Shentel / Sprint LTE - (was ntelos - West & N&W Virginia)

[bbostwick8]

I went into the Sprint store today and I was told that Sprint and nTelos 'are coming to an agreement' and that LTE service would be available after the details were hammered out. Not sure wether this is fact or not. 

[bbostwick8]

I wish Shentel would put up their own towers here, but I don't think they can. I had asked some higher ups in the wireless side about placing towers in underserved markets in the area where we have fiber optic cable. I was told that basically it comes down to something like a DMA. They have some agreement with Sprint or nTelos that forbids them from deploying their services anywhere except designated areas.... something along those lines anyway... but agreements can change  - and this was awhile ago when it was brought up so knows...

[nosaelg78]

Hello I work for nTelos, I am a manager at a Richmond Virginia store and I have a friend that's a switch tech for Ntelos and he says LTE will launch June 30th.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

 

[davidtm]

Where? Richmond, throughout nTelos' area?

[nosaelg78]

Where? Richmond, throughout nTelos' area?

Richmond area.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

 

[davidtm]

Oooohh, so close, yet so far!

 

Enjoy it when it comes . . .

[bubretti]

Hello I work for nTelos, I am a manager at a Richmond Virginia store and I have a friend that's a switch tech for Ntelos and he says LTE will launch June 30th. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Will launch for Sprint costumers?

[Mattaddison]

Hi. My name is Matthew. I visited nTelos at the NRV Mall in Bluefield, West Virginia and bought a SIM card for my phone for $10 to enable LTE service. The max speeds I got was 27 Mbps up and 14 down. The current locations for LTE are Bluefield, WV; Beckley, WV; and Waynesboro, NC. The man there put a "Carrier Update" on my phone after he inserted the new nTelos SIM card into my phone. It took about 25 minutes to complete the process. I own a iPhone 5s and it works great only when and where I'm able to use it.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Mattaddison

[bbostwick8]

Ntelos doesn't use SIM cards

[Steven800]

They have to for the iPhone it's the only way for it to connect to LTE. All iPhones have removable sims unless you have the iPhone 4 CDMA version.

[forerunner]

I attempted to read through this entire thread before posting but did not make it all the way through.   I purchased a Sprint LTE MiFi air card and attemtped to activate in the Ashland KY area as well as Huntington WV a few weeks ago.      The air card would NOT activate in Ntelos territory.   The air card is designed to revert to 3G when not in 4G territory.    No luck whatsoever in activating the air card.    I can drive 30 minutes north into Ohio (just north of Portsmouth), which is Sprint LTE territory and the air card activates immediately.   30MB download speeds on the Sprint LTE network!    As soon as I drive back into Ntelos territory, the air card stops working.   Sprint Store had no explanations at all regarding this issue.   I assumed the air card would activate on the 3G network and planned to use the air card until LTE arrives in these areas..Sprint is actively building LTE in these areas as I type.   Hopefully that answers any questions/concerns regarding LTE roaming agreements between Sprint and Ntelos.

[forerunner]

To add to my comments above,  I also have a Sierra Wireless 3G sprint air card that works perfectly fine in these areas, as it should.  That's why I was confused as to why this new LTE MiFi aircard would not at least activate at a 3G level in the Ntelos 3G territories mentioned above.   

[S4GRU]

I attempted to read through this entire thread before posting but did not make it all the way through. I purchased a Sprint LTE MiFi air card and attemtped to activate in the Ashland KY area as well as Huntington WV a few weeks ago. The air card would NOT activate in Ntelos territory. The air card is designed to revert to 3G when not in 4G territory. No luck whatsoever in activating the air card. I can drive 30 minutes north into Ohio (just north of Portsmouth), which is Sprint LTE territory and the air card activates immediately. 30MB download speeds on the Sprint LTE network! As soon as I drive back into Ntelos territory, the air card stops working. Sprint Store had no explanations at all regarding this issue. I assumed the air card would activate on the 3G network and planned to use the air card until LTE arrives in these areas..Sprint is actively building LTE in these areas as I type. Hopefully that answers any questions/concerns regarding LTE roaming agreements between Sprint and Ntelos.

What PRL is it running? That's likely why it will not pick up and run on nTelos 3G.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[forerunner]

What PRL is it running? That's likely why it will not pick up and run on nTelos 3G.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I'm not sure what PRL it was running. When I was able to activate it in Ohio (ntelos territory), it immediately updated the PRL automatically. I reset the aircard to default several times and attempted to activate with original PRL and the updated one with no luck in ntelos territory. I returned the aircard and am waiting to receive a different one to try.

[bubretti]

I attempted to read through this entire thread before posting but did not make it all the way through.   I purchased a Sprint LTE MiFi air card and attemtped to activate in the Ashland KY area as well as Huntington WV a few weeks ago.      The air card would NOT activate in Ntelos territory.   The air card is designed to revert to 3G when not in 4G territory.    No luck whatsoever in activating the air card.    I can drive 30 minutes north into Ohio (just north of Portsmouth), which is Sprint LTE territory and the air card activates immediately.   30MB download speeds on the Sprint LTE network!    As soon as I drive back into Ntelos territory, the air card stops working.   Sprint Store had no explanations at all regarding this issue.   I assumed the air card would activate on the 3G network and planned to use the air card until LTE arrives in these areas..Sprint is actively building LTE in these areas as I type.   Hopefully that answers any questions/concerns regarding LTE roaming agreements between Sprint and Ntelos.

