LG G2 -- the first Sprint tri band LTE handset (was "LG Optimus G2")

[ericdabbs]

Herein lies the catch lol. I may be switching to AT&T to get the Note 3... Did some math and I will end up paying less by joining my families AT&T plan than staying solo on Sprint. Plus it would be 10GB of data shared by 3 people, one of which who uses less than 1GB per month.

 

So although I follow this site religiously, it might make sense for me to move on to AT&T. But I may be back in two years when Sprint starts beating everyone in the LTE game lol.

 

Between the phone offerings and deciding on a carrier, this has been the hardest phone upgrade decision i have ever had to make lol.

Sounds like its a better deal financially to join your family in the AT&T family plan and get LTE coverage now. In 2 years the sprint LTE network will be in great shape.

 

Sent from my Motorola Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[sddabrow]

Sounds like its a better deal financially to join your family in the AT&T family plan and get LTE coverage now. In 2 years the sprint LTE network will be in great shape.

 

Sent from my Motorola Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

Thanks! Im also holding out for the Nexus 5 lol. If I decide to stick with Sprint, I would go for the G2 and keep an eye out for the Nexus 5. Wouldn't get the Note 3 since it plans to not be Tri Band.

[rebelx]

With every FCC OET article that I write, I include hyperlinks back to my previous FCC OET articles in the series.  So, you can use the LG G2 article below to check out those other articles.  All of those older flagship caliber handsets support SVLTE or even SVDO.  Those are your likely options.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-350-bande-à-part-lg-g2-is-the-first-announced-sprint-tri-band-lte-handset/

 

AJ

 

Thanks for pointing me the in the right direction. VoLTE is where I'd like to be, since the other types are being phased out. 

 

Not sure how much I want to hold out for longer, especially if there's no confirmation about what and when (features) the next phones will carry. Guess it's worth just picking up the G2 in that case. 

[Nickel]

Thanks for pointing me the in the right direction. VoLTE is where I'd like to be, since the other types are being phased out. 

 

Not sure how much I want to hold out for longer, especially if there's no confirmation about what and when (features) the next phones will carry. Guess it's worth just picking up the G2 in that case. 

VoLTE is a long ways off so I wouldn't worry about it for a while.

[rebelx]

VoLTE is a long ways off so I wouldn't worry about it for a while.

 

Thanks! Looks like there's no point in waiting (and I don't want to pick up a phone that's older than the newly released models to have simultaneous data/voice features)! 

[ericdabbs]

Thanks for pointing me the in the right direction. VoLTE is where I'd like to be, since the other types are being phased out. 

 

Not sure how much I want to hold out for longer, especially if there's no confirmation about what and when (features) the next phones will carry. Guess it's worth just picking up the G2 in that case. 

 

I wouldn't worry about the LG G2 not being future proof.  Since it has triband LTE, you are set for at least the next 2-3 years until your next phone upgrade in terms of data.  Also about VoLTE for voice, forget about it.  It ain't coming for many years to come and even if Sprint did start rolling out small amounts of VoLTE as a trial run, CDMA is still going to be live on the Sprint network for at least another 5-6 years.  Sprint wouldn't spend all this capital on upgrading CDMA to 1x Advanced if its intention was to dump it in 2 years.

[mc_gusto]

I played with moto x and g2 at att today. G2 seems so unrefined. Unpolished. All the Grey buttons. Qslide seems unfinished. Design is very inconsistent. Makes samsung look great. I'll wait til nexus or s5. Knock on feature is cool though.

 

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[VW Maverick]

Sprint targets 5,500 TD-LTE sites by year-end:

 

http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2013/09/16/sprint-targets-5500-td-lte-sites-by-year-end/

 

Mav.  

[ericdabbs]

Sprint targets 5,500 TD-LTE sites by year-end:

 

http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2013/09/16/sprint-targets-5500-td-lte-sites-by-year-end/

 

Mav.  

 

Nice.  This matches up to the info that we have heard recently from Robert on TD-LTE progress in the premier sponsors thread.

