dkyeager

On 2/26/2021 at 10:05 AM, mdob07 said:

My PC with the Gateway on B2 + N41. Testing from the gateway's wifi I'm getting well over 400, so seems like I'm losing a little between my gateway and UDM Pro. I'll do some more testing later as see what I can figure out. 

Is this all one unit or is the modem part separate?  Any pics of equipment your using?  Thanks

Now that auction 107 is behind us, we come to auction 108, 2.5GHz.  Already a number of licenses have been awarded to federally recognized tribes as part of this process. Since we are still in the comment period for the rules, and the administration has changed, so could the rules.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-seeks-comment-procedures-25-ghz-auction

The 2.5GHz auction technical guide for bidding process  https://www.fcc.gov/auction/108/education

21 hours ago, iansltx said:

Narrower bandwidths go further, hence running 5x5 when they definitely have the spectrum for more.

This is contrary to common wisdom of several years ago. Wider bandwidths were thought to be more resistant to interference. Wider bandwidths also use a lower percentage for buffers.

15 hours ago, iansltx said:

I expect them to use it; they paid above what VZW did to grab some in a ton of major markets. Dish is 100x more likely to just sell their lone license. Interestingly, TMo only got 20 MHz in Little Rock, Rochester, and SYracuse, but 60 MHz in Albany...40 literally everywhere else.

We'll find out what their strategy is on March 11, but my guess is still that n77 will provide a distinct set of freqs for a small cell build out, probably CA'd with 24 GHz, allowing for islands of extra capacity that'll interfere with neither the macro network nor, for the most part, themselves.

The unusual factor is the Band 41 holdings in the primary county for each of the 3 New York cities.  T-Mobile effectively owns all Band 41 in Albany, where they are also getting 60Mhz of n77.  Where as in the n77 20Mhz markets for Rochester and Syracuse, Krisar, Inc. - George W. Bott fragments the n41 spectrum.  In Rochester they could do 100Mhz and 40Mhz.  Syracuse is 60Mhz plus 20Mhz and 20Mhz.

I found AT&T's strategy for auction 107 (n77) to be interesting: top dollar for the first 40Mhz, bottom dollar for the second 40Mhz. I believe they then spent additional money to make it contiguous.  Squatters would typically position themselves right after AT&T yet before T-Mobile.

The real question is whether they intend to use this n77 spectrum or trade it for more n41 when the EBS auctions off later.  Of course there was no WISPs or cable in this and barely any Dish, all of which could compete for EBS.

On 2/3/2021 at 7:47 AM, Trip said:

Here's the (very short) SEC filing: 

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1283699/000119312521025274/d262639d8k.htm

I do find the math to be interesting.  The entire Sprint network with its ~41 million non-wholesale customers went for $26 billion, while Shentel was valued at $2.1 billion with just 1.1 million customers (not sure if wholesale customers are included or not, assuming not as I assume Shentel can't do wholesaling).  Had Shentel been valued as low as Sprint, the purchase price would have been under $1 billion.

Speaks to the quality of the Shentel part of the network.

- Trip

In comparison to Shentel, debt load was also a major factor for Sprint (and lack of execution.)

1st known permit of a Sprint only site conversion to T-Mobile observed in Columbus OH:

Antenna upgrade to an existing cell site for T-Mobile. Scope of work includes removal of (6) antennas, (3) RRHs, (3) T-Arms, and (1) Hybrid Cable. Installation of (6) antennas, (6) RRHs, (2) Pendants, (1) Platform, and (2) Trunk Cables. Ground work includes removal of (1) cabinet and installation of (2) cabinets and (2) junction boxes.

https://ca.columbus.gov/ca/Cap/CapDetail.aspx?Module=Building&TabName=Building&capID1=21CAP&capID2=00000&capID3=002ZR&agencyCode=COLUMBUS&IsToShowInspection=

The Columbus building department made the following comment, so their may be other changes: 1.) The Scope of Work provided on the cover page is inconsistent with what is shown on sheet C-401 for example a. The scope shows that (6) RRHs are being removed but sheet C-401 shows that there are only (3) RRHs being removed b. The scope shows that (9) RRHs are being installed but sheet C-401 shows that there are only (6) being installed 2.) The Scope of Work appears to be incomplete regarding what is existing in terms of ground work.

On 1/30/2021 at 6:52 PM, ingenium said:

If the closest site is a keep site, then TNX will readily use it. It's seen as native T-mobile (equivalent to 310-260 PLMN), and will be equal priority as any other T-mobile site. Basically keep sites are literally T-mobile native sites now.

