feteru

Does anyone know how using LTE affects the battery life compared to 3G? I think I might've heard something somewhere that it doesn't really, but I'm still curious.

Overcast means complete cloud cover. Are your cell site antennas mounted so high that they are in or above the clouds?

 

AJ

Hahaha, whoops! I meant raining and other inclement weather. And I wish that they were mounted that high, it might mean we could get service in airplanes (besides the whole FAA/FCC thing).

No sorry. Wish I would've kept it because I regularly delete apps on my phone. My ping was in the low 60's and upload reached about 1.4. I would've kept it had I known that this topic was here.

Wow, that's impressive. I still haven't gotten an upload above 1mbps when the download was above 2mbps. Was this pre-NV or post?

Good question, but as it was raining pretty damn hard at the time, I was unable to test 4G in the open air.

I will check it out and post up my findings.

 

Mav.

 

Sent with Apple's permission on my Galaxy Nexus.

Thanks! On a side note, does overcast weather affect LTE and other cellular signals? Common sense tells me it would, but I don't know for sure.

Fastest I've seen was 3Mbps at 2AM and I was a 5 minute drive from the tower in Brooklyn. The fastest the I have seen mid day was 2.4 Mbps in Battery Park City.

You have a speed test? I would like to see the ping and upload as well, just for curiosity's sake.

The strength indicator does not show LTE signal strength, ever. Even when the icon says 4G. The signal strength shown is always for 1x. So you likely had a very weak LTE signal outside and then you went inside and the signal was too weak to penetrate where you were at. I just got back from LTE Performance testing in Waco and I can tell you that the Sprint LTE penetration characteristics are far better than WiMax.

 

To find out the LTE signal strength, you must go Settings>About Device>Status. Go down to Mobile Network Type and confirm it is LTE. If so, read the signal strength listed above. If it is a number greater than -115dBm on the EVO LTE (or -90dBm on the GS3, GNex, Viper), then you have a pretty weak LTE signal.

 

More and more coverage is constantly being added every week. If you are just now on the edge of service, you likely will be fully covered in the future. Everyone with an EVDO signal strength of -98dBm or better will likely get LTE service at build out.

 

Robert

Ooh! Have you become more optimistic (or pragmatic through testing at Waco), since if I remeber correctly, just a couple of weeks ago, you had said that it would be -90dBm or better to get LTE service. Or is that for a usable signal, and -98dBm is just service?

I got this sitting INSIDE the Subway in Statham, GA this evening. Working pretty good for me.

Mav.

 

Sent with Apple's permission on my Galaxy Nexus.

Now, the real question is, how does it compare to your speeds outside of the subway?

So tempting to somehow arrange a trip to baltimore that would coincide with this, I really want to see the GSIII in person and use a live demo, to see how the Pebble Blue is versus the white.

Hmmm, how bad is it for you? I was down there last winter and I was getting fine 3G signals, enough to watch netflix at sort of low res on.

Do you think DC will still be launched at the beginning of October? Also, what is the reason for all of these delays? Is it just that the going is slower than they thought, or something more than that?

It was odd, when I was in New Orleans this past weekend (since thursday), I was getting great 3G speeds, but pings around 200ms, so I don't think it was Network Vision upgraded, or even had its backhaul updated. Is it possible that I was just getting great 3G speeds (2mb/s down, about .6 mb/s up) just due to an uncongested carrier/area?

I don't think it was NV because NOLA is said to have 0 sites upgraded.

I don't know about HSPA+ but wasn't part of the AT&T/Tmobile break up deal include a roaming agreement with AT&T? So I at least for voice, Tmobile voice should be enhanced with AT&T roaming for coverage. I am sure HSPA+ was part of the deal as well. I mean if you think about it, if Sprint can benefit from 1x and EVDO roaming on Verizon why can't Tmobile do the same thing with GSM and HSPA+ on AT&T.

Sprint is going to do pretty well using 1900mhz, because it will on each cell site, so in theory, it will be like for like coverage.

I think Sprint is doing pretty well with 1900mhz, but they do have a long term goal to more effectively use their 800mhz spectrum, for when their roaming deal on Verizon runs out, which will allow them to have much better coverage throughout the nation which T-Mobile will then not be able to compete with. The question is, does T-Mobile have any plans beyond their roaming agreement with AT&T, in terms of widespread coverage?

