Paynefanbro

Sprint eNB Unknown -> T-Mobile eNB 331168

Located at: 40.7558330, -73.9876660

53 minutes ago, schmidtj said:

Now this is funny:

AT&T accuses T-Mobile of buying spectrum it doesn't need to keep it out of rivals' hands

LightReading posted a great article summarizing the comments the FCC received from AT&T, Dish, T-Mobile, the CCA, etc. on this topic and provided links to a number of them. Interestingly Verizon had no comments on the FCCs spectrum screening process.

Pretty much no one is supporting AT&T's position, even those that have views that somewhat align with AT&T. They all recognize that AT&T's petition and comments are really self-serving. They basically want to stifle T-Mobile and to a lesser extent Verizon while getting rid of the 3.45GHz spectrum cap so that they can catch up.

9 hours ago, T-MoblieUser207 said:

I assume a digit is off for this one, as this site is in Maryland.

It's supposed to be 42239, my bad! But it looks like you already got it on the map.

On 9/8/2023 at 2:41 PM, T-MoblieUser207 said:

I have no idea what they are either, but if its DAS, it also has n41 active on it, as a few of the n41 gNBs on the bridge have unique cell numbers. Strange I didn't pick up any on Wednesday, so it might have been a temporary thing.

You were also correct about this. Seems like it's something that T-Mobile spins up whenever there's an event at Icahn Stadium. Same thing with the Arthur Ashe eNBs, they appear during events and disappears when they're over.

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I may be wrong but it looks like T-Mobile has been adding n25 to small cells. The only ting that's weird is that they have split-sector cell numbers. Maybe they're using two antennas in the enclosure pointing in opposite directions?

1. eNB 55743-3 -> gNB 1364396-23/29 (First mapped in 2016 so likely a hardware upgrade as opposed to software)
2. eNB 59686-2/12 -> gNB 1364396-22/25
3. eNB 55743-1 -> gNB 1364396-21 (I'm not too certain about this one)

4 hours ago, T-MoblieUser207 said:

The keep sites have been updated as well, to add on Sprint eNB 6300 has been converted, but isn't live, I'll update that one soon.

Sprint eNB 6269 has also been converted for a while but still wasn't live as of two weeks ago.

8 hours ago, dkyeager said:

I think T-Mobile would take more in NYC.  Lots of office interiors essentially require it.  They would want it to be contiguous, which is much more important for 5g. Of course it needs to be cost justified.

Fingers crossed. It was always unfortunate that T-Mobile only got 10MHz in the initial 600MHz auction. But now that Comcast seems to be focusing on CBRS small cells for their network ambitions and Dish desperately needing money, it's seems more and more likely that they'll get to 20MHz and maybe even more depending on how much spectrum Dish is willing to part with.

Interesting speculation from New Street Research at the end of this article: https://www.fiercewireless.com/5g/t-mobile-expands-mid-band-5g-300m-people-fights-more-low-band-spectrum

They think Dish is objecting to T-Mobile amassing more 600MHz from Columbia Capital and Comcast specifically because they'd like to "trade" (really sell) their own 600MHz to T-Mobile in order to get the 800MHz spectrum. The example they use is NYC where Dish owns 20MHz of 600MHz spectrum. T-Mobile only has 10MHz in NYC but would have 15MHz post Comcast transaction. Since it seems like T-Mobile is going for at least 20MHz of 600MHz nationwide, T-Mobile would only need to acquire 5MHz from Dish instead of 10MHz which means Dish makes less money in a potential future transaction.

3 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Will they be able to deploy Ultra Capacity to the remaining Extended Range footprint? What's the plan going forward from here?

We'll probably get another network update in the next earnings report. The next stage of their network is likely C-band/DoD deployment, refarming of PCS/AWS, and deployment of mmWave in high traffic areas.

Verizon has claimed that going forward capex is going back to its "normal" level so T-Mobile is likely to keep their midband coverage lead for a long time.

