Network Vision/LTE - Northern & Southern Connecticut Markets (includes all cities)

[shmget]

I've been following this board for some time now. I've always had an interest in cellular technology (such as understanding modulation schemes (GSM, CDMA, etc.), PRLs, and debug screen info. I switched to Sprint last year because of their 4G network here in this area. It was helpful during a period of time I did telecommuting.

 

I live in the suburban area of Hartford, CT. I noticed that man towers in my area have received upgrades, and will be getting upgrades in the next 6 months on the network.sprint.com website. I'm wondering if that is Network Vision, or another upgrade.

 

I'm eligible for a phone upgrade in January. I'm also wondering: does it make sense to get an LTE phone right away, or stick with my EPIC 4G until I'm sure I have LTE? Most of the time, I'm at home and using Wifi. When I am at work, I'm deep inside a building, and barely get a Sprint signal. Sometimes I roam on Verizon. I'm thinking if I upgrade to a phone capable of 800mhz 1X, then when the towers get upgraded, I'm hoping to get a better voice signal.

 

I was glad when Sprint mentioned reusing Nextel frequencies. I used to have Nextel, and the signal strength at my house is pretty strong. Sprint is just ok. I think Nextel has the highest spot on a tower near my house. I'm hoping when they upgrade that site that I get a big boost in coverage.

 

So my questions are:

 

1. Are there any timetables for Network Vision in Hartford, and is it the same schedule as LTE (since Northern CT has not been announced to my knowledge).

 

2. Would it be worthwhile to upgrade as soon as possible?

[S4GRU]

1. Network Vision/LTE deployment will not begin in your market until some time in 2013. 2013 market schedules have not been finalized yet. Should later this Fall. Upgrades shown at network.sprint.com are not Network Vision related, but rather are maintenance upgrades to their legacy system.

 

2. If you use WiMax heavily, you may want to hold off on upgrading until LTE deployment starts in your area. Unless you find 3G to be acceptable where you go. Currently, Sprint LTE devices only support LTE on 1900MHz. Whereas, some time next year, Sprint LTE devices will also support LTE on 800MHz (Nextel frequencies).

 

Robert via CM9 Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[nycguy]

A user on the Macrumors forums posted an LTE speedtest from Hartford:

 

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=15984758&postcount=306

[S4GRU]

A user on the Macrumors forums posted an LTE speedtest from Hartford:

 

http://forums.macrum...8&postcount=306

 

Deployment has not begun in the Northern Connecticut market yet (where Hartford is located). So this is suspect.

 

Robert

[Kevster1321]

 

 

Deployment has not begun in the Northern Connecticut market yet (where Hartford is located). So this is suspect.

 

Robert

I agree with Robert there has been no mention of tower upgrades in that location on the ct website.

[pyroscott]

I've been following this board for some time now. I've always had an interest in cellular technology (such as understanding modulation schemes (GSM' date=' CDMA, etc.), PRLs, and debug screen info. I switched to Sprint last year because of their 4G network here in this area. It was helpful during a period of time I did telecommuting.

 

I live in the suburban area of Hartford, CT. I noticed that man towers in my area have received upgrades, and will be getting upgrades in the next 6 months on the network.sprint.com website. I'm wondering if that is Network Vision, or another upgrade.

 

I'm eligible for a phone upgrade in January. I'm also wondering: does it make sense to get an LTE phone right away, or stick with my EPIC 4G until I'm sure I have LTE? Most of the time, I'm at home and using Wifi. When I am at work, I'm deep inside a building, and barely get a Sprint signal. Sometimes I roam on Verizon. I'm thinking if I upgrade to a phone capable of 800mhz 1X, then when the towers get upgraded, I'm hoping to get a better voice signal.

 

I was glad when Sprint mentioned reusing Nextel frequencies. I used to have Nextel, and the signal strength at my house is pretty strong. Sprint is just ok. I think Nextel has the highest spot on a tower near my house. I'm hoping when they upgrade that site that I get a big boost in coverage.

 

So my questions are:

 

1. Are there any timetables for Network Vision in Hartford, and is it the same schedule as LTE (since Northern CT has not been announced to my knowledge).

 

2. Would it be worthwhile to upgrade as soon as possible?[/quote']

 

I will also add that sprint will not be using nextel cell sites in many situations. While sprint should enjoy a signal boost when rolling out 800mhz voice and later 800mhz data, the signal from a nextel iden site may not be a good sample to compare to sprint 800mhz.

