S4GRU

My wife received an update to her EVO this morning. But it does not appear to be Jelly Bean. She emailed it to me below: Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

I'm going to be doing LTE testing on Thanksgiving weekend on all my LTE devices, including the Note 2. Wichita Falls or bust! Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

light saber Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

It seems like I'm in Wichita Falls every year. It hasn't changed much in the past 15-20 years. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

Since I had the GS3 before, I have grown pretty fond of the physical home button. I do agree that not being able to use the S Pen to press the capacitive back and menu button is counter intuitive. I am constantly hitting my stylus on them and surprised that nothing happens. Then I have to change to fingers mode. It is annoying, but I don't use the stylus a lot. I am still surprised even though I consciously know that the stylus doesn't work on those buttons, I just automatically do it if it is in my hand. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

I came home from work hoping my Nexus 4 would be on my doorstep. And there was indeed a package. But it was just my new Samsung Victory. So I'm playing with that tonight. Daydreaming of my new Nexus 4. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

That would be great. I'll keep an eye out for updates in the area. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

That's one reason for a hot swap. Another reason they do NV hotswaps is if they have no room for the new cabinets to cohabitate with the legacy cabinets. This is a common factor at many stealth sites. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

I can tell you that on my EVO LTE, GS3 and Note 2, there is no difference in battery life in LTE only mode or LTE/CDMA mode without an LTE signal. This point is echoed by dozens of posts around our forums. I cannot speak to the iPhone. Battery life can be reduced in LTE mode if you are connected an LTE site and the LTE signal is weak, though. This is much harder on the battery than being out of range. Sprint Android LTE devices only do a scan on their own once every 30 minutes for LTE. That is very light on the battery. So light that it will make virtually no difference in a full day battery life. I keep all my Sprint LTE devices in LTE mode. Even living in a non LTE market. And I have every Sprint LTE device except the iPhone and the new Optimus G. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

Broken Arrow Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

Because I can't. There is no dark purple on the Sensorly map to help me find a tower in Front Royal. It's possible that the Front Royal signal is coming from the tower between Front Royal and Stephens City that i already have mapped. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

I'm going to be in Wichita Falls over Thanksgiving weekend. I'm looking forward to enjoying the LTE goodness. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

First post with the Victory. This is an awesome little device. It is heads and shoulders better than the Viper. I am impressed. Robert via Samsung Victory LTE on Tapatalk

I have a hard time anyone thinking that Tmo has better voice quality than Sprint. Are you saying that they have better voice coverage, perhaps? Or combining voice quality/coverage together into some sort of cohesive metric? I've never used Tmo before, but that is about to change with the Nexus 4 I ordered. However, I do not expect Tmo to have better voice quality. Robert

Based on the maps so far of the sites in the area, range was set for approximately 1 mile. So if you are going into a building at one mile, near the maximum extent, you would probably lose a signal indoors. No matter which LTE carrier you use (VZW, ATT or Sprint), when you go indoors you lose between 8-12dBm in normal building types. Some building construction can even be worse, losing 15-20dBm. So, if you are in the last 10dBm of usable LTE signal, you will lose LTE when you go indoors. Even if you are on Verizon. I spent several days testing VZW and Sprint LTE side by side in Waco, Texas a few months ago. In looking at the site map around the Hollywood sites, most of the adjacent sites are between 3/4 to 1-1/2 miles away. So when they all go live, you will have quite dense and overlapping coverage in the area. You will likely get LTE inside that building when all the sites are live. Because if you were 1 mile away from the live site, you likely would have been 1/4 to 1/2 mile (possibly less) from another nearby site that hasn't gone live yet. Robert

I'm hoping so. I haven't received the dreaded "delayed" email from Google, yet. And I have been charged. Robert

Yes. Sites have just started being upgraded in the Riverside/San Bernardino market. Including a site in the Lake Elsinore area. In our Sponsor section of our site, we show all the sites that have completed Network Vision upgrades. For more information about how to become a Sponsor, you can follow this link: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/ Robert

I won't feel good until either I get a shipping email or a package arrives at my door. Although my new Samsung Victory is supposed to arrive today, so not all is lost. Robert

My Credit Union credit card online account shows Pending and Completed for transactions. And the pendings are totaled into a Card Authorization total. For my Google Nexus 4 purchase it says, "Completed." And the amount of authorizations is just $20 from another purchase. I assume that it is no longer an authorization and now charged. Robert

Your comment was deleted with a whole bunch of off topic questions/complaints. Nothing personal. Thank you for going to the forums like I suggested. Sprint deploys over an entire market, not just cities. So the entire South Texas market is beginning deployment. Although some of the early attention may largely be focused on the McAllen area, Brownsville and Harlingen and Corpus Christi will also be getting deployment soon. This is a good sign for all Sprint customers in the Sprint South Texas market. Robert

Captain's Log

I guess I am. I still haven't received a tracking notification, which Google says will happen when it ships. However, they also say they will not charge my card until it ships, and they charged my card immediately at time of purchase. I don't know what to think. But I can tell you nothing arrived today like I was hoping. Robert

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I spend a lot of time in rural areas. Sprint works great in the I-25 corridor between ABQ and Santa Fe. They recently did an upgrade at the Budaghers site and I am now getting over 2Mbps speeds on it. Also, they upgraded the site at the Relief Road and I-25 and I now get 2Mbps+ speeds there too. The Algodones site runs around 1Mbps, as does the Waldo Canyon Blue Missile site. However, Sprint is pretty lame inside Santa Fe, except the golf course net tower and the Downtown East Plaza site (which runs 1.5-2.5Mbps). Robert

fever blister

Well, they will attempt to. And it will improve when they lower downtilt by 10 degrees to the normal design. However, there is nothing they can do that between -93dBm and -106dBm RSSI, LTE signal is very fragile. And in this range, EVDO and 1x are more usable. In urban areas, the optimization will work well. Because site density is on their side. But in sprawled suburban and rural locations (and in places with poor site spacing...think Baton Rouge), there will be issues until LTE 800 is deployed. But it will be way better than WiMax. There is just no way that Sprint can guarantee indoor LTE reception for anyone. No carrier can. Robert