Network Vision/LTE - Shentel Market (Shenandoah Valley/Hagerstown/Harrisburg)

[mhannaford]

New to the site, but wanted to let all of you know that I'm helping roll our our social media and we now have two twitter handles to help with issues in Quad State (VA, WV, MD and PA) as well as Central PA. So please follow and message @CentralPASprint and @QuadStateSprint  I'd be more than happy to help!

[DCC233]

New to the site, but wanted to let all of you know that I'm helping roll our our social media and we now have two twitter handles to help with issues in Quad State (VA, WV, MD and PA) as well as Central PA. So please follow and message @CentralPASprint and @QuadStateSprint  I'd be more than happy to help!

Sorry, for clarification are you indicating that you are a rep for Shentel?

[mhannaford]

Sorry, for clarification are you indicating that you are a rep for Shentel?

Yes. I do work for Shentel.

[Galaxyguy]

Yes. I do work for Shentel.

Just curious, do you work in sales or the network side of things?

 

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

[mhannaford]

Just curious, do you work in sales or the network side of things?

 

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

I'm from marketing but I am handling most of our social media presence.

[chamb]

New to the site, but wanted to let all of you know that I'm helping roll our our social media and we now have two twitter handles to help with issues in Quad State (VA, WV, MD and PA) as well as Central PA. So please follow and message @CentralPASprint and @QuadStateSprint  I'd be more than happy to help!

Welcome to the site Matt,

I had  a great experience on your network today.  I needed to travel from Waynesboro to Gettysburg Via Fairfield.  Then back to Chambersburg,  Your network was good on this route in the past, but today my Galaxy S5 found a whole bunch of band 26 800 LTE.

 

    I actually took some very rural roads on this trip just for a change from the high traffic routes.   Some of the roads were extremely rural in the mountains.  I had a fairly strong LTE signal in places that was a total surprise. I seriously doubt if any other carrier has any signal at all on some of those roads.  I could hold on going behind major obstructions and through major drops in elevation in the

middle of extremely rural areas.  The LTE is good enough that a deer hunter could watch Netflix while waiting for a deer to walk by.

 

   Downtown Gettysburg was very very good even in some of the old tough buildings. The cell site in Central Gettysburg was really working well. While the band 25 1900 signal there is more than adequate, I found myself on your band 26 more often than not and with a very very good signal.

 

    When going from Gettysburg toward Chambersburg, Your service was perfect.   Band 25 LTE was good for a long time, but now I see transfers to band 26 anytime this would improve the signal in the weaker areas.  Between Fayetteville and Chambersburg I was on Band 26 almost all of the time. 

 

     Shentel has a great network but they are not done yet.  I am positive that no other carrier can match the experience that I had today.   Shentel done the job promptly and correctly. The network you built is really rocking.

[davidtm]

And if you guys were to help out your neighbors at nTelos get up to speed with their network, we in central VA would REALLY appreciate it! ;-)

[Flompholph]

 

And if you guys were to help out your neighbors at nTelos get up to speed with their network, we in central VA would REALLY appreciate it! ;-)

Being next to nTelos and Western PA(including state college,PA) market seems to be the hardest problem to sell sprint for shentel. Every once and a while you will see a tower or two down but most of the time it is pretty good. I can't wait to see how well they deploy sprint 8t8r band 41 antennas. 

 

mhannaford welcome to the site if you have any technical network questions don't be afraid to ask. There are many bright people here someone here could probably can answer them. They have help me out a lot understanding different things. 

 

[The_Chemist]

Welcome to the site Matt,

I had  a great experience on your network today.  I needed to travel from Waynesboro to Gettysburg Via Fairfield.  Then back to Chambersburg,  Your network was good on this route in the past, but today my Galaxy S5 found a whole bunch of band 26 800 LTE.

 

    I actually took some very rural roads on this trip just for a change from the high traffic routes.   Some of the roads were extremely rural in the mountains.  I had a fairly strong LTE signal in places that was a total surprise. I seriously doubt if any other carrier has any signal at all on some of those roads.  I could hold on going behind major obstructions and through major drops in elevation in the

middle of extremely rural areas.  The LTE is good enough that a deer hunter could watch Netflix while waiting for a deer to walk by.

 

   Downtown Gettysburg was very very good even in some of the old tough buildings. The cell site in Central Gettysburg was really working well. While the band 25 1900 signal there is more than adequate, I found myself on your band 26 more often than not and with a very very good signal.

 

    When going from Gettysburg toward Chambersburg, Your service was perfect.   Band 25 LTE was good for a long time, but now I see transfers to band 26 anytime this would improve the signal in the weaker areas.  Between Fayetteville and Chambersburg I was on Band 26 almost all of the time. 

 

     Shentel has a great network but they are not done yet.  I am positive that no other carrier can match the experience that I had today.   Shentel done the job promptly and correctly. The network you built is really rocking.

I agree.  My experience with Shentel has been amazing!  Too bad Shentel doesn't run the entire Sprint network throughout the country.  We would be so much further along. 

