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LTE Plus / Enhanced LTE (was "Sprint Spark" - Official Name for the Tri-Band Network)


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From my limited testing of B41 LTE testing with the G2, I hope the OTA update is more than just flipping those switches in the ##data# menu. I can tell you that right now without the OTA it seems like Sprint really does not want you to connect to B41 LTE.

 

I get multiple disconnects and reconnects. If you are connected to B41 LTE and are not pushing data traffic through (speedtests, browsing web, watching youtube,etc) and be idle for like 5-10 seconds, you get disconnected and then reconnect even when i had a B41 signal of -70 dBm RSRP. It is very frustrating in doing testing and screenshot captures.

 

I am hoping the spark OTA update fixes the stability of connecting toB26 and B41 LTE. Sent from my LG G2 LS980 using Tapatalk

 

I'm pretty certain this is the reason why the G2/N5 are not getting the update until early 2014.  There is more going on than just enabling bands with these two devices.  It is either a complicated software problem, or a hardware problem that can be mitigated with software.  And they are scrambling to fix that in the next two months.  That's my two cents!

 

Robert

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I'm pretty certain this is the reason why the G2/N5 are not getting the update until early 2014.  There is more going on than just enabling bands with these two devices.  It is either a complicated software problem, or a hardware problem that can be mitigated with software.  And they are scrambling to fix that in the next two months.  That's my two cents!

 

Robert

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.  Its ok I am not too worried about the OTA update being early 2014.  The fact that I already have a way to test B41 right now and B26 when I hear of spots deployed is enough to hold me until early 2014 when more and more B26 and B41 sites are deployed.

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I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.  Its ok I am not too worried about the OTA update being early 2014.  The fact that I already have a way to test B41 right now and B26 when I hear of spots deployed is enough to hold me until early 2014 when more and more B26 and B41 sites are deployed.

Can you at least maintain a consistent B41 connection when in "LTE Only" mode and idling, or the same connectivity issues persist? 

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Can you at least maintain a consistent B41 connection when in "LTE Only" mode and idling, or the same connectivity issues persist? 

 

Well I couldn't test in LTE only mode since LG seems to block access to that menu.  I believe this issue also existed on the LG Optimus G as well.  But all my B41 testing was done in LTE/CDMA mode.

 

In terms of idling, I just know it disconnects and reconnects pretty often. Maybe 5-10 seconds was a bit aggressive but usually not more than 20-30 seconds. If you pump data through it then it seems to maintain that LTE connection.  I also noticed that the phone tries extremely hard to try to connect to B25 where I even saw values of -134 dBm RSRP on SignalCheck for a brief second especially if you are in a borderline area where you receive cell edge B25 LTE.  The behavior gets pretty weird.

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You got my Galaxy Mega a couple of days ago. 

 

I have some concerns while playing with it hopefully S4GRU has some insight on the matter.  Keep in mind I live in Orange County, Southern California.

 

1) I've noticed everytime the 4GLTE signal lights up, my phone signal bar drops to 1 bar.  While when the 3G signal lights up, the bar goes to a normal phone signal range. 

 

2) Lately people are unable to make direct calls to me.  I usually receive a voice mail inidicating the missed call. 

 

I was hoping someone inside S4GRU can share some thoughts.  I haven't spoken to a Sprint representative as of yet as I entrust that S4GRU usually provides a direct answer.

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You got my Galaxy Mega a couple of days ago. 

 

I have some concerns while playing with it hopefully S4GRU has some insight on the matter.  Keep in mind I live in Orange County, Southern California.

 

1) I've noticed everytime the 4GLTE signal lights up, my phone signal bar drops to 1 bar.  While when the 3G signal lights up, the bar goes to a normal phone signal range. 

 

2) Lately people are unable to make direct calls to me.  I usually receive a voice mail inidicating the missed call. 

 

I was hoping someone inside S4GRU can share some thoughts.  I haven't spoken to a Sprint representative as of yet as I entrust that S4GRU usually provides a direct answer.

What was your last phone, and if it was with sprint did you have issues? If not, you may have a defective device. Many GN3's have been reported to have issues with signal.

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So, icons...  Are they talking about status bar icons?  Will they just remove the LTE symbol and put a spark symbol in its place?  I certainly hope it isn't an persitant type notification icon or anything like that.

