tongboy

Someone needs to tell Dan to leave the pom-poms at home then when going to Chicago.

 

Thanks for the responses guys, haven't followed this market and was curious after hearing the glorious comments on the call today.

NV did make a huge difference outside of the downtown congested areas though. I have a single band One and have very good data rates pretty much everywhere. 4g is quick and if I am on 3g it is 1Mbps in a good chuck of the suburbs.

I really am surprised how fast LTE speeds fell downtown. It seemed like from what people were saying one week they were great and the next week they were horrible. It had a lot of us scratching our heads trying to figure it out.

They can, but the problem with that strategy is that they can be sued for damages, personally!!! They have to have a really good case.

I'm sure your right but I cannot ever remember that ever happening successfully. I can't even imagine how damages would be calculated. Do you know of an example?

The DOJ must also justify its decision on antitrust grounds. It cannot be just on whether it might raise prices for consumers. On strictly legal grounds they cannot deny this merger. They are blustering. Now the FCC might have some objections as to the amount of spectrum and will ask for divestment.

I would be careful assuming that the DOJ has to justify this. The DOJ has shown they have no problem throwing their weight around since if they sue, the deal is likely dead. Not dead because Sprint/Softbank will lose, they would probably win. It would take years for the case to work it's way out and that is an eternity with this big of a buy.

Masayoshi Son senses this. That is why he shot across their bow recently in a public interview. It's their last shot. Having a huge spectrum arsenal alone will not save Sprint. It just is the asset that keeps investors from losing all their money when the company goes bankrupt. Sprint must turn around in 2014. And it has to feel like it is well on its way by Mid Year.

 

Robert

I agree. That interview was done for a reason, and there are a few people in the upper echelon of Sprint that are coming up with a plan or are getting their resumes updated.

I suspect at this point these next couple quarters are going to be rough for Sprint, not outwardly for people that are satisfied with the service like I am, but the stock will take a beating and the upper c level will look different.

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No. There are usually three sectors on a site and sometimes you can use that to know what your direction is from the tower within 120 degrees of the site. Unless the cell site broadcasts it's lat/lon location with 1x info the cell site doesn't give any more other location info.

It definitely doesn't change its modulation depending on your direction from the site like aviation VOR transmitters do.

1x800 Accepted 10/23/2103

They are waiting for CDMA2100 obviously.

I somewhat agree with #4. But isn't Sprint currently investing in nationwide 800 MHz CDMA?

 

I disagree with #5. Legere is not only the best thing that's ever happened to T-Mobile but the best thing that has happened to this industry. Regardless of how weird or UN-CEO like he might appear compared to the stuffy suits he's made a huge impact and the other 3 have responded with me-too rate plans and offerings.

Legere is an interesting figure. He and the people he is surrounded with are very smart and he should have an acting career when this is all done. Unfortunately his act, business decisions that he, and the stockholders and owners made were not about the long term health of T-Mobile, it was to make waves and bring quarterly numbers to attract a buyer and pay out the highest price possible. DT also would be able to end it's T-Mobile chapter not looking like a complete fool.

I really hate the fact T-Mobile will be swallowed up by someone, but better Sprint then AT&T, Verizon, or Dish.

And Sprint needs desperately a successful large acquisition so people shut up about Nextel and the horror that happened afterwards. :-)

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Plus, if you hold it flat and throw it sidearm, you can probably make it skip a few times.

 

AJ

I wonder which phone would skip across the water further... S4 or One... :-)

I don't know how anyone could think the same frequency on all sectors was a good idea. Self-interference is guaranteed and LTE needs a comparatively huge SNR.

 

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It would make handoffs a bit more "exciting" though...

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Is there any way to pull what modulation the phone is using? Duty cycle?

 

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There isn't anything in the Android API that can retrieve that data. I have never heard of another way to do it.

If we could have lower level data like that I think I would spend more time looking at engineering screens than anything else on the phone!

The amount of collective knowledge on S4gru is insane.

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RSRP is essentially a measure of pure signal strength. It indicates nothing about loading or interference.

 

 

Yeah, but then if RSRP is higher wouldn't to SNR be lower with the same amount of noise or is the "noise" being generated by the cell site transmitter broadcasting to other phones? There have been screenshots of an RSRP of around 70 but an SNR of 1 dB.

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So really, more spectrum will allow connected users a better experience? Or will it just allow more connections, or both?

If Sprint does it right (armchair quarterback) and it's possible to deploy another 5x5 it should double the capacity. It should do both in theory...

The risk, is then people start using their unlimited data and we are right back here again.

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Pardon my ignorance, but if and when Sprint implements the USCC spectrum for LTE here in Chicago, will that help with speeds in these really bogged down areas? Or does it simply boil down to what the fiber connection can handle.

It will without a doubt. Fiber, even with the cheapest equipment will do a gig. The backhaul provider would need to change the rate limit on the connection, which can be done remotely. Also, Based on what mhammett said low SNR is not caused by backhaul.

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I have followed some of the SINR concerns in this thread and will offer my honest assessment, which may or may not prove correct.

