Calling Plus (VoLTE "Lite")

[ingenium]

My call quality has been hit and miss especially on fragile B41.  Anything around RSRP -110 or worse, people on the other-side cannot hear me.  Sprint will really need to work on handing this off to B25/B26.  Is this even possible for it to switch bands when signal is weak on B41?

Sure it is. The eNB completely controls it. With proper VoLTE I imagine it will take being on a call into consideration for band selection.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[bucdenny]

31 minutes ago, ingenium said:

Sure it is. The eNB completely controls it. With proper VoLTE I imagine it will take being on a call into consideration for band selection.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

I hope so.  I am on B41 75% of the time, with config 2 in place the upload stuffers and calls over LTE also suffers.  Calls over B25 works so much better at the moment in my area.

[lilotimz]

2 hours ago, bucdenny said:

My call quality has been hit and miss especially on fragile B41.  Anything around RSRP -110 or worse, people on the other-side cannot hear me.  Sprint will really need to work on handing this off to B25/B26.  Is this even possible for it to switch bands when signal is weak on B41?

This is the downside of a VOIP based setup like Calling Plus. In a full VoLTE setup voice packets are prioritized and the eNB will do whatever is needed to maintain voice quality / continuity. 

[WiWavelength]

1 hour ago, lilotimz said:

This is the downside of a VOIP based setup like Calling Plus. In a full VoLTE setup voice packets are prioritized and the eNB will do whatever is needed to maintain voice quality / continuity. 

Poor handset RF performance also could be in play.  A -110 dBm RSRP on band 41 downlink should be fine for Calling Plus.  But if the handset is weak on band 41 uplink, it could be running out of uplink power at that signal level.

AJ

[bucdenny]

6 minutes ago, WiWavelength said:

Poor handset RF performance also could be in play.  A -110 dBm RSRP on band 41 downlink should be fine for Calling Plus.  But if the handset is weak on band 41 uplink, it could be running out of uplink power at that signal level.

AJ

Would config 2 make it worse on the uplink side? Or in this case it wouldn't matter as the RF performance on the uplink is terrible.  Im on a S8+ HPUE device. 

[RAvirani]

21 minutes ago, WiWavelength said:

Poor handset RF performance also could be in play.  A -110 dBm RSRP on band 41 downlink should be fine for Calling Plus.  But if the handset is weak on band 41 uplink, it could be running out of uplink power at that signal level.

AJ

Config 2 doesn’t help things either. Since the change to Config 2, even with a -80 dBm signal, I have trouble pulling more than 5 mbps upload. At -110 dBm, I’m lucky to pull half a megabit. 

[WiWavelength]

1 hour ago, RAvirani said:

Config 2 doesn’t help things either. Since the change to Config 2, even with a -80 dBm signal, I have trouble pulling more than 5 mbps upload. At -110 dBm, I’m lucky to pull half a megabit. 

Yes, but 0.5 Mbps uplink at -110 dBm RSRP on the downlink is at least an order of magnitude greater than what is needed to support Calling Plus.  Unless network congestion is a factor, uplink data speeds alone are not the bottleneck.  Rather, if those uplink data speeds are low because of retransmissions due to poor handset uplink RF output, then the uplink may have difficulty keeping up with near real time Calling Plus transmissions, even at 0.5 Mbps.

AJ

[WiWavelength]

1 hour ago, bucdenny said:

Im on a S8+ HPUE device. 

From what I recall of real world usage reports from last summer, many have concluded that the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a disappointing HPUE performer.

AJ

[Galaxyguy]

From my personal experience, it seems my S8+ will start out on any band, but if it happens to go to B26, it likes to stay there for the remainder of the call, even when getting close to a tower. 

[bucdenny]

20 minutes ago, Galaxyguy said:

From my personal experience, it seems my S8+ will start out on any band, but if it happens to go to B26, it likes to stay there for the remainder of the call, even when getting close to a tower. 

I am in B25/B41 only market.  I am on B41 75% of the time.  The problem is once its on B41 for any voice calls it does not switch to B25 when I am on RSRP -110 or worse.  I do not drop calls, but calls goes to crap.  Clients on the other end cannot hear me.  I have to remember each time to turn off VoLTE on my S8+ if I am at my office (fragile B41) or when I am driving because my phone seems to hang on B41 even at RSRP -120 or worse.

[radem]

2 hours ago, WiWavelength said:

Yes, but 0.5 Mbps uplink at -110 dBm RSRP on the downlink is at least an order of magnitude greater than what is needed to support Calling Plus.  Unless network congestion is a factor, uplink data speeds alone are not the bottleneck.  Rather, if those uplink data speeds are low because of retransmissions due to poor handset uplink RF output, then the uplink may have difficulty keeping up with near real time Calling Plus transmissions, even at 0.5 Mbps.

AJ

VOIP uses 8kbps to 90kbps up while you are talking and that same speed down while the other person is talking.  The actual bandwidth is based on the algorithm used with higher numbers of bits required for HD voice and lower for regular voice and more bits are used for a larger range of sounds.  The algorithms for streaming audio which VOIP uses automatically adjust the amount of data used based on the range of sounds they are trying to send at that time.  VoLTE is normally in the 16kbps to 32kbps range.

