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

[blackwaterstout]

That agreement was already signed for network use on both 3G and LTE

 

 

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Sure the agreements signed, but its not technically in effect yet. Ask the guys that live in Beckley, Bluefield, Roanoke,etc. Beckley was upgraded to LTE 6+ months ago but only the ntelos customers are using it. Its still not turned on for Sprint customers.

[mrknowitall526]

 

On vacation in Smith Mountain Lake. Not too shabby on nTelos 3G

[bubretti]

Looks like parkersburg wv is next. Full build of state by 2016. Smh

http://wvmetronews.com/2014/07/21/ntelos-preparing-for-another-step-with-4g-lte-service/

[bubretti]

Which sprint already covers.

[blackwaterstout]

Great move nTelos! Not! Focusing on an area already covered by native Sprint coverage is insane. I guess its all a moot point here because Sprint customers are hung out to dry in nTelos land anyway.

[S4GRU]

Looks like parkersburg wv is next. Full build of state by 2016. Smh

http://wvmetronews.com/2014/07/21/ntelos-preparing-for-another-step-with-4g-lte-service/

All three areas listed in that Press Release are also covered by Sprint LTE. It makes me wonder if this is because Sprint is going to open up its network to nTelos customers soon and not that nTelos is turning on their own LTE network in these areas.

 

Just thinking out loud. But it's hard to think it is just coincidence.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[bubretti]

Agreed. I also believe the agreement will start with the launch of the markets in the article. Judging by the time frames they are giving I'd say im a Q2 2015 at best. Oh well 3G hasnt been bad all year. Around 1Mbps down .7 Mbps up.

[shawneyboy123]

3G in Beckley only seems to get worse...... There are times I hit 1.5-2mbps but a majority of the time it sits around .5mbps down & .6 up. ):

 

 

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[blackwaterstout]

All three areas listed in that Press Release are also covered by Sprint LTE. It makes me wonder if this is because Sprint is going to open up its network to nTelos customers soon and not that nTelos is turning on their own LTE network in these areas.

 

Just thinking out loud. But it's hard to think it is just coincidence.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

I was kind of thinking the same thing. Why would they actually install their own LTE towers in locations where Sprint currently have LTE installed? Next thing you know nTelos will announce they are turning on LTE in Wheeling. Lol

 

As far as when things get turned on you would think that Sprint allowing nTelos customers access to LTE would coincide with nTelos opening up LTE to Sprint customers.

[shawneyboy123]

I would take this with a grain of salt, but last little chat I had with nTelos to get on their nerves, they kept telling me that their towers "haven't been upgraded for use on Sprint devices" I told her that the equipment already installed would function just fine and tower upgrades wouldn't be necessary but she just continued to dumb her way out and apologize without giving me an answer. It was very frustrating because she talked like she had no clue what she was talking about or being asked.

 

 

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[S4GRU]

As far as when things get turned on you would think that Sprint allowing nTelos customers access to LTE would coincide with nTelos opening up LTE to Sprint customers.

One would think. But given the past, I'd hate to stick my neck out there with a guess. But I hope so.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[shawneyboy123]

I wish switching to nTelos was as easy as it sounds, but their phone selection is sorta iffy. They don't get the new iPhone until at least a month following its release, it took them months to get the GS5, they never got the GS4, I don't believe the offer the ONE M8, no Nexus 5. I understand that you can flash some phones but that can be expensive & a hassle. So I'll just hold off on Sprint until it becomes more hopeless & I jump ship to Verizon (AT&T is far too crowded in West Virginia and half the time their LTE doesn't pass 1 or 2 Mbps. Verizon is consistently 20-50)

 

 

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[bbostwick8]

I wish switching to nTelos was as easy as it sounds, but their phone selection is sorta iffy. They don't get the new iPhone until at least a month following its release, it took them months to get the GS5, they never got the GS4, I don't believe the offer the ONE M8, no Nexus 5. I understand that you can flash some phones but that can be expensive & a hassle. So I'll just hold off on Sprint until it becomes more hopeless & I jump ship to Verizon (AT&T is far too crowded in West Virginia and half the time their LTE doesn't pass 1 or 2 Mbps. Verizon is consistently 20-50)

 

 

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They do have the Nexus 5. No HTC M8, they have just the standard HTC One. We haven't been very satisfied with my wife's nTelos service. LTE is spotty and not always up to pay with speeds.

[blackwaterstout]

Another thing that is weird about this whole mess is that its almost impossible to find reports from nTelos customers in Beckley, bluefield, Roanoke,etc that give us an indication of how good the network can even be. Ive googled nTelos LTE results, quality, etc and they have almost zero presence out there that can help us gauge what kind of results we can ultimately expect.

 

Unless I'm missing something?

