BRUCEinGR
-
Content Count
119 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Hey folks, I haven't been around here in a long time. I guess I just got distracted by other things, especially after Sprint 4G LTE became commonly available for me. Then, in February of 2018, I defected from Sprint to T-Mobile. That move allowed me to get on the "T-Mobile ONE 55+" plan, (yeah, I'm an old geezer) and at the time, grab a limited time offer add-on called "ONE Plus International" that adds a lot of features, but most importantly "UNLIMITED 4G LTE Hotspot" on a phone. The move was both for the service and price. I was paying Sprint $179 for service on one phone, and one USB 3G modem. The modem was what kept me with Sprint for so long. I bought it in 2007, when mobile data was just starting to catch on in popularity. Everyone else had low data caps and high overage charges at the time, but, Sprint was slow to jump on that bandwagon. They even had an ad campaign at the time, something like: "Use all the data you want, have fun"! I bought the modem outright, and paid $59.99/mo for unlimited 3G data. As an over the road truck driver, at the time, that was the same price I paid Comcast for home Internet, that was hardly home to use. I canceled Comcast, and that USB thing became my only non-phone Internet connection. The bad part of that was, shortly after I got that deal, Sprint discontinued that plan, and I was stuck. If I made ANY changes to that line/device, I would lose that plan, and have to take whatever offers were current. I couldn't activate any new device on the data account. So I milked that device and plan for just over 11 years, until Feb. 2018. After so long, the device was struggling, and the data was just damn slow. After my upgrade to T-Mobile, I have my main phone, (currently a OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren edition), an Aristo 2 Plus, used mostly as a hotspot, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10" with unlimited 4G LTE, all for $132.41. About $45 a month less than what I gave Sprint, and I have one extra device, and all with much faster data. On Sprint, my average speed was usually less than 15/2, on T-Mobile I get over 100 down and around 40 up. Of course with this arrangement, one day I will find myself in a similar situation, a line stuck on old tech, even though I CAN upgrade my T-Mobile device, the data add-on specifically says "4G LTE data", So I hope that sticks around for a while as 5G becomes a thing. If I make any changes on that line, I will lose that add-on. Sorry for all the rambling, I just looked at all the stuff I just typed, and can't bring myself to delete all that work. I guess I just got nostalgic when Facebook on Tuesday showed me a memory post from 2013, the pics are below. My first cell phone was a Nextel, that's how I wound up on Sprint, after that merger. It was 7 years ago already, that Sprint shut off Nextel. Now, Sprint is about to be shut off by T-Mobile. Everything changes. You can't see the date on the pic with "NO SIGNAL", those old Nextel phones didn't even have a proper clock, it just displayed what the network sent it, so, no signal, no clock. How far we have come. Anyway, I guess with the merger, I'm back in the family, so here I am looking to learn about a new rollout, this time 5G on 2.5 GHz, specifically in the West Michigan area. Sent from my HD1925 using Tapatalk
-
OK, I got it, not sure why I can't get it to work with Dialer Codes, but I can get it using the shortcuts in Signal Check Pro. Actually that is probably an easier way to do it, I had just forgot about it. Not to mention, it looks like Signal Check shows frequency on it's screen, just noticed that. Anyway, thanks for your help!
-
Just tried it, same as before, it clears the dialer entry area and nothing more.
-
Tried that, but for some reason when I enter *#*#DATA (3282)#*#* it just clears the dialer entry area and nothing else.
-
Well I guess I can answer my own question now. Saturday I strolled into one of the local Best Buy stores and left with a brand new M8 and was happy to find that at least CSFB or maybe even eCSFB are active in my area since I get LTE! Not sure if there is a way to tell the difference or not. I was also surprised (and happy) to see the SPARK logo show up and it even spins like a happy little pinwheel sometimes, so I must be connecting to it! Didn't know that was active in my area yet. Overall this phone ROCKS! As so many other reviews point out. I'm still a bit disappointed about SVLTE, but for everyone else's sake, I'll quit beating that dead horse. I'll get a better idea about how well the device works compared to my EVO on Monday when it goes riding with me in the truck for work. And more importantly for this thread, how much SPARK I can find in the West Michigan area. Oh, one more thing, does anyone know if there is a way tell which band my LTE is using? (800, 1900 or 2500) Sent from my HTC one (M8) with Tapatalk.
