Thomas L.

Of course neither AT&T nor Verizon are contesting this because they know it will decrease competition in the market which has put so much pressure on their margins and networks both. 

The idea that this merger will somehow allow the US to take leadership in 5G is fallacious. I plan on writing a post about the state of the Chinese mobile market, as I just moved back to the US from China, and used all three Chinese carriers while I was in China, but this contains some essentials:

It won't happen because China as a whole is now much more invested in their mobile infrastructure than the United States. It is a national economic and security priority for them, and accessibility to the consumer, both in terms of price and coverage, is mandated by the government, as all three carriers are essentially government owned and controlled, and directly or indirectly receive money from the government. Both fixed and mobile broadband are essentially considered essential utilities for the public, and money making ventures second. Providers have been ordered to lower prices by 40% over the last two years, while increasing speeds. They've just announced a mandate on the increasing of upload speeds as well. They have to be considered utilities at this point, because a massive portion of China's financial transactions are completed through WeChat and Alipay, WeChat is so ubiquitous it can now be used as an electronic version of the Chinese national ID card, used for trains, planes, and nearly everything else. Your cell phone is essentially your life in China, you do everything with it.

 China Mobile has built out a band 39/40/41(38) LTE network that currently covers 99%+ of China's Population, with around 1.5 million base stations (even accounting for differences in population, the number is huge compared to the US). They essentially have complete coverage with band 38/41, with 39 (and 34 coming) as backups, and 40 used exclusively indoors. China Unicom and China Telecom, the other two smaller providers, have more than 150,000 base stations each. Spectrum in China is not bought, it is assigned, and in some cases there are usage fees attached - for 5G China has just lowered those usage fees significantly, eliminating them for the first few years. All three providers are extremely aggressive in deploying the latest technologies, and as 5G superiority is a national policy, they will continue to lead. Unless the US decides to have the US 5G network be nationalized on national security grounds, Sprint and T-Mobile are not going to succeed in making us world leaders, because the industry in the US in general just doesn't have the backing. It is just an easy, nationalistic excuse to try and convince people who are not necessarily aware of the realities of what the US faces in terms of global competition in the field. The fact that T-Mobile and Sprint are trying to use that as an incentive for approving the merger makes me weary of the whole thing.

On 5/2/2018 at 9:43 AM, dkyeager said:

With some patience I found and documented a Band 41 - 5 Carrier site at 1903 S Perdieu Rd, Muncie, IN.  I know some other 5 carrier sites have been found, but this is the first one to my knowledge that has been well documented with the SignalCheck Pro Google Play app:

_id   first_time     last_time         gci    pci  tac  dl_chan rsrp  latitude  longitude  Signal Type

V20   4/30/18 13:01  4/30/18 13:22  0934D300   66  18695  40978  -80  40.180995 -85.438152  B41 Sprint

G2-4  4/30/18 13:09  4/30/18 13:19  0934D300   66  18695      0  -95  40.180433 -85.434040  B41 Sprint

G2-2  4/30/18 12:59  4/30/18 13:25  0934D300   66  18695  40978  -93  40.180490 -85.433966  B41 Sprint

G2-2  4/30/18 12:54  4/30/18 12:58  0934D301  112  18695  40978  -83  40.174408 -85.433624  B41 Sprint

V20   4/30/18 13:22  4/30/18 13:23  0934D302  287  18695  40978  -96  40.181127 -85.451040  B41 Sprint

G2-2  4/30/18 13:21  4/30/18 13:22  0934D302  287  18695  40978  -98  40.181117 -85.451814  B41 Sprint

V20   4/30/18 13:19  4/30/18 13:20  0934D303   66  18695  41176  -87  40.180478 -85.433987  B41#2 Spr

G2-2  4/30/18 13:01  4/30/18 13:20  0934D303   66  18695  41176  -98  40.180435 -85.434059  B41#2 Spr

V20   4/30/18 12:55  4/30/18 12:58  0934D304  112  18695  41176  -79  40.174245 -85.433698  B41#2 Spr

V20   4/30/18 12:56  4/30/18 12:57  0934D305  287  18695  41176  -77  40.171664 -85.433627  B41#2 Spr

V20   4/30/18 12:59  4/30/18 13:16  0934D306   66  18695  41374  -87  40.178872 -85.433790  B41#3 Spr

G2-2  4/30/18 13:14  4/30/18 13:23  0934D306   66  18695  41374  -97  40.180435 -85.434059  B41#3 Spr

V20   4/30/18 12:58  4/30/18 12:59  0934D307  112  18695  41374  -83  40.176637 -85.433700  B41#3 Spr

