irev210

Recently a source mentioned to me there will be 70 B41 sites live in the Boston area before the end of July. Party time!

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Party time!!!!

So interesting tidbit about this speedtest result-

Prior to Sprint converting this clearwire site to B41, Sprint basically had extremely marginal service in this area (voice only, 1 bar).  Now customers will have full coverage in a very busy area.

For whatever reason, when Clearwire was overlaying Boston they basically just co-located with Sprint on pretty much every site EXCEPT this one.  There is no Sprint site near by.   They decided to fill in this deadzone instead of ignoring it.  Because of this decision years ago, Sprint has awesome coverage in my neighborhood now

Another tidbit:

I just want to confirm that I was able to do a fairly seamless handoff between B25 and B41.  I was actually driving home yesterday when I did the test.  As I was going down the street and the B25 faded out during my speedtest, it switched to B41 and the speedtest just kept on going (and obviously started to go much faster).

Sprint needs to keep the ball rolling on this.  This is a game changer for them.

Ah now I get it.

 

I was trying to see how I could add an additional box inexpensively for my bedroom, but unless there is a way to output from the tuner into my TV directly, I wouldn't be able to.

If you have a xbox 360 laying around, that would work as a media center extender (everything you have recorded would be available, etc).  It would mirror your HTPC media center.

Interesting, so how would I output from the HDHomeRun to my TV? 

 

This is pretty damn cool man, thanks!

It's all networked.  You just watch it on your HTPC like it is there (you can also watch it on xbox 360 as extender, or borrow a tuner and watch it on another device).

It's pretty slick.

You can learn more about it here:

http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun/prime/

I wasn't planning on using the set up as a DVR, more for NAS-based local files streaming to the TV.

 

Yeah I spoke to TWC about getting a CableCard, and they are asking for $2.50 a month, just no idea if I can bring my own cable box.

Yup, you can definitely bring your own cable tuner (that you use with a TWC supplied cablecard).

You can get the hdhomerun prime for about 100 bucks which will let you tune 3 shows at once or the ceton eth which will let you tune 6 shows for about 200 bucks.

Legally TWC has to support the cablecard (you can watch all the same channels, the only difference is no "on demand").

It's nice, over time you save a lot by avoiding the 11-30 bucks that they'll typically charge for a DVR box.

Thanks man, I think that's the way I'll go with it. Just need to save pennies and order off Amazon to get my Prime shipping

Sure, let me know if you have any other questions - I've been using ceton/windows media center for a number of years now.

I will tell you, this has to be hard wired with gigabit ethernet and you have to have a decently fast nas as the I/O levels are high.

No way in heck will this work over WIFI.

The only other potential issue you might have is getting the cable company to activate your cablecard (they would rather rent you a DVR for 25/month or whatever).

That's exactly how I want to run it. You use the Harmony remote to power on the NUC? 

 

I was debating on installing Win 8.1, and leaving it on standby/hibernate when not in use, but was wondering what would be the best way to wake it. I know some wireless keyboards have a power/wake button, so that would work. How would I be able to interface with the IR built-in?

The NUC falls asleep/wakes up as it should.  I wake with IR.  I think you can even power it on/off with IR but I can't remember since it just sleeps all the time.

I built the whole setup to be very low power and very low "visual impact".  It's really fantastic.  A lot of people like the XBMC setup but I've had no problems with media center (other than a random missed recording now and again).

To keep it sprint related, I have that lame #honorthis sprint commercial playing while testing throughput

Updated with more detail:

HTPC in the living room:

Intel i5 NUC with Intel low power SSD and micron low power ram.  The NUC uses basically no power (between 5-20w).  I run windows 8.1 with media center.  I use a logitech harmony remote and a logitech dinovo mini keyboard (good combo).  The built-in IR blaster is very nice.

I have gigabit ethernet run to a closet which I hide my ceton tuner, wireless router, cable modem, and QNAP TS-470 NAS.  I use the QNAP to store all recorded TV (iscsi) and the whole system is amazingly stable/solid.