-
Just a quick note, I was in a hurry when I typed my previous post that ended with... So it looks like more waiting, first it was waiting for 3G, then 4G LTE, then TriBand and now SvLTE. Seems like always waiting, and as Tom Petty said "The Waiting, is the hardest part"! SvLTE is something I'm not waiting for, I'm lamenting it's demise after a brief cameo appearance. At least in current devices. What I actually meant there was VoLTE. Anyway, something I noticed tonight, if this is to be believed, it looks like Big Red somehow managed to have SvLTE capability on their variant of the M8. http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one-m8/376693-verizon-one-m8-supports-svlte-but-not-svdo-volte-radio-info-inside.html
-
Hi Robert, thanks for the info. I might have over reacted when this notion first hit me. I had been waiting for the M8 to come out (still waiting to get my hands on it) and when I saw some of those posts on other sites about the missed calls, I remembered reading your wall article last fall. That hit not just like rain on my picnic, but more like a Severe Thunderstorm on my picnic! Yeah, things like using navigation and having a voice call come in (I still use voice a lot) and stop the nav is a bit of a headache, had that a few years ago with Blackberry Curve. I was so happy it went away with the EVO. I'm still not thrilled with the idea of losing it again, but having to stay on CDMA to not lose voice function would really suck, especially on a high end device that has some awesome data capabilities. There are other times too, like while in a voice call with other truckers (I do that a lot) and we talk about weather, road conditions or routing in certain areas, the ability to look up these and other things while in a call (parked of course) is pretty important. Anyway, was just looking for info from real people in the area with real experience on the fallback thing. Your words are encouraging. The LTE/NV in my area seems to be very good, I would estimate at least 80-90% of the time I now get good data connections in the places I'm at most. (and that's on an EVO) I guess the thoughts of having an awesome device like the M8 and tri-band seemed like it had to be an all win. Then the SvLTE snag was kind of a disappointment. One lucky thing for me is my plan has always been to retain my EVO as a spare, so I can always go back if need be. I guess I will just take my chance, continue with getting the M8, and check the hell out of it during my 14 day window. I really do want that device. So it looks like more waiting, first it was waiting for 3G, then 4G LTE, then TriBand and now SvLTE. Seems like always waiting, and as Tom Petty said "The Waiting, is the hardest part"!
- 1,020 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- Grand Rapids
- Lansing
- (and 16 more)
-
kineticman, thanks for the reply. I do need to check in more often, but with life sometimes, things divert our attention in other directions and in this case, with LTE being widely available in the West Michigan area, I guess it seemed less urgent to stay on top of developments in the market.
-
Hey folks, I haven't been around here much lately, but tried looking around and didn't find what I'm looking for, so maybe someone can offer some input... I went to Best Buy last week and did a pre-order for the new HTC ONE M8. They still haven't gotten the device in, and I haven't given them any money yet. I've been bummed it was gonna take so long to get my hands on it, but maybe that was actually better. I was reading some reviews about the device on a few Android related sites and noticed people talking about missing calls/texts on Sprint. It is most likely that Circuit Switched FallBack thing. So my question is, does anyone have a Spark compatible device, and are you having any issues in the West Michigan area? If this is going to be an issue, I might need to back out before I go any further into this transaction. I've already been a bit ticked off at the idea of losing simultaneous voice and data (even though I know that puts me in the minority around here, because for some reason most people just seem to think that's no big deal, just get used to it, well I for one will really miss that) But, if I have to disable the high speed data and go to CDMA only mode just to make sure I can get calls and texts to work properly, I'd probably be better off just to run my EVO LTE until it goes dark. Any input about the status of the Fallback system in the West Michigan area, or if anyone has had problems with it would be appreciated.
