How good/bad is NV, really?

[xman1102]

If this isn't in the proper forum, mods please feel free to move it.

 

I'm not trolling or attempting to cause issue, I'm wanting the honest hard truth in regards to NV.

 

I live in the Suburbs of Denver. Without say, I don't have 4g. Nor have I had it for the 2 years I've paid the premium. My contract is soon up and I want some real world answers, and not from a CS rep to tell me what I want to hear.

 

I've learned from this site that there is indeed some service getting lite up around Denver. What I'm wanting to know from those with experience, how much longer can I anticipate that a great deal of Denver is NV strong? Two months, six, another year? I'm just looking for some answers.

 

My wife and I have been with Sprint for 13 years. I don't want to change, but I want good data speeds as well.

 

Also, for those living in completed NV areas, how is the service? Assuming we wait out completion, is it what it's being touted as?

 

Sent from me phone

 

 

[markjcc]

[markjcc]

oh and this

 

[money69]

Im personally not impressed with NV here in Houston. We should be one of the markets farthest along but I am not impressed with the speeds here. Within the last week or so I have picked up some CDMA on 800Mhz which is encouraging but overall I think the backhaul is a huge problem for Sprint. Even the towers that I connect to which have LTE are 3-5Mbps usually when I have ran speedtests, not anything to write home about. 

[lilg740]

Tri Band phones will be out before the end of the year. 800smr with Sprints site spacing should be a HUGE difference maker and put Sprint on par with VZW and AT&T if not better. This is my wholehearted opinion. We have been with sprint since this,

and we plan on staying.

[xman1102]

But when will I see that type of service? Another year? Another year of paying for service I don't get?

 

Sent from me phone

 

 

[illest_ios]

Tri Band phones will be out before the end of the year. 800smr with Sprints site spacing should be a HUGE difference maker and put Sprint on par with VZW and AT&T if not better. This is my wholehearted opinion. We have been with sprint since this,

and we plan on staying.

 

now THAT is loyalty.

[illest_ios]

But when will I see that type of service? Another year? Another year of paying for service I don't get?

 

Sent from me phone

 

my little bro has been waiting for LTE for almost 2 years with his s3. yeah, i hate my current 3G speeds, but after sprint has more deployment, i really think they will blow verizon out of the water. i mean they have great (and i mean GREAT) LTE service. but 3 Gbs per month? no way! im sticking with sprint also because they have been great with me and my family. i know the wait is LONG over due for LTE but i think it will be worth it.

 

just my 2 cent lol

[mrknowitall526]

But when will I see that type of service? Another year? Another year of paying for service I don't get?

 

Sent from me phone

 You've never been paying for "4G", that's just what dumb CS reps say.  It's a premium data charge.  Every carrier charges it now.  It just happened to come about around the same time that 4G Wimax was coming out, so people thought it was for 4G.

[Epic4G25]

Are those from the old days after the Centel buyout?

 

Tri Band phones will be out before the end of the year. 800smr with Sprints site spacing should be a HUGE difference maker and put Sprint on par with VZW and AT&T if not better. This is my wholehearted opinion. We have been with sprint since this,

and we plan on staying.

[lilg740]

Are those from the old days after the Centel buyout?

Idk I was only 7 or 8 when my mom got one of those. My first phone was this guy

[utiz4321]

In markets that I have traveled to Where NV is more complete it has been real impressive. Usable data is really the norm in those markets. If you are looking for high speed test to boost your ego than no NV is not going to do that for you, at least not until 2.6 gets deployed. But if you want data that will stream video/music consistently NV is making that happen in the markets I have traveled to ( San Diego, la, San Francisco) now hopeful Phoenix can get going.

[BlueAngel]

I am generally pretty happy with NV as of right now, I can pretty much do what I want wherever I go and I get LTE in a lot of places now. 800 voice will be the real show stopper though, really looking for better in-building reception. I've turned my airave off for the moment, it causes more issues than it fixes lately, I am back to 2-3 bars around my house which is pretty acceptable and I have fast WiFi so I don't need working data. But there are a few places I go where the 1900 signal just doesn't get through well or at all and I get stuck roaming on Verizon, 800 will be a god-send.

[koiulpoi]

http://sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint#q=Denver

 

Hmm, looks like Network Vision and 4G LTE work has started in the greater Denver area, but not Denver itself. 

 

Here's the thing. We really have no idea how long it will take. Sites could light up like gangbusters, or there could be things holding deployment back. As work is already underway in your market, I really can't expect it would be that long. But again, nobody knows for sure. I will say that, for Michigan, I have been rather impressed at the total speed at which work has been completed. The state is almost completely covered, it's just the "fill in" that needs to be done to remove the dead spots, and fully cover the cities.

