Official Magic Box discussion thread

[crazy_vag]

6 hours ago, ingenium said:

With how congested 2.4 GHz wifi is, I'd advise anyone who wants non-relay backhaul to connect it with Ethernet instead. I haven't seen 2.4 GHz capable of maxing out the MB (60-80 Mbps) in many many years, there's just too much interference on it now. And since it's not using relay anymore, it can be centrally placed in your house instead of by a window, giving better coverage.

Well, 2.4 GHz WiFi setting on MB gives me 39.3 Mbit down and 7.98 Mbit up.  Significantly better than 1-2 Mbit I'd get with LTE backhaul.    There's certainly an upper limit here around 40Mbit / 8Bit Probably related to 5:1 TDD ratio setting on MB for B41, so I'm actually unconvinced going to 5GHz will give me that much more stability given that I get 1Gbit fiber running to the router, so using about 5% of the uplink.  40Mbit is still pretty good speed for LTE, so it'll be hard for me to push that to the limit.

The wildcard is how many other people in my neighborhood have phones connecting to my Magic Box. MB doesn't seem to identify itself to my router as anything, so I"ll need to chase it down via MAC address.

[ingenium]

Well, 2.4 GHz WiFi setting on MB gives me 39.3 Mbit down and 7.98 Mbit up.  Significantly better than 1-2 Mbit I'd get with LTE backhaul.    There's certainly an upper limit here around 40Mbit / 8Bit Probably related to 5:1 TDD ratio setting on MB for B41, so I'm actually unconvinced going to 5GHz will give me that much more stability given that I get 1Gbit fiber running to the router, so using about 5% of the uplink.  40Mbit is still pretty good speed for LTE, so it'll be hard for me to push that to the limit.
The wildcard is how many other people in my neighborhood have phones connecting to my Magic Box. MB doesn't seem to identify itself to my router as anything, so I"ll need to chase it down via MAC address.

With wired backhaul, a MB (and Airave) gets around 80 Mbps or so. As you get a little further from the MB it drops to around 60-65, or at least mine does.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[crazy_vag]

9 minutes ago, ingenium said:

With wired backhaul, a MB (and Airave) gets around 80 Mbps or so. As you get a little further from the MB it drops to around 60-65, or at least mine does.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Do you get symmetric speeds up and down on wired?

[ingenium]

Do you get symmetric speeds up and down on wired?

No, about 9 Mbps up. It's still B41 with TDD config 1, which is limited to 9 Mbps or so. That config should allow for faster download (matching a macro), but I suspect that the hardware on the MB and Airave (both 3 and 4) can't handle more than that. All the Sprint femto cells max out at that speed. Either the CPU might not be able to handle the ipsec tunnel faster than that. Or it could be the eNB being underpowered and not being able to handle transmitting faster than that. My guess is it's a CPU limitation on the ipsec tunnel.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[alphaalphagamma]

arg, so wired backhaul is working? can't get it to work on my MB3 still.

[banananuts87]

So wireless backhaul is working now? My MB sees the SSIDs but fails to connect. 

[lilotimz]

Wireless and wired backhaul is available in markets where Sprint core network team has done the physical and software upgrades needed.

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[crazy_vag]

4 hours ago, banananuts87 said:

So wireless backhaul is working now? My MB sees the SSIDs but fails to connect. 

I suspect that in addition to lack of 5 GHz support, there's some other compatibility issue that's holding you up.  What Wi-Fi router do you have and what encryption is it running?

[lilotimz]

I suspect that in addition to lack of 5 GHz support, there's some other compatibility issue that's holding you up.  What Wi-Fi router do you have and what encryption is it running?

5 GHz works fine on my UBNT AC Lites and AC68p.

They're 2.4/5 GHz Qualcomm AC1300 chips.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[mdob07]

I received a Magic Box Gold for my office this week. 

Macro Network speedtest on B26:

 

Connected to MB using LTE backhaul:

Connected to MB using Ethernet backhaul:

The only issue I've had using Ethernet backhaul is that it still has to get a GPS fix to fully configure when it boots up. It would be nice to be able to move it more centrally in the building to better cover my 2 floor office building, but I had to have it pressed up against a window for it to get a GPS lock. Other than that I've been extremely happy with it so far. Setup was super easy. 

[mdob07]

21 hours ago, mdob07 said:

I received a Magic Box Gold for my office this week.

 ...

The only issue I've had using Ethernet backhaul is that it still has to get a GPS fix to fully configure when it boots up. It would be nice to be able to move it more centrally in the building to better cover my 2 floor office building, but I had to have it pressed up against a window for it to get a GPS lock. Other than that I've been extremely happy with it so far. Setup was super easy. 

