tommym65

Yes.. I was at Aarons yesterday; the tower is just to the south of Aarons; I'm surprised I never saw that tower before;

and yes, it's only broadcasting B25; I'm not sure how to force my Zing onto B41 if I'm getting a B25

signal...anyone know if I can set priorities for band on my Zing hotspot?

 

Yes, you can set priorities -- you need to get the MSL from Sprint Customer Care, then you can set advanced network options.  However, the priorities prevent you from ever turning off Band 25, and also only manage the initial frequency scan when you turn on the device or go from an area which has no LTE coverage into an area which does have LTE coverage. From that point on, the Sprint network takes over frequency assignment, so if Band 25 is stronger than Band 41 (or 26), the network will force you back to Band 25 after a short time.

You can view that information without disabling LTE. The next time you're on a call, click "add call," then click "dialer," then dial *3001#12345#*, then click "1x."

That works. Thanks.

Quick question:  If an iPhone 5s/5c is connected to LTE, is there any way to determine which voice frequency it is connected to?  The Field Test screen seems to only show 1 connection at a time, and I read in another thread that LTE locked 1X out of the Field Test screens, but that was several months ago, and I wondered if anyone had since figured out a way to see both.

 

Thanks in advance.

Mike,

 

Fussy feature request: Any chance that you could allow adding a Note to the last active LTE site after it becomes inactive? I often catch a site briefly, but by the time I can add a Note, it has become inactive.

 

Thanks for considering, and for all your effort.

Has no one else noticed that after the KitKat update Signal Check on the GS3 now shows the GCI? For an aging Samsung phone, this is nothing short of a miracle!

Ignore it and be annoyed or root and install a custom recovery then take the update and let it fail.

 

Be annoyed and just ignore it.  U will be better off.

 

Thanks for the advice.  The location thing seems to be a deal-killer: We updated my daughter's GS3, and she is not happy. I will learn to live with the update icon.

 

Any suggestions for best carrier to go with? I don't think I can get 4G anywhere then...

 

AT&T and T-Mobile are both GSM carriers in the US, so your phone may be compatible, probably requiring a US SIM card.  AT&T has better coverage in many places, but T-Mobile may be usable (and less expensive) depending on where you will be (strongest in major urban areas). 

The dreaded "System Update Downloaded" message has appeared on my GS3 - Is there anything I can do to make it disappear and avoid KitKat forever (or at least for 10 days until I am eligible for a new phone)?

There is a simpler solution: Everyone who has Signal Check Lite: Buy a copy of Signal Check Pro and give Mike the support he deserves!!

This thread is still going? Sheesh....

Amen! This topic has gone w-a-a-y past being absurd.

 

1. Sprint has said they will throttle the "top 5%" of data users at times/locations of network congestion. Sprint has NOT said what this "5%" level of usage is. Sprint knows precisely what this level currently is, because they constantly monitor all data and voice traffic from all devices on the Sprint network, and can also undoubtedly predict what it WILL be in the near- to medium-future. We who read and post to S4GRU do NOT know what this level is now, nor what it will evolve to over time. Any comment beyond these obvious facts is simply idle speculation.

 

2. Sprint has said that they will "throttle" these users. Sprint has NOT said they will cap usage. Sprint has NOT stated the speeds at which they will perform this throttling. Any comments beyond these obvious facts are also simply idle speculation.

 

3. In stating that Sprint will throttle some data users at some unspecified speed, Sprint has NOT compared Sprint network usage to any other cellular network anywhere in the world. Comparing Sprint usage to other networks' usage is also simply idle speculation.

 

4. Contributors to this thread have expressed various levels of consternation and outrage at Sprint for making these statements, even though NO ONE outside of Sprint actually knows what the effects of the throttling will be on a). Subscriber counts or b.). Network speed. Until such time as these effects are known and measurable, these comments are also simply idle speculation.

 

5. Clearly, some forms of Sprint network behavior constitute abuse (bit torrents, constant video streaming, web hosting, etc., etc.), and almost everyone who has posted here has agreed with that statement. In spite of the fact that, as NV2 is implemented, the Sprint network will have absolutely ENORMOUS data capacity nearly everywhere where there is Sprint service, abusers will overload that network and should must be limited or removed, or the network will sink into unusability. Cellular networks are constrained, finite resources and require that certain civilized rules of sharing be enforced to insure that they will work at all.

