JPSmith
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Everything posted by JPSmith
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They still need to upgrade the tower on I-57 just north of US 136. The in-town Rantoul tower is done.
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Something just got lit up in SW Champaign.... I'm seeing 8-18 mbps at my house in Cherry Hills for the first time.
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28 Mbps down / 9 Mbps up while waiting today at Carle Sports Medicine at Lincoln/Anthony Drive.
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I think they just lit the tower at Mattis and Curtis. I am seeing LTE at my house in Cherry Hills for the first time this morning. Only 3-5 Mbps so far.
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LTE has been active for short periods, a few hours up to a couple of days, on numerous upgraded towers that don't yet have upgraded backhaul. Presumably this is done for testing purposes. I've seen it all over central Illinois since last fall. LTE for one day, then gone. LTE showing up for a few hours or days does not mean the new backhaul is installed. I frequently get over 1 mbps late evening and early morning on the 3G tower near my home.
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What kind of speeds did you see?
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You can get those speeds on 3G from any tower with upgraded equipment if the backhaul is not saturated. If your device was indicating LTE with those speeds, it would suggest no upgraded backhaul yet.
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No they don't. My office is in Rantoul and I drive through the town daily. There have been some flashes of LTE, a few hours here and there, as the new tower equipment is tested, but it is not live as of today. I suspect the same is true of the other places you mention.
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Don't get your hopes up, it is likely just testing as we have been seeing all over Champaign County for months now. Unfortunately, no signs of upgraded backhaul, which is needed before 4G goes live for real.
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Wouldn't Sprint's contracts with the backhaul providers include failure to perform clauses that would allow them to engage alternate providers at some point? If such clauses exist, why would Sprint put up with such lengthy delays from the contracted providers? Are there not viable alternative backhaul providers in these markets, or are there other considerations that make switching providers impractical?
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My experience has been that 3G in C-U is on average much improved over a year ago. I am usually seeing 0.3 - 1.0 Mbps downloads, somewhat slower on campus where saturation is highest but rarely below 0.1 down. What I'm seeing is consistent with NV tower upgrades being complete and now just waiting for the backhaul so LTE can be activated. Here's hoping that happens soon.
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Mostly along I-57 between Olympian Drive and Curtis Rd.
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I've seen only sporadic flashes of 4G in Champaign-Urbana but 3G speeds seem to have improved, at least overnight when demand is low. My guess is that NV equipment has been installed on many/most of the towers and testing is going on. The big unknown is how long it will take for the upgraded backhaul to arrive.
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Rantoul still seems to be in LTE testing mode; I see it off and on around I-57 and US136.
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Sign up for the Windows Phone Apps Studio program (free for one device per Windows account). http://www.wpcentral.com/get-gdr3-today-windows-phone-preview-developers Although technically a "preview release" it is for all intents and purposes the final GDR3. It's working perfectly for me.
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I got an Ativ S Neo and am loving it so far. Running GDR3 and waiting for LTE to go live in Central Illinois.
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I picked up an Ativ S Neo over the weekend (nice device btw) and this morning I caught some LTE in my office, which is on U.S. 136 just west of I-57. It was off and on, speeds 10-12 Mpbs. They must be testing.....
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Thanks for the info.... time to update your avatar! How's the LTE reception on the Ativ?
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True... problem is Sprint really isn't promoting the WP8 devices to any significant extent so they likely won't sell well. I understand few Sprint stores even have the Ativ S Neo in stock, and on the Sprint website it is displayed near the bottom of the smartphone page below two year old and pre-owned devices. Hard to escape the impression they don't much care if it sells or not.
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Anybody else pick up or try out the Ativ S Neo and have an opinion on it? I'm a big fan of Windows Phone, still rocking my old Arrive. The Ativ S Neo seems solid on paper, the major disappointment for me being that it is 1900 LTE only. Given the ridiculous wait for Sprint to release WP8 devices, goodness knows how long it will take them to offer a dual or triband WP device.
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Woohoo... getting closer to C-U
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Just don't count on seeing significant data speed improvements within 90 days, because upgraded backhaul may not be installed until months after the new equipment.
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That's great if you have good T-Mobile coverage... but in Champaign/Urbana and many places along I-57 T-Mobile coverage is spotty to non-existent. I got a prepaid T-Mobile sim a few years back to test voice coverage around town and couldn't tolerate all the gaps; they just don't seem to have enough towers around here.
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All kinds of problems this weekend with dropped calls and delayed texts at my home in SW Champaign, which usually has solid coverage......wonder if something NV-related is going on.....
