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Sprint Announces First Tri-Band 4G LTE Devices


marioc21

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Galaxy note 3 and the new leaked LG optimus G 2( 5+ inches) are the most likely candidates for triband devices coming in September/ October.

 

Sprint gave a hint from day one that tribands devices from Samsung and LG are coming in the Fall.

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Just curious if anyone knows the answer: Clear has already installed 2500 MHz LTE on some of its sites (don't recall the exact number).  Will these new hotspots be able to pick up LTE from these sites, or will they have to wait for a later-date Sprint re-implementation of LTE 2500?  Also, has Clear used the dreaded Huawei LTE hardware on all of the sites they have implemented so far (which would render my first question irrelevant)?

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Sweet!  Has anyone online gotten it "early" to do a review yet?

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Based on the press release, i'm guessing both 800/2500 won't be later until Q4 of this year.  Perfect time to get a new phone though!  Note 3, HTC One Max, Optimus G2, Iphone 5s

Just curious if anyone knows the answer: Clear has already installed 2500 MHz LTE on some of its sites (don't recall the exact number).  Will these new hotspots be able to pick up LTE from these sites, or will they have to wait for a later-date Sprint re-implementation of LTE 2500?  Also, has Clear used the dreaded Huawei LTE hardware on all of the sites they have implemented so far (which would render my first question irrelevant)?

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Just curious if anyone knows the answer: Clear has already installed 2500 MHz LTE on some of its sites (don't recall the exact number).  Will these new hotspots be able to pick up LTE from these sites, or will they have to wait for a later-date Sprint re-implementation of LTE 2500?  Also, has Clear used the dreaded Huawei LTE hardware on all of the sites they have implemented so far (which would render my first question irrelevant)?

 

I do not see why they would not be able to pick them up, but Sprint/Clearwire could be blocking access to these sites until a later date.  I believe Sprint will follow a more traditional rollout for LTE on 800 and 2500(if they plan a nationwide rollout). 

 
Clearwire has stated that only 5% of their LTE spending is going to huawei equipment and that they were already reducing their need for the equipment. 
 
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Just tweeted at Ting asking whether I could get a tri-band MiFi by buying outright and activate it on them via BYOSD. I won't do this until I see LTE in SMR active near where I am, but my guess is that that will happen before tri-band phones are available (otherwise I'd just do a full-price buy-up to a tri-band phone).

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Anyone checked out or bought the zing/mifi500 yet?

 

Definitely interested in the difference of signal sensitivity/battery life between them.

 

they are both on the sprint hotspot page now for 49$ 2/yr contract, but I would only buy one outright and do the pay as you go thing.

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Anyone checked out or bought the zing/mifi500 yet?

 

Definitely interested in the difference of signal sensitivity/battery life between them.

 

they are both on the sprint hotspot page now for 49$ 2/yr contract, but I would only buy one outright and do the pay as you go thing.

 

Got to see them in person yesterday, but not actually use one.

 

Personally, I like the look and feel of the Netgear Zing a LOT more than the new MiFi.

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Just curious if anyone knows the answer: Clear has already installed 2500 MHz LTE on some of its sites (don't recall the exact number).  Will these new hotspots be able to pick up LTE from these sites, or will they have to wait for a later-date Sprint re-implementation of LTE 2500?  Also, has Clear used the dreaded Huawei LTE hardware on all of the sites they have implemented so far (which would render my first question irrelevant)?

 

Once the network is alive and accepting connections (which supposedly some areas went online today) the new Tri-Band devices will connect to the network. I do not believe that Clear used Huawei for it's LTE deployment. 

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I've got a Zing on order. It's gonna be replacing a HTC Evo View tablet on my account that has served me well. Hopefully it should be delivered around the middle of next of next week at the latest.

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 According to Robert the following markets are set to launch Clearwire's 2.5 TD-LTE network today

-Los Angeles,

-San Francisco,

-Denver,

-Seattle,

-Miami,

-New York City

-Tampa

-Chicago

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4083-clearwire-lte/?p=171765

 

With that said, is anyone planning to pick up a triband LTE device in any of the markets listed above?

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I don't think it's really that unlikely that the iPhone will be tri-band. Like people have already noted, the iPhone 5 (international/CDMA) already supports the 850 band and the PCS band. Clearwire's 2.6 GHz band aligns well with the 3G-X band many carriers are already using in Canada and Europe. It's not a reach to think they'd support the ESMR-CEL superset band and both TDD and FDD in the 2.6 GHz band.

 

 

IIRC, Softbank (Apple's original launch partner in Japan and still their largest customer there) is deploying 2.5 GHz spectrum. Sprint is deploying it here. China Mobile is deploying it. They are using it in Europe (as Band 7 and 41 IIRC)

 

Someone correct me if I am wrong but Band 7/41 are the same, they just differ in FDD vs TDD so the current crop of LTE chipsets should support both no problem. I don't know if you need different filters and whatnot to support them separately, as others have pointed out we aren't yet capable of doing software filtering and amplification*.

