Why do most sprint towers only have 3 panels on them here in the riverside/San Bernardino market?

[Mikey_Bloop]

Why is it that most of sprints towers here in the riverside/San Bernardino market only have 3 panels on them? I noticed that there are bars for more room to put more panels. I think this why LTE here is so weak and Why hasn't sprint added more panels to their towers? Will they add them in the future? Because Verizon and AT&T have between 6-9 panels on their towers.

[njjdnt]

Why is it that most of sprints towers here in the riverside/San Bernardino market only have 3 panels on them? I noticed that there are bars for more room to put more panels. I think this why LTE here is so weak and Why hasn't sprint added more panels to their towers? Will they add them in the future? Because Verizon and AT&T have between 6-9 panels on their towers.

[lilotimz]

Why is it that most of sprints towers here in the riverside/San Bernardino market only have 3 panels on them? I noticed that there are bars for more room to put more panels. I think this why LTE here is so weak and Why hasn't sprint added more panels to their towers? Will they add them in the future? Because Verizon and AT&T have between 6-9 panels on their towers.

Because one modern panel antenna as used by Sprint is very capable of doing everything Sprint needs to do.

 

Verizon and ATT have a lot of legacy antennas and on most towers they have up to 4 antennas per sector with each running a different set of technology since their previous deployments were just overlays and not complete replacements like what Sprint is doing. So ATT would have on antenna for GSM, one (or two) antennas for HSPA, and then one antenna for LTE. Same with Verizon who'll have one (or two) antennas for 1x, one (or two) antennas for EVDO 3g, and one antenna for LTE 700/850 or a LTE 750+AWS antenna.

 

Each antenna requires structural engineering, power, additional wires going up the tower, and higher cost of leases. ATT and Verizon can do that because they're rolling in dough and can care less since they're (were) just overlaying. Sprint cannot (well.. did not) and strive to cut cost by utilizing a new network of a simple enough, efficient, and green technology. One antenna per sector & accompanying remote radios + 2 cabinets on the ground is a hell of a lot cheaper than 16 antennas and remote radio units + a shit ton of wiring going up the tower & 4-6 base station cabinets in the leased area.

[caspar347]

Yeah. To paraphrase what lilotimz said, basically, Sprint's new single panels can do everything that those 4 vzw/att panels do. Its just that Sprint saves space and power by combining all of them into one panel.

This is also why vzw and att LTE roll outs were so fast. They just slapped new panels up instead of taking down old ones and then using newer, all-in-one panels that save energy and tower space (which is what Sprint is doing). The amount of panels per tower has nothing to do with coverage.

[Terrell352]

Why is it that most of sprints towers here in the riverside/San Bernardino market only have 3 panels on them? I noticed that there are bars for more room to put more panels. I think this why LTE here is so weak and Why hasn't sprint added more panels to their towers? Will they add them in the future? Because Verizon and AT&T have between 6-9 panels on their towers.

LTE is probably only weak because Sprint is not as complete with LTE as Verizon and Att are in that area.

[S4GRU]

More panels does not equal better signals. Wow. Why doesn't your favorite radio station have more antenna masts?

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[AJC1973]

More panels does not equal better signals. Wow. Why doesn't your favorite radio station have more antenna masts?

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

50,000 WATTS

[S4GRU]

50,000 WATTS

But can't I get a better signal with 3 of them?

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[Mikey_Bloop]

Thank you everyone for the help! Learned a lot of useful information. I have one more question. My buddy lives about half a mile away from a tower here in riverside and the signal in his house is awful. When I'm there I get 1-2 bars and data speeds are terrible. I usually get .00-.10down and up. There are three antennas on the nearest tower but none are pointed in the direction where he lives. Do the antennas emit signal in only the direction it's pointed in or does it have a certain amount of degrees in which it emits signal? I know some of you know this at the top of your heads so please keep the rude and awful comments to yourself please. Just a loyal sprint customer trying to gain some insight about towers and signal strength.

