S4GRU

Danny Bullard Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 11:39 AM MDT FreedomPop is a company that aims to provide free broadband, founded by Niklas Zennstrom (Skype Founder). FreedomPop plans on releasing a case for the iPhone 4/4S with an integrated 4G WiMax radio according to a "high level source inside FreedomPop." Not only will it allow your iPhone device to use a 4G signal, but this case will be able to share a WiMax connection with up to eight devices, for 30 hours. At the moment, FreedomPop hasn't committed to a release date. Each iPhone case user will have a 1 GB of free data starting off. If you go over the 1 gig cap, it'll cost you $10 per gigabyte or 10 cents per MB. According to TechCrunch's sources, you'll have to put down a $100 deposit for this case. The deposit is refundable if the case is in "good" condition. This case will allow your 3G iPhone 4/4S run on Clearwire's 4G WiMax network. Pretty neat huh? All you have to do is slide your iPhone into the case and BAM you have 4G if you're in a Clear 4G market. We know this case will not beat Verizon's 4G LTE speeds or AT&T's LTE speeds, but it will be a good alternative to 3G (especially on Sprint and Verizon) and users who don't have 4G devices (iPhone users). The Clear 4G footprint covers 130 million POPs. FreedomPop struck their wholesale agreement with Clearwire in February. This concept isn't entirely new. We saw something very similar to this debut on Sprint in November of 2010. It was a ZTE manufactured peel that gave users access to Sprint's 3G EVDO network. ZTE's peel got decent reviews from buyers. A lot of people liked that the peel brought decent data speeds without a contract. It was a wonderful idea, hopefully FreedomPop can improve on what ZTE started on Sprint's network. So, is this innovation at it's finest? I'd say not really, but if FreedomPop markets this case enough, it could be a huge hit. Source: TechCrunch.com, FierceWireless

I almost spit my coffee through my nose on that one! Holy moly, that's funny! Hey Digi...on CM9, when you are on WiMax, does the signal indicator look exactly like the 3G one above, only with 4G displayed? Robert

structured settlement Robert, Roberto, Admin, Hey You! Its all good! But this was posted from my E4GT with ICS using Forum Runner