 

It boils down to the fact that sprint is a company based on pcs spacing. It only makes sense to use a Nextel site if it integrates into the network design better than the existing cell site

[dfine1966]

I saw a posting here a few weeks ago about some areas of Southern Connecticut getting approved or getting rollout of LTE in there towns. One of those towns that was listed is where I live. I happen to live in North Branford area and have not seen anything upgrade at all to the towers. There is no sign of activation of LTE as of today. I do have an LTE phone to check. Was the towers just approved and they will be starting work in a few weeks? Does anyone really know when this is going to happen?

 

 

"Kevster1321 posted in another closed thread that these towns were getting LTE, but didn't go into details:

 

1 in bethel

1 in Cheshire

1 in Easton

1 in Guilford

1 in Litchfield

2 in Monroe

1 in Newtown

2 in North Branford

1 in Oxford

1 in Plymouth

1 in Southbury

1 in Wallingford

[S4GRU]

I saw a posting here a few weeks ago about some areas of Southern Connecticut getting approved or getting rollout of LTE in there towns. One of those towns that was listed is where I live. I happen to live in North Branford area and have not seen anything upgrade at all to the towers. There is no sign of activation of LTE as of today. I do have an LTE phone to check. Was the towers just approved and they will be starting work in a few weeks? Does anyone really know when this is going to happen?

 

 

"Kevster1321 posted in another closed thread that these towns were getting LTE, but didn't go into details:

 

1 in bethel

1 in Cheshire

1 in Easton

1 in Guilford

1 in Litchfield

2 in Monroe

1 in Newtown

2 in North Branford

1 in Oxford

1 in Plymouth

1 in Southbury

1 in Wallingford

 

I interpreted Kevin's report meaning the State has authorized for these sites to proceed. I didn't interpret it to mean work has already started at these sites. And if that is the case, they still may need local county, city and/or neighborhood advisory board approval to begin. The State of Connecticut is just one jurisdiction that would sign off on them.

 

Robert

[Kevster1321]

here are the locations in North Branford

41.3283333333333 -72.8191666666667

41.3310805555556 -72.7561527777778

[dfine1966]

here are the locations in North Branford

41.3283333333333 -72.8191666666667

41.3310805555556 -72.7561527777778

 

Thanks.

 

I'll have to take a ride to these locations to see if new equipment is being delivered.

 

 

Is this going live before the end of the year?

 

I will let you know if I see anything. Will my Navigation input longitude and latituder with those many decimal points?

[Kevster1321]

You can put it in Google maps

[S4GRU]

Is this going live before the end of the year?

 

Only fools, charlatans and liars predict LTE.

 

I sometimes feel like I qualify as the fool.

 

Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

[shmget]

Sprint is on the same tower I mentioned that has Nextel. I know because we had an outage yesterday, and that tower was totally out, leaving us with basically no service at our house. The reps tell me the tower will be fixed today, and they also said in my zip code there is a network vision upgrade happening. I don't have an LTE phone to test, but I figure one of the towers by I-91 might be getting the upgrade.

[dstar2002]

I am smack between Hartford and Springfield. Confirming, NO LTE. I do have ehprd everywhere basically, but I have no LTE until I get into Springfield. I work at Bradley Airport, and definitely no LTE here.

 

My house is 800 feet from the highest cell tower between the two cities, 500 feet off i91 and no work has been done. I can see the tower out my living room Window, and no one has been on it. (water tank and metal tower based)

 

We got wimax nearly first, so i suspect LTE could be last. Though I am hoping that's wrong, sooner the better!

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[shmget]

Thanks for the update. I kind of figured that we wouldn't have LTE yet, as that has been mentioned already. I'm not sure if the rep was confused, or what. I'm probably holding off unless there is a really nice sale on LTE phones around Thanksgiving/Christmas, as my Epic 4G at least gets WiMAX on my way down to Hartford everyday.

[dstar2002]

we actually have decent 3g speeds in this area, i typically get 1 mb down from the tower near my house, and 2mb down from the tower at the airport, but i do miss my wimax since I picked up the S3

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[shmget]

Of course, I can't be sure what tower I was connected to this morning, but... the one on the water tower by exit 47E on I-91 might be getting upgraded. My speedtest results from one minute to the next varied by a great deal. Sometimes it was 100kbps/50kbps (with a very strong signal), and re-running a test got me 1500kbps/900kbps. I kept re-running, and it went back and forth between slow and fast. You might notice after the 15th some significant improvements. At least, that is what the CS reps have been telling me.

[dstar2002]

I am within 800 of the water tank tower in EW near exit 45. Its on the hill directly above the old movie theater that closed a few years back. I havent seen anything going on up there, and definitely see no panels. Now, that doesnt mean jack for Enfield, because you can get LTE just over the line in Mass.

