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Showing content with the highest reputation since 03/14/2019 in all areas

  1. 24 points
    Josh HillSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesFriday, April 5, 2019 - 3:06 AM PDT Now that VoLTE is actually rolling out on Sprint, it's a good time to dive into what exactly is VoLTE, and how is it different from Calling+ and VoWiFi (Wifi Calling). Background Terms E-UTRA or EUTRA: Stands for Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access. This is the technical name for the actual LTE airlink. QoS: Quality of Service. This is a way of tagging / flagging certain types of traffic to have priority above or below other traffic. When traffic has a QoS tag higher than other traffic, network equipment (the tower, routers, etc) will drop or ignore lower priority traffic to ensure that this traffic goes through instead. The equipment can also be configured to reserve a certain amount of bandwidth to only be used by traffic with a particular QoS tag. For example, if a router has 10 Mbps available, it can allocate 1 Mbps for a certain QoS tag. Normal traffic will only be able to use 9 Mbps, with 1 Mbps reserved for that QoS tag. The number of QoS priorities / tags varies between equipment vendors, but can be in excess of 256 priority levels. QCI: QoS Class Identifier. This is a value that an LTE / E-UTRA session can be assigned that corresponds to a particular QoS tag and specific attributes of that particular QoS queue. For example, it may or may not specify a guaranteed/dedicated bandwidth allocation (GBR). APN: The APN is the name of the gateway on a mobile network. It identifies the packet data network that should be used for that E-UTRA session. IMS: IP Multimedia Subsystem. It is a method for sending SMS over LTE, along with setting up VoLTE calls and other signaling. eCSFB: Circuit Switched Fall Back. For phones / UEs that can only listen on either LTE or CDMA rather than both simultaneously, it is a method for the LTE network to tell the device that a call is coming in, and to switch over to CDMA to process it. SRLTE: Single Radio LTE. This is a capability of newer devices that allows them to listen on both CDMA and LTE at the same time, but only transmit on one at a time. This replaces the need for eCSFB, allowing the device to see a call coming in over CDMA while it’s using LTE. It is also more reliable and reduces the number of missed calls due to failed fallback. When a call is active, the LTE session is stopped / paused. SIP: Session Initialization Protocol. This is the standard protocol for VoIP in telecom networks. How VoLTE Works While we typically think of LTE as a single connection, multiple E-UTRA “sessions” can actually be established, creating what are essentially virtual/multiple LTE interfaces, each with their own IP address, QoS level, APN, etc. Each session has a numerical QCI assigned that dictates the actual QoS priority and whether or not it has a GBR (Guaranteed Bitrate). QCI Resource Type QoS Priority Packet Delay Budget Packet Error Loss Rate Example Services 1 GBR 2 100ms 10−2 Conversational Voice 2 GBR 4 150ms 10−3 Conversational Video (Live Streaming) 3 GBR 3 50ms 10−3 Real Time Gaming, V2X messages 4 GBR 5 300ms 10−6 Non-Conversational Video (Buffered Streaming) 65 GBR 0.7 75ms 10−2 Mission Critical user plane Push To Talk voice (e.g., MCPTT) 66 GBR 2 100ms 10−2 Non-Mission-Critical user plane Push To Talk voice 75 GBR 2.5 50ms 10−2 V2X messages 5 non-GBR 1 100ms 10−6 IMS Signalling 6 non-GBR 6 300ms 10−6 Video (Buffered Streaming) TCP-Based (for example, www, email, chat, ftp, p2p and the like) 7 non-GBR 7 100ms 10−3 Voice, Video (Live Streaming), Interactive Gaming 8 non-GBR 8 300ms 10−6 Video (Buffered Streaming) TCP-Based (for example, www, email, chat, ftp, p2p and the like) 9 non-GBR 9 300ms 10−6 Video (Buffered Streaming) TCP-Based (for example, www, email, chat, ftp, p2p and the like). Typically used as default bearer 69 non-GBR 0.5 60ms 10−6 Mission Critical delay sensitive signalling (e.g., MC-PTT signalling) 70 non-GBR 5.5 200ms 10−6 Mission Critical Data (e.g. example services are the same as QCI 6/8/9) 79 non-GBR 6.5 50ms 10−2 V2X messages (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QoS_Class_Identifier) As you can see in the above table, the QCI does not necessarily correspond to the QoS level. For example, QCI 1 has a QoS priority of 2, but QCI 5 has a QoS priority of 1, making it actually higher priority traffic. On Sprint, traditionally one E-UTRA session was used, with a QCI of 9 and QoS priority