iansltx

Got another call asking if I would return the box. It got an update over the past day or two to .141. stuck on "Configuring LTE Service" though Apparently this area doesn't have a dedicated B41 uplink carrier for these, and there's no ETA on when we'll get one, so it'll probably get boxed up tomorrow

Apparently my area is no longer serviceable for the MB :/. Online prequal tool fails. Device is able to set up the relay and obtain GPS, but gets stuck on Connecting LTE. DMing Tim with the address :/

Guess I've been fortunate; in Central TX they *have* thrown B41 on rural-ish macros. Even ones that I'm sure are still backhauled over microwave. Mobilite isn't the only one who has tried to pull public ROW shenanigans. AT&T is trying to strip Austin of the ability to regulate its own ROW so they can do heavier 5G trials here (they're already doing gigabit over mmWave to a couple test locations...and we're a "5G evolution" market so standard LTE is nice and speedy as well). Re: rural coverage, Sprint either needs to throw some B26 up or do reciprocal roaming (a la Alltel a decade ago) with someone who will. AT&T roaming on LTE at 1x speeds is a horrible stopgap...coming from someone who goes to places where T-Mobile's LTE funs at a few Mbps. Speaking of T-Mobile, their 600 coverage may as well not exist for 99.9% of their subscribers due to lack of phone support. That'll be fixed by the middle of next year, but right now they have one standard flagship that supports 600. Going back to Sprint-land, they need to: Get 8T8R on a LOT more B41 macros to decrease signal fragility, which I think is worse all-else-equal now with Config 2. Get more partnerships with cable companies that allow for piggyback-ing small cells on existing ROWs/backhaul. Altice will be amazing for that in NYC. Here they *might* be able to pull it off with Grande, which happens to serve parts of town that need extra density anyway. Fix the Magic Box shipping backlog Help phone manufacturers get HPUE into their devices (/me mumbles about Essential not being able to find an appropriate amp for the tech, despite having Sprint as their primary carrier) Get 256/64QAM D/U running on at least B41 and B25. Granted, the usable area for those modulations will be small on B41, but plenty of areas on the B25 side could benefit, and that will reduce site loads appreciably as folks upgrade their phones. Guessing TMo is doing 256 on both AWS and PCS (and CAing them together) so should be doable on 25. Make sure every area is covered by either native or roaming, then watch roaming use/performance very carefully and build macro network relatively aggressively where people actually are. Even if that macro network is a string of four sites spaced for B26, sharing 100 Mbps of backhaul...that's enough to hold a call and a data session while not on someone else's network. They're already doing this in east-Central TX, FWIW.

Continuing the RF discussion, looks like the phone's site selection algorithm needs to be tuned or something. Just caught it pulling a faint (-120, low single digit SNR) 8T8R signal when there's a perfectly good, albeit less fancy, B41 signal much closer. Which would explain sub-megabit upload speeds, despite gloriously fast downloads. The phone's field test mode is an overlay similar to the Aquos Crystal and unlike the HTC/Samsung/Nexus devices I've had. Will edit this post with more info once I get SignalCheck onto my Moto X and my mom's A9; Pixel will only connect to eHRPD now that it's inactive so can't do a proper comparison there. UPDATE: Looks like the PH-1 is 3db weaker than the X, but I have enough cell sites around that it's hard to get the phones to connect to the same one. They also appear to show the last digit of the GCI differently, so that's fun. UPDATE 2: The phone may have a "death grip" issue. Holding the phone gingerly, rather than the usual right-hand-with-thumb-near-volume-and-power position, gave me significantly better UL/DL speeds on 2500. 1900 wasn't affected nearly as much, though I'm close enough to the tower to have a 15+ dB SNR any way you slice it. When obeying the "hold it carefully" rule I hit 125M down, 4M up on B41, which while not the ~330M I've seen folks topping out at isn't half bad.

...and now Sprint's back to saying they'll be focusing on their macro network? https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/With-Merger-Dead-Sprint-Again-Promises-a-Better-Network-140685 Haven't noticed small cells coming into play here either way, but I also haven't been looking carefully enough to notice anything that isn't obvious from SignalCheck, so maybe I'm missing some.

My one worry here is that they won't sell enough phones, and the PH-1 will be a one-hit wonder. With the insane Flex Lease promos that started today that problem shouldn't exist in theory, but we'll see, I guess. Also, I may have to take back what I said about RF perf. Either the phone doesn't play nice with ex-CLWR B41 or there's something else rotten afoot, based on the poor performance I had last night in an area that's had B41 for quite awhile. Felt like the phone either couldn't muster the transmit power to keep a reliable connection or it was being way too aggressive about jumping on B41 over B25. Not sure which. Either way, I'll continue reporting RF findings. Guess my v2 Moto X is gonna get some use again

My direct-from-Essential phone has WiFi calling. Works well, though you have to manually set it up the first time by putting in e911 info. As far as I can tell, the software running on the direct vs. Sprint versions of the phone is identical.