645824

On 9/9/2019 at 8:24 AM, 645824 said:

I am using qty=4 of the 100 GB/month plans.  Each MiFi8000 has an individual plan and an individual phone number at $65 each, that comes to $260.  So it is a tad more expensive than my existing $240/month for 120 GB.  

My four MiFi8000 units are load-balanced by the MAX-OTG-U4.  So it distributes the load among the four and also (might) make things more reliable.  I've been watching the load graphs over the weekend and the MAX-OTG-U4 is doing what it is supposed to.

Although there are other features in it (speed aggregation, etc.) I didn't activate any of those features.  Quite frankly, 20 Mbps is fine for what I need.  I just need a good download speed for video streaming (there's no cable where I am), and a reasonable upload speed for the plethora of security cameras that I have.

Update:  it has been a couple of weeks now and things are still working fine.

The only issue that I ran into is that if the external dual-antenna is attached, and the MiFi 8000 has trouble locking onto a signal, then it keeps rebooting over and over every 30 seconds.   I tried re-positioning the antenna but for the time being I've switched back to just using the built-in (internal) antenna.  I've lost some signal levels (a bar or two) but will spend more time on the weekend to get better positioning of the antennas for less unit-to-unit interference.

I just wish it would allow the removal of the battery.  The USB cables are providing power to the units, so I don't need the batteries. But when I take the battery out, it shuts down. It really seems to be designed for the battery in-place whether we want it or not.  I haven't looked into what jumpers/loads would be required to fool the battery connector.

Scott

23 hours ago, ingenium said:

Did you try Calyx? That was one person reporting potential throttling (I was one of the commenters on the post) over a year ago, and I was still unthrottled when I last used Calyx a few months ago. I suspect his site just got congested (which happened on my site as well. Verified with my Sprint phone getting the same performance).

Calyx is coded as a "Spectrum Mobile Broadband 30GB" plan, which should not be throttled or deprioritized. It is a metered plan just like the one you're on now. It incurs overages after 30GB (expensive on paper, like $20 or $30/GB) in theory, but Calyx / Mobile Citizen have basically an unlimited bucket that these overages come from.@lilotimz can explain it better, but basically Sprint doesn't charge them for the overages. Sprint would need to re-code the plan I believe to throttle it, since the Spectrum Mobile Broadband plan is not throttled since it charges for overages.

Even if it did start getting deprioritized, if you can get a Magic Box and have it get a usable signal, it should bypass deprioritization. The deprioritization is done on a per eNB basis. Since you will be the only person on the MB eNB, it will be seen as uncongested and not deprioritized. In theory the MB is actually prioritized over other devices on the macro / donor.

If your setup is working for you and you're happy with it, that's fantastic and is what really matters. But there may be ways to save you a substantial amount of money for basically the same service (that is less complex), which is why we're suggesting them.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Nope, didn't try Calyx.  I'm burned out by all of the multi-step hoop jumping that I've gone through over the past several years.

I don't want to open the door to Calyx + Magic Box + Mobile Citizen + ...      At this point, I have a solution and it seems to be working.  It is horribly expensive but it is fast and reliable (and those are taking priority for my household right now).  A happy wife and happy children supersedes other issues.

Thanks for the pointers,

Scott

13 hours ago, belusnecropolis said:

I mean, do you do one channel per or just suction per plan via load balance? You could fake poor and get PC's for people at 10 bucks a month. Buy a Calyx sim, get an connected car ATT plan, a Verizon pUDP/FUDP, a 15/ month Kickstart plan, or any T-Mo UDP and adjust your TTL settings and achieve what you want. The hoops you mention are not that tough and no one has suffered an extreme loss that I know of and I was the first to call and say hey, xfer my calyx from this crappy battery hotspot to my netgear 6100D at the time, AND IT WORKED.

Listen, the rules do not apply. You can get guilt tripped all day about being a data abuser, you still need internet. Many are city dwellers that like to shit on anyone that doesn't subscribe to the idea of paying 150 a month for a cable drop. They literally hate people that don't live like they do, see any post about expanding rural coverage and you will be met with but we are the money. I appreciate your need and expound the great agility you took with no strings attached but you are going to eat it in fees and modem/battery replacement. 5G store sells stuff at a MAXXX premium. 

