone, its been awhile since I've been in here.  the last month or so has been extremely frustrating with Sprint.  My Note 2 just decided to stop charging a week before christmas, so now I have a replacement phone.  Since getting this one I've had very poor call quality and a lot of dropped calls.  LTE in the Michigan & Fuller area has been up and down.  Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes its just not working at all and gives me only 3G.  Starting to feel like there is a reason Verizon and AT&T cost more, for another $20-$30 a month, I can actually rely on the network.  Is anybody else in GR having issues?  I got a text from Sprint yesterday saying they were nearly complete with their network upgrades in our area and that should give us significant service improvement.  Well if that's the case why is my service getting worse?

[S4GRU]

Hello everyone, its been awhile since I've been in here. the last month or so has been extremely frustrating with Sprint. My Note 2 just decided to stop charging a week before christmas, so now I have a replacement phone. Since getting this one I've had very poor call quality and a lot of dropped calls. LTE in the Michigan & Fuller area has been up and down. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes its just not working at all and gives me only 3G. Starting to feel like there is a reason Verizon and AT&T cost more, for another $20-$30 a month, I can actually rely on the network. Is anybody else in GR having issues? I got a text from Sprint yesterday saying they were nearly complete with their network upgrades in our area and that should give us significant service improvement. Well if that's the case why is my service getting worse?

Sprint site spacing is so atrocious in Grand Rapids. They inherited the network there from iPCS. It will take a Triband LTE phone to get usable service in this market, in my opinion. If you stay with the Note 2, you will always have a subpar experience there.

 

Being able to use CDMA on 800MHz now and LTE on 800MHz soon is the only chance for sanity in a market like Grand Rapids. You need to switch to Triband or find another provider.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[Theot]

Sprint site spacing is so atrocious in Grand Rapids. They inherited the network there from iPCS. It will take a Triband LTE phone to get usable service in this market, in my opinion. If you stay with the Note 2, you will always have a subpar experience there.

 

Being able to use CDMA on 800MHz now and LTE on 800MHz soon is the only chance for sanity in a market like Grand Rapids. You need to switch to Triband or find another provider.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks for the response.  That's the way I've been leaning is to try the G2 for a few days and see if it makes a difference and if so great.  If not, well then I will switch.  Is Triband active in GR then?

[koiulpoi]

Sprint site spacing is so atrocious in Grand Rapids. They inherited the network there from iPCS. It will take a Triband LTE phone to get usable service in this market, in my opinion. If you stay with the Note 2, you will always have a subpar experience there.

 

Being able to use CDMA on 800MHz now and LTE on 800MHz soon is the only chance for sanity in a market like Grand Rapids. You need to switch to Triband or find another provider.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

800 CDMA is accepted all across GR, but it's not live everywhere. It definitely helps a lot where you can pick it up, so I'm hoping LTE 800 gets here fast. Sadly, it seems this market is oversaturated with people on Epic Touches, and LTE 1900 is already struggling in places.

 

That, and if the Clearwire WiMAX sites get turned in to Network Vision sites, many of our problems will be solved as well. Here's me crossing my fingers.

 

Thanks for the response.  That's the way I've been leaning is to try the G2 for a few days and see if it makes a difference and if so great.  If not, well then I will switch.  Is Triband active in GR then?

Not sure if Rob is okay with me throwing this out there, but I do have a G2, new in-box, I'm willing to part with for very cheap...

[S4GRU]

Not sure if Rob is okay with me throwing this out there, but I do have a G2, new in-box, I'm willing to part with for very cheap...

 

I'm OK.  Just take the rest of the conversation private.

 

Robert

[S4GRU]

Thanks for the response.  That's the way I've been leaning is to try the G2 for a few days and see if it makes a difference and if so great.  If not, well then I will switch.  Is Triband active in GR then?

 

CDMA 800 is on many sites, and more are being added every few weeks.  LTE on 800 will begin deployment in a few weeks.  But it will probably take up to 6 months for coverage to be pretty prevalent.

 

Robert

[jefbal99]

I know that 800LTE and Spark are the big things now with NV2.0, but I'd really like to see Sprint finish NV1.0 in West Michigan (and everywhere else too).  Too many sites are still 3G only or 3G/800.  Sprint needs to assign a manager to each and every market to micro-manage these deployments.  For the most part it appears to be backhaul that is the hold up.  If the Corporate/Macro contract is as far behind as it appears, then Sprint needs to engage whatever legal/contractual outs they have and start working with other vendors.  This is an assumption, but there has to be a local ISP or microwave vendor that can get equipment in place to get these sites online in a month or two.  Secondly, with part of West Michigan being in the IBEZ, it would be really nice to know which sites are slotted for CDMA800/LTE800.  You can war drive to all the local sites and look for the antennas/RRUs, but if Sprint would actually note what technologies are on each site, a consumer would know what to expect in a given area.  It would be an excellent use of that network.sprint.com website.  While 90% of their customers would have no idea what it meant, it could be an educational resource to teach customers about the network and what to expect.

[maxsilver]

This is an assumption, but there has to be a local ISP or microwave vendor that can get equipment in place to get these sites online in a month or two.

 

There are half a dozen different local ISP's who would bend over backwards to get Sprint backhaul in West Michigan. I know most of them personally.