What is your source that sprint is actively putting lte in ashland? I had my suspicions they were gonna over build certain ntelos cities. I also got a text in early November that sprint was building a whole new network for my city.

[forerunner]

What is your source that sprint is actively putting lte in ashland? I had my suspicions they were gonna over build certain ntelos cities. I also got a text in early November that sprint was building a whole new network for my city.

Hey bubretti,  

My source of information was from a RF engineer that is under contract with Sprint and provides installation and maintenance of Sprint's wireless and wire-line networks.   I was informed that Sprint is aggressively planning the LTE builds in these areas and plans on building approx 1,200 sites to cover these areas starting early summer 2014.  Site preparations have already begun.    Areas would include eastern KY (Ashland area), Huntington/Charleston WV, Beckley etc..  

 

In addition to my previous posts above this regarding problems activating a Sprint LTE aircard in Ntelos territory,  Co-workers have complained of having the same issues in WV (Beckley) and VA (Roanoke).   I was extremely pleased with the download and upload speeds in Sprint LTE, Southern Ohio.   Can't wait to get this service!  

[S4GRU]

Hey bubretti,  

My source of information was from a RF engineer that is under contract with Sprint and provides installation and maintenance of Sprint's wireless and wire-line networks.   I was informed that Sprint is aggressively planning the LTE builds in these areas and plans on building approx 1,200 sites to cover these areas starting early summer 2014.  Site preparations have already begun.    Areas would include eastern KY (Ashland area), Huntington/Charleston WV, Beckley etc..  

 

In addition to my previous posts above this regarding problems activating a Sprint LTE aircard in Ntelos territory,  Co-workers have complained of having the same issues in WV (Beckley) and VA (Roanoke).   I was extremely pleased with the download and upload speeds in Sprint LTE, Southern Ohio.   Can't wait to get this service!  

 

This is the first I've heard of any confirmation of the rumors.  Exciting to consider.  If it is 1,200 sites, it would have to be a build over of all the nTelos territory, from Morgantown down to Blacksburg, from the Tri-Cities over to Roanoke and Lynchburg.  And then it would have to be amazingly dense.  But that may be because of Band 41.  I hope it happens.

 

Robert

[forerunner]

This is the first I've heard of any confirmation of the rumors.  Exciting to consider.  If it is 1,200 sites, it would have to be a build over of all the nTelos territory, from Morgantown down to Blacksburg, from the Tri-Cities over to Roanoke and Lynchburg.  And then it would have to be amazingly dense.  But that may be because of Band 41.  I hope it happens.

 

Robert

S4GRU, You are absolutely correct.   I only mentioned the cities that I was absolutely positive on, but the plan (from what I gathered) was to build over all territory.   

 

In my post #214 of this thread,  I mentioned that I drove in Ohio (ntelos territory) attempting to activate the card..  Meant to say (Sprint territory).   Sorry, just trying to keep my info accurate and specific.  

[blackwaterstout]

Hey bubretti,

My source of information was from a RF engineer that is under contract with Sprint and provides installation and maintenance of Sprint's wireless and wire-line networks. I was informed that Sprint is aggressively planning the LTE builds in these areas and plans on building approx 1,200 sites to cover these areas starting early summer 2014. Site preparations have already begun. Areas would include eastern KY (Ashland area), Huntington/Charleston WV, Beckley etc..

 

In addition to my previous posts above this regarding problems activating a Sprint LTE aircard in Ntelos territory, Co-workers have complained of having the same issues in WV (Beckley) and VA (Roanoke). I was extremely pleased with the download and upload speeds in Sprint LTE, Southern Ohio. Can't wait to get this service!

This would be bad-ass if Sprint overbuilds. nTelos sucks. Do you know if Morgantown/Fairmont/Clarksburg was on the list?

[lilotimz]

I hear Shentel land is a bit north of Ntelos and they're quite eager to expand... 

[cdk]

Hey bubretti,  

My source of information was from a RF engineer that is under contract with Sprint and provides installation and maintenance of Sprint's wireless and wire-line networks.   I was informed that Sprint is aggressively planning the LTE builds in these areas and plans on building approx 1,200 sites to cover these areas starting early summer 2014.  Site preparations have already begun.    Areas would include eastern KY (Ashland area), Huntington/Charleston WV, Beckley etc.. 

 

This is the first I've heard of any confirmation of the rumors.  Exciting to consider.  If it is 1,200 sites, it would have to be a build over of all the nTelos territory, from Morgantown down to Blacksburg, from the Tri-Cities over to Roanoke and Lynchburg.  And then it would have to be amazingly dense.  But that may be because of Band 41.  I hope it happens.

 

Robert

 

Wow! That would be impressive, and fill in a huge whole in the NV site map.

[forerunner]

This would be bad-ass if Sprint overbuilds. nTelos sucks. Do you know if Morgantown/Fairmont/Clarksburg was on the list?

I would assume so but will check and see if I can confirm.

[chanfishy]

Removed

[shawneyboy123]

Anybody like to explain this? Picked up 800mhz 1x in Beckley. My phone would NOT revert off of extended or to 3G until right as I got home then it went back to native (nTelos) 3G.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

[S4GRU]

Anybody like to explain this? Picked up 800mhz 1x in Beckley. My phone would NOT revert off of extended or to 3G until right as I got home then it went back to native (nTelos) 3G.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

 

I responded to this in the 800MHz thread.

 

Robert