Network Vision/LTE - Buffalo Market

[Eelnwahs]

They are upgrading the entire market all at once. LTE goes live at each complete converted site when the backhaul is complete and ready by the backhaul vendor. It has nothing to do with planning by demographics.

 

Robert

I was just curious because they seem to be doing the lower income areas first. Wasn't sure if it was a factor.

[Eelnwahs]

Also realistically how long will it take for sprint to have every tower with 3G converted to LTE? I know they technically "launch" the market without a complete footprint.

[S4GRU]

Also realistically how long will it take for sprint to have every tower with 3G converted to LTE? I know they technically "launch" the market without a complete footprint.

Every single site in the market? Another 6-9 months, at least. More and more will go live every week. And coverage will be total before every site is done. But it will take a long time to get every site with LTE on it.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[DelRioBuff]

They upgraded the tower (finally) near where I work a week or so ago, but data speeds have tanked since then. They were better before the upgrade. I hope they get that backhaul in place soon, so they can get LTE up and running...

[Jesus_Serrano93]

So they are Moving closer into the City with 4G. I Had it all the way on my small commute to work..Also mapped it out on Sensorly.. Glad to see Black Rock/Riverside getting some LTE love

[JeffGAudi]

Transit in Lancaster is finally showing 4g.   Last week all of the towers on transit from Lancaster to Clarence were even dropping 3g , and Sheridan and Maple were a disaster.   Going to be up that way tomorrow, so maybe they finally flipped the switch.

[DelRioBuff]

Forget about my complaint above. The tower is now 4G and so far the performance is awesome. Keep it going, Sprint!

[pt_muldoon]

Transit in Lancaster is finally showing 4g.   Last week all of the towers on transit from Lancaster to Clarence were even dropping 3g , and Sheridan and Maple were a disaster.   Going to be up that way tomorrow, so maybe they finally flipped the switch.

 

I live 1 mile east of Transit next to the Lancaster HS and have an intermittent 4G here tonight.  But because both the 3G and 4G signals being received are so bad, I can barely make a call without it dropping.

[JeffGAudi]

I live 1 mile east of Transit next to the Lancaster HS and have an intermittent 4G here tonight.  But because both the 3G and 4G signals being received are so bad, I can barely make a call without it dropping.

 

So, 4g was spotty on Maple heading toward Evans, but the tower near Youngs is still terrible. dropped all internet between main and Sheridan. such a joke.

 

I avoided Transit coming home today because of the work near French, so i went towards Harris Hill and Central.  3g only with not a whiff of 4g......

[rspetti]

So for whatever reason, I haven't been able to keep the LTE signal to all these new updated towers in the northtowns. I know they're active because there are all kinds of Sensorly mapping around them. I just figured it was some weird thing going on with my Nexus 5 and it'll work itself out since I know it works elsewhere. So imagine my surprise last night when I had a very strong signal inside Target on the Blvd! Apparently whatever was holding me back before isn't holding me back anymore from that area. I was ecstatic that I can use LTE so close to home. The tower closest to me in "downtown Tonawanda" is 4G accepted, but not for me yet. Once that starts working, I'll be a happy camper. Thank you Sprint!!

 

Also, on my way in to work for the past week or so, I've noticed a backhoe digging a trench towards the tower in Riverside. Probably for backhaul? So it looks like they're moving their way into the city.

[Jesus_Serrano93]

Where is that Tower in Riverside? I didn't know Sprint had a Tower that Close..Thought the One near Sheridan was the closest

[jamisonshaw125]

Where is that Tower in Riverside? I didn't know Sprint had a Tower that Close..Thought the One near Sheridan was the closest

Should donate a few bucks towards becoming a sponsor and you can peak on all sorts of information like that . 

[LTE4All]

What are the chances that a Sprint tower isn't listed on their network.sprint.com site?

 

Red circle is the tower I always thought I was connected to, black dot is around where I live, red dot is the location of the mystery tower,

 

I always thought the cell tower closest to my house (about 1.5 to 2 miles away) was a Verizon tower since when I had Verizon I noticed I always had full bars and about -77 dBm when I drove by it, it's the only tower that I know of that's in that general area and my signal strength at home was decent.  A few weeks ago when driving by the same tower, I noticed the same results on my Sprint phone.  Full bars/-77dBM, the farther away I got the lower the signal, so it must me a Sprint tower as well.  I know providers share some cell sites, but with Sprint I can stare on the phone sitting on the table and watch it go from eHRPD to 1X to Roaming.  So I always assumed that I was connected to the tower that I have circled in red since that's I believe exactly 4 miles away and every thing I read a while back said the typical max range for a tower is a 4 mile radius depending on building materials, terrain and frequencies and that would explain my poor coverage.  If I'm incorrect on any of that please let me know.

 

And then earlier in the week I noticed I had No Service at all on Monday evening, had service when I work up Tuesday morning, when I got home from work, No Service again.  Wednesday on my way to work when I was within eye sight of that mystery tower, where I usually have 4 or 5 bars of 3G, I had one bar of LTE!  Yesterday on my way home from work I did some playing.  I drove by the tower again, it didn't pick up the LTE right away, I had to pull over and reboot the phone, still one bar, beiing parked directly across from it, speedtests only give me about 2Mb download, and if I drive more then a half a mile in either direction on Clinton St, it goes back to 3G.

