sweyers

without saying too much in the non-sponsor area, this is one of several towers around the area that have been 4G accepted but are not broadcasting 4G yet. we don't know why they aren't broadcasting or when they will, but that would explain what you are seeing. If you want more detailed info post in the sponsor thread and i can answer more in there.

Ugh that explains the bouncing around for data in that area. Quite strange that it's accepted but not on actually, as I would think that would be one of the last areas around here to be backhaul challenged...

San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Seattle, Denver, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Richmond, and Pittsburgh just to name a few.  

Wow. Sorry major cities I forgot about looking through the launched list...especially San Francisco... 

Launch doesn't mean anything. Des Moines had enough coverage to launch last month. I'm all but certain it will launch in the next round.

 

BTW, Sprint/Samsung has moved faster in the Central Iowa market than almost any other. Your the envy of all the nation. Save maybe Omaha.

 

Robert

Good. I know launch means nothing, it's just a psychological thing proving that Sprint is acknowledging us . That way when people look up the Sprint LTE cities list on their site Des Moines would be listed, swaying them toward Sprint. Good thing for all involved.

I agree they moved rapidfire fast around here, lighting up everything practically overnight. Still you have to remember we never got any WiMax and 3G here was every bit as awful as any major metro for a longer period of time since we were further down their LTE deployment list than those cities.

Sprints work IS done is Iowa. Every single site has been converted to Samsung equipment. The entire hold up is on backhaul providers to deliver backhaul to sites in order to fire up LTE services. This is mostly out of Sprints hand.

 

Also don't even complain about being in last place considering the progress of your market. Several multi million pop top 50 metros still haven't even got the basic NV 3G upgrade or equipment installations. 

What top 50 market hasn't had site installs yet? I'm actually curious. I'm not bashing Sprint or this site, I like them both, but we do have four other carrier choices in this area (VZW/ATT/TMO/USCC) and there's no denying Sprint has been very far behind all of them in the data speed department for too long around here. Hell, many LTE towers that are up are under 1mbps in West Des Moines because too many people are connected to the LTE towers when there are 3G only towers closer to them. That's why I really want to see Sprint finish up around here.

Your anger is misguided at this point and should be directed to mediacom.  As lilotimz said, every Sprint site in Central Iowa has been upgraded to the new NV equipment. At this point the limitation of a site being 4G or not is whether or not has fiber backhaul. Getting fiber to the site is the responsibility of the backhaul provider. 

AGREED. Actually forgot about who can provide the backhaul around here, Mediacom is a TERRIBLE company in multiple respects. To be fair though, All other carriers around here seem to have much less of an issue on consistency in the backhaul department, likely because they wait until everything is done before they light it all up at once. Take VZW's LTE launch in 2011 for instance, one day the entire metro was dark, the next day pretty much every tower had LTE.

Since LTE is not really prevalent downtown, you have a weak LTE signal that's being shared by too many people. That's a recipe for poor performance. It will get better as the downtown area gets covered with Bands 25 & 26.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

I wish Sprint would hurry up and finish everything up in Iowa and just be done with it, perpetually in last place around here  . Any idea when we'll launch Robert?

How's everyone over at S4GRU? It's been a while since I've been on here! I guess I'm just spoiled by my constant LTE in Waukee now 

Also, I could live with not much bdw 500 kbs would be more than perfect, even 200 kbs. I'm in a spot that's between 2 towers and i bounce like a ping pong. I can walk around my floor and alternate between 3g/LTE.

Same here at my house in far NW Urbandale. Bounces around just sitting in one spot sometimes.

Oh. My. God. I have been waiting YEARS for this, on my way out from working out at the Waukee Y, I saw LTE, this was the result 

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/675276912

This has been a 400kbps max area for as long as I can remember.

Went over to Jordan Creek area though and still the same old Friday night 100kbps. Please Sprint, hurry and get this EVERYWHERE. 

I'd rather see the rural areas get 4G before us, as they have had to deal with 1xRTT for years while we had 3G.

Amen to that!

another in progress site to add to the list

 

this is the coop one in waukee, panels and RRUs are up, i assume BTS is installed, they are in a building at this location and there was a red/white GPS antenna sticking out of it right next to an old GPS antenna that looked like the sprint legacy one.

Very happy about this, that's one of my main towers. I haven't had a chance to go take a look in a while. Glad you made it out there to see progress!

I have valid reasons for not becoming a sponsor so if you want to know ask Robert. 

You do not have valid reasons. Since you want to discuss this publicly, then fine. You were banned from our Facebook page after multiple warnings for repeated violations of our posting guidelines. You were stuck in whine and complain mode and could not stop yourself from posting rants and Sprint complaints despite our requests to stop and our suggestions for you to find other venues to complain.