G2-2  4/30/18 12:58  4/30/18 12:59  0934D307  112  18695  41374  -89  40.177987 -85.433769  B41#3 Spr

V20   4/30/18 12:59  4/30/18 12:59  0934D308  287  18695  41374  -94  40.178209 -85.433766  B41#3 Spr

V20   4/30/18 13:16  4/30/18 13:18  0934D309   66  18695  40521  -90  40.180478 -85.433987  B41#4 Spr

G2-4  4/30/18 13:09  4/30/18 13:09  0934D309   66  18695      0  -96  40.179976 -85.431370  B41#4 Spr

G2-2  4/30/18 12:59  4/30/18 13:21  0934D309   66  18695  40521  -87  40.180958 -85.436124  B41#4 Spr

V20   4/30/18 12:58  4/30/18 12:58  0934D30A  112  18695  40521  -86  40.176637 -85.433700  B41#4 Spr

V20   4/30/18 13:03  4/30/18 13:21  0934D30C   66  18695  40719  -89  40.180478 -85.433987  B41#5 Spr

G2-2  4/30/18 13:00  4/30/18 13:21  0934D30C   66  18695  40719  -88  40.180847 -85.433804  B41#5 Spr

G2-2  4/30/18 12:58  4/30/18 12:58  0934D30D  112  18695  40719  -83  40.176695 -85.433667  B41#5 Spr

 

The sixth carrier is used by Magic Boxes:           

_id   first_time     last_time         gci    pci  tac  dl_chan rsrp  latitude  longitude  Signal Type

G2-2  4/30/18 13:52  4/30/18 13:54  0FA1333A  491  53540  39874 -104  40.215065 -85.422384  MagicBox

This would leave the mid B41 available for 5G.

Delaware County Indiana has a wealth of Spectrum. Sprint controls the entire B41 band: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BDo7S2IGuvrU-0tjd9ZPdys3TV3qzGgGISvFX7em2do/edit?usp=sharing/edit?usp=sharing

 

This county also has two B25 LTE 1900 10x10 carriers:

(Just showing same site for clarity, but seen at every site)

_id  first_time       last_time         gci    pci  tac  dl_chan rsrp  latitude  longitude  Signal Type

G2-3  12/31/69 19:00  4/30/18 13:22  09208300  144  18695  8140   -71  40.179302 -85.433792  B25-10x10

V20                   4/30/18 12:54  09208301    4  18695  8140  -100  40.167485 -85.403290  B25-10x10

G2-3  12/31/69 19:00  4/30/18 12:58  09208301    4  18695  8140   -74  40.172063 -85.433631  B25-10x10

V20                   4/30/18 13:23  09208302   86  18695  8140  -106  40.181219 -85.459734  B25-10x10

G2-3  12/31/69 19:00  4/30/18 13:23  09208302   86  18695  8140   -95  40.181169 -85.448522  B25-10x10

G2-3  4/30/18 12:59   4/30/18 13:04  09208306  144  18695  8640   -82  40.180507 -85.434013  B25#2-10

V20   4/30/18 12:53   4/30/18 12:55  09208307    4  18695  8640   -92  40.167494 -85.403424  B25#2-10

G2-3  4/30/18 12:53   4/30/18 12:59  09208307    4  18695  8640   -68  40.177389 -85.433728  B25#2-10

G2-3  4/30/18 13:22   4/30/18 13:23  09208308   86  18695  8640  -102  40.181238 -85.455842  B25#2-10

 

The second tab on the above sheet shows the B25 Spectrum.

Here are some photos of the B41 Five Carrier Site:

A standard B25/B26 NV site with B41 8T8R and typical antenna on the top rack (it could be yours if your market has the spectrum).

Record speeds for my older LG V20, a S9/S9+ user should check it out.

What kind of speeds were you able to attain on your V20?

Whichever is cheapest. Being in California both AT&T and Verizon have pretty excellent service. T-Mobile and Sprint are the ones that need to catch up. 

By the way, does everyone think ProjectFi will stick around? Will T-Mobile and Sprint continue their current agreement with Google? 

23 minutes ago, caspar347 said:

Well, assuming this goes through I can't wait for a bunch of non-redundant Sprint sites to be decomm'ed Nextel/clearwire style ?

Nah I don't think they'll actually do that. T-Mobile's coverage is generally already better than Sprint's for LTE, and their goal is to compete with AT&T and Verizon. They will at least maintain coverage.

42 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

That's good to know about HPUE.

