IT'S THE WiMAX COUNTDOWN!!!

[markjcc]

Depends upon the infrastructure type and OEM (Huawei, Samsung, et al.).  Tim or David will chime in with the specifics.

 

AJ

OEM is ALU, Unless Clearwire used different vendors for Hawai'i than Sprint? As far as I'm seeing Samsung is the only vendor that supports WiMax and LTE or am I wrong again

[ericdabbs]

 

Still alive and kicking at the Rapid City, South Dakota WiMAX protection site!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Ahh....the old trusty Moto Photon 4G.

[lilotimz]

OEM is ALU, Unless Clearwire used different vendors for Hawai'i than Sprint? As far as I'm seeing Samsung is the only vendor that supports WiMax and LTE or am I wrong again

Hawaii is Huawei for clear.

 

As previously said, any clear site not live for band 41 will likely never be live for clear wires band 41 deployment was halted to when sprint began their own 2.5 deployments.

 

The 2.5 vendors will replace Clearwire equipment whenever they deem it necessary and get the funding to do so.

[markjcc]

Hawaii is Huawei for clear.

 

As previously said, any clear site not live for band 41 will likely never be live for clear wires band 41 deployment was halted to when sprint began their own 2.5 deployments.

 

The 2.5 vendors will replace Clearwire equipment whenever they deem it necessary and get the funding to do so.

So pretty much the 2.5 Vendors can't replace clearwire equipment (for 3 months) because of the injunction..

 

So a simple software upgrade on it can enable Band 41, why isn't Sprint doing it? Does someone have to visit the site or is it a remote software update.

[lilotimz]

So pretty much the 2.5 Vendors can't replace clearwire equipment (for 3 months) because of the injunction..

 

So a simple software upgrade on it can enable Band 41, why isn't Sprint doing it? Does someone have to visit the site or is it a remote software update.

 

Hardware is required at the base station in addition to software upgrades. Huawei equipment was EOL'd years ago while Samsung orders were cancelled other than the ones already manufactured and ready for deployment. 

 

Clear B41 deployments were halted in early 2013 when Sprint began it's own 2.5 deployment using superior 8T8R equipment. 

[markjcc]

Hardware is required at the base station in addition to software upgrades. Huawei equipment was EOL'd years ago while Samsung orders were cancelled other than the ones already manufactured and ready for deployment. 

 

Clear B41 deployments were halted in early 2013 when Sprint began it's own 2.5 deployment using superior 8T8R equipment. 

Darn, Guess I'll have to wait a few before vendors start pulling that clear equipment down.

 

So far I've been in 3 cities in my state, never seen Clear 41.. Always Sprint 41 But I guess that'll do.

[orangeblue]

Darn, Guess I'll have to wait a few before vendors start pulling that clear equipment down.

 

So far I've been in 3 cities in my state, never seen Clear 41.. Always Sprint 41 But I guess that'll do.

 

It's like Las Vegas were Clear never provided B41 service and Sprint runs them all. WiMax is still alive for 88 more days before we see the antennas being pulled and replaced,

[JWMaloney]

I think you will not be able to activate any WiMax devices going forward. I wouldn't recommend buying one. I'm not even certain MB/MC customers can activate new devices or accounts. The injunction may only protect existing customers.

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

 

You don't think it would be odd to disallow activation of WiMAX devices given the number of areas which never received anything more than license-protection levels of service (particularly after the users of those devices paid the 4G fee for months)? I would port out ASAP if something unfortunate were to happen to my Nexus 5 and Sprint didn't allow me to reactivate my Nexus S until a replacement was received.

[Deval]

You don't think it would be odd to disallow activation of WiMAX devices given the number of areas which never received anything more than license-protection levels of service (particularly after the users of those devices paid the 4G fee for months)? I would port out ASAP if something unfortunate were to happen to my Nexus 5 and Sprint didn't allow me to reactivate my Nexus S until a replacement was received.

 

Your Nexus S would work just fine on 3G for voice and data, but I am curious to see if they could do an ESN swap for it.

