PedroDaGr8

On 1/7/2023 at 11:15 AM, RAvirani said:

If they’re meeting KPI targets in the area this is very possible. Verizon left most of Clyde Hill and Medina uncovered for the longest time for the same reason. 

I doubt this. That’s definitely a demolition permit. 

Could be a sector add or reconfig. I hope it’s the latter, because that area’s modulation/CQI is already more or less in the toilet (table 2 sub-6 CQIs with efficiency oftentimes <2). 

I’ll do some digging and see what I can find. 

Whelp that demo is back on via a new BNR permit: https://permitsearch.mybuildingpermit.com/PermitDetails/BNR23-00409/Kirkland

So much for them improving signal in that area. Only hope is the permit for the Kirkland Urban site. Hopefully you will find something via your digging. 

On an unrelated note, they finally started upgrading the site just off I405 by Kingsgate Park. Monday had all the antennas stripped off by yesterday they had the antennas mounted. This morning, I noticed it was broadcasting B66 again, will check later if it is fully live. 

New PCS/AWS Spectrum swaps between T-Mobile and AT&T posted over at Reddit: 

January play system update is out.

New Dish permit plans showing them using Samsung Radios for n26, n29, n66, n70, and n71:
 

13 hours ago, mirskyc said:

Glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't have N25. I have a Galaxy Flip 4 and N25 doesn't show up in the *#BAND# menu.  A little annoying since they took away 5mzh of B2 LTE and put it with unused 5MHZ PCS to deploy N25 in NYC. I guess I have access to less aggregated spectrum now. 

I posted a link in the NYC thread on how you can enable it.

13 hours ago, mirskyc said:

Just realized why I haven't seen it yet. My Z Flip 4 doesn't have N25. It doesn't even show up in the band menu to enable for my T-Mobile Sim. Only N41 N66 N71 and N260/N261.

You may be able to enable it.

This link is for the S22 but the process is the same for most Samsung models:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-to-enable-all-bands-through-service-menu-on-us-ca-s22-series-including-sub-6-and-mmwave.4488435/

1 hour ago, S4GRU said:

I haven't had n41 SA get stuck, but on my work tower the speeds have steadily dropped over the past 6 months. Was consistently 300+ mbps, now mostly under 100.  However, n25 from the same tower is consistently over 300 from the same site without dropping.  I assumed the difference is due to Home Internet traffic on n41.  Since it doesn't seem to be backhaul.

Robert

Seeing similar speed drops. Towers that used to be 600+ any time of day are now 300-400.

13 hours ago, Trip said:

As best I can tell, the site chamb is referring to is using all new gear.  The GCI pattern is the same as the 600/700 values on that site.

I've got one just like it down in Buckingham County, VA, a site that had T-Mobile on it prior to the merger.  Same story, the GCI pattern is that of the 600/700 T-Mobile gear and not that of the retired Shentel gear.

https://imgur.com/a/gm5qTaa

They may be doing it to make sure the licenses remain valid pending sale.

- Trip

That actually would make a lot of sense! Oly reason I have seen that does make sense. 

1 minute ago, red_dog007 said:

I'm 30 minutes north of Pittsburgh. Signal Check app just showed that I connected to AT&T n77. ARFCN 652000 3780MHz. Weird cause Spectrum Sequence shows that as VZW. It shows ATT only owns 3840-3900.

I seem to remember that AT&T got permission to temporarily use some of Verizon's spectrum in some areas. Unfortunately, I can't find any direct articles due to all of the other "noise" around C-Band.

By the way Mike, I have noticed that the map and the app report different gNBs for Verizon NR. From the map, it looks like Verizon is using 22-bit gNBs while the app is using a different value. You might want to work with @RAviranito get on the same page. 

On 1/7/2023 at 11:15 AM, RAvirani said:

If they’re meeting KPI targets in the area this is very possible. Verizon left most of Clyde Hill and Medina uncovered for the longest time for the same reason. 

I doubt this. That’s definitely a demolition permit. 

