bill875

I visited Concord Mills yesterday and I had LTE the entire time. This was nice compared to the Hickory area where the tower/site spacing is sparse and you're lucky to have LTE indoors anywhere.  Data was quite slow and it timed out a number of times.  My lowest signal was around -101dBm.

From what I was told, the mall was extra busy due to the CIAA event in Charlotte.  Let's just say that I couldn't wait to get out of that place due to the crowds and disrespectful clientele.

CR03AW150 went live with LTE in Conover this afternoon.  While sitting down to open my mail, SignalCheckPro made the familiar sound when the phone switched to LTE.  I immediately checked my phone in disbelief.  -89 to -92dBm inside and 1x800 voice is at -58dBm.  I've been waiting for this since the initial projected NV date of October, 2012.  Life is good!

Backhaul has been ready at the site near my home in Conover (I-40, exit 132, between Hickory and Statesville) for 7 months and though it's marked as being 3G/4G accepted, it is still strictly 3G and is not showing 2 Data Speed upgrades on network.sprint.com.  I am patiently waiting for the site to be complete.

Now if that would also include the Hickory and Conover area, I too would have reason to celebrate.  Hickory tried to woo them 4 or so years ago for Gigabit Fiber and at some point Google laid a bunch of fiber in and around the Hickory area for schools and libraries to use.  They have some running right past my office and it isn't near a school or library.  It seems to me that Google may already have key infrastructure throughout this area, though it isn't specifically mentioned.
 

Ugh, bad news: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2099005/google-fiber-contest-opens-up-to-34-more-cities-including-san-francisco-bay-area.html

Seems that Charlotte will not have any metro areas included

Captain_Throwback has posted the final download link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50445377

Hmm, final build?  Could the release to the public be imminent?

Not specifically Facetime, however Google Hangouts video chat works well over end-to-end LTE from Hickory, NC (Nexus 5) to Streamwood (Chicago suburb), IL (LG G2).

One Hour of Cisco CallManager Default Hold Music:

I'm happy to see new 3G/4G and 3G Sprint service sites in the CLT market.  One in the Taylorsville area and one just S.E. of Mooresville!  Thanks for the update Robert!  I've been noticing the one near Taylorsville for about two weeks and thought hey, this is cool!  Hoping this is the start of a new trend for the CLT market.

Was at Disney World over Christmas and New Years. There is solid LTE through all Disney World parks. Data is unusable at Universal Studios.

Good to know! I will be going there this summer.  Usable data would be nice to have.  Back in October, 2012, EVDO was terribly slow and timed out quite frequently.

I ordered the Seidio Dilex case for my Nexus 5 today.  They have 15% off right now... (This is the direct Seidio email marketing address, not a referral link): http://app.streamsend.com/s/1/QcWY/3e3wvYl/ckdzn

I definitely participated in multiple HD calls while visiting family in the Chicago suburbs last week.  The calls were between my Nexus 5 and my sister's new LG G2.  It definitely is a cool experience to have such a clear call between two cell phones.

Ping times on 3G are still very high and speeds are low.  What were those 107 updates specifically?

I'm thinking that EVDO at that these sites is still on old backhaul, just like so many other CLT sites.  I don't recall seeing anyone post improved latency or speeds on EVDO anywhere in the CLT market.  Just the same, I've noticed that the latency on LTE in the CLT market is higher than other markets (around 100-135ms) when using my Nexus 5.  Other markets see latency as low as in the 50ms range, perhaps even lower at times.  It can make a big a difference in the feel of how fast the connection is.

It's my hope that this is all just temporary backhaul and it will improve once connectivity to the sites improves.

I just picked up two of these Nokia DT-900 wireless chargers.  ATT has them on sale for $24.50 and you get 10% off each one if you buy two.  I think the percent off goes up even more if you buy 3.  Free shipping as well.

 

So far it has worked fine.  It isn't picky about placement at all.

 

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/accessories/chargers/sku6290260.html#fbid=MA336A00z6H

I picked one up from Amazon for $37 (Next Day w/Prime)and ordered a second one from AT&T on Thursday.  Unfortunately AT&T seems to be going in and out of stock and my order hasn't even shipped yet.  But I have one for my bedside table and it works great and, like you say, does not have picky placement.  Battery is charged to 100% and holds just fine until removed from the charger pad.

