Joeynach

While I acknowledge the real victim of Sprint's announcement today are Sprint's employees, our fellow hard working Americans, many of whom will be out of a job or have their promotions revoked, I have a question for our group here.  Given today's announcement of budget cuts, to the tune of about 10% of expenses or $2.5B, is this an admission of sorts of failure of the NV program?  Maybe not from a technology sense, but more from an acknowledgement that NV didn't do for the organization's network operational efficiency, subscriber churn, and new customer acquisition what it was expected to when announced over 4 years ago.  Thoughts?

The first section of underground subway LTE service has gone online in Chicago, and by the end of the year, we will supposedly have the largest underground LTE network in the country. Do any of our members ride the blue line to test it out?

 

http://abc7chicago.com/technology/4g-wireless-available-in-part-of-blue-line-subway-/1035312/

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6s

Noticed yesterday at the Logan Square station.  Couldn't believe my eyes, thought my phone was acting crazy at first.  Going through the tunnels at full 4G LTE bars.

It's something, but still seems rather generic for my taste. I would really love some numbers and a timeframe from the engineers.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk

I was thinking the same, thought always a pleasure to see a large corporation acknowledge pros and cons of their service outside of standard marketing rhetoric.

When I spoke to (presumably) a Chicago network engineer, he told me they're optimizing clusters slowly. He told me the market is mostly B26 deployed, but can't be cranked up because of neighboring interference from some kind of old Nextel repeaters/amplifiers that are still in operation, and haven't been decommissioned. He said as those come down, optimization can proceed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

Sounds like a mis-alignment of expectations here.  For whatever reason most of us expected by mid 2015 all the tweaks and additions to the network post NV 1.0 would be in place by now.  I can't remember if that came from heresay, insider info, or via physical announcement from Sprint.  I had the same expectations, 8x8TR, band optimization, carrier aggregation, that you would see all these things fully in place by now.  I can't recall if/when there is some termination date for the NV program, maybe its rapidly approaching in our minds, and without the benefits of the features I mentioned being found implemented widely enough its causing some anxiety from Chicago users.

I just want to know if things will improve in the West Loop and the Loop in the near future. I have been a Sprint subscriber for 11 years and endured the horrible years of the transition to LTE. But now it's 2015 and I'm still not satisfied with the service. If I'm in my apartment on the West Loop I get connected to a band 26 antenna and then all of the sudden it changes to a crappy Band 25 antenna and then it goes to 3G. It does not latch at all to any of the good Bands in the area and even when I learned that there were a lot of Band 41 antennas in the area I can't connect to any of those.

 

When I go to work at the Loop it's the same story, it connects to a good Band 41 antenna but all of the sudden my phone decides to latch to a crappy Band 41 antenna and never goes back to the good one. It's frustrating to say the least. And on the meantime I see a coworker with a Verizon phone downloading files at 35MBps while I barely break the 1MB mark. 

I have come to a similar realization as well.  The more moving parts, the more ingredients that go into making the final product, the more complicated and heterogeneous the final product and roll-out of the final product becomes.  I work on large ePlatform transformation projects and we see this all the time with our clients.  Simply put a heck of a lot as to align, and align perfectly, for you to get what you believe you signed up for, or what you believe Sprint sold you and everyone on.  Its why I hate projects that are vendor heavy, took many cooks and you get dishes & pairings that don't quite turn out right.

 

Sprint has to stitch 3 sets of electromagnetic spectrum together in order to offer the advertised performance; for data, calls, and texts.  That's 3 machines that have to be built perfectly, independently, and from the ground up, and then stitched together with technology from both the software and hardware perspective on both the carriers and the consumers end.  And I haven't event mentioned that fact that the hardware implementation is with 3 separate vendors too!

 

That's a heck of a lot that has to go right and go right in every area you go to, in order to feel good about NV and Sprint's promises.  And its going to take time, and there are going to be pieces that fall through the cracks and there are going to be areas, neighborhoods, and cities and that don't perform like their neighbors.  I don't think its a stretch to say TMO, VZW, and ATT have an innate advantage that the performance of their service has been for the most part tied to one electromagnetic spectrum block's deployment.  That inherently makes their LTE easier to deploy, manage, and maintain.

 

I think the point is that to make this deduction from knowledge about the NV program, Sprint's technology, and their competitors technology (primarily from discussions on this site) is routine.  It's like reminding the GF who bitches about you never being home that she knew what she signed up for when she started dating an IT consultant who travels for a living.  Just like this nameless GF, you should know what you signed up for with Sprints NV Transformation project, especially as an informed S4GRU member.  And it isn't a stretch to come to the conclusion that Sprint's hill is the steepest to climb, will take the longest to get to the top, and may or may not be worth the wait for you.  And I have no recourse in saying that for me it wasn't, so I left.  I am a happy TMO customer.

