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

[JDP121]

They turned on 5G UC for Northern part of Albemarle County Va. will have to test it when I go into town tomorrow. 
 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10fHGyEBdsOOF8geOT1vP4Pk-TXEl3EYB/view?usp=drivesdk

[Trip]

Interesting.  That's the tower by the airport.

Wondering if it's this permit from October.  B202102892ATWR:  "ADDING 3 RADIOS WITH BUILT IN ANTENNAS TO EXISTING CELL TOWER"

Implies AWS wasn't added.  Also, the permit is "Under Review" rather than "Issued."  Hmm...

- Trip

[JDP121]

23 hours ago, Trip said:

Interesting.  That's the tower by the airport.

Wondering if it's this permit from October.  B202102892ATWR:  "ADDING 3 RADIOS WITH BUILT IN ANTENNAS TO EXISTING CELL TOWER"

Implies AWS wasn't added.  Also, the permit is "Under Review" rather than "Issued."  Hmm...

- Trip

I have no idea why TMO updated the map yet. Visited about every site for the 5G UC coverage they they are showing, even did network resets at each site and did the airplane mode switch and no connection what so ever. Even couldnt even pick it up on the main roads that are shown for the sites. Think they jumped the gun on this one. I know I can connect to 5G UC since i'm a iphone 12 pro. and have connected to it before in richmond va with good results. 

 

[Trip]

I'll be passing through Charlottesville on 4/18, and I'll have a phone locked on B41.  I'll report if I see anything.

- Trip

[JDP121]

2 hours ago, Trip said:

I'll be passing through Charlottesville on 4/18, and I'll have a phone locked on B41.  I'll report if I see anything.

- Trip

Don't expect too much. I did confirm with one of my sources that the third party that does the updates to the T-Mobile and Verizon Maps that they updated the map on the T-MO site to early and has yet to revert it back. I can confirm this since I traveled most of the UC area on the map with no connections whatsoever. Even went to to towers and did a network reset at each one to see if I could connect with no luck whatsoever. 

[dkyeager]

16 hours ago, JDP121 said:

I have no idea why TMO updated the map yet. Visited about every site for the 5G UC coverage they they are showing, even did network resets at each site and did the airplane mode switch and no connection what so ever. Even couldnt even pick it up on the main roads that are shown for the sites. Think they jumped the gun on this one. I know I can connect to 5G UC since i'm a iphone 12 pro. and have connected to it before in richmond va with good results. 

 

Verizon maps are very inaccurate for UW in northwest Columbus OH. Might be competive pressure. Hopefully a future oriented map by like 3 months or so.

[PedroDaGr8]

15 hours ago, JDP121 said:

Don't expect too much. I did confirm with one of my sources that the third party that does the updates to the T-Mobile and Verizon Maps that they updated the map on the T-MO site to early and has yet to revert it back. I can confirm this since I traveled most of the UC area on the map with no connections whatsoever. Even went to to towers and did a network reset at each one to see if I could connect with no luck whatsoever. 

That explains a few locations on my local map.All of the inaccurate have a permit in place to upgrade the tower but it hasn't been done yet.

[Trip]

Well, the map isn't lying.  B41 LTE now running from the CHO site.

https://imgur.com/a/tC9P6u3

- Trip

 

[Trip]

The map has been updated and shows new B41 in Charlottesville.  Hard to tell with certainty which tower or towers it is, but it appears to be some combination of the T-Mobile site at the Darden School, the T-Mobile power line site behind La Quinta, the Shentel site at Barracks Road Shopping Center, and the Shentel site where Rose Hill meets Westwood.

I also note that they show the Lake Louisa tower, which previously had only 600/700, as now running B41.  That is rather unexpected.  I note the "Personal" map does not indicate the presence of AWS or PCS there yet.

In a different part of the Shentel region, I spent much of the past week in and around Luray, and saw the Luray B41 before it appeared on the map.  Also verified a number of B41 sites in and around Harrisonburg, as well as the ones in Front Royal and Strasburg.

- Trip

[ofreyfromyabush]

A Shentel site in Morgantown, WV (located on top of WVU's Engineering Sciences Building) is getting upgraded today https://imgur.com/a/aQXd4pb 

One of the first conversions in this area that I've seen so far. When I was near by it was still broadcasting Sprint B25 and B41.  There's another site located off of Bakers Ridge Rd in Morgantown that was upgraded recently, just not broadcasting anything but Sprint B25 at the moment. 

[Elijah]

Does anyone have any updates to the Cumberland/Mineral County area? Specifically looking to get TMHI in Ft. Ashby.

[Trip]

I don't have anything solid to offer on Cumberland, but I came down US-15 today and the water tower site in Weber City is now up and running with B2/12/4/71 (035ACCxx), I believe I saw new T-Mobile antennas on the tower at Sprouses Corner which I will try to confirm on Saturday (definitely not running if they're there), and I believe I may have connected to something that got converted in Farmville.  By process of elimination, my guess is Lancer Park, but I hope to find out tomorrow or Saturday.

So upgrades are clearly coming.  You may want to see if your local government officials can tell you anything.  Probably not, but can't hurt to ask.

- Trip

[Trip]

...and I just this morning realized you meant Cumberland, MD.  It threw me because there's an Ashby in Cumberland County, VA, which I'm far more familiar with.

- Trip

[Trip]

Returned from southern Virginia today and drove around the I-64/US-29/US-250 loop around Charlottesville on the way up.  Located new B41 from three sites: 

A Shentel keep site, specifically the one where I-64 crosses 5th Street - 035ADAxx

The Darden School - 034D7Axx

Another that I believe is from the site near the Amtrak station but couldn't confirm based on the points I had - 04AFC1xx

- Trip

[ofreyfromyabush]

Two Shentel to T-Mobile conversion sites have gone live in Morgantown, WV.

