Duffman

Talked to a gent today that works for a company that makes radomes. He said they run, like, 39 GHz. Must be able to carry quite a bit.

I inadvertently posted an internal doc so quickly deleted most of it. Although the doc was for public consumption, I just wanted to post the highlights and not the entire thing. Plus I was trying to take calls at the same time.

(I am posting this here rather than on other forums as I believe folks here are more intelligent and rational. Do not prove me wrong by insisting that you paid for Sprint unlimited data service so doggonit, you are going to not use wifi when it is available.)

Beginning 03/26/2012, Sprint launches Sprint Connections Optimizer on new Android phones, and pushing it out to existing phones via maintenance releases. Sprint Connections Optimizer is a free feature that automatically turns on WiFi or 4G radios at pre-specified locations and times of day. It locates customer’s home Wi-Fi and work Wi-Fi possibilities prompting them to setup. Samsung Epic 4G and HTC EVO 4G customers are the first to receive Sprint Connections Optimizer via a maintenance release. Additional devices receiving this feature are being determined.

This should help reduce load on congested 3G towers, reduce battery consumption and improve customer experience.

(Trust me. There are thousands of customers in 3G-only areas with their 4G radio on and an equal number that are constantly scanning for wifi networks they never connect to.)

How it Works

Devices with Sprint Connections Optimizer will scan at various times to assist in Wi-Fi setup or automatically connect to a customer’s remembered networks.

Prompts customer to set-up home Wi-Fi or work Wi-Fi possibilities, making auto-connection simple once network is remembered in Settings > Wireless & Network.

Devices will only connect to unsecured wireless networks if those open networks have been specifically chosen.

Customers can choose to forget remembered Wi-Fi networks via Settings > Wireless & Network.

In a small number of locations on the Sprint network, the feature may auto connect to 4G for short durations to improve data throughput at that location

Pro-active management of 4G connections where available may benefit the user experience with a faster connection speed.

If a data connection is unsuccessful, the Wi-Fi or 4G radios will return to previous state.

Customers can temporarily override automatic connections by manually setting the Wi-Fi or 4G radios to on or off.

How to Use

Sprint Connections Optimizer works best when the Wi-Fi or 4G radios are turned on and off automatically using logic within the feature. Refrain from overriding the feature by constantly toggling radios on and off. Customers should setup their preferred Wi-Fi connections in Settings > Wireless & Network, making connection to a Wi-Fi network in range automatic.

How to Disable

To disable the feature:

To temporarily disable:

Other points I found worth repeating:

Sprint does not collect any customer information with this app.

Sprint will not force or automatically connect customers to unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Open Wi-Fi networks must be manually setup as a remembered network in the Wireless & Networks section of Settings in order to establish automatic connection.

Sprint Connections Optimizer is an enhanced connection management feature under the system settings of the device. It is not an app that can be found in the Applications Tray but will appear within the Applications section of Settings. The feature cannot be deleted from the device like applications. However, it can be disabled. Customer’s accessible memory is not used. The Sprint Connections Optimizer feature is stored in the system partition and cannot be controlled.

 

Thanks Duffman' date=' that's some very awesome news. There was a time that sprint worked fairly well in NMB, and was faster than Verizon. You gave me some hope, and something to look forward to. Now if only sprint, and the other providers were so fourth coming with their plans... Perhaps folks won't up, and leave them so hastly.[/quote']

 

I agree. The big problem last summer was the lack of COWs. Hopefully this additional spectrum helps though they have to also have the COWs I suspect.

 

A disaster is to kind! I live near zip 29569 which is close to conway' date=' myrtle beach, north myrtle beach, and little river areas. Despite all the folks that flocks here during the year for their vacation this area is always the last on any list of updates. Rather it's getting lte from verizon, att, or even sprint NV updates. I'm not even looking for NV updates for this area till the last roll outs. Given the fact they're going to get rid of all nextel towers when everything is said n done with... I don't see NV updates improving this area at all. There's just not enough sprint cell sites and they're space to far apart. It sucks wanting to support sprint but having to use an airwave when you're just three miles out of town and from a major highway.[/quote']

 

I looked into your market to see what has been done. Here is what one of the towers in N. Myrtle Beach experienced last summer when the hordes of vacationers swamped the tower. (Also check out this recent Spring Break blip.)

 

 

 

Good news is that there is significant work being done in the area to address the issues. On the 23rd, the Market Manager announced the "deployment of newly acquired spectrum has begun in the Myrtle Beach market with approximately 10% of the previously constrained sites receiving relief and 27 more sites in the pipeline."

 

Hope this is good news for you.

and for the record I'm gay too.

...Adding you to the gay list....

I grew up being an over-exaggerating person.

...Adding you to the gay list, too....

 

This is as close as I could get.

 

Wow. Sprouted another radome.