You are a smart guy, I hated the hassle too so I said adios Sprint. I can contribute and still know they are a garbage choice in my area.  

This is an awesome set of hardware. You have made a great setup that is futureproof and will handle other, more accommodating plans. 

I am using qty=4 of the 100 GB/month plans.  Each MiFi8000 has an individual plan and an individual phone number at $65 each, that comes to $260.  So it is a tad more expensive than my existing $240/month for 120 GB.  

My four MiFi8000 units are load-balanced by the MAX-OTG-U4.  So it distributes the load among the four and also (might) make things more reliable.  I've been watching the load graphs over the weekend and the MAX-OTG-U4 is doing what it is supposed to.

Although there are other features in it (speed aggregation, etc.) I didn't activate any of those features.  Quite frankly, 20 Mbps is fine for what I need.  I just need a good download speed for video streaming (there's no cable where I am), and a reasonable upload speed for the plethora of security cameras that I have.

I share your frustration.  In my area, there is no cable, DSL is 3 Mbps, Verizon throttles and severely limits, Tmobile limits, and AT&T coverage is spotty.  So I'm stuck with Sprint until something better comes along.  I'm just lucky that I am  "only"  3 miles away from the Sprint tower.

I've seen reports that Sprint is starting to throttle Calyx accounts also -- seems they wised up. At this point, I have eliminated finger-pointing; for any problem it is Sprint's fault since it is their contract, their tower, and their branded hardware.  Ever since my Clear (WiMax) was eliminated it has been a continual mish-mash and has been a continual headache.

I can take a headache; but when my wife or sons constantly say  "Daddy, fix the Internet"  it really digs...

As soon as something comes along that is reliable and cheaper, I'll jump.  Living in the "country" means that I'm not on any company's front-burner.  So right now I have internet, it works, and speeds are reasonable; but yes, it is horribly expensive.  So I can bide my time waiting for SpaceX's satellite-based system that should work BETTER in the country since there is less multi-path interference and clutter.

For those gentle readers who are confused, note that I'm paying $260/month for 400GB/month unthrottled.  So any hardware costs are ignorable...  When forced to abandon Clear's WiMax several years ago, then I had cycled through 3 passive 18dBi 6-foot long 2.5 GHz Yagi high-gain antennas, a Netgear modem, several routers, two Cradlepoint COR-IBR900's, one Cradlepoint COR-IBR1700, and a dozen SIM cards.  At that point, enough was enough.

Thanks,

Scott

Ingenium pointed me to this thread.  I just finished configuring my 4-headed system for the Sprint network using the new Sprint Inseego/Novatel MiFi8000.  Attached is a photo showing the configuration.

Router:  qty=1:  Pepwave MAX-OTG-U4 (Max On-The-Go with FOUR active USB ports).  Note that the "MAX-OTG" and "MAX-OTG-U1" just have 1 active port.  The MAX-OTG-U4 Supports 4 USB WAN ports, 1 ethernet LAN port, 1 ethernet WAN port, and WiFi connections.  Bought from 5Gstore.com

Modem:  qty=4: Sprint Inseego/Novatel MiFi8000 (a sister unit of the Verizon MiFi8800L).  The MiFi8000 supports Sprint's bands (e.g.  Band 41, etc.). Sprint has a sale right now.  $2.50 per month for 24 months (i.e.  $60).  Bought directly from Sprint. Arrived with everything configured -- plug and play.  No dinking around with SIM cards that don't fit,  aren't the right format, or aren't recognized.

Antennas: qty=4: Netgear AirCard MIMO Antenna. Bought from Amazon (B00DN3J03O). Quite frankly, the only reason why I got this was because it had the dual TS9 connectors and the cable is 50cm long.  I previously tried some TS9 to SMA adapters, but wasn't happy with how that worked.

