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

[kg4icg]

Bands 41 in Chambersburg.

 

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[kg4icg]

Little bit more info.

 

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[Flompholph]

I was in Hershey before a Beyoncé concert and I was surprised to see this living in town.

 

 

It stayed around 4-16 Mbps pretty neat stuff with all those people tailgating.

[Boosted20V]

Quite a few sites in the more suburban Harrisburg area are getting B41 upgrades. Saw them being added to a site on Linglestown Rd as well as a few on the west shore.

[Trip]

Saw B41 (and second carrier) in Harrisonburg on Monday. 

 

I have a question.  The Shentel region is the first Sprint region (as opposed to nTelos) where I've seen B25 second carrier.  For example, I saw second carrier in Luray, though the site west of town did not have it.  I was under the impression that the single NV panel could handle multiple B25 carriers, but when I looked at the tower, I saw two panels, the NV panel and something else.  There was no B41 present, so I assume it wasn't an 8T8R (unless it just hadn't been activated yet?).  Below are pictures.  Any ideas what they could be?

 

http://imgur.com/uGSKPTt

http://imgur.com/AUVLyJA

 

The other rack is Verizon.

 

- Trip

[Galaxyguy]

Saw B41 (and second carrier) in Harrisonburg on Monday.

 

I have a question. The Shentel region is the first Sprint region (as opposed to nTelos) where I've seen B25 second carrier. For example, I saw second carrier in Luray, though the site west of town did not have it. I was under the impression that the single NV panel could handle multiple B25 carriers, but when I looked at the tower, I saw two panels, the NV panel and something else. There was no B41 present, so I assume it wasn't an 8T8R (unless it just hadn't been activated yet?). Below are pictures. Any ideas what they could be?

 

http://imgur.com/uGSKPTt

http://imgur.com/AUVLyJA

 

The other rack is Verizon.

 

- Trip

That's how a lot of our towers are in Shentel-land. I've asked the same question before and someone said that the one panel has a wider spread for more coverage and the other flatter panel pushes the signal farther out. That sounds plausible, but I would think that would mean different GCIs for the panels, which I've not seen. So I'm not really sure. I'm fairly certain they are not B41 antennas because they've been like this for over 4 years now. I wouldn't think they would let them lay dormant for this long.

 

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[lilotimz]

That's how a lot of our towers are in Shentel-land. I've asked the same question before and someone said that the one panel has a wider spread for more coverage and the other flatter panel pushes the signal farther out. That sounds plausible, but I would think that would mean different GCIs for the panels, which I've not seen. So I'm not really sure. I'm fairly certain they are not B41 antennas because they've been like this for over 4 years now. I wouldn't think they would let them lay dormant for this long.

 

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It's a RFS 1700-1900-2100 4 port antenna. They use it to add additional CDMA / LTE carriers and in the future 4x MIMO on PCS by having one radio / antenna set run strictly LTE and the other CDMA. 

[ajm8127]

It's a RFS 1700-1900-2100 4 port antenna. They use it to add additional CDMA / LTE carriers and in the future 4x MIMO on PCS by having one radio / antenna set run strictly LTE and the other CDMA. 

 

It's mainly a carry over from the days when more CDMA carriers were used, before LTE. You can only do 8 with one RRH because you run into the power limit of the port unless you want to Tx at less that 16 watts (there may be software restrictions as well, not sure). Many second PCS radios and 4 port antennas have been replaced with TDD equipment which makes it easier from a leasing standpoint.

 

In almost all cases both the primary 6 port and secondary 4 port antenna are 65° beam width. The RFS APXVSPP18 and APXVRR13 are the antennas typically used. Any dimensional difference between the two has to do with the lack of 800 MHz elements in the four port antenna.

 

As for the LTE carriers you can deploy, ALU equipment currently only allows a 10 MHz LTE carrier on the older 25 MHz PCS radio. Software does not support 10 MHz on the 65 MHz radio yet. Typically two 5 MHz LTE carriers and up to four CDMA carriers are deployed on a single 65, but if you want 10 MHz, you need a 25 MHz radio. Sites with 10 MHz will use two 25s or a 65 and a 25. This is in addition to the 800 MHz radio.

 

In the not too distance future there will only be three CDMA channels, then they will all go away (in the indefinite future). Many portions of the valley and up into PA along I-81 (BAWA MTA) already have only thee CDMA channels to make room for a 10 MHz LTE channel. Same will happen in Philly MTA by the end of the summer after the swap from B to C block.

 

CDMA is dying a very, very slow death.

[lilotimz]

 

As for the LTE carriers you can deploy, ALU equipment currently only allows a 10 MHz LTE carrier on the older 25 MHz PCS radio. Software does not support 10 MHz on the 65 MHz radio yet. Typically two 5 MHz LTE carriers and up to four CDMA carriers are deployed on a single 65, but if you want 10 MHz, you need a 25 MHz radio. Sites with 10 MHz will use two 25s or a 65 and a 25. This is in addition to the 800 MHz radio.