37 minutes ago, schmidtj said:

T-Mobile Continues Their “Opt-Out” Nonsense With Forced Paperless Billing

I don’t see this as a negative to be honest. I’m of the opinion that this paperless billing absolutely should be an opt-out feature. I’m pretty sure all new accounts are already paperless by default. Definitely sucks that people who have opted to receive a paper bill are gonna have to go in and change that setting again but it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. 

On 12/9/2022 at 5:45 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Got a Samsung Galaxy A13 5G. It's Dual SIM and I have a cheap Boost Mobile 2GB plan for mapping AT&T in one SIM slot and an inactive T-Mobile SIM in the other but it still connects to the network. Now I'm able to map both carriers at the same time. So glad to be back in action lol.

Went to Samsung 837 and switched to the A54 5G yesterday. I'm loving it so far. It doesn't have two physical SIMs but it does support eSIM so I put the Boost SIM in one slot and switched my Tello line to eSIM as the secondary line. ServiceMode on this phone is significantly more detailed than my A13 5G. I'm guessing it's a difference in SOC since the A54 uses Exynos while the A13 used a MediaTek chip.

Another thing the A54 does that my A13 doesn't is that it has support for standalone 5G so now I can connect to two 5G networks at the same time. I can see that I'm connected to NSA n2/77 on the Boost line and SA n25/41 at the same time. It seems like the Tello line prefers to sit on SA 5G as opposed to dropping down to LTE so I'm probably gonna be recording a lot more gNB for T-Mobile than ends going forward.

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Also eNB 41511 and 44183 are gig+ sites now.

More Sprint conversion permits coming through:

1. Sprint eNB Unknown: 
   1. Address: 154-16 Northern Blvd, Queens, NY 11354
   2. Coordinate: 40.76430107252133, -73.8103819211325
2. Sprint eNB 6801: 
   1. Address: 1001 Woodycrest Ave, Bronx, NY 10452
   2. Coordinate: 40.83283089933321, -73.92828029142079
3. Sprint eNB Unknown:
   1. Address: 77 W 104th St, New York, NY 10025
   2. Coordinate: 40.79793637576428, -73.96329487090424
   3. Notes: This conversion will likely replace T-Mobile eNB 41229 which is on a shorter building next door and is still Band 2/12/66 only.
4. Sprint eNB 6147:
   1. Address: 995 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
   2. Coordinate: 40.8021535655733, -73.96408168567169

Also two expired/denied conversion permits were recently resubmitted.

1. Sprint eNB 6714
   1. Address: 102 North End Ave, New York, NY 10282
   2. Coordinate: 40.715017343146336, -74.01552991638661
   3. Notes: This is a resubmission. T-Mobile initially submitted a conversion permit for this site over a year ago but no work was completed and the permit expired. This is the site on top of the move theater in Battery Park City.
2. Sprint eNB 6256
   1. Address: 1155 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
   2. Coordinate: 40.73839858377396, -73.95614025871389
   3. Notes: This is the infamous Greenpoint Sprint site that should make a world of difference for T-Mobile customers in both Greenpoint and LIC. A permit was initially submitted sometime last year but it got denied. It was recently resubmitted and approved with an expiration date in December 2023 so expect this to finally be converted before year-end.

I was in Richmond for about a week two weeks ago. I spent most of my time Downtown with one brief trip to The Diamond (not the baseball stadium but the industrial/commercial area near it). I had the opportunity to test Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T while there. My findings were:

1. Verizon has clearly spent a lot of time and money trying to get their network up to snuff to match T-Mobile. Most sites had C-band but not all and they're virtually the only carrier with a mature small cell deployment in the city. They have a ton of them, both mmWave and CBRS. They also have DAS set up inside many of the office buildings in Downtown Richmond which meant that I always had strong signal indoors, even if it wasn't that fast. A lot of the building DAS were ancient Band 13/66 nodes even in the "newer" buildings. Outdoors I was seeing average speeds in the 300Mbps range with peak speeds over over 2Gbps when I could connect to a mmWave node. Unfortunately despite the immense amount of effort Verizon has gone through to deploy mmWave small cells, they're still not easy to connect to at all. Another thing I noticed is that because Verizon has relatively low macro density, I couldn't connect to C-band indoors. It was always either n5 or LTE via DAS.
    
