JohnnyAwesome

This site looks to be potentially a comounted Sprint Clearwire Site which I have seen on rooftop installs but not as a monopole. it could be that the Clearwire gear is connected via Microwave with other sites. 

I went out for some field work today and took some pictures.  Can you tell me what are on each of these towers? LTE?

 

 

 

 

Should be able to, but not sure.

 

Any clues as to where this is located?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

Probably colocated at the local switch or the nearest Sprint IP Backbone POP

This is something I've also been curious about. 

If you can pullup that IpV6 address would be interesting to see if it's a real IPv6 address. I think most devices that support ipv6 assing themselves a generic IP address in the ipv6 realm even if the network doesn't give it one, just like many devices do with a v4 address. 

I remember seeing on Sprint's ERT facebook a post about them having their new COWs and COLTS with 4g recertified to travel on military transport.

Ah ok I see. So the only thing that's left to do after the IDEN shutdown is site acceptance? Then they flip a switch then boom we have CDMA and LTE 800? And this starts happening within weeks of the IDEN shutdown?

Sorry to hijack 2 posts, once iDen is shutdown in the coming weeks after June 30th the 800mhz Spectrum will be freed up and since many sites already have the 800mhz RRU already installed they will be able to remotely control the base stations and enable 800mhz radio's on sites that are already completed. 

I'm guessing the t1s and power bills are much higher than the tower lease. I wouldn't expect a nv slowdown.

Was just wondering if NV work might slow down when the Nextel decommissioning starts?  I'm sure Sprint wants to get the equipment off the towers as quickly as possible so they can stop paying leases, power costs, backhaul costs, etc.  With crews already busy on the rollouts of all the carriers, do you think they might prioritize the Nextel work a little over NV to get the cost benefits sooner?

 

Just more of a general thought, not sure that anyone has heard anything on way or the other.

Network Vision wont be slowed down because of the iDen decommissioning as the companies who are removing the equipment are entirely different companies then the ones who are installing the gear. IE. The decommissioning contracts were awarded separately from Network vision. 

With the days limited I wish I still had an iDen device to see it happen

Does Sprint need to make another hardware change at all towers to remove CDMA carriers and add LTE carrier?

Eventually at some point down the road, Sprint will decommission CDMA once everything and everyone goes VoLTE CDMA will no longer be needed. It will start with down the road as MORE AND MORE devices are LTE and they see usage on the 3g network dropping and more traffic on LTE they can shift carriers around without any physical change.  But sooner then later you may see them doing a bit of a shift like T-Mobile did take the number of 2G gsm channels down and use them to retune their HSPA network. 

Thanks I know much more than I did before, and the VoLte sounds good. So when will it be released?

That's a bit up in the air, Sprint is going towards 1X Advanced for now which provides increased coverage and capacity, and since VoLTE still has some maturity issues some carriers including Verizon have put off the process for a little while. From my understanding there is some serious battery drain issues.

I carry about 3 or 4 with me at a time in my briefcase.

 

Robert via LG Optimus G using Tapatalk

Yes I'm a Multiple Phone carrying person but I love my Optimus G so far, radio performance might actually seem a little better then my Photon Q. If I'm correct this device has 800MHZ SMR so will be interesting to see how in some of the subterranean depths of Manhattan I pass through 800MHZ performs since Nextel works very well in some of the depths. Now bring on the Jelly Beans!

It goes to the MSC, which you can determine by clicking on the sites pin, and from there it is routed out to the larger internet. Not sure if a VPN is strictly necessary as they have their own backhaul to the MSC. AFAIK, there is no central NOC in Overland Park/Kansas City, except for the respective MSCs for that market. Perhaps they have some kind of warroom at the campus. Also, this is for data, I do not know the ins and outs of how they route voice. Now Robert and AJ, let us know if that is all wrong.

Yeah from my traceroutes on Sprint's nothing goes through Kansas city for no good reason especially out here on the east coast with major hubs for connections in DC and NY. The connections from each tower are a private point to point connection via metro ethernet/fiber no public internet is involved until the connection reaches through the MSC in your respective area, no VPN's as that as complexity and reliability issues.

I believe this is H003XC250 in Houston at the West Park Toll Road and Beltway 8. Sorry for the crappy pictures, I was driving 75 MPH and held down the shutter on the my EVO LTE. Wish I had my DSLR and wasn't driving.

 

Always wondered how they worked on antennas a top transmission lines. Not for the faint of heart, but I wouldn't expect the gentlemen who do this for a living to be scared of much. I'm especially fascinated with this as I am an Electrical Engineer (Don't mess around with HV though). Because of this site, all I do on my commute now is stare at cell towers and power lines.

On my commute I stare for cell towers but in some of the more "well to do" townships and localities that I pass through on my commute from Philadelphia to NYC and back everyday they are stealth and quite a few Cell-Pines along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in NJ.

In all likelihood, there is not outage. That rep is just trying to give you a reason to get you off the phone. I have said it a million times: do not call Sprint, talk to an entry level worker, and expect to get accurate information about the network or deployment.