I've seen this about WiFi on the AirUnity Box spec sheets: https://www.airspan.com/airunity/

A free-standing unit with wireless backhual which can be placed on window sills, tables and shelfs. It supports LTE-A (FDD or TDD) and an optional WiFi AP (802.11n concurrent with 802.11ac). AirUnity is composed of an eNB for access, and a standard high-performance UE relay for wireless backhaul.

The brochure has more info on the WiFi specs: https://www.airspan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Airunity-Product-Spec-Sheets-Mar2018.pdf

Assuming this feature is built-in, why hasn't Sprint enabled it yet?

Because they don't want a wifi hotspot that any device can connect to. Just to extend coverage for paying customers on their Sprint devices. 

22 minutes ago, jreuschl said:

So what would be needed to use T-mobile on roaming? I assume both firmware and PRL?

iPhone and Samsung S7 or later should be relatively easy.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk
 

I'd like to know this as well. Every Sprint device for two or three years has supported bands 2, 4, and 12, ostensibly as part of an effort of Son's part to support smaller rural wireless providers in the US, but what really was more likely device seeding in anticipation of a merger. Device support is there across the board, but I also would like to know what will be required to enable Sprint to roam on T-Mobile. I am also still waiting to hear if T-mobile can roam on Sprint. 

30 minutes ago, greenbastard said:

The roaming is probably only for areas where Sprint offers no service for now. It's probably just like the At&t roaming Sprint has where it only works in the boonies.

I would think that if their goal is to combine the networks then they would allow the allow roaming wherever. They're trying to become a single company, so it shouldn't even be treated like roaming, rather just an extension of the same network. 

3 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

Why can't T-mobile's 1900 be served by Sprint's 800/1900/2500?

Good question. The antennas are technology agnostic aren't they? 

So I disabled CDMA and bands 25,26 and 41 on my phone and it's not roaming on T-Mobile yet. I would imagine it will take at least a week to propagate the update to towers and the system etc? 

11 minutes ago, Terrell352 said:

In the call that just happened they said that 25million Sprint devices have access to TMobile and would be open to them one day one.

When is day one, and is it reciprocal, meaning with T-Mobile customers have access to Sprint's network? 

9 minutes ago, Arysyn said:

Will T-Mobile users be able to access the Sprint network immediately too?

I have an Android phone that supports both networks so I will be trying to select Sprint over the next few days. 

So is this an accelerated death knell for CDMA in the US? Verizon will be shutting down CDMA by the end of next year. I can't see any reason a new T-Mobile would continue to use it. I imagine they'll start shuttering the network and refarming that spectrum for LTE and maybe HSPA+ (as backup) almost immediately in the same way they did when they bought MetroPCS. 

How easy will it be to allow devices that have hardware for both networks to use both networks? All Sprint devices support the primary T-Mobile bands, how quickly would they allow those devices to access T-Mobile's network? 

Well T-Mobile's customer care is so far ahead of Sprint's, that's a real positive. I wonder if they'll finally let unlocked devices onto the Sprint network as well?

The thing I find interesting is that Son has shown all his cards, which is basically that he is completely unwilling to invest the money needed to make Sprint a competitor on its own. It seems like he was willing to give up control of Sprint (something he said he would regret doing if he were ever to do it) to avoid having to spend the money. It's too bad. I know a lot of people seem excited by this, but for someone who has really enjoyed the changes that T-Mobile has brought to the market, and I'm sad that we might be seeing the end of that. 

This phone is such a good deal on eBay, and I can't deal with the locked/bloated devices that are generally offered by Sprint. How are you all feeling about the phone now that it's been updated?

6 hours ago, lilotimz said:

I'll make a spreadsheet for non BYOD devices in time. 

Sims are sorta "universal" if you take into considering the BYOD ones. The great reason why Sprint has so many sim variants is they're developing the sim card module as they update their network and devices. They have little experience in that category so must constantly iterate  in order to take advantage of new technological developments on the handset and on the network side. We can see this move from USIMs to CSIMs and now ISIMs. 

S8 Active is..

CZ4114LWQ SIMOLW416Q 854798005125

I'm kind of confused as to why the new SIMs aren't backwards compatible in that case. In China, with China Telecom, it was great. They're a CDMA/LTE carrier very much like Sprint, but it was one SIM for all devices, just like a GSM carrier. Their SIM cards (UICC I assume with CSIM app and... ISIM app? USIM app? I'm not sure) were even able to be used in a Sprint LG G5 I had with me - 3G/voice was EV-DO/1xRTT and LTE on Band 3/26. What makes it so hard for Sprint to do something similar, at least with all devices that don't use NV programming?

15 hours ago, RAvirani said:

 

They have done this in downtown Seattle too and I think it’s stupid. It makes coverage look completely awful. 