Bakers Ridge Rd - https://imgur.io/a/VfcfSVk this site was the first to turn on. Has LTE 2,4,66,71 and had N41 and N71. Have not been able to get a 5G signal (N41 or N71 in both SA and NSA form) from this site outside of Monday morning. Was broadcasting 40mhz of N41.

WVU Engineering Sciences Building - https://imgur.io/a/Z81e4I0 this site went live within the last two hours today. Broadcasting LTE 2,4,66,71 and N71. Can't seem to connect to N41 at this site yet, but I assume it will also have at least 40mhz N41.

I'd say from work start to site turning live, everything has taken about a month. Still have several sites that have not been touched, and these two being turned on recently had caused a bunch of problems with myself and others in the area as devices are preferring to connect to the weaker T-Mobile signal when a nearby perfectly good and usable Shentel/Sprint keep signal is available.

 

[Trip]

I was down in the southern part of Virginia earlier this week and on the way out of town yesterday, had to go through Keysville. From a distance, I noticed the Shentel rack looked like it had more gear on it, so I drove up for a closer look. Sure enough, T-Mobile gear is now in place, though not yet operating.  https://imgur.com/a/LaZIOQt

For reference, here are pictures of this tower I took in April: https://imgur.com/a/dTbr0uc

In addition, there's gear installed but not yet operating at Sprouses Corner and the site at Madison Run (US-15 between Orange and Gordonsville) was offline entirely with antennas on their way up.

- Trip

[cooltech6597]

Spotted a Shentel to T-Mobile convert site in Hinton, WV. 5G doesn't seem to be turned on right now. Currently it seems to have b2 5mhz, b66 10mhz, b71 5mhz enabled. https://imgur.com/a/Fnox8Uf

[cooltech6597]

Shentel handoff is just too good 😁https://imgur.com/a/Cf7oR5k

[cooltech6597]

Didn't realize there were 2 convert sites lol

[ofreyfromyabush]

On 7/21/2022 at 3:45 PM, ofreyfromyabush said:

Two Shentel to T-Mobile conversion sites have gone live in Morgantown, WV.

Bakers Ridge Rd - https://imgur.io/a/VfcfSVk this site was the first to turn on. Has LTE 2,4,66,71 and had N41 and N71. Have not been able to get a 5G signal (N41 or N71 in both SA and NSA form) from this site outside of Monday morning. Was broadcasting 40mhz of N41.

WVU Engineering Sciences Building - https://imgur.io/a/Z81e4I0 this site went live within the last two hours today. Broadcasting LTE 2,4,66,71 and N71. Can't seem to connect to N41 at this site yet, but I assume it will also have at least 40mhz N41.

I'd say from work start to site turning live, everything has taken about a month. Still have several sites that have not been touched, and these two being turned on recently had caused a bunch of problems with myself and others in the area as devices are preferring to connect to the weaker T-Mobile signal when a nearby perfectly good and usable Shentel/Sprint keep signal is available.

 

Both of these sites are now offline, not sure why. No other sites than these two have had work complete, then be brought online, then back offline. While I'm grateful they're off and I can connect to B25/26 without needing to band-lock, it's hampering coverage in some areas. 

[Paynefanbro]

Looks like T-Mobile just got an opportunity to expand n41 in Shentel-land

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/shentel-sell-its-25-ghz-spectrum-assets

[Trip]

From the "things not on my bingo card for 2022" department, it looks like the T-Mobile site in Red House, VA is now fully upgraded.  I drove up to it this morning to confirm, and it now has B2/71/41, where previously it had been B71-only.  AWS appeared to be present but not accessible, as any phone locked to B66 would fail to connect to anything, even though it's on high ground and should have seen AWS from sites 10 miles away, as my AT&T phone was doing.  Notably, it also failed to connect to US Cellular B66 on the same tower, implying they have blocked roaming on it, which is also new.  The Shentel gear on the tower was not operating as best I could tell; B26 would connect to more distant sites if chosen.

I assumed backhaul would be a massive problem at the site, but maybe that's been resolved.  In any case, assuming they ultimately offer home internet, it'll be a big deal for people around who have never had great options in the past.

I got pictures of the upgraded setup which I'll post on Reddit next week.

- Trip

[davidtm]

My wife works in Staunton, and she struggles with poor connection since changing to TMo SIM. I reported the address through My Sprint app (we've not yet switched accounts). Anything else we can do to address this?

[Trip]

Ouch: 

https://www.wvnstv.com/news/t-mobile-customers-have-minimal-reception-in-beckley-seek-more-coverage/

- Trip

 

 

[Trip]

T-Mobile gear continues to fly into place at a rapid clip.  Over the weekend, I saw that these sites that are now fully upgraded since the last time I went by, including B41 (all in Virginia):

Jeffersonton
Amissville
Merrimac
Stanardsville
Quinque
Charlottesville Downtown
Lancer Park (Farmville)
Keysville Bypass (!)
Orange Water Tower (yes, in addition to the existing T-Mobile site.  B12/71 antennas are present but not yet operating)

Plus, Gear Mountain was now converted and running all bands except B41.  And none of this includes sites I've spotted with new gear that has yet to be turned on. 

I was by many of these sites a month ago.  I was by some of them two weeks ago.  Crazy how fast this seems to be happening.

Some of them have a weird issue where AWS spectrum is clearly running, but none of my phones will connect to it, including my S21FE on T-Mobile post-paid.  I somehow convinced my S21FE to briefly connect to AWS at Lancer Park once, but was less successful at the newly-converted Culpeper West site I passed a few weeks ago and tried again today.  Same problem I noted at Red House in my 8/27 post.

- Trip