The NUC works like a champ and can easily support the 100-200mbit send/receive in each direction needed to support the setup (for example, one stream recording/watching would be 15mbit from the ceton to the NUC, then to the NUC to the QNAP, so 15+15+15mbit).

Media center + Windows Metro/Modern (whatever you want to call it) is great.  The biggest issue I have with windows are the constant barrage of updates (annoying) and lack of apps (native HBO GO would be nice).

I'm picking up Band 41 in the Forever 21 by the Prudential Center. It's running at 31 Mbps on a -105dbm signal.

Very good to hear.  I will head to the Pru today and check it out.

In other news - my previous issues have seemed to disappear.  I now just idle on Band 26.  

No more band 25, then switch to band 26, then back to band 25, then to 3G and park on 3G.  At work i've just been sitting on band 26.

It's flat out amazing.

edit:  so more testing now shows that when signal drops below a threshold, instead of dropping to 3G it drops to band 26.  Very neato.

600MHz JV would really be about coverage.

Makes sense - I sort of feel weird saying that since I am anti-merger and this would definitely make it easier for them to merge.

I am batting a 0.673

If the B25 neighboring cells was configured properly for B26, it would probably hand you off to B26 when B25 gets too weak.  Instead when you start to lose your B25 connection, it runs through neighboring cells and doesn't see a B26 to hand you off to.  So it sends you to 3G and then won't even scan B26 again until your LTE rescan timer runs through its cycle.  After that is over, you would likely pick up B26 again on its own.  But most people just cycle airplane mode to force a scan.

 

When B26 is fully optimized in your area, the neighboring cells will be properly configured.  As I understand it, pre-B26 optimization, they just use the same neighboring cells on B26 as they do on B25.  But since B26 propagates much better, the B25 neighboring cells needs to have their lists expanded to include many more B26 sectors that they would never have been able to connect to on B25.  So it will get better in time.

 

Robert

Yeah, I figure they have a lot of work to do.

The phone can't seem to stay on Band 26 when B26 and B25 are on the same serving cell.  It will fall up to B25, lose B25, flip to another B25 serving cell that doesn't seem to have B26 yet, then flip down to B26 and eventually fall to EVDO and park there.

Once they get things ironed out, I am a witness that -15dBm of signal improvement in urban areas is easily doable.  Once fully built-out, it seems like any area around Boston that had marginal service (say 1 bar) will instantly have 3 bars.

I am really glad that B26 is available and B41 is right behind B26.  B25 is absolutely smoked at this point in many areas of high traffic/usage.  Once all three bands are up and running, it seems like it will be hard to complain.

I have been seeing B26 pop up more and more north of the city. Others with inside info have stated that they are turning it on as quickly as they can but broadcasting at a low power until the site is optimized. That makes sense from what I have seen (weaker B26 than B25 from the same site). They are getting there.. from the reports on here, it's awesome when B25 and B26 are fully operational, not to mention B41..

 

-Mike

I am on the same serving cell and it works just fine in respect to signal.  I see a solid -15dBm improvement when it falls down to B26.

The issue is that it idles on B25.  When B25 is too weak, it drops to 3G and then obviously wont work on B26.

I think the solution is to have tri-band devices idle on B26 and shift to B25 on an active data session.  It seems like it would also help improve battery life as well since there is obviously a much stronger signal.

Recently a source mentioned to me there will be 70 B41 sites live in the Boston area before the end of July. Party time!

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Oh this is fantastic news!

I have been waiting for B41 for a LONG time

Thx for the heads up.  I will start monitoring for B41 availability.  There is one old Clearwire site that isn't an overlay with sprint where I live.  It fills in a critical deadzone and I've been waiting a long long time for them to convert it

Coverage around my home will go up significantly!

It sounds like site with serving cell 465 may not have Band 26 enabled, or configured properly yet. Which may account for your dropping to 3G. I have noticed that if I hit -120dBm on either Band 26 or 25, I get dropped to 3G, without even checking if Band 26 is available (which is always is in Kansas City). This is new with the .16 radio. 

