RedSpark

Waking this thread up!

Nice!

I’m on VoLTE and it’s been fine overall. A couple of call drops and one failed call which said “Call Failure”. I think Sprint stayed where it was and the other carriers improved respectively.

Ok. That’s true. But what explains the substantial drop off in Call Performance?

I’m really curious what the voice performance drop off was from, because that’s ridiculous. What test device did they use? Was VoLTE enabled on it?

I believe so, but isn’t that the case everywhere except for areas where Band 26 is 3x3 instead?

Lack of lowband in DC? I don’t think Sprint got worse necessarily. I think the other carriers could just be outpacing it. @Trip @grapkoski

When is the Magic Box supposed to get updated to support VOLTE?

Yup. I enabled it under settings. Hopefully VoLTE follows soon, but with the merger pending, I just hope things keep momentum for service features and investment.

According to Legere’s Post and Pai’s Statement, here are the concessions Sprint/T-Mobile agreed to: - Assurance of 97% U.S. population coverage within three years of the merger’s close, including of 85% of rural Americans. - Assurance of 99% U.S. population coverage within six years of the merger’s close, including of 90% of rural Americans. - Assurance that 90% of Americans will have mobile broadband access at 100Mbps or more, with 99% being able to access speeds of 50Mbps or more. - Assurance that at least two-thirds of rural Americans will have access to high-speed, mid-band 5G. - Assurance of divestiture of Boost Mobile to retain competitiveness in the prepaid wireless segment. - Billions of dollars in penalties to the FCC if the merged “New T-Mobile” fails to follow through on these commitments. We’ve all seen what a deterrent these penalties have been on Google and Facebook. They simply see it as UPS/Fedex sees parking tickets: just the cost of doing business. I don’t have much faith.

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/new-t-mobile-commitments Here we go...

https://www.rootmetrics.com/en-US/rootscore/map/metro/washington-dc/2019/1H Ugh. Network speed coming up short again, but call performance as well? C’mon Sprint...

Requiring that people upgrade to Unlimited Premium certainly won’t help with the uptake numbers for 5G or the devices. They should reconsider this. Also, the device isn’t available outside of the four initial launch cities right now. They’re using a location filter of some kind on the Sprint website.

Ah. Good question. Would the FCC docs for the device indicate if this happens?

It says this in the FAQ’s: How do I turn on VoLTE? VoLTE is a simple toggle switch and will be set to “ON” as the default setting for 5G capable devices that become available. But in case it’s turned off, you can easily switch it back on by following the steps below. Android Phones: Go to Settings > Connections or Network & internet > Voice Networks. Set the VoLTE toggle to On. iOS Phones: Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Enable LTE > Select Voice and Data What is VoLTE? VoLTE (Voice over LTE) is the next generation of voice service for your phone. VoLTE will direct your voice calls over Sprint’s advanced LTE network instead of the our traditional wireless voice network. VoLTE will provide superior voice quality and allow you to browse the Internet and use data-driven apps while on a call. VoLTE must be enabled on your device to experience our 5G network where available.

The latest: https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/fcc-officials-meet-to-discuss-sprint-t-mobile-merger-conditions Filing: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filing/1051525545706 Document: https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1051525545706/May 15 Ex Parte.pdf

I hope you’re right. It currently says here that the Unlimited Premium Plan is required for 5G. Of course, that could be changed going forward, but Sprint put it in writing. Another requirement for 5G per the FAQs is that you have VoLTE enabled on your 5G-capable device.

That’s interesting you observed that. I’m curious if the 5G in the second wave cities is quietly live yet? The merger deadline was pushed back to July 29, 2019: https://www.engadget.com/amp/2019/04/29/t-mobile-sprint-merger-deadline-delay/ Seems like the 2nd wave of 5G will take them to the merger deadline. I suspect they’ll hold off on other substantial 5G deployments until after the merger deadline.

Yeah. We’ll see how that goes. “Both devices will initially be available to customers in the first four expected 5G markets – Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Kansas City. They will then be available in Sprint’s other 5G markets – Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. – in the next few weeks.” At least the next set of 5G cities is rolling out soon. I wonder which cities come after that, or if they’re going to pause until the merger decision deadline hits. That’s one advantage of how Apple trails everyone. The network is more ready for the device.

Sprint's First 5G Devices Available May 31; Pre-Order Begins May 17 for LG V50 ThinQ 5G and HTC 5G Hub LG V50 ThinQ 5G is just $24 per month with $0down with Sprint Flex lease – that’s half off the lease price.1 HTC 5G Hub is just $12.50 per month – that’s a savings of 50 percent. Activate HTC 5G Hub with 100GB of high-speed data for just $60 per month.2 Big news. Who’s ordering? Fine Print: 1 LG V50 $24/month after $24/month credit, applied within two bills. With approved credit, 18-month lease, and new line of service or eligible upgrade. If you cancel early, remaining balance due. LG V50 ThinQ SRP: $1,152. Reqs capable plan. 5G coverage will be limited in select cities. See Sprint.com/coverage for actual coverage and availability.2 HTC Hub $12.50/month after $12.50/month credit, applied within two bills. With approved credit, 24-month installment billing agreement, and new line of service. If you cancel early, remaining balance due. Tax due at sale. 5G coverage will be limited in select cities. See Sprint.com/coverage for actual coverage and availability. HTC 5G Hub SRP: $600. $60/100GB MBB Price Plan - With AutoPay. MHS reduced to 2G speeds after 100 GB/mo. Data deprioritization during congestion. Excludes taxes, fees and roaming. Number of devices may be limited by hardware. Restrictions apply.3 New customers must activate 5G handsets on the Unlimited Premium plan. Existing customers must have eligible plan and may be required to change plans. Pricing shown with AutoPay. One Hulu ad-supported plan per eligible Sprint account. HD content varies by device and connection. MHS reduced to 3G speeds after 100GB/month. Data deprioritization during congestion. $80 per month for line one, additional $60 per month for second line, additional $20 per line for lines 3-5. Excludes taxes, fees and roaming. Curious what constitutes an eligible plan... This is a way to “charge more” for 5G without explicitly saying it.

Would this happen to be the Hill Country BBQ in DC?: https://www.hillcountry.com

Neat! I'll look into this. Thank you!

Yes. Mac with iTunes.