Official Magic Box discussion thread

[ingenium]

 

If I remember correctly, it was actually using someone else's spectrum? Or did they manage to lease it in a small area?

You could possibly trick it into working by making it unable to get a GPS signal, but that isn't really good idea. If the FCC finds out, you or Sprint could end up fined, or at the very least you might have a knock at your door.

The FCC is pretty aggressive at enforcing licenced spectrum from what I've been told. There was recently an article about a Bitcoin mining operation in NYC that was interfering with T-Mobile, and they showed up and either pulled the plug or seized the equipment. I know of another case where a radio station had leakage onto spectrum they didn't own, and the FCC showed up, pulled the power, and locked them out.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[though]

4 minutes ago, ingenium said:

If I remember correctly, it was actually using someone else's spectrum? Or did they manage to lease it in a small area?

They just started leasing I think?

You could possibly trick it into working by making it unable to get a GPS signal, but that isn't really good idea. If the FCC finds out, you or Sprint could end up fined, or at the very least you might have a knock at your door.

I would think if it can't pick up a GPS location, it simply wouldn't work??

 

[ingenium]

 

My MB recently powered on and started broadcasting and working without a GPS signal. The status screen showed no GPS lock. It could have been using a cached location though to determine the frequency to use.

Is your phone rooted? If so, you could use Network Signal Guru to see if the macro is broadcasting the magic box PLMN and if it's advertising the earfcn you saw on your MB. The lack of either of those would indicate that they pulled support for your area.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[though]

2 hours ago, ingenium said:

My MB recently powered on and started broadcasting and working without a GPS signal. The status screen showed no GPS lock. It could have been using a cached location though to determine the frequency to use.

Is your phone rooted? If so, you could use Network Signal Guru to see if the macro is broadcasting the magic box PLMN and if it's advertising the earfcn you saw on your MB. The lack of either of those would indicate that they pulled support for your area.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

Maybe I screwed up by doing a factory reset, dang it! I'll see what the next week or 2 brings and report back if anything changes...

[schmidtj]

When I first got my MB the 3rd week of February I was seeing download speeds int the 10->30mb/s range which was very good.
My signal isn't stellar (RSRP 111->114 CINR 1.0->5.0) but it was stable.
After the firmware upgrade to 15.15.50.440a my signal levels remained the same but my download speeds dropped dramatically.
Now they are in the 2->5mb/s range which is rather poor considering this is what I get on B25 indoors without the MB.

Question: Is this drop in speed at all related the the firmware upgrade? The timing leads me to believe it is.

I even took the MB outdoors and performed tests at 8 cardinal points on the compass (with a reset each time) and the signal strength/quality improved but the download speeds did not.

Any insight appreciated.

J

[JossMan]

17 minutes ago, schmidtj said:

When I first got my MB the 3rd week of February I was seeing download speeds int the 10->30mb/s range which was very good.
My signal isn't stellar (RSRP 111->114 CINR 1.0->5.0) but it was stable.
After the firmware upgrade to 15.15.50.440a my signal levels remained the same but my download speeds dropped dramatically.
Now they are in the 2->5mb/s range which is rather poor considering this is what I get on B25 indoors without the MB.

Question: Is this drop in speed at all related the the firmware upgrade? The timing leads me to believe it is.

I even took the MB outdoors and performed tests at 8 cardinal points on the compass (with a reset each time) and the signal strength/quality improved but the download speeds did not.

Any insight appreciated.

J

What kind of CINR levels are you getting after the firmware update?  My MB had the same update and it took it a day or two to get itself optimized and back into the swing of things.  

[schmidtj]

3 minutes ago, JossMan said:

What kind of CINR levels are you getting after the firmware update?  My MB had the same update and it took it a day or two to get itself optimized and back into the swing of things.  

RSRP 111->114 CINR 1.0->5.0

Here is a snapshot of what they are at the moment.
Prior to 440a the values were similar. It's the speeds that have degraded.
It's been 2 days since the last reset.
Thanks,

J

[though]

3 hours ago, schmidtj said:

After the firmware upgrade to 15.15.50.440a 

Can anyone confirm if the v2 and v3 MB's use the exact same firmwares? My v2 MB is not on 440a and will not fully boot up to be able to use it, even after several restarts and factory resets...

