Official Magic Box discussion thread

[ingenium]

I've had my MB at the house for month now. It would never connect to the tower. After many tries I gave up and just let it sit in the corner plugged in. Just yesterday I came home and have a very strong B41 signal. It's from the MB. It connected.
What's weird is the nearest tower is only B25. Two other towers in the next town has B41 which is almost 7 or 8 miles away.
How can I check to see which tower it's locked on?

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Tap the relay icon, and it'll show the frequency it's using, the band, and the PCI. Use SCP or market maps to match up the PCI to sites in your area. The MB unfortunately doesn't show the GCI, so this is the only way to figure it out.

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[mnjeepmale]

44 minutes ago, ingenium said:

Tap the relay icon, and it'll show the frequency it's using, the band, and the PCI. Use SCP or market maps to match up the PCI to sites in your area. The MB unfortunately doesn't show the GCI, so this is the only way to figure it out.

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MB Shows B25 and ID 269. SCP is showing B25 PCI:269 and other times B41 PCI: 497

[ingenium]

MB Shows B25 and ID 269. SCP is showing B25 PCI:269 and other times B41 PCI: 497

The B41 PCI is the MB, their PCIs are around 500. So whatever B25 macro you connect to with your phone is the same one that the MB is using.

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[mnjeepmale]

14 minutes ago, ingenium said:

The B41 PCI is the MB, their PCIs are around 500. So whatever B25 macro you connect to with your phone is the same one that the MB is using.

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Thanks for that information. Just makes it confusing as once I leave the house all I get is B25 which is the nearest macro site.

[techcj_manzer]

3 minutes ago, mnjeepmale said:

Thanks for that information. Just makes it confusing as once I leave the house all I get is B25 which is the nearest macro site.

Even if the MB receives B25 as backhaul, it will only broadcast B41. 

[ingenium]

Thanks for that information. Just makes it confusing as once I leave the house all I get is B25 which is the nearest macro site.

The MB uses B25 for its relay connection. It prefers B41, but it will happily use B25 if that's all that's available. It rebroadcasts that as B41. So when you see B41 around you're house, that means you're on the MB, which is then connecting to the macro via B25. When you get out of range of it, you go back onto the macro on B25. Both are using the same signal from the macro, but the MB has high gain antennas and will generally be faster and more stable as a result.

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[MarshieZ]

Is it true that what determines if a MagicBox will connect to a site is Carrier Aggregation or something else?

I know that even if a site isn't B41 equipped - as stated above -  it will connect to B41. But do we know what the qualifications are?

[ingenium]

Is it true that what determines if a MagicBox will connect to a site is Carrier Aggregation or something else?
I know that even if a site isn't B41 equipped - as stated above -  it will connect to B41. But do we know what the qualifications are?

The MB can't connect to B41 if it's not there... it broadcasts B41 only, but it will connect to a macro on B25 or B41. The only qualifications are 1. that the macro's signal is strong enough to use, and 2. Sprint has the B41 spectrum required for the MB in that location

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[lilotimz]

21 hours ago, ingenium said:

The MB can't connect to B41 if it's not there... it broadcasts B41 only, but it will connect to a macro on B25 or B41. The only qualifications are 1. that the macro's signal is strong enough to use, and 2. Sprint has the B41 spectrum required for the MB in that location

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Backend implementation is needed hence why Shentel land doesn't work at this moment. 

[SeanK_]

Update came out 15.15.10.141. New layout and icons and who knows what else.

[shaferz]

3 hours ago, SeanK_ said:

Update came out 15.15.10.141. New layout and icons and who knows what else.

I'll have go up stairs and check it out.   . I havent looked at the thing since I got the iPhone X - it connects great each time.

[burnout8488]

Just got my MB hooked up today.

My house gets fringe B41, and usable B25/B26 from a site far away. The MB does connect to the B41 signal, however. (-125dBm RSRP) The B41 on this site is so overloaded that the speeds I get on the MB are actually slower than not having it at all. (1Mbps versus 3-4Mbps without the MB)

This is pretty much a site issue at this point, right? There's no way to force the MB onto faster B25, is there?

Update came out 15.15.10.141. New layout and icons and who knows what else.

Do these auto-update overnight? Mine is still on an older version.

[bucdenny]

18 minutes ago, burnout8488 said:

Just got my MB hooked up today.