[S4GRU]

You don't think it would be odd to disallow activation of WiMAX devices given the number of areas which never received anything more than license-protection levels of service (particularly after the users of those devices paid the 4G fee for months)? I would port out ASAP if something unfortunate were to happen to my Nexus 5 and Sprint didn't allow me to reactivate my Nexus S until a replacement was received.

 

You say this to me as if I have control over the decision.  If Sprint is doing this, I guess they don't care about your threat to port out.  If they had been able to shut it down, you'd be in the same boat. Would you have ported out then if your scenario happened?  Of course not.  Therefore you're just looking for a reason to punish Sprint and you are a high likelihood to leave anyway. 

 

It looks like all Sprint customers who have a WiMax smartphone now have a 3G smartphone. Which I imagine they will let you use on 3G, if you like.

 

And personally, I would also shut down WiMax to everybody who is not covered by the injunction. But for legal reasons. Don't want to give opportunity for other parties to join the suit and complain when it gets shut down again.  Also don't want to give ammo to the number of people still using WiMax.  Winnow that pool down to the smallest amount possible now.  Sprint never planned to have any revenue from WiMax past November 6th, so the pennies gained now is just not worth it, in my opinion.

 

Anyone who wants to port punitively, let them port!

[JWMaloney]

You say this to me as if I have control over the decision. If Sprint is doing this, I guess they don't care about your threat to port out. If they had been able to shut it down, you'd be in the same boat. Would you have ported out then if your scenario happened? Of course not. Therefore you're just looking for a reason to punish Sprint and you are a high likelihood to leave anyway.

 

It looks like all Sprint customers who have a WiMax device now have a 3G device. Which I imagine they will let you use on 3G, if you like.

 

And personally, I would do shut down WiMax to everybody who is not covered by the injunction. But for legal reasons. Don't want to give opportunity for other parties to join the suit and complain when it gets shut down again. Also don't want to give ammo to the number of people still using WiMax. Winnow that pool down to the smallest amount possible now. Sprint never planned to have any revenue from WiMax past November 6th, so the pennies gained now is just not worth it, in my opinion.

 

Anyone who wants to port punitively, let them port!

Robert, I can assure you there was neither accusation nor any personal agenda in my post. In the event I tried to activate a legacy device, I would expect and accept the 3G-only scenario which you outlined. There is no need for Sprint to waste any more resources on the WiMAX network outside of the court order.

 

All I'm saying is that, from a customer experience standpoint, it would be a huge mistake for Sprint to leave someone without service just because their working legacy device happens to have a WiMAX radio in it, particularly since so few of them ever actually connected to anything.

 

Hopefully I never have to find out.

[S4GRU]

Robert, I can assure you there was neither accusation nor any personal agenda in my post. In the event I tried to activate a legacy device, I would expect and accept the 3G-only scenario which you outlined. There is no need for Sprint to waste any more resources on the WiMAX network outside of the court order.

 

All I'm saying is that, from a customer experience standpoint, it would be a huge mistake for Sprint to leave someone without service just because their working legacy device happens to have a WiMAX radio in it, particularly since so few of them ever actually connected to anything.

 

Hopefully I never have to find out.

 

I didn't detect any accusations or even a personal agenda.  I could have been more clear in my response.  I was in a rush to respond before a meeting.  I hope you never have to find out either.  I recently smashed my Nexus 6P, only three days after opening the box.  I wouldn't want anyone to experience that.

[WiWavelength]

You don't think it would be odd to disallow activation of WiMAX devices given the number of areas which never received anything more than license-protection levels of service (particularly after the users of those devices paid the 4G fee for months)? I would port out ASAP if something unfortunate were to happen to my Nexus 5 and Sprint didn't allow me to reactivate my Nexus S until a replacement was received.

Robert, I can assure you there was neither accusation nor any personal agenda in my post. In the event I tried to activate a legacy device, I would expect and accept the 3G-only scenario which you outlined. There is no need for Sprint to waste any more resources on the WiMAX network outside of the court order.