 

Robert was said that nothing was going on in our area until at least 2013, and I dont see evidence first hand to say that it may have changed. Would be nice to see LTE light up, but honestly, I would imagine seeing it at Bradley Airport before Enfield saw it....but thats just a hunch

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Kevster1321]

The only work being done right now is in southern Connecticut these are the only sites right now that will be worked on or have permits for

 

1 in bethel

1 in Cheshire

1 in Easton

1 in Guilford

1 in Litchfield

2 in Monroe

1 in Newtown

2 in North Branford

1 in Oxford

1 in Plymouth

1 in Southbury

1 in Wallingford

[shmget]

Thanks for all the info. I'm suspicious as everyone else. But more than one rep explicitly said it was a network vision update. However, it probably is just the updates on network.sprint.com, as there are towers in Enfield that are scheduled for data upgrades. I'm getting excited, and might just do an early upgrade one of these days. I'm trying to decide between the Photon LTE and the Galaxy SIII. I like the keyboard on the Photon, since I do some SSH to servers, and it is easier for me to type with a real keyboard.

[dstar2002]

So it appears that the rest of New England is starting early third market work. Once it's launched, you will be able to go from Baltimore to Canada and have LTE, except in the northern ct and Rhode Island market.

 

Odd. It's like Northern CT was forgotten about. I guess it's payback for early wimax.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Kevster1321]

update of towers being worked on or have permits for.

Bethlehem

Goshen

2 Hamden

North Haven

Plymouth

Prospect

Sharon replace 12 existing antennas with 2 dual band antennas. must be a typo

Torrington

2 Wallingford

Wolcott

[dstar2002]

Seeing Providence sites come into the list now too. Still nothing for the large footprint in CT they are not starting yet? Guess no love for the 860.

 

From a business stand point you would think LTE was a bigger priority in the entire CT, now business travelers will get LTE everywhere except the middle of their trips up and down the east coast.

 

I find it very odd to say the least. Especially on the highway towers, you are literally talking less than 20 total sites in this region to have all the major interstates covered in LTE from Baltimore to Boston (and really New Hampshire and Maine)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[S4GRU]

Seeing Providence sites come into the list now too. Still nothing for the large footprint in CT they are not starting yet? Guess no love for the 860.

 

From a business stand point you would think LTE was a bigger priority in the entire CT, now business travelers will get LTE everywhere except the middle of their trips up and down the east coast.

 

I find it very odd to say the least. Especially on the highway towers, you are literally talking less than 20 total sites in this region to have all the major interstates covered in LTE from Baltimore to Boston (and really New Hampshire and Maine)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

It's not a choice. It's not like Dan Hesse sits in his brick palace in Kansas and says, "Connecticut sucks. Screw them!" The issue is Connecticut. They are an anti-business and expensive place to do business with high barriers to entry. They make it very difficult to convert a tower.

 

Many states/counties/cities (about half of all Sprint sites) do not have any permit requirements at all to switch out equipment on an existing site. And half of the ones that do, it is a relatively easy process. However, Connecticut (one of the few states to do so), requires permitting, planning an zoning review on every level. On the state level, county level, city level, and in many locations, even the neighborhood level. Almost no state requires permitting on a state level too. It's absurd. Cell companies have to get permits and approvals for all those different levels. However, in Texas, they can just do the work without asking in most cities. In Connecticut, it is very expensive and very time consuming. And the consumers are the ones who get the shaft.

 

The permitting and planning in Southern Connecticut started at the same time as Philadelphia. And they have started and much farther ahead. Northern Connecticut started permitting and planning the same time as Providence. And look where they are at.

 

So, instead of being vocal about Sprint in Connecticut, maybe you should direct your attention to your local and state political leaders and bureaucrats? It's actually quite amazing that they are even willing to go through the trouble in Connecticut at all. I wouldn't.

 

Robert

[dstar2002]

Interesting, I knew CT was bad, but that bad? Jeeze.

 

So, I guess my next question is, how long has it been this way? Is this a new level of "junk" carriers have to wade in? We were nearly the first to get wimax, I had wimax on my evo less than 2 months after its release. Did they get a big jump on things here or were they just much easier to work with then?

 

So I guess that leads me to the next question, why wouldnt they have started permitting earlier? It seems like the muck of CT causes things to slow down, but when they started in Baltimore, Boston, NYC, the next ones on the list you saw were the major pieces connecting those sectors. I frankly am surprised Providence is so far behind as well. It too had wimax fast, infact, something tells me they might of been first nationwide.....

 

But either way, like I said in my post in the Mass thread, too much "Not in my backyard" syndrome to call this country free anymore.

 

 

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