of 9. This is the lowest QoS priority, and does not have a guaranteed bitrate. On devices which use eCSFB or VoLTE, another E-UTRA session is established for the IMS APN using a QCI of 5 and QoS priority of 1, and is used for IMS. This session also does not have a guaranteed bitrate, but it has the highest QoS priority. IMS is used for SMS over LTE, along with setting up VoLTE calls. eCSFB devices use it for SMS, and likely also for triggering eCSFB. On newer device which instead use SRLTE, IMS is not used unless VoLTE is enabled, and they instead use CDMA 1x for SMS, so an IMS E-UTRA session is often not setup. When a VoLTE call is initiated, a third E-UTRA session is established, also using the IMS APN. This session has a QCI of 1 and QoS priority of 2. Unlike the other two sessions, this one does have a guaranteed bitrate. For Sprint, this bitrate is 39 Kbps. The screenshot below shows all 3 sessions: VoLTE E-UTRA sessions This is how VoLTE calls are prioritized over regular data. Normal data usage, such as loading a web page or watching a video, will still use the lower, default QoS (QCI of 9), while the data for the VoLTE call will be at the second highest priority (QCI 1), just after IMS signaling (QCI 5). The tower / eNB will ensure that the VoIP session always is able to use up to 39 Kbps by reserving that bandwidth and dedicating it to the call. This is in contrast to “Calling+”, which does not establish a separate E-UTRA session, and instead uses the normal QCI 9 session. The below screenshot shows an active Calling+ call. Note the presence of only a single E-UTRA session. Calling+ E-UTRA sessions So now that we have the airlink for VoLTE, what happens? VoLTE, Calling+, and VoWiFi are essentially standard SIP VoIP calls. The below screenshots show the SIP details for an active call, and the LTE Signaling messages that setup and then end the SIP call. VoLTE SIP details VoLTE Signaling For VoLTE, the traffic for the SIP call goes over the QCI 1 E-UTRA session instead of the normal QCI 9 session. This means that the eNB (tower) will reserve and guarantee 39 kbps for the call, but other traffic from the same device will not be prioritized and will use the normal session. So starting a VoLTE call will not make the rest of your traffic prioritized, it will apply only to the VoLTE call. So as a recap, when VoLTE is enabled, the UE / phone establishes multiple E-UTRA sessions. One is used for normal usage, one is used for texting and signaling, and one is used for the VoLTE call. Think of these like separate virtual ethernet cables. On the QoS prioritized and guaranteed bitrate VoLTE session, the UE establishes a SIP VoIP connection for a call. On Calling+ devices, the same SIP connection is used, however it runs over the default QCI 9 session instead, and therefore isn’t prioritized and doesn't have a guaranteed bandwidth. This is why Calling+ calls are more likely to cut out or not sound as good. VoLTE call Calling+ call VoWiFi (Wifi calling) operates almost the same way. Like VoLTE and Calling+, it also uses the same SIP connection for calls and presumably IMS for signaling, but instead of using an LTE E-UTRA session, the phone establishes an IKEv2 IPsec VPN connection to Sprint. This is an encrypted connection that allows data to be tunneled directly into Sprint’s network. The SIP and IMS traffic are then routed over this VPN to Sprint, but not other, normal traffic. From a QoS perspective, VoWiFi is identical to Calling+, in that neither are prioritized above other traffic. VoWiFi call Because VoLTE, Calling+, and VoWiFi all use the same SIP servers and connections, under normal conditions they sound the same and can technically hand off to one another. They can all take advantage of HD Voice codecs and should sound the same, since the call itself is identical across all three. The difference is how the data for that call makes it to Sprint. VoLTE is able to use a dedicated, guaranteed airlink to ensure that congestion on the network (LTE or WiFi) won’t adversely affect the call. One final performance benefit is that VoLTE is able to take advantage of something called RoHC (Robust Header Compression), seen in the above 3 screenshots. This compresses the IP, TCP, UDP, and RTP headers from 60 bytes to 1-3 bytes, resulting in up to 60% bandwidth savings. It’s only possible on a dedicated link, which is why VoLTE has it but Calling+ and VoWiFi do not. So not only does VoLTE have guaranteed, dedicated bandwidth, it will use potentially half as much, which matters a lot for maintaining the call in edge of cell scenarios.