I am going to have to test this in my market.  Will move my Sprint free line to TNX.  If it is a go, they I will be free to get a S21 or whatever (hoping for an 888 with removable storage and 6E).

On 1/25/2021 at 9:05 PM, iansltx said:

VZW doesn't have a throttle on mmW. Most of their plans state 720p but I'm not sure what the speed cap is.

Do you still need to go outside (and freeze up north in the winter) to get it on your phone, or have they managed to increase its performance yet to where you can stay warm and cozy inside?

The real question will be the effect on the upcoming 2.5 EBS auction.  T-Mobile might be able to get very good prices with almost no implementation costs for much better service in small cities and rural areas.

14 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

They're replacing nearly all existing antennas on sites here in New York too. 

15 hours ago, mdob07 said:

Found an interesting find today, this site was one of the earlier 600 upgrades, appear to be swapping out the existing low/mid band antenna panel for a new one. On the latest permits around here that are adding 600 they are using Commscope FFHH-65C-R3 antennas, so I wonder if the existing one was an older revision and the new one has enough improvement to be worth replacing already.

What was the previous 600Mhz antenna?

19 hours ago, greenbastard said:

The fine print actually gave Sprint the ability to throttle those legacy plans. People kept saying there was also no deprioritization, but the wording was there to implement one at any given moment.

Ever since Sprint got rid of 2 year upgrade options, that plan has not been worth it. Anyone still holding on to that plan is just throwing money away. T-Mobile will likely not honor something that was never promised. They've done this in the past when they changed the unlimited roaming in Mexico and Canada to 5 GB.

If you still have that plan, I recommend dumping it.

A carrier can always modify your plan.  Not worth it for an individual consumer to go after them.  More honest carriers will give you 30 days after a change.

The context of my quote above was in terms of video.  I am playing 1440p60 on my LG V20 on the "Sprint" network right now and also get 75Mbps on Netflix fast while using the Sprint network in a poor location inside my house.  With unlimited VPN and 300MB of roaming and 50GB hotspot I am not in a hurry to change.  If I saw T-Mobile actually adding equipment to Sprint standalone sites near me I would likely feel different.  Otherwise it is a pure calculation of what is best for me as I define it.  If T-Mobile does not add any equipment to the three standalone Sprint sites near my home I will move to AT&T based on current data.  What ranking a carrier has does not really matter to me.  What matters is who is best where I need it and what are the details as compared to how I use it.

On 1/17/2021 at 4:46 PM, Cardsfan96 said:

My whole point is 480p on the plan I’m on is not acceptable. On a sprint sim I’ll get no throttle at all if I TNX I’ll get throttled to 2.3. 

I would say given the Everything Data plan wording and the premium price paid for Everything Data, you should have unthrottled.  If true, for me personally, this makes the purchase of any 5G phone from T-Mobile undesirable given that TNX is required to get 5G at all.  Where I live inside the Columbus Ohio beltway, the speed ranking is Sprint, then AT&T, then T-Mobile, then Verizon.  T-Mobile has improved, but not enough to change their ranking.  T-Mobile would likely win if they converted one of the two Sprint only sites near me to T-Mobile (no permits seen).

The throttling should be validated against the physical network.  What happens if only band b25 is allowed so it is only on Sprint even with the TNX network?

On 1/6/2021 at 12:24 PM, BlueAngel said:

They seem to just be taking away features like the sd card slot and stuff, no value coming from my S20 Ultra.

I was excited until I heard about the missing SD card.  I don't like sharing my photos with Silicon Valley and others.

2 hours ago, Trip said:

SignalCheck already has a last_time field.

- Trip

How soon I forget.  Thanks

On 12/11/2020 at 1:47 AM, mikejeep said:

New beta rolling out now.. hopefully will become available on Google Play within a few hours! It has another pile of bugfixes, but more fun than that.. 5G logging and site notes! Just like LTE, you will need a minimum of a PLMN and a site ID (NCI) to save entries, which means you will need to have a standalone connection. I have not seen any non-standalone connections provide any cell identity information, so those will not be able to be logged.

I do not have access to 5G SA, so those of you who do, please test it thoroughly and let me know how it goes.

Another new feature is a somewhat hidden "shortcut" to send a diagnostic report -- long-press on the "Connected to [whatever]" line in the top right corner and it will send. It will use the username that was included on the last report (if any), but you can't include any details. This should come in handy for those of you trying to report certain situations or issues. You can always send a shortcut report, then follow it up with a regular one if you want to include a note.

