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by Ian Littman Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 7:05 AM MDT At around $100 with a contract (before the inevitable wave of promotional offers that have already hit its big brother, the Galaxy SIII), the Samsung Galaxy Victory falls under the definition of a midrange smartphone. It has specs somewhat reminiscent of the old Epic 4G: a 5 megapixel rear camera with 720p video recording, a front camera, a 4-inch 800x480 screen and a not-particularly-slim profile. However it differs from that older device by dropping the keyboard, upping the battery to the same-capacity (but, compared to my SIII, not the same model) 2100 mAh unit found in the SIII, pushing the Android version to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and swapping WiMAX for LTE as its 4G technology. But that’s information you can get anywhere. What about the phone’s maximum output powers, simultaneous-data-and-voice capabilities, and antenna placement? You’ve come to the right place. Spoiler: this device looks solid. This phone isn’t nearly as hot of an item as the iPhone 5 (nor does it have the specs...or the price to give the Apple product a run for its money), however the iPhone happens to be a very fair device to compare the Victory to in terms of radio performance. On CDMA the iPhone marginally wins out on PCS (by 0.31 dB), however it’s trounced by the Victory in SMR with a 4.69 dB lead in transmit EIRP, showing the difference between a jack-of-all-trades and a purpose-built Sprint phone. On the LTE side, the iPhone wins out by around 3.3 dB on the EIRP front, however this number decreases to fall in line with the Victory if the iPhone’s upper antenna is used (the Victory only transmits EvDO and LTE with its upper antenna). Plus, the Victory can hold a voice call on 1x while utilizing EvDO or LTE for data. iPhone comparisons aside, the Victory is a phone very obviously made with Sprint in mind. Radio figures actually look better across the board than either the Evo 4G LTE or the Galaxy SIII, though these numbers only describe the device’s transmit power, not how well it can receive a signal in a marginal area. Still, as midrange phones with LTE go, the strong radio characteristics of the Victory (or, as Sprint calls it, the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE) add to the list of reasons to get this phone over something else of the same ilk.

When you get into a LTE signal area and have a place where you can check while not moving, open up NetMonitor, your LTE Engineering and Settings>About and compare the three. In the EVO LTE, your LTE Engineering and Settings>About should be the same or similar. However, your NetMonitor will be different and will likely be the same as your 1x Engineering signal. Robert

You are mistaken and causing confusion. Sprint LTE is measured in dBms in the RSRP scale. 1x and EVDO are measured in dBms in RSSI. The numbers you are posting from NetMonitor are clearly in RSSI, and thus cannot be LTE. We already know unequivocally that NetMonitor does not and cannot provide LTE signal strengths in their readings and they have admitted to it in the past in postings and comments with our members. This is not something debatable. If you believe that you are getting LTE signal strength in NetMonitor, you are mistakenly getting incorrect readings. We are trying to prevent this problem. If you keep reading NetMonitor signal strengths, when you are connected to LTE, you are almost always going to think you have a great signal, and wonder why you are getting weak speeds and dropped from LTE. Whereas if you check your actual LTE signal strength in the LTE Engineering screen, as we have outlined in this thread, you will know when you actually have a weak LTE signal. Currently, the EVO LTE is the only Sprint LTE device that shows a LTE RSRP signal reading in the Settings>About menu. And we noticed some variation at times between LTE Engineering and the reading in Settings>About during our LTE performance testing we did in the Sprint LTE FIT earlier this month. The GS-III, Galaxy Nexus and LG Viper all show their 1x connection strength in RSSI in the Settings>About, even though they reference the LTE data connection. It is all confusing. That is why the only place that is guaranteed accurate and provides the signal in RSRP is in the LTE Engineering screen. Robert

You are much more likely to have a similar 1x and EVDO signal on most devices. However, your LTE signal will never be the same. They aren't even measured on the same scale, one using RSSI and the other RSRP. I repeat, NetMonitor DOES NOT GIVE YOU LTE SIGNAL STRENGTHS. Android does not provide the information about LTE signal strength and connections to the Android API. So apps cannot even obtain the information from your Android device. So all the data that NetMonitor is showing it is getting from the Android OS, which does not include LTE site info. The site info displayed in NetMonitor is based on the 1x connection your device has. It currently is not capable of getting it from your device. Robert