Poor Verizon and ATT, I'm sure they're the top two used networks for everyone their. I wonder if they have mobile cell sites somewhere

Yeah I was there.  I saw COWs parked on Columbus on both sides of the festival (North and South entrance).  I have no idea what carrier they belonged to.  I was thinking I really wished that they would label them with color or Logo so customers can tell if they carrier is "going the extra mile" at their local event.  Wouldn't that be nice.

 

Anyway, I only used my TMO device there, calls were fine.  Data was so-so at best.  Had plenty of LTE, but it went in and out of usability.  One second I can check scores, FB, and upload videos just fine and the next I can't do a thing and it all times out.  That was a crowd of probably 50K, imagine the old Taste of Chicago crowds or Lolla, 250K people!!!

I've done this with rootmetrics data, but it doesn't exactly tell you a user's experience. I really want to know about handoff experience on the upgraded network. Is streaming seamless when handing off between bands and towers?

Our friend Vince would be a good source to ask.  He drives around the city constantly for work and surely knows where the 3G spots are, if any at this point, and can provide a good view into the handoff between LTE and 3G drops.

Hi everyone,

 

I was hoping to get some insight from some Chicagoland Sprint users. I left Sprint for Tmobile February of last year and the Tmobile speeds have been great. However, now that so many have jumped ship, my speeds at work are now dismal. I now experience .2-.5 mbps during the workday, where they used to be 7-12 mbps.

 

My questions for you guys are...

 

1. Has Sprint rolled out VoLTE in Chicago?

2. Can I expect to travel throughout Chicagoland (Elgin, Naperville, Lakeview) without dropping down to 3G?

3. What are the consistent average speeds seen on Sprint these days? This can be broken down by band if need be.

 

Thank you!

You could also go to sensorly.com and load and check out the LTE coverage and speed tests map views for Chicago and compare the carriers that way. 

Sprint actually has a lot of rural LTE coverage. It's very impressive. It's just very noteworthy in GMO areas. Like Western PA, Eastern IA, Alabama/Mississippi, New Mexico. Most other places have good rural deployments. Places like Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Texas, California, Massachusetts, North Carolina and many others Sprint has significant rural LTE deployments. Better than Tmo, and sometimes even better than the Duopoly. It's all about geography and economics.

 

Using Moto X² on Tapatalk

Similar sentiments.  I have TMO and Sprint.  My TMO LTE has been great in cities, not so great once I venture out.  I mean like drive 80 miles outside of the city to hit the slopes or go camping/hiking, no LTE.  Sprint has better coverage out away from the Urban centers and LTE coverage where TMO falls to HSPA or even EDGE. 

I'm not much of a marketing guru but I do realize many dynamics have changed with both USCC and Sprint in the last two years. Such that, IMO, a name change for Sox Park may be more plausable now with those naming rights to be transferred to Sprint in some fashion.

 

Plausibility does not mean certainty and I realize this. But I think it would certainly prove to be a bold move by Sprint if they bought the naming rights to the ballpark sometime in the near future.

 

 

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I actually enhanced a couple brief emails with White Sox VP of Marketing Brooks Boyer about this subject a couple years ago.  He acknowledged it was strange to have a company brand the ballpark that has no services or customers in Chicago anymore, but all he could really offer was that the Sox were aware of the strategic changes at USCC and had no plans for a change to the name of the park anytime soon.  Strange situation, but is what it is.

There are a lot of instances in areas that Sprint doesn't cater to very well (Hyde Park, Chinatown) where T-Mobile performs better with the same spacing, or maybe a little denser. It's usually because T-Mobile B4 is better optimized than B25 from Sprint's towers, at least that's how I've heard it explained to me on this forum. 

Ahh, tuning, makes sense.

22nd and Wentworth was 2 Mbps on B25 back on Tuesday with reasonably good signal. The mall is the worst. T-Mobile does great in the mall with LTE even indoors where Sprint can vary from weak 3G to nothing at all.

Unless there is TMO tower ontop of the mall there how can that be, the Sprint B25 and TMO B4 have similar propagation characteristics because they lie in almost the same spot in the electromagnetic spectrum.

I haven't been to Chinatown in quite some time. But it's easy to see why service could be poor around 33/Halsted. There was an LTE site over there that was deactivated/moved and the new site hasn't received LTE yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

I don't think thats accurate.  There is a full 3G/4G/800 site at 24th and Canal.  That's about 1/4 mile from Wentworth and 22nd, which is the heart of Chinatown.  eHRPD and B25 should be strong, won't speak for B26 and B41 in this forum.