  2. 15 points
    Sprint's situation is not dire. They still have over 50 million postpaid customers. There is a relatively high churn rate, but people are not fleeing for the exits. Most of that were temporary customers they tried to entice away with promos. In virtually every metric, Sprint is in better shape now. Financially and network performance. And frankly, their current and future capex plans are more realistic and better serving. They are much more in line with what Tmo did to get itself out of its rut back in 2012-2014. Focus on urban markets first, then suburban and secondary markets. And if you play your cards right and growth starts to occur after a few years of doing that, then they can make an exurban/rural move with major highway expansions. But Sprint cannot put the cart before the horse again this time. This is a much smarter plan. We all want Sprint to be the hard charging Number Four carrier that quickly surpasses the others to become #1 or #2. But also, there are ways to be a successful company and stay #4 forever. If Sprint cannot merge, it is still completely viable to run on its own. But it will be a long process to gain more customers or move up the rung. And I think most of us believe the network experience will be the best way to do that. And Sprint needs to start with the highest concentrations of customers first, to get the most bang for its buck. But Sprint is highlighting the darkness in their current status, because it is trying to get a merger approved. And that's going to give a lot of fodder to the unbelievers. Shun the unbelievers! Robert
  3. 14 points
    You guys are just falling for the propaganda. They all want us to think the Sprint's failure is imminent, if not even immediate, if the merger is not approved. You guys all mocked Sprint when they first were using hyperbole about their network and prospects when they played that card initially. And now going all ga-ga over the data again as if it was new info and now means even something more or different. This is all OLD NEWS. They want it rehashed and all of you to freak out and over talk about it, so general opinion is that Sprint is going to no longer exist with or without Tmo. But the reality is, as Brad mentioned above, Sprint is in better shape than it was last year, two years ago and five years ago. And also, I don't get the comment that "Softbank is looking for a bailout by any means necessary." Softbank is not looking for a bailout. No request of government giving money to save Sprint financially. That's a bailout. Softbank is looking for a BUYER. It's totally legit to look to sell the company. Why would this be surprising? Masa was discussing selling Sprint within weeks of buying it. That's always been on the table. And frankly, I wouldn't mind for someone to take over than Masa. A tie up with a cable company may be a very good thing for Sprint if the Tmo deal doesn't happen. But I fully expect a legal challenge if not approved. Robert
  4. 12 points
    Sprint has over 56 million customers, do we need to really go down this rabbit hole?! Is Sprint perfect? Nope, is any carrier perfect!? Nope. You should go with what works for you, if Sprint was somehow not meeting my needs, I would have moved on a long time ago. I'm not with them to save a buck, I'm still with them because the network meets my needs (and I consider myself a pretty heavy data user) and customer support has always taken care of any/all my issues. As a plus, I personally enjoy the community Robert and gang have created here, which has been extremely educational and enjoyable.
