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

[GBtopgear]

Only 6Mbps down at 8:30 AM? wow that nTelos LTE is going to be slower than I thought, whenever they start redeploying it for sprint users its gonna see some strain if there's anyone left at that point but anyway i had a question about the eastern market being shutdown. Will they be deploying that equipment in their western market? please forgive me if this has already been asked. If so I won't be expecting LTE until at least mid 2016.

[chamb]

Only 6Mbps down at 8:30 AM? wow that nTelos LTE is going to be slower than I thought, whenever they start redeploying it for sprint users its gonna see some strain if there's anyone left at that point but anyway i had a question about the eastern market being shutdown. Will they be deploying that equipment in their western market? please forgive me if this has already been asked. If so I won't be expecting LTE until at least mid 2016.

The equipment in the eastern market is probably very obsolete and worth next to nothing.

[GBtopgear]

Well that's unfortunate but anyway what is the big holdup here? (well besides nTelos being nTelos) Sprint and nTelos extended their contract to include 4G LTE services back in May but yet it has been nearly 8 months with no new market launches/LTE sightings with Sprint! Also I drove through the blip of LTE spotted on sensorly just outside of Lexington near the 81/64 west interchange, and there was nothing to report no LTE at all. This was on Saturday (12/27/14).

[Jones]

Well that's unfortunate but anyway what is the big holdup here? (well besides nTelos being nTelos) Sprint and nTelos extended their contract to include 4G LTE services back in May but yet it has been nearly 8 months with no new market launches/LTE sightings with Sprint! Also I drove through the blip of LTE spotted on sensorly just outside of Lexington near the 81/64 west interchange, and there was nothing to report no LTE at all. This was on Saturday (12/27/14).

Something is going on behind the scenes... Sprint has a record of delays but nothing in 8 months is highly unlikely (especially with the new management). Methinks a buyout is in the works.

[GBtopgear]

Something is going on behind the scenes... Sprint has a record of delays but nothing in 8 months is highly unlikely (especially with the new management). Methinks a buyout is in the works.

I sure hope so but I would rather shentel buy them than sprint but beggers can't be choosers. Any LTE at this point would be MUCH welcomed. BUT as far as a buyout goes it would be a prime time with nTelos stock sitting at 5 year lows. Yes something has to be going on behind the scenes. I would certainly hope sprints new management wouldn't sit idily by watching nTelos play around with the word 4G while the 3G is rotting in place

[S4GRU]

Only 6Mbps down at 8:30 AM? wow that nTelos LTE is going to be slower than I thought, whenever they start redeploying it for sprint users its gonna see some strain if there's anyone left at that point but anyway i had a question about the eastern market being shutdown. Will they be deploying that equipment in their western market? please forgive me if this has already been asked. If so I won't be expecting LTE until at least mid 2016.

NTelos is using Sprint spectrum too now in its deployment to make sure they have enough capacity. It's one of the reasons for the delay. The current nTelos LTE network as designed was not going to be able to handle it. They are essentially starting over LTE deployment with the new plan with Sprint.

[GBtopgear]

NTelos is using Sprint spectrum too now in its deployment to make sure they have enough capacity. It's one of the reasons for the delay. The current nTelos LTE network as designed was not going to be able to handle it. They are essentially starting over LTE deployment with the new plan with Sprint.

That's what I understands but there is not one tower that has been upgraded to lte/spark in 8 months. That seems almost uncalled for unless their planning to just flip a switch where half of their footprint come online with LTE (wouldn't that be nice!!!)

[S4GRU]

That's what I understands but there is not one tower that has been upgraded to lte/spark in 8 months. That seems almost uncalled for unless their planning to just flip a switch where half of their footprint come online with LTE (wouldn't that be nice!!!)

 

Uncalled for?  It's exactly what's called for.  Sprint has not announced timeline for any LTE services in nTelos service going live in 2014.  After signing an agreement they just started the planning stages.  The only timelines announced is 2017.  So Sprint customers in nTelos areas who cannot live with their services now should leave.  Nothing is changing imminently.

[dkyeager]

That's what I understands but there is not one tower that has been upgraded to lte/spark in 8 months. That seems almost uncalled for unless their planning to just flip a switch where half of their footprint come online with LTE (wouldn't that be nice!!!)

When service gets really really bad, then it might be time to visit sites. You might find work being done in new cabinets. The antennas tend to go up last.

[Galaxyguy]

I guess some people don't understand that it's not going to be a quick process. Red and Magenta are still offering incentives to switch to them. I think the death star is too. It's a great time to switch to a provider with faster data in the greater ntelos metropolis, if that's what you need. If you just want to complain, call ntelos. Complaining here doesn't do anything to help the situation.

 

Sent from my Note 4.

[Trip]

In large parts of the nTelos Sprint overlay area, US Cellular is probably the company to go with. 