 

So, let's all take a deep breath, step back from the idle speculation, and carefully watch Sprint's behavior after June 1st, and THEN we can make informed comments on what Sprint is doing.

 

All I am say-ing, is give peace a chance!

Besides B26 & B41, don't forget that the elusive 2nd Band 25 (former Nextel) carrier should come into play soon, if/where it hasn't already.

 

Wait there is a 3rd B25 carrier in play now?  So like on top of the 2nd B25 carrier acquired from USCC?

 

Oops: My error. I meant "the elusive 2nd Band 25 (former USCC) carrier".  Sorry.

So basically that means that only 800MHz LTE will improve my data speeds. I find it odd that for such a densely populated area, the West Loop only has 3 antennas servicing it. I hope we get new antennas in the future.

 

Lets not forget their are also Clearwire antenna's on their own unique towers in the West Loop as well.  Obviously that only refers to the B41 signal though.  I wont reveal location and numbers, but the tower density of B41 Clear Sites in the West Loop is greater than the density of Sprint's own sites.  I will leave it at that.

 

Besides B26 & B41, don't forget that the elusive 2nd Band 25 (EDIT: former Nextel USCC) carrier should come into play soon, if/where it hasn't already.

Picking up B26 today again.

It's also back in the far Northwest burbs.

 

I wonder what THAT was all about?

Extra capacity is a beautiful thing. To think: we will soon have 3 5x5 carriers, plus our 10x10 on b41. Excellent.

 

I think TDD doesn't work like that. 20mhz?

 

 

Right, it's a full 20MHz chunk, TD-LTE: Time division rather than Frequency division like we see on PCS and SMR LTE. 

 

Follow the link and then scroll down to FD-LTE and TD-LTE for slightly better technical description. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1704-frequently-asked-questions/&do=findComment&comment=305867

 

Actually, Sprint owns/leases far more than 20 MHz within B41, in some areas as much as 160 MHz.  At this time, Sprint has cleared at least 20 MHz for TD-LTE in all launched B41 markets.  But the Clearwire WIMAX implementation was very spectrum-inefficient, and was set up use multiple 10-MHz blocks on each tower/site, with adjacent sites not being able to use the same channels/frequencies.  When WIMAX is shut down, Sprint will be able to free up a LOT of 2500/2600 MHz bandwidth, and will be able to implement multiple 20 MHz TD-LTE channels in most if not all markets.  I have also read somewhere that Sprint may be narrowing the existing WIMAX channels to 5 MHZ as an interim step to free up spectrum in many WIMAX markets.

I haven't seen a B26 connection since Sunday night.  My phone seems to be falling-back to ehrpd again instead.

 

Convinced they are doing some sort of field testing for coverage.  I could swear that I have slightly better B25 signal now and I'm seeing much faster speedtests while on B25 today.

 

 

The faster b25 speeds may be a result of a second b25 carrier being added in your area. The Chicago market thread has some more details.

 

I think you're correct.  Not sure exactly when it started but my GCI ends in 05 now.

 

B26 seems to have gone missing throughout Chicagoland.  The 2nd B25 carrier, however, doesn't seem to be widespread yet, at least northwest of the city.  But like johnrockets, I have observed slightly faster B25 speeds although without the 2nd carrier as an explanation.

Have we discovered a gci pattern for band 41? I'm noticing every band 41 site I've connected to in Chicago starts with 00.

The pattern varies from market to market, and requires multiple steps to figure out. I will PM you the Chicago pattern when I am at my PC.

 

EDIT: And I will post an image of a primitive Chicagoland B41 spreadsheet on the Chicago Premier thread.

Pretty much.

 

Many of the companies contracted are being very difficult, and slow in fulfilling their contracts. To the point that Sprint went back to the drawing board in a couple places. Which only slowed things down more. 

 

In some instances it is carrier cards.  In some instances it is lack of LTE integration techs.  But these only cause delays of a few weeks, and extreme cases a month or two.  Long term delays for LTE 1900 is almost always backhaul.  LTE 800 it can be spectrum clearance too.