 

I think the likelyhood is 50/50 that they will support it in the next iPhone; Apple really wants a deal with China Mobile, Softbank is an excellent partner that they value, and Sprint is the only one keeping unlimited data in the US which depends heavily on that band. Unlimited data makes for a better user experience for Apple's customers. 

 

 

* Obviously the future is SDR (Software Defined Radio). We've gone from a cabinet full of equipment to a single rack to a single PCI card in 10 years, but it is still too hot and power-hungry to work in a mobile phone. I predict the next generation of base station hardware will be software radio driven though. It will let vendors sell a whole new set of equipment upgrades instead of waiting for the replacement to LTE (decades and decades away), then charge carriers for software upgrades which is always an easier way to make money. Not sure when that will happen, but it will happen eventually.

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I would love to see a speed test from these devices while connected to 2.5ghz LTE

 

what I am curious about is how do we know if we are connected to 800/1900/2500 MHz LTE?  On CDMA, we can check for the SID number 22XXX for 800 CDMA with the SignalCheck app.  For LTE, we just have the RSRP value which doesn't tell us which frequency we are connected to.  

 

Hopefully there will be some sort of identifier to tell between 800 LTE, 1900 LTE and 2500 LTE.

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what I am curious about is how do we know if we are connected to 800/1900/2500 MHz LTE?  On CDMA, we can check for the SID number 22XXX for 800 CDMA with the SignalCheck app.  For LTE, we just have the RSRP value which doesn't tell us which frequency we are connected to.  

 

Hopefully there will be some sort of identifier to tell between 800 LTE, 1900 LTE and 2500 LTE.

 

It'll be quite easy to figure out when your speeds are exceeding 50 mbps DL on that 20mhz channel. 

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IIRC, Softbank (Apple's original launch partner in Japan and still their largest customer there) is deploying 2.5 GHz spectrum. Sprint is deploying it here. China Mobile is deploying it. They are using it in Europe (as Band 7 and 41 IIRC)

 

Someone correct me if I am wrong but Band 7/41 are the same, they just differ in FDD vs TDD so the current crop of LTE chipsets should support both no problem. I don't know if you need different filters and whatnot to support them separately, as others have pointed out we aren't yet capable of doing software filtering and amplification*.

 

I think the likelyhood is 50/50 that they will support it in the next iPhone; Apple really wants a deal with China Mobile, Softbank is an excellent partner that they value, and Sprint is the only one keeping unlimited data in the US which depends heavily on that band. Unlimited data makes for a better user experience for Apple's customers. 

 

 

* Obviously the future is SDR (Software Defined Radio). We've gone from a cabinet full of equipment to a single rack to a single PCI card in 10 years, but it is still too hot and power-hungry to work in a mobile phone. I predict the next generation of base station hardware will be software radio driven though. It will let vendors sell a whole new set of equipment upgrades instead of waiting for the replacement to LTE (decades and decades away), then charge carriers for software upgrades which is always an easier way to make money. Not sure when that will happen, but it will happen eventually.

 

I say 90/10 on the next iPhone having tri-band, 90 not having it.

 

We already have SDR, it's called Network Vision.  Now if only they had software defined power amplifiers and filters...what next? software defined antennas?  HA!

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what I am curious about is how do we know if we are connected to 800/1900/2500 MHz LTE?  On CDMA, we can check for the SID number 22XXX for 800 CDMA with the SignalCheck app.  For LTE, we just have the RSRP value which doesn't tell us which frequency we are connected to.  

 

Hopefully there will be some sort of identifier to tell between 800 LTE, 1900 LTE and 2500 LTE.

 

My phone's LTE engineering screens show which band and with AJ's excellent articles I can tell which frequency as well.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-345-whats-the-frequency-kenneth-interpreting-your-engineering-screen-part-one/

 

Hopefully the hotspots and/or USB devices will have some sort of debug screen.

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It'll be quite easy to figure out when your speeds are exceeding 50 mbps DL on that 20mhz channel. 

 

Hopefully Clearwire can update their coverage map to show which towers are upgraded to TD-LTE.  What I am saying is right now unless you are doing speedtests all around town, you are not going to know if you are connected to 2.5 GHz LTE at a particular point.

 

What I am also curious about is the range a 2.5 GHz TD-LTE carrier can extend to.  I really want to see if it does extend farther than 2.5 GHz Wimax.

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 According to Robert the following markets are set to launch Clearwire's 2.5 TD-LTE network today

-Los Angeles,

-San Francisco,

-Denver,

-Seattle,

-Miami,

-New York City

-Tampa

-Chicago

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4083-clearwire-lte/?p=171765

 

With that said, is anyone planning to pick up a triband LTE device in any of the markets listed above?

 

I'm in the Philly market (but in the Lehigh Valley) and I plan to get one...not sure which though.  Replacing my Mifi 4082 as my home internet - no cable or DSL here.

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My phone's LTE engineering screens show which band and with AJ's excellent articles I can tell which frequency as well.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-345-whats-the-frequency-kenneth-interpreting-your-engineering-screen-part-one/

 

Hopefully the hotspots and/or USB devices will have some sort of debug screen.

 

Good point.  I forgot about those engineering screens that show which band class you are connected to.

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