gusherb

back in the day Chicagoans used to in-market roam on US Cellular, with Verizon as a secondary choice. So roaming on Verizon here was rare up until the USCC shut down, which by then Sprint had improved it's network to a point where we rarely had to in-market roam anyway. Before NV 1.0 was complete USCC may as well have been an extension of Sprint's network with how frequent Sprint phones roamed on them, all you really had to do was walk indoors and voila you'd be on USCC. 

 

I used to assume Sprint roamed on VZW anywhere that no other carrier was available until I traveled through a part of southern CO where the only roaming partner in the PRL was Commnet, and Commnet itself had next to no service. I was screwed with no service for many many miles on that trip. 

So I ported to T-Mobile the other day out of curiosity and frustration at AT&T for having a tower issue by my house and giving me a BS answer about the state of it. 

 

So far I'm extremely pleased with their service in Lake County, IN where we have 20x20 AWS (a nice little exclusive to our county everyone else in the area gets 15 mhz FDD). Never a slow spot, haven't had any real dead spots yet, except in Target it kept losing service in my pocket but regained every time I pulled it out. 

 

The real test was today when I actually went into downtown Chicago for the first time in almost a year, someone with an at&t phone was with me the entire time so I did side by side tests. 

 

Bottom line is at&t was alot better on the mag mile and later on after rush hour driving south on Clark st at&t blew the doors off T-Mo. 

 

Despite T-Mobile being alot slower it was still very usable and I never lost service indoors either, so it was still a pleasant experience. It never did drop below 5 mbps downtown and usually hovered around 10-15 mbps with peaks of 30mbps. AT&T stayed around 25 mbps with peaks of 68mbps.

 

So to my own surprise T-Mobile is still rather viable in this area. 

My grandfathered prepaid pay per day plan has no data roaming -- per the fine print. I suppose I could check otherwise. And you may want to double check the domestic roaming quota. It has been as low as 50 MB. If now 200 MB, that is an increase.

 

AJ

I know for a fact Simple Choice is 200 MB's across the board. They got a lot of heat for it being what it was before, as low as 10 MB's on the old $50 1 gig plan. As for Simply Prepaid it doesn't clearly state the alottment.

Has that changed recently? I have a T-Mobile prepaid line that I use a few times per year.

 

Ah, I think I recall now. T-Mobile prepaid has no data roaming. That is the issue.

 

Regardless, T-Mobile voice/data roaming is hit or miss. Open in some locations, closed in others -- even where a compatible roaming partner is available.

 

AJ

Actually, it's just the $30 5 gig plan that has no data roaming. I think, but I'm not certain, that the Simply prepaid plans come with data roaming. I know for sure that Simple Choice Prepaid comes with 200 MB's of domestic roaming data just as the postpaid SC plans do.

 

Nothing has changed recently except the alottment for Simple Choice.

 

Update: The fine print on their site does say all plans $40 and up include domestic data roaming.

Am I correct that you used T-Mobile prepaid? If so, then no roaming. For postpaid, does T-Mobile roam on AT&T in those dead spots? That could be a solution. But you would have to ascertain, as domestic roaming on T-Mobile is significantly limited compared to that on Sprint.

 

AJ

What do you mean no roaming for T-Mobile prepaid? All of the prepaid plans include domestic roaming, and most include domestic data roaming.

It's not moving the goalposts, it's addressing the entirety of your opinion. You state that people should avoid the fee through BYOD, but then say return shipping will be free when needed. I have, indeed, paid return shipping on damaged merchandise from other vendors, so the point is valid. Moreover, subsequent posts pointed out exactly why one might wind up wasting vast amounts of time and money trying to choose a device through the mail, and you have not addressed what those people are supposed to do.

 

By your logic, users of phone support or live chat should also pay a fee any time they use them, because if you didn't need support, Sprint wouldn't need call centers. People who buy devices from Sprint should pay a fee, too, because if you simply bought your device elsewhere, Sprint wouldn't need warehouses. And don't forget adding an extra fee if you happen to connect to a tower with high rent, because if you simply stayed out of that area, Sprint wouldn't need a tower there.