 

So it looks like that tower is indeed Sprint, but it's not, nor has it ever been on their map.  I'm just hoping I can get LTE at home when it's said and done given my inconsistent signal.  Even 1 bar would be great. 

 

[Jesus_Serrano93]

Just got a message at work from Sprint saying the new network is all around me, and that a tower I use most is going to be upgraded in the next couple of days. I'm hoping this is true considering LTE is pretty much wrapping around the main metro area of Buffalo now. Now they just have to start heading into the center. I'm sure Buffalo will officially launch next month at some point

[nderasmo]

We are getting lte around the emwood and Kenmore area.

[Jesus_Serrano93]

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Full 4GLTE on my phone earlier this morning. Had to update my PRL like 9 times and still had it, forced 3G and the pings were sub 30 hitting 2mbps. Watched a Youtube video and just smiled as it streamed along with no buffering. So this is what it feels like to have good internet

Edited March 29, 2014 by Jesus_Serrano93

[Jesus_Serrano93]

From Yesterday. Very Impressive during peak hours

[DelRioBuff]

The Village of Orchard Park now has LTE! Awesome!

[joshnys8913]

Looks like Buffalo finally got there official launch of LTE (as of Sprint website and map all orange now) It does include Lockport and Niagara Falls.  

[joshnys8913]

Seems like it took them forever to launch Buffalo, the biggest NY state city in upstate NY (outside of NYC).  If I remember correctly Albany, Utica, Jamestown (and that area), Rochester (where I live by), Syracuse and then Buffalo.... (is what order they were launched in, I know there were smaller towns included)

 

Seems out of order to me, according to metropolitan size it would be Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse, Jamestown and Watertown (which are about the same size I believe).  

[ajr0203]

I really don't like the sprint maps. They're outdated compared to other sites and they are wayyyy overzealous. I live in the north towns of Niagara Falls and I can say that I do get LTE in the falls, Lewiston, and I can get spits of it in Youngstown. Very small spits of it. Their map indicates ALL of WNY as a deep orange. Most of that map should be light orange and even more purple. It's nice to see, but I don't like how misleading it is. Just my 2 cents.

[joshnys8913]

I really don't like the sprint maps. They're outdated compared to other sites and they are wayyyy overzealous. I live in the north towns of Niagara Falls and I can say that I do get LTE in the falls, Lewiston, and I can get spits of it in Youngstown. Very small spits of it. Their map indicates ALL of WNY as a deep orange. Most of that map should be light orange and even more purple. It's nice to see, but I don't like how misleading it is. Just my 2 cents.

Its better then big red Vz they just plainly show the deep red for LTE, they dont even give you STREET LEVEL and there maps are wrong too, because my friend goes to 3G in area where its "LTE".  AT&T is eh, T-mobile I honestly cant say anything about ive never had them and no one that I know has them even people up in Rochester or Buffalo or Syracuse (I know people in all areas friends, etc) and no one uses them.  Seems like most people I know that have T is NYC. 

[Eelnwahs]

It seems like all the towers in WNY have been upgraded hardware wise for 1900mhz LTE but just sitting there waiting forever for backhaul upgrade. I wish they would speed it up.

[joshnys8913]

I really don't like the sprint maps. They're outdated compared to other sites and they are wayyyy overzealous. I live in the north towns of Niagara Falls and I can say that I do get LTE in the falls, Lewiston, and I can get spits of it in Youngstown. Very small spits of it. Their map indicates ALL of WNY as a deep orange. Most of that map should be light orange and even more purple. It's nice to see, but I don't like how misleading it is. Just my 2 cents.

Ive talked about carrier maps on this site many times, Sprint is actually the most accurate, At&t is just like big red V now they just give you the color of service your going to get, and its very basic, its either you have service or you dont on their maps when you voice.  When it comes to 3G or 4G LTE you get a general idea of what your going to get, but no street level difference.  T used is be better when they had their green maps, they changed to pink to cover up all their 2G coverage which I think is stupid, its VERY misleading to a normal customer for them.  Sprint still AT LEAST gives you street level Excellent, Good, Fair, No coverage, yes they are not always correct or great but who says wireless is perfect? ITS NOT! LOL!!!!  At least Sprint gives you a general idea of what you MIGHT get at your house (outside street level).  It all depends on your phone too, not all phones are created equally.  I am not saying your wrong, because you are right, I agree with you, I wish they would revamp their map, Sprint is behind the times with coverage map!  I agree with your situation about the "deep orange" they have my city as having deep orange coverage when that is NOT true when you are in the middle of the city you loose 4G LTE and drop down to 3G, it dont matter what phone you have (I have tried SEVERAL) and they just cant hold on to LTE the whole time (its because of the buildings).

 

With that being said I started out as a Sprint customer several years ago and left for another carrier thinking it was better when it was not I came back after a few years.  Sprint has always had good coverage for my needs, LTE is a struggle sometimes in some places I go to, but that dont bother me much. Hey you put in your 2 cents, well there is my 2 cents, lol.  You can disagree with me and thats fine I am not perfect either haha.  

[joshnys8913]

I am quite surprised no one in the Buffalo area took up Roberts offer....