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tommym65

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Everything posted by tommym65

  1. tommym65
    Hi, guys. Is there any chance that you could provide brief summaries of the articles you linked, especially the 2 SEC documents. Some of us may be mentally challenged when it comes to interpreting SEC forms, and/or may not have the time, or at least the inclination, to dig through all of that stuff. Thanks in advance!
  2. tommym65
    I was referring only to McHenry County, and candidly, I have not map-checked every site even here, so I can't demonstrate the complete accuracy of my statement. Nonetheless, it is an interesting trend, IMO.
  3. tommym65
    Weren't the early 800SMR areas hijacked from iDen frequencies by turning off part of Nextel's bandwidth? This was in places like Chicago, where the very limited 1900PCS was almost useless due to oversaturation. One would guess that as soon as they have totally turned off Nextel, locations that have NV upgrades in place, and new ones coming online, will get 800 quickly.
  4. tommym65
    3G data speeds on these microwave-to-be sites have been mediocre or worse, suggesting that the microwave links have not been activated, even though the dishes are mounted. I did a speed test yesterday about 100 yards south of the Cog Circle site and got <250 kbps down, very slow up (the test failed before completion), and >300 ms ping. Then, earlier today I did a speed test on the Cog Circle site from about 3/4 miles west and got 1.176 Mbps down, 0.828 Mbps up, 107 ms ping, which suggests things are better on that tower today. At this moment, I am getting 0.086 Mbps down, 0.142 Mbps, and 124 ms ping from (I think) Bard Rd. in Crystal Lake (about 1.25 miles). An educated guess, then, is that the microwave links are not yet active, and the towers are still on legacy backhaul.
  5. tommym65
    It turns out that virtually every NV site in far northwest Chicagoland that does NOT have LTE at this time is a microwave backhaul site. And virtually every site that DOES have LTE is an "Ethernet" (=fiber) backhaul site, and virtually every fiber backhaul site already DOES have LTE. Fiber = LTE. Microwave = no LTE. So what the heck is with the microwave?
  6. tommym65
    IF Softbank successfully completes the Sprint transaction, IF Softbank/Sprint are able to integrate the Clearwire spectrum, and IF Softbank/Sprint moves in the same direction in the US as Softbank has moved in Japan, we may continue to see unlimited data, but significantly more aggressive pricing. Softbank's growth in Japan has to some degree resulted from taking subscribers away from the Japanese incumbents. IF this strategy can be repeated in the US, then Verizon and AT&T will begin to see erosion in their subscriber base, and will be forced to become more price-competitive. That's a lot of IF's, and certainly won't have an immediate effect on mobile pricing, but may force the US mobile industry toward more a reasonable price structure in the 3-5 year time frame. The effect of vastly increased WiFi access is a wild card in this game. The infrastructure cost of expanded WiFi will be enormous, and Chambers really doesn't address the question of who will pay for it, and how, but it is obvious that is won't really be "free".
  7. tommym65
    A voice of reason in the wilderness, especially: George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Having witnessed the disasters for shareholders that past “mega-Media/Telecom” mergers like AOL/Time Warner or Vivendi/Universal created, Sprint shareholders would be wise to hang up on Dish. Thanks for posting.
  8. tommym65
    Better yet, consider becoming a sponsor so that you can see the bigger picture: Where progress is (and isn't) being made, where the NV sites are, etc., etc.
  9. tommym65
    We (and the analysts) need to keep in mind that Sprint and Softbank are managed by intelligent people who are capable of formulating intelligent strategies. Obviously, they are not sharing those strategies with the outside world. It is unlikely that they are holed up in their separate rooms (as they are required to be by the SEC -- wink,wink) just ranting and throwing new chips on the table every time Dish does something yet more bizarre. It is highly likely that all along they have had a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, etc. It brings to mind the old story about the general who was awakened in the middle of the night with a frantic call from one of his subordinates that the enemy was attacking on an unexpected front. "Open the middle drawer and take out Plan D", he said, and went back to sleep. We also need to keep in mind that time is on Sprint's side: NV Phase 1 (what is happening now) does not depend on Clearwire's spectrum or infrastructure. Subsequent phases may need 2500 Mhz, but those phases are in the future. Waiting for the Standstill Agreement to expire might cause some delays for Sprint, but likely would not be catastrophic. It likely would be catastrophic for Dish, which faces more severe financial challenges. So, without knowledge of Son's and Hesse's strategic plans, much of our speculation may be entertaining, but really doesn't accomplish anything. Just my $.02
  10. tommym65
    My gast is a little flabbered, too. Seems like McHenry County (Crystal Lake, McHenry, and up to the Cheddar Curtain) and Dekalb County (Dekalb & Sycamore) have gotten lost in the Chicagoland shuffle. Both areas had tower upgrades early last fall, but many of those towers seem to be languishing in backhaul Neverland. It doesn't seem like a permit issue, as the affected towers are in several, different municipalities, and in towns, not in the counties. And many (most?) of them already have 800 SMR (working and detectable, although not yet accepted). 4G LTE is all around, south, east, and west, so close that it teases you with -110 to -115 dbm signals, but not really usable in most of our 2 hopelessly neglected counties. So, woe is us. The nice Sprint Customer Care lady said her system showed LTE at least at the Cog Circle site within 90 days. One can hope. I know that many areas haven't even seen have a glimmer of that hope, and I don't mean to whine (although I am VERY good at it!), but dadgummit, Sprint, give me my 4G before Charlie Ergen bleeps up the whole Sprint universe. Thanks for listening.