Edit: Mine is on 15.15.10.141

[ingenium]

Can anyone confirm if the v2 and v3 MB's use the exact same firmwares? My v2 MB is not on 440a and will not fully boot up to be able to use it, even after several restarts and factory resets...

My gen 2 is using 440a. As is my gen 1.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[JossMan]

3 hours ago, schmidtj said:

RSRP 111->114 CINR 1.0->5.0

Here is a snapshot of what they are at the moment.
Prior to 440a the values were similar. It's the speeds that have degraded.
It's been 2 days since the last reset.
Thanks,

J

I'd let it sit in the same place you had it originally and let itself optimize over the next day or so.  Do you know if it's getting its back-haul from the same cell site (has the ID changed)? 

[schmidtj]

The ID has never been other than 105. 

The Frequency has changed depending on the direction the MB is oriented. 

The Frequency has not changed since I last reset the MB. 

4 minutes ago, JossMan said:

I'd let it sit in the same place you had it originally and let itself optimize over the next day or so.  Do you know if it's getting its back-haul from the same cell site (has the ID changed)? 

 

[shaferz]

Another data point - I also noticed that our MB had slowed down big time.  Speedtest revealed 3-5mbps where we used to see 60+ most of the time.  I did a factory reset and as soon as it came up, I cycled airplane mode on my phone which then connected to the MB.  Speedtest was back at 60+mbps.  After a couple of hours, speeds were right back to 3-5mbps.  

 Something weird was going on.  :dunno:

 

edit:  in my case, the MB was connected to the same Macro and B41.

[though]

1 minute ago, shaferz said:

Another data point - I also noticed that our MB had slowed down big time.  Speedtest revealed 3-5mbps where we used to see 60+ most of the time.  I did a factory reset and as soon as it came up, I cycled airplane mode on my phone which then connected to the MB.  Speedtest was back at 60+mbps.  After a couple of hours, speeds were right back to 3-5mbps.  

 Something weird was going on.  :dunno:

Have you tried 2 or 3 different servers just for fun?

[shaferz]

16 minutes ago, though said:

Have you tried 2 or 3 different servers just for fun?

I did. 

[schmidtj]

2 hours ago, shaferz said:

Speedtest was back at 60+mbps.  After a couple of hours, speeds were right back to 3-5mbps.  

 

Similar experience here. Good speeds immediately after a reset then slowdown. Was not like this with previous firmware. 

[shaferz]

On 3/8/2018 at 3:13 PM, schmidtj said:

Similar experience here. Good speeds immediately after a reset then slowdown. Was not like this with previous firmware. 

Any more updates?  I was tied up with work all day Friday and did not end up calling support.   Still stuck at 4-ish mbps down and 5/6mbps up.  I did confirm our MB is on 440a as well.

 

Was hoping they would push another update soon that fixed it.  Surely sprint has the ability to see slow speed sites?  

[schmidtj]

1 hour ago, shaferz said:

Any more updates?  ..,

Was hoping they would push another update soon that fixed it.  Surely sprint has the ability to see slow speed sites?  

Nothing has changed here. 

What is a bit weird is occasionally I’ll see 30 mb/s but 99% of the time it’s 5ish mb/s. 

[speedingcheetah]

Do i need to send back that small usb power bank thing if i need to return the MB?

Also....speeds are still good for me. Though the super fast 80megs or so I was seeing only lasted a day or 2. Now its back to its normal 40-60.

[JossMan]

8 hours ago, speedingcheetah said:

Do i need to send back that small usb power bank thing if i need to return the MB?

Also....speeds are still good for me. Though the super fast 80megs or so I was seeing only lasted a day or 2. Now its back to its normal 40-60.

Why are you returning the Magicbox if I may ask?  If you do return it everything that was included needs to be returned to Sprint including the power bank. 

I hope people are not getting discouraged with the Magicbox when seeing slower data speeds, RF conditions do and will change as well as the donor site's load depending on time of day and subscriber growth.  

