dkyeager

Historically Apple is more concerned about a consistent customer experience, thus it could be 2021 for the next chipset/modem to support more bands or even further out.

Concur that 8615 earcfn is a common indicator or 15x15, based on Columbus and Pittsburgh.

FYI: There are vast portions of the country without significant amounts of Band 41. Outside of metro areas 20+20+15 is fairly common. There are many locations with even less. The FCC has started discussions of making more available, but that is likely on hold awaiting a merger decision.

There have been a few reports of unlocked S10s also having issues. Hard for us to know if it is more or less common.

I have been keeping track of a number of S10 users with issues as well. My bias, if any, is against Samsung since I owned a Note 7 whose problems became publicly debated while I was on one flight and the second recall occurred while I was on another flight returning home. It took Samsung hundreds of engineers and a year to figure out the issue was not enough expansion room for the battery. With fewer people less affected in a quieter way, we may never hear what the issue is. Some of the S10 users are having issues start as late as a month out, but the earliest phones definitely had more issues. A few of the exchanged phones have also had issues, but this appears to be an even smaller percentage. Not restricted to Sprint but definitely more common. No doubt a number of variables in play here, but quality control appears to be one of the key issues, otherwise I would not expect any difference in exchange rates. Another theory is antenna system issues (this phone reportedly uses a new design). This is a phone where insurance is a good idea. Open enrollment occurring now is a good time to get it if you did not before. I would exchange a problem S10 while the issues are well publicized. You might be able to exchange if for a different model or vendor assuming you spend the same or more (including accessories) if desired.

There could still be some Intel based phones still in the development pipeline or product adjustments may be needed. The lowest common denominator approach really only works well when the competing products are very close in capabilities. That distance was increasing, however Intel's presence many have sparked Qualcomm to better performance (along with more Asian competitors).

What possibilities do you see? We currently have very limited ways of tracking CA and other advanced LTE items such as 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM. Basically just by individual sites. So many permutations with CA which all vary by carriers. Logging any of these Advanced LTE items is great !! We will take whatever crumbs you can give us!! Thanks

"It aint't over until the fat lady sings" Or the orange haired man. I do put some credit to rumors in Washington mentioned in WSJ. Odds are now less than 50-50 IMO, but far from dead.

That is the key question. Sprint tells one story to the regulators another for the quarterly reports. Those loaning money at what interest rates with what collateral are the key indicators of where the truth lies. The wireless providers are all highly leveraged, but Sprint is even more so. Sprint was in much worse shape before Marcello. Creative financing and cost cutting saved it. But being so highly leveraged means doing nothing is likely not an option.

Charlie drove up the price of Clearwire therefor reducing the amount of money available for Sprint improvements.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/sprint-blames-network-for-much-its-difficult-situation-s-only-getting-worse

Sprint stock price may fall to $3 IMO if merger does fail.

Sprint appears to me be be stalling on VoLTE. Phones back to the LG V20 /LG G6 show VoLTE support in the FCC testing, yet the list of VoLTE supported devices on the Sprint network barely grows. A lot of customers don't notice the lack of VoLTE, plus VoLTE is a T-Mobile specialty (ie wait for merger). It would cost a lot of money to extend LTE coverage to the 1x800 only areas and building interiors. Tribanding the former Clear sites is one step in this direction, but is really just for metro areas.

Some Massive MIMO sites my be 4G only, used for capacity or eliminating RF shadows.

Given Samsung's quality control issues, it will be very important to see if LG does any better. Typically takes about a month for any issues to show up. Design-wise there is no doubt that X55 modem devices slated for late 2019/2020 are better long term bets. If the merger is called off, then the V50 becomes more viable since 600MHz 5NR won't matter as much. Otherwise I want my local tower tribanded to reduce my merger transition uncertainty about my local service and reduce my risk..

he appears to be adding weight -- merger stress perhaps.

Massive MIMOs can also be used for sites that need more capacity or have RF shadow issues. Cities that are promised 5g deployments do need enough Massive MIMOs to make a real difference along with enough backhaul.

Agree. If they had more money, they would have installed Massive MIMO at all sites in the areas where they hold a large amount of B41 spectrum.

Was hoping for the LG V50 which is supposed to be released April 19th in Korea. Overnight a few and sell them to select S4Gru customers lol. Seriously why Sprint has not lined up a few celebrities to have a soft launch beforehand is beyond me. Oh yeah, that requires marketing! I keep forgetting Money would also help. It would not surprise me if even T-Mobile beats them to 5G (if they wish to use mmWave) although waiting for the next chipset is likely better for 600MHz to serve many more people. Sprint's LG V50 is more likely to be on the slow boat. Will Sprint give the Massive MIMO sites enough backhaul to make a splash? Only time will tell.

To help fix issues with SCP on Android Q: Please go and Star https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/130132884 {credit JefBal99}

It has been refurbs only for a long time.

Not seen that on LG V20 with Android 8.0.0 or LG G2 with Android 5.0.2 (rooted).

Sprint has not seized the day. They would have gotten better coverage if they were first. Hopefully they launch the day of the first 5G phone release in the US that is not via an add-on.

The biggest likely mmWave issue is from your phone to the small cell. I would love to see a out of band CA solution with a lower band to this and how well it works. I agree that stadiums are one the best venues. Basically anywhere people congregate in large numbers with limited movement. As people make assumptions about mmWave, they should be aware that very little of it is currently contiguous. Most in 50 MHz segments some in 100Mhz or 150Mhz. Thus CA is likely being used in the band. We all know what that does to upload speeds and the hesitation it can give to download speeds. We also don't know if Massive MIMO is enabled at these 5g small cell sites. T-Mobile's Ohio spectrum does have one 400Mhz block (the 5g maximum bandwidth, at least planned).

Dish does have permits in Columbus for antennas, likely of the protection site variety. T-Mobile mmWave licenses: 🌞 T-Mobile typically has 850MHz in Ohio: