Trip

Great data! I've already gone through it; lots of great stuff in it. - Trip

Changed my mind and tried to do it now. The key difference between 56030 and 55050, assuming all the reductions in EV-DO are due to change from 56xxx to 55xxx, is Cellcom SIDs 362, 5652, and 5274, now have only 1X roaming, except in NID 7 where EV-DO remains. - Trip

Looks like the main difference between 56029 and 56030 was the removal of the Cricket CDMA/EV-DO. There were only removals in this change, no additions and no changes from roaming to not roaming or vice versa. I haven't gone line-by-line, but that seems to be the big difference. The comparison with 55050 will be more challenging since, of course, it's a different series. I'll do that later. - Trip

Oh, and I checked this morning. In the day and a half or so that I've been using it, I've apparently only used 8 cents worth of data, according to H2O's web interface. At 10 cents per day for 30 days is $3, so that $10 for 90 days seems to be about right. - Trip

Just to follow up... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4qtSrW2KKDCQWFpMkEzNFc5NGs/view?usp=sharing I got my Nexus 5 yesterday. My wife brought home an AT&T SIM from work which didn't do much of anything for me. I had also already ordered an H2O Wireless SIM because I saw their pay as you go plan. Sure enough, that plan supports LTE. So I'm keeping all background data shut off and as long as everything is good on that front, I should be good for $10 every three months. Not bad for what I'm trying to do. Already managed to log a bunch of AT&T sites immediately around me, so it works well. I also ordered a new US Cellular SIM which has arrived. I've decided to wait on trying to factory reset/change SIM on it until I visit my parents again and am in the US Cellular coverage area to try to minimize the number of things that could go wrong. I'm hoping it lets me on the LTE without activation like T-Mobile does, but not holding out much hope. There may not be much I can do with US Cellular, unfortunately. And I'm talking to a member here about getting a phone for Verizon which has been tested to work with the unactivated SIM. So here's hoping I'll soon be done getting everything together! Thanks to everyone for all your help and advice. I'll update this again once I have Verizon and US Cellular going or worked on. - Trip

And Sprint doesn't roam on T-Mobile, so if a T-Mobile MCCMNC came through, that would obviously not be a real Sprint phone. - Trip

How? Wouldn't Sprint just disallow reports from users without a Sprint/Clear MCCMNC? - Trip

That works. I'm going to try to do a comparison of 56029, 56030 (got it eventually), and 55050 some time this weekend. I know it won't be perfect, but should be somewhat insightful, at least. - Trip

The file is only 30 bytes and thus is incomplete or corrupt. - Trip

Interesting, I missed that too. That definitely sounds like the best option I've seen so far, since I won't use any calls or texts. I'll be looking at that one closely. - Trip

I've been looking for a repeater and some of the things I've read suggest that G-block is not covered by most of them, or worse, the filter rolls off right in the middle of G-block. - Trip

Tried this idea this morning. Doesn't work, unfortunately. I'm also concerned that I may need to be in the US Cellular service area when I try to get things set up. Is the number tied to the SIM card? If so, then swapping out the SIM should solve it, I would think, and I already have a new one on the way. - Trip

Regarding 800 MHz rebanding: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=60001347998 - Trip

Unfortunately, there is no GSM service of any kind at my parents' house. I joined Sprint in the first place because it roams on US Cellular, the only service in the area. (I stay for far more reasons, but that's still a big one.) - Trip

I have to admit I miss the spinning spark, but I'm really pleased the signal meter is fixed. That's long overdue. - Trip

Very interesting. Looking at the plans on the Consumer Cellular site, I see $2.50/month for text and data. Any idea if that's LTE? EDIT: Found some discussion elsewhere that, yes, Consumer Cellular does support LTE. EDIT2: But I see you need a $10 voice plan first. Hm. I'll think on this. - Trip

I actually want multiple phones tracking at the same time, plus I already have three phones in-hand, and my Nexus 5 for AT&T already on the way. I just need one more for Verizon and I'm done. - Trip

Well. I feel sheepish. Good thing I didn't buy one of those for Verizon! - Trip

Will send a PM. - Trip

I'll try that. Good idea. As far as getting a device, yes. The real question is whether or not those devices need service to show LTE data in SCP. Do they? - Trip

Fraydog, I saw those price points; they're really expensive for a service I'm not even ultimately going to use. I don't care about data amounts or priorities in the slightest, I just want to gather GCI/PCI/TAC. I may even go so far as to root the devices and use a firewall to prevent any data from being used, not sure yet. Robert, That's fascinating. Band 4 but not Band 13? I wonder why it doesn't populate in SignalCheck. - Trip

So as Premier Sponsors know, I've been hard at work making various cell tower maps in my spare time. Several months ago I bought a MetroPCS phone which, without activation, still connects to LTE such that I can get the GCI/PCI/TAC data even if nothing else goes through the network. I am looking to do the same thing with AT&T, US Cellular, and Verizon, probably in that order, but I have a feeling I won't be as lucky with the LTE as I was with my MetroPCS phone. (If anyone disagrees, please let me know.) I have a Nexus 5 on the way for use with AT&T as well as an AT&T SIM in hand and an H2O SIM on the way. The AT&T SIM is for testing and came from my wife's employer, and the H2O SIM is for their $10/90 days plan, but now I'm getting nervous that maybe that particular H2O plan isn't LTE compatible. (It doesn't actually say on the website, that I can find.) Any thoughts? I also have my Galaxy S4 Mini from before I left US Cellular, which is compatible with Bands 5/12/17. After it was deactivated, it now only connects to 1X for 911 calls and, since it technically has the same number as my Sprint phone, when it's powered on it causes calls to fail to connect properly on my main Sprint line. On a whim I bought a new SIM on eBay for it in the hopes that I might get lucky with the LTE as I did with MetroPCS, but I'm not counting on it. I plan to do a system reset before putting it in. Thoughts? I don't think any of the MVNOs use US Cellular, which means this may actually be the hardest one to manage cheaply. Finally, I want to do something similar for Verizon. Either pick up a Nexus 5 or some other used Verizon phone, then do something to get LTE information out of it. Any ideas here? Thanks. - Trip

I'm sure I speak for both him and myself when I say we're looking forward to it! - Trip

As a Premier Sponsor, you have access to this: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/6784-trips-cell-tower-map-work-in-progress/ - Trip

Garrett County has a grand total of 3 T-Mobile sites, one of which overlooks Frostburg. Compare with at least 9 US Cellular, or 10 AT&T. Verizon has at least 3, all of which are on I-68. - Trip