S4GRU

While I agree with Sprint's poor communication, AT&T has not been much for announcing LTE info in advance, either. And all Verizon ever did was give a list of cities that were supposed to have LTE before the end of 2011. And Tmo doesn't announce anything until after it's done. So no one is really providing much information in regards to their LTE expansion. However, there is no AT&T, VZW or Tmo equivalent of S4GRU, so Sprint customers have a leg up on info there. Robert

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Friday, June 29, 2012 - 8:59 AM MDT The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is The City Beautiful...Orlando. The Orlando market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches. The Sprint Orlando market encompasses all of the East Central portion of the Florida peninsula. Including the Orlando metro area, Melbourne/Palm Bay area, Port St. Lucie, Daytona Beach/Port Orange Area, Lakeland/Winter Haven, Palm Coast, Titusville/Cocoa Beach/Space Coast, Deltona and Vero Beach. Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing with its subcontractors in July. Completed Network Vision sites are scheduled to start coming online in September. However, if they mobilize in July, sites may start actually coming online in August. Orlando 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 Orlando, 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 January (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be December. 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 December, 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 Orlando. 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 December or January market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson 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. Ericsson will need to hit a production rate of 65 sites per month to stay on schedule. This is an achievable rate in our opinion. If properly prepared and equipped and if backhaul is ready timely, this market shouldn't have problems staying on time. S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites will be complete by May 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of the Orlando skyline 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

Maybe. But I only want 7 inches. 10 inchers are too large. Let the jokes begin... Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

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

Clearwire didn't seek thinly covered communities or ghetto neighborhoods hoping that no one would use Protection Sites. This is an opinionated statement. In reality' date=' Clearwire was not prepared to deploy any Protection Sites until the 3rd Quarter of 2010. Then they had to scramble at the last minute to deploy in time to protect their assets. Protection sites were not selected for usable coverage. They looked for sites they could quickly and inexpensively deploy on for the benefit of maximum POP's covered. They weren't going to wait around and negotiate for prime location leases, or do ideal coverage studies. It was a blow and go situation. As for small Nebraska towns, the purpose of the FCC Minimum Coverage Standards was exactly for communities like that to get coverages. I think the FCC would take exception to your comments about rural and inner city locations. They crafted these standards to better ensure that the consumers with the least choice get more options. And that carriers don't cherry pick which customers they prefer, especially given they are using a public resource. I'm not defending Clearwire. Just explaining. I have spent more time on phones talking with engineers about Protection Sites than I have Network Vision. I still think that the Clearwire Protection Site deployment was still one of the most interesting moments in American wireless history. Be careful what you ask for. If Clear went down at the wrong time during Network Vision deployment, it could be disastrous for Sprint. Where they lose Clearwire altogether, or have to stop NV deployment. Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

C'est la vie! A year ago, I used flash occasionally on my phones/tablets. But I don't think I've used it in months. Seems like developers have been moving away steadily in the mobile environment. Looks like Steve Jobs is getting one of his final wishes. The death of Flash. However, HTML5 is likely to allow more OS competition in the future, as it starts to even the playing field with apps. Could be ironic for Apple and Steve Jobs in the end. Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

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

In my opinion, I don't think the FCC much cares whether there is three national carriers or four. What they don't want is there only to be two really strong carriers...drowning out competition. A third strong competitor to VZW and ATT is a much better solution than two mediocre ones. I'm not saying that I am for the merger. And I'm not saying that a combined Tmo and S is a good idea. However, I do believe it can pass government scrutiny in the context it can bring better and more direct competition to the big two. So we shouldn't be so quick to rule it out on those grounds. Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

I was going to order, but I came to the realization it would probably be delivered while I was on vacation. And I have all my drivers trained to leave things on my step. Don't want to leave a gadget on my step for a week. So I'm going to sit out the pre order on this one. Maybe it will give time for the specs of the new KF to come out before I buy. Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

Never mind, Scott just beat me to it. Good job! Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

For further reading about protection sites: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/6-what-are-protection-sites/ Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

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

I actually got it from sprint.com. I went and activated my phone online at sprint.com/activate and it gave me the MSL number. They called it a six digit activation code that I may need during the activation. But I knew immediately what it was and wrote it down. Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

Roam Control doesn't work on all devices. Like the Galaxy Nexus. I haven't tried Roam Control on the GS3, yet. Robert via Samsung Galaxy S-III 32GB using Forum Runner

Information about sponsorship: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/ Robert

It is. It will be deployed in this deployment. Keep in mind this map only shows the first 40% of sites in the schedule, not all the sites. And there is no guarantee this will be the order of deployment. Some variability should be expected over time. Robert

I think it is from the 1982 World's Fair, if memory serves. I am just old enough to remember that. I wanted to go. Robert

And that's fine. But we here consider all of Northern Illinois the Chicago market because of Sprint's boundaries. And for the purposes of our network discussions it is all Chicago. Robert

speed addict

That's great that they are not blocking those sites. How long have you had it? Robert

We are in the middle of a second round schedule article series. It will include Orlando too. Stay tuned. Robert

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Thursday, June 28, 2012 - 12:59 PM MDT The next market in our Network Vision/LTE deployment schedule update series is The Music City...Nashville. The Nashville market has yet to be announced by Sprint, but is expected to be announced in the near future. Perhaps around the time of the first market launches on July 15th? The Sprint Nashville market encompasses all of the Sprint native coverage in eastern Tennessee, and the Tri-Cities area of Western Virginia. This includes the Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Clarksville and the Tri-Cities (Johnson City/Kingsport/Bristol). Sprint's Network Vision OEM Ericsson is scheduled to begin mobilizing in this area with its subcontractors in late July. Completed Network Vision sites should start coming online before the end of August. Nashville 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 Nashville, 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 the Nashville market, it would make the launch month to be December (should the OEM stay on schedule). If they plan on a 40% market completion for launch, that would be November. 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 November, 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. Some sites are scheduled to be live in the Tri-Cities at the time. However, Chattanooga and Knoxville sites won't start until early 2013. Schedule details and the bottom line We currently do not have a date that Sprint will formally "launch" the Nashville market. It is difficult to try to pick a date now this far out. And we know Sprint won't want to do that. But we will take a stab at it. In looking at the schedule as of today, it would indicate a November market launch (going on a 40% - 50% completion for launch). But there is no way to know if Ericsson 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. Ericsson will need to hit a production rate of 85 sites per month to stay on schedule. This will be a difficult rate to achieve and maintain consistently. Guessing now and based on the best production rates thus far, I could see this market taking longer to complete. Since they should be starting soon, we will be able to understand how things are going in a few months. S4GRU has examined the schedule in great detail in this market and sees that most of the sites are scheduled to be complete by March 2013. However, there may be a few sporadic sites that will linger past the completion. Photo of Knoxville skyline 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