Sprint LTE Coverage Maps via Sensorly

[hiltonMIA]

If I'm using a Boost LTE phone with Sensorly running, will it map to the Sprint maps? I spent a few hours the other day riding around our neighborhood, but so far nothing has shown up on the maps. Wasn't sure if this was because it isn't a pure Sprint phone, even though it uses their network.

[The Dave]

I was looking at the Sprint CDMA maps last night and noticed some blue along with the green. It says Sprint 2G. It is around the town that my dad lives in that doesn't have Sprint service. Does this mean that Sprint now has some 2G service or is it showing roaming as Sprint 2G?

 

I've also been mapping out lots of empty spots in St Augustine. The coverage seems to be added within minutes of driving by. I am liking this more and more. I can't wait to get an LTE phone and adding to that map.

[Bob Newhart]

I was looking at the Sprint CDMA maps last night and noticed some blue along with the green. It says Sprint 2G. It is around the town that my dad lives in that doesn't have Sprint service. Does this mean that Sprint now has some 2G service or is it showing roaming as Sprint 2G?

 

I've also been mapping out lots of empty spots in St Augustine. The coverage seems to be added within minutes of driving by. I am liking this more and more. I can't wait to get an LTE phone and adding to that map.

 

The problem with sensorly maps is that roaming is included as native coverage.

 

They should fix this.

[BenChase7]

If I'm using a Boost LTE phone with Sensorly running, will it map to the Sprint maps? I spent a few hours the other day riding around our neighborhood, but so far nothing has shown up on the maps. Wasn't sure if this was because it isn't a pure Sprint phone, even though it uses their network.

Your profile says you're using an iPhone, is this true? If so, you cannot map and that is why you haven't seen your "mapping" on Sensorly. This is not a Sensorly or Boost/Sprint issue, it is due to Apple. Apple places cumbersome restrictions on their devices which limit many features, such as this. 

[hiltonMIA]

I'm aware of the limitations of my iPhone, which is why I tried using a ZTE Force, which is a LTE capable prepaid phone using the Boost network. On the Sensorly app it said I've collected over 6k measurements but none of them are showing on the Sprint maps.

[BenChase7]

I'm aware of the limitations of my iPhone, which is why I tried using a ZTE Force, which is a LTE capable prepaid phone using the Boost network. On the Sensorly app it said I've collected over 6k measurements but none of them are showing on the Sprint maps.

 Maybe, check the Sensorly App settings and make sure there is not an upload restriction preventing your measurements from showing on the maps (such as, only report to server over WiFi). Other than that, I don't know. Sorry. 

[Dkoellerwx]

I'm aware of the limitations of my iPhone, which is why I tried using a ZTE Force, which is a LTE capable prepaid phone using the Boost network. On the Sensorly app it said I've collected over 6k measurements but none of them are showing on the Sprint maps.

 

If you're using a Boost phone, it's quite possible that it reports the network as Boost, rather than Sprint, which is why it wouldn't show up on Sensorly's map. They wouldn't know what to do with the data. Check your engineering screens, if you can? They might provide some answers.

[mikejeep]

I'm aware of the limitations of my iPhone, which is why I tried using a ZTE Force, which is a LTE capable prepaid phone using the Boost network. On the Sensorly app it said I've collected over 6k measurements but none of them are showing on the Sprint maps.

I believe Sensorly data is uploaded based on the network information the device is reporting, such as the MCC/MNC.. Sprint devices are on 310120 while connected to standard 1900MHz LTE, so if your Boost phone shows something else, it's probably not going to show up on the Sprint maps.  I don't see any Boost-specific maps on Sensorly's website.

 

-Mike

[chaddy0122]

Thanks for everyone's kind words.

 

We just implemented a slight improvement to the LTE maps : they're drawn down to the pixel now whereas they used to be drawn to 2-pixels. It's subtle but once you notice it looks much better. Not all parts of the maps were updated, only the main markets because there's too much to redraw. But if you collect data and look at the map a couple hours later, you will see it. We redrew about 16 millions map parts yesterday for that.

 

Also, I changed the CDN config : LTE tiles are now cached only 2h max with a 30minute expiry time for the browser so even if you visit a map area in the morning, you should see the updates at noon.

 

 Is there any new info with iPhones being able to track Sensorly data with iOS7 and the new API they created, Core Telephone Framework (CoreTelephony.framework)?

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4136-sensorly-and-ios-7/

[sensorly]

Would love to and we would the minute they did but I just looked at the pre-release iOS 7 APIs and I don't see anything to that effect. Has anyone found anything in their docs ?

[digiblur]

I believe Sensorly data is uploaded based on the network information the device is reporting, such as the MCC/MNC.. Sprint devices are on 310120 while connected to standard 1900MHz LTE, so if your Boost phone shows something else, it's probably not going to show up on the Sprint maps.  I don't see any Boost-specific maps on Sensorly's website.

 

-Mike

 

Sensorly would have to answer this one, but I don't think it is by MCC/MNC as people that change the carrier name/files to BillyBobzBadAzzROM fail to put any purple down on the map.

[Paynefanbro]

I don't know if this has been asked before, but will there be an update to make it fullscreen for those of us with HTC devices. The menu button only opens up the map trip, dropped calls... option and that is accessible through the button on the bottom anyway.

 

Just wondering.

[Smashed Ixnay]

On Friday I'm going to NY and Canada for a week.  I'll make sure to run Sensorly all the way up there and back!  I hope the service isn't horrible on i95.

