Finally! "My Tower" getting upgraded

[prophead]

Shentel Site ID CDMA197.

 

 

 

This is the site I receive my signal from at home (currently about -100 DB). Just enough to hold a call (most times) outside.

 

Anxiously waiting to see if the upgrades will improve that.

 

I've been watching this tower for months and have not seen any new back haul being installed. Do they ever install the NV equipment without the new back haul already being in place or should I expect to see a dish getting installed? I know if at least on other site a few miles form this one that got Microwave back haul.

 

Short of stopping in and asking the techs is there anyway to tell if a tower is configured for coverage or capacity?

 

There are a number of Shentel sites in this area that have new equipment and are not on the maps....one of these days I want to take a drive a compile a list....

[chamb]

Shentel Site ID CDMA197.

 

 

 

 

This is the site I receive my signal from at home (currently about -100 DB). Just enough to hold a call (most times) outside.

 

Anxiously waiting to see if the upgrades will improve that.

 

I've been watching this tower for months and have not seen any new back haul being installed. Do they ever install the NV equipment without the new back haul already being in place or should I expect to see a dish getting installed? I know if at least on other site a few miles form this one that got Microwave back haul.

 

Short of stopping in and asking the techs is there anyway to tell if a tower is configured for coverage or capacity?

 

There are a number of Shentel sites in this area that have new equipment and are not on the maps....one of these days I want to take a drive a compile a list....

 

I have some experience with Shentel upgrades. Yes, you should probably see a minimum of 3 DB level improvement but this varies depending on how the old and new antennas are aimed. This can be different.

 

Backhaul --- Yes, they may install the antennas and RRU's first and then the back haul later. Might be an entirely different crew installing the back haul. It could be quickly or take months.

 

No, you will not be able to tell if the site is configured for capacity or a bigger coverage area. Looking at the site will not really tell you.

 

If you see sites that are upgraded but not on the S4GRU maps, get photos and post them in the thread designated for this with comments so the site administrators can check things out.

If the site happens to be 4g LTE active, please download the "Sensorly" app and take a drive on the roads around the site so it shows on the Sensorly mapping. Your personal info shows you have a "Flip Phone". If that is correct, you may not have the ability to check for LTE or map Sensorly.

[leerage]

Christmas in April. You should bake some cookies and take them over to the techs.

 

Looks like it is wired up for 800 so that should definitely help with Voice once it is active.

[prophead]

Your personal info shows you have a "Flip Phone". If that is correct, you may not have the ability to check for LTE or map Sensorly.

 

Yep....DuraXT....Need DC for work

 

I have 2 brothers that have Sprint 4G capable smart phones and it would seem that unlike Sprint, Shentel does not allow access to the 4G towers as they get upgraded but rather they open a market in one fell swoop.

 

I am suspicious of this because I know of towers that have had NV equipment for months (at least one since Sept of 2012) and are still not broadcasting and/or allowing access to 4G.

 

Anyone know for certain whether this is the case or not?

[chamb]

Yep....DuraXT....Need DC for work

 

I have 2 brothers that have Sprint 4G capable smart phones and it would seem that unlike Sprint, Shentel does not allow access to the 4G towers as they get upgraded but rather they open a market in one fell swoop.

 

I am suspicious of this because I know of towers that have had NV equipment for months (at least one since Sept of 2012) and are still not broadcasting and/or allowing access to 4G.

 

Sites that have the complete equipment installed but are not broadcasting LTE most often have a back haul issue. Having fiber placed in a trench or a microwave dish installed does not mean that there is not an issue with back haul at the other end of the back haul link. link.

[lynyrd65]

Yep....DuraXT....Need DC for work

 

I have 2 brothers that have Sprint 4G capable smart phones and it would seem that unlike Sprint, Shentel does not allow access to the 4G towers as they get upgraded but rather they open a market in one fell swoop.

 

I am suspicious of this because I know of towers that have had NV equipment for months (at least one since Sept of 2012) and are still not broadcasting and/or allowing access to 4G.

 

Anyone know for certain whether this is the case or not?

 

It looks like your phone will support 800 SMR. That will definitely give you better coverage than you have now.

[Ascertion]

Christmas in April. You should bake some cookies and take them over to the techs.

 

Looks like it is wired up for 800 so that should definitely help with Voice once it is active.