Double crossed

i totally understand where he is coming from. i wasnt trying to go on a tangent. i love sprint as a company' date=' i guess its just the way i talk. im gay so i tend to exaggerate when i speak or talk. so my apologies [/quote']

 

My daughter is gay but very reserved. I am not sure that is linked sexual identity. Lol.

 

I am all for looking at Sprint critically and do not think they are any better or worse than the others. I just do not want this place to end up as another place where people just complain about how evil Sprint is. After all, there are already places for that like sprint.com.

 

Sorry about jumping you. I am a bit edgy lately.

From FierceWireless (Get the idea yet that you should subscribe to their alerts?)

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration found that 95 MHz of spectrum currently in federal hands, the 1755-1850 MHz band, could be repurposed for commercial wireless use. However, the agency identified several challenges to do doing so, including finding adequate substitute spectrum for other federal agencies, how spectrum might be shared and how that might affect the timelines of a transition. As part of its review, the NTIA recommended both relocating federal users and sharing spectrum between federal agencies and commercial users.

Full report

For you spectrum geeks, what do you think?

Also, my info shows only 220 agents took calls for Sprint there.

The contract was not renewed because that call center had some of the worst stats in the company.

So the calls will go to a center that performs well who will then hire more agents.

IOW, the did it to themselves.

I thought it had something to do with hassling with Google. AFAIK, you can load both Google Play and/or Amazon Market after you purchase the phone.

No need to have 10+ megabits. Its all about the latency and jitter of the line. One voice call on it only pulls about 100 kilobits or so.

Actually, only 40Kbps per conversation. You are spot on. Speed is not the problem. Line quality is.

Also, don't buy. If you have an indoor coverage issue, Sprint will send you an Airave at no charge. http://sprint.com/airaveaccesspoint

Hmm. Can it reduce the number of voice minutes used on the sprint phone directly?

It uses the minutes on your phone just as if it was not integrated.

pretty much i get to sit on my ass all night long...kinda sucks cause i gained alot of weight

Sounds like the job for me. I already have the weight.

It should have no effect on your usage. Or am I misunderstanding your question?

Just got back from a week at mrytle beach.

Myrtle Beach is a disaster. Sprint used to have a bunch of COWs there for the holiday parts of the year when the population swells there. There are like 30,000 residents but the location gets millions of visitors a year. Because of the disasters in the midwest (tornadoes, floods, etc), the COWs were not deployed. However, I have not heard much going on now so have no clue why they were not deployed there now... other than money and Sprint is pushing that to NV.

Yay! Got it working. I used a hacked version that takes out the check for root.

http://forum.sdx-developers.com/index.php?topic=16930.0

Woot! Just saw in our internal network tool that there was a LTE tower deployed along the route hone. If I have time I will take pics. I am pretty sure Sprint will not care as long as I do not give out the address... Though fricken Robert will probably figure it out magically.

This is as close as I could get.

Woot! Just saw in our internal network tool that there was a LTE tower deployed along the route hone. If I have time I will take pics. I am pretty sure Sprint will not care as long as I do not give out the address... Though fricken Robert will probably figure it out magically.

Yeah, I have WIMAX where I live. I take the light rail to work and I have a solid WIMAX signal the whole way and stream music and surf the net on my commute.

 

I don't have WIMAX in my office building in downtown Minneapolis, not sure if it's because the signal is weak, or if it's because I'm on the 31st floor. 3G in the office is super slow, but it's fast enough to still stream music.

 

Buying a Photon on craigs list isn't something I considered, but it doesn't sound like a bad idea. Thanks!

On the 31st floor, you are probably just connecting to 1X. I have no idea about your own tower, but other folks I have talked to in skyscrapers that can see whether or not they have 1XRTT versus EVDO have said they only get 1X. I suspect that there is basic voice service 1XRTT transmitters in the building to provide coverage as towers down below would not reach it. And forget about 4G. If possible, use wifi.

Photon has excellent reception and would be a nice replacement phone. However, you need to look at your bill closely for both data AND voice usage including Any Mobile, Any TIme as well as Nights and Weekends at 7 p.m. Make sure the other company's plan will economically meet your needs. If the price is right, I would probably go with the other carrier until my towers were upgraded. However, be very very careful not to overlook some usage you have now that is not included with them.

Let's also not forget that the Network Vision towers have the radios up by the antennas rather than on the ground, meaning less loss and more power. (Right?)

Sprint would do well to offer 100 MB to 500MB of free tethering per month as part of Premium Data for the casual user who will only use tethering periodically and unpredicably. Then redirect the user to a website offering additional access at reasonable tiered rates. Asking people to buy in at $29.99 for 5GB makes it an all or nothing proposition (or more accurately, a Sprint or illicit tethering option). This is the same as the problem with the music industry trying to fight MP3s to preserve pricey CD sales. Better to embrace the iTunes model of charging smaller incremental amounts.

Also, I hope you are not going to be irrational here. It is not the best forum for that. Those posts are better suited for the Sprint.com Community forums.