Help me wrap my head around this (sprint network related)

[BBPimp85]

I'm no expert in this field so please correct anything I'm saying wrong. So part of the network vision plan is to get rid of the iDen phones and use that 800Mhz frequency for LTE. I also understand that 800Mhz has better building penetration than it's current 1.9Ghz signal. But from my personal use of Nextel phones they had pretty bad service in call quality and signal strength. I was a Nextel customer before the merger with sprint. So I went from an i830 to a Samsung Blade and the differences in call quality and internet speed was apparent (I know the Blade was a 3g phone and the Nextel was not). So from personal experience Sprint's network was overall way better then Nextel's. Sprint must have thought so too because they offered hybrid phones using Nextel's D/C and Sprint's everything else. So my question is how is using the old Nextel frequency supposed to make the LTE network faster?

 

[anon(94115)]

because LTE and 2G are different technologies that do things vastly different

 

[dchawk81]

Lower frequencies go farther but are more prone to disruptions. That means longer range/building penetration but lower call quality. Call quality doesn't apply to data.

Higher frequencies don't go as far but are less prone to disruptions, therefore cleaner call quality.

That's why Verizon calls sound garbled compared to Sprint yet their coverage is superior. They cover more places but they don't need as many towers to cover a given area completely. That allows them to expand at lower cost...filling out the country faster.

 

[BBPimp85]

Nice. I get it. I wondered why I see so many Sprint towers and not as many Verizon towers. Dc you answered my questions. I fully understand now. Makes sense why Nextel sounded awful to me and had bad signal. So why didn't sprint use 3g data over 800Mhz as well like Verizon?

 

[dchawk81]

They couldn't because Verizon owns it. Carriers bid on and buy it from the government. They have roaming agreements for 3G data on Verizon in some areas for privileged customers but it's expensive to get. In fact, forcing roaming on Verizon and using it too much is what got me booted from Sprint earlier this year.

Edit: Verizon might be 850. 800 couldn't be used because iDEN is still using it. That's what they're changing.

 

[BBPimp85]

No i meant when they first bought Nextel. Why didn't they start repurposing the spectrum then? I have to imagine it would be easier to explain to the customer that we are upgrading our network and you have to get a new phone at that point rather then 5 years later. I imagine that lte/4g was being talked about and that 800Mhz would be the best option to use for whatever 4g tech they went with. Even if it was WiMAX.

 

[dchawk81]

They didn't have a replacement for direct connect, the biggest selling point for Nextel and the one feature that had subscribers heavily entrenched with it. A lot of businesses rely on that feature.

 

[BBPimp85]

They could have once they figured out to do it over cdma. I may being asking dumb questions or missing something here, but i gotta think they could have done these upgrades sooner.

 

[dchawk81]

Well they did finally figure out how to do it over cdma.

 

[jbuggydroid]

From what I understand they are also replacing all the equipment in the cell towers with newer equipment instead of just adding to the existing equipment. better to do that now than years ago when 4g wasn't around. Also the new equipment is going to give us HD calling on lte, two spectrums for 4g, and improved 3g when it is all said and done. Should improve things all around.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

 

[dchawk81]

Apparently they needed approval from the FCC as well. They couldn't just up and do it.

http://m.engadget.com/default/class...dma-and-4g-lte-on-800mhz/&icid=eng_latest_art

 

[BBPimp85]

Okay. That makes sense to me. Its just crazy to me how sprint used to be number one and it just seems like since the nextel merger they have slipped.

 

[BBPimp85]

Also thank you dchawk. Your input has been appreciated.

 

[dchawk81]

Yeah Nextel was a short term fail but hopefully they swing it around into a long term win.