2. In contrast T-Mobile has the densest macro network (thanks to a ton of Sprint conversions) and the fastest average speeds. I believe they control the entire of BRS/EBS in the market and it shows. I connected to multiple gig+ sites in my short time there and had average speeds in the 500-600Mbps range. Unfortunately where T-Mobile falls apart is indoors because unlike Verizon, they don't have any indoor DAS in any of the buildings I went into. T-Mobile's great macro density meant that unlike Verizon indoors I could connect to n41 indoors virtually everywhere and even on the 18th floor of a highrise but my signal would be super weak. For example I'd have 1 bar of n41 with 240Mbps speeds but Verizon would have full signal and 40Mbps coming from the DAS. While fast speeds are a nice to have, having a reliably strong signal for text/voice is also necessary. I hope that with T-Mobile's push into the business/enterprise market they understand the need for DAS to supplement their strong macro network.
    
3. AT&T was simply not competitive with Verizon or T-Mobile. They have poor macro density, virtually no C-band deployed, no in-building DAS, and 5G is not available half the time. This is mostly their own fault because they really should have C-band and DoD deployed but it's also partially due to the fact that Verizon controls the entire Cellular band so AT&T has no n5 in the city. Instead they're using DSS n2 to provide 5G service to customers and it's really hit or miss. Sometime you'll connect and get 50Mbps and other times it'll only be 5Mbps. In my opinion if you live/work in Downtown Richmond AT&T is simply not an option. 

Sprint eNB 5923 -> T-Mobile eNB 876889

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T-Mobile eNB 41182 is a gig+ site.

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T-Mobile eNB 126303 is a gig+ site.

On 9/15/2023 at 9:33 AM, Paynefanbro said:

 

Senate unanimously passed this act, now onto the house! 

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobile-gets-little-closer-accessing-its-25-ghz-spectrum-auction-108

2 hours ago, tybo31316 said:

Does enabling SA on the 15 Pro Max cause the phone to heat up like the 13pro line?

I haven't had any problems with it heating up so far but I also didn't have any problem with the 14 Pro Max either.

T-Mobile eNB 45796, 47199, 51075, 53488, and 42339 are all gigabit sites now. Looks like a number of Crown Heights sites are getting the upgraded backhaul treatment.

Also there's a VoNR toggle on the iPhone 15 that works exactly as advertised. Phone was on 5G, ran a speedtest while on a call and got n41 speeds and my typical ~40ms standalone ping. Weird that Speedtest reads the 15 Pro Max as the iPhone16,2.

2 hours ago, dkyeager said:

"C-band not being available to VZW/AT&T ". Due to installation or licensing?

Licensing. I don't believe any C-band was made available there or in Alaska.

My home site got a backhaul upgrade! As recently as Saturday I was getting high 500's on this site. They must've provisioned it overnight. I'm picking up my iPhone 15 Pro Max on Friday so it'll be interesting to see what kind of speeds I can get on 4xCA vs 3xCA this 14 Pro Max.

— — — — —

We can also remove Sprint eNB 253884 from the keep site map. It got decommissioned.

T-Mobile eNB ID 56458 in Crown Heights is now a gig+ site.

T-Mobile to buy more 5G airwaves from Comcast for up to $3.3 billion

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/12/23870736/t-mobile-low-band-airwaves-comcast-5g-deal

— — — — —

Looks like T-Mobile is gonna have 15MHz n71 here even when Dish's lease is up. We might see 20MHz n71 soon.

Will T-Mobile buy UScellular? 'Maybe,' says CEO

https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/will-t-mobile-buy-uscellular-maybe-says-ceo/d/d-id/786408?

Quote

The question came up this week at an investor event, with a Goldman Sachs investment analyst asking Sievert whether he would consider purchasing a rural asset if it became available. Sievert chuckled and, without naming UScellular specifically, said: "Maybe, but I like our Plan A a lot."

