T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion

[Deval]

I have to say I've never experienced anything good on EDGE or GPRS with T-Mobile, but I've not traveled as widely as Robert with T-Mobile (mostly in the southeast). Certainly I've found that even roaming 1X with Verizon or ex-Alltel around here delivers a better experience.

 

All that said there are places where Sprint is lagging T-Mobile and, as pointed out elsewhere, Sprint is going to lose significant EVDO roaming in the southeast when AT&T inevitably switches off CDMA next year in its former Alltel markets (they'd rather lose roaming revenue than help Sprint make its maps prettier) and maybe the equation will change a bit if Sprint doesn't take advantage of ex-Nextel sites and accelerate 800 deployment on GMOs to improve rural coverage. Waiting around for SouthernLINC to come through in 2017 isn't going to cut it.

 

Would those areas work better with 800 1x and LTE?

[kg4icg]

I have learned there are 2 flavors of 1xRTT thanks to the BlackBerry symbols. 1x going to get you phone and SMS only. 1X is going to get you data. Than there is 3g-3G and than of course LTE. That is just BlackBerry's way, but it works. As for T-Mobile edge, well lets just say even around Dulles airport your crawling on T-Mobile, from personal use and observation.

[twospirits]

Dan did Sprint commercials.  Maybe Marcelo will, too.  One idea could have a Legere look alike and Carly say to him, "Sorry, you're too greasy and creepy.  I've found a real man," then go and wrap her arms around big, strapping Marcelo.  His wife might not approve that idea, though.

 

AJ

Too risque for US audiences, and doesn't protray anything about the brand, plans, devices etc. Although that would be funny to see. I like the "Carly looking at the camera and shushing the viewers while she plasters the new deal on T-mobiles stores" idea someone mentioned earlier. Could also include the ex-Sprint trenchcoat guy on a motorcycle whisking her away from the scene.

 

TS

[jamisonshaw125]

One of my favorite commercials to this day is the zombie one. I almost coughed up my food when I saw that the first time. 

 

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7qGD/sprint-unlimited-my-way-zombie

[lordsutch]

Would those areas work better with 800 1x and LTE?

 

I don't know if 800 LTE would improve things terribly (although in a lot of Georgia the GMOs don't even have any LTE active, probably due to backhaul), but 800 1X would at least get you basic fill-in service further into the rural areas along I-16 and I-75.

 

To identify one local example, Cochran GA (pop around 5k, with around 3k college students) is at the verge of Sprint 1900 coverage due to GMOs on I-16 and in Hawkinsville, leading to signal bouncing between roaming on Alltel and Verizon and native within town, but would probably have solid outdoor 800 coverage even with the existing sites.

 

Of course what Sprint really should do in Cochran is deploy NV on the ex-Nextel site on the bypass. I'm pretty sure the old Nextel equipment is still sitting up on that tower; I hope at least they switched off the power...

[S4GRU]

Too risque for US audiences, and doesn't protray anything about the brand, plans, devices etc. Although that would be funny to see. I like the "Carly looking at the camera and shushing the viewers while she plasters the new deal on T-mobiles stores" idea someone mentioned earlier. Could also include the ex-Sprint trenchcoat guy on a motorcycle whisking her away from the scene.

 

TS

Marcelo and Masa, make it so! #CarlyNOW

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[maxsilver]

I have learned there are 2 flavors of 1xRTT thanks to the BlackBerry symbols. 1x going to get you phone and SMS only. 1X is going to get you data. Than there is 3g-3G and than of course LTE. That is just BlackBerry's way, but it works. As for T-Mobile edge, well lets just say even around Dulles airport your crawling on T-Mobile, from personal use and observation.

 

As a fellow BlackBerry user, those are not actually separate flavors of network.

 

The "lowercase" symbol simply means mobile data is disconnected (or otherwise not yet connected).

 

So 1x is the same network as 1X (nothing on the airlink changed in any way), but the lowercase one means "data not yet connected" 

 

This holds true for all other symbols as well, although you see it less often. ("LTE" turns to "lte" if mobile data can't connect. Still the same airlink)

[MacinJosh]

Since T-Mobile is trying to snake at&t, Verizon, & namely Sprint customers, Cricket jumped on the bandwagon and is doing the same to T-Mobile & MetroPCS customers. Take that John Legere!

 

http://cricketwireless.mediaroom.com/2014-08-22-Top-5-Reasons-T-Mobile-and-Metro-PCS-Customers-Should-Switch-Now-to-Cricket-Wireless

[kg4icg]

Don't forget, cricket is AT&T

[MacinJosh]

Don't forget, cricket is AT&T

 

Yep. I know. I laugh though because at&t is fighting fire with fire. Legere deserves it.

[cdk]

Since T-Mobile is trying to snake at&t, Verizon, & namely Sprint customers, Cricket jumped on the bandwagon and is doing the same to T-Mobile & MetroPCS customers. Take that John Legere!

 

http://cricketwireless.mediaroom.com/2014-08-22-Top-5-Reasons-T-Mobile-and-Metro-PCS-Customers-Should-Switch-Now-to-Cricket-Wireless

 

Yep. I know. I laugh though because at&t is fighting fire with fire. Legere deserves it.

 

Please Sprint, let Boost get in on this fight, undercut Cricket's price and bring this commercial back...

