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shawn_kc

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Posts posted by shawn_kc

    SignalCheck - Android app to monitor your Wi-Fi/2G/3G/4G LTE/5G-NR signal strengths

    in General Topics

    Posted

    I am glad you added the 800 1xRTT alert. Love the app. Good Work!

     

    Yesterday I was sitting at lunch in a place I never had LTE before (ironically it was right across the street from the Sprint Center) when I heard the chimes.

     

    I also was at the Royals game last night where I hadn't had LTE before, granted I haven't been out there since last fall, when the chimes went off again. Such a sweet, sweet sound.

     

    Thanks again for the great app.

    • Like 2

    Network Vision/LTE - Kansas Market (including KC, Topeka, Wichita, St. Joseph)

    in Markets

    Posted

    People tend to be very loyal to one state or the other. I'm a Kansas guy who lives on the south side so my knowledge is more so in that area. I typically have pretty good signal when I'm out and about. Anytime you head deep into a big building like home depot or a walmart, LTE tends to fall off. I have the evo LTE which doesn't have very good RF performance so that might be part of it.

     

    As for google fiber, Kansas city Kansas (West side of town) is currently getting fiber installed. KC MO is also moving along. It was recently announced that Olathe ( Kansas suburb on the south west side) will be next. I'm guessing Overland Park (Kansas, south side where the Sprint Campus is located) and Leawood (Kansas South side) won't be far behind. Unfortunately, Olathe is probably 2 years out.

     

    I'm not sure if you have kids or not, but Olathe and Blue Valley school districts are really good.

    HTC One preview thread (was "Any M7 takers?")

    in HTC

    Posted

    I can't say I've ever been disappointed by the Evo LTE. Certainly, it was a huge improvement from my Epic 4G, even as far as RF was concerned. It may not do as well as the S3, but that doesn't make it bad in my opinion.

     

    If something changes and this phone ends up with 800/2500 support then I'll be like "Take my money! Take my money!". Otherwise, I'll wait it out with the Evo LTE.

     

    My wife has the S3 and I have the Evo LTE. She might get a little better signal, but it's not by much. My OG Evo was better than both of the new phones.

     

    I do love move Evo LTE and every time I pick up my wife's S3 I can't for the life of me figure out why people like Samsung phones. In my opinion Sense is a lot better than Touchwiz. It really surprises me more people don't like HTC.

     

    Slap some 800/2500 on the new phone and I'm with you, time to trade up.

    • Like 4

    SignalCheck - Android app to monitor your Wi-Fi/2G/3G/4G LTE/5G-NR signal strengths

    in General Topics

    Posted

    (This is from another thread; I'm replying here to keep it on-topic)

     

    A few weeks ago, cgass mentioned the same thing (here). I have seen this myself numerous times.. to me, it seemed to happen more frequently when the LTE rollout in my area was still in the very very early stages, but that certainly could just be a coincidence. Perhaps it's seeing something from a site that is broadcasting but the general public cannot connect to it yet? I really don't know.

     

    In my reply to cgass (here), I wondered out loud in one of my posts if this behavior could help explain why the EVO LTE seems to have trouble connecting (and holding onto) LTE where some other devices have no problem at all. It made me very curious, since many people (most of whom know way more about this stuff than I do) claimed it was a problem with the EVO's antenna or reception capabilities. My uneducated opinion is that it is a firmware or software issue, not hardware. Seeing LTE signal through SignalCheck despite my EVO not connecting to it was a large part of forming that opinion.

     

    As the developer, I can tell you that SignalCheck will display any signals the device "sees", regardless of the technology the device is connected to at the time. To put it as basic as I can.. the "get the signal strength measurement" part of the code is independent of the "are we on 2G, 3G, or 4G right now" part of the code. SignalCheck doesn't really calculate a whole lot on its own; that's by design. If your device "sees" -105 dBm RSRP LTE, SignalCheck is just going to show you. The app doesn't care if it's actually connected to LTE or not.

     

    Once I get LTE Cell IDs working, it will be very interesting to see if there is any correlation between the availability/completion level of the site and the ability to "see" signals that you can't connect to.

     

    -Mike

     

    I experienced the same thing at work last week. The tower has been listed as having LTE complete for the past couple of weeks but I could never connect. LTE signal would show up in the app, but the phone would never connect. Today, I was able to connect to LTE for the first time. My guess is that when the towers are blocked, the phone still picks up the signal, it just can't connect.

    • Like 1

    LTE Advanced Questions

    in Network, Network Vision/LTE Deployment

    Posted

    According to this website, " http://gigaom.com/20...yment-for-2013/ " Sprint plans on release LTE Advanced in a 10x10 deployment on the 800Mhz spectrum.

     

    Question 1: I know that current phones don't support LTE on 800Mhz, but will current phones like the EVO 4G LTE and SGS 3 be able to access the faster speeds of a 10x10 network?