 

I would like to buy the external explanation -- T-Mobile PCS C block adjacent interference -- but I do not. A 200 kHz FDD GSM channel at the upper edge of the PCS C block license should not cause sufficient interference to debilitate a 5 MHz FDD LTE carrier in the PCS G block. Plus, with GSM frequency reuse, that GSM channel would be present on only one out of every 9-12 sectors.

 

Instead, I go with the "unlimited" data folly. Like it or not, the original band 25 5 MHz FDD carrier is probably already hitting its capacity. Only the additional band 26 5 MHz FDD single carrier and band 41 20 MHz TDD carrier(s) will fix this problem. I wish that Sprint would act responsibly and ditch "unlimited" data, but then many of you would ditch Sprint out of spite. So, we are stuck...

 

AJ

If it is a airlink capacity issue it is interesting how it destroys speeds regardless of how strong the rsrp is. I always observed with evdo you could fight through the noise if you got a stronger signal if the airlink was saturated (not backhaul)

It's a dangerous topic here but I really wish sprint would keep unlimited data but make it really expensive, then give you a credit based on how little data you use. My use depends a lot on if I am traveling which is very sporadic.

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To all that contribute to this forum, I want to thank you. I have been following this forum for about 18 months. After a decade of being a Sprint customer (longer if you include when I used to buy long distance from them), I stopped September 2012 (had not been on contract for about a year).

 

I bought the Galaxy Nexus and started using prepaid carriers. I have tried three different ones (SimpleMobile, T-Mobile, AIO wireless). Each had strengths and weaknesses, but all were better than Sprint when I left Sprint. I liked Sprint a lot. My first smartphone was on Sprint (HTC Hero) and then I upgraded to the HTC Evo (which I still think was years ahead of its time). I happened to work in an area with Clearwire and thus I could use my phone a lot, especially tethering since nobody actually kept track of data usage on Clearwire until the very end.

 

I happen to be eligible for the student offer from Best Buy and Sprint. So, I was considering getting the LG G2. But, from the way it sounds, Sprint continues to have issues. So, my question is is it worth me spending $600 on a phone to go back to Sprint for free service for a year (well like $180 for the year for the upgraded data and taxes)? From the posts of the last two weeks, it seems like it would not be. I spend most of my time in Waukegan, other parts of Lake County and the NW suburbs.

 

It seems that Sprint continues to have data and call issues, and I don't want that again. Just to give an example, I have zero bars on T-Mobile in my office right now, but I still get 5.5 mbps upload and 3.8 down. I only occasionally drop a call.

 

So, thoughts on whether it is worth coming back to Sprint right now?

It depends entirely on where you use it. In the suburbs it generally works well. I have not dropped a call in months.

Right now we seem to have some ridiculously slow LTE areas especially downtown. Otherwise EVDO seems to be usable ALMOST everywhere.

In Chicago Sprint is about to get an additional 20mhz in the PCS band from US cellular. All phones will be able to use that additional spectrum. I am crossing my fingers that LTE gets better then. The g2 will also be able to use additional LTE bands that are being fired up now in Chicago.

If you want to switch give it a shot for a couple weeks. If it doesn't work well in the areas you frequent then return everything and go back.

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It shouldn't. You can literally implement the same day you want to as there's tons of cellular backhaul in unlicensed 5.8 and now 60 GHz. Our licensed gear has been in place for over a year, seemingly waiting on the fiber to be ready.

 

 

I think ClearWave is the only Illinois BTOP winner I'm not working with. ;-)

 

There's new microwave here going in for all the carriers, even while almost all towers have fiber nearby from someone that offers FTTT services. *shrugs*

Are you aware of any equipment shortages somewhere we can't see (inside the cabinet)? I didn't realize that other areas of the country with mw backhaul are delayed as well.

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I'm not sure I would call Dekalb small. It has the same issues Crystal Lake has (another not so small town) where the microwave backhaul install seems to have dragged on forever.

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I apologize everyone. The team I needed to speak with to gain access to a SA isn't here today. I will try again on Monday.

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If I can get access to a SA and I can check the band please everyone keep in mind that even if it shows that there is signal in the guard band between the Sprint G block and T-Mobile it probably won't prove that T-Mobile is the cause and it for sure won't prove that T-Mobile is intentionally doing it. I really don't want an industry event created from the picture.

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Although it probably wouldn't prove anything I would like to see a spectrum analyzer to see if there is interference from a neighboring band. I'm not sure if I can but I will see if I can fire one up at work. No promises though.

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This actually would make sense T-Mobile likely has in the same vicinity as sprint. That's why we are seeing a 55 RSRP (insane signal strength) but horrid SNR.

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I'm betting on PCS Band G interference, in the mean time you guys can turn LTE OFF.

 

It tells me a lot the other PCS bands are operational along with 800 1xA. I suspect the issue is interference in band G.

Your right. It would be nice to find out what the interference is coming from. Are any other markets seeing this?

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This was LTE speed on the SW side of Palatine. I took this screenshot yesterday but this morning the speeds were similar.

Here is evdo from the same location. This is very strange in my mind.

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I think the discussion here by other folks about these issues has been very valuable. I know it is to me. Some of these issues effect me as well.

I obviously cannot speak for the mods but I don't think discussing this issue was what they were concerned about. I am going to try and pay more attention tomorrow to the speeds and snr since the problem area seems to be expanding.

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