How is NV 3G?

[Shanner068]

How have the coverage and data speeds been with enhanced 3G? I haven't heard anything on this subject. I see a lot of cities have been covered with it and was wondering if it has been better then the Legacy.

[Deval]

Coverage is slightly improved, but data throughput averages 1.5-2mbps, which is leaps and bounds better than 300-500kbps. 

[thewezgrays]

It is hard to tell where things will settle at (as mentioned above the 1.5 to 2.0 is what makes sense) but with so many live NV sites without backhaul -- current performance is not a sign of future performance.  (I regularly still get low speeds out of NV 3G sites here..)

[snowmobiler487]

I don't have specefic numbers from old speed tests, but the data speeds have increased tremendously from unusable to around 2mbps which fast enough for me to not need wifi at home anymore.

[koiulpoi]

I don't have specefic numbers from old speed tests, but the data speeds have increased tremendously from unusable to around 2mbps which fast enough for me to not need wifi at home anymore.

If you've got WiFi at home, what do you need 3G for?

[BlueAngel]

Usually get 2-2.5Mbps/700Kbps-1.2Mbps upload with sub 60ms pings, not too bad. Much better than what I had on AT&T with my iPhone 4.

[mrknowitall526]

The tower nearest me just got upgraded 3G - this morning!  Averaging between 1.5 and 2 Mbps.  I'm happy!!  Have no DSL or cable at home, and these speeds are very useful for me.

[Txmtx]

Usually get 2-2.5Mbps/700Kbps-1.2Mbps upload with sub 60ms pings, not too bad. Much better than what I had on AT&T with my iPhone 4.

That is pretty impressive. Where are you? I'm in a pretty loaded area -- upper middle class suburbia in Houston, so lots of LTE devices but also lots of kids on EVDO devices -- parents giving them the "discount" iPhone, 4Ses abound. LTE is quick and impressive. NV made a huge difference, as you'd imagine... 3G is usable. Off-peak it is back to what I remember from the rollout of EVDO Rev A back in the day. 1.2M+ down, 400k up, ~120ms. On-peak is still better than comparable "budget" plans (non-LTE AT&T "aio" & TMo devices). Very usable most times. If it isn't, it's usually because you've ventured into a non-NV-complete area. Such as where I am now. For giggles, I got (after multiple timeouts and errors) "0.00" down and .25 up, 1280 ms. I have turned back on my wifi of course...

[BlueAngel]

That is pretty impressive. Where are you? I'm in a pretty loaded area -- upper middle class suburbia in Houston, so lots of LTE devices but also lots of kids on EVDO devices -- parents giving them the "discount" iPhone, 4Ses abound. LTE is quick and impressive. NV made a huge difference, as you'd imagine... 3G is usable. Off-peak it is back to what I remember from the rollout of EVDO Rev A back in the day. 1.2M+ down, 400k up, ~120ms. On-peak is still better than comparable "budget" plans (non-LTE AT&T "aio" & TMo devices). Very usable most times. If it isn't, it's usually because you've ventured into a non-NV-complete area. Such as where I am now. For giggles, I got (after multiple timeouts and errors) "0.00" down and .25 up, 1280 ms. I have turned back on my wifi of course...

I am in Philadelphia, not quite in the city about 10 miles away. Still waiting on more LTE, the LTE I get at home is hardly usable 1-2 bars outside (goes in and out and back on 3G constantly) and none inside and they turned off the LTE around my work 2 miles away so I don't really see LTE much but when I do get to use in it certain areas I get anywhere from 12-32Mbps.

[Craig]

It'll be hard to tell what NV 3G will perform like until a given city has their full NV build out completed. Until then, there will still be traffic that would normally be passed through on LTE that will be going over 3G. So, I would guess that there would theoretically a small increase in 3G performance , while LTE will slow from the really fast 30-40M to the expected 4-6M, which is more than enough for pretty much anything you would need to do on a mobile device. 

[mrknowitall526]

I've also noticed really bad voice coverage in some areas that are 3G complete.  Maybe handing off to non-complete towers?  (And I'm not in a Samsung area.)