The last significant change in this release is a new column in the log database, "hits". It is a running counter of how many times an entry is logged.. so it's how many times you have "hit" a cell. Right now it doesn't display anywhere in the app, but you will see it browsing the database or if you export your log. If there's somewhere in the app that you think would be useful to display it, let me know. I have some ideas for it in the future.

Thank you for the help!

An alternative way to store hits would be the last date it was hit, then it would be easy to see Sprint sites disappear (eventually) or better yet, get converted.  How were you thinking of using the counter?

Thanks

another exciting aspect is Wi-Fi 6E, which includes the huge 6GHz band.  Wonder if it will also include the just announced expansion of the 5GHz Wi-Fi band (https://wifinowglobal.com/news-and-blog/fcc-adopts-new-5-9-ghz-rules-unlocking-gigabit-wi-fi-in-5-ghz/)

2 hours ago, Rickie546 said:

Well Swiftel is no more! T-Mobile has purchased it from Brookings and filed application with FCC 2 days ago!

https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/ApplicationSearch/applMain.jsp?applID=12386667

https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsEntry/attachments/attachmentView.jsp?applType=search&fileKey=420296911&attachmentKey=21083843

 

Rickie

Sprint had a clause in the agreement that if a merger occurred they could buy them out! Kudos to the folks that put in that clause!

https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/12/08/exclusive-here-are-the-official-galaxy-s21-s21-and-s21-ultra-teasers/

https://tech.hindustantimes.com/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-s1-appears-on-geekbench-with-8gb-ram-snapdragon-888-71607164583801.html

Last time I bough a Samsung, they tried to kill me with an exploding phone(s).  May finally be ready to go back.  LG seems to be getting forever weaker. X60 modem capabilities with integrated into the processor chip, dramatically improved CA, 5G version of VoLTE, etc.

On 11/10/2020 at 9:49 PM, RAvirani said:

Pretty much all T-Mobile new builds use a single 600/700 RRU and a single 1900/2100 RRU. If you get lowband, you get both 600 and 700. If you get midband, you get both 1900 and 2100. 2500 uses its own massive MIMO antenna, of course.

While not having 1900/2100 fragmentation or 600/700 fragmentation is a a step in the right direction, T-Mobile isn't consistently adding lowband, midband and highband to sites. With the imminent influx of Sprint users to their network, I don't doubt they're going that route in major metros, but less busy areas are not getting the same treatment.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe T-Mobile only adds frequencies to sites as they are projected to be needed, but does fully supply backhaul, where as Sprint added all bands to every possible site in recent years since it came out of a capital budget, but did not have enough operating funds to add proper backhaul to most of its sites.

On 11/10/2020 at 4:38 PM, chamb said:

I am with "TRIP" on this one.  T-Mobile COULD have had good coverage in the Shentel area in the past. Shentel/Sprint was a competitor.  T-Mobile was not even trying to compete.  Service most places was horrible. Shentel almost always had twice the number of sites to cover an area while T-Mobile done it the cheap way. Shentel had a network that was even better then Sprints network elsewhere.  T-Mobile was not even competition. Just very very poor.

   So, this is the reason I have no faith that T-Mobile will step up and do it right.  The Shentel network needs to be the base to build on.  Add T-Mobile spectrum to almost ALL of the Shentel sites.  What I hate is all the Shentel employees knew what they were doing and could be proud of it.  If T-Mobile trashes the Shentel network, all the employees will see many years of hard work disappear.

I hope the buyout price that T-Mobile has to pay is very high. It is a great network and it should bring  a premium price.

A major asset that Shentel will provide to T-Mobile is the ability to get a state #1 ranking with Root Metrics fairly easily.  This is something a marketing driven company like T-Mobile should appreciate.

On 9/25/2020 at 5:03 PM, PedroDaGr8 said:

Confirmed n41, though it's not live yet.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
 

We can only hope that T-Mobile plans to take full advantage of its full b41/n41 spectrum. This is a very good sign.

13 hours ago, nexgencpu said:

Placed my pre-order on this monster. I got an awesome deal!

Got $650 for my Galaxy S20 Ultra

$100 pre-order discount/bundle

$100 student discount

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-z-fold2-5g/

Joshua Vergara does a good job of showcases some of its features..

 

It is one of the first devices with Wi-Fi 6E (extended), which has the traditional 2.4 and 5Ghz along with the massive 6Ghz spectrum.