 

Network Vision rollout is far along in Chicagoland, but it is not complete yet. So, your LTE coverage may still improve. However, LTE is a more fragile airlink than is CDMA1X or EV-DO. So, LTE coverage indoors will not likely be as good. But if you are at home, why do you need LTE? Why are your phones not on Wi-Fi?

 

AJ

or When having iPhone5 Data Problems, Told me "The Towers Are Weird Like that" when several coworkers have Sprint devices no 3g issues, had my tri-fi in 3g only mode and my moms android running data and the only device not connecting to 3g was the iPhone. Needless to say I returned it for that. But don't dare ask an entry level rep ANYTHING about Network Vision.

It will get approved but they need to detail what steps sprint/softbank will do in the security agreement.

 

Softbank does have a lot of chinese telecom equipment installed - this was one of the ways that they were able to undercut the traditional telecoms in japan (that used NEC and other japanese infrastructure).

 

Back in october, Bloomberg did note that Huawei might come up...

 

http://www.bloomberg...print-deal.html

Well There will not be at this point be any Huawei equipment in the Network Vision project... Potentially depending on what happens with the Clearwire Spectrum they could be pressed into service since Clear has already done some business with them and has some network elements from them.

Stupid FastTrack screwing up my weekends on the 7 train.

Not to make this a MTA NYCT Discussion but the weekend work on the 7 is to Install "Communications Based Train Control" when the R188 comes out the 7 will be computer controlled for hopefully more trains during rush hour.

Ageed (never posted an introduction of my own) but another suggestion is to download the free Sensorly app and map your travels and help others see where Sprint's coverage is picking up.

I think Sprint is fully prepared to give up EBS spectrum. It has almost no value. It is better geared for local ISP use anyway. Trying to manage 400 separate leases with varying terms and expirations has been a nightmare for Clearwire. Also, who wants to go spend a lot of money installing a network in a market using EBS spectrum on a lease that expires in one or two years and the educational institution comes back with unreasonable demands? It's a nightmare scenario. About 1/3 of Clearwire EBS leases expire in the next two years. And some EBS lessees are planning a big show down.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

Agreed that EBS isn't a very good match for Sprint with control over Clear. They will still have plenty of BRS spectrum to work with. Hopefully the EBS spectrum will get to put to use. I hope maybe universities could partner with local gov/ and or ISP's to setup small community systems to serve under served both economically and due to broadband coverage issues. But this is about Sprint not building Muninetworks

Wait, Verizon is providing fiber to Sprint sites in some places? If that's the case, I would hope that Verizon would be running fiber to the Sprint towers in the NYC area rather than companies like Optimum and Time Warner having to run their Ethernet.

Verizon is the RBOC(Regional Bell Operating Company) in NYC, meaning they have control over a lot of the fiber in the city. I would't be doubtful if they are providing Metro ethernet to some sites that are on top of certain buildings that may have near Verizon Monopoly due to choice or no one else being interested. Especially in a post-Sandy world in NY, It would be better for Sprint to have diversity in who handles backhaul when possible.

This brings up a great old topic. 2500 priority! Now Sprint will have no reservations about 2500 > 1900 > 800

They probably knew this was coming as I forget in which piece of material but there was mention of a 3rd frequency at some point

Got this in the Columbia University Area of Manhattan on a trip there(did some speed testing in areas already Sensorly'd

Yeah, that's what I saw too. Sorta sucks, because ideally I would walk/bike around with it in my pocket mapping 4G. Also, I unwillingly set my phone to CDMA-only, so I was in an LTE area not mapping 4G for a good couple hours today

I was in DC yesterday and noticed 4g becoming more alive on the edges of the city (Was going to see a friend in Silver Spring) but that darned METRO Shuttle Bus put a crimp in those plans wasn't worth it. I Megabused it back to Philadelphia, got a good portion of coverage on MD-295 not sure where it cut in but almost all the way to the Harbor Tunnel

Oh yes I was a Cingular Kid back in the day, I had a Nokia 6340i then a Razr V3XX the 6340i's we had were solid backup phones... Recently resurrected one from the junk drawer to aide in a phone bank for a local candidate in the just past election. But onwards and upwards with Network Vision.

This isn't the first time someone has charged fees for old gear, I remember Cingular charging fees for holding onto old TDMA/Analog Phones...

Well LTE is going to be a very spectrum fragmented technology worldwide, people though that the GSM 900/1800/1900 (even before 850 came into play) was fragmented, the sheer number of bands for LTE are freaking insane. I'd fully support Sprint in cooperation with Clear/Getting clear under their full control using the 2.5GHZ Spectrum to deploy Wideband LTE in dense urban areas and can use it to propel their network beyond others with their rich holdings in that band.

Sorry I started this thread and abandoned it, was dealing with Hurricane stuff and then yesterday after being shutdown for 2 days, major upheaval at work. Tuesday was the worst day for me phone service wise didn't loose signal or power but seemed all networks were congested.