Network Vision/LTE - Boston Market (all of Massachusetts)

[WiWavelength]

 

FAHKIN' A!  THAT'S A WICKED PISSAH!

 

AJ

[bosox801]

FAHKIN' A! THAT'S A WICKED PISSAH!

 

AJ

the A wicked would be pronounced ah wicked FYI [emoji6]

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[mikejeep]

FAHKIN' A!  THAT'S A WICKED PISSAH!

 

Fah the reckid, those highway signs wah real. The state has been tryin' to have a sense of humah lately. Phenomenal!

 

-Mike

[Paynefanbro]

How would you all describe Sprint's site density in Boston? In my opinion, the city itself is great but the suburbs could be better. Newton in particular is poor. I feel like there is a strong sense of NIMBY-ism. There's even an area where I fall down to one bar of EVDO while outdoors. But it's not limited to Sprint. Every carrier falls to 1 bar in that area since basically every carrier is on the same sites throughout the town.

[mikejeep]

How would you all describe Sprint's site density in Boston? In my opinion, the city itself is great but the suburbs could be better. Newton in particular is poor. I feel like there is a strong sense of NIMBY-ism. There's even an area where I fall down to one bar of EVDO while outdoors. But it's not limited to Sprint. Every carrier falls to 1 bar in that area since basically every carrier is on the same sites throughout the town.

I wouldn't use Newton as a measuring stick for the suburbs.. that might as well be its own country. In general, most areas are fine, and the major providers are all on equal footing as far as coverage goes. Inside 495, you won't find many coverage holes for any of them.

 

-Mike

[Mercurial1]

Band 41 in Attleboro target parking lot!

[BrevardNole]

I wouldn't use Newton as a measuring stick for the suburbs.. that might as well be its own country. In general, most areas are fine, and the major providers are all on equal footing as far as coverage goes. Inside 495, you won't find many coverage holes for any of them.

 

-Mike

I live in North Framingham near Sudbury. My neighborhood is a data dead zone. Calls are OK.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[moysauce]

Picking up traces of B41 at Somerville hospital. Either weak signal or no back haul installed.

[jamesinclair]

Spent the weekend visiting family in Winchester. Must say, was highly disappointed with the LTE progress.

 

DISCLAIMER: I have a single band Galaxy S4.

 

For reference of the area I was in, this is the wimax map. See the circled area? 99% of that mapping was done by me when I was visiting during prior years. That was done with a galaxy s2.

 

 

 

This time, others had already done some mapping for me, but this is the area I mapped in red.

 

 

Notice the lack of coverage? That's not because it hasn't been mapped...it's because there's no LTE!

 

I thought LTE was supposed to have better range than wimax?

 

I tried the airplane mode trick a couple of times to no avail. Also, it's winter, so the lack of leaves on trees should result in the highest signal reach, right?

 

 

This was especially bad...I found myself roaming near downtown Winchester! In the past, Id roamed inside restaurants there, but I cant remember roaming while driving down a road before. While Winchester is suburban, downtown Winchester is your classic old New England center, with pretty dense construction, lots of people walking around, and commuter rail service (2 stations). Having a triband phone wont solve this problem.

 

Notice the roaming. Data was so slow the map wouldnt load!

 

 

 

Looks like someone got a signal on the train, meanwhile I was roaming!

 

 

I also checked the voice quality inside my dads house. When we adopted Sprint, it was great. However, a year later, as NV hit the nearby tower, quality declined greatly. We were given a free airave and were told it would be fixed.

 

He's kept the airave ever since, but I decided to discconect it and see if the phones worked fine without it. I was hopeful that 800 along with newer phones with better antenna would mean no more airave.

 

Nope, the voice kept dropping every few words. So airave stays.

 

I was just there for two days, so maybe I was unlucky, but it seems like somehow a gap of service EXPANDED with NV, rather than decreased. I don't understand why.

 

As for Amtrak, I got a great LTE connection between Boston and Providence. Even at 128mph (above the limit!), streaming music worked just fine. Connecticut though? Even surfing the web was a hassle, and spotify kept buffering.

 

[S4GRU]

It's ironic that you noted the great Clear WiMax coverage in the area, and then use a device that will not let you use the Clear WiMax/LTE sites in the area. Uniband users are limited in old WiMax areas and miss out on thousands of square miles of LTE coverage.

[Paynefanbro]

It's ironic that you noted the great Clear WiMax coverage in the area, and then use a device that will not let you use the Clear WiMax/LTE sites in the area. Uniband users are limited in old WiMax areas and miss out on thousands of square miles of LTE coverage.