I might have spoken too soon. Apparently it rebooted overnight and lost its GPS fix. Now it will not get a GPS lock no matter where I put it, I have it pressed up against a glass window right now. I'm wondering if there is an issue with my MB, our T Mobile cellspot came right up and locked gps with no issue sitting away from the window. MB just keeps saying "No GPS Signal (Error Code: 1101)". Anybody else had GPS issues with a Magic Box?

[Paynefanbro]

What is the latest software version? I'm not sure if my Magic Box updated or not.

[though]

20 hours ago, mdob07 said:

I might have spoken too soon. Apparently it rebooted overnight and lost its GPS fix. Now it will not get a GPS lock no matter where I put it, I have it pressed up against a glass window right now. I'm wondering if there is an issue with my MB, our T Mobile cellspot came right up and locked gps with no issue sitting away from the window. MB just keeps saying "No GPS Signal (Error Code: 1101)". Anybody else had GPS issues with a Magic Box?

Does your exact address show eligible here?

https://www.sprint.com/landings/magic-box-eligibility/index.html

[mdob07]

Does your exact address show eligible here?
https://www.sprint.com/landings/magic-box-eligibility/index.html

Yeah, I checked that before I requested one. It worked great for a day or two. I'm wondering if I have a defective GPS radio or something. If it quits raining here later I'm going to take it outside to my truck and use my power inverter to see if it will connect outside. If it still fails then it has to be defective hardware.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[though]

1 minute ago, mdob07 said:

If it quits raining here later I'm going to take it outside to my truck and use my power inverter to see if it will connect outside.

Ok ya good idea.

[mdob07]

Ok ya good idea.

Well I tried it out in my parking lot and even took it home and tried it in my basement and both times it connected to GPS fine. Must be something in this building that's blocking everything outside from getting in. That's the reason I wanted a MB in the first place is because cell service is terrible in this building.

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[crazy_vag]

Well, I've had the magic box working for a week now using WiFi, and I can actually get some usage stats. Take a look:

 

Sprint ought to pay me for the service I provide since there's no way me and my wife use 10 GB per week. 😎

[though]

13 minutes ago, mdob07 said:

Well I tried it out in my parking lot and even took it home and tried it in my basement and both times it connected to GPS fine. Must be something in this building that's blocking everything outside from getting in. That's the reason I wanted a MB in the first place is because cell service is terrible in this building.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

If it will not complete a GPS lock inside, no matter how many times you try and with all places, you could try this:

Grab a small UPS (buy one if you don't have one), plug it in that in the parking lot, wait for it to make a lock then just take it inside the office and put it by your window and plug the UPS in. Keep the MB plugged in the UPS.

If you don't have one, you can buy a cheap one like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OR0V2C

[though]

26 minutes ago, crazy_vag said:

Well, I've had the magic box working for a week now using WiFi, and I can actually get some usage stats. Take a look:

Sprint ought to pay me for the service I provide since there's no way me and my wife use 10 GB per week. 😎

Are you in an apartment?

[crazy_vag]

17 minutes ago, though said:

Are you in an apartment?

I'm in a high-rise on 7th floor of a 40 story tower.  There's another tower across the street though and I think I sometimes can pick up my MB from the sidewalk.

[Paynefanbro]

My Magic Box got the update some time last week. I've had it parked on my 5GHz WiFi with no issues for about 3 days now. The max speed I've gotten out of it so far is 73.7 down and 8.73 up. Pings are 70-75ms at all times.

[alphaalphagamma]

versions? 

[banananuts87]

WiFi backhaul Gen 3 Magic box isn’t functional yet..... type in the password and it can’t connect to sprint. Might get to 73% before rebooting. 

[jasonsteele]

Finally got a Magic Box, they sent me a refurbed 2. I get 3CA B41 in front of my house in the street pulling 176 Mbps but moderate to weak B25 or B26 in my house pulling 1.5 to 7.5 Mbps tops. The box connected to B41 right away and now I’m pulling 45 to 60 Mbps inside. Fun stuff for a nerd, but my wife thinks it’s weird that I’m so excited.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

EDIT: One thing I’ve noticed, the serving cell info screen in Field Test Mode on my XR never changes after connecting to my Magic Box, no matter where I am, without a reboot. It’s stuck on stupid.

[banananuts87]

On 10/29/2019 at 2:49 PM, crazy_vag said:

I suspect that in addition to lack of 5 GHz support, there's some other compatibility issue that's holding you up.  What Wi-Fi router do you have and what encryption is it running?

Using a router supplied by Frontier. WEP I think. Às I’m in an apartment complex I’m assuming that’s why I can’t scan for 5ghz