 

I think that Sprint sometimes actually holds Shentel back on some progress they could make. 

 

I was talking to a Shentel person a few days ago on my lunchtime walk in the industrial park where I work.  That gentleman said Shentel has new boards ready that can handle 3 carriers each, but Sprint is not yet ready for them. 

 

You can really notice a difference in network performance when you travel outside of a Shentel area. 

 

Way to go Shentel.  Awesome Job!

[S4GRU]

I think that Sprint sometimes actually holds Shentel back on some progress they could make.

 

I don't think I agree with this. Maybe a bridge too far. If that were true, wouldn't Shentel be completing B41 installs already? Shentel has decided to start B41 next year. And I don't begrudge them that choice. But if Shentel were always chomping at the bit and ready, but being held back by Sprint, they would be pushing B41. Also, Shentel still does not have backhaul to all of its sites and have LTE available. Is this Sprint holding them back? No.

 

Instead, I would say when Shentel is ready, they manage things very successfully. They are a well run company. They will take the necessary time to plan a B41 strategy, and then they will implement it well. It's probably because they don't rush, but rather plan thoroughly, is why they are successful.

 

I don't think I have ever seen an instance on the network level where Shentel was ready to do something good, but Shentel was held back by Sprint. But it is definitely fair to say that Shentel shows how good things could be on the Sprint network when managed to the Nth degree.

 

But no matter how you shake it, the best Shentel advantage is density. Shentel builds out site density the way it should be for PCS spectrum. Towns like Waynesboro, Front Royal and Strasburg would likely have one site if it were Sprint corporate. Shentel builds 3-6 in the same area. Cities like Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Hershey and Charles Town would have 2 sites from Sprint and Shentel has 5-10 sites. And cities like Hagerstown, Winchester, Martinsburg and Harrisonburg would have 3 or 4 sites if built by Sprint and Shentel has 10-20 sites in them.

 

The only city of significance that is under dense in Shenteland that I can tell is Altoona. Which, I would guess, is because they just don't have as many customers up there. Shentel is not afraid to add more sites when necessary. They've added 20 sites since NV started.

[The_Chemist]

I don't think I agree with this. Maybe a bridge too far. If that were true, wouldn't Shentel be completing B41 installs already? Shentel has decided to start B41 next year. And I don't begrudge them that choice. But if Shentel were always chomping at the bit and ready, but being held back by Sprint, they would be pushing B41. Also, Shentel still does not have backhaul to all of its sites and have LTE available. Is this Sprint holding them back? No.

 

 

You brought up some very fine examples of Sprint driving and Shentel lagging!

 

The tech to whom I spoke made it sound like band 41 was in the works and ready to be implemented now.  I assumed a few months at best...  He stated they were going around to towers getting them prepped.  That must have been incorrect. 

[chamb]

I don't think I agree with this. Maybe a bridge too far. If that were true, wouldn't Shentel be completing B41 installs already? Shentel has decided to

 

Balance snipped to keep it neat

Band 41 does not need to be a priority in most of the Shentel area right now. They have added the second 1900 carrier at many congested sites and also the new 800 LTE.  I never find any slow data in Shentel territory, but of course, somebody will say they do and maybe there is someplace slow. With great spacing on the sites and low population in most of the area, there is not a pressing demand for more speed or capacity.  I know Shentel spent mucho money on their network over the last few years. I would personally not rush band 41 in the low population areas where it really is not needed.

They need to be thinking about Harrisburg, York, Hagerstown and maybe a few others.  Those cities have some WiMax, so the demand is there.  But the balance of the territory can be equipped next year on a as needed basis and not on a rushed basis.

[S4GRU]

Band 41 does not need to be a priority in most of the Shentel area right now. They have added the second 1900 carrier at many congested sites and also the new 800 LTE.  I never find any slow data in Shentel territory, but of course, somebody will say they do and maybe there is someplace slow. With great spacing on the sites and low population in most of the area, there is not a pressing demand for more speed or capacity.  I know Shentel spent mucho money on their network over the last few years. I would personally not rush band 41 in the low population areas where it really is not needed.

They need to be thinking about Harrisburg, York, Hagerstown and maybe a few others.  Those cities have some WiMax, so the demand is there.  But the balance of the territory can be equipped next year on a as needed basis and not on a rushed basis.

 

I completely agree.  I just wanted to address the point that Sprint is holding Shentel back.  I don't think that premise is accurate or helpful.  But it is more than fair to say that Shentel makes Sprint look good.

[chamb]

I completely agree.  I just wanted to address the point that Sprint is holding Shentel back.  I don't think that premise is accurate or helpful.  But it is more than fair to say that Shentel makes Sprint look good.

Shentel does not use equipment that is not approved by Sprint.  If Sprint has not approved something, there probably is a good reason.

[DCC233]

I don't think I agree with this. Maybe a bridge too far. If that were true, wouldn't Shentel be completing B41 installs already? Shentel has decided to start B41 next year. And I don't begrudge them that choice. But if Shentel were always chomping at the bit and ready, but being held back by Sprint, they would be pushing B41. Also, Shentel still does not have backhaul to all of its sites and have LTE available. Is this Sprint holding them back? No.