My house gets fringe B41, and usable B25/B26 from a site far away. The MB does connect to the B41 signal, however. (-125dBm RSRP) The B41 on this site is so overloaded that the speeds I get on the MB are actually slower than not having it at all. (1Mbps versus 3-4Mbps without the MB)

This is pretty much a site issue at this point, right? There's no way to force the MB onto faster B25, is there?

Do these auto-update overnight? Mine is still on an older version.

Move it to the middle of the house, it maybe latch on the B25/26.

[ingenium]

Do these auto-update overnight? Mine is still on an older version.

Yes, though with as low of a signal as you have, it may be taking longer to receive it. I think it's more likely to be delivered if you have a good connection on a non-loaded site. The MB likely waits until the site appears to be at low usage before downloading the update.

I'm not sure when I received the update, but when I checked yesterday or the day before it was there.

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[burnout8488]

After a few days and having the Magic Box in multiple locations, I'm cautiously-impressed. At my house with poor signal, it eventually decided to latch on to B25 overnight which did improve speeds in my house, but they weren't much different than if my device was doing a speedtest without the MB. Granted, the MB will make speeds consistent even in my basement or garage, but I'm not getting a *lot* of value out of it. 

At my girlfriend's house that barely gets any LTE signal, the MB was able to latch onto a -115dBm B41 signal somehow and attain 25Mbps downloads and healthy 2Mbps+ uploads. I was very impressed and will look into replacing their Airave 3 LTE with a Magic Box after I do a little more testing. The ironic part is that she's on the other side of the same site that gives me terrible B41 at my own house, but is on a less-loaded sector. 

The worst part about the Magic Box is the design of the unit and the software it runs. Using solely a touchscreen, it's not satisfying to use, especially when the touch controls don't work or exhibit their normal 1-2 second lag. Mine froze up multiple times, once requiring hours of downtime just to get the thing to reboot. The internal battery doesn't help here, because it can't be power-cycled without letting the battery die. A hard reset button would improve the MB 100% and make it easier to use when the buggy software decides to quit when moving the device or rebooting it. 

It works great when it works, but tactile feedback on the buttons would be a game-changer. (And a no-brainer) 

[burnout8488]

I've got a Gen 3 Magic Box being shipped to my house, should be here in a few days. If nobody beats me to it I'll post pics.

I was wrong.... see below

[lilotimz]

On 12/6/2017 at 5:04 PM, burnout8488 said:

I've got a Gen 3 Magic Box being shipped to my house, should be here in a few days. If nobody beats me to it I'll post pics.

Should be similar to my GEN1 in terms of articles (lcd display, external battery).

Can't wait to see it!

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[burnout8488]

Me either!

It is referred to as the "AU 544" on my account. My second gen is the AU 545.

The shipping confirmation says:

ASPANMBGN2

AIRSPAN AU544MAGICBX GEN2

[lilotimz]

On 12/6/2017 at 5:48 PM, burnout8488 said:

Me either!

It is referred to as the "AU 544" on my account. My second gen is the AU 545.

The shipping confirmation says:

ASPANMBGN2

AIRSPAN AU544MAGICBX GEN2

Oh that's the gen 2. It just has a different wifi chipset. Not gen3.

 

Actual gen3 name will have gen3 in it.

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This be Gen 3

 

 

[burnout8488]

4 minutes ago, lilotimz said:

Oh that's the gen 2. It just has a different wifi chipset. Not gen3.

 

Actual gen3 name will have gen3 in it.

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Aarggh, so there's technically four Magic Box SKUs out there??

[bucdenny]

Anyone received new shipment of MB past week?  

[lilotimz]

On 12/6/2017 at 6:37 PM, burnout8488 said:

Aarggh, so there's technically four Magic Box SKUs out there??

Yep. 540/545/544/gen3

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*544 is GEN3 with product name ASP544MBGN2

[pokefan02]

I will be receiving an AU544 tomorrow

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[Nickmb]

Hi  Can anybody tell me if these seem like reasonable numbers with the new magic Box. When it 1st boots up in only finds one bar

 

The problem is I do not know if that 1 bar is from band 41 or banned 25 as the magic Box can use either  donor ban.

 Anyways before the magic Box I was getting from 7 to 12 megabits download and now I'm getting 10 does that seem reasonable The band 41 tower is exactly one mile from my house. But using LTE discovery app when the magic Box is not active I cannot see band 41 whatsoever only ban 25. Any help appreciated.

[mnjeepmale]

What is the latest software version being pushed to MB?

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