Could be a sector add or reconfig. I hope it’s the latter, because that area’s modulation/CQI is already more or less in the toilet (table 2 sub-6 CQIs with efficiency oftentimes <2). 

I’ll do some digging and see what I can find. 

Weird, two of the DEMO three permits (the Bridle Trails one and this one) have been withdrawn. Only the Mark Twain water tower one remains. Doesn't mean they aren't planning to demo them, maybe just not at this time (or they just plan to leave them). Still will be curious what, if anything, you find out about whether they do intend to upgrade that site or not. 

On 1/7/2023 at 11:15 AM, RAvirani said:

If they’re meeting KPI targets in the area this is very possible. Verizon left most of Clyde Hill and Medina uncovered for the longest time for the same reason. 

I doubt this. That’s definitely a demolition permit. 

Could be a sector add or reconfig. I hope it’s the latter, because that area’s modulation/CQI is already more or less in the toilet (table 2 sub-6 CQIs with efficiency oftentimes <2). 

I’ll do some digging and see what I can find. 

Yeah, that area is atrocious (especially up by the interstate where this would have helped the most. Thanks for looking into this. I look forward to hearing what you might find out. 

15 hours ago, RAvirani said:

Hmm - not actually sure.  The surrounding sites' sector configs look like they were selected with the intention of building that site, and RSRP levels don't look amazing...

RSRP:

SignalCheck data:

Wow, I love those images! 

My only thoughts are

1. They just don't care about that area for some reason. 

2. This is a formality that is for some reason required due to the level of changes they are doing. 

3. It has something to do with [this permit](https://permitsearch.mybuildingpermit.com/PermitDetails/PUB22-08613/Kirkland) which mentions servicing the the Kirkland Urban site. There are no other permits 

8 minutes ago, PythonFanPA said:

What's the version number?  I tried manually requesting update but it says up to date on my end.  33.6.13-21

Weird, I just went to check the version number and there was a SECOND update available but still November 1, 2022 date. 

That's the Google Play Store, not the same as the Google Play System (despite the similar name). To update Google Play System, go to Settings--> About Phone -->Software information-->Google Play System update

It should check for the update and restart if necessary.

For the first time in forever, I just got a Google Play Sysyem Update. Brings the Play System Version up to November.

A few more demo permits:

1. That weird Sprint B25 only site near the tall tower in Bridle Trails: Image, Permit
2. Mark Twain Water Tower by LWIT. This one is on the tower, as opposed to T-Mobile which is on the adjacent tower:  Permit
3. This one is weird, the Sprint site by 85th and I-405 which T-Mobile previously was going to convert now has a Demo permit. Not sure if they cancelled the conversion or what (@RAvirani any thoughts?): Permit

1 hour ago, S4GRU said:

On Saturday I completed a last minute drive from Olympia, Washington to Greeley, Colorado to get my daughter and son-in-law home after visiting for Christmas. They got hung up in that Southwest Airlines fiasco and couldn't make it home.  

I used my Google Pixel 7 Pro and laid down the T-Mobile 5G NR trail.  I also used my work phone (Kyocera DuraForce Ultra 5G) and laid down a Verizon LTE trail.  Both laid down a pretty steady trail the whole way there and back, especially the Pixel.

My daughter mapped the Tmo LTE on the way down for me.  She used her Samsung GS22.  It did not leave such a steady trail.  Pretty intermittent.  She then went from Greeley, Colorado to LaGrange, Wyoming after I dropped her off.  

We both had our phone screens on the whole time and left SCP running.  My phones weren't doing anything except running Android Auto and Spotify.  She was doing random things, like watching YouTube videos, reading news articles, texting, Spotify (because she doesn't always like what Dad was playing).

I don't recall ever have issues mapping when I do random things with my phone. But I don't tend to do that a lot.  Since I am busy driving most of the time. I just leave SCP alone to do its thing. However, was this an S22/SCP issue or more about her usage that created the pretty poor mapping experience?

Robert

Did you/she turn off battery optimizations for SCP? Samsung has really aggressive battery optimizations for background processes. If you don't turn it off, then the app won't log points like normal. 