 

 

[twospirits]

lol I never seen that commercial and I'm starting to regret I just did

[dnicekid]

Marcelo and Masa, make it so! #CarlyNOW

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

How bout the guy from Dos Equis???

 

"The man who has 10 lines on sprint family... Just so he can stay in touch with his families"... Lol just saying if they could land him and show using the phone....

[boiker]

Wow, pulled a post that was 18 months old...

Sorry! Reading not paying attention to post dates!

[JosefTor]

Dan did Sprint commercials.

I thought the Dan Hesse commercials were good but at the wrong time. It was near the financial crisis and he acted like the wealthy 1%. Even the location was filmed in an area that looked like NYC which reminds people of wall Street. As a side note, I have no problem with people who make money, but think the vast majority of Sprint customers might.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Paynefanbro]

I was having a discussion on Twitter with some people that you may or may not recognize about propagation characteristics of LTE on Sprint and T-Mobile. I would love for some of the more "technically inclined" folks to comment on this or at least validate it a bit further as I'm not a bit more technically challenged in this subject. https://twitter.com/Det_Conan_Kudo/status/503260545009876992

[maxsilver]

I found an article from three years ago that seems to support what he wrote on Twitter.

 

But then I noticed it's also written by Neal himself. So... at the very least, his messaging is consistent.

 

http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/110711-what-is-lte/5

[lordsutch]

I was having a discussion on Twitter with some people that you may or may not recognize about propagation characteristics of LTE on Sprint and T-Mobile. I would love for some of the more "technically inclined" folks to comment on this or at least validate it a bit further as I'm not a bit more technically challenged in this subject. https://twitter.com/Det_Conan_Kudo/status/503260545009876992

 

Honestly I haven't seen substantially better propagation on T-Mobile LTE in band 4 and Sprint LTE in band 25 around these parts, CDMA power limits or no. Band 26 propagation around here is no better than band 25 (unlike in the Atlanta market, where I can tell a big improvement compared to band 25 only coverage in areas I mapped before), but I don't think Ericsson has calibrated around here yet since there are still numerous nearby 1900-only sites in the Georgia market to upgrade first.

[WiWavelength]

I was having a discussion on Twitter with some people that you may or may not recognize about propagation characteristics of LTE on Sprint and T-Mobile. I would love for some of the more "technically inclined" folks to comment on this or at least validate it a bit further as I'm not a bit more technically challenged in this subject. https://twitter.com/Det_Conan_Kudo/status/503260545009876992

Neal needs to corroborate that assertion with some substantive evidence. When CDMA2000 and LTE are on separate RRUs, it does not make sense that the ERP/EIRP of one limits the other.

 

AJ

[bigsnake49]

Neal needs to corroborate that assertion with some substantive evidence. When CDMA2000 and LTE are on separate RRUs, it does not make sense that the ERP/EIRP of one limits the other.

 

AJ

Plus, isn't AWS power limited relative to PCS? In the end what matters is the power/hz or MHz if you want to be precise.

 

Wait, you're telling me that Neal just throws stuff against the wall and see if it sticks? How disappointing?

[bigsnake49]

I know that this question has been asked before but is Sprint putting B26 on every site? if so they will have to limit the power to avoid interference between sites.

[IamMrFamous07]

I know that this question has been asked before but is Sprint putting B26 on every site? if so they will have to limit the power to avoid interference between sites.

I believe 80% of the sites. Not sure if that was factored with IBEZ.

[coorsleftfield]

Honestly I haven't seen substantially better propagation on T-Mobile LTE in band 4 and Sprint LTE in band 25 around these parts, CDMA power limits or no. Band 26 propagation around here is no better than band 25 (unlike in the Atlanta market, where I can tell a big improvement compared to band 25 only coverage in areas I mapped before), but I don't think Ericsson has calibrated around here yet since there are still numerous nearby 1900-only sites in the Georgia market to upgrade first.

 

Here in Phoenix I find that Band 25 LTE is unusable once you get past -110dBm , where T-Mobile Band 4 works well even at -115 dBm     I'm not sure if this is a 1700 vs 1900 propagation issue, or a tuning difference. 

[JosefTor]

Here in Phoenix I find that Band 25 LTE is unusable once you get past -110dBm , where T-Mobile Band 4 works well even at -115 dBm I'm not sure if this is a 1700 vs 1900 propagation issue, or a tuning difference.

This could be the reason:

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-confirms-deployment-4x2-mimo-boost-lte-network-performance/2014-04-25'> http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-confirms-deployment-4x2-mimo-boost-lte-network-performance/2014-04-25

[S4GRU]

I know that this question has been asked before but is Sprint putting B26 on every site? if so they will have to limit the power to avoid interference between sites.

Sprint B26 will be power limited at sectors where it will significantly cross other sectors even after downtilt. But this is true of all low frequency spectrum deployed in dense areas.

 

Sprint starts each B26 power pretty low at fire up, and then it is adjusted up to the maximum they can achieve without cross cell/sector interference during site optimization. This is why when people first see B26, they say the signal is similar or sometimes even weaker than B25 from the same site.

 

However, during optimization the power gets turned up to design level with adjacent sectors and then some drive testing is done in between sites to check things out. If things look good, they leave the new settings be. If interference is occurring at overlap points, they turn down the power and check again. If there's some room to turn up the power further, they do that.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro