RedSpark

On 2/21/2019 at 7:58 PM, utiz4321 said:

They didn't. What he is saying technically true but misleading. They could have spent money on more spectrum but given the can't afford to put all their current spectrum to use i don't think they could have spent billions on spectrum and billions deploy it and billions deploy massive MIMO. So yes, they could have bought some but that isnt the end of the story. 

Technically true but misleading? Not sure what that means. He was either telling the truth or he wasn’t. There isn’t a middle ground here.

He was either telling the truth or he wasn’t on why Sprint passed on the 600 MHz spectrum.

He was either telling the truth or he wasn’t on the deployment timeline for 600 MHz... or maybe he was completely wrong, which is a whole other issue.

My opinion: if Sprint is now talking about needing $20-25 Billion from banks/bonds to go it alone with a network build should the merger fail, it could have afforded less than that for 600 MHz. T-Mobile spent nearly $8 Billion for what it got, and it got a ton. Furthermore, Sprint would have realized much greater cost efficiencies on its national 5G build because of it being low band and it wouldn’t be in the position of having to borrow $20-25 Billion.

Bit of an Ericsson infomercial, but an interesting interview with John Saw:

43 minutes ago, notsrealinc said:

Any url from the sprint.com domain with "ort" is a test site. Newer sites I don't think use ort anymore but many of them are internal meaning you need to be on their intranet. I guess a few of them slip through and this is one of them.

I simply used Google. https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Asprint.com+"ort"&oq=site%3Asprint.com+"ort"

Cool! Thanks for the info. Really nice find.

57 minutes ago, notsrealinc said:

I found this weird coverage map site from Sprint, I think it's a test site: https://coverageort.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?

The updated date updates every day. I can't tell of any changes though. 

Very interesting find! May I ask how you found it? Were you testing different URL's?

30 minutes ago, RAvirani said:

Interesting...it says updated today although the map is relatively out of date.

Not sure what it's for. 

Perhaps a test for "Verified Coverage" like T-Mobile does?

34 minutes ago, belusnecropolis said:

They really need to get this guy out front more. He is obviously knowledgeable then proceeds to explain this upgrade to a group in such a concise manner, even journalists can understand it well. 

John is funny and charismatic with the crowd, he has been with Sprint for so long. Marcelo went from surprise new CEO, awkward Wall Street talking head appearances, to selling a merger. No one is really sure what his customer facing role is outside of rich people poasting on Twitter.

Another great presser from Dr. John.

Thanks for finding this NextgenCPU!

Yeah, John is great. I do miss Guenther, but John really stepped up to fill the role.

8 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

Sascha Segan said that the 421.68Mbps 5G speed test in Chicago was done on 60MHz of spectrum. 

Only using two layers of Massive MIMO and without dual connectivity....

Lots of headroom here...

Samsung’s equipment is capable of supporting over 1.5 Gbps.

6 hours ago, belusnecropolis said:

Isn't that kind of a small cell solution, not a quarter million dollar tower build?

Massive MIMO sites are $250,000 each?

On 2/24/2019 at 2:13 PM, nexgencpu said:

Most likey lack of 2xCA/64QAM

Perhaps it will be supported in the next iPhone?

EDIT: Isn’t it supported here?

Intel XMM7560 Modem Specs: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-products/mobile-communications/xmm-7560-brief.html

11 minutes ago, Trip said:

It appears that the three sites on the eastern shore of the Potomac at the three sites in DC.  So coverage doesn't extend into Maryland.  This is odd, because there are a number of Massive MIMO installations, from what I can glean from the MLS data, between the DC/Maryland border and the Beltway in Montgomery County, including near Bethesda and the water tower at Cabin John.

- Trip

Good points. Wondering why these aren’t included?

Looks like National Harbor isn’t depicted in the initial coverage area either. ☹️

31 minutes ago, Trip said:

In the DC area, that correlates well with sites where Massive MIMO sites have been observed on the air already.  There are additional sites outside of that area where permits have been applied for that indicate Massive MIMO gear will be installed.

- Trip

Needs more Maryland!

Hard to tell if Bethesda is covered by 5G on that map.

1 hour ago, jreuschl said:

421 mbps on 5G? The specs for gigabit phones exceed that. Is 5G really going to provide any specific benefits having a 5G phone.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk
 

The fine print in the “Chicago Drive Test” video said this test was over two MIMO layers and that speeds at commercial launch will actually be faster with additional MIMO layers and dual connectivity.

Some good info here:

https://www.sprint.com/en/landings/5g.html

And here:

https://business.sprint.com/5g/

If this whole wireless thing doesn’t work out, Sprint should release some club hits...

DJ MIMO...

76 5G sites in Chicago. Nice!

There it is!

54 minutes ago, nexgencpu said:

iPhone grr,

I usually see about 10mb up in and around that airport.

What about the iPhone is limiting here?

Interesting info on how Sprint’s backhaul capacity is being upgraded for 5G.

11 minutes ago, imex99 said:

I'll look when home this afternoon.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Is the device updated to the latest iOS version and Carrier Bundle?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204204

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201270

Does the option to use LTE for Voice & Data appear under “Settings —> Cellular —> Cellular Data Options —> Enable LTE” ?

Good download speeds... but that upload though... 😕

Hope he put in a network ticket...

18 hours ago, imex99 said:

My wife has iPhone 8+, I can't find volte and we're an volte market.

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You can’t find it? I haven’t heard of this happening before.

13 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

Same. I feel like at this point Sprint should start releasing phones with VoLTE available rom the start instead of via software update at a later date. 

Yeah. I understand things need to be adequately field tested, but I’m not sure what’s different about enabling VoLTE on the S9 or S10 when it’s already on the S8.

As for it being on the iPhone, Sprint pushed it out the door to the iPhone 8 and later all at once.

Now that I’m used to VoLTE on my device, I can’t believe I didn’t have SVOD for so long.

10 minutes ago, BlueAngel said:

Gonna kinda be pissed if it doesn't.

I agree, and it’s a mile marker for their progress (or lack of it) on VoLTE.

Here’s what’s ahead:

Keep that capex flowing is all I can say.... This merger isn’t a given.

On 2/22/2019 at 9:48 AM, Tengen31 said:

Yeah I know volte will help however they still relie on CDMA to much. I'm getting impatient waiting for Volte on my s9+. Had it on my S8 and it worked fine. Not sure what the hold up is.

 

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Hopefully the S10 launches with VoLTE enabled...

I’ve had a good experience with VoLTE on my iPhone XS in the DC area so far.

If this has any bearing on things...