[digiblur]

On Friday I'm going to NY and Canada for a week. I'll make sure to run Sensorly all the way up there and back! I hope the service isn't horrible on i95.

You have to combine it with LTE discovery in Cycle while not connected to LTE otherwise you could miss a bunch of LTE sites.

 

[Dkoellerwx]

You have to combine it with LTE discovery in Cycle while not connected to LTE otherwise you could miss a bunch of LTE sites.

Or set it to upload only on Wi-Fi. Using that setting on my ONE works better than running LTE discovery as my phone picks up LTE in between the cycles, all on its own. I don't use the discovery app any more because I know I will pick up LTE if it is there.

 

Sent from my HTC ONE

 

 

[bruce]

I had a question about the LTE mapping via sensorly. When I see the purple drawings of sensorly on sprint lte, the purple color is usually a light color, indicating that the signal mapped was not too strong. 

For the most part of the maps, the purple is pretty light.

Then, if I switch the map to a tmobile, att, or verizon...the purple coloring is much darker in contrast.

 

Is this an issue of the sensorly mapping, or are most lte connections weak?

[Paynefanbro]

I had a question about the LTE mapping via sensorly. When I see the purple drawings of sensorly on sprint lte, the purple color is usually a light color, indicating that the signal mapped was not too strong. 

For the most part of the maps, the purple is pretty light.

Then, if I switch the map to a tmobile, att, or verizon...the purple coloring is much darker in contrast.

 

Is this an issue of the sensorly mapping, or are most lte connections weak?

 

It's because Sprint hasn't deployed LTE densely yet in that area. Much of it is still weak. Once all sites get converted, the map will be a darker shade of purple.

[BigJohn2]

Hi all,

 

   How long does it take Sensorly to update the map's?  Just mapped some 4g LTE in the Quad City(moline, IL) area.  Maps not updated yet.

 

Thanks,

 

John  

[The Dave]

Hi all,

 

   How long does it take Sensorly to update the map's?  Just mapped some 4g LTE in the Quad City(moline, IL) area.  Maps not updated yet.

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

It can take as little as a couple of minutes or as long as the next day if the servers are backed up. Try adjusting the zoom, sometimes certain zoom levels will display before the others.

[BigJohn2]

It can take as little as a couple of minutes or as long as the next day if the servers are backed up. Try adjusting the zoom, sometimes certain zoom levels will display before the others.

They are updated and showed my mapping. Thanks,

 

John

[The Dave]

They are updated and showed my mapping. Thanks,

 

John

Awesome. Sensorly can be quite addicting. I actually discovered a new park and walking trail in my neighborhood while taking an extended scenic drive to fill in coverage gaps. I can't wait to begin mapping LTE when I get a new phone. There aren't many Sensorly users here, unfortunately, so my coverage map looks a bit thin when I look at LTE maps.

[BigJohn2]

Awesome. Sensorly can be quite addicting. I actually discovered a new park and walking trail in my neighborhood while taking an extended scenic drive to fill in coverage gaps. I can't wait to begin mapping LTE when I get a new phone. There aren't many Sensorly users here, unfortunately, so my coverage map looks a bit thin when I look at LTE maps.

It will be come addicting now that my area has LTE.  As towers comeing on I will be doing a lot of Sensorly.   

 

Later,

John

[CAREND]

Hi all,

 

   How long does it take Sensorly to update the map's?  Just mapped some 4g LTE in the Quad City(moline, IL) area.  Maps not updated yet.

 

Thanks,

 

John  

 

Remember that sensorly typically cache's the maps on the phone.

[SWMich4G]

I have a question about the shades of purple.  I have some theories but am looking for a definitive answer.  What is it that causes carriers like AT&T to be so much darker than Sprint?  I initially thought most of it was the density of live sites, but zooming in you can see that even in markets where Sprint is denser than AT&T the AT&T map is darker purple.  I also noticed the AT&T mapping of a single tower quickly goes from 3 bars down to nothing near the edge of service.  On the Sprint map, the signal has very little 4 bars, then gradually fades from 3 to 2 to 1, etc.  This leads me to a few theories: 

 

First, it's possible AT&T phones "give up" on LTE much sooner than Sprint and switch to 3G before LTE is unusable.  That would eliminate the lighter purple on the AT&T map and overall everything would average much darker. 

 

It also may be a property of the difference in band. With a lower frequency like 700 MHz does the signal just fade faster at the edge, but stay stronger up until that point?  Difference in band also means Sprint users are mapping much weaker indoor signals compared to AT&T, but I doubt that matters since the majority of mapping is outside. 

 

Alternately, it could also be affected by mapping activity.  Since there are more Sprint mappers that are insanely active on sensorly, they are going to be mapping much more for each tower as opposed to just driving by it.  Since most of a tower's coverage area will be lighter purple (geometry of concentric circles), the more you map two dimensionally instead of just driving by, the lighter the area averages out to.

 

Finally, there's the possibility that it could use something like RSSI to determine shade.  This would give AT&T an advantage because of their bandwidth compared to Sprint's. I doubt this is the case since Sensorly itself displays RSRP, but I have no way of really knowing. 

 

Most likely it's a combination of factors, but I'm curious as to what other people think since I'm not as knowledgeable as some of you on wireless stuff. EDIT:  Looks like bruce just asked this.  I disagree with the only answer someone gave him though. 

[The Dave]

Maybe AT&T users just like the darker shade of purple.