 

 

 

A year after software certification and FCC approval and still not pushed out?

 

Nokia where aret thou!

[ajm8127]

 

A year after software certification and FCC approval and still not pushed out?

 

Nokia where aret thou!

 

They are close. The release which supports 10 MHz carriers on the 65 MHz radio is in testing now with market trials tentatively scheduled for late summer. This isn't horseshoes or hang grenades, however.

[Galaxyguy]

I guess Shentel finally got approval to use B41 spectrum in Shenandoah Co, VA. I remember reading before that they didn't have any here and had to wait for the ntelos deal to go through to acquire some. Anyway, I watched a couple days ago as the B41 panels were installed on a tower in Woodstock. I have a pic, but I need to shrink it before I post. I'll post it up in a little bit. If anyone has more info on how much B41 spectrum there is here, I would love to know. For instance, how many carriers are possible. I'm hoping at least 60 mhz (3 carriers), but that may be wishful thinking.

 

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[Galaxyguy]

This is the pic I took while the crew was working this past Thursday. (See post above)  

 

The middle panel is the new panel, in case it's not obvious. 

[Jones]

Well, I just moved for a job...

Fortunately its from one excellent Sprint coverage area to another. I have been driving around a lot of Winchester, VA and see almost exclusively 10x10 B25. I also found a couple areas with B41.

 

Interestingly I was in Toys R US July 25th and also experienced (similar to what derrph said) really slow to no connection despite good signal and 15 Mbs download on speed test.

[Galaxyguy]

Well, I just moved for a job...

Fortunately its from one excellent Sprint coverage area to another. I have been driving around a lot of Winchester, VA and see almost exclusively 10x10 B25. I also found a couple areas with B41.

 

Interestingly I was in Toys R US July 25th and also experienced (similar to what derrph said) really slow to no connection despite good signal and 15 Mbs download on speed test.

10x10 and 5x5 B25 LTE exists on most towers in the area, along with 5x5 B26. B41 is relatively new to Shentel. They just started going up in the last 6-12 months.

 

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[Galaxyguy]

I picked up some B41 in Edinburg, VA today. It's the tower "downtown" on top of a building Shentel owns. Speeds weren't super fast, but they may still be tweaking it. 2 carriers were active, and it was going back and forth between CA and just being on one carrier on my Note 5. Speeds were about the same (35 mbps down) on my Note 5 and my S4, so I'm pretty sure something wasn't working correctly yet as far as CA is concerned. Still waiting on a couple towers to come online with B41 in Woodstock. I'll post back when they do. This sure is nice to start seeing some progress.

 

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[jonathanlc2005]

just picked up a B41 blip in lebanon. its not useful yet but its certainly there on maple street next to turkey hill

[jonathanlc2005]

 

I stand corrected, near turkey hill on maple street

 

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[jonathanlc2005]

im noticing alot of degraded signal quality in the area... im assuming the towers are getting upgraded now or the backhaul in Shenandoah is being upgraded

[Galaxyguy]

im noticing alot of degraded signal quality in the area... im assuming the towers are getting upgraded now or the backhaul in Shenandoah is being upgraded

I haven't noticed anything. Where are you speaking of? As in, what town?

 

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[jonathanlc2005]

I haven't noticed anything. Where are you speaking of? As in, what town?

 

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lebanon county, specifically around 322 and through city of lebanon

[Galaxyguy]

You mentioned Shenandoah. That's why I thought you meant near me. I live in Shenandoah Co, VA.

 

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[jonathanlc2005]

You mentioned Shenandoah. That's why I thought you meant near me. I live in Shenandoah Co, VA.

 

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by Shenandoah i ment the location of shentel HQ is at, which i believe if i remember is in Harrisanburg

[Galaxyguy]

by Shenandoah i ment the location of shentel HQ is at, which i believe if i remember is in Harrisanburg

It's in Edinburg, VA, about 30 miles north of Harrisonburg. I was actually just there earlier. It's only about 5 miles from my house.

 

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[stealth]

im noticing alot of degraded signal quality in the area... im assuming the towers are getting upgraded now or the backhaul in Shenandoah is being upgraded

Im down around gettysburg and i noticed that my pings on speedtest are 150ms normally now on all towers in the area. Before it was anywhere from 30-60ms. Something is deffinity up with the backhaul i think. Ive reported several times in sprint zone.

[Galaxyguy]

I'm excited to start seeing B41 showing up around me. Just wondering when 2xCA might start popping up. It would seem to me it would've been easy to just enable it from the start, but maybe not.

 

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