boomerbubba

Okay, now you have confused me. We started this conversation with you reporting,: Then you did some more testing of your GS3, and said: You did not correct my extrapolation of that: And now you say the Epic 4G's performance "was about the same" after all? Sorry, but this seems like a wild goose chase. It goes to show that anecdotal reports of performance, especially those that rely on somebody's subjective memory, are not very reliable. There has to be some controlled testing.

See comments in this prior thread in the Samsung forum here about testing aerxx's signal performance with a GS3 in his workplace. What we don't have are any controlled comparison tests of other devices at this location.

Slightly off-topic: Will there ever be a 4G LTE Airave?

I have no personal experience to report. But I spotted this posting from the Sprint forum for the EVO 4G LTE a couple of days ago. This guy lives near Waco TX, where we know the field test has been live:

Q: What's the difference between a used-car salesman and a smartphone salesman? A: The car salesman knows when he is lying to you.

I frankly don't know. The serious RF engineering stuff is over my head. But it is not over the head of some veterans on this forum.

This is probably beyond your control right now. I don't think you will be able to test the LTE downlink strength until after Sprint turns it on in your area. With few exceptions, even the LTE sites that are finished are still being blocked.

One thing to consider when digesting these dBm readings is that the antenna output being measured is the Rx level from the legacy 3G/CDMA network. The device has a separate antenna configuration for LTE use, with two Rx antennas, that no one is able to test today. I think I recall reports here on S4GRU that the EVO LTE model, which has its own separate, LTE-specific antenna layout, also showed some unexplained weakness in initial Rx measurements using the legacy network. So maybe this generation of LTE-enabled Sprint handsets is optimized for the next-generation NV Sprint network, rather than for the network we are all using today.

And your old Epic 4G was typically 3 bars or better in the same location? (That would correspond to -91 dBm or better on my reference scale.) If that is so, it's hard to swallow the new GS3's antenna underperforming the antenna on its own grandfather phone by about 10 dB. (The antenna output is what you theoretically are measuring so far, assuming no change in the Sprint network's RF performance.) I really do hope that when Robert gets his unit, he will follow through with his suggestion to do some controlled comparison tests. I also hope for something that puts the phones through end-to-end performance testing of some kind, not just antenna output readings, that exercises the Tx/Rx functionality of the radio.

How about standard dBm units instead of "bars," which can vary among products? On my Epic 4G, the "bars" display corresponds to the following levels: 0 bars = -106 dBm 1 bar = -101 dBm 2 bars = -96 dBm 3 bars = -91 dBm 4 bars = -86 dBm 5 bars = -76 dBm 6 bars = -65 dBm What are the equivalent levels on your Galaxy S III?

Still researching this topic, especially focused on whether the booster-repeaters now on the market would support Sprint's forthcoming LTE service. (I'm interested in areas of marginal coverage in West Texas, which I occasionally traverse.) I contacted Wilson Electronics, which seems to be the market leader in this field, and asked specifically about support for Sprint LTE. (Wilson already advertises certain products targeting Verizon and AT&T LTE.) The response indicated that compatible products are on the drawing boards: So I will keep an eye on this. There does not seem to be any immediate danger that Sprint's NV buildout will reach the West Texas market (or El Paso, which is west of West Texas) anyway. I doubt that I would need any booster where I actually live in Central Texas.

Do we even know for sure that netmonitor detects and supports LTE-based status?

If I were Sprint management, I would consider the S4GRU site, with it's focus on forward-looking network builds, to be a big positive right now. After all, the NV story on balance is good news. Projects like this have inherent uncertainties, and timelines can always slip. A public corporation like Sprint is quite constrained legally about making speculative projections in public about future rollouts. But unofficial, third-party reporting of expected network improvements can encourage customers and maybe investors. If the schedules slip, there is not much liability for the company (unless the leak of the original projections could be traced to Sprint itself). If the news turns bad -- for example, if there are major delays -- Sprint might feel differently about this site, and be more inclined to shut down any leaks. The key to this site's credibility is to maintain independence, and report news based on facts -- good or bad.

I was sorta hoping for an LTE launch in Austin during August, wilh complete tower infill built out by the fall.

Well, for two days when I have checked my order status, Sprint's site has responded with the following: EDIT: Just got off the phone with Sprint. It took a round of routine escalation transfers, but the agent did tell me my cancellation request will be honored because of the shipping delay, the order is cancelled and my upgrade status will be reset. Just business. As I said above, I likely will reorder the phone someday unless there is some news that changes my mind.

I have a 32 GB unit on preorder. But this miscue on the vendor's side gives me pause to cancel it for the time being. I may buy a little later, closer to the time the Sprint LTE network is actually launched. No hard feelings. Just business.

In general, is there any way to translate the Network ID (NID) and Base Station ID (BID) values reported by netmonitor, which also seem to be the standard on-phone values detected by the Android utility Android System Info, to the site numbers reported in your maps? Is there a table somewhere that can cross-reference these?

Does the repeater technology really just amplify everything (all RF signals and noise) across the entire bands that are covered? So there is no dependency upon the communications protocol -- GSM, CDMA, LTE, etc?

What is the informed consensus about cell RF boosters for buildings and vehicles? I'm referring to a general configuration of products with an external antenna, an internal antenna and a Tx/Rx amplifier in between. Do these work, and if so how? Can they just amplify all the RF traffic within the entire bands they cover? I notice some vehicle products advertised to work on the 800 and 1900 Mhz bands.