0.5mbps is the same as 500kb/s just to give you some idea of how much bandwidth you really have available.  At the highest possible quality and bit rate of 64kbps to 90kbps (which are almost never used on VoLTE connections) , near CD quality music could be broadcast over your VOIP call.  Those speeds are still less than 20% of your 0.5mbps speed or less than 5% if you are using closer to the minimum amount of standard voice bandwidth.

 

[bucdenny]

4 hours ago, WiWavelength said:

Yes, but 0.5 Mbps uplink at -110 dBm RSRP on the downlink is at least an order of magnitude greater than what is needed to support Calling Plus.  Unless network congestion is a factor, uplink data speeds alone are not the bottleneck.  Rather, if those uplink data speeds are low because of retransmissions due to poor handset uplink RF output, then the uplink may have difficulty keeping up with near real time Calling Plus transmissions, even at 0.5 Mbps.

AJ

How would Sprint make it work for these poor RF uplink issues?

[Dkoellerwx]

23 minutes ago, bucdenny said:

How would Sprint make it work for these poor RF uplink issues?

Introduce true VoLTE that will prioritize those data packets, and hopefully be more proactive at moving to the more favorable LTE band. Calling Plus seems to be more of a stopgap to buy time while VoLTE on the network is still perfected. 

[bucdenny]

Just now, Dkoellerwx said:

Introduce true VoLTE that will prioritize those data packets, and hopefully be more proactive at moving to the more favorable LTE band. Calling Plus seems to be more of a stopgap to buy time while VoLTE on the network is still perfected. 

And what is preventing Sprint getting true VoLTE out for testing?

[Dkoellerwx]

2 minutes ago, bucdenny said:

And what is preventing Sprint getting true VoLTE out for testing?

I don't have the answer for that.

[WiWavelength]

4 hours ago, radem said:

VOIP uses 8kbps to 90kbps up...

Thanks for that elaboration.  But did you mean to quote RAvirani instead of me?  Because I already covered everything you wrote in the simple statement "0.5 Mbps uplink...is at least an order of magnitude greater than what is needed to support Calling Plus."

AJ

[RAvirani]

7 hours ago, WiWavelength said:

Yes, but 0.5 Mbps uplink at -110 dBm RSRP on the downlink is at least an order of magnitude greater than what is needed to support Calling Plus.  Unless network congestion is a factor, uplink data speeds alone are not the bottleneck.  Rather, if those uplink data speeds are low because of retransmissions due to poor handset uplink RF output, then the uplink may have difficulty keeping up with near real time Calling Plus transmissions, even at 0.5 Mbps.

AJ

Ah got it. Thanks for the clarification. 

[marioc21]

Looks like Note 8 users are joining the club. 

http://s4gru.com/forums/topic/7641-galaxy-note-8-rumors-specs-thoughts-etc/?do=findComment&comment=520517

 

[bucdenny]

I noticed today my S8+ calls are going through LTE eventhough my VoLTE is disabled.

  

[bucdenny]

On 11/14/2017 at 6:40 PM, radem said:

VOIP uses 8kbps to 90kbps up while you are talking and that same speed down while the other person is talking.  The actual bandwidth is based on the algorithm used with higher numbers of bits required for HD voice and lower for regular voice and more bits are used for a larger range of sounds.  The algorithms for streaming audio which VOIP uses automatically adjust the amount of data used based on the range of sounds they are trying to send at that time.  VoLTE is normally in the 16kbps to 32kbps range.

0.5mbps is the same as 500kb/s just to give you some idea of how much bandwidth you really have available.  At the highest possible quality and bit rate of 64kbps to 90kbps (which are almost never used on VoLTE connections) , near CD quality music could be broadcast over your VOIP call.  Those speeds are still less than 20% of your 0.5mbps speed or less than 5% if you are using closer to the minimum amount of standard voice bandwidth.

 

end of the day on B41 my voice quality sux when near RSRP -110 and when on B25 I am able to have a normal call even at RSRP -115 quality. 

[S4GRU]

2 hours ago, bucdenny said:

end of the day on B41 my voice quality sux when near RSRP -110 and when on B25 I am able to have a normal call even at RSRP -115 quality. 

Yeah, the -110dBm is your received strength.  The received strength at the site of your phone call may be far worse.  And synchronous quality is vital in a phone conversation.  It's not unusual for a device to have good Rx performance, but not necessarily Tx, especially at weaker signal strengths.  Your device may be a poor transmitter on B41.  Or there may be a lot of B41 noise.

Because of this, B41 may not be a good solution for VoIP.  But may be better for VoLTE, as the network QoS could control priority of your call and shunt you to a better band if required.  VoIP treats the call as data packets, the same as everything else.  And when minimum synchronistic standards are required, this could be a problem in many individual circumstances regarding signal quality/strength and hardware.

Robert

[Galaxyguy]

Anybody know if the S8 Active has Calling Plus yet? I just ordered it for my wife.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Galaxyguy]

It is confirmed. The S8 Active has Calling Plus if anyone else wanted to know.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[grapkoski]

And us HTC U11 users wallow in the old days. 

[Paynefanbro]

5 hours ago, grapkoski said:

And us HTC U11 users wallow in the old days. 

It'll probably arrive in the Oreo update.