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

[jonathanlc2005]

Do you mind sharing your approximate location such as a nearby intersection? I'm glad to hear progress is being made.

actually I edited this... I'd rather keep it away from online. Sorry about that.

 

I will say south of lebanon

Edited December 5, 2015 by jonathanlc2005

[ajm8127]

actually I edited this... I'd rather keep it away from online. Sorry about that.

 

I will say south of lebanon

 

That's accurate enough. Thanks.

[dkyeager]

Just in time for Christmas raffle -- enter to win a new 64gb samsung galaxy note 5 white!

 

Buying a ticket will also make you a sponsor, which gives you access to lots of cool info!

 

Very close to becoming fully funded.  This means you have GREAT odds on this Samsung Flagship CA phone with a processors that rarely throttles and enough storage for even someone like me. Plus it helps keep the lights on!!

[leozno1]

Great news guys. I was just connected to B41 LTE in York PA. I was driving and just grabbed my phone to play some music and saw it. When I noticed I was on the intersection of Kings Mill Rd and Grantley road.

Only had enough time to take this screenshot before I got disconnected to take other screenshots and or speed tests.




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[maxx880]

 

B41 in Harrisburg, PA at Sutliff Chevrolet

 

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[leozno1]

Connected to B41 in York, PA again today in the same area as yesterday. Here are some more screenshots.

 

 

 

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[Jaramie3]

I'm in Delta/Stewartstown area so this is good news!

[leozno1]

So I noticed this twice today both on the way to and from work. When reaching the cell edge of the B41 signal, Signal Check Pro displays that there is a 2nd B41 carrier, but it only displays for 1 second before dropping down to B25.

 

I managed to keep an eye on it and take a screenshot really quickly before it went away.

Is this normal or could this be a glitch from it being a recently activated and probably not optimized tower?

 

 

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[ajm8127]

If two B41 signals were coming from the same sector, I would expect them to propagate similarly. I wouldn't be surprised to know there are two B41 carriers to support CA, but I would not expect them to have different footprints. If you drive out of range of the first carrier, you will drive out of range of the second. They have the same power and come from the same antenna. An RSRP of -117 dBm is at the cell edge for sure.

 

Seems like Shentel is trying to get some sites on-air before the end of the year, and they likely have some B41 islands right now. Expect more consistent B41 service once more sites come online.

[leozno1]

If two B41 signals were coming from the same sector, I would expect them to propagate similarly. I wouldn't be surprised to know there are two B41 carriers to support CA, but I would not expect them to have different footprints. If you drive out of range of the first carrier, you will drive out of range of the second. They have the same power and come from the same antenna. An RSRP of -117 dBm is at the cell edge for sure.

 

Seems like Shentel is trying to get some sites on-air before the end of the year, and they likely have some B41 islands right now. Expect more consistent B41 service once more sites come online.

 

That makes sense, I just thought it was strange that for literally a split second before dropping to B25 it would show me the 2nd B41 carrier. It's almost like they're teasing you lol. In any case, I'm definitely excited for the major upgrade that's on the way.

[stealth]

When I was in York today I seen two carriers on band 41. Speedtest resulted in 44 down and 15 up.

[leozno1]

When I was in York today I seen two carriers on band 41. Speedtest resulted in 44 down and 15 up.

 

Where in York? All the B41 I've seen is around the York Fairgrounds. Want to know if that's the only live tower so far or if there is anything else out there.

[ajm8127]

Check over by Airgas on North Sherman and at the top of the hill south of York College. Also if it hasn't happened yet, the smoke stack on West Philadelphia by the creek must be getting B41 as well. I think there is a tower at Spring Garden Park too.

[leozno1]

Check over by Airgas on North Sherman and at the top of the hill south of York College. Also if it hasn't happened yet, the smoke stack on West Philadelphia by the creek must be getting B41 as well. I think there is a tower at Spring Garden Park too.

 

The tower in Reservoir Park south of York College is the nearest to my home and is the one I'm always connected to at home. No signs of B41 coming from that one yet. I'll have to drive around a bit this weekend and check out some of the others. 

[stealth]

Where in York? All the B41 I've seen is around the York Fairgrounds. Want to know if that's the only live tower so far or if there is anything else out there.

The tower off of North Sherman St by 83. I got that speed out on rt 30 in line of sight of the tower. Also the water tower in Shiloh is broadcasting as well.