"Our organic strategy is really attractive," he said, adding that T-Mobile is gaining up to 30% of new customers, second only to Verizon, in the rural markets where it competes.

And that, he said, would make any purchase of a rural network operator a difficult proposition financially. "The hurdle would be high," he said of a possible deal.

— — — — —

On 8/15/2023 at 10:49 AM, Paynefanbro said:

They also have a further 60MHz of n77 that covers nearly 200 million people that they plan to start deploying later this year through next year.

Chart released recently showing average spectrum holdings in the top 100 markets.

Turns out the new 5G small cells can be pretty fast. This one is eNB 478115-1/11 that I mentioned a couple of weeks back and just went live at the beginning of the month. I thought T-Mobile was capping backhaul on small cells so that they peak around 600Mbps but this one has way more backhaul. 

To the point about Band 26 protection sites in FierceWireless' latest article they include a point that T-Mobile admits that they are using the spectrum pretty much just to keep the license active, no more no less. Also sounds like they don't even want to keep it.

Quote

The 800 MHz spectrum came to T-Mobile through the acquisition of Sprint, and T-Mobile already has decommissioned the vast majority of the 800 MHz radios in anticipation of the sale of the licenses. T-Mobile said it’s using the spectrum only enough to meet the needs for maintaining the licenses with the FCC. 

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobile-tells-court-deny-dishs-request-extension-800-mhz-deal

Forgot to mention it a while back but I came across a couple of T-Mobile eNBs in the Bronx that are small cell upgrades. For example, eNB 127340-14 is a small cell that was first mapped in 2021 but was actually installed back in 2008. It initially was one of those weird small cells where multiple nodes share a single cell number but after getting upgraded T-Mobile gave it its own eNB ID. 

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Anyone know what all of those weird eNBs all over Randall's Island are? My phone keeps picking them up when going over the Triborough going toward the Bronx or Manhattan. They have really weird cell IDs so I'm thinking it's a DAS at Icahn Stadium. If I'm right it looks like there may have been some upgrades recently that are spawning some new 3318xx nodes there. Maybe 5G like the upgrades at Yankee Stadium since those also spawned new 2xxxxx and 3xxxxx eNBs.

Same deal by Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens. Looks like T-Mobile hopped on whatever private oDAS is installed there because I mapped some nodes while driving on the Grand Central Parkway. They're collocated with the AT&T eNBs in the same area on Cellmapper. 

Nice to see T-Mobile silently doing lots of capacity upgrades at stadiums in the region after ignoring them for so long. They really need to work on Citi Field though.

40 minutes ago, chamb said:

I would think it is in everybody's best interest to to keep this spectrum in the hands of a major current cell phone provider.  That way, the spectrum can be used all over the country and not at a spot here and there for a power company or similar.   Several of the current providers could probably activate this spectrum fairly quickly. 

Verizon and AT&T aren't allowed to bid on the spectrum and T-Mobile would need to deploy new antennas and radios to actually use the spectrum. The only other "nationwide" provider that could actually get it online quickly is Dish since they have already deployed antennas and radios capable of using the spectrum. I think this is just a bargaining tactic in some ongoing private battle between Dish and T-Mobile. If I had to guess, T-Mobile likely wants longterm leases or to buy some of Dish's 600MHz in a lot of markets and Dish isn't budging so T-Mobile is trying to force their hand.

— — — — —

3 hours ago, red_dog007 said:

Is B&M a shell company possibly affiliated with TMo to look "interested". If B&M plan is just to lease spectrum use and let users build their own network, I don't see that happening at all. If someone wanted to do something like what Southern Linc has, it would have been done a long time ago.

From their website it looks like Burns & McDonnell specializes in designing and building private LTE networks for utility companies in Band 8 (900MHz). According to FierceWireless, B&M seems to want the Band 26 spectrum so that they can have vertical integration and access to 14MHz of lowband nationwide. Not only will they be able to design and build the network but the utility companies would also lease the spectrum from them too.