radem

One very important thing to remember is that the merger is not just for T-Mobile to get the Sprint spectrum and other assets. A major part of the purpose of the merger is to get the 50+ million Sprint customer base thereby giving them a much larger customer base to earn money from. I am sure they do not want to drive millions of those newly acquired Sprint customers away to their competitors by making them have a terrible network experience and they do not want to ruin their existing network by suddenly overloading it with new acquired Sprint customers which will drive both Sprint customers and T-Mobile customers away to better performing networks.

I got that email as well. Now is a good time to remind everyone to download your fusion tables to .CSV files on your desktop/laptop so that you have a backup of your data. You should do this at least monthly if any of your tables have changed since the last backup. I am sure whatever they come up with will have the ability to upload data from .CSV files.

At least for IOS this is not a soft launch. It is enabled by default if you are in a VoLTE enabled market. Bring on the spectrum refarming from CDMA to LTE.

I rebooted it again after updating and it now shows it. Maybe because I have a business line with some extra security stuff or my phone was just acting up. Not sure but either way VoLTE is enabled by default. FYI the option for it is under Settings - Cellular - Cellular Data Options - Enable LTE - Voice & Data. If you select Data Only, it looks like it turns VoLTE off.

It did not add any VoLTE functionality to my iPhone 8 Plus after updating. On IOS 12.1.1 carrier bundle 35.0.

The way I think of 5G in layman's terms is by following the history of "cord cutting". Cord cutting allows the user to stop using an expensive wired connection in exchange for performing the same or similar function over a different wire or over a wireless connection they are already paying for thereby saving money. Many years ago, people started to realize that they could get rid of their wired home telephone and its associated charges and only use their mobile phone or Voice over IP (VOIP) for voice calls. This "telephone cord cutting" movement was primarily caused by the mobile phone companies offering unlimited calling across the country at no extra charge included in their mobile plans. Telephone cord cutting has since become a huge trend with most people using their mobile phones but many businesses going to VOIP which changes voice calls from using the voice lines to using a data connection over the internet. Interesting enough mobile phone calls are also moving to VOIP over the mobile network which is commonly called VoLTE (Voice over LTE). People more recently started "entertainment cord cutting", which most often means getting rid of their satellite and cable TV subscriptions. This type of cord cutting for entertainment started a few years ago and that trend is also increasing. Streaming entertainment is a fast growing trend as can be seen with huge numbers of people subscribing to Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, DirecTV Now, etc. Unfortunately the current 4G LTE networks cannot handle huge numbers of people streaming over the mobile network so they have a number of restrictions on data usage such as de-prioritization and bandwidth limits for heavy data users and forcing mobile delivered videos to a lower quality and bandwidth. This causes most "entertainment cord cutters" to keep their wired internet connection or live with poor streaming quality for their entertainment. 5G "internet cord cutting" allows people to get rid of their wired internet connection and go solely with 5G wireless for their home and their mobile devices. 5G networks promise high enough bandwidth and low enough latency to use it as your primary internet connection for everything the average person would need including running their streaming entertainment at full speed. Running wires to every house and business in an area is very costly and customers pay higher fees to wired providers partially due to that extra cost. 5G allows similar speeds to wired internet to be delivered to the same location or the same mobile device by a wireless signal. Running wires to a local broadcast tower is less expensive than running those same wires to every building in the area. 5G opens the possibility of providing wireless high speed internet for less money, adding additional choice of internet providers, and adding wireless internet coverage to areas that have no wired internet available. 5G networks can handle many more simultaneous mobile and fixed location devices and can have much higher bandwidth than is available on today's 4G LTE networks.

If the T-mobile merger does not go through, I would say there is a very high chance of Sprint being sold off to another company. That seems to be the SoftBank strategy.

Magic boxes have been updated with software that makes them VoLTE aware. However VoLTE only works if the magic box is connected to a macro tower where VoLTE is enabled.

The unverified rumor floating around reddit is that iPhone 8 and higher will get the ability to enable VoLTE when Apple releases IOS 12.1.1. There were changes made to the iPhone hardware components between the iPhone 7 and 8 models and the new IOS carrier bundle only has Sprint VoLTE code in it that works on that newer hardware. It is possible to enable VoLTE on older iPhones as other providers have done so but they did so when those older iPhones were current. Since the majority of Sprint iPhone users have a phone released in the past 2 years, a special update just for the older iphones seems unlikely when they have to spend time working to get VoLTE rolled out for other newer phones. Phones without VoLTE should continue to work for a while as Sprint previously said they are not planning on completely shutting down CDMA for a couple years.

I have always thought that the first satellite TV provider that comes up with a good way to add cellular repeater small cells to their rooftop satellite dish installs in strategic locations could dominate the single family home internet provider market. If done correctly, they could create a self healing, self routing, WISP style LTE repeater mesh network with LTE backhaul and every subscriber location with a suitable outside mount could be a repeater. That LTE network would work as small cells for the mobile phones in the area and the internet pipe for the home subscribers in range.