by Robert Herron Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 12:00 AM MDT Two Non WiMax markets to tell you about! We are now prepared to tell you about two more Round Two markets in Sprint's Network Vision/LTE deployment plans for 2012... Norfolk/Hampton Roads and Long Island! Sprint's Network Vision vendor Samsung will likely begin Network Vision and LTE deployment in these two Sprint markets in 2012. This is not an imminent start in the next few weeks. These are Second Round starts. Which means that the start of these markets is dependent on when the previous market before it wraps up. There is no way to determine at this point which markets will precede them. Even Sprint does not know definitively at this point. Sprint's Norfolk market Sprint's Norfolk market makes covers the whole Tidewater/Hampton Roads region and extending up the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and into the Northeast corner of North Carolina. Including the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Hampton, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Williamsburg and Elizabeth City/Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It is bordered by the Richmond market to the northwest, to the Raleigh/Durham market to the southwest and the Baltimore market to the north of the Delmarva Peninsula portion. The Norfolk market will have 278 sites in total after Network Vision is complete. Sprint's Norfolk Market. All 275+ Network Vision sites are shown for the Norfolk market in this map. Click on image to enlarge. Sprint's Long Island market Sprint's Long Island market is everything on the island east of the New York Boroughs in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. It includes Islip, Brookhaven, Stony Brook, Levittown, Hempstead, Riverhead, Happaugue, Garden City, Brentwood, Hicksville, Massapequa, Long Beach, the Hamptons and Montauk. It is bordered by the New York City market to the west. A total of 258 Network Vision sites. Sprint's Long Island Market. All of the approximately 250+ Network Vision sites are shown for the Long Island market in this map. Click on image to enlarge. We would love to give you the date, but... There is absolutely no way for S4GRU to be able to provide a start date for these markets, or any of the Second Round 2012 markets that will be announced after these. We are announcing these markets to you for your information, to give Sprint customers a rough idea of when these second round markets can be anticipated. There is absolutely no guarantee of the order in which these markets come live, because there is a lot of variability in the plan. The most significant variable being how quickly the preceding market before it wraps up. If things go quickly in the preceding market, work may start early. Things go late, these would likely start late. And to complicate start dates in each market, Sprint has said they may elect to slow down Network Vision in future quarters if cash flow becomes strained. Sprint has three different OEM vendors, with several different crews in many markets at once. There could be final permitting and design delays, some vendors and/or crews will work at different speeds, weather issues and any number of unforeseen circumstances to complicate matters even further. First round market starts are much easier to predict, but second round and third round markets starts are increasingly difficult to predict and put dates to. This is likely the reason why Sprint has elected not to announce these markets themselves at this time. But we know you don't want to wait for Sprint to tell you! With these caveats understood, we are releasing the Network Vision second round markets in the order that they are anticipating to start deployment, based on the schedules as they exist to date. Photo of Norfolk skyline courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. We won't stop digging for you! Sprint 4G Rollout Updates will continue to scour through the data and gather deployment information for your use. It is our intent to provide at a minimum, all the Sprint markets that will likely begin Network Vision/LTE upgrades in 2012. And we intend to do so in a series of articles over the next few weeks. We will not likely announce communities slated for 2013, because the dates we hold for 2013 markets appear very tentative and subject to change. With the many variables to sort out between now and 2013. Sprint could make significant shifts in deployment plans based on dynamic need change, funding, market permitting difficulties, etc. With the release of Norfolk and Long Island markets today, that brings the total of Network Vision markets announced to 35. We have have a thread in our forums where we are keeping track of all the markets announced by Sprint and S4GRU.com. Click on this link here to view the Network Vision Market Running List. Stay tuned to Sprint 4G Rollout Updates. On Friday we will be releasing the next two Round Two markets for Sprint Network Vision and LTE deployment. We will be talking about it in a few hours in advance in a S4GRU Live Chat at 9:30 PM Mountain Time on Thursday evening. Come join us! Photo of Pano Robert Moses Bridge/Long Island courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Information about the source: The information for all of our Network Vision information has been freely provided by several sources close to the Network Vision program who choose to remain anonymous. No source information will be released to protect anonymity. Special thanks to S4GRU Member digiblur for creating the Norfolk and Long Island market maps! Thank you!

Houston Status: LTE Launched/NV Upgrades Complete NV Sites Accepted = 100% LTE Sites Accepted = 99.3% LTE Launched = July 15, 2012 Original Scheduled Completion = February 2013 Substantial Completion = August 2014 NV Complete = Summer 2016

Josh...there is no way to know for certain about the microwave backhaul. However, the fact this is a Network Vision modified site is unquestionable. Also, Kevin noticed significant performance improvements since his previous use of this site in the past. Robert

The day is not over, but at 8:30 PM MDT it's 15,461 for the day. So, it's sustaining pretty good. We have gained some real followers from this past weekend. Robert