 

Remember that Sprint is doing work everywhere. Network Vision 3G and 4G LTE are going on every single cell site (with a small handful of exceptions). This isn't a bolt-on upgrade, it's a complete replacement of base station equipment, panels/antennas, radio units, everything. They're ripping out the old (dilapidated) network and installing a new one. Work like this takes time.

 

I recommend following this thread:

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3913-network-vision-site-acceptance-report-updates/

If you look, over Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (last two posts), ten new 4G LTE sites went on-air and accepted in the Colorado market.

 

As well, if you become a sponsor, you can see site acceptances on a very nice map.

 

As for the "how's the service" question:

4G LTE isn't everywhere in my market, yet. Where we have it, it's awesome. For voice coverage, Sprint has been installing 800 MHz equipment for that, and will eventually use that for LTE as well. 800 MHz is low-frequency, and so penetrates walls and hills and trees and humans much better than 1900 MHz (what Sprint uses for everything else right now). Once 800 MHz was accepted on my local site, I went from barely being able to text in my house, to being able to call in my basement. A massive improvement, and I'm pretty happy with it.

 

3G has also improved, but not in quite a dramatic sense. Claims that Network Vision 3G travels up to 20% further than Legacy, and it seems to make sense. Again, living on a "cell edge" area, I went from unusable 3G EV-DO to 1 Mbps, fairly consistently. Both signal strength and speeds have improved (the second part of which, I am sure the new backhaul played a part).

[Terrell352]

I thought Denver is now live with 2600 LTE pretty much everywhere

If this isn't in the proper forum, mods please feel free to move it.

 

I'm not trolling or attempting to cause issue, I'm wanting the honest hard truth in regards to NV.

 

I live in the Suburbs of Denver. Without say, I don't have 4g. Nor have I had it for the 2 years I've paid the premium. My contract is soon up and I want some real world answers, and not from a CS rep to tell me what I want to hear.

 

I've learned from this site that there is indeed some service getting lite up around Denver. What I'm wanting to know from those with experience, how much longer can I anticipate that a great deal of Denver is NV strong? Two months, six, another year? I'm just looking for some answers.

 

My wife and I have been with Sprint for 13 years. I don't want to change, but I want good data speeds as well.

 

Also, for those living in completed NV areas, how is the service? Assuming we wait out completion, is it what it's being touted as?

 

Sent from me phone

[SpenceSouth]

http://sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint#q=Denver

 

Hmm, looks like Network Vision and 4G LTE work has started in the greater Denver area, but not Denver itself. 

 

Here's the thing. We really have no idea how long it will take. Sites could light up like gangbusters, or there could be things holding deployment back. As work is already underway in your market, I really can't expect it would be that long. But again, nobody knows for sure. I will say that, for Michigan, I have been rather impressed at the total speed at which work has been completed. The state is almost completely covered, it's just the "fill in" that needs to be done to remove the dead spots, and fully cover the cities.

 

Remember that Sprint is doing work everywhere. Network Vision 3G and 4G LTE are going on every single cell site (with a small handful of exceptions). This isn't a bolt-on upgrade, it's a complete replacement of base station equipment, panels/antennas, radio units, everything. They're ripping out the old (dilapidated) network and installing a new one. Work like this takes time.

 

I recommend following this thread:

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3913-network-vision-site-acceptance-report-updates/

If you look, over Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (last two posts), ten new 4G LTE sites went on-air and accepted in the Colorado market.

 

As well, if you become a sponsor, you can see site acceptances on a very nice map.

 

As for the "how's the service" question:

4G LTE isn't everywhere in my market, yet. Where we have it, it's awesome. For voice coverage, Sprint has been installing 800 MHz equipment for that, and will eventually use that for LTE as well. 800 MHz is low-frequency, and so penetrates walls and hills and trees and humans much better than 1900 MHz (what Sprint uses for everything else right now). Once 800 MHz was accepted on my local site, I went from barely being able to text in my house, to being able to call in my basement. A massive improvement, and I'm pretty happy with it.

 

3G has also improved, but not in quite a dramatic sense. Claims that Network Vision 3G travels up to 20% further than Legacy, and it seems to make sense. Again, living on a "cell edge" area, I went from unusable 3G EV-DO to 1 Mbps, fairly consistently. Both signal strength and speeds have improved (the second part of which, I am sure the new backhaul played a part).

 

Great synopsis.  We should pin this for others that ask.

[SpenceSouth]

I thought Denver is now live with 2600 LTE pretty much everywhere

 

That's from Clears rollout, which is currently separate from NV.