  5. 10 points
    Yes. But we didn't live in a bubble. There were two other vendors. Ericsson was clearly the worst of the three in Network Vision deployment (in some ways they had to do it twice). Also, when it comes to network management, a third party will almost NEVER do as good of a job yourself, because they don't take ownership of the issues the way you would yourself. And so there is not the sense of urgency when an issue or roadblock comes up. And you're much more likely to accept no as an answer. I see it all day long in my line of work. Robert
  6. 10 points
    Sorry for being late to this and some of this is repeating New York. They have $7 billion in cash and just under $10 billion in liquid assets. I guess I read that differently than you do. From the investor update presentation they've basically got enough liquidity to pay off their debt for the next two years if they do nothing at all. What will happen is what has happened for years. You'll likely see Sprint offer new notes at some point this year that will replace the debt or expand it further. He isn't talking about a "massive restructuring of their debt" at all. He is talking about what Sprint has done in the past and will continue to do going forward. Sprint has roughly $4.3 billion in debt due this fiscal year. If they issue $4.3 billion in new debt ceteris paribus their debt and liquidity positions haven't changed. They aren't refinancing $40 billion in debt. As maturing debt is retired they are issuing new debt. The next 3 years that is $4 to $5 billion a year at a time. Presumably indefinitely as long as someone is willing to lend to them (which there is a finite point somewhere there), but especially in the current economic conditions Sprint didn't have any trouble getting money last year and actually up-sized an offering due to favorable interest. The Free Cash Flow thing is a little weird. As a customer, I'd prefer Sprint invests in their network, something they did up about 50% year-over-year. That spending is going to drive Free Cash Flow down. If they had spent about $1 billion less in Capex they would've been free cash flow positive, which again is meaningless to me as a customer. It also isn't a really compelling failing firm argument, which is part of the reason they're having trouble convincing the DOJ of their arguement here. T-Mobile hasn't been FCF positive* since 2015. *using Cash from operations less capital expenditures
  7. 10 points
    SignalCheck 4.52 is rolling out to the masses! It should be available on Google Play within the hour. Here are the highlights: New options added: Added option to control display of horizontal signal meters on main screen. Added option to control logging of LTE sites if the TAC is missing/invalid. Added option to display LTE bandwidth on Android 9.0+ devices. This is nice, but not 100% reliable on most devices yet. Hopefully this improves over time. Added options to trigger Alerts based on specific LTE bands or plain-text strings. This is pretty cool.. you can choose LTE bands, and/or have the app alert on any text you want (or don't want, by using the "!" character). Set multiple alerts by separating strings with commas. Notable bug fixes: Resolved issue with app failing to exit immediately in certain scenarios. Resolved issue with missing data on Android Q Beta devices. Resolved issue with missing PLMN ID in certain scenarios. Resolved issue with missing provider database on Android 9.0 devices. Resolved issue with Alerts preferences not working properly on Android 8.0+ devices. Most of the Alert preferences are now handled directly by the system. Resolved issue with missing WCDMA data on newer devices. Some of these items were a lot more work than a brief sentence might hint.. many were significant bugs, some users will see great improvements! Other changes: Adjusted animated action bar tower icon colors when idle. Changed device location settings warning to reappear on every app update. Changed primary signal data source on Android 7.0+ devices. Disabled battery-related options for Location Service and Site Logger on Android 8.0+ devices; intend add back in a future update. Android no longer permits third-party apps to monitor power status changes; I am looking for an alternative method. Improved deployment process; releases will now be smaller, more optimized downloads. This is not a large app, but now it's approximately 30% smaller anyway. Thanks for all of your support! Feel free to shout if you have any questions.. -Mike
  8. 9 points
  9. 9 points
    Please demonstrate what consequences AT&T is facing for raising prices twice in the year after their merger, despite representing to regulators that permitting the merger with Time Warner would permit them to lower prices. - Trip
  10. 9 points
    No. A cable company buying out Sprint or T-mobile would be very likely better for the consumer as they'd have an incentive to compete and gain subscribers. It's only the natural path forward if one looks at how Comcast and TWC (Spectrum) is setting up things. They've already began building the infrastructure of supporting wireless users and triple play integration based on their MVNO setup. The next step would fully integrate those wireless users into their entire network top down instead of piggybacking off say Verizon. They can leverage their long haul fiber and last mile hybrid fiber coaxial networks to provide dedicated full speed backhaul to their own cell sites and new ones they can leverage using their own telephone poles and right of ways. It's one of the reasons why Shentel land is so amazing. Full vertical integration.