Chinatown is still one of the last places in Chicago you'd wanna be caught using Sprint, unfortunately I spent the whole evening there and nothing's changed. Either unusable 3G or slow B26 or B25. They should focus in on this area (and around 33rd and Halsted) and make something happen to improve things.

I think I would've been happy if there were more B41 but I didn't pick much up tonight.

 

Outside of tonight I've been enjoying my service everywhere else. (Though many of the sites within "Spark Turbo" areas still are being limited by backhaul/site configuration and not able to reach more then 30 Mbps)

Funny I was in chinatown last night.  It's what my people do on christmas!  Indoors at the restaurant I had 3G only on my Sprint device and HSPA+ on my TMO device.  Speeds weren't pretty on either.

The area I drive mostly is covered by 16 towers, 6 of which are still 3G. I find myself on 1x at least 25% of the time, and slow 3G 50% of the time. And the area those 16 towers cover is populated by approximately 150,000 people... So I am holding my breath that all the years of waiting for competitive data service, while watching my friends on other carriers enjoy great service now, will pay off ...

I believe you are stuck in spectrum limbo.  San Bernadino hasn't been playing nice in terms of vacating their spectrum so Sprint can deploy 800mhz service, both 1x and LTE.  They are 100% screwing over Sprint users in this area.  Can't comment on B41 other than like you have probably noticed LA isn't a mature market for B41, don't know why, just another example that some markets are further along then others and for everyone who loves their service in Atlanta or Houston there is someone who hates theirs in Southern California or San Diego.  Is what it is, you live in a non mature market, you can wait it out and hope, or you can go to another carrier that doesn't have these issues.  Free will my friend.

Come to Atlanta and experience what a mature market feels like. It's as good as VZW or ATT on a local level in the city. It's pretty awesome.

Yeah its market by market.  We all know this.  The poster didn't do his research.  Otherwise he would know Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City all very mature, all have 800Mhz deployed in 1X for voice/text coverage and B26 for LTE coverage, all have B41, all have 8T8R.  That being said we know many areas that are behind and currently contain no deployment of B26 or 1x800 for better voice/text coverage, they are mainly tied to IBEZ areas and weird situations where spectrum owners haven't vacated their 800mhz holdings; South Florida, Los Angeles (San Bernadino), Las Vegas, Seattle, Detroit, etc.  If you do your research on this forum you know where Sprint kicks ass and you know where they lag.  Its not difficult.

t-mobile doesn't have a band 12 for chicago, the big t and vz own the block. They won't be giving that up neither

Their B12 service is going be a hodge poge for years, if that is your game changer for TMO I would go somewhere else.  Sprint will have all their 800Mhz and IBEZ issues figured out by the time B12 is in handful of major cities.  I saw this map that showed how scattered their deployment with B12 is going to be because of the ownership issues and TV protections around that spectrum. 

 

https://sites.google.com/site/cellularbinder/t-mobile-700a-spectrum

His work provides him with a different service now I think. He knows that he won't get the full experience until he has  triband device.

Yeah, some of the perks of being placed on a long term project I guess.  But it diminishes my need to shell out for a tri-band, It actually diminishes my need to keep my Sprint service, especially if I stay with this company for a while and get the international assignment I have been seeking.  In a few days I go on vacation to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and I am eager to see what kind of data service with this TMO no roaming but throttled service abroad.  That could be a deal breaker for me.

So single band vs GS5 on Tmobile, did you ever get to sample a triband device on Sprint?

 

I mean Sprint has HD calling, WiFi calling international and domestic, and 2 other bands.

 

So I dont understand this comparison.

I did with Speed Tests, but only in Seattle where my project has been.  I tested a GS5 TMO vs. GS5 Sprint (from a coworker).  Coverage was pretty much the same indoors and out.  I saw TMO slightly better because I could stay on calls in Elevators occasionally where Sprint dropped (both carriers had a tower on our corporate campus).  Speeds were faster on TMO LTE, I don't know if there was B41 for Sprint in the market and how dense it is.  I tested in Seattle and Bellevue and it was obvious to me I was getting only B25 and like 3-5 occasionally 6-7 Mpbs there.  Saw some speeds in the 25-30 Mbps range on my TMO B4 LTE.  I know Seattle is IBEZ so there is no B26 or 1x800 right now.

A few of my friends have T-Mobile. Their signals can't penetrate most brick buildings around here and they hate it. And I'm not just talking LTE, they literally can't make phone calls inside. I don't have that issue with Sprint 95% of the time, and the other 5%, I still get a 3G voice signal.