Is it because of the refrigerators above the RRUs? Is that how you can tell it'll be CDMA 800 capable?

[leerage]

Is it because of the refrigerators above the RRUs? Is that how you can tell it'll be CDMA 800 capable?

This is a nice close up pic from gr8nuguy.

 

[lynyrd65]

This is a nice close up pic from gr8nuguy.

 

 

Whats always confused me are those plugs. Does each panel support 4 PCS sectors and 2 SMR sectors?

 

LTE in my area seems to be one sector per panel. Is one cell sector radiated through all 4 PCS ports?

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[digiblur]

Whats always confused me are those plugs. Does each panel support 4 PCS sectors and 2 SMR sectors?

 

LTE in my area seems to be one sector per panel. Is one cell sector radiated through all 4 PCS ports?

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/579-network-vision-site-map-new-orleans-memphis-gulf-coast-east-texas-mississippi-and-louisiana-markets/page__view__findpost__p__112241

 

And the ACU's are Antenna Control Units (also referred to a RET - Remote Electrical Tilt). The RFS ones allow for a 10 degree change without anyone climbing. They are usually daisy chained then one is connected to the RRU.

[S4GRU]

 

Whats always confused me are those plugs. Does each panel support 4 PCS sectors and 2 SMR sectors?

 

LTE in my area seems to be one sector per panel. Is one cell sector radiated through all 4 PCS ports?

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

Each panel only does one sector. One panel pointed in each sector. There are six coax ports. Each coax port is connected to an antenna inside the panel. Each antenna can run up to 4 carriers of any technology. So this panel can support up to 16 PCS carriers and 8 SMR carriers. If there is a need for more carriers, then a second panel is needed per sector.

 

They typically have been connecting LTE on one PCS side, and CDMA on the other. One SMR port is for CDMA and the other is for LTE. The RFS antenna controls below the antenna ports provide remote operation of the mechanical downtilt within the panel up to 10 degrees.

 

It seems like in Samsung markets, they will add a second panel when they reach 8 CDMA carriers, because they will not mix LTE and CDMA on the second side. Once the CDMA side is maxed out, they add another panel per sector. We've seen a few two panel NV sites per sector in Chicago, Indy, and Michigan. However, I've yet to see an Ericsson or ALU site with two panels per sector. They probably exist, just haven seen one yet.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

[digiblur]

I have seen documents showing an RF combiner between the "LTE" designated RRU and "CDMA" designated one while the other CDMA one is by itself. Not sure why the diagram is designed like that as one would think the two CDMA RRUs would be combined on the same side of the panel antenna as there is some insertion loss with the combiner. But at least now thanks to Macinjosh we know the 800SMR and PCS band RRUs that Ericsson have been deploying are capable of LTE and CDMA at the same time with a simple firmware upgrade.

[Boosted20V]

Each panel only does one sector. One panel pointed in each sector. There are six coax ports. Each coax port is connected to an antenna inside the panel. Each antenna can run up to 4 carriers of any technology. So this panel can support up to 16 PCS carriers and 8 SMR carriers. If there is a need for more carriers, then a second panel is needed per sector.

 

They typically have been connecting LTE on one PCS side, and CDMA on the other. One SMR port is for CDMA and the other is for LTE. The RFS antenna controls below the antenna ports provide remote operation of the mechanical downtilt within the panel up to 10 degrees.

 

It seems like in Samsung markets, they will add a second panel when they reach 8 CDMA carriers, because they will not mix LTE and CDMA on the second side. Once the CDMA side is maxed out, they add another panel per sector. We've seen a few two panel NV sites per sector in Chicago, Indy, and Michigan. However, I've yet to see an Ericsson or ALU site with two panels per sector. They probably exist, just haven seen one yet.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

 

In this area I've seen ALU deployments with 2 large panels per sector (very rare however) and obviously quite a few cases of one regular large panel with the a stubbier narrow beam width panel per sector.

[Josh]

Robert, if there were 8 carriers for CDMA and they got maxed out, this could only happen in markets where they own (and deployed) more than 20 MHz. (assuming 1.25MHz on both the upload and download= 2.5MHz/carrier * 8carriers = 20MHz) If I am correct, most sprint markets have only 25-30MHz in the traditional PCS band, meaning that areas that are adding an additional panel, will not be able to add an additional carrier of LTE until at least LTE and voice on 800MHz are deployed. Once stress is taken off the other carriers, they may be able to launch an additional 5x5 LTE carrier in the PCS band.