Since I was paying $240/month for Sprint's old 120GB per month grandfathered plan, the plan for these 400GB is 4*$65 = $260/month.  Yes, it is horribly expensive, but I live out in the country and have had continual problems since Sprint bought Clear and disassembled WiMax.  Waiting for Verizon, waiting for SpaceX's satellite cluster. waiting for the continuous promises of fixed wireless, etc.  and I'm tired of continually jumping through hoops.  These companies could make a killing here in the country if they would just try...  And I'm not in the "country"; I'm 2 miles outside of city limits.  Even the pizza delivery people come out to me.  But no cable, and DSL tops out at 3Mbps here.  So I'm stuck with wireless.

Pros:

• The Pepwave MAX-OTG-U4 works fine with the MiFi8000.  Even though the MiFi8000 isn't in Pepwave's compatibility list, it was just plug-and-go for me.
• Speeds for a single MiFi8000 are 20 Mbps using a modest flat panel antenna.  I'm not getting dramatically more signal-strength bars than without, but it does allow me to stuff the units in a drawer and stack the units up willy-nilly.  The antennas will mount on a wall with a picture in front of them.
• The USB cable from the MAX-OTG-U4 powers the MiFi8000 units.  It doesn't have any problems driving all 4 of them.
• The MiFi8000 has TS9 connectors.  I would have preferred SMA, but the TS9's seem to work OK with this flat panel.

Cons:

• The battery has to stay in even though the MiFi8000 is on the USB cable.  If I take the battery out, it complains then shuts down.  Since it is going to be powered 24.7, this is probably going to eat the batteries and these unused batteries will need to be replaced periodically...

Thanks,

Scott

On 9/1/2019 at 3:40 AM, ingenium said:

Why don't you just sign up for a plan with Calyx institute? It's $500/year I think and is unlimited on Sprint. No deprioritization. You can get a Sierra Wireless modem and put it in a USB enclosure, and then just stick the SIM in it. You don't need to do a device swap with Sprint.

Sprint seems to be onto Calyx and some users are reporting throttling...

        https://www.reddit.com/r/Calyx/comments/9l0x16/is_sprint_throttlingdeprioritizing_calyx_users/

For me, I've been jumping through hoops for too long.  At this point, I will pay through the nose.  If there is a problem, then it is a Sprint device, with a Sprint logo and a Sprint SIM card, talking to a Sprint tower, so there isn't any finger pointing. 

I've gone through 5 modems in the past several years since Clear (WiMax) was bought by Sprint.  And climbed up on the roof more times than I care to remember diddling with my large passive high-gain antennas.   I would have jumped ship to Verizon long ago but their limits are way too small for me -- and Sprint's (Clear's) 2.5 GHz band (B41) just has so much potential...

I'll post in the hardware thread that you mentioned once my 4-headed hydra is operational.

Thanks for the heads up.

Scott

Since I'm out in the country and 5G won't be coming to me any time soon, I'm trying to upgrade my existing 4G LTE system.

I bought one of the new Sprint MiFi 8000 units (made by InSeeGo / Novatel).  This unit is similar to the Verizon MiFi 8800L; but the Sprint version includes Sprint bands such as Band 41.

So far, so good.  Then I purchased a small flat panel antenna with TS9 connectors (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DN3J03O).  The MiFi 8000 and MiFi 8800L have TS9 coax connectors under the little rubber covers.

So now SpeedTest is showing 56 Mbps.  I have never ever gotten anywhere near this speed with any of my other configurations, so I'm very happy!

The largest plan from Sprint for the MiFi 8000 is the 100GB/month plan.  So I bought 4 of them.  Yes I know it is silly, but the cost for my existing 120GB grandfathered plan in July was $600 (due to the overage charges).  Ouch.  So 400GB/month here I come...

Now for the tricky bit.  I know that I need to do load balancing across the 4 plans.  So I could either go with a USB based system (such as the Peplink MAX-OTG-U4) or an ethernet based system (such as the Peplink Balance One).  I already tried a simple USB to ethernet dongle from C2G but that didn't work.  It seems that a WiFi router that supported WISP (such as TP-Link 3020 or 3040) would be a possible solution, but I don't really want that many antennas sitting on the table...