 

Instead, I would say when Shentel is ready, they manage things very successfully. They are a well run company. They will take the necessary time to plan a B41 strategy, and then they will implement it well. It's probably because they don't rush, but rather plan thoroughly, is why they are successful.

 

I don't think I have ever seen an instance on the network level where Shentel was ready to do something good, but Shentel was held back by Sprint. But it is definitely fair to say that Shentel shows how good things could be on the Sprint network when managed to the Nth degree.

 

But no matter how you shake it, the best Shentel advantage is density. Shentel builds out site density the way it should be for PCS spectrum. Towns like Waynesboro, Front Royal and Strasburg would likely have one site if it were Sprint corporate. Shentel builds 3-6 in the same area. Cities like Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Hershey and Charles Town would have 2 sites from Sprint and Shentel has 5-10 sites. And cities like Hagerstown, Winchester, Martinsburg and Harrisonburg would have 3 or 4 sites if built by Sprint and Shentel has 10-20 sites in them.

 

The only city of significance that is under dense in Shenteland that I can tell is Altoona. Which, I would guess, is because they just don't have as many customers up there. Shentel is not afraid to add more sites when necessary. They've added 20 sites since NV started.

I agree with you that Sprint isn't holding Shentel back, other than from a marketing perspective where I think Shentel has a market fully or at a point to go to market, only to lack the support from Sprint for the market announcement and related marketing push.  And it is my understanding that Shentel is well on their way to have B26 deployed across the majority of their market by year-end.  Which would give them sufficient LTE capacity for the current customers, aside from the markets Robert noted, to figure out their B41 deployment approach.  

 

For one thing they are inheriting some existing Clearwire infrastructure in their market which they must coordinate and figure into their deployment strategy, while considering their CapEx expense for 2014 and 2015.  Keep in mind that Shentel has spent a lot over the past few years with all the NV upgrades, and it is reflected in their continuous subscriber growth which has exceeded Sprint's own growth numbers.  At the same time I imagine they are probably considering their market situation with B25 and B26 already deployed and if/where capacity constraints exist, and you may see B41 deployment primarily focus on the congested markets first and the deployment to the remaining sites be at a pace slightly slower than B25 and B26.  

 

They have other businesses that could use the CapEx (i.e. their cable division), and in conjunction with a ever present need to show financial growth for their shareholders, it is entirely realistic and expected, in my opinoin that there B41 deployment not kick off until 2015 and be at a pace slower than customers in their market may be used to.  I still think they are a great company and are very effectively managed. 

[chamb]

I agree with you that Sprint isn't holding Shentel back, other than from a marketing perspective where I think Shentel has a market fully or at a point to go to market, only to lack the support from Sprint for the market announcement and related marketing push.  And it is my understanding that Shentel is well on their way to have B26 deployed across the majority of their market by year-end.  Which would give them sufficient LTE capacity for the current customers, aside from the markets Robert noted, to figure out their B41 deployment approach.  

 

For one thing they are inheriting some existing Clearwire infrastructure in their market which they must coordinate and figure into their deployment strategy, while considering their CapEx expense for 2014 and 2015.  Keep in mind that Shentel has spent a lot over the past few years with all the NV upgrades, and it is reflected in their continuous subscriber growth which has exceeded Sprint's own growth numbers.  At the same time I imagine they are probably considering their market situation with B25 and B26 already deployed and if/where capacity constraints exist, and you may see B41 deployment primarily focus on the congested markets first and the deployment to the remaining sites be at a pace slightly slower than B25 and B26.  

 

They have other businesses that could use the CapEx (i.e. their cable division), and in conjunction with a ever present need to show financial growth for their shareholders, it is entirely realistic and expected, in my opinoin that there B41 deployment not kick off until 2015 and be at a pace slower than customers in their market may be used to.  I still think they are a great company and are very effectively managed. 

Well written.  I agree 100%.

[Cubbiefan82]

I love seeing sprint getting more reports coming back from roots with good news, Call and text performance. Data speed will come up soon with band 41 happening in 2015 and them adding more specturm for lte in harrisburg

http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/rsr/harrisburg-pa

[bakedc4]

Anybody else having issues with texting usage to 1311? Just says not a valid Sprint user. Upgrade works fine though.

 

[kg4icg]

Why use text when the SprintZone app will tell you your usage

[Galaxyguy]

I just tried it and got the same message.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

[bakedc4]

Why use text when the SprintZone app will tell you your usage

You do random things when you're waiting for food on your lunch break.

[kg4icg]

So instead of texting, just go thru SprintZone in which there is a lot more detail. I do it on my tab 3.

[bakedc4]

So instead of texting, just go thru SprintZone in which there is a lot more detail. I do it on my tab 3.

[Galaxyguy]

I got the same msg through sprint zone too so I guess their usage server is offline right now.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

[A2CKilla]

Experienced HD voice today...oh my gosh, I've never heard something so clear