WiWavelength

A building of sufficient metallic construction can function much like a Faraday cage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage AJ

Doubtful. Along the Canadian border, Sprint has to coordinate SMR 800 MHz channel usage with not only Canadian public safety but also Telus Mike iDEN. And Sprint indicates that its available LTE bandwidth in those Canadian border zones will be less than 3 MHz x 3 MHz. AJ

Yes, the restrictions are not quite the same, but markets near the Mexican border -- San Diego, Tucson, El Paso -- will likely be limited to no greater than 3 MHz x 3 MHz LTE 800. AJ

I might also add that Seattle, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo are major markets that may be off the table for LTE 800 deployment (or limited to 1.4 MHz x 1.4 MHz LTE) because of their proximity to Canada and SMR 800 MHz cross border channel coordination requirements. So, those markets, too, may be prime candidates for the capacity offloading provided by TD-LTE 2600 "hot zones." AJ

Interference does not cause a decrease in RF signal strength. If a device measures just the intended signal, then interference causes no change in signal strength. On the other hand, if a device measures all of the RF in the particular channel, then interference causes an increase in field strength. So, you seem to be experiencing severe RF fading, not interference. AJ

Josh, that is possibly fate intervening on your behalf. If you owe a balance on your account and cannot afford to pay the $150 carrier subsidized price for a new device, then you are probably already stretched beyond your financial means, and opening a new line of service to get the new device is a bad idea. AJ

I disagree with respect to MetroPCS and/or Cricket (Leap) for at least two reasons: MetroPCS and Cricket hold much AWS 2100+1900 MHz spectrum. Sprint does not need the complication of integrating yet another band class nor migrating yet another subscriber base. MetroPCS' and Cricket's subs are frequently the dregs of the wireless consumer base. Sprint does not need more low ARPU, low commitment subs and certainly should not pay billions to acquire them. If Sprint wants to make a run at those largely low value subs, Sprint can do it through effective recruitment -- plan offerings and marketing -- not through acquisition. AJ

Solid thinking. Chicago and San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose are Sprint's two largest 20 MHz PCS A-F block markets. (Chicago has always been a PCS D block 10 MHz + PCS E block 10 MHz market. In the Bay Area, Sprint holds the PCS A block 30 MHz license but partitioned and disaggregated 10 MHz to the original AT&TWS a decade ago.) As you say, Robert, the 20 MHz PCS A-F block markets likely lack the option to deploy additional LTE 1900 carriers anytime soon. Thus, that both Chicago and the Bay Area are on Clearwire's TD-LTE launch list should come as no surprise. Some of the other <30 MHz PCS A-F block major markets are as follows: Houston Miami Baltimore Minneapolis Cleveland Atlanta Denver Milwaukee Tampa (25 MHz) Cincinnati Indianapolis AJ

For CDMA1X, primary serving sector selection is based on Ec/Io. If the closer site is swamped or has a lower Ec/Io value -- for any reason at all -- then your device(s) will automatically switch to a neighbor PN with a higher Ec/Io value, even if that sector is farther away. Within the defined PN search window, distance itself is irrelevant. Ec/Io is what matters. AJ

I would project that the 31 markets are -- for optimal reuse of existing infrastructure and backhaul -- major cities with substantial (read: not license protection) WiMAX deployment. Seattle San Francisco Los Angeles Las Vegas Salt Lake City Denver Kansas City Dallas Austin San Antonio Houston Minneapolis St. Louis Chicago Nashville Cincinnati Columbus Cleveland Pittsburgh Atlanta Tampa Orlando Miami Jacksonville Charlotte Greensboro Raleigh-Durham Richmond Washington, DC Baltimore Philadelphia New York Boston By my count, that is 33 markets, nearly spot on. AJ

Is the antenna passive or active? If it is passive, then it will almost certainly work just fine with the PCS G block. On the other hand, if it is active, then all bets are off. AJ

First, many of the 2.6 GHz (or 2600 MHz) LTE deployments around the world are FDD band class 7, while others are TDD band class 38. Clearwire's TD-LTE deployment is band class 41, which is directly compatible with only band class 38, not band class 7. So, do not count on roaming compatibility with those FDD networks. Second, until Sprint releases a TD-LTE 2600 handset with additional W-CDMA international roaming capability, do not expect any LTE international roaming. Without W-CDMA CSFB, international roaming on TD-LTE 2600 likely would provide a poor experience, akin to standalone WiMAX 2600 without CDMA1X/EV-DO fallback. Plus, absent VoLTE, TD-LTE 2600 roaming would lack voice service. AJ

Yes, in fact, we even ran a story on the EVO 4G LTE's FCC application the day it hit the OET database two weeks ago. AJ

Sure, for transmission, we have QPSK, which carries two bits per symbol, 8-PSK, which carries three bits per symbol, and 16-QAM, which carries four bits per symbol. Heck, with LTE now, we have 64-QAM, which carries six bits per symbol. But I fail to see how RF modulation is at all relevant to this discussion. AJ

For reference, Sprint tracks data usage in properly calculated kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes. See the Ts and Cs: AJ

Are you continuously using data? AJ

Would it make you feel better if both of you are quasi correct? Binary bit metrics follow base 2 logarithms. The base is 2, and the exponent is a multiple of 10 (e.g. kilo = 2^10, mega = 2^20, giga = 2^30, tera = 2^40). AJ

Here is a graph of the Lower 700 MHz A/B block spectrum (in the top 100 markets) that VZW *may* sell. If VZW does voluntarily divest, I highly doubt that Sprint will participate in the open sale. The spectrum available is too limited (both in bandwidth and in number of markets) and the competition (read: AT&T) is too fierce for Sprint to come away from the sale with spectrum worth 1) the money outlay and 2) the addition of another band class. AJ

"This isn't the first time my wit has gone unappreciated." AJ

The EVO 4G LTE got caught juicing. You don't seriously believe that a phone could get that big yet stay that slim by natural means, do you? AJ

The EVO 4G LTE failed its PED test. The lab now has to confirm the "B" sample. AJ

One channel is a 1X carrier (in Charlotte, probably 0325 and 0350), while the other channel is an EV-DO carrier. A non SVDO device in slotted mode will flip between 1X and EV-DO carriers every few seconds. Such is completely expected behavior. AJ

If ERP is any indication, the EVO 4G LTE has an even weaker radio than does the EVO 3G. Sorry. AJ

No, not exactly. ERP is Effective Radiated Power, so that is signal transmitted by the device, not received by the device. (For testing purposes, the FCC is concerned with RF emissions, not reception.) That said, in many devices, transmission/reception abilities are strongly correlated because both use the same antenna with same (or similar) gain structure. But Rx diversity and MIMO antennas throw a monkey wrench into that correlation, as Tx and Rx antennas are often now necessarily separate. AJ

Yeah, it is about time that the Harry Baals Government Center got some LTE. Bring on the LTE for your Harry Baals. AJ