[gnoj]

Nice.  This matches up to the info that we have heard recently from Robert on TD-LTE progress in the premier sponsors thread.

 

That number matches up with how many co-located Sprint/Clear sites there are. So the first wave of LTE 2600 will be on these Clearwire sites by the end of the year, followed by the remaining (~8,500) Clearwire-only sites by spring 2014, followed by regular non-colocated NV sites and small cells through to the end of 2014?

 

If they are also upgrading backhaul at these sites beyond the standard 100 Mbps, it would make sense to start with the colocated sites since it upgrades many WiMax areas first and gets a head start on speeding up backhaul even further at NV sites at the same time.

[sddabrow]

A guy over at MacRumors shows this having some great battery life too!

 

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=17909318&postcount=82

[ericdabbs]

A guy over at MacRumors shows this having some great battery life too!

 

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=17909318&postcount=82

 

Awesome to hear.  The 3000 maH battery should be a beast.  

 

Also I read this on XDA developers of someone who compared the G2 vs. GS4 camera. Lets just say he was impressed with the G2 camera. 

 

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45622779&postcount=43

 

When you click on the Flicker link, the lower left corner shows the phone source between GS4 and G2 when you click for each pic.  The only thing is in low light, the GS4 pics appear to look better than the G2 pics.

[S4GRU]

Sprint targets 5,500 TD-LTE sites by year-end:

 

http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2013/09/16/sprint-targets-5500-td-lte-sites-by-year-end/

 

Mav.  

 

And there is a map showing the location of every single one of them in the Premier Sponsor thread.  http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4675-td-lte-2600band-41-lte-info-teaser/

 

Robert

[sddabrow]

Awesome to hear.  The 3000 maH battery should be a beast.  

 

Also I read this on XDA developers of someone who compared the G2 vs. GS4 camera. Lets just say he was impressed with the G2 camera. 

 

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45622779&postcount=43

 

When you click on the Flicker link, the lower left corner shows the phone source between GS4 and G2 when you click for each pic.  The only thing is in low light, the GS4 pics appear to look better than the G2 pics.

 

This is a good comparison. To me, it looks like the GS4 wins when flash is needed. But the G2 blows the GS4 out of the water with granularity when there is no flash.

[gnoj]

And there is a map showing the location of every single one of them in the Premier Sponsor thread.  http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4675-td-lte-2600band-41-lte-info-teaser/

 

Robert

 

So I don't suppose anyone will confirm nor deny my three-phase theory for TDD deployment until I pony up for Premier, eh?

[S4GRU]

So I don't suppose anyone will confirm nor deny my three-phase theory for TDD deployment until I pony up for Premier, eh?

 

Ummm, no.  They're not allowed to give you info from the Premier Sponsor section.  But with the discount we're offering today, we've made the deal as alluring as we can.

 

Robert

[gnoj]

Ummm, no.  They're not allowed to give you info from the Premier Sponsor section.  But with the discount we're offering today, we've made the deal as alluring as we can.

 

Robert

 

I wasn't sure that such broad-based information was exclusive to the Premier Sponsor section (as opposed to specific information like the status of various markets). I thought it possible it was already discussed elsewhere.

 

Anyway, all I was looking for was a yes or no answer, and since a "no" response would still not reveal the exact nature of the various phases of deployment, I will take it that I'm generally on the right track...

[The Dave]

Perhaps Benjamin Franklin can steer you in the right track.

[dmaxx67]

will the G2 have AptX Bluetooth by chance? I am behind the curve but buddy of mine has htc once and was streaming music through Bluetooth at high bit rate and sounded amazing

[S4GRU]

That number matches up with how many co-located Sprint/Clear sites there are. So the first wave of LTE 2600 will be on these Clearwire sites by the end of the year, followed by the remaining (~8,500) Clearwire-only sites by spring 2014, followed by regular non-colocated NV sites and small cells through to the end of 2014?

 

If they are also upgrading backhaul at these sites beyond the standard 100 Mbps, it would make sense to start with the colocated sites since it upgrades many WiMax areas first and gets a head start on speeding up backhaul even further at NV sites at the same time.