Blurred Lines

My understanding is that Apple watches are not enabled for roaming service on the Sprint network. That means they only work in cellular stand-alone mode if you are in an area where the provider is listed as Sprint. The Apple Watch should work with native roaming as long as the provider is listed as Sprint on your iPhone but I have not tested this. Do not expect any Apple watch cellular functionality when in an extended or international roaming area. Your Apple watch should work in extended or international roaming areas if its paired iPhone is within blue tooth range of the Apple watch and blue tooth is enabled on both your iPhone and on the watch. The Apple watch works by using the iPhone cellular connection over the blue tooth link to the iPhone in this scenario.

There is a setting in the watch app where you can set the phone and watch to mirror each other for settings like airplane mode, Do not Disturb, mute, etc. If you do anything that breaks the blue tooth connection, such as putting it in airplane mode, it will put them both in airplane mode but you will have to manually take both of them out of airplane mode since they cannot communicate with each other in airplane mode. You can also turn off this mirroring of each setting if you want. The watch can connect to any 2.4 GHz WiFi network where you have entered the WiFi password on its paired iPhone after you paired the watch to it. It can also connect to any open WiFi network that does not require a password that you connect your iPhone to but only ones that you have connected your iPhone to at least one time. Entering a WiFi password on the iPhone with a watch paired, causes that WiFi connection and its password to also be saved on the watch. It will only use WiFi connections if it can get to the internet over that connection without requiring anything else other than the password that is already saved and if it cannot connect to the iPhone over blue tooth. If the iPhone connects to a 5 GHz, the watch will ignore it as it does not have a 5 GHz WiFi modem in it. If the WiFi connection has a web page where you have to type something to become active, such as what is commonly done in hotels, it will not use that WiFi as it tests the connection to see if it can get to the internet over it. If the watch has access to the internet over a WiFi connection and the phone is out of blue tooth range, it will use the WiFi for all communications that would normally go over the LTE connection including the ability to answer and make calls.

https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/. - Apple watch Cellular specs. Apple watch supports many LTE bands but not as many bands as the iPhone does and it has a very small cellular antenna in it. The watch does not have any CDMA support and only supports voice over VoLTE on one of its supported bands or voice over a WiFi/Blue Tooth connection to its paired iPhone which sends the signal over its internet or cellular connection. In the past it used a version of Calling Plus on the Sprint LTE bands. The Apple Watch does not support cellular roaming so in roaming areas it will only have connectivity if its paired phone is in range in which case it will use the phone's cellular connection. A key feature of the apple watch is that it only enables its cellular modem when it is out of blue tooth range of the iPhone it is paired with and if it cannot access the internet over any WiFi network that its paired iPhone has previously connected with. This means that it uses its paired iPhone's cellular connection and whatever bands that phone can use whenever it can.

If I had to guess, I would say that it is likely that with a strong signal, B41 upload CA will be enabled and with a weak signal B41 upload CA will be disabled and HPUE will be enabled. That would give the best experience to the user.

A large hurricane can have damaging winds out to 150 miles in any direction from the eye (300 mile wide path of destruction). Very high storm surge flooding and severe damaging thunderstorms can extend out another 100 miles or more further out than that in any direction (500 mile wide path of flooding). Your best bet if evacuating is to get well more than 300 miles away from the predicted eye center. Stay safe my friends.

With 80mhz or less of 2.5GHz B41 LTE in use in most higher population areas, (3xCA+Small cell/MagicBox) there should be no rush to shut down Sprint's B41 network until well after a comprehensive inventory of how much bandwidth is really needed in each area and New T-Mobile is ready to start deploying 5G. They certainly could thin out B41 LTE in areas they are deploying 5G but there is no way for example that they are going to allow New York city to suffer from poor speeds while they build a 5G network and it is highly unlikely that the exiting T-Mobile deployed bandwidth would be enough to be able to add all the Sprint customers without using B41 LTE unless they want their network to slow down significantly. It is much more likely that the 5G network will be spun up using bandwidth that Sprint owns but is not currently using. When 5G devices start selling in the market and customers start getting them, they would then start to move B41 LTE bandwidth to their 5G network.

No real reason to get rid of voice for a few years. They could just leave a sliver of 1x CDMA in a 1900mhz guard band and the part that already exists in 800mhz. That would satisfy any legacy M2M customers. They may even pick up the CDMA M2M customers that are currently on Verizon when they shut theirs down if their devices are capable of using the Sprint band classes.

One other thing to note is that while waiting for an expected merger to close, some companies will add a clause to some of their newly created contracts that states that the contract terms may renegotiated or the contract voided by the new company if a merger were to occur. I expect this type of clause is already being added to new contracts for antenna location leases by both Sprint and T-Mobile. This gives the newly formed company the freedom to keep or eliminate those lease contracts while still allowing both companies to continue expansion efforts before the merger.

When going through a merger, all existing contracts from the merging companies must be honored by the newly formed company until they expire. If there is an evergreen clause, which means the contract terms stay in effect until both parties agree to alter them, that must also be honored by the newly formed company.

