payturr

Yea. Lowband is lowband, 5mhz or 50mhz. I wish we could get a network engineer at Sprint to explain why the power isn't up the way it is on all of the other carriers.

The answer why is because it's 5MHz and band 25 is also 5MHz, its used mostly for capacity and not so much for coverage. If they operated it at full power, it would perform like 1x because of the sheer number of people that would be parked on it.

But we all shall see when September gets closer. Sprint will have to play this move very smart to avoid a large enough exodus of users due to being forced off their legacy plan for a newer one that will probably cost more.

 

 

I'm about to extend the contract on one of my lines tomorrow so I'd like to see Sprint try

I don't think Sprint can touch their rate because they are under contract but will just wait until they are out to raise it. But I think to if sprint tries to raise their rates while under contract the customer can break their contract and walk away without a ETF.

 

 

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Well it's important that the contract is only on the equipment and not the plan. I'm on contract but of course I can change plans, so Sprint should be able to add charges to my plan. Of course if they do that I'm gonna fight with them and probably leave because they're not giving me reason to move to a modern plan.

I've been noticing these TransitWireless antennas popping up at a number of stations in Brooklyn but none of them are broadcasting anything yet. I noticed them in the mezzanine area at Franklin Avenue on the S/2/3/4/5 trains and at Nostrand Avenue on both levels on the A/C train.

This is probably to meet the wifi deadline. They want to have wifi live in every station by the end of 2016.

One thing about Sprint is they're not doing a good job giving me a reason to change plans. I'm on Everything Data 1500 with 4 lines all on contract, one now with a lease. And we all upgrade erratically, so right now we all will be on contract until August 2018. Why would I switch to a new plan? My rates are reasonable and I get to do contract pricing still, which my parents find easier to work with. I can't switch to a newer plan without $45 access charges, sweeten the deal for me! Waive the additional $25 per access charge and I'd consider switching to a new plan. Otherwise, with how my family upgrades, I'll be on this plan until either we die or Sprint closes up shop.

This is definitely for 5G. Verizon has claimed huge success with fixed 5G performance, wants to use it to become a WISP. Part of their master plan to become everyone's cellular provider, ISP nationwide.

No. Not at least when I asked since I was trying to buy the phone directly from Apple to avoid paying Sprint's shipping fee. As far as I know, Sprint will only allow you to buy your phone early if it is done through tele-sales and you have a good excuse (I.E., people can't hear you or your screen is broken beyond repair). They didn't even want to budge when I asked if I could buy directly from their website.

 

They did give me the option to go to one of their corporate stores, but they did advice me that it would be up to the store manager to decide if they'll let me upgrade early or not.

 

I guess calling and asking wouldn't hurt, but I doubt they'll let you upgrade early from Best Buy.

Thanks for responding greenbastard, yeah I can confirm what you said. I called Sprint and they were willing to do the override and let me get the upgrade, but said that Best Buy's system wouldn't recognize the override so I wouldn't be able to upgrade through them. Gotta wait 2 weeks I guess!

They allowed me to upgrade two weeks before my contact was up on the iPhone 6s, but 2 weeks =/= 2 months. Try it and tell them your current phone is on its last two legs and you really need a new phone. Make sure you bring up offers from competitors and that you're just fed up with your current phone and don't want a lease.

Would this work if I'm trying to get a contract upgrade through Best Buy?

is this a small cell?

 

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Traffic cam

LTE is a more delicate standard than 1xRTT or EVDO. While Verizon has the best LTE network, there is no way they'll get their LTE network to match their 1x coverage foot by foot by 2019. Eventually? Yes. But not in 3 years. They have a lot of rural and highway gaps to cover in which 3G handoffs from tower to tower perfectly fine but LTE gaps for a brief moment.

Why not? They have the money to just buy more towers and more telephone poles with small cells. To them money is no issue so they can beef up in a small matter of time.

Funny story was hanging in Woodbridge over the weekend visiting a buddy which just so happens to have Verizon, ran a couple of test, his speeds were uneventful (1-2mbs) while mine was running circles around his. plus he tells me the voice quality sometimes is bad, It royally pissed him off after seeing mine and he decided to give Sprint a try since it would save him a ton of cash.

 

I'm kinda getting the impression that Verizon is a bit over rated. I'm sure in certain places they cover better than others, but that advantage would probably be dwindled down to nill by the time that shutdown occurs.

While VZ is a lot slower in a lot of places, the issue of VZ vs Sprint is and always will be coverage. Where Sprint doesn't have coverage, Verizon most likely will. That's where the premium comes in, people are willing to pay for peace of mind wherever they go. However, this is beginning to change as we've seen with T-Mobile, but their will always be people who put coverage before speed and better pricing. Eventually Verizon can address LTE with the newer standards and band 66 to improve performance, but so long as they're the king of coverage, they have a stronghold on the premium they enforce.

The day their network becomes VoLTE-only will be the day they lose their claim of "most reliable". The "Can You Hear Me Now" dude should come in handy for Sprint at that point.

Not true. Given their stellar LTE coverage & growing small cell buildout, they could continue to be the most reliable. They could even argue they have the most reliable HD call network that works with other carriers.

