lynyrd65

The big positive that we are forgetting is that if this does come to fruition, Robert can have Sprint service again! =)

Not quite, there are no competitive carriers in his area.

I expected this program to take off last year. It will be interesting to hear timing details tomorrow.

 

I believe its no coincidence T-Mobile's leadership has talked up LTE roaming on regionals in 2015. I attribute that to T-Mobile's rural buildout. They will want to wait until they've covered their existing footprint before allowing LTE roaming (potentially very expensive otherwise).

 

Maybe Sprint will allow band 2 and band 5 LTE roaming sooner?

Many differences between bands, and many similarities. But because the China Mobile version has Band 38, then Band 41 isn't an impossibility. And I really hope they add it too.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5S using Tapatalk 2

It looks like its only the top part of band 41 spectrum.

Us iPhone users hope really hope it will be, but with Apple, they have the say over whether it will be or not. So they could choose to make it Spark or not, and Sprint has nothing to say over such a decision.

 

However, I have a strong feeling that it will be since one version of the 5S has both FDD and TDD LTE capabilities.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5S using Tapatalk 2

China Mobile's version already supports band 41. I'm not sure why they couldn't have added it for Sprints iPhone if they could for China Mobile.

 

Edit: nvm it's band 38. Which is still TDD 2600, (I wonder what the difference is.

I'm surprised no one's asked why not aggregate two band 25 carriers. That makes a lot of sense to me when band 41 is a ways off for some areas where the single g block carrier doesn't cut it.

Trying to get some information in hopes of adding my brother-in-law and sister-in-law to our Framily.  They live in north Enid.  They are currently on the magenta carrier.  I have no idea how their data speeds compare, but it seems like everytime we are on the phone with them the call drops several times.

 

Can someone familiar with this area provide some LTE and 1x800 info I can use to sway them?

 

Sincerely appreciate the help.

 

Skid

Sprint has LTE in enid.

 

which makes a pretty easy choice on the data side. The issue is likely the voice side. West of Enid is roaming for Sprint but its free roaming and on a much faster network (even if it is 1xRTT).

 

Edit: coverage kind of looks iffy, maybe you should visit and test their coverage for yourself.

The Glenpool area is now seeing 800MHz 1x Voice signals and LTE. Anyone been near the walmart on HWY 75 To confirm?

Unfortunately I can't check that anymore unless I steal a phone from a relative. If no one else does it I'll try to do it sometime this next few weeks.

I'm just sad it can't do simultaneous voice and date like the EVO LTE. Will that ever work once technology updates are done?

I suspect it will return with volte. Some devices have nascent volte capabilities too (not sure on G2) so there is some hope.

Thanks Mobilesolutions.  We ended up getting LG G2s.  So far so good.  Radio seems about 100x better than the EVO LTEs we had.

If you came from Evo LTE's I expect you will absolutely love the G2 for LTE even before spark and band 26. The evo lte was one of the worst devices for rf performance.

Absolutely get a device to support the coming bands. This year Oklahoma will get band 26 which is the "800"MHz SMR LTE that will give you more ubiquitis coverage and allow you to maintain a solid connection and higher throughput even as you find yourself deep in buildings,brick homes,grocery stores,highways etc.

 

B41 LTE is the "Spark" and unless the legacy clearwire sites are converted I think 2014 will be quiet from the NSN crews.(there are 3 or 4 in the metro) However OKC and Tulsa should be on the deployment schedule earlier than Q4 2015;in fact I suspect we could see some action in Q1 2015 but that things won't ramp up until Q2. We won't have more solid data on our market and probably will not until we hear of B41 deployment on NV+ sites in more markets.

 

Good news for the Oklahoma market right now is that OKC has had several sites which have broadcast on 1x800 for testing and we may see those brought on in clusters to support live local traffic somewhat soon. Tulsa received the first officially accepted 3g/1x800 site just yesterday.

-Will

No way!

 

I just noticed that the site is the same one I first saw NV begin with way back when.

 

Thats great!

Mobilesolutions, when do you think OKC will get Spark? 2014Q4? Wife and I are looking at new phones, definitely want to make sure we get one that will support it...

Q4 2014 is extremely optimistic. I would guess Q4 2015 is when they start here.

 

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

The FRN for Michigan Wireless leads to PCS and AWS licenses that are linked to Bugtussel Wireless.

 

http://www.bugtusselwireless.com

 

AJ

They're out there, thats for sure.