  11. tommym65
    Thank you! For everything you do for us.
  12. tommym65
    Nope, she didn't say which sectors, but one of them has to be BSID 21217, which is aimed to the southwest. Again, I think the issue is with 800 SMR, because my GS3 goes nutty only when 1X is on 800. Fortunately, it is not my home tower. Unfortunately, my home tower has essentially no meaningful upgrades yet, other than pushing eHRPD. And, you are right, the LITH Airport (Pyott Road) tower, which has all three 800 SMR, 1900 CDMA, and 1900 LTE upgrades, is FAST, and routinely gives 30-36 Mbps down, and 12-14 Mbps up. I am waiting with decreasing patience for the backhaul upgrades that you mention.
  13. tommym65
    An update for those of us in the far, far, far Northwest: Sprint Customer Service confirms that CH73XCxxx at Cog Circle in Crystal Lake has 2 failed sectors, which could cause the errors that I am seeing (and more), and estimates correction by Thursday. The nice Sprint lady was not able to tell me the exact issue causing the outage. This outage concerns me, not so much because the sectors are having problems (stuff happens), but because the equipment on that site is nearly new, shiny, Samsung NV stuff. The tower has been broadcasting 800 SMR for some time (even though it doesn't show 800 accepted on the sponsor map). Because 800 Mhz has such a broad footprint compared to 1900, this seems to cause some interesting problems. Using Signal Check (when I am able to), when I am driving around town and my GS3 is on 800SMR, I see the BSID jumping from site to site very often (normal behavior reported in several S4GRU threads), and the offending Cog Circle site is frequently part of the "rotation". And, I get the app errors and clock/calendar issue quite frequently in this circumstance. This doesn't happen when I am at home, as I have an Airave (1900 EV-DO) or I am usually connected to the one remaining local non-800 tower (eHRPD). Therefore, I think the problem that I am seeing may be entirely a result of problems with the 800 Mhz equipment at the one site. But that one 800 Mhz site seems to be affecting a much larger area than a 1900 Mhz site would affect. Hopefully, this is not a harbinger of poor Samsung NV equipment reliability. But it is a concern that a single tower with 800Mhz capability may have a broader impact than a pre-NV tower with only 1900.
  14. tommym65
    I didn't mean to be totally negative. Your 3G will improve somewhat with NV: The new 3G panels with RRU's yield up to a 15-20% improvement in signal strength at the phone, and 3G->4G offloading may yield 3G improvement due to less congestion. But the real payoffs will come from 800 Mhz connections and from 4G LTE. The iPhone 5 can do 1x800 (voice and text) and 4G LTE, but will not be able to do 800 LTE (no current Sprint phone can do 800 LTE). Other threads suggest that the phone vendors will release "tri-band" Sprint phones in the fall, with 800, 1900, and 2500 Mhz LTE (as well as 800 Mhz 1x for voice and text). Consider waiting until one of these new phones is available, as the iPhone 5 (and the Samsung GS4, and all other current phones) will become instantly obsolete the day the tri-band phones are announced. If we are all lucky, that may happen before Sept 1, but knowledgeable people who have posted about them don't think they will be quite that early.
  15. tommym65
    I also like the new format, but with one reservation: The old format offered an instant link (via "Sites Complete") to the NV Sites Complete map. Robert, could you add that link within the new format? Thanks for considering.
  16. tommym65
    AJ, I was was specifically thinking of you when I wrote my original post! If anyone in this forum can explain this stuff, you are he!
  17. tommym65
    Oops, looks like a Mod deleted one of the posts I was going to quote, the one from the Verizon troll. I was going to suggest that we return the thread to a sense of decorum and good will -- This should be about how to help things get better, not about name calling and venom. But, enough! Here's my real reason for posting: Has anyone else in the Northwest Suburbs been having problems with apps stopping with error messages and with incorrect dates? Signal Check Pro has stopped on my GS3 numerous times since last Thursday, and at times my phone has firmly planted itself in March, 2013. Other apps (mail, Google maps, etc.) have also stopped with error messages. My local Best Buy (where I bought the phone, went there because I thought it might be a warranty issue) said that they had heard from "Sprint" that a tower in the area is down, and that they have been getting numerous complaints. My question: Is this a likely explanation? It seems to have some merit, as the apps that have failed all seem to need network information to work properly. Any ideas?