Why couldn't Sprint sign a Volte roaming agreement in areas they don't have service? Aren't their newer phones capable of it?

 

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Nothing other than the newer iPhone models, Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge and LG G5 is suggested to be capable of VoLTE. Plus a VoLTE roaming agreement most likely means an LTE data roaming agreement too, which would be a fortune for Sprint.

Hopefully Sprint can figure out that roaming agreement with Verizon by then, otherwise they will have a lot less coverage! I've been on them recently about a pretty significant data outage in the north Bronx, Southern Westchester area. They are 'aware' of the major issues there and are working to restore service. I commute through there quite frequently on the train.

I think Sprint is just gonna have to settle for coverage like T-Mobile at that point and just focus on proving network quality in places that actually matter (everywhere that isn't in the woods)

Verizon to shut down CDMA 1x network in 2019

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-shut-down-2g-cdma-1x-network-end-2019/2016-07-13

 

damn that means they're pushing voice 100% to VoLTE, that's wild

AT&T wants to put cellular network equipment on drones, flying COWs (cell on wings)

http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/13/12171974/att-cell-drones-flying-cows?utm_campaign=theverge&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Is it possible your phone is locked to VZ because it's being financed?

I think it's very, very clear that Sprint nor SoftBank are going to be purchasing any spectrum in this auction. Sprint has made it clear multiple times, the cost of the spectrum and it's ROI makes it a ridiculous purchase. SoftBank definitely isn't gonna bother, they have to get their stock price back up. Buying spectrum that won't be useful for years won't help them, that will only help Sprint and Sprint is a small part of SoftBank's overall business.

 

I think we all need to stop speculating Sprint having a mystery company in this auction. We all know who has the money here and who really wants this spectrum. Also, the FCC isn't gonna make $86B. VZ and AT&T made it clear that this spectrum isn't worth tens of billions of dollars to them at the start.

http://www.droid-life.com/2016/06/29/verizon-may-introduce-carryover-data-free-roaming-throttled-unlimited-data-week/

 

Apparently everything Sprint and T-Mobile has done has got into Big Red's head. Ridiculous that unlimited 2G data would be an extra $5 charge however.

I dream of the day that I see B26 optimized, because right now it's crap.

 

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Won't happen for YEARS my friend, don't hold your breath

Sure, it does. W-CDMA uses 3-4 times the spectrum bandwidth that CDMA2000 does. That basically means that each W-CDMA carrier requires its own 5 MHz FDD block, much like LTE in a 5 MHz FDD carrier configuration. Thus, W-CDMA can be difficult to deploy -- absent existing massive spectrum resources or new "greenfield" spectrum. Note how T-Mobile was 3-4 years late to the 3G party precisely because of that disadvantage. T-Mobile had to wait on AWS-1 in order to deploy W-CDMA. On the other hand, CDMA2000, at 1.25 MHz FDD, is less difficult to deploy in existing spectrum.

 

AJ

You're 100% right about that AJ but that 5x5 block allows for the same if not greater amount of traffic as well as greater overall throughput. I was focusing more so on real world issues for users, such as voice quality issues when switching sectors/sites for GSM.

Ok people, your phone calls are made across the CDMA system, don't be so in a rush to kill it off. It is more reliable then VoLTE right now, for which some in the Orlando area couldn't make calls last week with Verizon's outage. Only if they switched over to CDMA only could they.

 

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CDMA can have voice outages too. That's not limited to VoLTE. VoLTE only has reliability issues due to the breadth of coverage. VoLTE is far superior in every aspect and Sprint should be pushing densification to make it happen next year.

However, doesn't CDMA have certain advantages over GSM?

 

Over GSM, yes. But not over UMTS. UMTS uses WCDMA, so

While aesthetics may be a subjective matter of taste, it's hard to argue with wasteful construction to duplicate a utility pole when a perfectly usable existing utility structure is less than 5 yards away.

 

It grinds my gears to drive through north Florida and see 4-5 monopole structures lined up in a span of 100 yards because no one can build a tall enough structure to support all 4 carriers. It's wasteful.

 

 

I'm sorry but that's just not doable. Even if you make a high enough pole, no equipment is the same - weight differences could cause a pole to lean. And if in a case where a castrophe happens and the pole falls, all 4 carriers suffer damages and all the additional equipment can further damage whatever it lands on.

 

Lastly, this argument of aesthetics. I rather see 4 utility poles than one utility pole that looks like a macro cell because it's covered in RRUs and antennas and fiber and microwave receivers.

I just caught up on all these forum pages...

"Why does Sprint need a ugly tall 70 foot poll?? Doesn't that eliminate the point of small cells!!!"

...

 

Have ALL of you forgotten that it's LTE UE Relay, that MOST sites will be receiving backhaul via band 41???

The height gives it the advantage of having a LoS signal so that we all get service. Sprint can't afford to run fiber to every small cell, so they're using UE Relay because it's more economical and faster to get up and running.

Also, who gives a hoot about the height! No one in their right mind is starring at the sky, we have cars to drive and phones to stare at.