 

All I'm saying is that, from a customer experience standpoint, it would be a huge mistake for Sprint to leave someone without service just because their working legacy device happens to have a WiMAX radio in it, particularly since so few of them ever actually connected to anything.

 

I thought that Robert was referring to WiMAX based mobile broadband devices -- especially Clear branded devices -- but not Sprint handsets.  However, consider this scenario.

 

First, your claim that "so few [WiMAX radios] ever actually connected to anything" is patently untrue.  Many of you in license protection markets seemingly are still wounded over the experience.  Years have passed -- you need to get over it.  Meanwhile, millions of Sprint users in officially deployed Clear markets had decent WiMAX coverage and used it on a daily basis.

 

Therein lies the rub.  You may be educated on the WiMAX shutdown and accept "3G" only service on a WiMAX handset, but how many of those millions of users have that level of understanding?  Furthermore, how many Sprint customer service reps actually have that level of understanding, especially as it pertains to handsets that are all 3-5 years old?

 

Because of the injunction, the WiMAX network is still running, though access is now shut off for most/all Sprint devices.  Yet, if the WiMAX radio is still active in a handset, the handset effectively will have no mobile data in WiMAX coverage.  Even though it displays "4G," it will have only CDMA1X for voice and SMS -- no mobile data.  Try explaining that to average users, that they need to put their WiMAX handsets into "3G" only mode.  Better yet, try training entry level Sprint employees on that at this last minute.

 

So, if Sprint does refuse to reactivate WiMAX handsets going forward, understand possible reasons for doing so.  If Sprint does allow reactivation of WiMAX handsets, a reasonable solution would be to inform users that those handsets may be limited to voice and SMS -- no mobile data.  But I doubt that Sprint wants to enact that employee training at this stage in the WiMAX game.

 

AJ

[JimBob]

WiMAX shutdown will cost up to $225 million.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-maintains-wimax-network-2-nonprofits-may-incur-225m-costs-overall-sh/2015-11-09

[JWMaloney]

First, your claim that "so few [WiMAX radios] ever actually connected to anything" is patently untrue.  Many of you in license protection markets seemingly are still wounded over the experience.  Years have passed -- you need to get over it.  Meanwhile, millions of Sprint users in officially deployed Clear markets had decent WiMAX coverage and used it on a daily basis.

 

And millions others never connected at all. Are you seriously implying that more people did use WiMAX than didn't?

 

Because of the injunction, the WiMAX network is still running, though access is now shut off for most/all Sprint devices.  Yet, if the WiMAX radio is still active in a handset, the handset effectively will have no mobile data in WiMAX coverage.  Even though it displays "4G," it will have only CDMA1X for voice and SMS -- no mobile data.  Try explaining that to average users, that they need to put their WiMAX handsets into "3G" only mode.  Better yet, try training entry level Sprint employees on that at this last minute.

 

That's certainly something we can put to the test. Can anyone else confirm this to be the case for phones? If not I'll go ahead and swap mine tomorrow and report back.

 

Didn't Sprint used to offer dual-mode CDMA/iDEN phones? Anyone know what happened with them after Nextel was shut down?

[WiWavelength]

And millions others never connected at all. Are you seriously implying that more people did use WiMAX than didn't?

Look, if you still are that passively aggressively perturbed years later over being in a license protection market and continuing to deem it a "4G data fee," please port away from Sprint out of spite. Go for it. You probably will be happier in the long run.

 

That said, I understand your "minority report." And those "millions others" are a definite minority. You are a Shreveport guy. Small potatoes. You are not even close to level with Kansas City, which was an officially deployed Clear WiMAX market, let alone New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, etc. Those millions overwhelm your millions. Like it or not, majority rules.

 

That's certainly something we can put to the test. Can anyone else confirm this to be the case for phones? If not I'll go ahead and swap mine tomorrow and report back.

We have had multiple reports of Sprint devices continuing to connect to the WiMAX network but passing no data. Airlink access and data center access are two different things -- airlink access typically persists. If you want to test on your account, we welcome your empirical report, too.

 

AJ

[dedub]

Regarding how many did or didn't have consistent access to wimax on their '4g' phones, I don't think there is any argument that it was large numbers on both sides.