 

Perfect example of this occurred today. I accompanied my friend to Best Buy in Watertown, MA. We had been looking up what the tax rate was and we were both on a strong 3G signal but it was on legacy backhaul so the site wasn't fast. All of a sudden, my M8 connected to a weak Band 41 signal while his iPhone 5 was stranded on the strong but not so speedy 3G signal. 

 

Having a Spark device matters way more than many think.

[jamesinclair]

It's ironic that you noted the great Clear WiMax coverage in the area, and then use a device that will not let you use the Clear WiMax/LTE sites in the area. Uniband users are limited in old WiMax areas and miss out on thousands of square miles of LTE coverage.

 

I dont think ironic is quite the right word. I dont think anyone who made the change from S2 to S4, including myself, regret it. My S2 was a disaster by the end so I was eager to upgrade, and did so knowing that Id be missing out on triband for awhile. Frankly, two years of single band is preferable for me to what would have been 5 more months with the S2 waiting for the S4 triband model.

 

However, I do find it unfortunate that at year end 2014, the base lte coverage for single band phone users in that specific area relevant to my interests does not match the wimax coverage of the past, especially when taking into account the frequencies. I was eager to map the area, as in the past, and was hoping to paint the map purple.

 

By this time next year, I should be able to map with a triband phone. July I think actually.

 

The new roaming is obviously a whole other issue, because the phone should be able to grab 800 voice just fine.

[dstar2002]

Looks like one towers coverage area. Perhaps during your stay the tower was down, maybe even receiving upgrades.

[JimBob]

Boston subways now have Sprint 4G LTE service underground:  http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/01/09/sprint-cell-service-is-live-in-boston-mbta-subway-tunnels/

[Paynefanbro]

Boston subways now have Sprint 4G LTE service underground:  http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/01/09/sprint-cell-service-is-live-in-boston-mbta-subway-tunnels/

Finally, I head in to Boston pretty often from Chestnut Hill. It's about time I had native service in the subways.

[WillM]

I was in Boston the other week around the time of the first blizzard and it was really nice to have service on the T. Better late than never I guess. Things overall seemed a little slower than I remember from my last visit though. Still a lot better than my home market for sure.

 

On a unrelated note, is it me or does it seem like every other person in Boston is wearing a Canada Goose parka? They're everywhere.

[Paynefanbro]

I was in Boston the other week around the time of the first blizzard and it was really nice to have service on the T. Better late than never I guess. Things overall seemed a little slower than I remember from my last visit though. Still a lot better than my home market for sure.

 

On a unrelated note, is it me or does it seem like every other person in Boston is wearing a Canada Goose parka? They're everywhere.

 

It's currently trending. Everyone in the Northeast is wearing Canada Goose from NYC to Boston.

[WillM]

Yeah. I thought I saw a lot in NYC but they seem way more popular in Boston. Given the prices of them I wonder how many are fakes.

[WiWavelength]

On a unrelated note, is it me or does it seem like every other person in Boston is wearing a Canada Goose parka? They're everywhere.

 

Bain Capital.  Mitt Romney.

 

AJ

[WillM]

Bain Capital. Mitt Romney.

 

AJ

They seem to be popular with younger types so I would blame easy money student loans. Dopey parents too.

 

Edit: I was wondering what your Bain angle was! Just looked it up. I had no idea.

[WiWavelength]

Edit: I was wondering what your Bain angle was! Just looked it up. I had no idea.

 

I was mostly being facetious.  But the Canada Goose, Bain Capital, Mitt Romney, and Boston correlation is interesting.

 

AJ

[irev210]

It's currently trending. Everyone in the Northeast is wearing Canada Goose from NYC to Boston.

 

Canada Goose + Bean Boot.

 

At least they are North American products made in Canada and Maine.

 

Better than the many trends of Made in China junk.

[Paynefanbro]

Canada Goose + Bean Boot.

 

At least they are North American products made in Canada and Maine.

 

Better than the many trends of Made in China junk.

Canada Goose, Bean Boots, Vineyard Vines. The official uniform of Boston College.

[irev210]

Canada Goose, Bean Boots, Vineyard Vines. The official uniform of Boston College.

 

I eat lunch at the pru often as I work in the area.

 

I try to avoid looking at the people that shop at Vineyard Vines but it is hard as it is right next to the food court.

 

 

Did you ever make it to the Super 88 Food Court?  PhoViet!

[WillM]

I noticed a new tower is planned to go up in front of the Pru at the Boylston St entrance. I kind of like the little open space that was there. Given the boom in building in Boston the last few years I'm not too surprised. I usually stay in the Financial District and that has been non stop building there. Cambridge too.