 

If it's in Grand Rapids (for instance, the only downtown site), not only would all those other local ISP's jump in, but I personally could get 100x100 dedicated backhaul on that site within 48 hours.

 

But Sprint doesn't work that way. As far as I can tell, they just buy everything from AT&T, and ignore everyone else. (We tried to get them to use local backkhaul. Not even necessarily from me, just to use *anyone* local. They weren't interested).

 

 

You can war drive to all the local sites and look for the antennas/RRUs, but if Sprint would actually note what technologies are on each site, a consumer would know what to expect in a given area.

The coverage map sorta does this. If you switch it to the LTE map and zoom in close enough, the "Best" and "Fair" fields are fairly accurate (in that "Best" means some-level-of-indoor-or-outdoor-LTE, and "Fair" means no-LTE-coverage-whatsoever).

 

 

Sprint needs to assign a manager to each and every market to micro-manage these deployments.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I'd rather they'd just pour the money into getting the Nextel sites back. If Sprint wasn't spread so crazy thin, then having some sites lag wouldn't destroy the network so badly.

[Theot]

There are half a dozen different local ISP's who would bend over backwards to get Sprint backhaul in West Michigan. I know most of them personally.

 

If it's in Grand Rapids (for instance, the only downtown site), not only would all those other local ISP's jump in, but I personally could get 100x100 dedicated backhaul on that site within 48 hours.

 

But Sprint doesn't work that way. As far as I can tell, they just buy everything from AT&T, and ignore everyone else. (We tried to get them to use local backkhaul. Not even necessarily from me, just to use *anyone* local. They weren't interested).

Have you asked since softbank bought them or tried going farther up the food chain?

 

Good grief, no wonder they are lacking then. If I was AT&T I wouldn't give them a decent back haul either to keep them in their place.

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

 

 

[maxsilver]

Have you asked since softbank bought them or tried going farther up the food chain?

I haven't "gone farther up the food chain", but I'd love to try.

 

If anyone reading this has the contact info of someone we should talk to, I'd gladly make the case for local ISP's in West Michigan.

[S4GRU]

But Sprint doesn't work that way. As far as I can tell, they just buy everything from AT&T, and ignore everyone else. (We tried to get them to use local backkhaul. Not even necessarily from me, just to use *anyone* local. They weren't interested).

 

This is going to be changing. Masayoshi Son has said that Sprint can no longer use their competitors for backhaul any longer. And any existing backhaul from competitors is to be phased out over time. So there will be some chances for the local guys here in the future.

 

Son said it is crazy to line your competitors pockets with your cash for them to use against you. He seems pretty adamant about the change. I am not sure of the timelines. But it's likely in the ballpark of 24 months. This will be one of SoftrBank's righting of many wrongs.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[S4GRU]

Have you asked since softbank bought them or tried going farther up the food chain?

 

Good grief, no wonder they are lacking then. If I was AT&T I wouldn't give them a decent back haul either to keep them in their place.

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

AT&T has been actually one of the better Network Vision backhaul providers for Sprint. Also, they cannot give inferior backhaul. AT&T has a contract and they have to provide the backhaul performance and timelines in accordance with that agreement. AT&T only provides a portion of the backhaul in the West Michigan market. Not all of it.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[jefbal99]

Hoping someone in Lansing can help me out, I'm working with Sprint Exec support on the LTE issues in downtown and we are trying to track down Serving Cell 100.  I believe it is on the MLK/Holmes site behind the PX, but I'm not sure.

 

If anybody is in that area, can they drive around that site and see what the service cells on it for the three sectors are?

[gifters]

Anybody know anything about Note 3 Dropped calls in SW michigan?

[gifters]

I should start taking offers on a used Galaxy S4 and Note 3... anybody have a brick wall I can borrow?

 

My wife drove an hour to the Kalamazoo Corporate store, they had a number of people in the store with note 3 issues. Supposedly calling from a google voice number eliminates the dropped calls. How do we get media attention on this?

[S4GRU]

I should start taking offers on a used Galaxy S4 and Note 3... anybody have a brick wall I can borrow?

 

My wife drove an hour to the Kalamazoo Corporate store, they had a number of people in the store with note 3 issues. Supposedly calling from a google voice number eliminates the dropped calls. How do we get media attention on this?

 

Please post a productive comment in the Galaxy Note 3 section outlining your issues.  It's off topic to complain about your Note 3 in the market thread.  Thanks.

 

Robert

[gifters]

Thanks Robert, sprint stores claim this is a Market/Area specific issue and that's why I asked it here.

[LilTeddyP]

Hoping someone in Lansing can help me out, I'm working with Sprint Exec support on the LTE issues in downtown and we are trying to track down Serving Cell 100. I believe it is on the MLK/Holmes site behind the PX, but I'm not sure.

 

If anybody is in that area, can they drive around that site and see what the service cells on it for the three sectors are?

Did you get this figured out? I should be able to run over by there in the next couple days to figure it out a d I can get the actual tower ID when I get to work on Tuesday

[jefbal99]

Did you get this figured out? I should be able to run over by there in the next couple days to figure it out a d I can get the actual tower ID when I get to work on Tuesday

No I haven't, and it's odd, after talking with Sprint, I now connect to serving cell 110, but with the same quality of service.  I updated Sprint, but still no change.

 

Until the lugnut is lit up, downtown is going to be rough.