 

Was there ever a reported peak official wimax (phone) subscriber count or 'pops' ?

 

And if so, how does that number compare to the whole subscriber base at the time, ie 50/50% coverage, more/less or what.

[JWMaloney]

Look, if you still are that passively aggressively perturbed years later over being in a license protection market and continuing to deem it a "4G data fee," please port away from Sprint out of spite. Go for it. You probably will be happier in the long run.

AJ, I'm not sure why you continue to belittle my alleged past experiences, but for the record, I lived and worked within WiMAX coverage for the entire duration of my time using the Nexus S. That was the entire reason I bought the device in the first place.

 

That has nothing, zero, to do with my opinion that blocking WiMAX-capable PHONES from the network would be a bad move. Are we not allowed to have opinions here?

[WiWavelength]

AJ, I'm not sure why you continue to belittle my alleged past experiences, but for the record, I lived and worked within WiMAX coverage for the entire duration of my time using the Nexus S. That was the entire reason I bought the device in the first place.

Ah, so you should retract your previous hyperbole. If you lived in an officially deployed WiMAX market, then you had WiMAX. As such, you would have had more experience than to say "so few [WiMAX radios] ever actually connected to anything." Now, maybe the Nexus S or just your Nexus S was a subpar WiMAX device. Or you lived in a poorly deployed yet still official market. Regardless, your assertion was over the top.

 

That has nothing, zero, to do with my opinion that blocking WiMAX-capable PHONES from the network would be a bad move. Are we not allowed to have opinions here?

You can offer your opinions, absolutely. In turn, I can provide my counterpoints to and caveats about those opinions.  That is what I did.

 

Always keep in mind that Sprint does not cater its handset policies to us -- the technological elite.  That is not realistic.  If Sprint did, many average users would run into problems, cause major tech support headaches, and/or blame their own ignorance on Sprint.  For the vast majority of users, it is better to keep them within the evolving walled garden of vetted and recent handsets.

 

AJ

[Joski1624]

WiMAX was still blazin' away at protection site that I visited tonight. I also found another carrier frequency. That now makes 6 7 found here in the Cleveland market; a lot of spectrum still in use for WiMAX.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Joski1624

[orangeblue]

WiMax is still running nicely in my area but I noticed that FreedomPOP is not able to see the data being used, so essential it's FREE!.

 

I wish Sprint would have created a program for Clear brand customers to continue their service on LTE, limiting the speeds for a fixed monthly price.

[dnwk]

WiMax is still running nicely in my area but I noticed that FreedomPOP is not able to see the data being used, so essential it's FREE!.

 

I wish Sprint would have created a program for Clear brand customers to continue their service on LTE, limiting the speeds for a fixed monthly price.

 

That's what "karma go" here for. $50 unlimited LTE cap at 5Mbps

[travismheim]

Tonight I was able to activate my EVO 4G without any issue's. Wimax data also works fine, I was able to load speedtest and got about 7mbps down in my dining room. While not one of the big cities usually listed, Syracuse was a fully deployed Wimax market and was also included in the injunction. I wonder if they are allowing Sprint branded phones to continue to work since they need to leave the network online anyway.

[billwoodly]

Over at Freedompop users report WiMax-only devices won't authenticate, but combo 3G/WiMax devices will.

 

Speculation is that Sprint hasn't yet figured out a way to block authentication of combo 3G/4G devices, does that make sense?

[Josh]

Over at Freedompop users report WiMax-only devices won't authenticate, but combo 3G/WiMax devices will.

 

Speculation is that Sprint hasn't yet figured out a way to block authentication of combo 3G/4G devices, does that make sense?

That makes sense to me, it would probably take more work to send an ota update to those phones to block WiMax access... just to shut it down & have it not matter in less than 90 days. But I'm sure shutting down WiMax is part of the plan to save $2.5B so I'm sure it will not get extended again.

 

On another topic, I wonder if sprint should try and keep these customers & give them branded devices and use it as a marketing tool. They might even be able to write it off as some type of charitable donation, who knows...