Anyone hear of anything going on near Stillwater area? 

There is LTE there.

 

So now the non urban plan is IF they get more 700 spectrum. Lovely. The real problem here is Tmo has no plans or announcements whatsoever for the issues that exist outside their large markets. When pressed about it Legere changes the subject. Although he did say recently that they will do something about it in the future.

 

Tmo gets credit for doing something about rural coverage because he says something extremely vague like "future" and we can maschinate a way for him to do it in the future. That's crazy. We would never give Sprint or anyone else the benefit of the doubt just by waving a hand and saying future. It's OK, we can trust him.

 

I can come up with a plan for Tmo outside their urban centers. So can Milan. So can you. But what are Tmo's plans? Future...and beyond! And if you find Legere's mythical 137Mbps speeds, DON'T MOVE!

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

This is why for my main line, I can't use T-Mobile.

 

All I meant to say is there is a possibility and a way that T-Mobile can improve if they decide to do it.

 

One thing that interests me is T-Mobile's promise to deploy in Q4 2014 with what they bought. If its true channel 51 issues must have been resolved by that time.

 

Definitely some great points here and as I consumer I agree. The issue with T-Mobile is they simply can't see deploying ANY "G" into rural areas being cost effective without low band spectrum. Now 700A which will have 3x the reach of their AWS LTE, meaning 3x less cell sites needed for the same coverage, is something that allows them to start thinking and talking about rural footprint. This is crucial. 

 

Just look at Sprint. They've committed to deploying PCS G to all of their sites. It's taking extremely long to put it nicely, and they still aren't at 200 million pops or north of 90 out of top 100 markets covered. It's been 2+ years since the announcement of NV.

That strategy is hurting Sprint, and T-Mobile isn't willing to to that path. They're making a surgical push into the highly populated areas with the best they've got, and in return they're getting insane amount of net adds.

 

Legere is absolutely a perfect CEO for T-Mobile's brand that was completely deteriorating over the past few years. He gets people excited again, and gets everyone to talk about the brand. Neville Ray and his team in less than 9 months delivered from zero to 209 Million PoPs of LTE, most Top 50 markets being 10Mhz FDD LTE, and Dallas being 20Mhz FDD LTE!!! All by end of 2013.

 

No matter how obnoxious he could be, I'd take his bluntness and people skills over Dan who doesn't really project any energy.

 

This'll be a very, very exciting 2014! Happy New Year all!!!

 

 

 

My 2 cents,

 

I love what T-Mobile is doing with uncarrier. It makes the most sense plan wise and if it weren't for their coverage the plans would satisfy everything I want from a plan.

 

That being said, I am disappointed that T-Mobile feels they have to wait until they have low band spectrum before they upgrade their rural foot print. I think I know why, (islets of coverage to due GSM sites being spaced out to their maximum), but even islets of coverage would be better to have in the interim and I don't think in the case of HSPA they would be.

 

Its true that T-Mobile's 700mhz A-Block licenses are limited to a few areas but I truely believe they will buy more. If you look at who owns the majority of the A-Block spectrum, its not small operators like US Cellular, it's not big operators like Verizon but spectrum holdings companies like Cavalier. If and when T-Mobile buys that spectrum it will have as much nationwide licensing available as they want (except where US Cellular has already deployed it which makes a good case for being acquired by T-Mo).

 

I think T-Mobile has waited too long to be able to kill Sprint though. I expect a quick bounce back to relevance in the speed competition with 800mhz (just because of the higher signal strength, which I believe to be one of Sprints main issues).

i settled on "Roaming" a while back. It suits me pretty well.

That's funny. You may not have fallen for his antics, but while replying about not falling for his antics, you practically provide a commercial for his international roaming. He is smiling from ear to ear.

 

Not picking on you. But I couldn't help but notice that. Heck, I'm falling for it by continuing to discuss it. I'm a chump too, I suppose. We are all just puppets to Legere's Narcissistic Machinations.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

I really hope Sprint hashes out their own no cost (for data and texts anyway) international roaming agreements. While I wouldn't use it often it would be a real boon to have when I do.

 

I'm hoping the pressure causes Sprint to do something to make international roaming more reasonable.

This is going to be a lot of questions put into one post because it would be annoying to make many.

