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boomerbubba

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Everything posted by boomerbubba

  1. Further inspection shows that I was wrong here. There is LTE signal-strength data in a few of the records in the log file BSLocationLog.csv, in additional columns that have been added to the record in this version of CDMA Field Test.: But these values are conflated with the CDMA data on the same records (rows), which I assume were being logged concurrently. But as we know, the CDMA connections and the LTE connections really have nothing to do with each other except timing coincidence. Otherwise, they really don't belong in the same logical record. I presume that the time stamp covers both the CDMA and LTE signals, which of course could be from different towers altogether. But it is not apparent to me what event causes a new record to be written to the log at all. I don't think it is simply driven by timed polling. So some LTE properties that are logged can be parsed out, with big caveats. The new columns are: lte signal strength -- A mystery integer. In my samples, the values found range from 11 to 31. I speculate that this represents some conversion to ASU scale. rsrp -- This does apparently contains the RSRP in dBm units that we are familiar with, including the minus sign. rsrq -- This does apparently contain the RSRQ as integers in the expected dB units. rssnr - This apparently is the signal-to-noise ration for the LTE signal as integer values in ranges that I don't recognize when comparing it to decimal-point values I typically see in the SNR column of my LTE Engineering screen. Perhaps if we divide by 10 we get comparable units? cqi - In my samples all the LTE records have this field populated with the constant 2147483647, which is just Java's max int value. So in my samples this column is basically dummy filled. Apparently this is the "Lte Cqi2147483647" string sometimes displayed on the app's screen. In all CDMA records that presumably have no LTE signal associated with them, all these 5 columns of the CSV log contain the string "null". So far as I can tell, there still is nothing that logs the LTE cell/sector radios by their own IDs, as we have been doing interactively from our LTE Engineering screens to map against physical towers in field surveys. This remains a major shortcoming of this tool's log. The only identifying IDs present in the log belong to the conflated CDMA identifiers (BSID, etc.). And of course the lat/lon coordinates in each record are broadcast by the CDMA base stations, not the LTE sites.
  2. Finally got the signal figures for LTE to appear in the bar. I guess this feature has been there for CDMA signals all along. I never realized it because the font is so blurry and faint that I can't read the numerals. This is not an inherent problem. My GS3 displays digits for time and battery level, and I can read those.
  3. I tried this new version briefly today on my GS3, stock running current Jellybean firmware. I went to an area with 4G signal, and I had 4G icon in my system Notifications bar. The app showed the Data Type as "Lte" -- which I already knew from the Notifications bar. Sometimes is showed "Lte Cqi2147483647." This is apparently some buggy concatenation with some random string "Cqi" and Java's max integer decimal value. But the app's "Lte RSRP" field always showed "null" while I had a 4G signal according to my system Notifications bar. And curiously, the app's screen displayed some dBm value for "Lte RSRP" when I only had a 3G data signal. None of the LTE connections appeared in the log that was exported. (This feature is what I most want in such an app, because I can always see the basic LTE connections data by watching my stock LTE Engineering screen.) There is no display or logging of the cell/sector IDs that are available in my LTE Engineering screen. I have not yet tried the feature to toggle LTE signal strength in the bar. (Didn't understand that feature at the time.) Altogether, not a good first impression. It is called a beta, but it needs work for my device. Also, I assume -- since the app runs on others' handsets not yet upgraded to Jellybean -- that its LTE features are based on some legacy workarounds to harvest the LTE signal strength, rather than on the new standard features supporting LTE in Android's Jellybean API.
  4. Yes, several folks have reported getting the OTA, including my manager. Like other Sprint/Samsung upgrades, this rollout seems to be randomized.
  5. It's shows the 1x signal. The only place to see the LTE signal strength is the LTE Engineering screen. See instructions at the top of this thread.
  6. Yes, users are getting the OTA. But I imagine the rollout will take a while because the update file is about 350 megabytes. Anyone who is impatient should just download the file and apply it manually according to the link and instructions in the thread above. It really is a non-intrusive, easy and almost risk-free operation for a stock device.
  7. I installed the OTA file manually this morning, and only had a short time to test the LTE performance. In that anecdotal test, I found no difference with the previous firmware as far as acquiring an LTE signal goes. I tried in a place with a marginal-strength LTE signal (about -114 dBm RSRP). My GS3 still won't acquire the 4G signal on its own there, but will after toggling airplane mode. This was also true with the previous version.
  8. We have not idea how well this device will perform with LTE until people start using it. Jellybean has nothing to do with it. There does happen to be an OTA just released for the GS3 which has some kind of LTE-connection tweak (a Spring-Samsung thing for that device) bundled with Jellybean. But the tweak is not a property of Jellybean, which is a Google Android thing.
  9. That's the leaked ROM. I run stock, with stock updates, and I'll wait for the OTA update.zip file. Typically that is also available for download somewhere fairly soon after the rollout begins. But I don't see it yet.
  10. Is this the leaked ROM, or is it the update.zip file format bit-for-bit that is distributed OTA and can be flashed directly by the handset's recovery update function? The latter is what I want.
  11. Affirmative. I have a GS3, live in a developing LTE city, and have been doing a lot of testing. Sometimes, but certainly not always, it does take a toggle to force an LTE connection or reconnection. Once the connection is in place, the device does hold it well -- down to -115 dBm RSRP or maybe even weaker. The consensus among those who have tested both the GS3 and the EVO 4G LTE clearly seems to favor the GS3's LTE performance. But the Samsung still needs help. L710VPLJ7 will include the third tweak of the firmware affecting LTE connections somehow. Hoping they get it all the way right this time.
  12. This release is finally official. See Sprint announcement here. The final release version is L710VPLJ7
  13. L710VPL13 is what your phone is running now. The update will upgrade it to L710VPALJ7.
  14. That leaked memo posted on Phandroid also says that, in addition to the Jellybean rollout, this version of the firmware also includes "LTE system selection improvements" -- whatever that means. This would be the third consecutive OTA for the GS3 that purports to improve LTE connectivity somehow.
  15. It is completely useless for showing LTE connections. For CDMA connections, utilities such as this and CDMA Field Test are quite helpful when used in conjuction with the S4GRU tower maps, but it can take some field work to nail that down. See my comment here in the FAQ thread. Yes, except for a very few exceptions.
  16. The caveat about the Wilson products is that there is not yet any support for Sprint's LTE band. In a home installation, assuming you have WiFi there anyway, that might not be a problem.
  17. See also these other threads on that subject: Signal Amplification - I want to install a booster at my house Do cell boosters work? Cell repeaters and LTE
  18. You need to become an S4GRU sponsor to access that forum.
  19. I use a stock GS3 running LI3, and CDMA Field Test works normally for me.
  20. You need to join S4GRU as a sponsor. There are exclusive maps here showing the precise locations of all Sprint towers, and other maps showing progress as upgrades are completed and accepted at Sprint. Those interactive maps do use the Google map engine.
  21. How about a single sticky thread? Suggested title: Getting eHRPD in your market is as exciting as kissing your sister.
  22. Welcome to S4GRU. You might check out this thread over in the Sponsor forums, where we are collecting and documenting such detail about live towers in Austin in a shared spreadsheet. Your contributions there have already helped! (We knew about this tower, but we had not captured the full Cell Identity for this sector. I just harvested that detail from your post for the spreadsheet.)
  23. But those are too many details for this forum. Details cribbed from the Sponsor maps should be repeated only in the Sponsor forums.
  24. Are you certain that the "bars" display is even based on LTE signal strength on the iPhone? It could be based on the concurrent 1x signal.
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