  11. 9 points
    VoLTE post is up! https://s4gru.com/entry/439-sprints-casting-call-of-voice-over-actors-an-in-depth-analysis-of-volte-calling-and-vowifi/ Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
  12. 9 points
    Just a quick update for the Beta Crew, yes I am still hacking away at the new Alerts.. it is a lot of work trying to get everything working well on Oreo+ devices while not breaking pre-Oreo devices. I forgot how many ugly workarounds I needed to implement to keep everything working before. The new Android notification settings don't mesh well with my needs either, but it will get done. Just a tedious struggle. Side note, I accidentally stumbled across something I either didn't know or forgot about.. Pie introduced a new method to get the channel bandwidth, so hopefully that will be an easy and very cool addition making this wait worth it.. stay tuned.. -Mike
  13. 8 points
    If I were in charge of Sprint and the merger fell through today, here are the changes I would make: Day 1 changes: Drop the L800 Qrxlevmin to -128. I don’t want users falling off L800 at -120 or -122 because: L800 will almost always offer better speeds than CDMA at those signal levels. This will reduce the reconnect time to usable LTE. The pocket 3G problem will be eliminated. VoLTE reliability will skyrocket. Remove the per-site “VoLTE enabled” flag (which by the way is a big part of the reason Sprint is struggling to support older devices) and allow it on all sites and Magic Boxes. This will allow software updates enabling VoLTE to be pushed to ISIM devices in a matter of weeks. Revert L2500 to Config 1 to both increase L2500 upload speeds and effective range. In markets where spectrum allows, split 8T8Rs into two 4T4R transmit chains and run 6 L2500 carriers. Some markets such as Seattle already have this. Short-term changes (within the first 12 months): Contact high-traffic venues (casinos, airports, stadiums, arenas, concert venues, underground train systems, convention centers, etc) and sign onto DAS systems. Begin buildout in high-roaming high-traffic areas such as ski resorts (e.g. Big Sky, MT and Sugarloaf, ME), rural tourist attractions (e.g. Mount Rushmore, SD and Yellowstone National Park) and large cities (e.g. Billings, MT and Chyenne, WY). Identify and begin to close in-city coverage gaps by means of: Implementing a verified coverage map to identify areas without LTE. Allow T-Mobile roaming and possibly even AT&T roaming everywhere and focus on high-roaming in-city areas. Expedite the Massive MIMO rollout to stay at the front of the 5G race. Expedite the tribanding of any remaining single-band/dual-band/non-redundant Clear sites. Look to increase backhaul to high-usage sites. Prioritize interband CA deployment. Prioritize the implementation of dynamic NR UL and move NR to the PCC. Begin talks with Dish to host their 600 and AWS-4 spectrum. This will at least double Sprint’s lowband capacity nationwide and give them greenfield lowband to deploy NR on. Long-term changes (after the first 12 months): Cut EVDO completely ASAP. Run a 1x1900 carrier in L1900 guard bands and maintain the 1x800 carrier. Begin to replace 800 radios with NR/LTE/1x DSS-capable radios. Begin a rural highway buildout in areas where the most T-Mobile and AT&T roaming occurs. The deployment will primarily be lowband. This task is not as daunting as it seems for sites already exist that cover effectively every major highway in the United States. The only thing to do will be to negotiate a reasonable lease. Open up an NR test drive program similar to the one T-Mobile ran for LTE and advertise it heavily.
  14. 8 points
    At the Nationals Game today! My iPhone XS automatically connected to a private WiFi network “provided by Sprint” at Nationals Park. Check out the data speeds here during the game. Nice job Sprint! Here’s the speeds over the WiFi:
  15. 8 points
  16. 8 points
    This is a non-sequitur. My whole point was that they have the service on paper, but not in reality. If they put 5G-NR on 600 MHz on those same towers that currently have 700 MHz, they can fill a map full of rural areas running "5G" with the actual service being as poor as it is today. (And, if 5G-NR is a more fragile airlink than LTE, then it will be poorer.) Spectrum is not the issue, deployment is. Lose how? Once they've merged, what is the remedy if they decide to give the FCC, DOJ, and the American people the middle finger? I remind you to check out all the remedies that have been used on AT&T so far, such as... ... huh, I can't think of any. - Trip
  17. 8 points
    New beta is finally done brewing and has been uploaded to Google Play.. should be available within the hour! Lots of significant bugfixes and new LTE alerts that should make people very happy. Changelog: https://signalcheck.app/change-log Thanks for your patience, and let me know what I broke.. -Mike
  18. 8 points
    Massive MIMO antennas found today in the Columbus market. Can broadcast many beams of B41 LTE 2500 and 5NR (5G).
