lordsutch

One of the big things I'd suggest doing right away is setting the Auto ISO mode on and setting the max ISO to whatever you feel comfortable with (probably 1600 or 3200, maybe even 6400). That will give you a bit more flexibility with shutter speeds.

Honestly even the 18-55 kit lens is a pretty good lens, although I don't even carry mine around anymore now that I have the 35mm f/1.8 prime. Now if you're going to go tower hunting, a long zoom lens is definitely something you'll want; I've been happy with the 55-300mm, although you probably can get away with the less bulky 55-200mm.

What, exactly, is the definition of substantial service?

The definition appears vague (the FCC has only revoked licenses for lack of substantial service on rare occasions). That said, I'd look to the footprints of the affiliate market PCS buildouts to get a sense of what Sprint accepted as a bare minimum at the time; granted, the affiliates probably went beyond "substantial service" to address competitive issues, but they still tended to build out a lot less coverage than Sprint's first-party markets did. One time when I was looking around I did find some maps that Sprint had sent the FCC to validate it had provided substantial service in various markets, including POPs estimates; they're probably in the FCC database somewhere.

Similarly, Sprint also has some obligation to operate service on ESMR in at least some of the areas where Nextel provided coverage but Sprint no longer has coverage, or risk losing the licenses.

EDIT: Here's an example of the maps I was discussing. Hopefully the link works...

And in the small universe department, my former boss is briefly seen at 1:11 in the video.

A 1/30 chance of not completing a call as opposed to a 1/10 (or 1/5!) chance of your call not going through is a "narrow margin" for Sprint? Okaaay...

The only known issue at this point is that N5s bought from T-Mobile (and possibly from other carriers that sell the North American version of the N5, such as the various Canadian carriers that sell it) do not seem to be in Sprint's database; if Google or Sprint sold it to you directly, you should be fine.

They already roam on those companies, so no need to acquire them. It does not help their coverage at all.

The problem with that strategy is: what happens when AT&T and/or Verizon buy them up? Sprint is likely to lose a lot of roaming coverage on ex-Alltel as those contracts expire, particularly in the AT&T areas where 1X is only maintained for roaming revenue. Sprint can't afford to lose many more roaming partners, since that will mean paying even more money to Verizon or having reduced roaming coverage (regressing to a T-Mobile-like footprint in many areas). Even wholesale network sharing deals are no guarantee of adequate coverage; see nTelos' foot dragging on LTE and before that EVDO.

Not to mention that there's no guarantee roaming partners will deploy compatible networks going forward as voice migrates to VoLTE. There's only so many LTE bands you can cram in a handset.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Honestly, I can't see the FCC approving a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile without the merged entity supporting BYOP (which means keeping both 1x and GSM/WCDMA for quite a while), agreeing to a mandatory buildout of at least basic voice and data service to something like 90-95% of POPs to ensure there is a real third carrier alternative for most Americans, a heavier market buildout requirement on PCS G than "substantial service," and committing to rural fixed broadband deployment on 2500/2600. If the FCC wants Legere-style market disruption with 3 carriers instead of 4, they want it on a national scale to keep the big two honest, rather than metro-only competition.

Yeah, all that's left in the area are three sites in Macon (downtown at MLK and Riverside, Inglewood Village, and on the Mercer student union building) and then all the 3G GMOs in rural areas. And the weird GMO on 129/247 on the north side of Warner Robins - not sure why they didn't do a full build there since you'd assume backhaul wouldn't be an issue in the city limits. That would fill in the gap in 4G coverage around Avondale.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Apparently there's a new internal build of 4.4.2 with ID KJT49K that's been spotted in a bug report. More than likely it's just updated Android code rather than including the triband radio. Obviously any Spark enabled release is going to be on Google's timetable though, rather than Sprint's.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Thank you very much for your signal detector app. I use it on my G2 in an "LTE Only" data centric mode to map out emerging band 41 LTE in Columbus OH. The logging feature is awesome, which I combine with google fusion tables to make custom maps of sites http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4825-columbus-market-mapspreadsheet-premier-edition/page-5&do=findComment&comment=259773, analyze likely locations of sites http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4742-columbus-market-mapspreadsheet/page-82&do=findComment&comment=261127, and to create sprite maps of where I have seen signal of unknown towers plus I posted data which you are welcome to have if you wishhttp://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4825-columbus-market-mapspreadsheet-premier-edition/page-6&do=findComment&comment=260635.

