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

[jefbal99]

Yup, that is our life.

[Shima]

Does anyone know the status of when the back haul will be complete for the GR area? Many areas I still notice less than 1mbps up/down on the LTE 800.

[jefbal99]

Does anyone know the status of when the back haul will be complete for the GR area? Many areas I still notice less than 1mbps up/down on the LTE 800.

Backhaul isn't needed, more sites are needed. iPCS build the west Michigan network and it is spaced at the max limits for PCS spectrum. ESMR I'd just filling in the gaps and being over burdened. Band 41 will help with the heavy lifting, but the real fix is adding more towers.

[Shima]

So basically the 9000 tower plan to fill in the gaps will do it? I will say there is a great difference in Sprint connectivity now vs. a year ago. What does everyone else think?

[nmartine3]

So basically the 9000 tower plan to fill in the gaps will do it? I will say there is a great difference in Sprint connectivity now vs. a year ago. What does everyone else think?

When Sprint launched 4G LTE in my market a year ago, I actually had 4G LTE speed at my house. Now, it's been a year, and the speeds are in the lower 3G-like speeds, while displaying an LTE symbol on the phone. They definitely need at least an extra tower in my neighborhood, or at least force everyone on to Spark capable devices, and offload them off of Band 25, on to Band 41 where they live.

[lilotimz]

So basically the 9000 tower plan to fill in the gaps will do it? I will say there is a great difference in Sprint connectivity now vs. a year ago. What does everyone else think?

9000 new towers and adding more spectrum for lte services such as the second band 25 1900 carrier which is popping up rapidly in markets which has the spectrum (like Michigan) and more band 41 carriers from the new 2.5 Equipment.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[nmartine3]

9000 new towers and adding more spectrum for lte services such as the second band 25 1900 carrier which is popping up rapidly in markets which has the spectrum (like Michigan) and more band 41 carriers from the new 2.5 Equipment.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

Do you know if the second Band 25 1900 carrier would require new equipment or software updates? Also, if the carrier is being added to the Detroit market?

[Shima]

Ok I am thinking of having faith over frustrating again. When I talked to a friend at Sprint in Overland Park the other day the outlook didn't seem so good, but maybe they can only divulge so much. Fingers crossed on the speed improving in some areas vs. Others with great speed/connectivity.

[lilotimz]

Do you know if the second Band 25 1900 carrier would require new equipment or software updates? Also, if the carrier is being added to the Detroit market?

All software but it requires refarming across the market and shutting down cdma carriers to free up the spectrum.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[nmartine3]

All software but it requires refarming across the market and shutting down cdma carriers to free up the spectrum.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

How long would reforming take?

[lilotimz]

How long would reforming take?

As long as it takes. Most market should be getting it in the coming weeks /months or already has it like nearby Ohio or Illinois or Indiana.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[nmartine3]

As long as it takes. Most market should be getting it in the coming weeks /months or already has it like nearby Ohio or Illinois or Indiana.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

I'm sorry, but I have a couple more question. So, current markets that have a single Band 25 carrier are 5 by 5, would the second carrier make it 10 by 10? If so, does that make it wideband LTE?

[nexgencpu]

I'm sorry, but I have a couple more question. So, current markets that have a single Band 25 carrier are 5 by 5, would the second carrier make it 10 by 10? If so, does that make it wideband LTE?

No, would make it an additional 5x5 block. Basically for capacity.

[mittenmitten]

from what I've read, Grand Rapids is and has been essentially a perfect storm for terrible Sprint coverage. poor tower spacing and for a long time poor backhaul and a giant hill in the middle of the city. it's been really tough to stay loyal : /

[Cubbiefan82]

from what I've read, Grand Rapids is and has been essentially a perfect storm for terrible Sprint coverage. poor tower spacing and for a long time poor backhaul and a giant hill in the middle of the city. it's been really tough to stay loyal : /

That is because your area was served by a sprint affiliate, until sprint bought them. They just offered bare min coverage to fulfill the contract. So the spacing for pcs is bad, It will be fixed as sprint is working to add new cell sites around the united states.

[Shima]

I sure hope they get to this sooner rather than later. Has anyone noticed a plan on when they will start with the 9000 tower upgrades?

[Cubbiefan82]

I sure hope they get to this sooner rather than later. Has anyone noticed a plan on when they will start with the 9000 tower upgrades?

Besides what is already stated on the wall, no. They are working on funding, I can see in a few months. We will start seeing the new cell sites pop up. That would be a good time to become donate to the site, so you can see the locations of the new sites

[S4GRU]

I sure hope they get to this sooner rather than later. Has anyone noticed a plan on when they will start with the 9000 tower upgrades?

We will be lucky if it starts before the end of 2015. More likely in 2016.

[shannonbrian]

Any way tell if a tower 2 carriers live on it aka 1900mhz.

[jefbal99]

Any way tell if a tower 2 carriers live on it aka 1900mhz.

SignalCheckPro in the play store does a damn good job of identifying just about everything in a connection to a Sprint site. Not sure if second PCS LTE carrier is in the beta or live version. Check the change log

[shannonbrian]

I know but an i lookin 4

[Cubbiefan82]

Any way tell if a tower 2 carriers live on it aka 1900mhz.

In the Samsung market(aka Michigan)it is the cell site then has 03,04,05 instead of 00,01,02 at the end of the cell id. This can be verified though engineering screen or signal check, Also typically has a ul channel/dl channel then what you originally see.

[shannonbrian]

Ok.

[sleet]

I'm getting more data tomorrow so the past few days I've been running a few tests to use up my cap for the month.

 

I ran a few tests yesterday and while on b41 and ran the open signal app and got 45.4 MBPS download and 7.1 MBPS upload.

 

I was in the house too!

 

I'm Pretty happy with that.

[mittenmitten]

I have 2 questions about Sprint in Grand Rapids.

 

1) Is backhaul still an issue in GR? Was it ever? Or was that congestion on B25?

 

2) Is tower spacing really a big issue in GR?

 

It seems like my S5 is constantly stuck on 1 bar of B26 when I'm at home (Heritage Hill) or at work (Wyoming at 32nd and Division). Only when I'm in the middle of downtown do I get decent speeds it seems. What could be the cause of this?