S4GRU

quickly donned his favorite clown costume. He proudly wore the bright-cheerful single piece get-up that he inherited...

Food Drop Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Charlie's Minions? Get the play on Charlie's Angels reference? Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

I like my HTC 8X Windows Phone a lot. My largest complaint is the app availability. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Lemon Drop Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

gentile Southern man known for his vintage clown costume collection. One memorable damp and foggy morning in Soggy Bottom...

Hotspot data is tiered and more expensive than an ISP. How will this save you money? Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro EDIT: Nevermind, I see you already answered above. I needed to go to the next page in Tapatalk.

Many of the problems in Central Illinois are in CenturyLink areas. CL has been a major problem supplying backhaul for Sprint. If you are in a CL market and still do not have Sprint LTE, the wait may still be awhile. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

The 11-12Mbps is the currently observed speeds. Considering nTelos just deployed and they don't have very many LTE devices, that's not a good start. You think an early start on 5MHz channels would yield faster speeds. It almost makes you wonder what kind of backhaul they are running and if that is contributing. Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yeah, I know. But a brother can dream, right? I still believe that they can do a better job with an organically built remote network than Sprint probably could. Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I'm bullish on Shentel. They have such a good reputation (at least in wireless) and their Sprint stores are some of the busiest in the country I hear. If they can make it where they currently serve, I feel like they can do very well in the Virginia Panhandle and the more urbanized areas of West Virginia. Robert EDIT: Heck, I say let Shentel do the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska build outs too. Maybe they can also take over Swiftel.

To me, this "color" comment from nTelos is troubling. I'm glad I'm not a stockholder. Sprint's terms for a LTE network deal must be pretty tough. Because nTelos is not in the shape to let Sprint go. nTelos wireless without Sprint is sunk. They should have had a deal on LTE a long time ago. If they are still fighting it out, then to me that means that Sprint just wants to overbuild the area with Shentel and would only entertain furtherance of nTelos LTE if the price is so cheap that they cannot afford not to use nTelos. And I'm not sure nTelos can afford to go that low. This is all completely speculative on my part. I have no idea what's going on. But if nTelos is this far along with their LTE and cannot announce a Sprint deal, they have to just be dying on the inside. I'm sure Sprint will be tough on nTelos about capex, additional LTE carrier requirements, hosting and running B26 and B41. This will be a complex long term deal. And nTelos may not even be able to do what Sprint will need them to. I don't think Sprint will be happy with just a B25 in a single 5Mhz carrier for the next 5-10 years. And this could be the stumbling block. Sprint should buy out nTelos and sell it off to Shentel. Robert

It really depends on where you go and how you use your service. Tmo works very well in ABQ, except it does have patchy indoor coverage in places in between towers. Tmo is fairly good in Santa Fe, except for one big glaring coverage hole in the middle of Cerrillos. Everywhere else in Central and Northern New Mexico, Tmo is awful. Shoot yourself in the head awful. Using Tmo in Espanola, Farmington, Los Alamos, Santa Rosa, Clovis, Las Vegas, Taos, any of these places and you will go bat shit stupid. Coverage is spotty and EDGE data speeds are awful. Usually less than 100kbps. Whereas Sprint 3G works really well in most places in New Mexico outside the city. AT&T offers pretty good coverage, and their HSPA+ and LTE speeds are good. However, AT&T shows a lot of native coverage that is actually EDGE roaming on Commnet. However, AT&T is only on Commnet mostly in rural areas between cities/towns. The only notable exception is Los Alamos, where most of the city is on EDGE. Verizon is by far the best in coverage in North & Central New Mexico. However, speeds were dropping fast in many places. Some parts of Farmington were below 1Mbps. I don't know if VZW has started any AWS deployments in New Mexico. But they need to. If Verizon is within your budget, that's who I'd recommend if you cannot wait for Sprint. However, AT&T is a good option if cost matters. AT&T is getting dirt cheap if you buy your phone. They have lowered most of their pricing to match or get close to Tmo. But AT&T has the least options to deploy faster LTE (like 20MHz channels). Tmo is only a good option for city folks, and don't need to do anything but text or call when outside the city. Tmo's high speed networks literally die out within a few hundred feet of each city edge. Also, indoor coverage on Tmo can be really poor in places. Good luck! Robert

There should not be a problem with switching devices online on Sprint for a new customer on one of the newer plan types without any weird discounts, and using all LTE devices. If you start mixing non LTE devices, especially WiMax devices, or if you have old legacy plans, that's where a customer would likely run into problems switching online. Robert

I received word today that Shentel is starting to rollout a second PCS LTE carrier now on busy sites in the Woodstock to Hagerstown corridor. Possibly also in additional areas. Keep an eye on your LTE Engineering screen for different channel assignments and make sure to post them here if you do. Also, I heard that Shentel will be adding a Band 41 LTE overlay to sites in three Shentel cities in 2014. With more to follow in 2015. I don't have any more details than this. This is all I know at this time. It would be nice if the additional B25 LTE carriers is part of a Sprint network wide push to add them where needed and spectrum available. And Shentel is just a part of that big grand plan. But this may just be Shentel being aggressive in their network management. Shentel is awesome. Robert

