WiWavelength

If T-Mobile needs a loan, I have 25 G. AJ

When CA is only downlink, the FCC has no recourse, as CA makes no changes in uplink transmission. AJ

Yup. AJ

I hate to say it, but S4GRU told you so in our FCC OET article. The Sprint variant Samsung Galaxy S6 handsets are lackluster in RF performance. That said, the Android Authority article -- while well intentioned -- is amateur hour. Quite frankly, as underwhelming as the Galaxy S6 may be, there is no way that it is 29 dB worse than another handset. The article ostensibly failed to confirm that the handsets under test were on the same site, sector, carrier, etc. At the very least, know how to access engineering screens and run SignalCheck Pro, people. Furthermore, the article misuses the dBm scale, comparing separate measurements in dBm rather than dB, also referring to "above -110 dBm" for a signal strength below that. Finally, examining the EE UK and/or international variants of the tested handsets is not universally applicable. Plenty of RF differences exist among just the domestic VZW, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile variants of a given handset. We would love to do so. Staff has discussed this possibility. But start donating, boys and girls. Unless Sprint is willing to give/loan us review handsets, we need lots of money to buy them. AJ

That is debatable. The aggregate subscriber base of Sprint's roaming partners is smaller than Sprint's subscriber base. Plus, Sprint may not wish to look at roaming as a net cost -- inbound roaming minus outbound roaming -- but as a gross cost. Sprint may want to make money on roaming. AJ

That price point will not cut it. Operators typically pay wholesale approximately $.10/MB for roaming data. AJ

I hope that the DAS at Arrowhead Stadium has been similarly band 41 optimized for this fall. The in stadium Wi-Fi network is quite good, but the concourse level access points are a little bit too far away from our front row season ticket seats. Yeah, sucks to be us. AJ

I could have sworn that the roaming EV-DO footprint was shown on the Sprint Spark map section, as native EV-DO is shown on that section, too. But, yes, if you filter down to 3G & More, then the roaming EV-DO coverage appears. AJ

Yo, EV-DO, where did you go? This is the Sprint coverage tool -- as depicted 7/21/2015. AJ

Fornicator! I am telling Christina -- and Jenny. AJ

The image of the Sprint user has me perplexed. Is that a girl? Or is it Milli Vanilli? AJ

For a Sprint/Google Voice integrated number, what effect does enabling the Hangouts Dialer have on the Google Voice app? Is SMS still delivered to the Google Voice app? AJ

The likely answer is that Sprint has conducted market research, crunched the numbers, and found inclusion/exclusion of a tethering allotment on "unlimited" data plans does not move many users either way. Hordes of people are not churning from Sprint to T-Mobile because of included tethering. Those who are leaving Sprint are doing so for other reasons, as most users are unaware of or not interested in tethering. S4GRU type users are aware, and we may desire tethering. But we constitute an almost insignificant percentage of the overall wireless user base. To use an analogy, maybe the gas station across town includes free basic car washes with fuel purchases, while the gas station just down the street does not. If I do not need a car wash or do not feel like driving all that way just for a perk, then I am likely to stick with my local gas station -- possibly even pay for a car wash there. So, if Sprint can extract a few more dollars from the "unlimited" data subs who want tethering and are unlikely to churn over it, then that is probably a good revenue generating practice -- like it or not. In the end, "unlimited" data in this day and age is ridiculous. It needs to die a painful death. Then, people can pay for how much data they use, and they can use that data however they see fit -- no tethering, all tethering, or something in between. AJ

AJ

To add to what Tim said, your 7 Mbps may be backhaul limited, or it may be signal limited. Your SINR of 5.2 dB and RSRQ of -11 dB are okay but not great. And your high gain antenna will not exactly help in that regard -- as it will amplify both desired signal and undesired noise/interference. All in all, getting 7 Mbps from a non upgraded Clearwire band 41 site 2.5 miles away is pretty decent. AJ

We know that the two Sprint sites proximate to Sodus have only "3G" upgrades thus far. That info is precisely on our sponsors maps. Even the Sprint coverage tool shows no LTE, only "3G" right now in Sodus. So, you have no reason to post this. What is your point? Consider this your final warning. Stop with the passive aggressive posts. Otherwise, you will be gone from S4GRU. AJ

Sprint changed subsidized upgrade eligibility from 20 months to 24 months. AJ

If you are looking for your two earlier posts, staff has removed them. S4GRU does not take "3G" site reports from members -- unless there is a conflict with our internal site reports that needs to be investigated. We know which sites are now "4G" or still "3G." We track and map that info in our sponsor section. But you refuse to become a sponsor, so you do not have access to that info. AJ

As stated in an earlier post, this thread is for any EV-DO roaming -- either added or retained. AJ

The $17.5 million is still nothing. T-Mobile spent that much last year on John Legere's distressed designer jeans wardrobe, Brylcreem supply, and reverse swear jar. On that last count, yes, it is a "reverse" swear jar. Every time that the CEO uses an expletive in public discourse, T-Mobile has to put $1 in the jar. Then, at the end of the year, Legere gets to keep the money. It amounted to over $6 million last year. Just check the T-Mobile 10-K filing. AJ

No, definitely not. For the war chest required in the upcoming 600 MHz auction, a $17.5 million fine represents chump change. That might not even be enough to win a 10 MHz block of spectrum in a podunk place like Tightwad, MO (yes, it actually exists). If the 600 MHz auction actually happens to any degree, the total winning bids for the big four will run $10+ billion each. T-Mobile would have to get hit with a $1+ billion fine to make any significant dent in its auction participation. AJ

The AT&T piece is irrelevant. Sprint does not LTE roam on any other domestic networks. AJ

Not at all likely. The LG G4 also uses the Snapdragon X10 LTE baseband, so read that article for an explanation. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-385-updated-use-the-4th-lg-may-the-4th-be-with-you/ AJ

No, that is still not accurate. The proposed carrier aggregation would have band 25 as the PCC, hence both uplink and downlink, with band 41 as the SCC, hence just downlink. AJ

There is no such thing as carrier aggregation to weld together just an uplink and a downlink. That would be just creation of a new FDD band. No, current carrier aggregation has downlink on both/all bands, uplink only on one band. Future carrier aggregation may have uplink on both/all bands, too. AJ