     

    Question 2: Will they have to do a hardware upgrade on the tower to go from 5x5 to 10x10?

     

    That article is over a year old. Things a lot since then.

    Jobs in the Field

    in General Topics

    Posted

    I'm a college student about a year away from graduating with a Computer Information Systems degree. So all this watching and tracking NV progress has gotten me curious lately. What types of jobs are there related to cell service? In all likelihood this will not be the career path I take, but for curiosities sake I figured I'd look into it. I think being a part of building and maintaining cell infrastructure would be an interesting career. Not just for Sprint and NV, but the industry in general. I'd imagine most of the techs probably have engineering degrees. Anyone able to offer any insight?

     

    I'm sure most companies have home grown software for monitoring, analyzing and evaluating the network. I was at a Microsoft meeting where some new technologies were being presented, and there were a few people from Sprint there. They were trying to build a system to help them determine how to help with roaming costs.

     

    As far as doing something specific with the network, then a telecom background would probably be better.

    Network Vision/LTE - New York City Market

    in Markets

    Posted

    I've been complaining for years about poor data and dropped calls in my neighborhood.

    It doesn't seem much ever gets done to improve the quality of service on the netwrok.

    The only solution Sprint has for you is a free Airrave, the netowrk has only gotten worse over the years.

    I wonder to myself sometimes how could they have let the sites be so neglected and overwhelmed?

    Things like that don't just happen overnight, it's not just since the addition of the iPhone either.

     

    I think Sprint put a lot into the Wimax deployment done by Clearwire, which helped in areas where you could get a signal. Unfortunately, their network didn't receive the attention it needed. They are now trying to correct the issue. NV is a huge project that should resolve the data issues in most cases. I believe NV will also give Sprint more proactive monitoring of their towers performance so hopefully they can fix issues before people notice.

    • Like 2

    New York City Faster Speeds

    in Markets

    Posted

    wow, '96. old school. here's my basic beef with this whole roll out thing, and perhaps one of the experts here can address it since I'm by no means an expert on Sprint's network. the more threads I read here discussing NV, the more I start seeing built-in excuses for why this either won't work particularly well in places like the NYC metro area, or why it'll be a hell of a long time before we're seeing consistent service here anywhere near the level Sprint claims it'll be. my concern has to do primarily with the sheer amount of work required to guarantee a high level of service beyond those who are right next to NV towers at an optimal time of day. Sprint, in my experience with them since data demands have soared, has not been even competent when it comes to providing service at the level of its competitors for a consistent period of time. Apart from the few outliers who report very high network speeds, the majority of people in this area don't get even good data speeds from Sprint with any reliability. Now, I fully understand that Sprint has come up against certain technological limitations and that's the reason for its network overhaul. But is it reasonable to assume that the same poor decisions that resulted in WiMax and shoddy tech support for several years will do a complete 180 just because they've said so?

     

    Wimax was rolled out by Clearwire, not Sprint. Sprint LTE will be better because it will be on their towers, which will put LTE almost everywhere evdo is located.

     

    The biggest problem with the data speeds is backhaul to towers. As part of the NV, the backhaul will be upgraded, which will fix a big part of the data speed issues. Currently, most of the tower backhaul are T1s. The data limit on a T1 is about 1.4 meg. The requirement for the new backhaul is somewhere around 300 to 400 meg. There are some other things that could be causing the data issues, but lack of backhaul bandwidth is by far the biggest issue.

    Sprint LTE August 2012 Schedule Maps

    in Network, Network Vision/LTE Deployment

    Posted

    Well, It's the end of August, and I have to say, I'm underwhelmed in Los Angeles.

     

    Am I the only one out here on the bay side that can't get like, any 4g? And why is 3g not more than 70kb?

     

    So sprint decides to launch 4g in Georgia somewhere near some rural roads and a place I've never heard of before called Sedalia... But they don't have anything in Santa Monica - one of the most densely populated cities in Los Angeles?

     

    Does this sound stupid to anyone else?

     

    Has anyone considered T-Mobile as an alternative? I know their coverage is rated 4th of the big carriers and their customer service isn't so great, but at least HSPA+ offers a few MBs of speed, the price is cheaper, and it's supposed to be unlimited data without throttling, and they're working to start and finish LTE advanced by the time that Sprint is... Why the hell am I paying $98 for "premium data" when all I get is dial-up?

     

    Sedalia is the location of the Missouri State Fair. I'm guessing that was the reason the little town getting LTE.

     

    Different vendors are doing different locations so even if the guys in Georgia started somewhere else, it wouldn't be on the West Coast.

     

    The slow data is rough. I deal with the same thing in downtown KC, and have for awhile. I know that the tower I connect to ( in the sponsor section) is scheduled to get upgraded in August, which won't happen since the month is over, but at least I know is getting close.

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