At this point I am stuck and would appreciate some advice.  How to tie my four MiFi 8000 units into my existing Cat6 gigabit wired ethernet house.

Thanks,

Scott

13 minutes ago, belusnecropolis said:

Try adjusting your MTU metric in LAN settings from 1500 to 1438. This is a common occurrence with Sprint service on embedded LTE radios. Is your data provisioned through Sprint or third party?

My service is through Sprint (not a third party on the Sprint network).

Setting my Cradlepoint COR-IBR1700 as follows;  reported by speedtest.net:

• MTU=1500, 100Mbps, half-duplex:  30 Mbps
• MTU=1500, 100Mbps, full-duplex: 2 Mbps
• MTU=1438, 100Mbps, half-duplex: 28 Mbps
• MTU=1438, 100Mbps, full-duplex: 3 Mbps
• MTU=792, 100Mbps, half-duplex: 27 Mbps
• MTU=792 100Mbps, full-duplex: 2 Mbps

fast.com  produces consistent numbers.

TCPoptimizer liked 792 the best, so I tried that also.  The values from 30 to 27 Mbps are probably just traffic related, so I see those as the same.  It is the dramatic difference between half-duplex and full-duplex that is my concern.

Thanks,

Scott

I've made a discovery about my home's network setup and would appreciate some advice.

Using my new Cradlepoint COR-IBR1700 for connection to the internet via a cellular connection, the local ethernet port on the IBR1700 can be set.  The factory default has it on AUTO, which  it reports running at 10Mbps.  That speed was horrible.  My house is wired for gigabit and all of my switches are gigabit. So I manually set the IBR1700 to 1000, which also necessitated full-duplex (since there is no such thing as 1000 half-duplex).  That speed was also horrible also. 

So then I set the IBR1700's ethernet port to 100 half-duplex, and now I get 30 Mbps from  speedtest.net  and  fast.com    Changing to 100 full-duplex drops back down to 1 Mbps.  So clearly, my Sprint connection to the IBR1700 doesn't like full-duplex at any speed.

Note that I'm not changing the setting from the IBR1700 to Sprint (I don't seem to have access to that), I'm changing the connection from the IBR1700 wired ethernet connector to the rest of my home.

I think that most cell radios are half-duplex (I'm on Sprint's 4G LTE here in Patterson).  I'm just surprised that there isn't a big recommendation somewhere that says to run at half-duplex when connecting to cell.

Can anyone confirm or deny?  This was a big surprise to me; but I'm pleased with the 30x speedup between half-duplex and full-duplex.

Thanks,

Scott

Verizon has a map of their 5G pole-mounted locations in Sacramento.

The map that I have attached comes from here:

https://sacramentocityexpress.com/2018/09/12/worlds-first-commercial-5g-internet-service-arrives-in-sacramento-oct-1/

Scott

A few days ago, my speed jumped from a few Mbps (where it had been consistently for several years) to 40 Mbps.  And it has been there consistently for the past couple of days.

I didn't do anything on my end, so I'm guessing that Sprint upgraded the backhaul for the tower(s).

For reference, I have a Cradlepoint COR-IBR900 (it replaced my flaky Netgear 6100D about a year ago). But I have had minor issues with the IBR900; it had problems with carrier aggregation -- kept ping-pong'ing between Band 25, 26, 41, and from tower-to-tower. This jumping/hopping caused drop-outs and dead-times. I've been working with the Cradlepoint folks since March to resolve these firmware issues. I installed a new device firmware (6.4.2) and modem firmware  (2.26.01.00_SPRINT) about a week ago. So I can't say if the new 40 Mbps speed is because of the Sprint tower or the updated IBR900.

Regardless, I am very happy at the moment.  I hope that it continues. After many many years (starting with Clearwire's WiMax), I am finally getting what was promised those many years ago.

Thanks,

Scott

PS   I had two Sprint Magic Boxes, but just sent them both back. The concept is good -- it is a microcell for talking to devices on Band 41 inside of a building, while the MB talks to the cell tower from a window. However, for me, I would have needed an external antenna port to use it effectively. The Magic Box kept talking to the cell tower on Band 25, which defeats the whole purpose.