 

Interesting to see the mcc, mnc, and tac changes although that is about the extent of my understanding (I assume they are used like different network protocols). Registered I assume means public.

Registered indicates whether or not the site is the one you are currently connected to; unlike 1X, you can only be registered on one LTE site at a time.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

The Boost and Virgin brands are definitely redundant, and I'm not sure the Virgin brand has the cachet on the USA that it has in other markets (the airline, for example, barely has any presence outside a few transcon and transoceanic markets). Plus the Boost brand gives them somewhere to dump T-Mobile's ops when they ditch the T-Mobile name.

As for bringing back the Nextel brand, I'm a bit more ambivalent but they need to use it for something or lose the trademark at some point.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Besides which, LEC availability can't be an issue any more due to portability rules. New numbers are allocated out of the free number pool without dedicated provider prefixes anymore.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Occasionally I end up in the stuck without data state with 4.4.2. Switching the mobile network mode (LTE/3G/1X/Global) always seems to fix it without any reboot needed.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yep, my home screen shortcut disappeared again today. With every update, I have to long press SignalCheck Pro in the app drawer and drag the shortcut back to the desired spot on the home screen.

Same thing is happening here. I thought I was going senile and just never added it to my home screen folder the last time it happened.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

RIM's patents are probably what will bring the vultures out in droves.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Question AJ, with all the recent NV updates in the Cleveland market that are clearly in the IBEZ zone, how is this possible? I mean, I'm surely not complaining but I was for sure we wouldn't get any 800Mhz love.

I'm not AJ, but Sprint can use ESMR in the IBEZ areas as long as either they ensure there's no emissions into Canada exceeding around 120 dBm RSSI (something like 135-140 dBm RSRP) or they have permission from the incumbent spectrum holders in the other country. So either they've worked things out with Telus Mike or they've determined there's no way excessive emissions are reaching Canada.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Not to threadjack, but here's a link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6qpa3tbs31zr5dg/SignalDetector.apk

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yep, I discovered that stuff a few weeks ago, cool stuff! It actually isn't N5-specific but I doubt a lot of phones implement it yet. I have a hacked-together routine I tested when I stumbled across it, and I know at least the GCI stuff was accurate in my area. Coming soon to an app near you....

It's been in my super cheesy app for months now. ???? I suppose I ought to get off my lazy butt and set up a Google Play developer account...

Seriously though it's pretty cool to see the neighbor site scan. The more, the merrier!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I didn't realize that Ocala was such a popular place.

It's like Disneyland for old people... and horses.

If this kind of question is more suited for xda than here I understand. I noticed on the new unlimited my way plans that streaming video will probably be throttled. Since this is a nexus is there some kind of workaround to this?

Any throttling is done at the network end, not on the device. And as far as I know, there have been no reports of throttling actually happening on postpaid LTE; Sprint reserves the right to do so, but thus far has not.

Not that 1Mbit/sec H.264 or VP8 would look bad on a 5-inch screen anyway.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Wait wasnt metro pcs a cdma company? And tmobile is gsm? How is tmobile managing that? Pardon my ignorance but I didn't follow that merger closely

The apparent plan is to follow the model that Bell and Telus have used in Canada: phasing out CDMA 1x/EVDO in favor of WCDMA and refarming Metro's PCS spectrum to LTE gradually as customers upgrade or churn. T-Mobile has also expanded the MetroPCS branding into WCDMA-only markets.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

I think the only way the FCC would approve this merger is if SprinTmobile plays ball on rural broadband and commits to roll out the same national coverage as the Big 2.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Just manually updated my Nexus 5 from 55016 to 55017; I never got pushed the 6xxxx PRL apparently.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

You don't even need root to get the MSL off the phone. Enable USB debugging, install the SDK on your computer, and use adb logcat to dump the system log when you go into the hidden menu and tap Edit.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yes, in LTE mode with a T-Mobile SIM installed the Nexus 5's ROM reports TAC/GCI/PCI, including info for neighboring sites. Can't see why it wouldn't work on any other carrier as well, including the D821 European model.

Incidentally, if you put 4.4 on the Nexus 4 and flash an LTE-enabled radio, you also get TAC/GCI/PCI for LTE on it too. Obviously useless for Sprint (since the Nexus 4 doesn't do CDMA), but it works like a charm with T-Mobile's Band 4 LTE.