Trip

All of that may be true, but it seems to me (don't have the numbers to do a financial analysis or anything) that they could have come out ahead by waiving the line/activation fees if you buy or bring your own tablet. Most will buy the tablet from Sprint, so they make a profit selling the hardware instead of losing money giving it away. The waived line/activation fees results in the same losses either way, but it winds up being cheap enough that customers jump on with their existing plans (I would consider it, and I don't even own a tablet right now!), some of whom will wind up needing to pay for more data as a result of using more data on their new tablets, so Sprint could come out ahead on that front. Plus, the customer feels good about it, people like us and people who aren't the niche customers. I could be wrong, of course. But it seems like there are ways to do this that make Sprint money and make the existing customers, niche or not, feel good at the same time. - Trip

I've got an interesting problem. I'm hoping someone here might have an opinion. I'm thinking about a Christmas gift for my wife's parents. The background is that my wife and I are on Sprint (as is her sister) and when we visit, and there is no Sprint service where they live. But unlike where my parents live, which is close to a US Cellular tower and roams comfortably, her parents' location means the phones tend to bounce between the nearest US Cellular tower, a more distant one, and two Verizon towers, depending on what it feels like. The result, as you can guess, is terrible battery drain and calls that don't connect or drop quickly after establishing. In addition, her parents' Internet comes from a US Cellular hotspot with a grandfathered 5GB data plan. As a school teacher, her father can't really do too much with that, and worse, because of the aforementioned poor service there, it's generally on 3G and not B5 LTE anyway. So I started to think about the problem. I know that boosters are now given the full blessing of my employer as long as they're registered with the carrier. So the first thought I had was to get a cheapie booster that would fix the US Cellular signal from the nearest tower. That seems pretty straight-forward, just boosting so that the roaming is stable and the hotspot stays on LTE. But then I had another idea. I did a terrain path profile from their house to the nearest Sprint tower, which is 10.4 miles away, give or take. It looks like if the antenna is on the roof, there should be line of sight, not counting trees. That tower is upgraded with B25 and B26 LTE, and there's even a US Cellular facility near it, though it's not on the same structure. Doing this would have two main benefits: 1) The various Sprint phones would not roam there, and would retain their battery life much better. 2) Her parents could switch to a Karma hotspot for Internet access once the contract expires. Still faster than the 3G they usually see from US Cellular, but unlimited instead of capped at 5GB. The question is, what booster would I want? I was looking very closely at the WeBoost 3G because the frequencies seemed right, but I read a very detailed technical review on Amazon which indicated the filter cuts right through the middle of PCS G-block and it may not include SMR at all. The frequencies I'm looking for are SMR, CLR A-block for US Cellular, and PCS (including G-block). Does this sound feasible to anyone else? Has anyone else used one? Any recommendations, thoughts, or opinions? - Trip

I would rather buy a tablet at full price and get the device connection fee waived for the remainder of my contract. - Trip

I can't find any info on this besides that, can you or anyone else? The link in the tweet is to the cut your rate in half video. - Trip

Maybe it's just me, but it looks like Philadelphia and not DC. Agreed the last one looks like Richmond. - Trip

If someone can pull it before I leave work today in 4 hours, I will dump it and try to analyze it ASAP. - Trip

Last time I was going through Dillwyn taking my sister back to college, my parents called and my phone actually held onto 1X 800 from Cumberland for the entire call! It was pretty impressive. But most of US-15 from about Dixie (in Fluvanna County) until south of Sheppards is roaming on US Cellular 1X. (No EV-DO that I've seen.) Can't wait for the Shentel buyout, as that's an area they apparently plan to spend a lot of money improving, according to the map on the Welcome to Shentel site. - Trip

No, Cumberland County, VA is in Sprint's Richmond market. Neighboring Buckingham County is nTelos area. - Trip

Excellent! - Trip

None of this answers my second carrier question. Thoughts? - Trip

That can't be right. The Clear site at King Street Metro was lit up in January of this year. 8T8Rs were already floating around by then. - Trip

This may be a stupid question, but I'm very curious. If Sprint has a Clear site it wants to convert to LTE that is not doing LTE today, does that require a tech to visit the site or can that be done remotely? I think this is a Samsung market. I've got my fingers crossed that after the shutdown, several Clear sites that would very nicely fill some coverage gaps will be converted to B41. EDIT: I'm also curious if the same is true for sites that currently have one carrier of LTE. Will they need a site visit to light up a second one once WiMax is turned off, or can that be done remotely? - Trip

Please don't say terrifying things like that. In parts of its coverage area, US Cellular has ONLY CLR spectrum. My parents have B5 LTE on their hotspot. Obtain the customers but then leave them with no service until Sprint decides to rip and replace the US Cellular equipment? As the only carrier in the area? Sounds like a terrible idea, especially since CLR is technically part of B26 anyway. - Trip

On its way. https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-1236A1.pdf - Trip

I don't think EV-DO was lit up for US Cellular network-wide. US Cellular EV-DO has yet to appear on my phone where my parents live, though it worked in Vermont in August. - Trip

If Sprint turned off roaming, I'd be gone. I don't know where I would go, but I picked Sprint for one reason and one reason only--when I visit my parents for a day or two every few months, my phone works. It roams onto US Cellular and I am not completely in the dark. Take that away, and I can then look elsewhere. - Trip

Except for that beautiful Shentel map, right? - Trip

I've included more details here: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/7117-washington-dc-and-southern-virginia-premiere-spreadsheet-and-maps/?p=452923&do=findComment&comment=452923 In the Premiere Sponsor thread to avoid divulging site-specific information. - Trip

See, that's what I thought too, which is why I'm so confused. Looking at my log and comparing to what I remember from the drive on Saturday, the eHRPD was setting my phone on fire as I sat under the four towers, but 1X was weak and, evidently from my log, from very far away. What are the statistical chances that four different non-LTE sites have the exact same problem at nearly the exact same time, but other surrounding sites work fine? For example, one of the sites in question was a stealth site near a shopping center. I remember eHRPD was at -70 dBm or so, and I made a site note in SCP that I was passing the shopping center. But the BSL (and "strongest signal strength" field) in my log clearly indicates my 1X connection was from a site several miles away. - Trip

This may or may not be a stupid question, but is there such a thing as an EV-DO (eHRPD) only tower? Yesterday I went driving around in southern Maryland where there are a number of towers that show up with no NV upgrades or with 3G-only NV. Usually, when I pass towers like that, I get 1X and eHRPD, but on several (not all) that I saw yesterday, I had eHRPD really strong while sitting under them, but 1X was coming from an NV tower somewhere else. If it was just one, I would say it was an equipment issue at a given site, but this happened at four different sites, at least. (Still going through my logs.) Was it just a fluke, a coincidental issue with four towers at once, or are some towers actually only providing EV-DO? - Trip

If T-Mobile were to obtain the AB License Co 700A spectrum, that would be in these markets: Norfolk Macon (WSST) Pensacola (WBIF) New Orleans Baton Rouge Fayetteville AR Vegas Phoenix (KPPX) Tucson San Diego The parentheses indicate TV channel 51 stations that may need to be relocated. - Trip

Opening bids. Key word. Prices will drop as the auction goes on. - Trip

My indicators work properly on my S5, but my eHRPD indicator is now bright yellow when I pull down from the notifications bar. - Trip

Thanks. I've updated and so far, no crashing. - Trip

So, it's safe to update now? Just checking; planning to do some cell site identification again this weekend... - Trip