3 hours ago, iansltx said:

I've seen this on n41, and from what I can tell it's on the network side, not the phone side, as IIRC (I'll check this later) phones with Samsung (Pixel) and MTK (Moto) modems spit back the same info. The NR ARFCNs don't reflect center frequency, at least what's visible in debug modes that the phone displays. There's no way T-Mobile is transmitting out-of-band (if they were, they would be pushing more than 140 MHz).

I haven't seen this issue on any other band, including n77, so it's not an NR or TDD NR issue.

Per someone over on Reddit:  Android reports the ARFCN for the SSB of the NR channel. Unlike LTE which had this at the center, it can be any value within the frequency range of the channel for NR. I guess T-Mo is using a non-standard SSB location for some reason. This is really unfortunate because it means the recorded values for n41 are totally wrong. 

So, I posted a while back about it appearing like the two n41 carriers in my area were overlapping

Quote

The 100MHz band moved up to 520110, placing it right at 2600MHz +- 50MHz. Strangely, the 40MHz band has moved to 512190 which is 2560MHz +- 20MHz. That means that 75% of the second carrier is overlapping with the first. 

I now think that in some cases, the phone is actually posting totally wrong values for the ARFCN. I was looking at some screenshots I took of the 0011 menu while on a trip earlier this month. Two of them include ARFCN/BW combos which are 100% impossible. 

For example, this one: 



That NR ARFCN corresponds to center frequency of 2506.95 MHz with a BW of 100MHz. This would mean the n41 signal would range from 2456.95 MHz to 2556.95MHz. This is impossible because Band 41 only goes down to 2496 MHz. Not sure if this is a Qualcomm bug or a Samsung bug but it is very clearly in error. That or T-Mobile is violating loads of FCC regulations and the phone is totally ignoring an out-of-band signal at the same time.

Also, I don't know if this issue is limited to n41 or exists in other frequency bands as well but this is very unnerving either way. 

11 hours ago, Hatstrow said:

 I have yet to see that band show up on the Field Test app on my iPhone.

As I am sure you know, the Field Test app on iPhone is FAR from reliable. If iPhone works the same as Android, if you see 5GUC in your notification bar then you are connected to n41. 

1 hour ago, dkyeager said:

Read this, then goto the 1st page for directions: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-to-enable-all-bands-through-service-menu-on-us-ca-s22-series-including-sub-6-and-mmwave.4488435/page-17#post-87918859

 

Edit: Good for not only n25 SA on T-Mobile but also frees up more overseas bands if you travel or when Verizon and AT&T get moving on SA.

I was commenting about back before I knew about that method. I've fully unlocked the bands on my s22. 

13 hours ago, cooltech6597 said:

I’ve found 6 gig+ sites in the greater toledo area (5 are on this map, 1 is a certain tower that happens to serve my home)

 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1HbGFtjv6cblda17OCE7k_73928zncy0&ll=41.62869080014765%2C-83.53590555996206&z=11

That's pretty impressive! T-Mobile is so horribly backhaul limited in most areas. I really wish they would get to upgrading back haul on a bunch of their urban/suburban sites. 

16 hours ago, dkyeager said:

Band 25 - getting about 230/31 about 0.5 miles from site. Selected naturally by phone. The ability for it to choose it is another story.

This has been something I noticed a while back when n41-SA was rolling out. Just because a band doesn't show up in *#2263# doesn't mean the phone can't connect to it. 

On 12/23/2022 at 11:17 PM, mikejeep said:

Could you try again when you have a chance? I don't see any recent reports from you or any on AT&T n2 (or n25, ha).. thanks.

Seems like it was saved but didn't send. Sent it and a new one now.

1 hour ago, mikejeep said:

Ah, this is what I was afraid of. There are so many glitches with the NR API, I have too many workarounds working around each other. The n25/n41 workaround is only supposed to kick in when connected to T-Mobile, but I did have to add some extra logic because the PLMN is also not properly reported consistently. Could you please send me a diagnostic report when connected to AT&T n2 when you have a chance?

Already did when I first saw it.