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Trip

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Posts posted by Trip

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Well it happened.. another update just pushed out, 3 days in a row! Still needs some polish, but the latest bugs are squashed.. and there's a couple new goodies..

     

    -Mike

     

    For some reason, the forum only allows me to click the Like button once, even though I want to hit it several dozen times.  I love the availability of EARFCN on my Sprint phone for the first time. 

     

    I'm going to look into upgrading my AT&T HTC M9 to Android 7, and look forward to my Moto G4 Plays (Verizon and US Cellular) getting the update as well.  My Moto G3 (T-Mobile PCS/AWS) and BLU R1 HD (T-Mobile 700) are not receiving the update, but I can continue using the root method until I upgrade them or find a custom ROM that does the job.  Although they all (except the BLU) use the root method right now, I know the API method would be faster and more reliable.

     

    The ability to get the EARFCN in this way is fantastic, because it will allow you to better identify bands, including whether a 10x10 on Sprint is second carrier or not.  If I may make a suggestion, though; if someone is using the root method, there will be a delay in showing the EARFCN.  If the EARFCN is in the database, however, it could be worthwhile to fall back on that for band ID until the EARFCN becomes available.  The final fallback would be the sector ID like you do currently.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 5

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted

     

    Doh! Let me know. I will try to do some testing also. If others could keep an eye on this, I'd appreciate it.

     

    Was just poking at my Verizon log file (took it to work today) and it's doing the same thing, two new sectors identified today, both have no notes even though other sectors on the same site have notes.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 1

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted

    I connected to a few 01/02/03 going through a couple days ago. Need someone i market I guess. They may not have come from the sams site. I will try and look at my logs again tonight though.

     

    I won't rule out a mistake on my part regarding Richmond, but I definitely have not seen 01/02/03 in the Southern Virginia market since the 11/12/13 values appeared.  Sprint only owns a contiguous 15x15 in Prince Edward County, for example, so the only way to have a 5x5 plus 10x10 would be if there was no 1x/eHRPD, and I know both still exist there.

     

    - Trip

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted

    It took awhile, but I think I was able to fix this. You will still have to manually edit the database if you want any sector(s) to have unique site notes, but if you do that, it should pull the correct one now. However, if you edit the note for any sectors via the app, it will overwrite all of the sectors. I would have to make significant changes to permit editing site notes on a per-sector basis through the app, but I don't think it is going to be a common issue. I also don't think Mini-Macros will be an issue as I initially thought, but we'll see.

     

    -Mike

     

    Ta-da!

     

    http://imgur.com/AL5I30T

    http://imgur.com/wyLJESQ

     

    - Trip

    • Like 1

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted

    It took awhile, but I think I was able to fix this. You will still have to manually edit the database if you want any sector(s) to have unique site notes, but if you do that, it should pull the correct one now. However, if you edit the note for any sectors via the app, it will overwrite all of the sectors. I would have to make significant changes to permit editing site notes on a per-sector basis through the app, but I don't think it is going to be a common issue. I also don't think Mini-Macros will be an issue as I initially thought, but we'll see.

     

    -Mike

     

    Mike,

     

    I am quite okay with it only being editable in this way from outside SCP.  In the app, if I make a change to an entry, I do want it carried across all sectors.  But if I go through the effort of making separate notes for separate sectors in the database, I want those separate notes to stay separate.  I will look forward to testing your fixes today.  :)

     

    Also, in Richmond, 11/12/13 points to 10x10 C+G.  There appears to no longer be 01/02/03 in the market.

     

    - Trip

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted · Edited by Trip
    Somehow typoed the sectors in the last sentence of the second paragraph. Fixed now.

    Can you share (PM or email is fine if that's easier) more information on what you mean about and issue with different labels different sectors?

     

    -Mike

     

    Mike,

     

    To your API discussion, I certainly understand.  I just think that the T-Mobile (and US Cellular) labels will never be fully correct, in this area anyway, until the EARFCN data is analyzed.  I'll clarify further in a PM.

     

    The issue I have is that, for example, 303DF01/303DF19 are in Pentagon Metro, but 303DF02/303DF1A are in Pentagon City/Crystal City Metros.  I have those labeled differently in my database despite the 303DFxx being the same in both cases.  However, it's pulling the "Pentagon Metro" note in all cases, even when connected to the 02/1A sectors. 

     

    I know that's not a normal case, since the software itself will not let you do it without exporting the database and doing it manually, but it seems odd that it wouldn't prefer the label from the row itself and instead chooses a different row to display the note from.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 3

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted

    On my way to work now, brought my AT&T and T-Mobile phones with me.

     

    I see you've got "T-Mobile B2?" and the assumption seems to be three sector sites. I'll check against a 4 sector one next chance I get.

     

    On AT&T I see B30 now works correctly. I see the updated iDAS label also.

     

    One minor bug, the band ID used to appear on the pull down and it's no longer there. See here.

     

    https://m.imgur.com/wuQIWn5

     

    - Trip

    • Like 1

    SignalCheck Beta Crew Forum

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Tmobile B4 also not identifying anymore.

     

    eaY7yNV.png?1

     

    Maybe a suggestion is to implement the new EARFCN just to identify LTE Bands currently connected to while you work out methodologies to identify individual carriers and such? 

     

    Maybe in the future we can see neighboring cells with EARFCNs too... 

     

    For me, I'm connected to sector 1 which shows "LTE AWS" but then the provider is "T-Mobile B4?" which is amusing, because a large area near me has PCS on sector 1.  I agree that at least for T-Mobile and US Cellular, the primary means of band ID should be EARFCN, to the extent that can be implemented in the code.  I don't think there's a reliable way of determining the band otherwise, since there seems to be no fixed pattern for T-Mobile in this area.  US Cellular is also unreliable in that way, and I ever see on it right now is "LTE". 

