solara

Manteca, Lathrop, & Tracy CA has been cluster launched for 3G.

 

New site with 4G live in Modesto as well.

 

- Near intersection of B street & 7th Street near Wille Eletric Supply

 

Exact locations available in the sponsor area

Sorry, but what does it mean when a city has been launched for 3G?  Better speeds for the 3G spectrum, better voice coverage with 1x or ...?

We've been using the Airave at home so we're basically using our own internet to make calls, etc. so I can't tell any difference at home.  I'll have to turn off the Airave and see if we can even get a signal from that one single tower in Manteca. 

Poor Manteca, applied back in july and still nothing. I guess the city must be last behind stockton and modesto.

And Modesto, according to a Sprint rep on their facebook page, won't go live for another 3 months!

Damn wonder what's taking the San Joaquin and Stanislaus Valley so long to go live :/

Yeah their 3G here sucks big time.  I sure hope the upgrade increases range also.

I read on the Sprint Facebook page where someone asked about Modesto, and the Sprint representative responded that Modesto should be up in 'a few months'.  This posting was back in May. 

Nice post I found stating 3 to 6 dB gain going from EVDO to LTE:  http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/buzzaboutwireless/network-and-coverage/blog/2012/01/25/why-is-lte-faster-than-evdo-or-wimax

Coverage should be increased by about 10-20% with the updated equipment. You'll notice a huge difference. Another thing you might consider is calling Sprint Retentions and letting them know you have no voice service in your home. You might be able to get an Airvana free of charge and have no monthly fee associated with it. I had to get one when I moved into the house I'm in right now and it has made a world of difference. If anything, it will help while you wait for LTE to go live in your area. Just a thought.

Even though the Voice coverage bar indicates 1-3 bars usually, voice reception seems fine.  Too early to tell if we'll be missing calls, text messages, or will get a lot of dropped calls, but so far voice seems fine, so I don't think we'll need the Airwave.

It's the 3G coverage that is almost non-existent, and of course the speed is pathetically slow.  I'd read a study where they compared the different 3G, 4G speeds (WiMax for Sprint at that time), and Sprint's 3G was averaging 0.5 megabits/sec downloads, and that's roughly what we're getting when we can get a signal.  Of course their LTE should be much faster than that, but I'm not too confident that the coverage will really increase since it's the same spectrum they're using, just a different standard.   I don't know enough about LTE versus EVDO to know how much better coverage LTE will truly get.

Ok so we got our S4s - nice phone but Sprint 3G is almost nonexistent in our house. Assuming no new towers are built in Manteca, when Sprint rolls out LTE in this area will that same tower using the same 1900 spectrum have any increased coverage or will coverage be the same only with increased speeds? And assume we wont be upgrading to a triband phone anytime soon.

I know we can use WiFi (using it now) but it seems pointless to pay for unlimited data and not get any at all.

Sprint Currently is using 1900 (not 1800) for LTE, EVDO, Voice.  Sprint is rolling out 800 for Voice (CDMA 1xA), EVDO, and LTE. Lilotimz correct me if I am wrong...Also Sprint will eventually roll out 2500 for just LTE... so 800/1900/2500 when complete. You are correct in that 800 has larger coverage/in-building penetration. Lilo can probably add more....

As long as voice coverage improves for my home using the current Galaxy S4 when 800 CDMA rolls out, and LTE speeds are at least 3-4 MB/s download, I'll be happy.  We're not too demanding ha.

All phones currently available (bar iphone 4/4s) support CDMA 800 1x Voice & slow data but not LTE 800 which will come next month starting with the LG G2 then Samsung Note 3 and/or rereleased tri-band galaxy s4.  So I'd advise you to hold off anyhow. It's pretty stupid getting a single band LTE device right on the eve of tri-bands. 

Our market is slated to have LTE 800 activated and available in certain sites in the next 60-90 days. 

The only reason we jumped on the S4 now is because of the great deals they currently have - I guess they may be trying to move stock to make room for the Tri-Band S4, who knows.  Basically with discounts, and some corporate credit for switching lines, the S4 would be free.

I've been trying to google and find out info, but you probably know this.  LTE 800 vs. 1800 - the 800 should penetrate buildings better and have larger coverage right?  So Sprint would probably have to build less towers to cover the same area that 1800 currently covers right?  What are the advantages of 1800 over 800 band then?  Higher data speed within the covered area?

So the LTE 800 roll-out also includes CDMA 800 roll-out it seems - so voice should improve once that's rolled-out right?  What spectrum is Sprint using now for their voice?

Fair is fine and will be a non issue as CDMA 800 1x is deployed in the next few months. South Manteca is served by a tower along the highway between Manteca & Ripon. 

 

We have maps of all ~39,000 sprint cell sites in the nation in the sponsor area if you really wish to see where towers are located. 

Thanks for the quick reply.  Yes, I've read about the 800 MHz (the deployment will be for voice or data or both?) - but that will help with voice as well?  Even if the phone itself uses only 1900 MHZ for data (Galaxy S4)?  I'm not too knowledgeable with the frequencies and how they are used for voice and data, etc.

We haven't received our phones yet and haven't activated.  But I just found out that our address, via the Sprint mapping, only gets 'Fair' coverage for voice.  The single tower in Manteca seems more situated up in the northern part of town.  So we may have to cancel the switch over.

My question is, does anyone else live in an area that has 'Fair' voice coverage according to Sprint's website (http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?) and do not have any problems at all with their voice?

Rather disappointing to see that southern Manteca has such horrible voice coverage, yet neighboring Lathrop and the cities towards Modesto are fine.

It's pretty good if you're within the radius the tower / cell site was designed in mind with and speeds range from 10-20 mbps on average and goes up to the 30s when you're within line of sight of the tower / cell site. It gets a bit wonky when you get further away from the site and start reaching into the -106 dBm  and above territory. Lots of fringe coverage areas due to the fact that not many towers are online and speeds are quite variable because of it.

 

Roseville area though should be solid. They're about 2/3rds done. 

What's the typical radius of coverage for their towers?

Hi,

First time poster here.  We're looking to switch over to Sprint with their Galaxy S4.  Living in Manteca, and work in Modesto, and travel to San Jose/Bay area regularly.

Rumors are Modesto should be rolling out LTE within the next couple months?  Anyone have any ideas on roll-out for Manteca?  I assume the antennas for Modesto are too far to serve Manteca?