-
The ArtPrize idea might be right on, looks like the local news is reporting big red was having some problems this weekend... http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/268764/14/Verizon-resolves-to-fix-ArtPrize-voting-issues
-
Well, I had 800 a week ago today, but after it disappeared on Friday, it hasn't come back to me. Maybe that just means that my 1900 coverage is good enough and it doesn't need to switch to 800 (at least in the phones 'mind'). There are a couple of indoor places that I was hoping 800 would improve very poor coverage, and I plan to be in both placesin the next 48 hours, guess I'll just have to keep an eye out in those places and see what happens. I'll try to get out by the Meijer tower over the weekend and get a few pics. Thanks for the heads up.
-
Matt, Not sure, but I think it might be your device for why you haven't seen it. I think I read something somewhere about it using a different PRL, and I think that is what jefbal99 was referring to above. Maybe he can chime in with more. Danny, So, you are saying you are still getting 800 this week? I have tried the PRL update, reboot phone, even tried making signal weak so it drops and reconnects. Nothing for me. Good to here that 1x800 is still active in the area, bummer for me that I can't pick it up anymore... oh well. Thanks for the info.
-
Just curious if anyone is experiencing the the same thing. As I reported last Wednesday Night I started getting 1x800. It was everywhere I went in GR on Thursday, then sometime on Friday I lost it, and can't get it back. I must still be getting signal from the new NV equipment, since all the geo. info shows the correct address, but no 800. What are others seeing around GR? Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4
-
Hi all, I've been stopping by to read a bit little now and then around here, but haven't posted much, just been really busy with a few things lately. Tonight something happened that I thought I should quickly share. Just past 23:00 last night, I noticed my EVO was roaming on "Big Red"! That's never happened here in my home before, but there it was... I was able to get LTE from Sprint, which isn't easy in my home, but it does happen in a couple spots, but the 1XRTT was on VZW. The good news is, Sprint came back in about an hour, but this time it was on 1X800! And the location info is correct now too! This is just a heads up, if they are turning 800 on in "clusters", there may be others out there.
- 1,020 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- Grand Rapids
- Lansing
- (and 16 more)
-
Sprint LTE Coverage Maps via Sensorly
BRUCEinGR replied to S4GRU's topic in Network, Network Vision/LTE Deployment
Emphasis in the above quote was added by me. Look dude, no one here is trying to mess with you, what I posted a few posts back was a basic summary of how this works. Let's try something and see if you can prove it to yourself, first the easy way... You say that you got a signal in your yard, that you don't usually see. Go back out into your yard, see if the signal comes back, if it doesn't, turn your phone off, then right back on, see if your phone will acquire that signal again. If it doesn't, move to a different spot in your yard and try again. Ideally, start from standing in the same spot where you first got that signal. When/if you finally get the signal back, open the Sensorly app (best to wait until you get a 4G signal before starting the app), then hit the MAP TRIP in the lower right of your screen, then on the next screen that comes up, hit START. After you see the LTE count go above ZERO, hit the stop button. Wait for about 5 minutes for the data to upload, then close the app. Wait about one hour, then go back and check the map. If every thing went well, you should see the one lone area, right in your own yard, where there is a purple spot showing on the Sensorly map. Before doing any of the above, make sure you have your settings right, hit MENU then PARAMETERS, and then scroll down to "REPORT TO SERVER", click that option and make sure that if it is set to upload only while charging or on WIFI, that you either change these settings or, make sure you are plugged in or on WIFI before closing the Sensorly app (this will allow your data to be uploaded). If you can't get the signal to come back in your yard, go to an area where the is signal showing on the map, get an LTE signal then start Sensorly as mentioned above. Now move to a street that was previously NOT showing LTE, collect some data, once you know you have been receiving signal in an unmapped area, Again, allow 5-10 minutes for data to upload before closing the app. Now wait about an hour, check the map and see coverage in the areas that you were! It's really quite simple and makes a lot more sense than to think that Sprint has towers that send out signals that only travel down main roads.