That is the problem. That is not accurate. NetMonitor never gives the LTE signal strength, it only gives the 1x signal strength. This is the exact problem we are trying to avoid. Mistaken signal readings. All the data in NetMonitor regarding LTE is not valid. The signal strength, tower/site info and map location shown are for your 1x connection, even though LTE is shown as the network connection type. The only place to get an accurate LTE signal strength is in your Debug/LTE Engineering screen. Robert

I consistently have a stronger EVDO signal on my Viper than 1x. It's quite bizarre. I am approximately 300' away from the nearest site. The only one probably visible to my device at all, being in a remote location. However, my 1x is at -82dBm, and EVDO is at -65dBm. Pretty big difference. And that is common. Robert

The schedule is based on info provided from backhaul vendors as to what sites would be ready and when. Then NV OEM's and Subcontractors took that data and created the schedule. There is likely to be variability where some sites are ready earlier than planned, and some later. This gets more and more complex depending on the number of backhaul vendors there are in a market. Most markets have more than 3 vendors, and some have more than 6. And also, some markets are sticking to the schedule better than others. However, with so many past due sites in each market, the validity of the initial schedule has been all but completely breached at this point. If there have been updates to the market schedules, I haven't received them. Robert

On the Galaxy Victory, you needed to look at the RSSI, not the RX Pwr. For instance, on my GS3, my RSSI right now is -75, but my Rx Pwr is -14. Robert

The exact extents of LTE 800 is not completely known yet. But a few things we do know: They will be deploying one 5MHz wide FD-LTE carrier in most markets. In some markets they may be limited to a 3MHz wide LTE deployment (especially the Southeast U.S.) There are licensing issues within 75 miles of the Canadian and Mexican borders that the FCC and Sprint are working through with neighboring countries/license holders that could delay deployment and possibly size of channels used in these areas. They are not deploying in LTE 800 in Puerto Rico initially Sprint is targeting that 80% of sites will receive LTE 800 within each market Sprint will be starting FIT (Field Implementation Testing) for LTE 800 this Fall Sprint is tentatively scheduled to begin LTE 800 deployment in the 2nd Half of 2013 Robert

roller skate

My roaming usage sometimes takes days to show up. You will burn through 300MB quickly if you stay on that PRL. Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

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

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

Likely from the site at Lake Cook Road and Discover Way, just to the west of there. Right behind the Holiday Inn Express. You can see this site, and other completed sites in our NV Sites Completed thread that gets updated every week. It's located in our Sponsor section. For more info about becoming a S4GRU Sponsor, you can visit this thread: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/ Robert

I sent you a PM. It explains it all there. Thanks for supporting S4GRU. Robert

I just made it a Pinned Topic: http://s4gru.com/ind...ignal-strength/ I'm going to just start posting the link. Robert

I will upgrade your account to the Sponsor level for any size donation. We depend on donations to keep the site active. So I will let your finances be your guide. But donate as much as you can afford, to help keep us online. Our expenses grow every month. Robert

If you become a S4GRU Sponsor, you can see the NV Sites Complete map that gets updated every week with all the sites Sprint accepts as complete. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/ It shows the Wichita Falls site that completed last Friday. Robert, S4GRU.com

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It is all the sites in the Riverside/San Bernardino market. Which includes all of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and part of Imperial County. So the very first sites will likely start coming live in January. There will be enough sites complete to formally launch the market by Spring, and all the sites should be complete by the Fall. Robert Robert

You have to make a donation to help support S4GRU in order to get access to the Sponsor section. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/ Robert

Work is under way in Puerto Rico. However, there will not likely be any active LTE signals for a few more months. We show more than a dozen completed sites now in our NV Sites Complete Map in our Sponsor section. You can go to this link to find out more about becoming a Sponsor so you can view the NV Sites Complete Map. Robert