[Turboxsloth]

Thank you everyone for the help! Learned a lot of useful information. I have one more question. My buddy lives about half a mile away from a tower here in riverside and the signal in his house is awful. When I'm there I get 1-2 bars and data speeds are terrible. I usually get .00-.10down and up. There are three antennas on the nearest tower but none are pointed in the direction where he lives. Do the antennas emit signal in only the direction it's pointed in or does it have a certain amount of degrees in which it emits signal? I know some of you know this at the top of your heads so please keep the rude and awful comments to yourself please. Just a loyal sprint customer trying to gain some insight about towers and signal strength.

that I don't know but I'm my experience being in corner angle spot just gives me no service.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jamisonshaw125]

I know some of you know this at the top of your heads so please keep the rude and awful comments to yourself please. Just a loyal sprint customer trying to gain some insight about towers and signal strength.

  They were just joking. It's just a question that is either a. asked so frequently, or b. maybe all over the place on this forum . Regardless, you made a point and you are just here to learn, as am I. "With triangular platforms, each point can cover 120 degrees, and each point can be divided to 40 degree bits. These divisions help pinpoint exact phone targets and ensure better signal strength between phone and tower." Found on the inter webs about cell towers. So yes to your question, which explains why your friend might not have decent coverage in his area.

[S4GRU]

Thank you everyone for the help! Learned a lot of useful information. I have one more question. My buddy lives about half a mile away from a tower here in riverside and the signal in his house is awful. When I'm there I get 1-2 bars and data speeds are terrible. I usually get .00-.10down and up. There are three antennas on the nearest tower but none are pointed in the direction where he lives. Do the antennas emit signal in only the direction it's pointed in or does it have a certain amount of degrees in which it emits signal? I know some of you know this at the top of your heads so please keep the rude and awful comments to yourself please. Just a loyal sprint customer trying to gain some insight about towers and signal strength.

The number of antenna panels is irrelevant. Each of those panels is broadcasting different frequencies. They are not broadcasting the same frequencies making a stronger signal. So whether there is one, or 4 panels per sector, it will not give you a stronger/better signal.

 

Sprint used to have two to three panels per sector just for 1900MHz signals. However, Sprint's new Network Vision panels are much more advanced and can combine both 1900MHz and 800MHz antennas in one housing. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. We were harsh with you because you come in and was negative about Sprint for one of the best and advanced things that they do. You made a poor assumption, and then were complaining about it.

 

Most towers are set up with three sectors. The panels are aimed over that sector, to cover 360 degrees. However, signal in between sectors can be reduced, especially as you get farther away from the site. And each sector is supposed to cover 120°, but sometimes they use narrow beam antennas and will reduce the width of the effective range to less than 120°. This is common along highways. This is true of all carriers.

 

1-2 bars of Sprint 3G signal is still good enough to receive 1-1.5Mbps in most conditions. So the issue likely has nothing to do with your signal strength observed. The problem is most likely that the site you're connected to has not had its backhaul upgraded yet.

 

Backhaul is the site's connection to high speed internet to the Sprint network. If that is slow for any reason, your experience will be slow. Sprint is in the process of upgrading backhaul at ~39,000 sites. Typically when the backhaul is upgraded, LTE will be live at the site too. So when LTE shows up, the 3G speeds are likely going to get much better as well.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[Mikey_Bloop]

The number of antenna panels is irrelevant. Each of those panels is broadcasting different frequencies. They are not broadcasting the same frequencies making a stronger signal. So whether there is one, or 4 panels per sector, it will not give you a stronger/better signal.

 

Sprint used to have two to three panels per sector just for 1900MHz signals. However, Sprint's new Network Vision panels are much more advanced and can combine both 1900MHz and 800MHz antennas in one housing. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. We were harsh with you because you come in and was negative about Sprint for one of the best and advanced things that they do. You made a poor assumption, and then were complaining about it.

 

Most towers are set up with three sectors. The panels are aimed over that sector, to cover 360 degrees. However, signal in between sectors can be reduced, especially as you get farther away from the site. And each sector is supposed to cover 120°, but sometimes they use narrow beam antennas and will reduce the width of the effective range to less than 120°. This is common along highways. This is true of all carriers.

 

1-2 bars of Sprint 3G signal is still good enough to receive 1-1.5Mbps in most conditions. So the issue likely has nothing to do with your signal strength observed. The problem is most likely that the site you're connected to has not had its backhaul upgraded yet.

 

Backhaul is the site's connection to high speed internet to the Sprint network. If that is slow for any reason, your experience will be slow. Sprint is in the process of upgrading backhaul at ~39,000 sites. Typically when the backhaul is upgraded, LTE will be live at the site too. So when LTE shows up, the 3G speeds are likely going to get much better as well.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

Yeah the tower is right next to a freeway so they are probably using narrow beams antennas. Thanks for the info and everyone who contributed as well. I've used sprint 4G LTE where it's available and it's pretty fast. I don't want to switch carrier because sprints new network seems promising and really fast. Thank you everyone!