So this isn't a map-wide change? Are they just doing this is downtown areas? It makes it hard to figure out exactly what they're trying to show with all the changes and when they don't tell you!

I was looking at LA and San Diego on the new map and was somewhat shocked. The amount of 3G only/roaming spots in some of the densest parts of LA seems hard to believe. Are there any folks down in LA that can confirm that this is accurate?

Thanks!

Looks like the information is a lot more accurate now in the South SF Bay and Central Valley. Or at least a lot more specific than it was previously.

16 hours ago, greenbastard said:

I don't know what you're talking about, but I've had smooth handoffs from LTE to eHRPD and vice versa for a year and a half now (maybe even more). The only thing I still see issues with is B25 handing off to a Clearwire B41. I need to close whatever data sessions I have in order to see the band change to Clearwire B41. B25 to B26 and vice versa is flawless).

VoLTE to 1xRTT is possible, but it is highly unreliable. I think Sprint is better off just pushing the limits of a weak LTE signal rather than setting a threshold point were calls are handed off to 1x and having a lot of calls drop.

If I remember correctly Verizon has phones hold LTE much longer than it would if the phone were just active with data, etc. when a phone is on a VoLTE call, because even at the weakest of signals data can still be transmitted, the data rate is just so low it's not good for anything other than the very low data rates used by VoLTE. I imagine Sprint will do the same with their LTE network. 

On 2/7/2018 at 8:28 AM, bucdenny said:

Another live Sprint small cell.

Mobilitie SD90XSE47B

https://opendsd.sandiego.gov/Web/Approvals/Details/2035656

 

I'm surprised actually, those small cells don't look bad at all. 

1 hour ago, CrossedSignals said:

I just returned from a business trip to Japan and have some interesting things to report regarding Sprint international roaming on SoftBank.  I'm a BYOD customer (aka 1 year free) and therefore my expectations were that I would receive throttled (2G speed data) with the option to purchase 'high speed' data on a daily or weekly basis as needed.  On landing and turning on my phone, I received the usual SMS messages welcoming me to Japan and noting rates for calls and texts.  However, I also received a message "High-speed data included at no additional cost on this trip!"  Hmm...  exciting.

My trip kept me in downtown Tokyo with a diversion to Yokohama for lunch one day.  I definitely did not venture outside urban areas and therefore my experience is not representative as a testimony for the network throughout Japan.  In both cities I can attest the network is very dense and I don't recall having a low signal situation anywhere.

I was able to use the service just as I use Sprint in the U.S.  On my iPhone 6, the hotspot worked great and the speeds were excellent.  Towards the end of my trip, I did some speedtests (photos attached) at my hotel and at Haneda airport, connecting to Band 1 and 3.  I never did see an instance where I connected to band 41 (but then again I don't have the benefit of SCP and wasn't running around with the field test mode going all the time).  I was surprised at the ping times and played around with the servers on speedtest to try and see if there were any changes (nothing) and as you can see whether it was band 1 or 3, downtown Tokyo or the airport, pings were consistently in the ~300ms range (by way of reference the hotel wifi was ~4ms (assume fiber)).

Overall it was impressive and considering the usual cost of roaming, the experience was excellent. 

Ping times are high because your data is rerouted through Sprint's servers in the US. T-Mobile does the same thing, even if you high speed data you end up with a high ping because it goes through the US. That's in advantage in places like China that have censorship because it means you can access sites that are normally blocked.

Thomas

Hello all!

So I have a Le Max 2 - it's a decent phone other than the fingerprint reader, at least once you put a custom ROM on it, but it has pretty could custom ROM support. I bought it because I currently live in China and it supports TD-SCDMA and band 38/39/40/41 for China Mobile, but it also supports BC0/1 CDMA and 25/26/41 for Sprint and 2/4/12 for T- Mobile. The only thing it doesn't support is BC10 CDMA. The only issue is it's totally unrecognized by US carriers. I have heard that Sprint will now whitelist IMEIs - I was wondering if there should be any problems with this? How does Sprint activate devices now? In the old days it was NV programming - is it now based on RUIM/SIM and the IMEI whitelist? Do I have to go into a store to get it whitelisted?

Thanks all!

Thomas

11 hours ago, Brynn0823 said:

What do you mean by that? 

 

 

Technically Sprint has surpassed Tmobile in network quality just not actual coverage. But I’m hearing it’s also some LTE expansion in this. As both the CEO and COO have stated “cell sites in new areas” in some interviews. Don’t get me wrong extended LTE is cool. But it’s still roaming at the end of the day. I would rather them fill those extended LTE areas with native LTE.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Can you activate it on any Verizon phone?