 

Given that these areas are already apparently very saturated, will this mean that the area might also get constrained with LTE as well? Or do you see the current plan to be sufficient with no meaningful negative impact to data speeds or customer experience?

[S4GRU]

Robert, if there were 8 carriers for CDMA and they got maxed out, this could only happen in markets where they own (and deployed) more than 20 MHz. (assuming 1.25MHz on both the upload and download= 2.5MHz/carrier * 8carriers = 20MHz) If I am correct, most sprint markets have only 25-30MHz in the traditional PCS band, meaning that areas that are adding an additional panel, will not be able to add an additional carrier of LTE until at least LTE and voice on 800MHz are deployed. Once stress is taken off the other carriers, they may be able to launch an additional 5x5 LTE carrier in the PCS band.

 

Given that these areas are already apparently very saturated, will this mean that the area might also get constrained with LTE as well? Or do you see the current plan to be sufficient with no meaningful negative impact to data speeds or customer experience?

 

Our staff have access to information about each specific site's data and how many carriers are deployed there. Most people assume that in markets where they have deployed the maximum CDMA carriers with available spectrum, then they are toast. But in reality, it really only affects one site here and one site there. It rarely is large scale or market-wide except in very few instances like Chicago and Houston.

 

So they still can deploy even in maxed out markets many additional PCS LTE carriers. And also they are deploying 800 CDMA now nationwide. So there are lots of options.

 

In DFW, there are only two sites completely CDMA maxed out in the market. Most were 25% - 50%. Typically only the highest capacity, the Top 5% of sites in the country are completely maxed out of spectrum. Chicago, Houston and Ft. Wayne are the only places off the top of my head where no additional LTE carriers will likely be gained. However, USCC spectrum is going to allow for that problem to be solved in Chicago and Ft. Wayne. Leaving only Houston.

 

Houston will be dependent on LTE 800 and LTE 2600 solely for LTE capacity in the future. However, this isn't all bad. It just means Houston customers will need to be early adopters of triband LTE phones for maximum LTE performance. Not the end of the world.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

[WiWavelength]

Robert, if there were 8 carriers for CDMA and they got maxed out, this could only happen in markets where they own (and deployed) more than 20 MHz. (assuming 1.25MHz on both the upload and download= 2.5MHz/carrier * 8carriers = 20MHz)

 

For CDMA2000, take Sprint's traditional PCS A-F block spectrum holdings and automatically subtract 2.5 MHz to account for guard bands. Thus, 20 MHz can net up to seven carriers. Eight carriers would require at least 22.5 MHz.

 

Furthermore, if Sprint has two non contiguous PCS A-F block licenses (e.g. Chicago), then subtract 2.5 MHz for each license. In that case, 20 MHz can net up to six carriers.

 

Then, as Robert has detailed, relatively few sites reach eight CDMA2000 carriers. Those sites that do tend to cover arenas, stadiums, and racetracks.

 

AJ

[bigzeto]

Our staff have access to information about each specific site's data and how many carriers are deployed there. Most people assume that in markets where they have deployed the maximum CDMA carriers with available spectrum, then they are toast. But in reality, it really only affects one site here and one site there. It rarely is large scale or market-wide except in very few instances like Chicago and Houston.

 

So they still can deploy even in maxed out markets many additional PCS LTE carriers. And also they are deploying 800 CDMA now nationwide. So there are lots of options.

 

In DFW, there are only two sites completely CDMA maxed out in the market. Most were 25% - 50%. Typically only the highest capacity, the Top 5% of sites in the country are completely maxed out of spectrum. Chicago, Houston and Ft. Wayne are the only places off the top of my head where no additional LTE carriers will likely be gained. However, USCC spectrum is going to allow for that problem to be solved in Chicago and Ft. Wayne. Leaving only Houston.

 

Houston will be dependent on LTE 800 and LTE 2600 solely for LTE capacity in the future. However, this isn't all bad. It just means Houston customers will need to be early adopters of triband LTE phones for maximum LTE performance. Not the end of the world.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

Sprint did a good job of adding synergy sites in Houston, so they have that going for them at least.