I noticed last night that using WiFi tethering uses significantly less battery than it did with my GS3.  Sitting in the same spot with tethering running for 3 hours to my MacBook I went from 88% charge to 65%.  Using the GS3 in the same scenario I would lose about 50-60% battery life.  Not sure what component the difference can be attributed to (WiFi radio, LTE radio, etc) but it was a very pleasant surprise.

Are you using WiFi Tether from Google Play?  If so, do you have WPA2 enabled?  I cannot seem to get mine configured to work properly, however using it wide open works fine.  Would you mind sharing or PM'ing your settings?

When composing an SMS message with Hangouts, is it normal behavior for it to just stop typing once the 160 character limit is reached?  It seems a bit crazy that it doesn't auto-split the message.

I just read that the 32gb N5 will not be allowed on TEP at Sprint.  What are people doing for insurance? None?

Where did you read this, can you provide the source/link?  This afternoon, Sprint Care, via Chat told me what only the 16GB could get TEP.  This is disappointing to me as I usually carry TEP just for peace of mind.

I have a 2.5+ right now and there's no 800mhz cdma...

I believe I've read that the 2.5+ is transmitting an 800SMR Beacon.  Your device may not be able to connect to it, but it seems to be capable of it.  Perhaps someone more "in-the-know" will chime in.

Did anyone else in the Charlotte market wake up to only 1x800 on their device(s)?  No eHRPD or EV-DO.  1x800 is appears to be  officially live in Conover at site CR03AW150, unfortunately, LTE is not.  It held on all of the way into Hickory near Valley Hills Mall at -103 to -105 RSSI.  It then hopped over to Carolina West Wireless until I got to work and then while within range of my Wi-Ex repeater which has a roof mounted antenna, which then switched to Sprint 1xRTT and eHRPD.

The Sites Complete map shows LTE having been accepted at CR03AW150 for over two months, but I have not connected to LTE yet.  If eHRPD (EVDO) is any indication, it doesn't seem as if the backhaul is in place.  Even at 4am, the best I can get it about 124ms ping & 1600kb/s down with an RSSI -62

This is likely because the 1X connection is on Cricket, but the device is connected to Sprint LTE.  This has happened a number of times around my home area in North Carolina when my device is connected to Carolina West Wireless for 1XRTT, but my device is also connected to Sprint LTE.  It will say LTE (Carolina West Wireless) in SignalCheckPro.  I agree with what COZisBack and digiblur are saying.

Me!

I'm pretty bummed about the Note 3 not having SVDO/SVLTE.  It's a deal killer for me since I don't have WiFi at work to fill the void.  I've gotten accustomed to it on my EVO and it sure is a nice change from the past devices lacking it.  I was going to pick one up on release day, but I think I'll wait for something else down the road.

Oddly enough, my Wi-Ex YX500-PCS is repeating the G block without issue.  Away from it I have no LTE.  Within 10 feet, I'm at -91 to -97.  Within 5 feet of the device, I am at -87 or better.  Perhaps I'm just lucky that it works.  Unfortunately, there are two walls between the repeater and my office, so I only rarely get a -102 to -118 if it on my desk.  It cuts out more frequently than I'd like, but with no Wi-Fi, it is helpful to have.

I've noticed in the Hickory, Newton and Conover area that I'm connecting to Carolina West Wireless for 1XRTT and EV-DO Rev A.  I can still connect to Sprint LTE though.  Is anyone aware of something going on with Sprint in this area?


I just find it interesting that this is going on today.  I'm grateful that we can use Carolina West Wireless as native coverage.  They have higher ping times on EV-DO, but definitely better speeds than we've had on Sprint.

The Weather Channel app is notorious for keeping the GPS turned on, even when you haven't opened the app.  I often find my battery down to 14% by 9pm and that is due to The Weather Channel using 40+% of the battery due to the GPS being locked on.  I've finally given up on TWC as they can't seem to fix that bug, yet they redesigned the app to look "pretty."

I want the GPS on for the rest of my apps, so turning it off just for TWC isn't going to happen.