My Magicbox when I first received it would see download speeds anywhere around 8-12Mbps, as I continued to let it sit in the same spot for a few days speeds increased over 20Mbps with dips below 20Mbps depending on the time of day.   

[speedingcheetah]

45 minutes ago, JossMan said:

Why are you returning the Magicbox if I may ask?  If you do return it everything that was included needs to be returned to Sprint including the power bank. 

I hope people are not getting discouraged with the Magicbox when seeing slower data speeds, RF conditions do and will change as well as the donor site's load depending on time of day and subscriber growth.  

My Magicbox when I first received it would see download speeds anywhere around 8-12Mbps, as I continued to let it sit in the same spot for a few days speeds increased over 20Mbps with dips below 20Mbps depending on the time of day.   

Sorry...should have prefaced my question better.

I was just asking for the future. My free 1yr plan expires end of this coming July. I plan on porting out of Sprint at that time to a much cheaper Republic Wireless for my service....that is, if i still do not need Unlimited at that time. (in between jobs at the moment). 

I was told if u change carriers, u close your account and have to return the MB. Sprint LTE is poor with out it (max 3megs down 0.5 up), however, Republic Wireless uses tmobile and that natively (no repeater box) i get 60 megs down 40 up easy.

Also wish to port out for a few months, if just only for the ability to come back in as "a new customer" should Sprint still offer the promotion of Free 1yr in the future or something like it. 45 days off Sprint is what I am told is minimum time to be considered a new customer.

The sticker on usb power bank gives me the impression that is mine to keep.  " Here is your FREE USB power bank.....use for MB setup...last line....Use as a portable charge for your devices."

 

 

[JossMan]

If you chose to leave I'd suggest you return the Magicbox a month before leaving Sprint, just to make sure they receive the box you do not want to be charged $250 for the Magicbox. 

 

[speedingcheetah]

On 3/13/2018 at 10:22 AM, JossMan said:

If you chose to leave I'd suggest you return the Magicbox a month before leaving Sprint, just to make sure they receive the box you do not want to be charged $250 for the Magicbox. 

 

Yea. I'll do that.

I recently tried Republic Wireless on my spare Nexus 5X. they are a Tmobile MVNO. Far better speeds almost everywhere than Sprint. And especially in my home, where I have to have Sprint's Magic Box inorder to get anything more than a few megs download off their LTE. (though i use my wifi at home of course). A few places i frequent, Sprint LTE is far to slow to stream vids. 

Unless my usage drastically changes, and i really need Unlimited plan come end of July...ill moving to R.W. Its $15 base plan and $5 per GB. So $60 a month would be 9GB. I can add data as i need. Cheaper than Google Project Fi (even with their refund feature). 

Also, R.W., unlike Sprint, fully supports WiFi Calling, VOLTE, and Visual Voicemail on Nexus/Pixel devices.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by speedingcheetah

[speedingcheetah]

Has anyone measured or had any EMI or RF effects from having the MB in their home?

I have been having frequent headaches and some harder time sleeping the last several weeks.  Thought it was just the on coming of Spring.

But I have had the Mb unplugged the last 2 days and night, no headaches and sleep better.

Maybe I am just over sensitive to such things?

[RAvirani]

26 minutes ago, speedingcheetah said:

Has anyone measured or had any EMI or RF effects from having the MB in their home?

I have been having frequent headaches and some harder time sleeping the last several weeks.  Thought it was just the on coming of Spring.

But I have had the Mb unplugged the last 2 days and night, no headaches and sleep better.

Maybe I am just over sensitive to such things?

Radiation from the MB should have no real effect on you. 

[Mr.Nuke]

39 minutes ago, speedingcheetah said:

Has anyone measured or had any EMI or RF effects from having the MB in their home?

I have been having frequent headaches and some harder time sleeping the last several weeks.  Thought it was just the on coming of Spring.

But I have had the Mb unplugged the last 2 days and night, no headaches and sleep better.

Maybe I am just over sensitive to such things?

Tin foiling everything helps.