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You got my Galaxy Mega a couple of days ago.

 

No, I did not.

 

AJ

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So the yellow area means a spark market if I am looking at that correctly... CUZ I AM LIL SLOW AND CONFUSED :(

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Unlike most single band phones the triband phones shows your lte signal strenght bars which is probably lower than your 3g signal. All single band phones with the exception of the iphone 5, 5s, 5c and note 3 shows your 1x signal even when you have lte. Most people assume that this means they have great lte coverage and now sprint is basically correcting that.

You got my Galaxy Mega a couple of days ago. 

 

I have some concerns while playing with it hopefully S4GRU has some insight on the matter.  Keep in mind I live in Orange County, Southern California.

 

1) I've noticed everytime the 4GLTE signal lights up, my phone signal bar drops to 1 bar.  While when the 3G signal lights up, the bar goes to a normal phone signal range. 

 

2) Lately people are unable to make direct calls to me.  I usually receive a voice mail inidicating the missed call. 

 

I was hoping someone inside S4GRU can share some thoughts.  I haven't spoken to a Sprint representative as of yet as I entrust that S4GRU usually provides a direct answer.

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Unlike most single band phones the triband phones shows your lte signal strenght bars which is probably lower than your 3g signal. All single band phones with the exception of the iphone 5, 5s, 5c and note 3 shows your 1x signal even when you have lte. Most people assume that this means they have great lte coverage and now sprint is basically correcting that.

 

For dual radio handsets, the choice to display CDMA1X signal strength comes from Android, not Sprint.  And that choice was recently changed to display LTE signal strength, though I do not recall with which Android version the change occurred.

 

AJ

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Has anyone seen the new Sprint coverage map?  It now shows Spark coverage.

 

So the yellow area means a spark market if I am looking at that correctly... CUZ I AM LIL SLOW AND CONFUSED :(

 

I just looked at the Sprint coverage map real briefly but how is the yellow coverage any different than the orange coverage?

 

Also one of my pet peeves about the Sprint coverage map is that the window is so darn small and looks so outdated.  Sprint should really hire someone and redo the whole coverage map to make it a look a lot more nicer.  The coverage map should take up at least 50% of the webpage.

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I just looked at the Sprint coverage map real briefly but how is the yellow coverage any different than the orange coverage?

 

It is pretty similar to WiMax coverage. What is also pretty cool is that the "Turbo" areas on the map are actually fiber bakhauled TD-LTE sites. This is the case throughout pretty much all of NYC (where I live) with the exception of Staten Island and the Rockaways, which are more suburban in nature than the rest of NYC. They have TD-LTE, but no "Turbo".

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I just looked at the Sprint coverage map real briefly but how is the yellow coverage any different than the orange coverage?

 

Also one of my pet peeves about the Sprint coverage map is that the window is so darn small and looks so outdated.  Sprint should really hire someone and redo the whole coverage map to make it a look a lot more nicer.  The coverage map should take up at least 50% of the webpage.

 

I'm GUESSING the yellow coverage is where they have LTE in the 800, 1900 and 2500/2600 bands.

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Another thing that I have noticed is that there is a slight bump in coverage from the WiMax maps, but maybe that is because of the RRU's and the lowest usable signal being at a lower dbm than WiMax.

Probably due to them using the same wrong calculation of coverage that results in them showing PCS LTE has more usable coverage than PCS 1x does.

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Probably due to them using the same wrong calculation of coverage that results in them showing PCS LTE has more usable coverage than PCS 1x does.

 

It's ever so slightly larger though. it's not nearly as bad as the PCS maps. There are areas that say fair signal, where I know that there is a live tower broadcasting LTE. 

 

Chicago's maps show Spark coverage being waaayyyyy greater than WiMax. Band 26?

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I'm GUESSING the yellow coverage is where they have LTE in the 800, 1900 and 2500/2600 bands.

I was wondering the same thing, considering robert hasn't got any reports about 800 lte yet. I have a feeling it is just clear sites that have td-lte on them with 1900 lte. Because I notice some areas in chicago, that I know 800 lte would fill in really nicely. So that u would have best lte in a lot more places

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