Actually they use their AWS (1700mhz) for HSPA+, and are migrating it to 1900mhz to support the iPhone.

Thanks, and I looked on wikipedia, seems as though they have nationwide 1900mhz, and then large areas of 1700mhz and 2100mhz. Anyone else think that that seems a little rough to be rolling out nationwide LTE on, which they would have to do eventually, just to stay competitive? Without any lower spectrum, it seems as though they can't really get the coverage practically.

T-Mobile is coming for Sprint, unlimited will be around for a little longer yet.

Unthrottled unlimited 4G is coming back!

Now Sprint has no choice but to keep unlimited data

 

http://gizmodo.com/5...ata-plans-again

Woot! Stuff like this is only good for the mobile market! Hopefully this could eventually get AT&T and Verizon to bring back some sort of super high tier unlimited plan (and maybe the moon is made out of cheese). Although, it is unthrottled, unlimited "4G."

On a side note, what sort of spectrum holdings does T-Mobile have. I know they are in the 1900mhz band for their HSPA+, but do they have anything else they could really use for LTE?

Wait, so does anyone have more information on possible price raises? I know that we will eventually not be able to sustain unlimited data for all, but do we have a rough idea of the timeline or estimate of what it will be?

Anyone found the video on Fox's site/Youtube?

I think the slowdown is largely due to congestion. I was in Puerto Rico, and I don't think the cell carriers are as congested there, so I was able to stream netflix over 3G, something I definitely can't do here without NV.

Also, I got this result with full bars (wasn't recording the dBm for that, sorry), on a NV updated tower, it's my fastest yet.

Alright, I have a little update for the tower servicing the MBHS/Woodmor area. I believe that tower is definitely NV updated. I pulled down speeds of 1.43, and up of .93, with another sub 100ms ping. This was with full bars, as I have still not had time to do testing with net monitor, or get a picture of the actual tower. Hopefully that will be done sometime next week.

EDIT: Also, got this test from the Takoma Park tower that gave me great results last time, with a signal strength of -96dBm

You're probably connecting to a NV tower (jealous). Takoma Park and the immediate area has two completed NV (3G) towers. Hopefully, 4G will be switched on for you but I bet VZ or whomever is supplying the backhaul in DC is holding it up...

That's what I think, but I am not quite sure where the tower is located. I'll post pictures of it if I get the chance. Also, I think the tower by MBHS is band-aided, or they are still working on the backhaul, because I got .89 down, and .91 up, with a 111ms ping there a couple of days ago, with line-of-sight to the tower. I will definitely try to get a picture of that one within a week, so that you guys can tell me whether or not it is.

To the end user, the biggest difference effected by HD Voice is extended frequency response (i.e. higher highs, lower lows). To CDMA1X, though, HD Voice is just EVRC-NW, which is just another max 8 kbps variable rate codec.

 

AJ

So does this mean it will eventually not require any special hardware?

Just a couple days ago I go 2.44 down and .93 up with a sub 100ms ping, in the takoma park area. I'll edit this post in a minute with the image.

EDIT:

These have been my best tests, and I got at least 15-20 similar ones, so it wasn't a fluke. This was with full bars on my Optimus S, and I will check next time I am there what the signal was with NetMonitor.

We have been reporting September, but it seems all Sprint launches are appearing to be running about 30 days behind at this point. So it could be October.

 

Robert

Thanks! And that's interesting, because I get my upgrade (and SGSIII) on October 1st, so that seems as though it could line up pretty well.

Does anyone have more updated information on when the DC Market launches? I had heard rumors of end of August, but I am not quite sure if that is still accurate.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

Hello all, just joined today after lurking for a week or so. This site makes me really hopeful for Sprint's future, and is extremely relevant, due to me having my upgrade in a couple of weeks, and my area slated for 1st round LTE. Thanks so much for working so hard Robert and the admins, and I hope to stick around!

I seemed to be noticing slightly better signals throughout DC, although I am not sure if that is actually NV, but I think Sprint is doing an admiral job of building out the network.

EDIT: Also, when driving back from NC, I was noticing a lot of cell towers along the major highways that seemed to be in the process of being upgraded, with the antennas closer to the top of the tower, although they seemed to still have the older two antennas at the lower position as well.