[shawneyboy123]

Another thing that is weird about this whole mess is that its almost impossible to find reports from nTelos customers in Beckley, bluefield, Roanoke,etc that give us an indication of how good the network can even be. Ive googled nTelos LTE results, quality, etc and they have almost zero presence out there that can help us gauge what kind of results we can ultimately expect.

 

Unless I'm missing something?

I've seen a few screenshots and they weren't very impressive. Coverage wise I would assume below 3G coverage given the more fragile LTE signal.

 

 

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[chamb]

All three areas listed in that Press Release are also covered by Sprint LTE. It makes me wonder if this is because Sprint is going to open up its network to nTelos customers soon and not that nTelos is turning on their own LTE network in these areas.

 

Just thinking out loud. But it's hard to think it is just coincidence.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

If you read the above newspaper article carefully, it states they intend to cover Winchester, Va and Hagerstown, Md with 4G LTE.

This might be for their own nTelos customers only.  It does NOT say that Sprint Customers will be allowed to use the service.

Shentel already has those areas covered for Sprint and the coverage is superior to anything NTelos would ever do.

I would think that Shentel would scream very loudly if nTelos would be a competitor for the traffic in those areas.

[blackwaterstout]

I've seen a few screenshots and they weren't very impressive. Coverage wise I would assume below 3G coverage given the more fragile LTE signal.

 

 

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I think some of the nTelos customers themselves have a very low set of standards because the screenshots posted a page back shows a 3g throughput of 0.6 mbps and the user calls it "not too shabby". Personally I think that sucks. Although maybe he was being sarcastic and I didn't pick up on it.

[S4GRU]

If you read the above newspaper article carefully, it states they intend to cover Winchester, Va and Hagerstown, Md with 4G LTE.

This might be for their own nTelos customers only. It does NOT say that Sprint Customers will be allowed to use the service.

Shentel already has those areas covered for Sprint and the coverage is superior to anything NTelos would ever do.

I would think that Shentel would scream very loudly if nTelos would be a competitor for the traffic in those areas.

And if they were just piggy backing on Sprint LTE in those areas, I think they may claim they now cover the area. So nothing in that language makes me conclude one way or the other.

 

We know that C-Spire customers in Mississippi already roam on Sprint LTE. But Sprint customers have yet to be allowed to roam on C-Spire LTE. So it may happen that nTelos customers end up on Sprint LTE networks before Sprint customers end up on nTelos networks. We won't likely know until it happens.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[blackwaterstout]

 

 

We know that C-Spire customers in Mississippi already roam on Sprint LTE. But Sprint customers have yet to be allowed to roam on C-Spire LTE. So it may happen that nTelos customers end up on Sprint LTE networks before Sprint customers end up on nTelos networks. We won't likely know until it happens.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

That's enough to make my butt hurt. I just can't fathom Sprint allowing that to happen. They should be wearing the pants in this relationship. They are providing nTelos customers with an an entire country full of LTE access.

[bubretti]

That's enough to make my butt hurt. I just can't fathom Sprint allowing that to happen. They should be wearing the pants in this relationship. They are providing nTelos customers with an an entire country full of LTE access.

I LOL'd and then spilled my coffee!

[mrknowitall526]

I think some of the nTelos customers themselves have a very low set of standards because the screenshots posted a page back shows a 3g throughput of 0.6 mbps and the user calls it "not too shabby". Personally I think that sucks. Although maybe he was being sarcastic and I didn't pick up on it.

That was me and I'm on vacation here, I was expecting much worse based on all the things I've read about nTelos. That speed is more than usable for staying up to date on news, looking up things to do, etc. So yeah, I was being serious. You don't need 35+ Mbps LTE to have a usable and reliable experience.

[mrknowitall526]

 

Does this make you guys happier? "Not too shabby" 3G

[shawneyboy123]

Screenshot_2014-07-22-11-03-54.png

 

Does this make you guys happier? "Not too shabby" 3G

Yes, that's good 3G. And what you referred to before as "not too shabby" really is just barely scraping by. A majority of the time I cannot use my phone on 3G. Twitter gives me connection error's Instagram just gives me blank boxes & circles, I wouldn't even attempt to use Vine over 3G. Spotify even struggles to stream at "Low" quality. Couple that with nTelos's pretty awful tower spacing & it really is more miserable than people outside of this area think.

 

 

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[davidtm]

Another chance to ride by Waynesboro yesterday, and still no 4G love. Couldn't even keep a data connection on anything but CDMA Only setting. :'(

[GBtopgear]

Well figured i'd finally throw in my two cents about this mess been following this forum since November (got to be honest i figured we would have LTE in some places by now) anyway what i think is going to happen is one of these days we will all connect to eHRPD after a PRL, and profile update, and have a successful data connection and then thats when we all should have access to ntelos LTE where available but again when is the big question here.... oh and if anyone is curious i run my phone on CDMA/LTE mode all the time with no issues but when i boot it up it hangs on eHRPD (with no data) for about 1-2 minutes then falls back on EVDO