 

- Trip

[shawneyboy123]

Switching most likely means paying a lot more & if you're going to switch I would go to Verizon for the best mix of speed and coverage (from my personal experience that is). AT&T has the best coverage here but is overloaded usually, USC isn't a speed demon but they're ok for most normal people (although many people I know who USC drop to weak 3G or 1x as soon as they enter a building). My friend on Verizon pays almost $190 a month for one phone & a 4GB plan while we pay $235 for 4 phones & unlimited. Just my two cents on switching I suppose. Pre-paid is an option as well if you can stomach an off contract priced phone.

Edited December 30, 2014 by shawneyboy123

[davidtm]

Yeah, I've also (briefly) considered a change from Sprint, but the availability of 4G and increases in data speeds don't warrant the huge increase in cost. I'm able to stream music most of the time without problem, and no one else in my family has any problem with their data needs being met.

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4.9.5 :-D

[GBtopgear]

So does anyone actually have news on sprint/ntelos LTE?

Edited December 30, 2014 by GBtopgear

[blackwaterstout]

Yeah, I've also (briefly) considered a change from Sprint, but the availability of 4G and increases in data speeds don't warrant the huge increase in cost. I'm able to stream music most of the time without problem, and no one else in my family has any problem with their data needs being met.

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4.9.5 :-D

What kind of rates and plans do you currently have with Sprint? Are you sure there aren't better deals out there? Plans rates among all providers have dropped substantially in the last 6 months. Don't stick with slow sprint 3g just because it's "Unlimited". I think you'll find that even with good 4g lte you will use far less data than you think.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A

[davidtm]

We have a family plan with 5 smartphones with unlimited everything (mins, texts, data) for 240 (excluding taxes, insurance for one, etc). It was originally 1500 shared mins, but I recently got the unlimited upgrade offered to long-term subscribers.

[GBtopgear]

Just had a thought! What is going to happen to all of the Clearwire protection sites in this area? It would be awesome if they got a full build! Even just band 41 LTE would alleviate some pain, but I guess they'll just shut down completely later this year. Can anyone add to this?

[nandjreed]

I am wondering if there has been any more talk or buzz of ntelos getting bought out. It literally looks as if they stopped doing anything upgrade wise here in Roanoke.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Paynefanbro]

I am wondering if there has been any more talk or buzz of ntelos getting bought out. It literally looks as if they stopped doing anything upgrade wise here in Roanoke.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I think it was mentioned here a few times that nTelos has halted work in favor of using Sprint's spectrum assets and vendor equipment. 

[bubretti]

Just had a thought! What is going to happen to all of the Clearwire protection sites in this area? It would be awesome if they got a full build! Even just band 41 LTE would alleviate some pain, but I guess they'll just shut down completely later this year. Can anyone add to this?

Was wondering about this myself. We have a wimax protection site in my town also.

[GBtopgear]

Was wondering about this myself. We have a wimax protection site in my town also.

Yeah there are quite a few protection sites in the area. To my surprise, clear.com/coverage

Is still up and running and it looks like there are about 9-10 sites in the whole ntelos area give or take. Most sites I used being: Blacksburg,Christiansburg,Radford, and Salem were good for 8-10Mbps most of the time (good ol' Evo 3D). Now if Sprint could somehow get away with upgrading these sites to band 41LTE only that would be great!!! (even with the limited range!)

[lilotimz]

Yeah there are quite a few protection sites in the area. To my surprise, clear.com/coverage

Is still up and running and it looks like there are about 9-10 sites in the whole ntelos area give or take. Most sites I used being: Blacksburg,Christiansburg,Radford, and Salem were good for 8-10Mbps most of the time (good ol' Evo 3D). Now if Sprint could somehow get away with upgrading these sites to band 41LTE only that would be great!!! (even with the limited range!)

 

Sprint is not upgrading anything in nTelos land. Ntelos is doing their own deployment. Sprint does nothing in there other than roam onto the ntelos network which is pseudo native for Sprint subscribers. 

[lordsutch]

It remains to be seen what, if anything, Sprint plans to do with the protection sites when the WiMax shutdown happens. They may just switch them off and hope that the FCC doesn't go after them for failing to maintain substantial deployment in the interim between WiMax shutdown and whenever 8T8R B41 LTE is deployed by nTelos. If they're Huawei sites Sprint has to rip the Huawei base station out by the end of next year anyway.

[Cubbiefan82]

This first link is when they were going to build their own 4g network

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/press/2013/002822

This second link is when they switched to use sprints

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/press/2014/alcatel-lucent-lte-technology-selected-ntelos-wireless-support-its-strategic-network-alliance-sprint

 

Hope this helps people who have questions on what they are doing and why it is taking so long. That second  press release wasn't until September 2014.

[Cubbiefan82]

On the wimax thing, as long as it isnt huawei equpment. They can keep up the equipment and still broadcast a signal to keep the protection site. That is what I would do until I could get 8t8r on it