I'm new to this forum, and I've seen people mention cell sites with specific ID's (for example, SF33XC664). Is there any significance to these ID's, and is there a way to decode them? Also, how do I figure out what the cell site ID's are for towers near me?
Thanks! I'm excited to start talking on this site more 😀
Samsung Network Vision equipment are highly distinct and fairly easy to spot compared to the equipment that other vendors are deploying. Sprint is Samsung's first extremely massive American contract (baring Clearwire) so there should be no issues in confusing these equipment for another carrier which happens often with Ericsson NV equipment.
Below are images of Samsung equipment which includes antennas, remote radio units, base stations, and their mounting configurations.
Next Generation 8 Port Dual Band Antenna Setup
4 port 800 MHz RRH-C4 800
(source: dkyeager)
(source: dkyeager)
Narrow beam setup
High Capacity Site with 2 Antennas & 3 RRUs (2x PCS & 1x SMR).
Second antenna is PCS only for now.
Canadian IBEZ (NO SMR)
Special Case PCS Only Setup for Canadian IBEZ
Close up of standard antenna connectors
Samsung Cabinets
Powerpoint slides from Samsung / Sprint
*disclaimer - all powerpoint diagrams and images were found through public municipality online databases and is by no means misappropriated through malicious means*
*Credit goes to those whom took pictures of these equipment. You know who you are*
Sprint announced at MWC trade show in Barcelona that 5G will go live with 4 cities starting in May (Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Kansas City )
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-sprint-5g-network-chicago-atlanta.html
Sprint announced the MVNO Google Fi will use its network for 5G in a press release (that is, once there are actually 5G capable phones compatible with Google Fi someday):
https://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-to-provide-5g-wireless-services-for-google-fi.htm
This is the first I've heard about Fi and 5G so far. Google has pretty much kept mum on the topic, so I'm somewhat encouraged.
Samsung TDD-LTE gear which are being utilized in Clearwire priority sites. .
Clearwire - Samsung TDD-LTE RRH SLS-BD106Q & Antennas
Samsung TD-LTE RRUs mounted behind BRS/EBS Antenna
Sprint 2500-2600 mhz TD-LTE Setup
Note the Antennas are much thicker and fatter than the antennas being utilized by Sprint Network Vision.
Clearwire TD-LTE Base Station / Cabinet
May be subject to change as TD-LTE sites start being integrated into the Network Vision setups.
Happy Hunting!
I'll clean the post up this weekend when I have more time.
Courtesy of Sbolen from Missouri market.
Samsung TDD RRH SLS-BD104Q1 Samsung TDD RRH SLS-BD106Q
Sprint 5G upload is on 2.5 which realistically is gonna cover less people than most of TMobile's bands.
My main point is to illustrate how much more stable 5G uploads are against Sprint current TDD config on LTE.
If anyone manages a spreadsheet for their market and is still looking for/exploring options to display it on a map, PM me. If you can export your database/spreadsheet into a TSV, I've built a tool that produces a map.