Rickie Smith Sprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 8:01 PM MDT Have you wanted SDC (Sprint Direct Connect), but the phones that it is on doesn’t have the features you want? According to internal Sprint sources revealed to PhoneNews.com, it may be available as an app for select Android phones soon. This would allow you to talk in the walkie-talkie like fashion through your Android based phone to users of SDC or NDC (Nextel Direct Connect). The app, called Sprint DirectConnect Now, will enable all of the current features found on SDC service without the need for dedicated hardware. Also it may feature the possibility to enable the long-promised Push-to-X features that never materialized on the previous generation of the platform. Another key element to this version of DirectConnect is that the Android app can be ported easily to other Android devices in Sprint’s lineup. QChat itself is now platform agnostic, meaning that it can be deployed to other smartphone platforms such as BlackBerry, Windows Phone and even iOS, provided carriers that have rolled out QChat show enough interest in providing the service as an app in place of launching dedicated devices. Currently there are some apps out there that are walkie-talkie-like (TiKL, Voxer, etc.) but they are all internet-based. This will bridge it out to older Nextel phones and newer ones alike that aren’t Android based and without the dedicated software. Qualcomm General Manager of QChat Visha Gupta said to PhoneNews.com last September, "the changes to QChat and the DirectConnect Now Android app is the direct result of the latest changes to the platform which frees it from the previous hardware requirements that were necessary with the version that was shelved in 2009 and turns QChat into a fully functioning push to talk service without the need to develop customized hardware around it, which was the biggest reason manufacturers were hesitant to include support into devices such as smartphones, due to the added expense and cost for integration with the previous version." Another point of what has leaked is that International Direct Connect over CDMA and SDC will launch around the same time as this app. Could this be what Sprint was waiting for to start marketing SDC to business and pubic safety users as the replacement to the traditional Nextel Direct Connect? All their marketing now is geared around iPhone and unlimited data plans right now to gain shares in that area of the market. The app roll out could be a great way to integrate the rugged phone users to the business driven Android users together and boost Sprint’s subscriber numbers up and also help expedite the transfer of customers off the Nextel IDEN network. Could this come as part of the LTE phone roll out? Will keep an eye on it to see what will come. More details are said to be released to the public in the coming weeks. Source: Phone News via SprintFeed

I don't disagree with you. Your point is correct. Not the best ad campaign, perhaps. But I have to continue to give their marketing dept. props. They are definitely doing something right. Robert

No, probably not. Since this article was published, Network Vision has been greatly reorganized in this market. There are only 14 sites live. There will be an article on it within the next week or so. Robert

I will be announcing "something" in New York before then. Robert

There are still a few more here in Santa Fe, NM. But two of our sites that were supposed to get improvements have mysteriously disappeared. They were on there just a few weeks ago when I last checked as getting speed upgrades in the next 6 months. And they have not been upgraded. Hmmmm... Robert

I was hoping for the HTC Evo One X Jet HD 4G LTE. And then we refer to it in our forums by its acronym E1XJHD4GLTE! Robert

Jason...maybe Kevin can answer. I only seen what was in the pictures. Robert

Duff...I still enjoy looking at my yellow creation in Forum Runner! It also helps me to tell my site from others that I subscribe to in Forum Runner. Robert

You think she might charge less than a RF spectrum analyzer? Hmmm. Tempting... And, hey pal, I appreciate you coming up with a reference from my generation!!! Robert

I too like RootMetrics and use their app a lot. I'm also a major contributor to their site. Kevin at RootMterics is a stand up guy, to boot. I enjoy promoting them. Robert

It's not true. And it's even debunked within that thread. Robert

Click on Images Above to View Photo Album Robert HerronSprint 4G Rollout Updates Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 5:18 PM MDT S4GRU Member Kevster1321 read our Boston Network Vision/LTE Deployment is charging full steam ahead with 20 sites now confirmed complete article last Friday, and sprang into action. With a map in hand provided to him by Sprint 4G Rollout Updates, he drove up the road a few miles from his home to the sleepy little burg of North Oxford, Massachusetts. Kevin was able to get these shots of the site. It is exciting that we were able to report these new Network Vision sites on Friday, and we could get affirmation of our information in less than 24 hours. Thanks Kevin, for jumping right on it. In the photos above the article, you can see the Sprint section of the tower, second rung from the top. In the photos, you can clearly see the remote radio units (RRU's) now behind the new NV panels. The old legacy panels are still visible and not yet removed at this point. Kevin performed some performance tests and was able to get consistent sub 100ms pings and download speeds averaging 1.6Mbps. These are good improvements over the legacy 3G EVDO that was in the area. Thanks to Kevin for providing this information. Network Vision is real, and it's coming to a Sprint site near you. Stay tuned as we announce more live sites. You can go to your site and take photos and performance tests for us. We are really looking forward to when LTE devices go on sale in Mid April and our members can give us those performance tests!