Network Vision/LTE - Central Illinois Market (Peoria, Springfield, Quincy, Bloomington/Normal, Terre Haute)

[blc95]

Don't get your hopes up, it is likely just testing as we have been seeing all over Champaign County for months now.   Unfortunately, no signs of upgraded backhaul, which is needed before 4G goes live for real.

If you go by some of the sites you'll notice some orange poles that say "Warning fiber cable below..." or something along those lines...I'm guessing that it is for the towers?? It would only make sense.  Also driving by I've seen crews working on the towers.

 

They have LTE in Rantoul, St. Joe, Tuscola, Mahomet, and other surrounding areas.  I can pickup LTE around Walmart in Urbana, and off of Cottonwood Rd. in Urbana as well.  It's getting closer.

[mhammett]

If you go by some of the sites you'll notice some orange poles that say "Warning fiber cable below..." or something along those lines...I'm guessing that it is for the towers?? It would only make sense. Also driving by I've seen crews working on the towers.

Maybe. There is a ton of fiber all over for various reasons.

 

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[blc95]

Maybe. There is a ton of fiber all over for various reasons.

 

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I realize that.  But there are several sites that have the fiber markers near them, that weren't there a few months ago.  They also have orange flags marking where it runs, like someone has or is about to dig there

[bitslizer]

LTE is popping in Springfield today!!

 

Just my luck, i was there early last week for business travel and missed it... Where was this? NE springfield? (ie NE of clear lake and 9th st?) or somewhere else?

[JPSmith]

.

 

They have LTE in Rantoul,

No they don't.   My office is in Rantoul and I drive through the town daily.   There have been some flashes of LTE, a few hours here and there, as the new tower equipment is tested, but it is not live as of today.     I suspect the same is true of the other places you mention.     

Edited April 24, 2014 by JPSmith

[fireman2261]

There has been LTE in Mahomet since Christmas. Also, 4g has been switched on in Gibson City.

[ddm42117541]

I have been getting LTE from 2 different towers in bloomington/normal consistently now. Most of normal and most of the west side of bloomington is on and i have been getting download speeds as high as 18mbs 

[lordxar]

So far Springfield is around Sangamon Ave only. I haven't been out to the west end for a bit but downtown and Stevenson areas are still 3G. Its been on for a bit but sometimes goes off I'm assuming as they tweak things. I can't wait until it hits the south side. I work there and love punishing their towers streaming music all day!

[blc95]

Crews working on a tower by parkland college in champaign.....guessing that's backhaul fiber on the roll??

 

EDIT:  They are also installing new orange-tipped markers that say there is fiber buried below around the tower as well as on both sides of the bridge that's by it.........


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[bdlarck]

Yeah but is that an Sprint tower? I watched a crew put up a tower on Harris Ave in Champaign; and looking at everything seems to be Sprint Samsung hardware but who knows? Sprint Customer Support doesn't claim it. I know its likely they wouldn't even if it was theirs.I will have to upload some photo's but it looks a lot like the ones I have seen on this forum.

[blc95]

Yeah but is that an Sprint tower? I watched a crew put up a tower on Harris Ave in Champaign; and looking at everything seems to be Sprint Samsung hardware but who knows? Sprint Customer Support doesn't claim it. I know its likely they wouldn't even if it was theirs.I will have to upload some photo's but it looks a lot like the ones I have seen on this forum.

Yes it is a Sprint Tower, it shows on sprint.com/network as well as sponsor maps....

[Desreversti]

Just got back for a 10P showing of X-Men at the Carmike theater in Northern Champaign (off of Prospect). My younger brother and I both had LTE in the theater and parking lot at least. It wasn't in that area as of about three weeks ago. Did some speed tests in the theater. The theater doesn't have the greatest reception inside. Got 1.51 down/0.81 up with 83 ms latency at 10:06P.

[Phil]

The tower next to I-57 (West of parland) is now 4G.  Provides great signal along interstate and extreme North West champaign.   West of mattis and North of green including all of parkland college.    Also far north prospect (by the Carmike) and West of there (along 57).  I have mapped some results on Sensorly. 

[JPSmith]

Just got back for a 10P showing of X-Men at the Carmike theater in Northern Champaign (off of Prospect). My younger brother and I both had LTE in the theater and parking lot at least. It wasn't in that area as of about three weeks ago. Did some speed tests in the theater. The theater doesn't have the greatest reception inside. Got 1.51 down/0.81 up with 83 ms latency at 10:06P.

