Official Magic Box discussion thread

[lilotimz]

22 minutes ago, Brad The Beast said:

Pulled from reddit, the Voice Amp quick start guide: https://fccid.io/MCLU97B003/User-Manual/Users-Manual-3999375.pdf

 

[Brad The Beast]

1 hour ago, lilotimz said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh snap the Airave 4! Nice find Tim! Do you have any news on these two?

[xdfgf]

Well lookie there, any word on availability? 

[Trip]

So I went to my parents' new house yesterday and they had the Magic Box sitting in the kitchen window.  It was working and had excellent reception of B25 from Mont Alto, PA, mostly because their B25 in the house was excellent as well.  Their problem was with the sound quality of the voice service, which of course, the Magic Box won't help.

Now they have Comcast for a landline phone and Internet, and the Magic Box wasn't going to do anything for them anyway, so I took the Magic Box with me.  Part of me is tempted to try it here, but part of me thinks I should just return it.  Thoughts?

- Trip

[ingenium]

So I went to my parents' new house yesterday and they had the Magic Box sitting in the kitchen window.  It was working and had excellent reception of B25 from Mont Alto, PA, mostly because their B25 in the house was excellent as well.  Their problem was with the sound quality of the voice service, which of course, the Magic Box won't help.
Now they have Comcast for a landline phone and Internet, and the Magic Box wasn't going to do anything for them anyway, so I took the Magic Box with me.  Part of me is tempted to try it here, but part of me thinks I should just return it.  Thoughts?
- Trip

The CDMA module for the magic box is supposed to be deployed soon. It plugs into the Ethernet port on the magic box and broadcasts 1x (and maybe evdo?). So that's an option for them.

Or they could get the Airave 4 which just launched. I think the CDMA parts are identical.

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[dkyeager]

5 hours ago, ingenium said:

The CDMA module for the magic box is supposed to be deployed soon. It plugs into the Ethernet port on the magic box and broadcasts 1x (and maybe evdo?). So that's an option for them.

Or they could get the Airave 4 which just launched. I think the CDMA parts are identical.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Must be gold edition of MB  iirc

[RedSpark]

When is the Magic Box supposed to get updated to support VOLTE?

[shaferz]

1 hour ago, RedSpark said:

When is the Magic Box supposed to get updated to support VOLTE?

I seem to remember it getting delayed due to another issue (maybe related) that caused them to disable ‘hand-ups’ from the macro network?  

 

Oddly enough, while arriving at home this evening, my phone connected to the MB fairly quickly.  Normally takes an airplane mode cycling. 🤷‍♂️  I’ll have to go see if software was updated recently.

[lilotimz]

Sooo... This is a thing.

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[alphaalphagamma]

nice!  nothing working on my unit yet...it's been trying for about 30 mins so far :\

[lilotimz]

Yeah it's definitely a WIP. 

I am able to connect but It's chugging real bad. I can't connect to any speedtest server, resolving domain names takes like me back to Pre-NV memories, and VolTE / Calling Plus calls just outright fail. Sometimes its so bad my Pixel gets stuck in 1x purgatory as it refuses to connect to LTE at all. 

 

[dkyeager]

20 hours ago, lilotimz said:

Yeah it's definitely a WIP. 

I am able to connect but It's chugging real bad. I can't connect to any speedtest server, resolving domain names takes like me back to Pre-NV memories, and VolTE / Calling Plus calls just outright fail. Sometimes its so bad my Pixel gets stuck in 1x purgatory as it refuses to connect to LTE at all. 

 

What happens if you use an IP address of a VPN?

[crazy_vag]

I just got my MB Gold! Curious what the latest firmware that it should be running?

I'm asking since I keep getting errors connecting the backhaul to my Google WiFi router.

[ingenium]

I just got my MB Gold! Curious what the latest firmware that it should be running?
I'm asking since I keep getting errors connecting the backhaul to my Google WiFi router.

Wired and wifi backhaul is not working yet. Current ETA is end of June. You might have to factory reset it to get it back to relay backhaul.

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[crazy_vag]

1 minute ago, ingenium said:

Wired and wifi backhaul is not working yet. Current ETA is end of June. You might have to factory reset it to get it back to relay backhaul.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Ok. I'm able to select it, but sometimes it won't connect. But even when it does, I get no service. Which is not much different than without it.

A highrise went up better my condo and the tower, so already bad service is barely working now.

[ingenium]

Ok. I'm able to select it, but sometimes it won't connect. But even when it does, I get no service. Which is not much different than without it.
A highrise went up better my condo and the tower, so already bad service is barely working now.

Won't connect to Ethernet? Yeah it's a known issue. It used to not work at all. Now it's supposedly live in a few markets, but has some issues still. On the west coast it can sometimes connect but 0 throughput on some sites. Their backend isn't ready yet.

Better to factory reset it and try for relay backhaul. The other option is to request an Airave 4 instead, since it works with wired backhaul now. Supposedly the LTE portion will broadcast at the same power as a MB. They're made by the same company and should use the same components.