  19. 7 points
    An interesting note here in this slide which shows best and worst download speeds in some key markets (during peak congestion times). Sprint was #1 in Seattle and Boston. But even more noteworthy, Sprint is only last place in one market...Denver. T-Mobile was often the slowest in this selection. Even Verizon and AT&T all had at least one too.
  20. 7 points
    I really like this picture from a Washington Post article about OPM. - Trip
  21. 7 points
    Another new beta rolling out now! Minor changes since the update a couple of days ago -- Sprint 10x10 is displayed again, in-app purchases are back again, and Airave 4 stuff is fixed. A public update is also going out that rolls up all of the changes to this point, except for in-app purchases. More coming soon! Thanks for all of your help.. I sincerely appreciate it! -Mike
  22. 7 points
    The latest update to SignalCheck Pro will be available on Google Play within the hour! As always, some much needed bugfixes and a few new features. Here is the full changelog with some details: Added ability to look up network registrant by clicking on IP address. This is kind of cool -- if you have the mobile IP address display enabled (which constantly uses small bits of data to anonymously ping a public server -- so there may be a battery impact, however minimal, if you keep this on 24/7), if you click on it you'll get a popup showing the owner of record for your IP. Added option to display carrier aggregation info on Android 9.0+ devices [BETA]. This is cool but very unreliable at this point. This is a newer Android function that needs further improvements by device manufacturers. Sometimes it's accurate, sometimes it's not -- SCP will report whatever your OS is reporting. Unfortunately I cannot do much more to improve this functionality until vendors/manufacturers fix things on their end. Added indicators for Sprint Airave 4 CDMA/LTE connections. Resolved issue with CDMA site notes and logging not working when connected to Sprint Airave 4. These changes should provide full compatibility for users connecting to Sprint's brand new Airave 4. Thanks to your diagnostic reports I was able to tackle this shortly after the device began shipping! Resolved issue with no signal alerts not triggering. This alert probably never worked for most users -- but nobody mentioned it! Should be fixed now. I personally find this alert extremely useful. Added additional information to Logger Statistics screen. Hope to add more stuff like this in the future, stats and data are cool. Added option to apply a correction factor to LTE timing advance (TA) value. Some devices report LTE TA as approximately one-half of the actual value. Enable this option to manually apply a correction. If device manufacturers correct this in the future, simply disable the option.. and hopefully someday it can be removed completely. Removed option to exclude logcat output from diagnostic reports. This option was needed in early (4+ years ago) versions due to issues with force closes. This is no longer an issue and only provides confusion -- and less information to help me diagnose crashes. The only logcat output included in diagnostic reports is whatever SCP generates, and all reports are completely anonymous unless you provide identifying information. Resolved force closes when permissions were denied/revoked. Resolved internal exception when installing version 4.52. Resolved issue with EARFCN values off by 1 for some LTE band 66 and 71 cells. Resolved issue with missing LTE data on some Android 7+ devices. Resolved issue with missing popup when permissions were denied. Updated help screen. All should be self-explanatory. Squashing bugs never ends! As always, I sincerely appreciate everyone's support and please let me know of any issues! More new stuff in the pipeline.. Thanks, -Mike
  23. 7 points
    Night and day difference so far just got to work, phone is working and I had no issues streaming Spotify on the way in.
  24. 7 points
    Sooo... This is a thing. Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
  25. 7 points
    Working on adding bandwidth and carrier aggregation features to SCP.. but a lot of the data being reported by devices is inaccurate. Not sure if it's an Android issue or a vendor issue, but please help bring it to the Android engineers' attention by marking it with a 'star' if you don't mind! It's the best way to get bugs escalated.. https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/131532224 Thanks, -Mike
  26. 7 points
  27. 7 points
  28. 7 points
    Considering Dan Hasse was talking about it in NV 1.0 about 7 years ago I would say it's been past ridiculous. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
  29. 7 points
    T-Mobile lost their speed crown to AT&T. Sprint passed Verizon and is only 500kbps behind T-Mobile. https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/03/atandt-has-the-fastest-wireless-network-in-the-us/
  30. 7 points
    Look like another M-MIMO antenna added at East 14th Street and 2nd Avenue, above the IHOP Restaurant building. The mini macro is still there and it is live pulling 167 down and 14 up at 12:30 PM. Sprint replacing 8T8R and mini mac for M-MIMO build so fast in Manhattan, some of them leave 8T8R and mini macro antenna up there.
