Network Vision/LTE - Missouri Market (includes St. Louis)

[sbolen]

What they're trying to hint at (I think) is that st Louis is going from being a standard "spark market" to being the kind of market Kansas city is with 8t8r being integrated.

And eventually like Indianapolis, which is amazing.

[dingwall1]

And eventually like Indianapolis, which is amazing.

 

 

Not yet, but hopefully soon.

[EvanA]

8T8R can't come soon enough for Edwardsville. I was at the AMC theatre (saw Interstellar for the second time, first time seeing it in IMAX. Highly recommend.) tonight and data was unusable. Pings were high (300+) and speeds were 3G like. It didn't seem like band 26 was available either because my phone was sitting on band 25.

[jamisonshaw125]

8T8R can't come soon enough for Edwardsville. I was at the AMC theatre (saw Interstellar for the second time, first time seeing it in IMAX. Highly recommend.) tonight and data was unusable. Pings were high (300+) and speeds were 3G like. It didn't seem like band 26 was available either because my phone was sitting on band 25.

That movie blew my mind. I can't wait till its out so I can get it and watch at home with the sub all the way up. The neighbors will hate me. I was at the movies the other day and could hear interstellar playing in the IMAX theater next to us. It was shaking the entire building practically lol. Love it

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 on Crapatalk

[EvanA]

That movie blew my mind. I can't wait till its out so I can get it and watch at home with the sub all the way up. The neighbors will hate me. I was at the movies the other day and could hear interstellar playing in the IMAX theater next to us. It was shaking the entire building practically lol. Love it

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 on Crapatalk

It was shaking my seat at times purely from the intensity of the sound. It's unfortunate that we don't have any 70mm IMAX theatres nearby showing it. The STL science center has one but they are showing a different film right now. Maybe some day....

[Dkoellerwx]

What they're trying to hint at (I think) is that st Louis is going from being a standard "spark market" to being the kind of market Kansas city is with 8t8r being integrated.

St. Louis has more 8T8R than KC at the moment...

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[EvanA]

Sprint speeds getting destroyed at the O'Fallon IL Christmas parade.

 

[montyman03]

Any updates on 65804 area in Springfield?  Starting to get ridiculous over here, Best Buy area where I work.  Keep getting the back and forth with info from Sprint too.  Techs tell me the nearest tower is in a continual state of maintenance and others tell me its a vendor/city issue with permits.

[Dkoellerwx]

Any updates on 65804 area in Springfield?  Starting to get ridiculous over here, Best Buy area where I work.  Keep getting the back and forth with info from Sprint too.  Techs tell me the nearest tower is in a continual state of maintenance and others tell me its a vendor/city issue with permits.

 

It is city issues with permits

 

I have information on every site in the city, however it is inside of the sponsor's section.

 

Currently, most sites have LTE active. However, the site that serves the area around Battlefield Mall hasn't been touched. It is a very weird site that Sprint inherited when they purchased the network from an affiliate many years ago. Most sites in the city are sitting atop short, wooden utility poles rather than regular monopoles. This has created huge problems during the upgrade.

 

Sprint has had permits pulled on these sites for upgrades since September of 2013, but Springfield only started approving plans this fall. Sprint has just pulled a new round of permits on 4 of the sites because last year's permits expired since Springfield never approved them.

 

The other site that serves the area is just on the other side of James River Freeway. It is just like the Battlefield Mall site, and hasn't been touched because of it's weirdness. However, as more sites have B26 activated, that will help to fill the gap in the area. Last time I was in Best Buy I was actually connected to B26 from a site east of town. This was with my LG G3.

 

EDIT: The number of new permits is now up to 7.

[montyman03]

Thanks for the great info. Yea, I'm about at my breaking point with that area over there. Going between 1 bar of 3G and no service at all in a single story office building is insane. Not that it us any better outside either though. Someone was telling me AT&T is somehow involved in the dragging of the feet to update that area too? Like they are a vendor of some sort.

[Dkoellerwx]

Thanks for the great info. Yea, I'm about at my breaking point with that area over there. Going between 1 bar of 3G and no service at all in a single story office building is insane. Not that it us any better outside either though. Someone was telling me AT&T is somehow involved in the dragging of the feet to update that area too? Like they are a vendor of some sort.