Yeah, that's what I figured.

I hope that they fix a lot of these bugs as devices/network mature.  No reason to keep a phone on 3G when Band 26 signal is sufficient and Band 25 is not.

That may be a product of the Nexus 5 as much as anything else. It can be a great pure RF performer, but it seems almost an experimental tri band handset.  Later tri band handsets seem to be more stable.  Plus, they may be optimized solely for Sprint.

 

 

Yep, that is what I have been saying. Free space path loss difference between 800 MHz and 1900 MHz is 7 dB.  But real world difference tends closer to 10-15 dB.

 

AJ

Another thing I just noticed - I can flip between two Serving cells (296 and 465) at my desk.  

If I am on serving cell 465, it refuses to switch to band 26 when attempting to run a speedtest.  Serving cell 465 is just so overloaded and the signal is so weak (-112 dBm or so) that it's just not usable and speedtest is unable to even complete a test.

On 296, it idles on band 25, it then drops to band 26 when I start a speedtest, then goes back to idling on band 25 (this seems to be the normal protocol).

If I fall to 3G (which happens eventually), then any chance of moving towards the wonderful land of Band 26 goes away.

It's a great start, I really think everyone should idle on Band 26 and move to Band 25 if capacity/signal is available.

If you need to be on Band 26, be it congestion or low signal, you will be. Otherwise, you will camp on Band 25 to make sure that there are slots open on Band 26 for those who need it. If everyone tried to camp on Band 26, it would fall just as fast as Band 25 did.

That sounds all well and good but it doesn't work like that in Boston.

If I toggle airplane mode, I can catch band 26.  Then it falls to band 25, then the signal bounces around (the phone is sitting in the same spot on my desk).

Then eventually, it falls to 3G and just camps there.

I figure they are still tweaking the system, so I'll keep monitoring.

Boston desperately needs the extra capacity, so I am hopeful a few more towers fire up with Band 26 and really improve things here.

Either way, it's impressive that Band 25 was never a super strong signal while band 26 is VERY solid when I'm on it.

So same serving cell we are talking about a -15dBm improvement in RSRP numbers.

-96 to -99 dBm RSRP on band 26

-111 to -113  dBm RSP on Band 25 

Both are marked as having the same serving cell of 296

Very interesting info.  Very good to know that in urban environment, Band 26 will get you an extra 15dBm of signal.

Not going to ever happen. Sprint will never ever let anyone purposely and permanent camp band 26.

 

There's a reason band 25 is permanently coded to stay active on every single triband device.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

That's a bummer.  We need a custom N5 radio that blows Band 25 to pieces.

Not fun going from 10mbit down/6mbit up to unusable at the discretion of sprint.

anyone know how to disable band 25 and just use band 26?

So I am picking up Band 26 in downtown Boston now (back bay).

I just put the latest Nexus 5 modem on (android L preview) and it's definitely having issues with the way it is currently tuned.  When I can connect to B26 in the office, I get two bars (RSRP of -108dB) but falls back to band 25, then falls back to 3G.

Time to mess with settings...

Man... this needs to work.  For the first time ever I am getting reliable LTE in my office.

B26 is a game changer.

So, looks like I just fall from Band 26 to Band 25 because the signal jumps around, then Band 25 gets too weak and falls to 3G.

Band 26, when I can hold it, gives me a nice 10mbit.  Band 25 is so overcrowded in downtown boston that it doesn't work.  3G is offering 200kbit/sec.

Hopefully Sprint can tune this up and get this balanced out.  Seems like they are close.

Has anyone used the radio off the L Preview?

M8974A-2.0.50.2.08

I've been catching glimpses of B26 here and there, mostly on 495 northwest of Boston.. but I have yet to see any Band 41, has anyone?

 

-Mike

I'm able to pick up a weak B26 signal in brookline.

No B41 anywhere

I am hoping Sprint picks up the pace because B25 is getting really taxed in and around Boston.

Definitely something to keep an eye on.