  18. tommym65
    Elkhart (in the Ft. Wayne/South Bend Market) is a Samsung market, and if it is configured like the Chicago market, each sector squawks the exact location of itself, literally within 20-25 feet. This is unlike Milwaukee, for example, where sectors squawk offset co-ordinates. When I map a Chicagoland tower onto a Google satelite map, the location shows up exactly at the base of the tower, at the highest magnification Google will provide. Keep in mind, however, that these co-ordinates are for the 1X (phone and text) transmitter. You may be connected to a given 1X cell, but to an entirely different CDMA data cell on a completely different tower, and to yet another LTE data cell on yet a third tower, all at the same time. The only one mapped by Signal Check is the 1X, either 1X-RTT or 1X-800. Perfectly simple. Isn't it? Of course it is! Anybody with a PhD in cellular telephony could figure it out!
  19. tommym65
    Oops, you got me!! Thank you for catching that. Sorry for my error on downtown geography. But I stand by my statement that ChiWestLooper's iPhone 4s will not be able to take advantage of most current and future NV upgrades: First because his phone doesn't support 4G; Second because his phone doesn't support 800 SMR (when that comes into play); And, third because even with the 3G updates that have been installed in and near the Loop, bandwidth has not yet been expanded (waiting for USCC spectrum to free up) and at 1900 Mhz, building penetration has been improved only a small amount. As the USCC spectrum does become available, and as Sprint subs move off of CDMA for LTE, his speeds will likely improve, but probably not as much as he might like. Conclusion: Let's all go out and support the economy by buying NEW PHONES!
  20. tommym65
    2500 will be good inside if you are close enough. WiMax was never deployed densely enough to provide good results, but I know from my local experience that if you were very close to a WiMax site, you would get an excellent signal even inside a building (I clocked over 10 Mbps in one of my customer's buildings, for example). The problem was that few people were close enough. Sprint's apparent plan with 2500 LTE is to use very dense spacing in those areas where it will be deployed. As far as speed vs. frequency, the available speed is not a function of frequency, but of channel bandwidth. A wide channel at 800 Mhz can provide more speed than a narrow one at 2500. Keep in mind that AT&T or Verizon, maybe both, are running LTE at ~750 Mhz and getting very fast speeds. But to really understand this, we need a guru like Digiblur or AJ to weigh in, as I don't recall the actual bandwidths available on either 800 or 2500.
  21. tommym65
    Sprint's towers ARE at PCS spacing, and are projected to provide sustainable 4-8 Mbps performance on the 1900 PCS band once they are built-out to LTE. (Keeping in mind that theoretical performance =~37Mbps.) The 2500 LTE band will provide very-high-bandwidth overlay capability in densely used areas (read: cities), so that you will be shifted from 1900 to 2500 where your 2500 signal is strong enough, and 1900 capacity is heavily used. I don't remember the expected speeds, although someone has posted them somewhere. They are FAST. Then, add the 800 SMR band LTE capability (even though it will not be on 100% of towers), and you will get yet another layer of overlay for those situations where you are out of range of 2500 and getting a weak signal on 1900. Again, I'm not sure of probable speeds. If Sprint is able to carry this strategy to completion, Sprint subs with the right handsets and hot-spots will have an LTE experience at least as good as on any other carrier, and probably significantly better.
  22. tommym65
    Would, does, and has! And that was BEFORE LTE!
  23. tommym65
    So I was consistantly getting 36 mbps down and 13 mbps up on Sprint LTE while riding my bicycle on a bike path last weekend. As you say, 36 mb or 32 mb, or for that matter even 4 or 5 mb are wonderful speeds, right up there with cable and dsl. But then the light bulb goes on: What the (bleep) am I gonna do with 36 mbps on a BICYCLE?!
  24. tommym65
    According to the Sponsor Map, you are in a location where 4G LTE has not yet been installed. Also, according to your profile, you have an iPhone 4s, which will not pick up LTE, so 4G won't do you any good unless you upgrade your phone. If you had an iPhone 5 and you were to walk up to Monroe and Wells, the map suggests you would get excellent LTE. I rarely go downtown, so cannot confirm this personally. Sprint is also working on improving voice/text with 800 MHz SMR, but your iPhone 4s will not be able to pick that up, either. As other Sprint subscribers move off of 1900 MHZ CDMA to LTE, you will see some improvement in data speeds, because this will relieve some of the spectrum congestion that occurs due to too many people in the loop trying to use very limited capacity. If you would like to be able to easily see 4G and NV progress maps, consider becoming a sponsor: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1195-information-about-s4gru-sponsorship-levels-and-how-to-become-a-sponsor/.
  25. tommym65
    Aw, AJ, you're no FUN! You take all the hilarity out of rabid, mindless, hysterical speculating!!! Gee whiz, what a party pooper.
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