 

I won't consider T-Mobile as a viable competitor to the other three until they secure low band spectrum in my area. They may be able to get away with not having any in urban Chicago, but out in the suburbs the experience on their network is less than desirable. If I considered switching based on peak speeds, I would be making a foolish decision because I would be giving up unlimited data and calling on a consistent network.

 

 

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I have both a TMO (GS5) and Sprint Device (GS3).  In regards to their similar spectrum holdings, B4 vs. B25, indoor penetration and coverage is generally the same for both on LTE.  So far calling/texting for me has been slightly better on TMO, both indoors and out.  I have had a taste of HD calling too, its miraculously better, only TMO to TMO right now.  The biggest difference I have noticed is that between eHRPD and HSPA+.  I have mentioned this already, in terms of data speeds there is no comparison, HSPA+ is the winner.  Though I am not sure how much HSPA+ there is outside of the cities, I don't get out much.  Don't know much about family plans I am a single guy, but I have unlimited everything for $60/month (including tax). Referral/Corporate discount . 

 

The biggest difference to me has been network experience.  There are some cool things I have fallen in love with on TMO.  The wifi calling and texting is great.  When your in a basement or poor coverage building its amazing.  I love the in flight texting too, I am always flying AA/Alaska and they use COGO, which is where TMO has their in flight texting agreement (for free).  I also love the fact that I can WiFi call/text back to the USA when I am out of the country, and I get no international data roam charges, although they throttle the service to 128K.  Still, I am pumped the moment I land in Brazil/Argentina (next week) I will have workable data service, no fees, no need to get a SIM, and can make calls/texts to back home once I am on WiFi.  That's so cool.

Be happy guys.  Come to San Diego it's day and night.  We still waiting on single carrier B25 in most places!  Chicago has everything!

Dude are you serious.  Were 3.5 years into NV, its almost finished (well phase 1 that is).  If I was in SD I would have just switched already.  To each his own.

Exactly.

 

This is Sprints biggest issue and Marcelo has indicated it as well in his recent statements. Hopefully Marcelo and Co does follow through and fix it as unreliability  is one of the biggest reasons for Sprints subscriber lost other than data speeds. 

I still think that goes back to my statement about the state of Sprint's vs. their competitor's non LTE networks.  There is a big gap in network performance for a Sprint user on 3G and their competitors with HSPA+ or even HSPA.  Whether they call it 3G or 4G for marketing rhetoric I don't really care, I consider all those 3G networks.  So that's what makes being on LTE as a Sprint user so freaking important and why there is so much emphasis on being connected to LTE instead of 3G.  And based on your statement it sounds like Marcelo and Co. are seeing the same movie we are seeing!

It's when that average customer looks down at their phone and sees the dreaded "3G" logo. That's when the Sprint smack talk begins: "I'm always on 3G, no LTE here, bla bla." And like you, Im experiencing the same LTE drop in the same spot, day after day. Maybe I'm just picky, and expecting to never drop LTE in the area because I know what Sprint is deploying and I know what band 26 is capable of. .

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

I think you pretty much nailed it here. For most of us its about network experience, "does my phone do what I want it to do when I need it to (which is all the time)". What the specific speed is, I don't really care, sure its cool to brag when you see some 40Mbps pop up on a speed test, but it doesn't change your experience with your phone. When you see that dreaded 3G icon you know your network experience is going to be sub-par. You know your apps are going to be sluggish and possibly timeout, web browsing will be slow, that weather radar ain't gonna load, your streaming media is going to buffer or drop, etc etc. That's just the way it is with Sprint, even after NV has come and gone, most would agree (in Chicago at least) that the 3G experience is pretty sub-par.

 

So to me that's what makes time on LTE even more important with Sprint than with other carriers. When you drop off LTE with ATT and TMO you get HSPA+ (or what their BS rhetoric calls "4G"), and by all accounts the performance of that network meets most of our network experience standards as data speeds are typically reported in the 1-6Mbps range. So for Sprint, filling in the LTE holes, or NV optimization, has to be a top priority, and much more so for them than for their competitors based on the reason above.

 

I keep going back to what many of the guru's here have told me many times. There are lots of carriers and network experiences out there, and we have to do what is best for our own standards and desires. Sprint's network isn't perfect, even in mature post NV markets as were finding out, but we choose to stay with them for our own reasons; could be cost, could be the belief in the promised future state of the network, could be a contract thing, could be because we are too lazy to switch.

Yellow = Spark

Orange = LTE (B25)

Dark Purple = EV-DO / eHRPD?

Light Purple = 1X?

Something is terribly wrong right now. I'm sitting in my driveway and my phone is locked onto B26 and data isn't flowing at all. An airplane mode cycle fixed it briefly then it went back to this:

Did you try updating your PRL or refreshing your data profile.  Hahahaha, I am sorry I just had to