 

It appears now you want our info, but you don't want to give the site money because you're upset about being banned from our Facebook page. Despite the fact I allowed you to keep your S4GRU account, and did not ban it. You are welcome to donate and become a Sponsor. However, you're not welcome to request Sponsor content from other members.

 

Robert via Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 using Tapatalk

You just got shut down 

I actually think Robert is being extremely tolerant by not banning you completely in this scenario. Many forums I have visited permanently ban people for very small reasons, or for no reason at all. Moderator doesn't like the way you said something in a post? Banned. I have found that these are usually the ones riddled with advertisements as well which S4GRU proudly can state that they do not have. Be grateful that Robert is obviously not that type of moderator, and S4GRU is not that type of site  .

Awesome!!!!! When you say 800 is on this tower do you mean they just have it installed or do you mean its broadcasting 800 right now? See my above posts, I'm picking up 800 from somewhere but I can't figure out where. Do you have signalcheck installed? Could you get the BID from that site?

 

Last question, did they say anything about LTE broadcasting, as in what's the hold up.

Pretty certain they just meant it was installed on this tower. It wasn't broadcasting LTE or anything when I got there, and probably wasn't broadcasting 800 either, but had no way to tell for sure since I don't have signalcheck installed (maybe I should though...) I can tell you it's the tower between Hickman and University on 156th/Boone Drive in Waukee if that helps you at all, it's in the little league field parking lot. Asked them about LTE, they just said all they knew was the hardware side of things and it sounded like they were getting sent all over the state. Are you referring the 4G accepted tower as to what's the hold up?

Visited the Waukee towers today, since no one else seemed to be hitting the west side of town much. First one (grain elevator site), nothin'. Just like I expected. But then I hit the one at the baseball field and whaddya know, Samsung contractors were there! I think I was more excited to see them then they were to see me to be honest, being the inquisitive type I am haha. They told me they were supposed to be working on a site in Muscatine but got diverted to this one because their wiring was too short for that particular site. I told them that works for me . The picture of the trailer with a base cabinet in it was going somewhere in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area, this crew's next stop apparently. Anyway, new rack (top) with RRUs was mounted on arrival. Couldn't get a picture of the base cabinet because it was fenced in. US Cellular has also had LTE live on this tower for some time now, so I hope backhaul won't be too much of an issue in this particular location. 800 on this site too according to the contractors!

All I can say is YAY!!!!!!!

I can't tell you how happy I was to get some LTE goodness along with a Brewers win on 7/9 at Miller Park. 8.32 down, 3.60 up, 47ms ping, good stuff. Last time I was there I had some of the worst Sprint service I have EVER experienced, which is saying something. Things are looking up for Milwaukee! Let's hope Madison is not far behind though, especially 800 voice...

the tower that i found them at was by the VA Hospital next to douglas.

Saw that in your sponsors forum post. Was referring to the "7 other towers" you mentioned. This is especially exciting since it seems a lot of the backhand work has been done already. Hopefully this means when they get the equipment in place thay can flip the switch right to LTE! Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems like the opposite of East Iowa since they are almost completely done with 3G acceptances (hardware) but have no 4G yet.

whats that you say? you want to see a picture of a trailer full of equipment being delivered to towers today? OK fine, since you asked nicely i'll show you one

 

 

thats right, there is actually something tangible happening finally! The guy i talked to that was delivering said he had equipment for 7 towers they were delivering today. He also said that, according to what he was told, workers are scheduled to start installing it on the 22nd!!!! 

 

and to think, i almost didn't go out tower hunting today!

So much for internet radio...

 

no joke, i just posted in another thread that i went to st louis this week and almost the whole route through south east iowa was 1X instead of 3G. same thing going to MN, get past ames and you lose 3G again until MN.

If you're going either way on 35 out of Des Moines, and plan on using any data whatsoever, in my experience a Verizon PRL is a must (1x only anyone?). Even holding a call in some place north of Ames and south of Albert Lea (where there is mostly NOTHING but the highway) can be very difficult. Amazing how long that corridor has been neglected. Funny (yet not funny) that once you cross into MN/MO you're right back on 3G again. Shows what importance Iowa really is to Sprint as a whole (Ha!). Sprint really does need to get on the ball though, I can only really count on 3G in Des Moines and anywhere connected by 80 (Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Waterloo, Council Bluffs etc). And that doesn't necessarily mean reliable 3G either. Marshalltown, Carroll, Mason City, Fort Dodge, Ottumwa, are just a few places I have been that have been (still are?) 1x only. The only reason I say that they may not be is that the last time I was in Marshalltown (in March) I saw eHRPD (testing maybe?). At this point, if Sprint brings some solid speeds and consistency back (especially in DSM), great, but the first carrier to approach their value (price and coverage wise) with an iPhone and an unlimited plan (yes I know, a lot to ask) is getting my business. This is 2013 not 2002, seeing 100-300kbps down on a frequent basis in a metro of 500,000 and leaving a major cross country Interstate highway perpetually stuck at 2G until who knows when is absolutely pathetic.