[Txmtx]

I've also noticed really bad voice coverage in some areas that are 3G complete. Maybe handing off to non-complete towers? (And I'm not in a Samsung area.)

I can think of only a couple places like this where I know for certain that while data has improved in most of the sector, there are areas of difficulty, highly noticeable on a steady connection like 3G VoIP or regular voice calls. Both of these things together imply to me that they still have work to do on tweaking the cell seams. Unanticipated multipath effects, maybe a higher noise floor than they expected.

 

I'm just an RF engineer so my experience with actual network deployment is largely theoretical, and other forum guys (AJ...) probably can speak more confidently but that is my experience and opinion. Tl;dr, the 3G problems will subside. The LTE fading and bumping you to 3G or 1x *may* not subside anytime soon if you don't have an 800-LTE capable phone and Sprint deploys it for seam / cell edge relief. Your 3G trouble indicates a higher likelihood you are in a seam region.

 

Good news is, when you do pick it up, the orthogonality of LTE spec cell *seams* perform much better than EVDO seams, especially on the downlink. (Haven't heard it discussed much other than the generic "LTE is a poor-performing spec at cell edge" ... which is true, but true cell edges are very different converging cell edges aka seams, where LTE largely outperforms EVDO.)

[mrknowitall526]

I can think of only a couple places like this where I know for certain that while data has improved in most of the sector, there are areas of difficulty, highly noticeable on a steady connection like 3G VoIP or regular voice calls. Both of these things together imply to me that they still have work to do on tweaking the cell seams. Unanticipated multipath effects, maybe a higher noise floor than they expected.

 

I'm just an RF engineer so my experience with actual network deployment is largely theoretical, and other forum guys (AJ...) probably can speak more confidently but that is my experience and opinion. Tl;dr, the 3G problems will subside. The LTE fading and bumping you to 3G or 1x *may* not subside anytime soon if you don't have an 800-LTE capable phone and Sprint deploys it for seam / cell edge relief. Your 3G trouble indicates a higher likelihood you are in a seam region.

 

Good news is, when you do pick it up, the orthogonality of LTE spec cell *seams* perform much better than EVDO seams, especially on the downlink. (Haven't heard it discussed much other than the generic "LTE is a poor-performing spec at cell edge" ... which is true, but true cell edges are very different converging cell edges aka seams, where LTE largely outperforms EVDO.)

I know there is still tweaking, but for the "uneducated public", they would freak out about that.

[utiz4321]

Not sure where to ask this but I am visiting a market where lte is being deployed but not fully launched and when I have access to lte it works very well except when streaming video. When I stream video it loads about 40 sec then stops and I have to skip ahead for it to load the next 40 sec. I have used several different apps and the web browser all do the samething. I don't know if it is the phone (I have an iPhone 5) I don't think so because with a fast enough 3G connection I don't have this problem. I also have tried it with full lte signal. Has anybody else had this problem? Is this something sprint is doing with prelaunch markets? Thanks.

[Txmtx]

I know there is still tweaking, but for the "uneducated public", they would freak out about that.

Indeed. And understandably. Even more, I am curious to see how the even tech-savvy public, unaware of the specifics of the NV software-defined load leveling, react in the occasions where their LTE-capable device drops to 3G, despite 3, 4, even 5 bars. (On phones where those bars are truly reflective of LTE strength and not underlying 1x.)

 

More and more phones are hiding the status bar by default though, which will help. You won't notice unless you specifically check, presumably due to shit performance, which means that NV function didn't predict successfully anyway. The idea is it should be transparent to the user unless on a streaming unbuffered connection (VoIP).

 

This aspect will only function at its full potential with triband devices and fully equipped towers, but on paper it looks

. I am optimistic. I love watching the ingenious ways Sprint has dealt with its strategically poor position through engineering. And now they have the smarts and money too...

[snowmobiler487]

If you've got WiFi at home, what do you need 3G for?

The point is I no longer have to pay for wifi at home since sprint is now usable.

 

I am just put of college so every penny I can save is like gold.

[koiulpoi]

The point is I no longer have to pay for wifi at home since sprint is now usable.

I still don't understand. Do you just use internet on your phone? Or are you paying for tethering? Either way, offloading on to WiFi tends to be better (both for you and the network) than using it, especially if it's available.

