Fraydog

https://9to5google.com/2016/09/03/consumer-reports-note-7-recall/?pushup=1

 

http://www.androidcentral.com/play-it-safe-and-swap-your-note-7-because-recall

There aren't a lot of places left even around me where falling off LTE to 3G is a thing. It is very remote places, mainly. Verizon still has to have CDMA support for the foreseeable future for those places. Some are not far from me. Every once in a while, I'll still hear the jingle of getting LTE back. It is increasingly rare, however. 

 

Rootmetrics is testing VoLTE for 2H2016 on Verizon and it appears they are not seeing much if any of a slip on call reliability. 

 

This might be the most fair Root testing this half of the year for ages and ages. Every device is a Samsung GS7 running on a Snapdragon 820. This is going to really show how the carriers do things like call reliability. I just don't see the major degradation in reliability on Verizon's end. The hard evidence is coming in and Verizon is doing very well with their transition. 

 

Flossy Carter, who is a Sprint user, is like "chill" on the whole thing. 

 

More Gunther, he was on Carrier Wrap, a YouTube show Dan Meyer from RCR hosts.

 

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It was never fantastic but i used to get 4.5-5.0 on screen time. Now im lucky to get 4. The note 7 I was getting a average of 5.5 hour on screen time and even 7 hours on two occasions.

 

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I'm in the same boat. Note5 Verizon and Sprint models are very similar (probably the same hardware wise with different firmware.) I have to manage apps very closely to get up to 5 hours.

 

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I can tell you I miss that great battery life already. The note 5 dies so much faster.

 

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Was the Note5 battery life always like that for you or did it degrade gradually?

 

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Gunther looks like he could cook a mean fried chicken. 

 

If I knew the guy I'd ask him to a chicken and beer dance here. Maybe talk him into getting a Sprint tower in Chester. 

Anyone here used the T-Mobile 700 MHz expansion coverage? 

My last word on this and I'll be done with it.

 

Samsung Galaxy line and Apple's iPhone line represent nearly 90% of all smart phone purchases within the last 3 years, yet none of them support HiFi audio. That immediately removes any demand percentage from the conversation. Offering niche options on devices is an excellent way to differentiate yourself from the pack, but ask HTC or LG and they will tell you that it does not translate to sales.

 

And, for those 1% customers who purchase said 1% of the marketshare phones, the $20 buy-up exists to satisfy their needs.

 

mic-drop

Samsung supports UHQ. That is only found on Samsung Level headphones, IMO. The Level headphones are, if anything, underrated. I have a pair I got with the Note5 promotion when I bought it and they have worked very well.

 

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This is very good news!

 

I wonder if his replacement will be more likely to reinstate some form of high-speed Unlimited Data, then when the tech media asks why the change of mind when Verizon supposedly was so against it under the leadership of Shammo, they can respond saying that was a different time, or was only the opinion of that person (meaning Shammo), and that Verizon never really was against the idea. It'll be interesting...

 

 

I wouldn't have projected AT&T to re add it with DirecTV, but I don't see it for Verizon as much.

 

1. Backsliding on the promise to not to unlimited data goes against their whole deal where they whine and complain about being spectrum deprived. This coming from the carrier with NATIONWIDE 750 MHz and 20x20 LTE most places nationwide as well. Verizon has the best conventional spectrum position. Well, they do before Sprint 3x20 carrier aggregation gets tossed in. 

2. They then contradict that position when they say that infrastructure is better than spectrum anyway, citing their small cell development. With that small cell development... couldn't they go to prioritized unlimited?

3. T-Mobile has 20x20 in fewer places and low band fully deployed in less and still beats them for fastest network. 

 

All things considered... a 26 GB cap prioritized probably makes Verizon more money in the long run. It also cripples T-Mobile and Sprint. I just don't see it because Verizon isn't into making short term sacrifices on dividends and earnings. 

 

Also, Shammo's successor is Matt Walsh, who engineered the Vodafone buyout. 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/verizon-s-shammo-to-step-down-as-cfo

 

No more Shamwow. Hopefully Verizon replaces him with a more progressive financial mind that is willing to try more innovative plans and go out to acquire more spectrum.

 

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With Fast Charging, I am honestly surprised that more of these issues don't pop up. I am pretty sure that what nuked fast charging on my Note5 was using a bad car charger with a MicroUSB port that was, to put it mildly, extremely cheaply made. Wireless charging is the best IMO.

 

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In all of my tracking of Sprint doing coverage expansion I have only seen one cell in the flesh that is an all new cell, in Sparta of all places. Yes, right up the road from me. ????????????

 

Second point: both Verizon and T-Mobile have large chunks of GMO around where I live. Only reason Verizon can get away with it is because they have 750 MHz spectrum that can cover peaks and valleys where I live where T-Mobile does not have that luxury. By now, Verizon should have had their entire LTE network here in Randolph County on AIR32 for both 750 MHz and AWS which is deployed on one tower in Steeleville, and a couple in Sparta along with some small cells. I can't solely call Sprint out on GMO. They aren't the only ones doing this.

 

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Time on B41 is the key metric for Sprint at this stage network wise. No question.

 

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I still think Masa and Marcelo can succeed without a T-Mobile merger. Unfortunately they are penalized by not coming in July 2013 with more sweeping changes off the bat. In the past I argued for full SoftBank-ification. While I think some of the arguments were extreme in retrospect, there's clearly moves finally showing up that show Sprint as a clear subsidiary of SoftBank. I think the problem is they stood still for an entire year doing nothing while their network fell into disrepair. That is the time I wish Sprint could get back but can't. Hesse was clearly disinterested after the SoftBank deal. Unfortunately Masa went on the T-Mobile goose chase. I think a better way would have been to shake up the market first and then ask for regulatory trust. Unfortunately it is hindsight on my part.