Or you know...

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-420-whats-in-the-box-oh-oh-oh-its-magic/

 

Any modifications to the unit will result in $140 charge and cancellation of Sprint account as it's property of Sprint at all times. 

Thanks, I hadn't seen that thread on the 540 (Airspan black version).  Very nice.  The 545 (Sprint white version) seems to be the same, but with a higher transmit power (the links in my two posts are for the 545).

It appears that there are 6 antennas, so I'm out of luck attaching my own antenna anyway.

Once I receive it, I'll give it a try as-is.  If that doesn't work, I may still need to put it on the roof to get line-of-sight to the Sprint cell tower.  So I would need to find a plastic environmental box that is large enough.  And it needs to survive my 118 degree summers.

Thanks for the pointer.

Scott

And here is the AirUnity (Sprint Magic Box) FCC Label:

https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3281386

And details on the antenna (it appears to be a grid of 6 antennas; presumably a MIMO configuration):

https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3281378

Based on this, there appear to be 6 U.FL connectors.  So I'm out of luck switching-out since I only have two high gain antennas.  And 9 dBi isn't too bad...

The power draw says 4.3 Volts at 2 Amps.  That is a lower voltage than I would have guessed for this kind of box...

The User's Manual and internal photos will be available in August 2017.

Scott

The Sprint Magic Box is made by AirSpan.  It is their AirUnity product:

http://www.airspan.com/airunity/

And here is a little more detailed info, including photos of the bottom of the unit:

https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3281384

https://fccid.io/PIDAU545ENB25

It says that it is 2.506-2.68 GHz and 596 mW.  That's 27.8 dBm and LTE Band 41.

I was specifically looking to see if there was an external antenna port. There doesn't appear to be.

Based on AirUnity's size and shape, I am also guessing that the unit has a flat-plate antenna. If so, then I would want to disconnect that and use my own high gain antenna. I'm hoping for a connector on the circuit board to make this switch-out easy.

It is also odd that all of the photos of the Magic Box on the Sprint web pages intentionally hide the plug that goes into the wall.  They like to hide the plug behind a curtain, a desk, or a plant.  Based on AirSpan's info, I'm guessing that there is a wall wart.  If true, that is good for me because I would like to put it on the roof and need a DC line (not AC).

Scott

It's a great little box that contains a small cell eNB that broadcasts a new LTE B41 signal for all compatible devices to connect to while it has a LTE UE Relay backhaul module that connects to a donor macro site. 

 

As long as there's a strong enough B41 signal, it'll latch onto it. Else it'll fall back to a B25 signal. 

I contacted the Sprint support folks on the status of my Magic Box delivery.  Due to the backlog, they said it takes 8 weeks to receive the box.

The one thing that attracts me to the Magic Box is that supposedly it locks onto a single cell tower.  Right now I am ping-pong'ing among 4 different towers.  This seems silly since I'm fixed wireless and this ping-pong'ing is probably the root of all of my problems.

Scott

Hi,

I just signed up for the new Sprint Magic Box:

https://www.sprint.com/apps/magicbox/

It is touted as a non-repeater; a micro-cell with a range of 100 meters. It sits in a window facing the cell tower.  It is large; I assume that is an internal flat-plate antenna (?).  It communicates on Band 41 (and 25 ?).  The photos show that it has an LCD screen.  I haven't seen any additional info on the unit.

Not sure if it will make any difference for me or not.  I'm already on Band 41.  But if it is smart enough to optimize onto a specific cell tower (using CA and MIMO ? ) and stop jumping around then I'll be happy.

According to my Cradlepoint COR-IBR900, I'm hopping between 4 Sprint towers (I've been tracking the TAC and CellID).  And I'm fixed wireless...  So I'm not moving, and I have a high-gain antenna pointed at the tower that I want.  But still, it is hopping from tower to tower.  Download speeds vary from 0.8 Mbps to 18Mbps depending on which tower it happens to be talking to.

Regardless, my new Cradlepoint IBR900 is much better than the Netgear 6100D that it replaced.

