Galaxyguy

I'm headed to Marion, VA in the middle of October and again at the end of October. It sure would be nice for Ericsson to upgrade the remaining two (of 4) towers there that are in the Southern VA market. I know asking for LTE would probably be too much but at least 3G converted to NV standards would be nice, and some 1x800 would even be great too. 

I know it's been mentioned before but it's really weird how those four towers are there all by themselves in the southern VA market. They also have Ericsson as their OEM and not ALU like the rest of the Southern VA market. 

Yes. I do work for Shentel.

Just curious, do you work in sales or the network side of things?

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I imagine a breathalyzer would never pass the legal department.

The are sold pretty cheap on Amazon and eBay if someone really needs one. The better policy is to not drive after drinking. It's just not worth the risk.

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I also noticed this problem since yesterday. I'm also in Shentel-land but much further south. To fix it, I just turned off automatic update of time zone and it's been fine ever since. My phone was showing I was in Central time. Not sure what Shentel did in the last couple days but I hope they get it fixed. It did not effect my work phone which is an old flip phone. 

I remember having this same problem when I was in Panama City, FL back in 2003 on Verizon, but that city lies right on the Eastern/Central time border. I'm nowhere near the Central time zone in VA. 

Is her phone a straight S4 and NOT a triband? I'd bet that it is.

 

Since the newer tribands are higher serial numbers, the straight S4s should see it first. Once they are pushed, then the Triband phones should start getting the push.

 

Since mine was purchased on release day, mine should be one of the first sparks to get it.

Edit: The last update for the original S4 was released on 7/30/14.

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I do not have Google Voice integration. I never used GV but here are a few things I've noted while playing with the new calling feature. 

I made a couple calls after updating the app and downloading the new hangouts dialer app. Calling to my wife (who also updated) from hangouts to hangouts is crystal clear, just like an HD voice call. I also tried calling to a landline and it sounded like a normal call. There is a slight delay, probably just shy of a second but nothing terrible. When calling a phone (landline or someone who does not have hangouts) the caller ID shows as unavailable. 

One benefit for tri-band phones is you won't lose your data connection when making a call through hangouts. My car's built-in bluetooth also recognized the hangout call as a phone call and allowed me to use the bluetooth speakerphone just as I was on a regular call. 

I hope that helps those who have questions. If I notice anything else, I'll post up again. I haven't tried it on my tablet yet but plan to when I have some time. That would be interesting to see how it works. My assumption would be that it should work just as it does on my phone but I'll check that out another time. 

For the record, I side-loaded the app from droid-life.com but I'm guessing everyone will have it by the end of the week through Google Play. 

Anybody get the new update? My wife's phone has it but I haven't installed it yet.

I try a couple times per day to pull it but so far, I haven't been one of the chosen ones yet. I've also checked Kies and it's not showing the update yet.

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I was in Delaware County PA this past weekend and picked up a weak B26 signal. I also picked up a weak B41 signal on I-95 a little north of the airport. Signs of progress are a good thing. 

Okay... Disclaimer... Please forgive me for asking this, as I am sure that this is mentioned somewhere in this thread, but considering that I usually access this forum from Tapatalk, and searching is a PITA...

 

I see the discission of 800 LTE, and I know that my HTC M8 makes use of 800 1x, so I was just wondering if my HTC M8 will also be able to make use of 800 LTE whenever it goes live.

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Is the replaceable battery incompatible with being water resistant? I really used battery swapping a lot on my Note 2. It would seem the battery contacts corrosion when damp would be a problem.

 

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The S5 is water resistant and has a removable battery.

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Well I guess the older post was right, these were signs of an update, now I connect to LTE more often and the fall back has changed back to eHRPD again, which is great. Now I just wish we could get some of that b41 love

Did B26 get activated in your area? If it did, that will definitely improve your data experience for tri-band phones. 

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/07/30/sprint-galaxy-s4-receive-ota-software-update-l720vpufng2-bringing-minor-enhancements/

 

Per the article: "HD Voice allows for clearer sounding speech, but it only works on calls where both users have supported devices. Over two dozen high-end devices make this list, but that still leaves off quite a bit of folk."