[A2CKilla]

well, seeing b41 pop up gives me some hope when I travel back down to york, got so use to the speeds in corporate land here in lancaster and york always left me disappointed whenever I'd visit

[leozno1]

The tower in Reservoir Park south of York College is the nearest to my home and is the one I'm always connected to at home. No signs of B41 coming from that one yet. I'll have to drive around a bit this weekend and check out some of the others.

I retract this statement. Just connected to both B41 channels in the back yard of my house with pretty direct line of sight to the tower behind York College.

 

 

 

Also this morning I was driving to Maryland and connected to B41 on I83 South in York County. If I remember correctly it was right around Shrewsbury.

 

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[chamb]

Found B-41 in Downtown Chambersburg, Pa today.   In the 200 block of Lincoln Way East (Rte 30)

I was able to get up to the fence at the cell site.  Two photos and two screen captures attached.

This site is a "hub" site and it now has an on site generator powered by natural gas. That one should run forever during a power outage.    Good move Shentel.

 

Speedtest yielded only 7 Mbps. Seemed a little slow.  I might guess that backhaul is not yet correct.

This site was running 3- 5X5 carriers before this B-41 was activated and it was slowing down.   While the B-41 did seem to be handling all the traffic for the entire downtown, I was surprised to see the 7 Mbps speed. I found no other nearby sites with B-41.

 

Maybe the 1900 and 800 carriers were barely loaded, but I was not able to really access them to find out.

No matter what I done, I was locked on B-41.  I only have a Galaxy S-5 and was not able to prove if there was a second B-41 carrier.  I was locked on the primary B-41 carrier all the time.

 

It seemed to me that the 2500 carrier had about the same range as the 1900 carrier.  When I ventured away from the site, as the 2500 weakened and dropped, the 1900 carrier would be about the same level and it would either then hand off to another 1900 site or the 800 carrier.

[ajm8127]

I was able to get up to the fence at the cell site...Speedtest yielded only 7 Mbps.

 

Were you right under the site when you did the speed test?

 

It is interesting what you say about the range of 1900 vs. 2500. I guess the beam forming really does work.

[lilotimz]

Were you right under the site when you did the speed test?

 

It is interesting what you say about the range of 1900 vs. 2500. I guess the beam forming really does work.

 

It's 10-60% improvement across almost all categories compared to a 2T2R antenna running more simple and less complex TM3/TM4 MIMO schemes (ALU has not begun 4x2 MIMO deployment on PCS LTE unlike Ericsson and maybe Samsung). 

 

Ofcourse nothing really fixes indoor woes since that's just the spectrum itself. 

[RAvirani]

It's 10-60% improvement across almost all categories compared to a 2T2R antenna running more simple and less complex TM3/TM4 MIMO schemes (ALU has not begun 4x2 MIMO deployment on PCS LTE unlike Ericsson and maybe Samsung).

 

Ofcourse nothing really fixes indoor woes since that's just the spectrum itself.

Wait Ericsson is deploying 4x2 MIMO on LTE1900?

[Dkoellerwx]

Wait Ericsson is deploying 4x2 MIMO on LTE1900?

 

On high capacity sites with 2 dual-band (original NV) antennas per sector, yes.

[RAvirani]

On high capacity sites with 2 dual-band (original NV) antennas per sector, yes.

Oh but not like every site

[lilotimz]

Oh but not like every site

Eventually most sites. It's a low priority deployment.

[chamb]

Were you right under the site when you did the speed test?

 

It is interesting what you say about the range of 1900 vs. 2500. I guess the beam forming really does work.

Yes, mostly under the antennas and I have seen slow speed tests even on other bands standing under the antennas.  I quite often see better speed tests if I get back a 100-1000 feet or so and get a little height.  Seems like the antennas are built to NOT throw the signal downward.

When I mentioned seeing approximately the same range on 2500 as was on 1900, keep in mind that this was not really proven beyond a reasonable doubt.  I accidentally stumbled onto this new B-41 and really was not able to spend much time checking this out.  It would have been interesting to find a spot where 2500 was degrading and walk into a building.  I did not have the time to test things real well.

 

What happened to me just a few times was: when  the B-41 degraded to about a -112, the phone would switch to 1900.  Sometimes the 1900 was from the same site and sometimes from a neighbor.  This 1900 level was approximately the same level and it may stick on 1900 depending on which direction I was moving. Sometimes it soon moved to 800.    But this is all one guy doing a quickie test and it may work differently elsewhere depending on site density and if the neighbor sites are equipped with B-41.   In this case, no neighbors are B-41 active.