Once I signed up for the Magic Box, I got this automated blurb (below).

Scott

I finally replaced my old dying Sprint Netgear 6100D with a Cradlepoint COR IBR900.  Although I had an SIM adapter and the 6100D's SIM card went in and was recognized, and I tried to register it with Sprint, the Sprint network wouldn't accept it (the Netgear 6100D SIMGLT207A won't work in the Cradlepoint IBR900).  I had to go to a Sprint Corporate Sales office (Modesto, on Dale Road) to get the "right" SIM card (SIMGLW236C).

My connection to the new router is now excellent (i.e. my old 6100D was unpingable sometimes, but the IBR900 is always available).  However for the connection to the Sprint network itself I'm only getting 7Mbps even though I'm in a LTE-Plus zone on Sprint's map.  My RSSI is -71dB, RSRP is -100 dB, and SINR is 5.4 dB (I'm using a high gain external antenna).  I know that the antenna is doing something because I get -71 with my high gain antenna and only -84 with the little included bunny ears.  I've also got 2 of these high-gain antennas.  But on Band 41, it still says that it isn't getting aggregation even though I've checked that both ports on the IBR900 are indeed active..

So I'm still envious of all of you who are getting tens of Mbps.  I think that I've done everything that I can on my end.  

Thanks,

Scott

Sprint has (finally) updated their coverage map to include a larger map graphic.

http://coverage.sprint.com/IMPACT.jsp?ECID=vanity:coverage

Scott

According to the coverage map, the two towers in Patterson now support LTE-Plus. The tower on Orange Ave. is near my home. The other tower is over near I-5.

I noticed that my signal strength indicator went from 1 bar to 3 bars which is what told me that something had changed.  However, the RSRP is still -92.

Likewise, speedtest still indicates 8Mbps.

So they have done something to the towers, but perhaps they still need to do work on the back-haul.

Scott

Always point it at the same antenna sectors. 

I would agree if I had a quality signal coming from my local antenna or if my router combined the two signals in an intelligent way.

MIMO typically can be broken into three diversity criteria:  spatial diversity (avoiding beampattern nulls from destructive interference multibounce), polarization diversity (solved by orienting the antennas in 2 different polarizations), and beampattern diversity (to avoid nulls in the receiver antennas beampattern).

My problem is that the better tower is father away. And in the afternoon, the sun is in the line of sight to the closer tower.  My understanding is that most present MIMO receiver systems simply switch to the better signal from one of the antennas instead of doing something more sophisticated.   

In my case, I'm using this latter capability. Depending on where the sun is, my router uses antenna #1 or antenna #2. Unfortunately, my router doesn't tell me which antenna it is listening on.

Thanks,

Scott

I would appreciate some advice. I have two Sprint cell towers in my area. One tower is 3 kilometers away (in central Patterson) but hasn't been upgraded yet. The other is 7 kilometers away (in west Turlock).

I have a router bolted onto my mast with two SMA antenna input ports. I have two broadband 23 dBi antennas (800 MHz to 2.6 GHz). Because the closer tower hasn't been upgraded yet, I pointed my second antenna at the 7 km tower.  

But my router is MIMO with these two ports.  Should I point my two antennas to the same cell tower, even though that would be the 7 km tower (which supports MIMO) ?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Scott

Highly likely it's because the tower is being optimized. I've noticed this has become a huge thing for Sprint.

 

It's wise they are doing this considering how much more improved the experience is with a properly tuned antenna.

I really wish that were true.  I've been waiting since the Clearwire purchase for a more optimized tower. And certainly since the Clearwire shut-down in November; especially with the order to change-out the hardware.

I assume work on a tower would need to be scheduled months in advance. Seems like there should be a list somewhere for tower upgrades but every time I've called Sprint Network Support, they don't have any info on scheduling.

Anyway, my absurdly large tri-band anteanna is able to talk to the tower 8 miles away so I'm more happy now than I've been in a year.  At some point they should upgrade the tower a couple miles from me, then I might start to actually see LTE-Plus speeds (Spark, Enhanced, MIMO, etc.).  My other 23dBi Band41 grid parabolic antenna still points to the local tower.