An interesting point with the Magic Boxes is that they work with both B25 LTE donor cells and B41 LTE donor cells while broadcasting 20mhz B41 LTE. That means that post-merger if T-Mobile quickly turns off B41 LTE on the macro network, as long as they do not broadcast B41 5G on the same 20mhz frequency that the magic box broadcasts on, the magic box should still work in all areas where B25 LTE is available. B25 could also be enhanced by T-Mobile's B2 holdings with MBFI broadcasting the B2 holding as both B2 and B25. It is possible that Magic Boxes with B25 LTE donor cells will be around long term as the 20mhz B41 LTE that a million Magic Box small cells broadcasting inside buildings may be too important to turn off and T-Mobile may just leave the 20mhz frequency that the Magic Boxes broadcast out of their 5G plans for the next several years while they figure out what they are going to do in the future. I would love to see a future Magic Box that broadcasts WiFi rather than B41 LTE and could use all of T-Mobile's LTE and 5G bands as back haul. They could partner with Boingo or a similar company to have a cellular backhaul based Wifi Magic Box that T-Mobile/Sprint users automatically log onto from their mobile devices but others pay to use or have a subscription on similar to how the WiFi works in some airports. It could also be sponsored WiFi by the hosting location so that the WiFi is free for all users. This would satisfy their internet to the home plans as well as continue to enhance coverage inside buildings the way the current Magic Boxes do.

That is the biggest problem with TDD config 2. Sacrificing upload speed for more download speed may be fine for the average user somewhere else but there are large events and special locations where lots of people take lots of pictures or videos and upload them. In those cases, the normal TDD config 2 (12 to 1 download to upload ratio on a single carrier) of band 41 does not work well and gets much worse with 2 or 3 carrier download CA with no upload CA. Since we do not yet have FDD + TDD CA or TDD upload CA on most devices, I would like to see Sprint develop better band steering algorithms that temporarily move heavy uploaders off band 41 to the available band and carrier with the most upload capacity while they are uploading.

How long do people keep their phone before upgrading? The chart in that article indicates that as of end of 2016 in the US, half of the population upgraded their phone before they were 22.7 months old and half after that. I do not have the statistics but I would guess that somewhere around 10% still have their phones 36 months (3 years) after they purchased them since 30 month financing is now common. These numbers are likely higher for tablets, IOT devices, and other non-phone mobile devices as those devices are typically upgraded less frequently. What this means is that 1900mhz CDMA voice channels likely cannot be fully removed until Sprint has not sold or allowed to be activated 1900mhz only CDMA devices for 3 more more years to avoid impacting a lot of users.

For those who cannot go to the link here is a copy/paste of the highlights from the press release: February 02, 2018 Postpaid net additions of 256,000, including 184,000 phone net additions Tenth consecutive quarter of postpaid phone net additions Prepaid net additions of 63,000 compared to net losses of 460,000 in the prior year Fourth consecutive quarter of net additions and improved by 523,000 year-over-year Prepaid churn improved year-over-year for the sixth consecutive quarter Net income of $7.2 billion, operating income of $727 million, and adjusted EBITDA* of $2.7 billion Net income includes approximately $7.1 billion of favorable impact from tax reform Eighth consecutive quarter of operating income Highest fiscal third quarter adjusted EBITDA* in 11 years Net cash provided by operating activities of $1.2 billion and adjusted free cash flow* of $397 million Adjusted free cash flow* improved by more than $1 billion year-over-year Raising fiscal year 2017 adjusted free cash flow* guidance from around break-even to a range of $500 million to $700 million Sprint Next-Gen Network to drive further network improvements and provide path to 5G The company also reported the following financial results: (Millions, except per share data) Fiscal 3Q17 Fiscal 3Q16 Change Net income (loss) $7,162 ($479) $7,641 Basic income (loss) per share $1.79 ($0.12) $1.91 Operating income $727 $311 $416 Adjusted EBITDA* $2,719 $2,450 $269 Net cash provided by operating activities $1,166 $650 $516 Adjusted free cash flow* $397 ($646) $1,043

On most sites that you have to log into for every page you navigate to in a browser, the server double checks that you are still logged in before sending the information back to you. This is done by sending in-memory or on-disk cookie information back to the server you are requesting the page from on every page request. This information is normally encrypted for banks and other sensitive sites but a bad WiFi hotspot can quietly switch you to pages that are not encrypted while sending and receiving pages that are encrypted from the site you are using. The bad WiFi can then capture that cookie information. This is far less useful than capturing your account and password but if you do not log off, that cookie information will be good for a short period of time before the server considers it timed out. The best ways of dealing with this problem are to not use open WiFi connections, to use a VPN connection to ensure your communications are always end to end encrypted, or to always verify that the padlock is in place on every sensitive page you go to. You should always enable 2-factor authentication to any sensitive site that offers it as well. This will stop people from getting into your email and then using that to get into your bank or other sites by clicking the I forgot my password link and getting the reset your password email that it sends.