blc95

Many of the problems in Central Illinois are in CenturyLink areas. CL has been a major problem supplying backhaul for Sprint. If you are in a CL market and still do not have Sprint LTE, the wait may still be awhile.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

How would we find out if we are in a CL market? I'm in Champaign-Urbana.....

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I heard from someone that some the sites in central Illinois that have seen essentially no movement (e.g. Bloomington, Springfield, C-U) are designated as "problem areas" by Sprint. Regardless of the accuracy of this claim, is there any reason that upgrades in these areas are taking so long? Obviously, I get that it is all about the backhaul and not Sprint's fault exactly, I just still fail to see why these areas are posing such a problem. And I get that places off highways and near existing fiber are easier to upgrade, but why is the backhaul upgrade so hard for Bloomington, but other metro areas have seen plenty of upgrades in the time it has taken for Bloomington to see exactly zero LTE active sites? Makes zero sense to me.

I completely agree with you! -- I understand that backhaul can take some time to install, etc...But you would think that CU being a town with a university and thousands of people (current and potential customers), that something would be done to get these sites upgraded just a bit quicker....I mean Verizon and AT&T were able to launch LTE in this area!?!

Well I had LTE at parkland college in champaign last night, and today, good ole 3G

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How can you tell of backhaul is being upgraded on a tower? Are "jumpy" speeds in a speed test a sign of this?

My speed tests are resulting in 1-1.5 Mbps (or lower) for upload and download, but they jump to 2-3 Mbps throughout the test.....all sites in my area are 3G/800......

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Speeds in Urbana are getting better and better! This was my result from tonight's test....speeds even spiked to 5mbps....c'mon LTE!!

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Well I had LTE for about 5 minutes this morning in Champaign......then they took it away

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Heading towards Tuscola, IL; about 15-20 mins outside of Champaign - Urbana and my phone switches to LTE....the wait is killing me!! CU NEEDS LTE!

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Anyone seen LTE in Champaign or Urbana lately? I received a text last week that said major updates would be taking place in my area soon........

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My iPhone 5C has been changing from 3G to 1x all day here in Champaign - Urbana.....sign of upgrades?

Also might add that I have had mostly full bars all day....

Well these were my speeds downtown Urbana tonight....Getting better

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I've seen only sporadic flashes of 4G in Champaign-Urbana but 3G speeds seem to have improved, at least overnight when demand is low. My guess is that NV equipment has been installed on many/most of the towers and testing is going on. The big unknown is how long it will take for the upgraded backhaul to arrive.

Where in champaign-Urbana have you seen flashes of 4G?

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I've seen only sporadic flashes of 4G in Champaign-Urbana but 3G speeds seem to have improved, at least overnight when demand is low.  My guess is that NV equipment has been installed on many/most of the towers and testing is going on.   The big unknown is how long it will take for the upgraded backhaul to arrive.  

I agree 3G speeds have defiantly improved...Yesterday on campus I was getting 2.21mbps up and .92mbps down...It was pretty great...I spoke with someone on Sprint's Chat on their website and they said that I should expect LTE by March...We shall see if they actually know what they are talking about.

I drove to Mahomet last week and was able to pickup LTE on my iPhone -- hoping that means it's that much closer to being in CU!

Anyone have any information on Champaign Urbana? I see some spotty 4G coverage on sensorly maps around savoy, as well as some pretty good 4G coverage in Mahomet.....

Also I was in tuscola, il a few days ago and had LTE - very fast speeds!!!

Anyone have any information about LTE in Central IL?  I see on this page: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3913-network-vision-site-acceptance-report-updates/page-5

that Central IL has gotten several LTE Upgrades in the past several months...However I have not seen my 3G change to LTE -- I have noticed slightly faster data speeds, but not much.  Has anyone seen LTE appear here; specifically around Champaign - Urbana, IL?

Also I have tweeted @sprintcare and they have told me that it should be live in the next 90 days.  I have also been told by someone on the chat on sprints website that there were no records of LTE upgrades in this area?  Not sure what to believe....anyone have any other information?