S4GRU

Hurricane Eye Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

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

AFAIK, no current LTE device will be able to move up to LTE Advanced. The biggest feature of LTE Advanced is Carrier Aggregation and 4x4 MIMO support and greater. None of the current devices have the hardware to be able to support these features. However, LTE Advanced is backward compatible with LTE devices. So current LTE devices will run on LTE Advanced just fine. They just will not be able to take advantage of aggregated carriers and more than 2x2 MIMO. These are going to be challenges for OEM's to overcome in future devices. Robert

slick fox

It's still being blocked as far as I know. Although, we have gotten some posts today about some LTE being observed in KC and ATL. Maybe the blocking is coming to an end? Robert

Those GPS coords are perfectly situated between two active LTE sites. One just off K-10, just west of K-7, and another near K-7 and W. 119th. We will not be able determine which one of the two you are connected to from the screen shot. If you become a S4GRU sponsor, you can view interactive maps that we have that show completed NV sites around the country. For more info about becoming a sponsor, you can read this thread: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/ Robert

American Motors Any one remember them? The Gremlin, the Pacer, the Javelin.

We are scheduled to have an update article before the end of the week. Stay tuned. Robert

The Network Vision 3G upgrades will effect the Sprint iPhone 4 and 4S. However they do not support the 800MHz voice upgrades. Apple decided not to include Sprint CDMA 800 in their devices. And, of course, no iPhone to date includes support for LTE anywhere in the world. It is not known now what support the next generation will support on the Sprint network, or any network for that matter. Robert

It's funny the difference in preference to screens. I find the EVO LTE screen under saturated, slightly washed out colors and too bright. When I reduce the brightness of the EVO screen, it almost feels like it is adding gray to the screen, instead of reducing the intensity of the backlight, because without brightness it appears to be slightly hazy. The clarity between the two screen seems identical to me, it's just a color/saturation/brightness difference that I detect with my eyes. Robert

Don't feel like an idiot. The purpose of S4GRU is education about spectrum and wireless networks. Even my knowledge has been greatly expanded the past year. Robert

I'm noticing an improving battery life in my GS-III. Maybe a 25% improvement in life after 6 days? Robert

It's my understanding that deployment order is mostly an issue of backhaul availability than it is for preferential site selection. Robert

General Lee

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, July 3, 2012 - 12:02 PM MDT The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is the City by the Bay...San Francisco. The SF Bay market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is the only First Round market to not yet start deployment. The Sprint SF Bay market encompasses all of the Northern San Francisco Bay Area, including the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Solano. This includes the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont, Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Livermore, San Ramon, Antioch, Brentwood, Hayward, Berkeley, Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville, Richmond, Napa, San Rafael, Novato, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, San Mateo, Daly City and Palo Alto. Samsung is scheduled to finally start mobilizing with their subcontractors in this market next month and get things moving. The first completed Network Vision sites are will likely start coming online in September. There was a lot of anticipation that this market would start around the times of the other First Round markets. However, S4GRU discovered there were issues early in this market as the start dates for sites pushed out to summer pretty early in Network Vision. It just plain takes longer to get started in a market like Northern California with all of the bureaucratic red tape, planning and zoning requirements and approvals. And the issues Samsung has encountered in Chicago are likely to have played role in the push back too. SF Bay Market Launch It was Sprint's original plan to launch markets when they reached 50% of sites converted to Network Vision. However, it has now been determined that Sprint will move up launches sooner than 50% completion in several markets. This is likely to maintain a Mid 2012 launch in markets that have already been announced. However, in an unannounced market like San Francisco, we don't know if they will resume pushing back market launches to 50%, or if they will now settle on a 40% completion to be the new normal for market launches. If Sprint waits for 50% completion to launch this market, it would make the launch approximately February (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be January. You may think that 40% - 50% site completion is not enough to launch LTE service, but it would provide pretty good coverage. Even Verizon doesn't launch on all sites in a market initially. Usually less than 50%, then filling in with more and more sites every few months. Anticipated Sites Complete at Market Launch. According to the Network Vision schedules that S4GRU has reviewed, if Sprint launched the market in January, these are the anticipated sites that would likely have LTE complete at that time. This would provide fairly good LTE coverage over many parts of the market. Schedule details and the bottom line We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" LTE service in the Bay Area. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out, but we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Samsung and their subcontractors will actually hit their schedule dates this early in the deployment for this market. We will be able to gauge better after a few months of production. Samsung will need to hit a production rate of 75 sites per month to stay on schedule. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have any problems staying on time to this schedule. But this is very dependent on whether the market will indeed start in August. S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by July 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Bay Bridge provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. NOTE: S4GRU Sponsor Members can track regular updates of Network Vision sites completed nationwide. Completed sites are shown in an interactive Google Maps interface. Information about sponsorship can be found here: S4GRU Sponsorship

It shouldn't. Except if a Nor'easter blows in. Robert

Emmm...Fosters. I miss Fosters. I could go for a chocolate dipped vanilla cone from Fosters Freeze now. Takes me back to my childhood. What we were talking about, again??? OH yeah... That maps above was database built using search modifiers. It does not exist anywhere but here. I did not save it anywhere except for the screenshot which I posted. There is in our Premier Sponsor section a complete San Diego market map that shows every single site in the San Diego market. You can click on each site, and it will tell you schedule dates for that site. Robert

As of the last update I received of completed NV sites, none were in the McKinney area yet. Robert

No changes. Their design dates have been holding though. I believe they will start deployment right in between the end of the 2nd Round and before the 3rd Round. Right now the last Second Round markets are schedule to start in November. However, 3rd Round markets will not really get started until January/February. So these markets you mention may start in that window between November and January. Robert

If I don't fall behind on articles because of the holiday, the South Bay market schedule update article should post on Thursday. Robert

Possibly. However, Sprint has no active plans for 10MHz channels. So, even if they change their plan tomorrow to start including a track toward 10MHz deployments, it would still take 18 to 24 months in order to start getting some 10MHz carriers in place. And then they would only be in a hand full of markets where they have a large enough PCS contiguous chunk available. It's not many, and maybe not any. Natural 10MHz deployments are not likely to happen in the contract lifespan of any of these new LTE devices. Sprint is much more likely to deploy 10MHz LTE via Carrier Aggregation first. And none of these devices support CA. I think it is completely a non issue, Robert

Dollar conversion

Yes. Northern Jersey and Southern CT are tomorrow. So long as I stay on schedule. I haven't written those articles yet, but completed the research. But tomorrow is a holiday, and today is a hectic day for me. There is a chance that one or both of these articles may end up delayed. Robert

SFO article posts mid day today. Robert

Harder? Perhaps. However, it is likely that Shentel will bring NV/LTE to its coverage area faster than if Sprint were bringing it. Robert