RAvirani

The call goes over the LTE RAN and it is routed to the landline network.

T-Mobile offers roaming on their WCDMA/HSPA network for CDMA-less Verizon devices; the agreement is reciprocal. I believe LTE roaming on Verizon is restricted to only certain areas.

Both Sprint and T-Mobile have roaming agreements with US Cellular. Speeds should be uncapped.

Sprint has an LTE roaming agreement with AT&T and T-Mobile has an LTE roaming agreement with Verizon. Both of you were probably experiencing some variation of this. AT&T LTE roaming for Sprint users has historically been capped at 128kbps, so quick speeds would be something new...were you able to get a speed test?

I've been noticing lowband coverage loss in the greater Seattle area as T-Mobile has been swapping out 6-port 700/midband antennas for 8-port 600/700/midband antennas. Judging from the antenna gain figures, this isn't surprising, but I was wondering if anyone else has been noticing the same? There are quite a few areas I frequent that have gone from reliable weak L700 to EDGE or no service after 600 antenna upgrades... Antenna comparison for anyone interested: Commscope SBNHH-1D65C (almost all 700 setups use these antennas) 2x2 700 (16.2) 4x4 1700 (17.7) & 1900 (17.9) & 2100 (18.5) 65° 96.6 x 11.9 x 7.1 49.6 lbs Commscope FFHH-65B-R3 (most new 600 setups use these antennas) 4x4 600 (14.1) & 700 (14.3) 4x4 1700 (17.6) & 1900 (18.4) & 2100 (19.0) 65° 72 x 25.2 x 9.3 101.4 lbs Commscope FFHH-65C-R3 (some 600 setups on large structures use these antennas) 4x4 600 (15.4) & 700 (15.8) 4x4 1700 (17.9) & 1900 (18.4) & 2100 (18.8) 65° 95.9 x 25.2 x 9.3 127.6 lbs

A full deployment has never been T-Mobile's strategy, and that's why they've never been the best in Seattle. Despite having the best site density (by a lot), their network experience falls far short of AT&T, Sprint and even Verizon now, who I would have claimed was in last place a year ago. The trend for the last 4 years has been that AT&T and Verizon never climb a tower without deploying every LTE technology available at that time. Even today, the same cannot be said for T-Mobile. I would estimate that more than 35% of T-Mobile sites in Seattle are still midband only. And some are still B2-only whereas others are B4-only. That makes coverage/capacity inconsistent between sites and handovers at the edge of cell sloppy, to say the least. To really compete with the big two, they're going to have to rethink the way they're deploying their RAN and stop deploying the minimum needed to get by. Hopefully we see those changes going forward, because they definitely have the economies of scale necessary to do so now.

All depends on the terrain/intended coverage area, sector alignment/tilt and antennas used. Wide beam antennas in a 4-sector 90° configuration can actually do a lot of damage to the SNR. Alternatively narrow beam antennas at a 3-sector 120° can leave big coverage holes between sectors. It's a pretty interesting balancing act.

That site is a temporary small cell until the tower behind it is turned on. It's LTE-relay backhauled. Small cells that are LTE-relay backhauled broadcast at 39874/40072.

A deal with Comcast would be nice too.

The L2500 EARFCNs in the Seattle market were changed today. Before we had 40978/41176/41374; now we have 41094/41292/41490. I presume this is to make room for NR.

Anyone else noticed this issue? https://github.com/CellMapper/Cellmapper-Site/issues/63

Andrew TMBXX-6516-R2M 4x4 1700 & 1900 & 2100 (17.5) 65° 50.9 (59.5 with actuator) x 12 x 6.5 34.6lbs Andrew TMZXXX-6516-A3M 6x6 1700 & 1900 & 2100 (17.4) 65° 51.5 (60 with actuator) x 19.7 x 3.5 38.4 lbs Nokia AAFIA 16x16 1700 & 1900 & 2100 [ACTIVE] 72.4 x 25.6 x 11.8 358 lbs Commscope SBNHH-1D65B 2x2 700 (14.9) 4x4 1700 (17.7) & 1900 (18.2) & 2100 (18.6) 65° 72.9 x 11.9 x 7.1 40.6 lbs Commscope SBNHH-1D65C 2x2 700 (16.2) 4x4 1700 (17.7) & 1900 (17.9) & 2100 (18.5) 65° 96.6 x 11.9 x 7.1 49.6 lbs Nokia FASB (RAS) 2x2 700 (16.0) 4x4 1700 (17.3) & 1900 (18.0) & 2100 (18.1) 4x4 1900 (17.5) 65° 96.1 x 13.4 x 14.9 108 lbs Commscope FHH-65C-R3 2x2 600 (15.8) & 700 (16.3) 4x4 1700 (18.1) & 1900 (18.6) & 2100 (18.7) 65° 96 x 15.6 x 9 69.4 lbs Commscope FFHH-65B-R3 4x4 600 (14.1) & 700 (14.3) 4x4 1700 (17.6) & 1900 (18.4) & 2100 (19.0) 65° 72 x 25.2 x 9.3 101.4 lbs Commscope FFHH-65C-R3 4x4 600 (15.4) & 700 (15.8) 4x4 1700 (17.9) & 1900 (18.4) & 2100 (18.8) 65° 95.9 x 25.2 x 9.3 127.6 lbs

Band 5 LTE is being shut down to deploy NR in the CLR block. AT&T doesn't have free spectrum anywhere else.

Thank you all for the advice! Luckily for me, I am covered as far as SIMs go; I was just looking for suggestions on a cheap android. I'm able to get a really good deal on a Pixel 2 - do NSG (is some other form of band locking)/SCP/Cellmapper run well on those phones?

Hi all, I'm looking to purchase an Android for Cellmapper/logging purposes; accordingly, I was wondering if there are any cheap devices you guys recommended that work well with both SCP and Cellmapper. Thanks in advance!

The agreement is reciprocal. Verizon non-CDMA devices roam on T-Mobile WCDMA/HSPA when they fall off Verizon LTE. I don't believe Verizon devices roam on T-Mobile LTE, though - at least not yet.

I always say 25/66. I rarely refer to 2/4.

8615 is a 15x15 LTE carrier in Seattle and most other places. On rare occasion 8615 can also be a 5x5 LTE carrier centered in the PCS C5 block, though. That being said, if Sprint holds the C5 block, they almost always deploy a 10x10 LTE carrier centered at 8640. The best way to be sure is to check your device's engineering screens!

Those are both Commscope 6-port to 12-port antennas. That may be the setup they've chosen to go with on that site.

Are the two new panels the two panels on the right?

Experienced Swiftel for the first time last night. Speeds have been pretty much symmetrical no matter where I am, but they've been slow. I haven't got more than 16 down, 16 up with averages probably at 4/4. They really need 800/2500 here.

Both. iPhone 8.

I've had phenomenal luck with VoLTE. I've never had any issues provided my LTE RSRP was above -120ish. Calls connect quickly and quality is crystal clear.

The KMW triband antennas have notably poor 800 coverage patterns. The new octoport 4x800/4x1900 antennas are really great though. In Seattle, there are areas where I can pick up -105 L800 when L1900 drops off with the new RFS antennas. The Commscope antennas are a close second place contender.

Correct.