[snowmobiler487]

I still don't understand. Do you just use internet on your phone? Or are you paying for tethering? Either way, offloading on to WiFi tends to be better (both for you and the network) than using it, especially if it's available.

Sorry you beat my edited post, see above.

[Txmtx]

The point is I no longer have to pay for wifi at home since sprint is now usable.

You'll find it's better to be careful to not imply you "abuse" (by the community subconsciously-agreed definition) Sprint's unlimited data. Most of us love the underdog (Sprint) and get a little testy about it.

 

I'm sure you are using it for casual youtubing and email and browsing. Perfectly within Sprint planner's calculations for usage. It will always be some that use more than average and some less... Using exactly the average is just that. Average.

 

I use quite a lot. I can excuse that as being a paid network consultant but it doesn't negate that I pull down 50GB+ and probably another full GB of Verizon roaming 3G.

 

Anyway, glad to hear 3G is sufficient for your home uses. That is encouraging from a planning perspective. Where are you located?

[snowmobiler487]

You'll find it's better to be careful to not imply you "abuse" (by the community subconsciously-agreed definition) Sprint's unlimited data. Most of us love the underdog (Sprint) and get a little testy about it.I'm sure you are using it for casual youtubing and email and browsing. Perfectly within Sprint planner's calculations for usage. It will always be some that use more than average and some less... Using exactly the average is just that. Average.I use quite a lot. I can excuse that as being a paid network consultant but it doesn't negate that I pull down 50GB+ and probably another full GB of Verizon roaming 3G.Anyway, glad to hear 3G is sufficient for your home uses. That is encouraging from a planning perspective. Where are you located?

I only use it for casual use and in no way abuse the network. I use around 4gb / month with general browsing and radio/ pandora streaming. My "home" usage is only needed when I am not working on week nights as I normally head to my fiancé's place on weekends (she lives in a different city) so I only have 3-4 hours to potentially use it each week night.

[snowmobiler487]

Also, my apartment is located on the lower east side of Milwaukee (unfortunately only about 3 blocks out of LTE range)

[Txmtx]

I only use it for casual use and in no way abuse the network. I use around 4gb / month with general browsing and radio/ pandora streaming. My "home" usage is only needed when I am not working on week nights as I normally head to my fiancé's place on weekends (she lives in a different city) so I only have 3-4 hours to potentially use it each week night.

Like I said. I only mentioned it cuz I'm feeling verbose and kind enough to explain the potential for "problematic perception." If you really used way too much, Sprint would shitcan your contract.

 

Only 3 blocks, ouch, hope that gets sorted out, that's depressing!

[snowmobiler487]

Like I said. I only mentioned it cuz I'm feeling verbose and kind enough to explain the potential for "problematic perception." If you really used way too much, Sprint would shitcan your contract.Only 3 blocks, ouch, hope that gets sorted out, that's depressing!

Yeah it was disappointing when I first saw LTE on my phone and saw it disappear right before I got home. I still could see it as I drive through it every day but I try not to use my phone while driving : )

[jamesinclair]

So all the towers around my current location are 3G NV.

 

I did some speed checks, and the results were abysmal.

 

Signal = 76dbm   (for 3G, obviously, unsure where the wimax comes from)

 

Bottom results 3G, middle = wimax, top = home wifi

 

All tests taken from same location (my bed!)

 

 

 

Come September, Ill give Sprint a ring if the results continue to be this bad.

 

I swear the 3G was better pre-NV.

[koiulpoi]

So all the towers around my current location are 3G NV.

 

I did some speed checks, and the results were abysmal.

 

Signal = 76dbm   (for 3G, obviously, unsure where the wimax comes from)

 

Bottom results 3G, middle = wimax, top = home wifi

 

All tests taken from same location (my bed!)

 

 

 

Come September, Ill give Sprint a ring if the results continue to be this bad.

 

I swear the 3G was better pre-NV.

Is this site you're connected to 4G LTE accepted? Without that, 3G NV can still be hooked up to legacy backhaul. Even with that, they just might not be running enough EV-DO carriers. How bad was your Ec/Io (aka how much interference was there)?