  31. 7 points
    Google responded on reddit, looks like it will be addressed
  32. 7 points
    Report at the beginning of the month said no go for El Paso on band 26 Well.... Here it is Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  33. 6 points
    I believe your understanding is incorrect. Correct and it is 85%. If Softbank exceeds 85% ownership in Sprint a tender offer for the remaining 15% of the company is triggered. But what does this have to do with Softbank injecting money into Sprint? Softbank's initial acquisition of 70% Sprint was a $20.1 billion deal. $8 billion of that was a one time capital contribution to Sprint, the remaining $12.1 billion went to acquire 70% of the shares of Sprint. That $12.1 billion didn't go to Sprint at all, it went to institutional and individual shareholders. The $8 billion in capital isn't typical outside of an initial acquisition either... Subsequently they've raised their stake to somewhere in the 84% range. All of these subsequent transactions to increase their ownership stake have occurred on the open market as far as I know. Equity capital for the offering corporation only typically occurs once at the time of the initial offering i.e. Sprint went public offered stock on the market and got a one time payment at the time of the initial public offering. Any subsequent transactions on the stock market at that point are between the shareholder selling and the new potential shareholder wanting to buy. Softbank in and of itself buying 70% and now 84% of the company gave no money to Sprint. It went directly to the shareholder they bought it from. The "issue" that has apparently limited Softbank's ability to invest in Sprint is in the debt they took out to finance the deal, their Japanese banks included debt covenants restricting Softbank from infusing Sprint with any more capital than the initial $8 billion in the deal to acquire the majority of the company. https://www.wsj.com/articles/doubts-grow-about-whether-softbank-can-save-sprint-1439346616 Without actually seeing the covenants it is hard to know how restrictive they actually are and how much if it is simply unwillingness. Softbank has shown some creativity in the past in getting money to Sprint when they absolutely needed it. But again just to reiterate, the 85% ownership ceiling is a completely separate thing from investing money into the subsidiary.
  34. 6 points
    VoLTE live throughout Bellevue and Seattle this morning.
  35. 6 points
    I also would not be shocked if the States were thrown out of Federal court for now. They technically do not have a case until the Feds APPROVE the merger. They have not been harmed until that point. Suing because the Feds might approve a merger may not be sufficient. Actually harm most likely is required, not potential. Robert
  36. 6 points
    Got my Airave 4 and have it setup. It uses the same earfcn as my Magic Box, 39874. CDMA 1x uses channel 1125, which is right in the middle of the 15x15 B25 carrier, so I'm guessing it's misconfigured. I ran a packet capture on it during setup. It requests 2 IP addresses, one for the CDMA side and one for LTE. This is in contrast to the Airave 3 which used a single IP. So the internals are very much completely separated on the 4, much more so than on the 3. Both IPs are for the same MAC address (ie, the Airave 4 ethernet port has a single MAC, but 2 IPs assigned). At startup, the CDMA side does an NTP query to the hardcoded, private address for some reason, before falling back to querying the NTP pool. The LTE side also queries the pool, but does not try the hardcoded address first. The CDMA side then looks up SEGW-Airspan-Combo-3G-GLOBAL.SPCSDNS.NET and opens an IPsec tunnel to it. It then looks up segw06.femto.sprint.net and establishes an IPsec tunnel to that address. This is the same domain range as the Airave 3. Valid options seem to be segw01.femto.sprint.net through segw10.femto.sprint.net. This tunnel is what is used for CDMA, so I'm guessing the first tunnel was used for configuration? The LTE side looks up SEGW-Airspan-Combo-GLOBAL.SPCSDNS.NET and establishes an IPsec tunnel to it. It then looks up SEGWAKR-PUBL.sc.spcsdns.net and establishes an IPsec tunnel to that address. I believe the latter is the tunnel for LTE, and the first is the configuration tunnel. The LTE side is similar to what is seen on the MB Gold. The Gold first establishes an IPsec tunnel to SEGW-AIRSPAN-IFUR-GLOBAL.SPCSDNS.NET, and then a tunnel to SEGWSKT-PUBL.sc.spcsdns.net. Note the similarities in the addresses. It's also interesting that the Airave 4 uses hardcoded DNS servers, querying 3 of them at the same time for the final IPsec tunnel.