 

If you would see the Premier Sponsor Band 41 Maps, you would see the first 5,500 are not co-located with Sprint sites.  They are typically the highest capacity sites in each market.  The site on my hotel roof in Denver last month is a Clearwire only site.  However, the rooftop Clearwire LTE site on the hotel I stayed at in Fort Collins last week was a co-located Sprint site.  No pattern there.

 

Additionally, of the 50 or so Band 41 sites I've used in the Denver/Fort Collins area, I would summize they have not upgraded backhaul yet at all the newly upgraded sites.  Whatever backhaul Clearwire already has in place is what is being connected initially.  I was getting speeds as low as 8Mbps and as high as 59Mbps with a full signal.  And since there are not many Triband hotspots out there and it is a 20MHz channel, I know that the slower sites had to be speed limited by backhaul.

 

According to a Clearwire source, they are actively upgrading their backhaul network wide.  But they will not wait for new backhaul to fire up a TD-LTE 2600 site.  So the sites running 30-60Mbps are likely already upgraded.  And the ones running 8-20Mbps are likely still on legacy WiMax backhaul.

 

Robert

[gnoj]

Perhaps Benjamin Franklin can steer you in the right track.

 

Touché, good sir. Another donation is definitely coming soon.

 

If you would see the Premier Sponsor Band 41 Maps, you would see the first 5,500 are not co-located with Sprint sites.  They are typically the highest capacity sites in each market.  The site on my hotel roof in Denver last month is a Clearwire only site.  However, the rooftop Clearwire LTE site on the hotel I stayed at in Fort Collins last week was a co-located Sprint site.  No pattern there.

 

Additionally, of the 50 or so Band 41 sites I've used in the Denver/Fort Collins area, I would summize they have not upgraded backhaul yet at all the newly upgraded sites.  Whatever backhaul Clearwire already has in place is what is being connected initially.  I was getting speeds as low as 8Mbps and as high as 59Mbps with a full signal.  And since there are not many Triband hotspots out there and it is a 20MHz channel, I know that the slower sites had to be speed limited by backhaul.

 

According to a Clearwire source, they are actively upgrading their backhaul network wide.  But they will not wait for new backhaul to fire up a TD-LTE 2600 site.  So the sites running 30-60Mbps are likely already upgraded.  And the ones running 8-20Mbps are likely still on legacy WiMax backhaul.

 

Robert

 

Alright, thank you for the information. Hard to believe, but I guess the 5,500 figure is just a coincidence then.

 

I remember your report from Denver, but I had figured the slower backhaul was still present there only because it was one of the very first markets to launch with virtually no one using it and that they were still experimenting with deployment. I expected Clear/Sprint would ask for the newer backhaul to be in place first before activating TDD to ensure a consistent and optimal experience, like they've been doing with LTE 1900 acceptances, but I suppose even the existing Clear backhaul is good enough for the time being.

 

I would hope someone right next to a fully upgraded site with the sector all to themselves would pull more than 60 Mbps (closer to the theoretical peak of 90), but if I remember correctly, you may have been limited by the hotspot's WiFi.

 

Everything so far has been a soft launch, so they will probably make sure the new backhaul is finished before they formally launch a market. Will the fiber be provisioned at the same speed at all sites to fully support the capacity of the airlink, or will that vary based on expected load?

[Dkoellerwx]

I would hope someone right next to a fully upgraded site with the sector all to themselves would pull more than 60 Mbps (closer to the theoretical peak of 90), but if I remember correctly, you may have been limited by the hotspot's WiFi.

 

 

I believe the fastest speeds of near 60Mbps were tethered via USB, so no loss due to WiFi. I don't think the backhaul is in place yet to support the theoretical max.

[S4GRU]

Touché, good sir. Another donation is definitely coming soon.

 

 

Alright, thank you for the information. Hard to believe, but I guess the 5,500 figure is just a coincidence then.