 

Backstory:

First off I'm really happy to be back on the Now Network after being on an AT&T 7 month hiatus with an S3. I've been back for 2ish months and what a difference it's been since I've left. No longer am I greeted to a 0.001-0.01 Mbps 3G connection weather 1-5 bars, 3 miles away, or right under the tower. Now I can actually stream Netflix in HD, use Google Drive, or just iMessage someone. It's super amazing! This amazingness isn't everywhere sadly but that's not entirely Sprint's fault. 800 LTE is coming and I will be the happiest person when it comes to this amazing/terrible island on the SF Bay called Alameda. Anyway lets get to the point of this post.

 

Question #1: Unlocking my 5S

I'm pretty sure you have to wait 90 days to get your phone unlocked for international use right? Does Sprint eventually fully unlock your phone to be used on other US carriers?

 

Question #2: T-Mobile 700 mhz LTE

Today as some of you may know T-Mobile bought some 700 spectrum to use for their LTE network. If my 5S is unlocked would I be able to take my Sprint Sim out and pop in a T-Mobile Sim and use this network? On Apple's website for LTE bands the Sprint 5S model A1453 has the same bands as the A1533 (CDMA & GSM) plus bands 18 and 26.

 

Question #3: 800 mhz LTE

I know this is harder to answer but very roughly would 800 LTE be rolled out more towards the end of this year or more likely early next year for the East Bay (specifically Alameda because I live here)?

Q2: no, there are no apple devices currently available that work on the 700mhz A Block T-Mobile just bought. Its a damn shame too. US Cellular who also uses LTE in that band has had to deploy LTE in another band (850mhz) just to be able to carry the iphone. I suspect the next generation of iPhones will support it though.

Some brilliant Sprint reps at a corporate store (who insisted sims were only for international use not LTE) refused to activate my iPad air. They said no sim was necessary, just a valid MEID (which apparently my (originally) Verizon iPad Air does not have).

 

Something really should be done about these reps. They should be required to read the FAQ on this site.

 

The whole experience soured my interest in the plan and I reverted back to free T-Mo data.

T-Mobile has more rural coverage than they are given credit for. It may not be LTE or 4G but they have lots of ground covered with 2G.

 

Who has more native rural coverage sans roaming? Sprint or T-Mobile?

For me its hit or miss because the 2G network is widely unmaintained. I can find a signal in areas no other carrier covers but (sometimes) when I try to use it no data transfers, texts don't go through and I can't make a call. Other times I can make a call (after a 30 second to 1minute delay) and nothing else works. I have yet to find a rural edge site in my entire state that transfers ANY data. The only sites that transfer data are GPRS which they do at 10kbps or less.

 

Sometimes there are areas where coverage is advertised but I get no service at all. I have walked up to their site and seen no service. When I call these in they dispatch crews and bring them back online with the same EDGE signal that transfers zero data.

 

There is a difference between prioritizing urban areas and ignoring a massive part of their network entirely. As many failed sites (no service) as I am able to find, that is likely the case. If they want to change their image to a premium carrier then they must make these areas usable. Its an open secret that this is their problem. If it weren't one many would switch.

 

Here are some of them from T-Mobile

 

http://www.t-mobiletowers.com/TowerSearch.aspx

 

Quite a few sites here (you can try to figure out who based on coverage maps)

 

SBA Sites

Yes, I'm well aware of it's components, but it's non-sensical, just like Cisco, Cienna, etc. Something that sounds new and is easy on the tongue.

The truth that higher profits are on the horizon

What does Verizon even mean, anyway?

Its a portmanteau of horizon and veritas

• Intel 486DX2 @ 48mhz
• IBM PS1 Motherboard

• 16mb Memory
• 4x CD-ROM Drive
• 3 1/2" Floppy drive
• Cirrus Logic Graphics with 8mb Ram
• Creative Soudblaster audio card
• Samsung Syncmaster 15" CRT 
• 4 GB HDD Western Digital
• 28.8k high bit rate modem
• IBM PS1 Power Supply
• IBM PS1 Case

. I went with ATT here because their WCDMA performs better than VZW LTE 750 here. VZW LTE now bogs down between 250kbps - 2Mbps on most sites here at peak times. They are deploying AWS already here. But it is going slow. And they don't fire up each site when its done like Sprint.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Your city is probably one of the next markets to get AT&T LTE too. I was surprised to find out Rapid City was HSPA-only for its relatively large size.

 

Many small towns in Oklahoma have LTE from AT&T now, even areas where they lack 700mhz spectrum (using AWS I assume).