 

You can get those speeds on 3G from any tower with upgraded equipment if the backhaul is not saturated.   If your device was indicating LTE with those speeds, it would suggest no upgraded backhaul yet. 

[JPSmith]

The tower next to I-57 (West of parland) is now 4G.  Provides great signal along interstate and extreme North West champaign.   West of mattis and North of green including all of parkland college.    Also far north prospect (by the Carmike) and West of there (along 57).  I have mapped some results on Sensorly. 

 

What kind of speeds did you see?

[Phil]

By Theater on North prospect... Slow.   Next to tower... 30mbps.  Mostly single didgets.   I'm guessing speeds would be better on 57.  I plan to test that soon.   Data on Sensorly. 

[Desreversti]

You can get those speeds on 3G from any tower with upgraded equipment if the backhaul is not saturated. If your device was indicating LTE with those speeds, it would suggest no upgraded backhaul yet.

That is something I was thinking, but perhaps it is my phones doing only 1900 mhz combined with the masses of concrete and metal that are movie theaters, but whether down in Texas or up here in Illinois, in most theaters, my data speeds are far less. Plus given the area of Champaign, on Ev-DO, it was near impossible to load to a web page at times let alone be able to get those results on a speed test. I hope it isn't fully upgraded backhaul wise though (if it is upgraded).

[mhammett]

You can get those speeds on 3G from any tower with upgraded equipment if the backhaul is not saturated. If your device was indicating LTE with those speeds, it would suggest no upgraded backhaul yet.

If he was indeed connected to LTE and not just an error on his handset, the tower (airlink or backhaul) is overloaded. LTE will not be broadcasting if the upgraded backhaul isn't there.

 

In DeKalb without upgraded backhaul (and thus on 3G), we get a couple hundred k at best.

 

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[JPSmith]

LTE has been active for short periods, a few hours up to a couple of days, on numerous upgraded towers that don't yet have upgraded backhaul.   Presumably this is done for testing purposes.   I've seen it all over central Illinois since last fall.   LTE for one day, then gone.   LTE showing up for a few hours or days does not mean the new backhaul is installed.   

 

I frequently get over 1 mbps late evening and early morning on the 3G tower near my home.       

[blc95]

LTE has been active for short periods, a few hours up to a couple of days, on numerous upgraded towers that don't yet have upgraded backhaul. Presumably this is done for testing purposes. I've seen it all over central Illinois since last fall. LTE for one day, then gone. LTE showing up for a few hours or days does not mean the new backhaul is installed.

 

I frequently get over 1 mbps late evening and early morning on the 3G tower near my home.

If you drive past the tower they are talking about, you WILL get LTE, and you will see they have been doing upgrades for several weeks there. Look around the tower and you will find posts that say something like "Fiber buried here"....I posted pictures of the exact same tower that is mentioned above (near parkland college)......I drove past it tonight and LTE was live.

 

EDIT: Adding a pic to show my speedtest from the tower by Parkland College

 

 

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[Vince]

Sprint doesn't turn on any LTE unless the site has upgraded backhaul. If it's on-and-off, then it could be in testing.

 

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[Dkoellerwx]

You can get those speeds on 3G from any tower with upgraded equipment if the backhaul is not saturated.   If your device was indicating LTE with those speeds, it would suggest no upgraded backhaul yet.

No, upgraded backhaul is there or LTE would not be live.

 

Speeds directly correspond to signal level. Given the test was taken in a theater, the signal was likely pretty week, so speeds of 1-5Mbps would be expected. The other option is that the tower was already loaded. The former is more likely.

[Phil]

I went by the tower in north Urbana (Lincoln & I-74).  There is new fiber from the tower to to the street.  Picture below (if I did this right).  It looks new!  

 

[blc95]

I went by the tower in north Urbana (Lincoln & I-74). There is new fiber from the tower to to the street. Picture below (if I did this right). It looks new!

 

I saw that there a few weeks back - however I was by there yesterday and it looks like they have dug some more than they had a few weeks ago! It would be so nice of they get LTE going in Urbana!!

 

 

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[bdlarck]

Could anyone confirm or deny the new tower on Harris Ave. in Champaign is a Sprint tower? I watched a crew put it up a few weeks ago and all the equipment looks to be Sprint, Samsung hardware. Any thoughts?