     

    You sent me quite a bit! I've filled in a lot of blanks today from numerous sources, S4GRU and otherwise. AT&T is fully handled as of now. Got some solid T-Mobile info through an old friend that will help clean things up significantly. caspar347 hooked me up with fantastic Verizon info, but I'm still trying to figure out more. I have conflicting information on their Band 5 sectors, and I'm lacking information on DAS or other non-macro sites if you or anyone else have anything to share..?

     

    -Mike

     

    I'm not sure Verizon has any separate ID information for DAS and small cells.  I mean, the small cells in this area are offset by 300000, but in Savannah, for example, there was no offset and they were intermixed with the regular sites.  I also know that on some macro sites, the 300000 offset applies to AWS for some reason.

     

    What are you missing for Band 5?  I saw Band 5 on Verizon when I was in Savannah and Charleston.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 1

    Shentel / Sprint LTE - (was ntelos - West & N&W Virginia)

    in Markets

    Posted

    When I was in Buckingham County a few weeks ago, I had no issue with US Cellular.  And, of course, my parents' house down in Charlotte County has nothing but US Cellular and it worked fine there.

     

    What's interesting, though, is that my US Cellular phone will not roam on nTelos at all, and prefers Verizon in those areas.

     

    - Trip

    Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

    in General Topics

    Posted

    If the antennas are right across the street, should a Magic Box even be needed?  The other carriers don't seem to have issues keeping PCS or AWS going inside the store.  (AT&T and T-Mobile are on the same building; Verizon is nearby on a water tower.)  Next time I'm there (which isn't often) I'll check again, just in case I'm remembering incorrectly about the other carriers.

     

    If every building needs a Magic Box to make the Sprint B41 network function, even right next to macro equipment, then Sprint's going to be in trouble.  That's a huge hardware outlay depending on having permission from every building owner in the country.  And it's an issue the other carriers don't seem to have.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 3

    Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

    in General Topics

    Posted

    I don't know if my expectations are too high for Band 41 or what, but in this area I find the Clear gear to be very disappointing in its performance.  For example, the Clear site at King Street Metro, basically across the street from the Metro station, sits at around -100 dBm on the train.  In fact, about half the time, sitting in that spot I connect to the 1101 King Street 8T8R at about the same signal level.  Additionally, there is only one B41 carrier on that site.

     

    The Clear site at Beacon Hill doesn't seem to get into the Giant grocery store, with my connection inside usually being B26 despite, again, being right across the street.  Despite better line of sight to the Clear site at Huntley Meadows Park, at Costco I'm just as frequently on the 8T8R from INOVA Mount Vernon Hospital as I am on B26 from Huntley Meadows Park.  The Clear signal is more or less absent inside the store.  I've harped on the Clear signal from my home site enough, I think, so I won't retread here.

     

    I keep crossing my fingers that they'll replace the Clear gear with 8T8Rs, though at this point I'm just glad to see them finishing the LTE rollout and adding B41 to sites that currently have only B25/B26.  Both have been a very long time coming.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 4

    Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

    in General Topics

    Posted

    I agree I still don't think 3CA has reached to the D.C. Metro area.

     

    It's definitely on more sites now than it used to be, though I don't know if that's all the 8T8R sites or not.  (It's definitely on the ones I regularly pass by.) 

     

    The big problem that I see is that there's so much Clear gear around that it seems almost like 50/50 whether you're on Clear or 8T8R, and the Clear gear can't do more than 2x CA.  Some of them are still running just one B41 carrier, though at least two of the sites that used to be in that boat near me are now running two, so they're obviously working on that as well.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 3

    Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

    in General Topics

    Posted

    I thought a repeater took the same carrier that the macro tower uses and repeats ut? From my understanding the magic box is utilizing Sprint,s vast b41 holdings creatively.

     

    Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

     

     

    I think there's a bit of confusion about what a typical "booster" is versus one of the magic boxes.

     

    A typical booster does exactly what you suggest--it boosts the signal on-frequency.  This can definitely cause interference problems for obvious reasons.

     

    The magic box, by contrast, creates its own separate B41 carrier on separate spectrum, using the local macro for backhaul on its original frequency.

     

     

    Why is sprint using its 2.5 to provide backhaul to these magic boxes? I heard sprint has been using microwave backhaul for many of its cell sites, why can't they do the same thing for these magic boxes instead of using 2.5?

     

     

    Licensed microwave requires an outdoor antenna and, of course, a point-to-point license from the FCC including the coordinates of both end-points.  It would require additional antennas on the cell tower(s) as well.  Suffice it to say, significantly less trouble to use 2.5 GHz.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 5

    Coverage Map Update 5/12/17

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Going to have to disagree with you, Arysyn.  If we're actually going to make Internet access a utility, then fine.  If not, and I don't believe it will happen any time soon, then I believe what you're suggesting would be worse, and not better, in many cases.  For example, I much prefer the Shentel and former nTelos region to Sprint national.  Look at the level of investment and activity.  Look at how much better the service is.  Money that's made in the region goes back into the region, and isn't used to subsidize other areas. 

     

    Essentially, it creates incentive on a local basis for the network to perform well, because the results will feed into themselves.  If the local network performs well, it will gain more users, which will in turn provide money to feed back into the network to perform better and attract more users.  I'm not sure that model works as well on a national level because the national carriers can then choose to sacrifice investment in some areas to improve others.  The smaller carriers don't have that option--they must serve the local area they're in or they're done.

     

    Obviously, this isn't a rule.  It's entirely possible for a small carrier to do a poor job and go out of business entirely.  But I definitely think it helps to create the right incentives, at least.

     

    - Trip

    • Like 3
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