 

Actually, AT&T did their job. Every site that has been upgraded is live with LTE. AT&T is providing the fiber connection. But they've had the fiber ready to go for more than a year at all of Sprint's sites. Springfield is the main culprit here, and the old affiliate that built crappy sites. 

 

Here's the Battlefield Mall site. And some examples of why Sprint is having trouble upgrading it.

[montyman03]

Yikes. Well, hopefully the city will get the ball rolling on this stuff asap. Have been at this location almost a year dealing with it.

[dedub]

wow thats horrible.

 

seems like it would make more sense to abandon all those crap poles and try to colocate with, I assume, better infrastructure that other wireless providers are using in the area.

[Dkoellerwx]

Yikes. Well, hopefully the city will get the ball rolling on this stuff asap. Have been at this location almost a year dealing with it.

 

The addition of Band 26 LTE has helped a lot to fill in some of the gaps. With the new permits, that will bring 2 more sites close to you online with B26. While it may not get LTE indoors, it should give you coverage outdoors, which might alleviate some of the stress on 3G. 

 

However, if you get no signal, not sure you will get LTE until Sprint puts in a new tower there. Do you have WiFi indoors? Most of Sprint's new devices also support WiFi calling.

[Dkoellerwx]

wow thats horrible.

 

seems like it would make more sense to abandon all those crap poles and try to colocate with, I assume, better infrastructure that other wireless providers are using in the area.

 

That is likely the long term plan, but that takes time. A lot of time. Time Sprint is not willing to waste sitting around doing nothing.

 

The miniature sites are expected to be decommissioned since there is no current way to upgrade them. Where they will be relocated is unknown at this point. They will remain problem areas until that happens. 

[montyman03]

The addition of Band 26 LTE has helped a lot to fill in some of the gaps. With the new permits, that will bring 2 more sites close to you online with B26. While it may not get LTE indoors, it should give you coverage outdoors, which might alleviate some of the stress on 3G. 

 

However, if you get no signal, not sure you will get LTE until Sprint puts in a new tower there. Do you have WiFi indoors? Most of Sprint's new devices also support WiFi calling.

Unfortunately my workplace does not make its wifi available to employees. This makes me think of my HTC EVO and the fun days of WiMax headaches.

[Dkoellerwx]

Unfortunately my workplace does not make its wifi available to employees. This makes me think of my HTC EVO and the fun days of WiMax headaches.

 

This was not a good market for WiMax, as we only got 3 protection sites that didn't really provide much coverage (if you even knew where they were). Unlike WiMax, LTE is going on every single Sprint site. At least, eventually. They have something in the works for these problem sites, I just don't know what it is right now.

[sbolen]

Upgraded backhaul needed badly in O'Fallon. Yikes.

 

[EvanA]

Upgraded backhaul needed badly in O'Fallon. Yikes.

 

Band 41 needed more. Which O'Fallon?

[sbolen]

Band 41 needed more. Which O'Fallon?

Illinois. I think this was a flagpole site, less than 1/4 mile away.

[EvanA]

Illinois. I think this was a flagpole site, less than 1/4 mile away.

The area by I-64/Drury Inn/Target? That area is horrible. It's a band 25 flagpole site serving that area. Not even band 26 active.

[Dkoellerwx]

The area by I-64/Drury Inn/Target? That area is horrible. It's a band 25 flagpole site serving that area. Not even band 26 active.

 

That site is probably a GMO, which would explain the lack of Band 26, and the less than ideal Band 25. Does Band 26 from the surrounding sites not make it to that area?

[EvanA]

That site is probably a GMO, which would explain the lack of Band 26, and the less than ideal Band 25. Does Band 26 from the surrounding sites not make it to that area?

Yeah probably because it doesn't have 1x800. Band 26 from the surrounding towers barely fills in the area and it doesn't seem to drop band 25 for lower strength 26.

[Rickie546]

Anyone in the Columbia, MO area has some mapping work to do!

 

Rickie

sent on my LG G2

[dedub]

is this new?

 

olive & ross area