Speed tests at Costco Jordan Creek today -

Verizon LTE - ~10mbps down

AT&T HSPA+ - ~2mbps down

T-Mobile HSPA+ ~6mbps down

US Cellular - wasn't available, but they have LTE here...approx. Verizon speeds in my past experience

*Sprint (my Note 2) - 0.2mbps = 200kbps down

This has not been unusual performance for Sprint in the Des Moines area.

I have always had faith in Sprint and their commitment to unlimited data. I know that they will eventually fix their over saturated network. They have given me glimmers of hope (A 20mbps speed test at 70mph in Owatonna, MN comes to mind) but I need one closer to home. My patience is waning, we all pay too much to Sprint to put up with this garbage any longer. It's been going on entirely long enough. I regret to say that if US Cellular keeps their unlimited option when they get the iPhone (the rest of my family has them), and Sprint hasn't noticeably improved by that time, that we may have to seriously reconsider our choice in carriers. For what we need, we would pay roughly the same after employee discount with USCC.

And before someone says it, this is not an anti Sprint post. I like Sprint. A lot. I like their plans, and their prices. I like their customer service. I like their coverage by area. My only major issue is their currently deplorable network, numbers simply do not lie. I can't wait for the day that I can recommend Sprint once again in Iowa. So here's one more voice hoping we see some major improvement in Des Moines and across Iowa, and FAST!

I would not be writing this post if the 3G speeds averaged what they advertise.

Nothing like the smell of a fresh ban in the morning. Sheesh.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

Looks like I missed something go down in my own thread...

I can't find reference to any specific GMO site even though one was mentioned a couple times.

Thanks Robert. Has anyone else in Iowa noticed recent 3G improvements? Today on I-80 between Iowa City and Des Moines I was able to hold a Skype call for 45 minutes without any drops. The call quality was pretty good most of the time. At home I've been able to stream YouTube videos over 3G. These things would've been impossible even two months ago.

 

LTE will be awesome.

I-80's good coverage doesn't make up for I-35's hell. Worst native Sprint coverage I have ever seen along there. Even voice calls are tough to hold.

i've been watching towers that i frequent by for weeks now and haven't seen any work yet. I have a feeling though that a lot of the towers around here will init1ially be ground mount units as there are a lot of monopole and water tower towers that i'm not sure will support RRUs without further engineering. not only that but most of the towers around here the base cabinets are hidden from view if you are just driving by so it makes it hard to see if new cabinets have been installed.

 

i'm thinking also that backhaul will be a major component in this area as a lot of sprint towers are on their own and not co-located with other carriers so they won't have fiber already there they can utilize.

 

and one last thought hopefully when sprint gets done with NV they come back and do some re-engineering of their network in the des moines market, looking at tower locations (found in the sponsor section) there are quite a few areas that have expanded and are not covered by very many towers at all. so there are quite a few areas i've driven around where signal is lost because there are too many gaps between towers to properly hand off to.

 

anyway, i'll be posting here and in the iowa thread in the sponsor section when i start to see work being done

Yes there are quite a few "fringe" areas between towers in the Des Moines area. However, considering how much less I pay a month on Sprint than I would on VZ/ATT/USCC, I find the coverage to be adequate, if just barely. I rarely, if eber, completely lose a signal. I didn't count TMO even though they are cheaper, they are not a viable option in my area/personal situation.

I don't know how normal it is but we have a LOT of towers on top of stuff. My main tower that I use everyday is on top of the old grain elevator in Waukee. There's towers on top of both the Marriott on Jordan Creek Parkway and the Sheraton at 50th and University, both roughly 12 stories high. There's a tower on top of an office building on Valley West Drive, roughly 8 stories. One on the Clive water tower on University. And that's just on my side of town. Numerous monopole towers as well like you mentioned. But none of these locations make it easy to see whether work is going on or not. I wonder how much impact these "non traditional" towers will have on progress in this area.

just looked at the NV tread in the sponsor area. Looks like more towers in this area are in progress. Just can't wait to see when they go live with LTE.

 

Later,

 

John

You majorly got my hopes up. Maybe you meant to post in East Iowa forum, but as of now that's where all the progress is. Not a single site on the map in the Central Iowa market yet. But I will say, much of Eastern Iowa needs NV much worse than Des Moines. Everytime I have been to the Quad Cities in the past 2 years or so (many times, I have family there) the network has been abysmal.

here is were most of the info will be at. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/636-network-vision-site-map-nebraskaiowa-markets/

 

Later,

 

John

Have to be a sponsor to go to that link. Of course most of the info will be there. I just thought Central Iowa deserved a market thread like everyone else.

Noticed there wasn't a thread for Central Iowa, if anyone has any insight as to progress in the area, please contribute to this thread!