shaferz

We are in a non-soft launch market and our MB has now had the software update pushed. ?‍♂️

On 9/15/2017 at 8:12 AM, 645824 said:

I received my Sprint Magic Box and hooked it up.  I was never able to get the "button" that the two arrows point to to work, so I plugged it in.

It took about 20 minutes to initialize and lock-in.  There are 3 screens:  GPS, LTE, Relay.

On the Relay screen, it says Band 25.  I assume that means that it is communicating with the Sprint tower on Band 25.   But I thought the whole point was to use Band 41.

I tried a couple of different windows, and even flipped the unit sideways to see if it made any difference.  The signal to my cell phone went from -114 to -64, so the Magic Box certainly helps with the indoor signal. That's to be expected; according to the front panel, the Magic Box is transmitting a 25 dBm signal.  However, my Speedtest speed is still 4 Mbps.

Other than the 3 screens (GPS, LTE, Relay), and the 4 menu options (Change Time Format, More Info, Other Actions, Re-Run Setup), I can't find any other settings. One of the screens says that the Magic Box Technical Support phone number is 844-463-3194, but I haven't tried calling yet.  I don't want them to say, "it doesn't work for you, mail it back".

 

Is there any way to lock the Magic Box to Band 41 ?    Sprint's Magic Box checker said that I'm in an eligible zone, the coverage map shows I'm in a Band 41 zone, and prior to the Magic box my phone communicated with the Sprint tower on Band 41.  But for the past 3 days , the Relay screen says that the Magic Box is on Band 25. With correspondingly with poor Mbps.

Thanks,

Scott

 

I'd recommend trying to run setup again.  I've found that the MB picks up far better B41 signal than my phone does.  

The unfortunate side effect of this...

If you have a rural CCA carrier (ahem... Illinois Valley Cellular) which does not currently have a LTE network.  Sprint also does not offer LTE in a chunk of this area (GMO sites, spaced too far apart, etc.)

I predict that IVC will never go the route of creating their own LTE network - rather 'waiting' on Sprint to do full-build towers around here - which seems like will never happen.

I can see that this alliance is a GOOD thing, but I'm worried that it may stymie improvements in the covered areas from either side.  Is my concern valid?