I would like to see more disruptive service options, personally... but I don't have any issues with Sprint testing out what their competitors are doing.

Hopefully it leads to even more competitive offerings from all carriers.

The additional rural New Mexico HSPA+ sites are on old backhaul though.  They run between 100kbps to 1.4Mbps.  Not brag worthy.  More like Circa 2008 3G.  

 

Robert

Don't worry - as soon as Sprint gets upgraded backhaul into the same areas, T-Mobile will also get the new fiber backhaul.

Sprint deals with 2 years of nightmares waiting for backhaul - T-Mobile gets it a few weeks after.

I was thinking about it the other day - the only way T-Mobile is going to be able to upgrade backhaul so fast is because they are likely using the same backhaul vendors that have already spent months and months establishing new fiber links to rural towers for Sprint.

A key difference with T-Mobile seems to be that it puts forth a timeline only when what it "sets out to do" is relatively easy, such as overlaying LTE on its existing advanced backhaul footprint.  When what it "sets out to do" is more difficult, such as deploying advanced backhaul and W-CDMA to its entire footprint, T-Mobile is mum -- while the process drags on for nearly a decade.

 

AJ

The big test will be when T-Mobile upgrades all those pesky edge sites.  T-Mobile has been anything but mum on deploying advanced backhaul/LTE to its entire footprint.  T-Mobile will probably just buy backhaul from all the vendors that Sprint did, and now that it is already there, they'll be able to hook it up rather quickly.

Targets to watch:

• T-Mobile to expand LTE to entire EDGE network by mid-2015

• T-Mobile's LTE network currently covers 210 million POPs, and the company has previously said it plans to increase that to 230 million by mid-year and 250 million by the end of 2014.

   

   

Source:

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-takes-verizon-lte-advertising-and-network-battle/2014-03-14

T-Mobile has a goal to cover 250 million people by the end of the year, but Ray said he wants to push it to 280 million sometime next year.

Source:

http://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobiles-tech-chief-i-want-to-decimate-verizons-map-ad-campaign/

VOLTE coverage - 100 million by years end

source tmonews

Apparently, Robert's old stomping ground is already being upgraded:

“Hi! I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and make the 250 mile drive down south to Las Cruces, New Mexico about once a month. For the last 6 years I would be stuck on 2G all the way down I-25, (the only road there, check it out) but now I am starting to see HSPA+ for at least 100 miles! Sensorly.com is showing it around Socorro right now, which is pretty awesome.

At the same time, I drive north on the 550 to Farmington, New Mexico once a month, and exactly the same thing is happening on that road!”

 

Source:

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/06/t-mobile-2g-upgrade-to-4g-network-seemingly-well-underway/

LTE is coming along behind NV complete sites rather quickly here lately though. And Masa is kicking the new network guys right in the most tender part of their derrières. It's happening now as fast it can now. And arguing over the semantics of objective technical terms is rather pointless for all of us.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

And Masa is definitely delivering on the LTE roaming agreements.

• SouthernLINC Wireless, covering 127,000 square miles and 18 million people in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida
• nTelos, covering 66,000 square miles and 6.1 million people in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky (previously announced)
• C Spire Wireless, covering over 61,700 square miles and approximately 5.5 million people in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee
• Nex-Tech Wireless, covering 35,000 square miles and 286,000 people in Kansas and Colorado
• Flat Wireless, covering over 29,000 square miles and 2.1 million people in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona
• SI Wireless dba MobileNation, covering 10,000 square miles and 830,000 people in Tennessee and Kentucky
• Inland Cellular, covering 9,000 square miles and 297,000 people in Idaho and Washington
• Illinois Valley Cellular, covering 5,500 square miles and 250,000 people in Illinois
• Carolina West Wireless, covering 3,100 square miles and 585,500 people in North Carolina
• James Valley Telecommunications, covering 4,000 square miles and 45,000 people in South Dakota
• VTel Wireless, covering 791 square miles and 60,450 people in Vermont
• Phoenix Wireless, covering 800 square miles and 17,000 people in Maine