 

At some point, you can demolish the entire company down to nothing this way, or nickel and dime people until they jump ship. Having call centers, warehouses, and towers is part of doing business, and so is having stores. Just because you do not like stores and have an uncanny ability to know in advance which device will be right for you before you hold it in your hand and try it out, does not mean that most or even many people agree with you, and does not make them problems.

 

- Trip

Ditto that.

I've had it where it just doesn't ring, and then someone answers. on AT&T VoLTE my phone will usually start ringing before ringback tone is heard on the callers end. Sometimes when someone I call who has a line that does that will answer so quickly that I freak when I hit call, hear silence and then "hello?". 

What? You mean you *gasp* don't want to buy the device, try it, then if you don't like it, pay return shipping and possibly a restocking fee, then repeat the process over and over, spending days or weeks figuring out which device you actually want through repeated trial and error?

 

You clearly need more patience and to learn what "efficiency" is.

 

- Trip

I did just that, what a PITA it was too, forget mail order being more convenient when trying to find a phone you like or is not defective, still gotta drive to drop the damn thing off to ship it back.

I would prefer to purchase my phones in person if I can help it. It's bad enough most stuff is already mail order only, be worse if everything was.

This thread needs to steer back to a more productive course...

Never mind...

 

:deleted:

First band 30 sighting someone from the Bay Area California just posted on HoFo:

 

 

I keep trying. When I go to Settings>Cellular>Enable LTE, it cuurently shows Data Only checked. When I select Voice & Data under LTE, it thinks about it for 30 seconds. Then it goes back to Data Only.

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

Sounds like it has yet to be enabled on the account level. Usually done by going online and enabling "Advanced calling 1.0", or maybe calling in, but since that's your employers account getting that done may be a bit harder than usual.

Saw my first PCS B2 VZW appearance in Western South Dakota populate my iPhone 6 Field Test Screen. Sadly it is only 5x5 and pushes 5Mbps. VZW has too much market share here, for their own good.

Sent from OnePlus 2 using Tapatalk

Do you have VoLTE enabled on the iPhone 6?

Glad to see #1 and #3 largest cities are scheduled for 2/2 shutoff. Good riddance!

Verizon has been densifying in my suburban county for awhile now, just recently went live on a T-Mo/Sprint tower, they'll be surpassing AT&T in density soon. I'm sure B2 refarming is also underway, they have enough for 15x15 here. The older pre-LTE sites have all their legacy equipment as well as B13 and B4 antennas, 4 panels per sector I believe. The newer full build sites are 2 panels per sector, and there's an LTE only site that is just 1 panel per sector broadcasting both B4 and B13.

My work phone has now been upgraded to an iPhone 6 from a 5s. I feel almost with the times.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

You're not missing much not being completely with the times... At least you can try VoLTE now! (If you can get it enabled on the account)

As far as I am aware, EPRP accounts are not considered employee accounts. You don't get directed to Employee Care when you call in, you can buy phones anywhere, none of the other usual employee account rules apply.

 

The rep probably just wanted to help you out is my guess.

EPRP is an employee account. I was always directed to employee reps, and I couldn't upgrade anywhere but corporate (yeah right), and online or telesales.

Good phone care was one thing sprint had going for it, they weren't perfect but they were the most consistent of any company I've had to call into several times and the most polite. If that goes by the wayside that would be quite a shame considering corporate retail as a rule of thumb has been horrendous. (Though I do acknowledge that some have reported good experiences). I won't jump to any conclusions, but this sounds bad.

I think it's funny every time things get shut down over an unreliable weather forecast. I like the storms that are unexpected, we've had 22" of snow fall in one night before completely out of the blue (thank you lake effect) and we dug out and moved on as if it were 2". But god forbid the weatherman forecast anywhere near 24" and then it's all doom and gloom...

Capture+_2016-01-21-05-11-091.jpg would these speeds be considered enhanced LTE or still 700 mhz10 by 10 for at&t

 

Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk

Wanna say that's definitely CA. I don't think 10x10 could get that high in reality as that speed is right about where the max theoretical for 10 MHz FDD lies. I don't think AT&T really has a marketing name for its CA.

Sorry for the delayed response, but to answer your question: no. I've moved my wife and I to the AT&T unlimited data plan.