 

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Uh oh. Looks like the 600 MHz auction isn't drawing the revenue that was once projected.

 

https://twitter.com/KatyontheHill/status/770781733457317888?s=09

 

 

 

 

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Correct. That was the plan then CEO Ivan Seidenberg wanted to implement. As you mentioned Wall Street didn't like it so eventually he stepped down and Lowell McAdams is now the CEO. Of course he came from the wireless division, and he despise the FIOS program. Luckily I have FIOS here in my place.

 

 

Ironically Verizon would be in a much better position to smack down T-Mobile and other market competitors with a national triple play that involved fiber. Unfortunately Wall Street is not known for its long term strategic thinking. Most of that crowd wants their dividends on time and don't care. 

Likewise, my local one horse cable company in Chester can usually get 110 Mbps on a 100 Mbps plan. I can't remember the last time I was connected to 5 GHz wifi and didn't test over 100 Mbps. 

I think the navigation has got better on Apple Maps, but it isn't a high bar it had to cross before. 

I'm not sure Verizon's network is analogous to a aging set of Windows XP computers. But I get the joke.

 

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The comparison was CDMA vs VoLTE. I countered that the quality of Sprint's CDMA service surpassed that of Verizon's, thus one of the reasons that we should embrace VoLTE that you put forth (note that I am not suggesting abandoning VoLTE or anything like that) was not a reason that would push Sprint to move forward quickly with it... ie. reliability and quality.

I agree with this. That is why I limited the comparison to Verizon.

 

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No.

 

You really are throwing out the red herrings and moving the goalposts tonight. Quit changing the topic, which is/was your apples to oranges comparison between VoLTE and CDMA1X. If you want to move on to other discussion, such as VZW rationale for investing in LTE and neglecting CDMA2000, then admit that your comparison inherently was flawed. After that, we can move on.

 

AJ

Except I admitted that these were issues from the very beginning before you even asked any questions. No red herrings have been tossed out, and no goalposts have been moved. I indeed implied the answer to all the questions was no when I made the comparison. As a matter of fact I also explicitly stated my opinions were anecdotal in nature.

 

My comparsion was very much about user experience. That is something that gets left out of the discussion in technology far too much. If the end conclusion is that I can never compare my voice experience on CDMA to my experience on VoLTE in relation to Verizon, then the gap is far too great to bridge and we should just agree to disagree.

 

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No Magic 8 Ball necessary.  Instead of moving the goalposts to an irrelevant question about CDMA2000 future viability, why not answer my questions honestly?

 

No.  No.  No.  And no.

 

Those are the factual answers.

 

So, your comparison actually is between a modernized, prioritized LTE network and a decrepit, weakened CDMA2000 network.  VoLTE is only tangential to the situation.

 

AJ

 

 

Then lets examine the reasons why Verizon has a weakened decrepit CDMA network and a prioritized LTE/VoLTE network. 

 

When the reasons are looked at, I must say the situation of 3GPP2 not innovating anymore and Qualcomm ending CDMA development plays a part in Verizon's logic. I would hardly say that qualifies as tangental. If anything, I would disagree and say that it is quite interconnected. Even if all the answers to the questions are no, that doesn't have an effect on the reasoning behind a move. It's a case of Verizon skating to where the puck is going. 

 

Verizon didn't need to modernize their CDMA2000 network. They didn't need to deploy it on all sites. They didn't need to maintain capacity on CDMA2000, if anything they needed to decrease that capacity to increase capacity for LTE. I'd also say that Verizon will manage the transition of users from VoLTE quite well, they aren't having to rush in like, say, a certain Magenta carrier has. 

 

Every carrier has a different set of technical rationales based on their spectrum. Sprint hasn't got a choice but to stick with CDMA2000 for the conceivable future. Most have explained why, but I concur with the reasons they have cited. Sprint has to densify a lot more.

I was comparing your Verizon CDMA experience (which I've heard similar complaints from multiple parties) to the Sprint CDMA experience. Which certainly isn't perfect, but has, as far as I can tell, been considered to be a better experience than VZ CDMA. Perhaps your VoLTE experience is highlighted by the terrible state of the CDMA network in your area. Have you ever experienced HD Voice on Sprint? I expect that would change your opinion some.

 

 

When using my cousin's line in Cincinnati a while back I'd rate the call quality between Verizon CDMA and Verizon LTE. It's good but I wouldn't say it is as high quality as Verizon LTE to Verizon LTE with HD voice enabled on both devices. 

Has VZW modernized its CDMA2000 network?  Has VZW deployed CDMA2000 on all new sites?  Has VZW maintained all capacity in CDMA2000 spectrum bands?  Does VZW have as many voice users on VoLTE as on CDMA 1X?

 

AJ

 

 

I'd answer accurately if I had a magic 8 ball that allowed me to decipher the Verizon CDMA network, but Verizon capital spend was all in on LTE for a long time. Why deploy CDMA2000 on new sites when CDMA2000 was abandoned by Qualcomm leaving it with one foot in the grave? Verizon did a good job managing what is a difficult transition. Of course the CDMA network has suffered in quality a bit but they still have the first spot in measurements like Root and have weathered the Magenta free candy and booze better than anyone else. 

 

Sprint on the other hand has to stick with CDMA2000 as their network isn't ready. All I'm saying is that VoLTE will work well when Sprint's network is ready. 

 

Finally I'll be the first to admit that the anecdotal nature of the conclusion could be because my area had a crap CDMA but great LTE network. Doesn't mean that is a national conclusion.