[ericdabbs]

Thank you everyone for the help! Learned a lot of useful information. I have one more question. My buddy lives about half a mile away from a tower here in riverside and the signal in his house is awful. When I'm there I get 1-2 bars and data speeds are terrible. I usually get .00-.10down and up. There are three antennas on the nearest tower but none are pointed in the direction where he lives. Do the antennas emit signal in only the direction it's pointed in or does it have a certain amount of degrees in which it emits signal? I know some of you know this at the top of your heads so please keep the rude and awful comments to yourself please. Just a loyal sprint customer trying to gain some insight about towers and signal strength.

 

What I recommend you do is look at the thread below since you are in the Alcatel Lucent market  which shows you what to look for at a Sprint tower.  Just because you are next to a Sprint tower doesn't mean that it has been upgraded to Network Vision.  For all you know, the tower you expected to have fast speeds may not even been upgraded to Network Vision which explains the slow speeds.  Look for the pictures that show the "newer" setup since that is what Sprint is using in the Riverside/San Bernardino market.

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3915-how-to-spot-sprint-antennas-and-rrus-alcatel-lucent-style/

 

Another thing I suggest is that you become a S4GRU sponsor and so you can see the map of all the LTE towers that have been accepted nationwide including the Riverside/San Bernardino market. 

[coorsleftfield]

What speeds should we expect on an LTE enabled tower with a strong signal ?  I typically seeing anywhere from 3mb up to as high as 20, but usually it's around 4-7 . 

[S4GRU]

What speeds should we expect on an LTE enabled tower with a strong signal ? I typically seeing anywhere from 3mb up to as high as 20, but usually it's around 4-7 .

There is no "typical" until build out. Because the sites that are live are serving more customers that they are designed to. Thusly, the range of expected LTE performance is from less than 1Mbps all the way up to 37Mbps.

 

[Nickel]

What speeds should we expect on an LTE enabled tower with a strong signal ?  I typically seeing anywhere from 3mb up to as high as 20, but usually it's around 4-7 . 

See Robert's post above but also factor in people who abuse the network, that can really drag network performance down.

[Destroyallcubes]

Yeah the tower is right next to a freeway so they are probably using narrow beams antennas. Thanks for the info and everyone who contributed as well. I've used sprint 4G LTE where it's available and it's pretty fast. I don't want to switch carrier because sprints new network seems promising and really fast. Thank you everyone!

I would suggest , If possible, To donate to the site, and get access to Sponsor areas. You can get more info there, as well as information about certain sites, such as acceptances. I know I learned some cool things in my markets sponsor threads. Best use of money I have used in a while!

[AJC1973]

But can't I get a better signal with 3 of them?

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

well that would certainly depend since most radio station towers are omnidirectional no.. but if they were unidirectional yes that would make a better signal.. depending on the reference point im looking at 

 

it would be like having a yagi with more elements but those make no sense in a radio station you want a large audience in all directions from the station...

 

now i could see the argument of saying that more cell panels on a site would give a better signal ok not signal but throughput, if they are not connected to one radio but multiple radios because then you could double the amount of users to each site. you would have less bandwidth issues.. which may be the argument being made... could be but it doesnt come across as such..  

 

 i know you were being sarcastic and in the way you meant it obviously no... but there is a point there lol 

[Celz]

While we are on the subject of Riverside/ San B.. When is 3G going to speed up? Many of the towers here have decent LTE (5mbps) but the 3G is still unusable. Is the backhaul still being completed or will 3G speed up once more LTE towers come on line? Thanks for your help guys if not for the sponsor section that shows progress I probably would have left by now..

[S4GRU]

While we are on the subject of Riverside/ San B.. When is 3G going to speed up? Many of the towers here have decent LTE (5mbps) but the 3G is still unusable. Is the backhaul still being completed or will 3G speed up once more LTE towers come on line? Thanks for your help guys if not for the sponsor section that shows progress I probably would have left by now..

3G speeds will go up at each site when LTE backhaul is connected. For some reason they have to leave up 3G on legacy in your area. We are getting off topic and since thisnthread has run its cpourse, we are now closing the thread.

 

Robert