  37. 6 points
    Saw said that once DSS becomes available they'll be able to use 100MHz of spectrum for 5G and 60MHz for LTE simultaneously.
  38. 6 points
    I was against this merger from the beginning. And now, after seeing that Sprint & T-Mobile are willing to divest spectrum, I'm more against it than ever before. Hacking apart 2 companies to make 2 more makes absolutely no sense. T-Mobile and Sprint have way too much debt now, and they will have even more after the merger. At this point, the FCC should withdraw their approval, the DOJ should sue to stop it, and the 2 companies should just go another route. There are plenty of other companies that have plenty of money and can afford to absorb the debt load of either company. Otherwise, if Sprint & T-Mobile are allowed to merge, prices will have to be raised to astronomical proportions just to afford the monthly debt payments, and even then, The New T-Mobile could still fail, the new 4th carrier could still fail, and where would we be? 2 nationwide cellular carriers! This show from Legere and Claure needs to stop! It's gone off the deep end!
  39. 6 points
    Sprint is showing some good results. Granted, it’s not 1gbps but it’s exceeded Verizon in terms of coverage and reliability. Kudos to Sprint! This is the good press they needed. Playing up their strength of allowing the reviewers to walk around the city and still maintain speeds looks great on them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  40. 6 points
    I hope we get an update on official VoLTE support at some point soon. Forgive me, but it seems a bit ridiculous that Sprint’s talking about launching 5G when VoLTE isn’t officially available nationwide or on popular phones like the S9/S9+/Note 9/Pixel 3 series, etc.
  41. 6 points
    With the merger madness going on, its time to take a little break and look what the Sprint 5G network could do. Over 735mpbs in Houston Texas just before the launch of the 5G network. I wonder if they could pull over 1gpbs with the current configuration.
  42. 6 points
    I'm tempted to get an Android phone just so I can download this app and support you.
  43. 6 points
    Airave Gen 4 is available today. Per OKCC rep. referring to an internal email.
  44. 6 points
    I'm currently in Montego Bay and Sprint Global Roaming has been pretty decent thus far. We seemed to jump on Digicel when we first arrived, but our phones have been preferring FLOW since then. Coverage has been quite good even indoors. I imagine that the network(s) are quite dense, at least in this part of the island. I've remained on the free low-speed data option on my Note 9 while my wife eventually opted for the high speed data pass for a week on her S9+. The difference in speed can obviously be seen in the screenshots though they are from different locations. Despite the unimpressive speed test numbers I've found the low speed data to be surprisingly snappy when doing mundane tasks and even viewing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc take longer but isn't too terrible. Data intensive jobs such as trying to upload pics or video is somewhere between painful and futile though. People who do a lot of uploading/streaming to social media will definitely want to shell out the dough for the high speed data day or week pass. One interesting thing is that despite the high ping times Sprint Direct Connect Plus still performs very nicely including during the time before my wife bought the data pass.
  45. 6 points
    A lot of rebuilds with B41 and B25/26 or just B25/26 on NY17 between Roscoe and Monticello. Previously these were all B25 only GMO site. Still a lot of coverage gaps between sites where I would drop Sprint LTE or hold on to B26 until -130dBm.
  46. 6 points
    SoftBank Founder Masayoshi Son Lost $130 Million on Bitcoin https://www.marketwatch.com/story/softbank-founder-masayoshi-son-reportedly-lost-130-million-of-his-personal-fortune-with-bitcoin-2019-04-23
  47. 6 points
    I just successfully switched my Pixel 3 XL to use the eSIM on Sprint. Works out of the box now. Since I already had this phone on the line, I had to swap to another phone and then swap back with the eSIM. Everything works. Super convenient. No more having to order the correct SIM from Sprint, and I can now swap between Sprint and another carrier easily (traveling internationally, or even using another domestic carrier). Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
  48. 6 points
    Another beta just released! Many more fixes.. hopefully this will take care of everything I was aware of.. let me know! Hopefully this version can go public later this week..... -Mike
  49. 6 points
  50. 6 points
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