 

As a truck driver, I need reliable data at all times, and this intermittent data problem was screwing me with gps, and emails from my company, and enough was enough.

 

I called sprint, and the best they could do was submit some kind of network trouble ticket that had a resolution time of 10-14 business days. That was unacceptable to me. I've been on AT&T for a week, haven't had a data drop yet, and haven't even seen "4G" displayed once--a truly rock solid network in terms of signal.

 

It's both sad and disappointing to have waited out sprint for years, let them build this monster network here, and then break it again. The phone calls and texts from family about this problem were getting annoying, and being the family "iPhone/Sprint-know-it-all," naturally, they bitched at me instead of Sprint.

 

Not having to worry about pocket 3G, and when my provider will drop a carrier bundle that will break phones is wonderful--something I haven't felt in years.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6s

 

It's a shame that they build a great new network and then can't seem to keep it going smoothly. I wonder if that has anything to do with Ericsson? 

I finally spoke to sprint support this afternoon, and as expected, the response was canned bullsh*t that makes zero sense. Something about a software update to the Chicago market with an unknown resolution date. According to the rep, they did this to Colorado, and now it's rolling through the Midwest. Take that how you want, but I think something is broken, and they can't figure it out because it's been going on for weeks. I guess I'll wait this one out on 3G.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6s

 

You still waiting it out on 3G?

B25/B26 channels are not wide enough, plain and simple.

 

Densifying is the solution, and its going to happen.

 

I'll believe it when I see it. Until then the talk of doing it is just BS as far as I'm concerned. 

It also helps Att and VZW can depend on their midband coverage to not collapse upon itself since it's usually 10/15/20 MHz wide compared to 5mhz for sprint.

 

I do believe the engineer remarks on b26 being possibly overloaded if coverage is increased also applies to band 25.

 

Iotw, b41 plz save us.

Seems like the logical thing to do at least in areas like mine where the Sprint network is somewhere in between the big two and T-Mobiles in terms of density is crank B25 up to get as much range out of it as possible, strong blanket coverage should be easily achievable at spacing of 2-3 miles apart (as it is now most of it is blanket but gets real flaky in between cells or if you blink wrong), and turn up B26 to also blanket everything, ignoring the risk of it crashing and implement an aggressive algorithm to keep all devices on B25 until reaching -118 dbm or so, leaving B26 as the last resort everyone assumed it would be in the first place. and B41 (2 x B41 in the more crowded areas) should do just fine at keeping the two 5 Mhz FDD B25 carriers we have from crashing (one of them being upsized to 10 Mhz FDD). Makes sense doesn't it? The way It is now doesn't... 

Sprint b25 equipment can go all the way 8-9 miles at full power on a boomer if they wanted to except in urban land you don't get 200-400 feet boomers.

 

Most cell structures are generally several story tall monopoles or rooftop mounts. Att VZW and tmobile have far superior site density than sprint. They're able to overcome the issue with mid bands cell signals severely degrading to nothing in urban land by spacing sites closer and utilizing their low band spectrums.

 

The biggest difference occurs between dual mode and single mode when carriers crank the TX up to the maximum per port (40-60+w) which does not happen much in urban land.

 

For sprint pcs radios, each Txrx port is capable of up to 40-45w in total. Generally the more ports you have, the less maximum power can be outputted per port.

 

Ie 8t8r is limited to 160w total from 8 ports or 20w per port while 2t2r equipment like Ericsson rrus12 can be up to 60w per port when boosted.

 

So no its not proven to be dual mode vs single mode. In the end it just comes down to network design.

 

Hell my entire suburban neighborhood have good b25/26 (4-6 miles on one sector) coverage from a single tower with antenna 100' up. While other sites in my suburban area barely cover a mile or two.

Ok so you by basically ruling out the multimodal equipment as the issue (thanks for the info btw), points to it just simply being poor optimization even with B25 then in the case of the signal not traveling very far while competitors have no problem doing it from similar site locations on similar frequencies. In Lake County, IN, Verizon and AT&T do NOT have better site density than Sprint, considerably worse in fact but the big two do a very good job making it's mid band travel well. 

 

So I guess that leads me back to my original statement of these issues being anyones best guess and points at incompetence. *cough* Ericsson *cough*