Yes, I was speaking about calling those who I know have an HD capable Sprint device.

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HD Voice Icon support... does that mean what I think... When we are making a phone call we will get a icon on notification bar indicating we are making a call in HD Voice?

I guess we'll have to see how it works once someone gets it. I said something about it to my wife, who has the original S4 (non-Spark). She showed me her call log which shows an HD icon on some of her calls. I asked if anything showed on her notification bar when on an HD call and she said she never noticed anything but didn't know for sure. The original S4 received an update last month which included the "HD voice icon." 

The weird thing is, in our area, we don't have HD calls all the time. I would guess about 20% of my calls to other Sprint subscribers are in HD. Not sure why it isn't all the time. Maybe Shentel/Sprint are still trying to iron the bugs out.  

Here's the list of updates in NG5: 

• HD Voice Icon support
• International Wi-Fi Calling support
• Google security patches

The official release date is listed as 8/27/2014. Please post when you get it. I tried the manual update method and plugged in to my computer and tried through Kies. Neither option had the update available yet. 

This app fixed the wifi issue for me. Try both options in the app.https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.refreshDevice '> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.refreshDevice

Unfortunately, I've already tried that app several times. It did fix a couple other issues but not the wifi calling. Thanks for the tip though.

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Looks like we're getting another update. This one will allow for International wifi calling.

I'm hoping this update fixes my S4T to be able to use wifi calling. Something happened to my last update and it's never worked. I got my mom's S4T to work, but not mine. I was told something may have happened during the update process which possibly corrupted a file. 

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/traveling-overseas-with-sprint-has-never-been-easier-with-international-wi-fi-calling-to-the-us-us-virgin-islands-and-puerto-rico-at-no-additional-cost.htm

I noticed my phone grabbed onto EVDO yesterday as I was leaving the basement of a brick building. It quickly switched back to LTE as i went out into the parking lot. I wasn't streaming anything at the time but that's the only thing that I could see could possibly suffer. Even then, most streaming services don't constantly stream. The data comes in in spurts so it doesn't keep a constant connection. 

It might mean they upgraded the backhaul. It's also a good ping time for 3G.

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I think I've seen EVDO on a few occasions as well. Not sure why it happens.

Your boss is correct too. Lancaster is Sprint, York is Shentel.

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What area(s) are you referring to?

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I was reading on how 1900 provides broad coverage & 800 is used to penetrate buildings, but wouldn't 800 by it self be just as good? Please explain to me how these work because I'm fairly new and don't fully understand.

 

Thanks guys!

Sprint has more capacity on 1900 than 800. In my area (Shentel market) and a few others nationally, Sprint has two 5x5 LTE carriers on 1900mhz and one on 800mhz.

I believe in some areas, Sprint may have enough spectrum for a third carrier on 1900mhz, which would provide even more capacity.

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ok cool. that answers my questions completely! thanks Mike and I really do appreciate it!

 

Kevin

In Shentel's market, the GCI endings are:

B25 (primary carrier): 01,02,03

B25 (second carrier): 09,0A,0B

B26: 19,1A,1B

No B41 here yet so I don't know what they will use.

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Shentel, who has LTE on about 99% of sites in their footprint, recently stated they have 60% of data usage on LTE. They probably have one of the most complete networks of any market and should be pretty indicative of other markets once they are complete. Keep in mind, every month more and more people are upgrading to LTE handsets, including prepaid as well. 

Shentel is quick to fix problems. I noticed last week that one sector of the tower that I connect to at work wasn't broadcasting 800 in either voice or B26. The other 2 sectors were functioning normally. I was going to call but I noticed the next day it was back to normal.

I have called in other issues and they are usually fixed in a day. I know in today's society, "tomorrow" usually isn't quick enough but I'm sure it won't be long until it's functioning again.

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Market: Philadelphia

Location: Ephrata (I-76/Rt 222)

Tac: 3341

Band 25

Sent to me by my wife. She may send me a few more over the next couple days as she will be in the Philly and NJ areas.

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