Yes and no. ABQ and Honolulu are the largest markets in the country with zero Sprint LTE. Sprint has lost and will continue to lose a lot of customers in these markets. I'm not going to beg them to stay. They have lost so many customers though, that when they do finally get it together, these markets should hold up pretty well for Sprint. CenturyLink sucks. I get that. Many of the remaining communities in the country with little to no LTE are in CenturyLink markets. But Sprint has other options. Sprint and CL are closely connected, since Sprint spun off their landline business and it was later absorbed by CL. Probably a lot of executives and senior managers closely connected to Sprint. However, business is business. Maybe Sprint is moving on from using CL in ABQ. I don't know. I think they should. And maybe it's too late. Or maybe CL is close to being able to start firing sites up. I have no idea. But I do know that Sprint is languishing in New Mexico. And it is not powerless to solve the problem. Robert

You have been abandoned. You should go to another provider. Probably even worth paying the ETF. Robert

The LTE core is upgraded. But sometimes problems occur even on new networks. Sometimes a problem happens at a core when integrating a cluster of sites. A problem can happen at any location on the network. Even new equipment. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

That's much faster than my VZW and AT&T speeds here in South Dakota! Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

I'm in meetings this morning. Please provide a recap if you can. Thanks! Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Every site should be running on just NV gear by the end of summer. Just probably only a few odd outlier sites with problematic owners remaining. But not necessarily all the deinstalls complete. Deinstalling old equipment is a low priority and doesn't really materially mean much. However, deinstalls seem to be occurring much faster now. They were taking 6-12 months at the beginning of NV. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

It would have been unwise for Sprint not to allow USCC customers to leave since they did not offer the same coverage areas. If they had inherited the USCC network and coverages, they could have made a different play. Sprint could have done more to incentivize and keep those customers. However, if the demographics weren't there, they may just have figured it was better to let many of them leave than to try to "buy" them. Sprint may have been seeing this as a spectrum only transaction, and any customers gained was just gravy. Their actions sure seem to support that. Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

He wasn't installing fiber. He was installing the termination boxes for a later to occur fiber conduit install and fiber pull. Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Here is a freebie map of just the sites accepted in Bakersfield the last 24 hours. All this and more is available to Sponsors, including maps of every Sprint site in the country, and daily new accepted complete sites! https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?q=select+col5+from+13Ku8UAMsHxBcHPse3f4CugG3iQOsixn_rFubQBI&viz=MAP&h=false&lat=35.37099038701527&lng=-119.10745644999997&t=1&z=10&l=col5&y=2&tmplt=2&hml=TWO_COL_LAT_LNG"> For more information about how to become an S4GRU Sponsor and get access to all this great stuff, visit this link: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/ Robert

Site acceptance reports from Tuesday (2/25): Arkansas - 5 updates (3G) Austin - 1 update (1 LTE) Central Jersey - 1 update (1 LTE) Cincinnati - 1 update (1 LTE) Cleveland - 11 updates (11 LTE) Columbus - 5 updates (5 LTE) DFW - 1 update (1 LTE) East Michigan - 5 updates (5 LTE) GA/SC Coast - 1 update (1 LTE) Georgia - 3 updates (2 LTE) Houston - 1 update (1 LTE) Jacksonville - 3 updates (1 new LTE site) LA Metro - 1 update (1 LTE) Lower Central Valley - 8 updates (8 LTE) Memphis - 6 updates (3 LTE) Miami/West Palm - 5 updates (3G) Missouri - 5 updates (1 LTE) Myrtle Beach - 2 updates (2 LTE) Nashville - 1 update (1 LTE) New York City - 5 updates (3 LTE) Northern Connecticut - 2 updates (1 LTE) Northern Jersey - 11 updates (8 LTE) Oklahoma - 1 update (1 LTE) Orange County - 2 updates (1 LTE) Philadelphia Metro - 11 updates (10 LTE) Pittsburgh - 13 updates (7 LTE) Raleigh/Durham - 1 update (1 LTE) Riverside/San Bernardino - 2 updates (2 LTE) San Diego - 3 updates (2 LTE) South Bay - 1 update (1 LTE) South Carolina - 1 update (3G) South Texas - 1 update (1 LTE) Southern Jersey - 1 update (1 LTE) Tampa - 1 update (3G) Toledo - 1 update (1 LTE) Upper Central Valley - 3 updates (3 LTE) Upstate NY East - 3 updates (3 LTE) VT/NH/ME - 1 update (1 LTE) Washington DC - 3 updates (3 LTE) West Texas - 1 update (3G) West Washington - 3 updates (1 new 3G site) Winston/Salem - 1 update (1 LTE) Maps are updated. Robert Links: Comments regarding this thread, NV Sites Complete Map