 

Robert

 

And don't forget NIMBYs and permitting issues, which can cause significant delays in some areas (can you say "Hawaii", for example?).

A piece here and there likely won't hurt you.....you just can't down a whole bucket in one sitting. 

 

That's like offering an alcoholic a martini, just not a good idea to have even one.  We should have faith that Robert will remain strong!

Back in 2012, I bought an Evo Design 4g. WiMax. I was told by the sales rep that we would have 4g in my area by early 2013. I don't know if he was actually right, but eventually we got LTE, not WiMax. I feel like I was promised a service that was never provided for my phone, as I didn't get 4g till I got a new Nexus 5 at the beginning of March.

 

Did anyone else have this issue, or am I maybe over reacting? Is it a big deal or should I not worry about it?

This horse has been beaten to death multiple times on multiple threads. Clear went broke. End of story.

Is it possible to obtain from the iphone engineering screen the antenna location from which my phone is connecting?

Short answer: No.

 

Longer answer: It is possible to correlate the "Serving Cell" data on the iPhone 5s/5c Field Engineering screens with a physical tower location, but to my knowledge no one has done this for much of the Chicago market. Sponsor threads have spreadsheets with GCI id's correlated to locations for several markets. If you were to donate ($10? $15? More if you can afford it), you would get access to the site locations and technologies for NV Phase 1, and Premiers have access to B26 & B41 stuff.

Do they make fried-chicken-flavor birthday cake? For you, they should! Happy day!

What kind of backhaul would Sprint need to provide at each site in order to provide 2 or 3 channel carrier aggregation?

About 1 gig.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

Which is well within the capacity of fiber optic, and even of some microwave.

The O P assumes 1. Passengers/cabin crew knew they were being diverted; 2. If/when they knew, they were someplace where they could make and receive calls.

 

1. If you have ever flown at night over water, you know that it is virtually impossible to see anything, nor to sense your direction. Admittedly, in this age of GPS, some people in the cabin may have seen that the flight had changed direction. But, if there was no fight for the cockpit or other indication of trouble, they would assume that the pilots knew where the plane was supposed to go, so why would they become upset. Moreover, some analysts have suggested that people in the cabin would have noticed the "hard left turn". Nope, it was a programmed turn, so smooth that virtually no one would notice anything amiss.

 

2. Once the plane was more than 20 or so miles from land, there would be no cells to connect to. The plane turned left and was over open ocean less than an hour later. From that point on, no communication from or to the cabin would have been possible.

I wonder what will happen with sprint upgrade that son is looking to buy tmobile ? Sprint lost 2 million customers because it failed at upgrading its network. T mobile took one year to get lte how long for sprint ? How would sprint combine cdma and gsm ? Will they transmission everything to  lte

 

There is so much wrong with that post, there is not even anywhere to start.

That article is full of inaccuracies, just from Sprint. When Sprint is the source of so much misinformation, it sure is painful. Why did they say Spark will not be available until 4th quarter when it is available now? Why did they say they just start work last month, when they have been working for the past year?

 

They need to say, we have been upgrading towers for the last year. Most of them are complete or completing. They will be brought online in clusters to try to minimize impacts for our customers. Customers will start to see sporadic LTE signals over the next few months and we should have clusters online for more consistent and comprehensive service by June. We also already have Spark deployed on over 100 sites in the area. Currently Spark enabled hotspots can use these Spark sites. Spark capable smartphones will be able to start using them after the 3G upgrade cluster come online this summer. We are also bringing even more Spark sites online in the 4th Quarter.

 

Saying what I posted above in italics is not only honest and accurate, but it would be better received than the BS in the article. What is Sprint thinking??

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Consider the possibility that the reporter drew inaccurate inferences from accurate information. The actual Sprint quotes in the article seem to fairly reflect the real-world situation, but fall short of being complete. It is the stuff outside of quotes, and from disgruntled and non-knowledgeable subs, which is incorrect.

 

Of course, we all know that newspaper reporters, with their in-depth technical training and knowledge, always get their stories right. (I would insert appropriate sarcasm smiley here, but I STILL can't find the damn things on this $%@ iPad "keyboard").