WiWavelength

Are you a Sprint sub? An nTelos sub? Or do you have both? I am referring to the nTelos LTE deployment some in this thread are complaining that Sprint subs cannot access. AJ

In what band is the nTelos native LTE deployment? My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to recall band 4. Correct? AJ

No, because of your almost equidistant location, you do not want an omnidirectional antenna on the roof. A directional antenna upstairs and pointed through a window or wall would suffice. AJ

Not even the roof. Your upstairs signal strengths around -80 dBm for band class 1 CDMA1X (1900 MHz) and -100 dBm for band 25 LTE (1900 MHz) are basically equivalent and quite healthy signal strengths. Those are usable signal strengths to distribute elsewhere in the house. Signal quality and network congestion, though, may remain problems. AJ

Yeah, you are in a bit of a bind. In your rural location, you are surrounded by but almost equidistant from four Network Vision upgraded sites in Kearney, Excelsior Springs, Lawson, and Holt Truck Stop. Your location seemingly is in cell edge coverage from all four sites, thus your signal quality always will be somewhat poor. AJ

Not over -100 dBm, under -100 dBm. Note, we are talking negative numbers. But that person at repeaterstore.com probably is confusing RSSI and RSRP. LTE signal strength is measured via RSRP. Signal generally is viable down to around -120 dBm. For further reference, read my article: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-308-rssi-vs-rsrp-a-brief-lte-signal-strength-primer/ It is the most viewed -- and plagiarized -- article ever at S4GRU. AJ

The first S4GRU question in this scenario is why can you not use Wi-Fi for data at home? Then, we can discuss further. AJ

From the FCC OET authorization filings, my quick assessments are band 25 and band 26, meh, not bad. Band 41, pretty good. Band 25: 18-21 dBm Band 26: 16-17 dBm Band 41: 24-25 dBm The band 25 EIRP seems to be tipped up toward the high end of the band -- where the PCS G block is located. So, that can be a good thing. The band 41 EIRP is above the 23 dBm threshold that we like to see. And the horizontal/vertical consistency is some of the best that I can recall. Only 2-3 dB difference, maximum, between the two. AJ

I am not sure who is the bigger jackass -- John Legere or Mike Sievert. Maybe they are having a contest. Both Neville Ray and Kathleen Ham seem to stay above the fray. Good for them. I do wonder, though, about their work environment. How do they feel working for two juvenile asshats? AJ

I will use just David's post to address this issue, but there are many others on the same topic on this page. To be clear, single RF path means single transmission path. Think of it just like my analysis of FCC OET filings of ERP/EIRP that covers transmission -- not reception. These single RF path handsets still can have reception from multiple airlinks. Android bug or not, that is what SignalCheck is displaying. AJ

S. Ali. Of course. AJ

I am unsure any longer. Back in the AMPS days, as I recall, the FCC mandated vertical polarization on the downlink, horizontal polarization on the uplink. Or I might have that reversed. But no such polarization dictate exists today. Some handsets in some bands, though, certainly do exhibit wildly different ERP/EIRP performance based upon horizontal or vertical antenna orientation. With separate ERP/EIRP tests, the differences I have seen can range from as little as 1-2 dB to as much as 10-15 dB. AJ

Josh, once you get the FCC OET authorizations URL, post it in the corresponding staff thread. Because of this promotion, we probably should do some brief ERP/EIRP analysis on this tablet. AJ

You are an anomaly. The other anecdotal experiences and objective reports drown you out. That is not to say that you and your experience do not matter. But Sprint is the "best" or "near best" in Chicagoland now. Though that may not be where you work, live, play, etc. Wireless service is all about location, location, location. National last place T-Mobile can beat out national first place VZW in some locations. AJ

Two words: Directional. Antenna. AJ

The deal now includes freaking T-Mobile. Do you not get that?! T-Mobile, the "uncarrier," the one that is cutting and/or raising prices, as well as handing out free candy -- not Net Neutrality friendly, though, for those who have allergies. It is a double standard. ABCD. If A, B, or C were offering half off of the others, people would be clambering to get those plans. The cult of marketing and personality. If you are sticking with what you consider to be a substandard Sprint just for the price, please go elsewhere. I am sick of this kind of shit. AJ

Yes, the band 12 deployment could make a difference. But the early returns have not been that great. When zoomed in -- the return of rudimentary signal gradient coverage maps have exposed some likely overstatement. And for the record in 1H 2015, here are the RootMetrics numbers for Sprint and T-Mobile: Overall Performance: Sprint 87.5, T-Mobile 82.0 Network Reliability: Sprint 91.3, T-Mobile 82.7 Network Speed: T-Mobile 85.1, Sprint 75.8 Data Performance: T-Mobile 87.0, Sprint 85.0 Call Performance: Sprint 88.3, T-Mobile 75.1 Text Performance: Sprint 95.0, T-Mobile 90.5 http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/blog/special-reports/2015-1h-national-us While individual market performance or individual experience may vary, any well reasoned statistician would say that Sprint soundly beat T-Mobile in that national contest. AJ

#Houston_TexasDoesntMatter AJ

I found a picture of your mother, Arysyn: Seriously, you need to get out from under her thumb. Have you given up power of attorney to her? If you can type a coherent response to this post -- and I know that you can -- then you should retain your own power of attorney. Regardless of your illness, you can control certain aspects of your life. And wireless service is not one of those major life choices that should necessitate intervention by your mother. AJ

You can cite specious T-Mobile POPs statistics. But as Trip suggests in an earlier post, do you really believe them? T-Mobile has reintroduced rudimentary signal gradient maps, and they are not pretty. Lots of "Fair Signal." Not consistent, not reliable. So, you can cherry pick T-Mobile markets all that you want. Sprint can do the same. But read the most recent RootMetrics national report: http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/blog/special-reports/2015-1h-national-us T-Mobile has been and still is the national wireless network weakling, ranking fourth behind Sprint. Overall performance is not even close. Sprint is well ahead, closer to second place AT&T than to last place T-Mobile. T-Mobile is not just the "uncarrier" -- it is the unreliable carrier. Those are the objective facts. AJ

That is irrelevant to my point about tasty perks for new versus existing customers. But, no, Sprint has not yet discontinued subsidized upgrades and two year contracts. AJ

Circumstances have changed. AJ

Not at T-Mobile. Business is frat boy posturing and trash talking. AJ

Robert's Nexus 6P is kaput. AJ

Sprint, et al., also sold the Nexus 5. It was a different animal from the current round of Nexus handsets. AJ