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[crazy_vag]

3 hours ago, ingenium said:

Won't connect to Ethernet? Yeah it's a known issue. It used to not work at all. Now it's supposedly live in a few markets, but has some issues still. On the west coast it can sometimes connect but 0 throughput on some sites. Their backend isn't ready yet.

Better to factory reset it and try for relay backhaul. The other option is to request an Airave 4 instead, since it works with wired backhaul now. Supposedly the LTE portion will broadcast at the same power as a MB. They're made by the same company and should use the same components.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

I don't have a place where I get good reception and have ethernet, otherwise I'd do that.  However, I can try that as an experiment to see if it works.

In the current location with LTE backhaul, my magic box gives about .1 Mbit uplink which sometimes is 0 and times out.  The antenna feels worse than on my PIxel 3, so I'm really looking forward to using Wi-Fi which runs off of Google Fiber.

 

[ingenium]

I don't have a place where I get good reception and have ethernet, otherwise I'd do that.  However, I can try that as an experiment to see if it works.
In the current location with LTE backhaul, my magic box gives about .1 Mbit uplink which sometimes is 0 and times out.  The antenna feels worse than on my PIxel 3, so I'm really looking forward to using Wi-Fi which runs off of Google Fiber.
 

Yeah I would put in an order for an Airave 4 then. Then you can put it anywhere that you have Ethernet.

Google Fiber in SF? I know they bought Webpass a while ago (microwave backhaul), did they rebrand it to Google Fiber?

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[crazy_vag]

1 minute ago, ingenium said:

Yeah I would put in an order for an Airave 4 then. Then you can put it anywhere that you have Ethernet.

Google Fiber in SF? I know they bought Webpass a while ago (microwave backhaul), did they rebrand it to Google Fiber?

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

It's branded as "Webpass from Google Fiber", so either term works.  

What does Airrave 4 do that MagicBox Gold doesn't? 

 

It frankly took way too much calling to get this.  My journey to MB gold was a long one.  I had a MB before.  To get a "Gold", I had to return the original.  I did that, and then had to call to ordered the Gold.  I called, but got sent the same non-gold again. I returned that, and then was when return went through, was told Gold is out of stock and they can't order it until it's back in stock. Called a month later, but still out of stock.  Called a month later, but nothing arrived, order never placed or was lost.  Called again, but again, nothing arrived, order was lost or never placed.  Called the 3rd time, and this time the order arrived.  Getting an Arrive 4 might take long enough that I might as well just wait for the firmware upgrade that will enable/fix Wi-Fi.

[ingenium]

It's branded as "Webpass from Google Fiber", so either term works.  
What does Airrave 4 do that MagicBox Gold doesn't? 
 
It frankly took way too much calling to get this.  My journey to MB gold was a long one.  I had a MB before.  To get a "Gold", I had to return the original.  I did that, and then had to call to ordered the Gold.  I called, but got sent the same non-gold again. I returned that, and then was when return went through, was told Gold is out of stock and they can't order it until it's back in stock. Called a month later, but still out of stock.  Called a month later, but nothing arrived, order never placed or was lost.  Called again, but again, nothing arrived, order was lost or never placed.  Called the 3rd time, and this time the order arrived.  Getting an Arrive 4 might take long enough that I might as well just wait for the firmware upgrade that will enable/fix Wi-Fi.

Wow, I never had trouble ordering either one. You can get an Airave too without returning the MB, just tell them it's for a different address. Call 1-866-556-7310 and they should be able to order you one in a few minutes.

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[DurhamHusker]

I just got my MB Gold! Curious what the latest firmware that it should be running?
I'm asking since I keep getting errors connecting the backhaul to my Google WiFi router.

I was also wondering about latest firmware. Anywhere online that it would be listed?


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[lilotimz]

I was also wondering about latest firmware. Anywhere online that it would be listed?


Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

15.16.00.663

60.11.63.0

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[DurhamHusker]

15.16.00.663

60.11.63.0

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I just got mine this week. That's what this device shows, too. Thanks!


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[belusnecropolis]

I took 3 months but I was able to get my free year line cancelled. Unfortunately I still have the magic box. The chat agent said keep it a couple months ago, but that is how mystery collections letters show up. I will just harvest it for parts and return it, but who do I get in touch with to complete the return process? I have no label or shipping box. 

[RedSpark]

16 hours ago, belusnecropolis said:

I took 3 months but I was able to get my free year line cancelled. Unfortunately I still have the magic box. The chat agent said keep it a couple months ago, but that is how mystery collections letters show up. I will just harvest it for parts and return it, but who do I get in touch with to complete the return process? I have no label or shipping box. 

https://www.sprint.com/en/support/solutions/device/magic-box-support-center.html?INTCID=magicbox:20181712:learnmore#return-magicbox

Quote

 

How do I return my Magic Box?

To return your Magic Box, please call Sprint Customer Care at 1-844-463-3194 to get a pre-paid Return Kit sent from Sprint free of charge. There is no cost to the customer for return shipping.