 

I remember your report from Denver, but I had figured the slower backhaul was still present there only because it was one of the very first markets to launch with virtually no one using it and that they were still experimenting with deployment. I expected Clear/Sprint would ask for the newer backhaul to be in place first before activating TDD to ensure a consistent and optimal experience, like they've been doing with LTE 1900 acceptances, but I suppose even the existing Clear backhaul is good enough for the time being.

 

I would hope someone right next to a fully upgraded site with the sector all to themselves would pull more than 60 Mbps (closer to the theoretical peak of 90), but if I remember correctly, you may have been limited by the hotspot's WiFi.

 

Everything so far has been a soft launch, so they will probably make sure the new backhaul is finished before they formally launch a market. Will the fiber be provisioned at the same speed at all sites to fully support the capacity of the airlink, or will that vary based on expected load?

 

Clearwire/Sprint will get the maximum possible bandwidth possible for each Band 41 site.  Probably 2/3 can get 100-300Mbps+ no problem.  But the other third will have highly variable backhaul.  They will get the maximum performing backhaul that can be obtained.  The capacity of the airlink is ~100Mbps per sector.  So 300Mbps is needed ideally for each TDD carrier.  That's a lot of needed backhaul.

 

So if a site currently has 100Mbps, if the site is under burdened (as all Band 41 sites are currently), each sector can likely provide maximum speed test results.  But if each was at 50% capacity, speeds could be way, way lower than optimum.  But probably still better than LTE 1900 with normal loads.  With 20MHz of capacity, there's just a lot of room for traffic.  So there needs to be some mondo backhaul in the long run.

 

They have options though.  At a site where they can get 100Mbps service, they may be able to add three separate 100Mbps connections, one for each sector as a temporary stop gap measure.  However, for longevity, they will need to get 1Gbps+ for Band 41 sites.  And they will get there.  And fortunately they have a little time to get there.  So if they continue to run full bore on this backhaul upgrade, they can stay ahead of the curve.  But no rest for the weary.

 

Robert

[Mobilesolutions]

Clearwire/Sprint will get the maximum possible bandwidth possible for each Band 41 site. Probably 2/3 can get 100-300Mbps+ no problem. But the other third will have highly variable backhaul. They will get the maximum performing backhaul that can be obtained. The capacity of the airlink is ~100Mbps per sector. So 300Mbps is needed ideally for each TDD carrier. That's a lot of needed backhaul. So if a site currently has 100Mbps, if the site is under burdened (as all Band 41 sites are currently), each sector can likely provide maximum speed test results. But if each was at 50% capacity, speeds could be way, way lower than optimum. But probably still better than LTE 1900 with normal loads. With 20MHz of capacity, there's just a lot of room for traffic. So there needs to be some mondo backhaul in the long run. They have options though. At a site where they can get 100Mbps service, they may be able to add three separate 100Mbps connections, one for each sector as a temporary stop gap measure. However, for longevity, they will need to get 1Gbps+ for Band 41 sites. And they will get there. And fortunately they have a little time to get there. So if they continue to run full bore on this backhaul upgrade, they can stay ahead of the curve. But no rest for the weary. Robert

If Sprint and I got in touch we could start throwing around air fiber fed sites and split gig circuits 2 or 3 ways.

-Will

 

I know you need fiber eventually but this would speed up metro deployments considerably. 3.6/900 could get thrown into the mix..or maybe I'm off in left field and should stick to doing this privately.

[gnoj]

Here's to hoping they can get 300 Mbps to most of the Clear-only sites. This network will undoubtedly be launched with great fanfare and come under lots of scrutiny to make sure it performs as advertised. From everything I've seen so far, I am confident SoftBank will deliver.

 

I did some rough math and figured that when they get to deploying TDD on Sprint's NV sites next year they'll need just over 500 Mbps for most sites that will be broadcasting on all three bands, considering LTE 800 adds another 112 Mbps across 3 sectors. If they add another 20 MHz TDD channel and another 5x5 carrier on PCS H then, boom, there you are at a gigabit. It's a good thing they were thinking ahead and got all the new equipment to support GigE. I just wonder if the microwave backhaul they've had to put in on a few sites can be upgraded to support such speeds.