Thanks,

Scott

Well, things were looking good  for about a month with an RSRP of -86 after I re-pointed one of my antennas to a Sprint tower 8 miles away that has LTE-Plus.  But starting a couple of days ago, my signal level has dropped down to -105.  My system is the same, the antennas are pointed the same way, and I've rebooted the Sprint 6100D several times.  

Now everything is back to normal and I'm back to an RSRP of -89.  

I wish there was a way to capture the signal strength for several weeks and make a graph.  Every time I call Sprint they always say that "there's no tower work going on with your tower, everything is fine".  But I definitely lost 20dB of signal for about a week.  

Thanks,

Scott

So I pointed my 24dBi antenna at that tower and I am now getting 17.9 Mbps download and 0.8 Mbps upload. I'm on Band 41.

Well, things were looking good  for about a month with an RSRP of -86 after I re-pointed one of my antennas to a Sprint tower 8 miles away that has LTE-Plus.  But starting a couple of days ago, my signal level has dropped down to -105.  My system is the same, the antennas are pointed the same way, and I've rebooted the Sprint 6100D several times.  

Speedtest.net still says that I'm getting 14Mbps.  But the issue now is connectivity.  Sometimes for spans of several hours I'm not getting any service at all.

Scott

So I pointed my 24dBi antenna at that tower and I am now getting 17.9 Mbps download and 0.8 Mbps upload. I'm on Band 41.

To follow up on my previous post:  it is  SpeedTerst.net  that said 17.9Mbps.  

Last night I downloaded Star Wars (4.7GB) from iTunes and got a peak of 1.3MBps (roughly 13Mbps; with overhead).  So the SpeedTest numbers seem believable for a peak number.  However, the iTunes download varied from a low of 20kbps to a max of 13Mbps.  As a result, the 4.7GB file took about 2 hours to download (4700MB/7200 seconds = 0.6MBps ~ 6Mbps).  Certainly much faster than it was a couple of months ago.

Still waiting for my local Sprint tower upgrade and I am eagerly awaiting a replacement for the Sprint Netgear 6100D and its constant need for a hard reboot. Sprint stopped selling it on their web page but the rep won't confirm any upcoming models.

Thanks,

Scott

They began removing references to Spark beginning back in October when we found out they were going to re-brand as LTE Plus. I believe LTE Plus refers  to Carrier Aggregation, while Enhanced LTE is just Band 41. It still doesn't actually refer to tri-band, because the coverage is specifically related to Band 41 coverage, rather than 25+26+41. 

Now that the Sprint coverage map has been upgraded to include Sprint LTE-Plus, my situation is now obvious.  I contacted the Sprint Network support folks and they confirmed the situation.  The tower near me (Orange Ave. in Patterson; 2 miles away) hasn't been upgraded yet; neither LTE-Plus nor the back-haul infrastructure.  However, a tower 8 miles away is running LTE-Plus (the tower on Crows Landing Road south of Modesto).

So I pointed my 24dBi antenna at that tower and I am now getting 17.9 Mbps download and 0.8 Mbps upload. I'm on Band 41.

At this point, the only problems that I've been having is needing to power cycle my Sprint Netgear 6100D every couple of days. In reading through other threads, this appears to be a common problem with the 6100D.  Sprint no longer sells the 6100D on their web store and they won't comment on when a replacement will be available. Netgear still sells the 6100D but doesn't list a newer model.  But I'm eager to replace my 6100D with something more stable.

I use about 100GB/month on Sprint's 120GB plan.

Thanks to all,

Scott

PS  I've reported to Sprint that the new yellow-on-yellow coverage maps are horrible and impossible to tell which yellow is which.  The rep said that they've heard this complaint from users many many times already. Apparently the marketing folks want as much yellow as possible in order to fill in the map (as opposed to using different colors for different coverage services). The other guys seem to game the system the same way (e.g. Verizon with various shades of red).  So doing a screen capture and using the eye dropper to get each color, then changing that color, seems a workable technique.