[xman1102]

I don't know what 2600 LTE means, but I get no 4g with my GS3

 

Sent from me phone

 

 

[WiWavelength]

my little bro has been waiting for LTE for almost 2 years with his s3.

 

Uh, no.  Your "little bro" has had his Samsung Galaxy S3 for only a little more than a year -- at best.  The handset was not released until last summer.

 

AJ

[Dkoellerwx]

I don't know what 2600 LTE means, but I get no 4g with my GS3

 

Sent from me phone

 

2600 LTE is the new LTE service that is being offered by Clear - the company that deployed 4G WiMax - and pretty much covers all of the Denver metro right now. It will be expanding as time goes on just as Sprint LTE is expanding. 

 

When Tri-Band phones come along, pick up one of those and you'll have LTE anywhere that WiMax is present, and possibly in even more areas. Plus, as soon as Sprint PCS and SMR LTE comes online, you'll have access to that. 

 

In short, with the right device, Sprint already has Denver covered with LTE!

[koiulpoi]

I thought Denver is now live with 2600 LTE pretty much everywhere

Good catch! It totally is, according to Rob's journeys. 

 

I don't know what 2600 LTE means, but I get no 4g with my GS3

 

Sent from me phone

Your Samsung Galaxy S3 only supports LTE on one frequency band - PCS 1900 MHz G-Block (or, just "1900 MHz"). It's what the initial 4G rollout is using, and as it's the same "type" of frequency as what Sprint already has for Voice and 3G EV-DO, it covers a similar amount of area.

 

Sprint also will be using ESMR 800 MHz for LTE (which I covered in my previous post), for even further signal propagation and penetration.

 

Finally, Sprint has a swath of spectrum in the BRS/EBS 2600 MHz (also referred to as just 2600 MHz or 2.6 GHz) bands. This spectrum was previously owned by Clearwire, the company that built out the 4G WiMAX network (which was the 4G that older phones used, like the HTC EVO 4G or the Samsung Epic). While it has slightly worse signal penetration than 1900 MHz (or definitely 800 MHz), Sprint has a lot of it, so they can serve up consistently fast high speeds to many people. As Clearwire (before they were bought out by Sprint) has already completed construction of 2600 MHz sites in many places around the country, Denver included, they are already available for use.

 

However, there are currently no phones that can use signals other than 1900 MHz. Right now, to use any 800 MHz LTE or 2600 MHz LTE signals, you would need to buy a hotspot device such as the Netgear Zing or the MiFi 500, as they are the only ones that support it. Many manufacturers are on board to support these new bands, and the LG G2 (successor to the LG Optimus G) is already confirmed that it will be "tri-band", and will be available this fall, with many more appearing soon after.

 

Great synopsis.  We should pin this for others that ask.

Thanks. That's refactored pieces of my usual spiel that I give to customers who come in and talk to me about Sprint network upgrades. Some days, I feel like the only rep in the state who knows what I'm talking about, as I usually get a stream of retorts of "well this other store told me" or "that's not what they said on the phone".

 

Uh, no.  Your "little bro" has had his Samsung Galaxy S3 for only a little more than a year -- at best.  The handset was not released until last summer.

 

AJ

Aw, c'mon. Some people just like to round up on time. A guy I used to work with would look at the clock and see 4:15, and go "It's 5 o'clock! Almost time to go!"

[Terrell352]

Basically the same results though since sprint triband phones will be able to use it.

That's from Clears rollout, which is currently separate from NV.

[xman1102]

Well I guess it's good I have an upgrade coming soon to use on a tri-band

 

Sent from me phone

 

 

[koiulpoi]

Well I guess it's good I have an upgrade coming soon to use on a tri-band

 

Sent from me phone

In what relative area do you live? Where do you work? Where do you commute through?

 

You said the "suburbs" of Denver, but that's a lot of area. Basically, I'm curious if you might already be covered by 2600 MHz TD-LTE. If it was close for the old 4G WiMAX coverage, you'll definitely be in it; WiMAX peters out a lot quicker than LTE does, all things considered, and Clear's WiMAX coverage in Denver looks pretty solid.

 

In the end, if you're in a suburban area, you should have WiFi at home, so LTE coverage there should be a non-issue. Work, Commute, and "out and about" time of course will definitely matter.

[xman1102]

Ya wifi isn't an issue.

 

I live in Parker, Douglas Country (80134). I work all around Denver, primarily Englewood, Aurora, and occasionally around Colorado Blvd.

 

Usual night outs and dinner are around Parker or the Park Meadows area. Rarely anything downtown Denver or north.

 

Sent from me phone