4G info for those in Tampa,FL

[vladm]

Launch Date

I work in the IT dept at a delivery company based in Tampa with over 400 lines service from Sprint. Our rep sent a form email to all his clients stating that the official launch date is Sept 19th.

My guess is they took the network down to hook it up from test bandwidth to actual 4g bandwidth. I'm basing this off of the terrible speeds and ping times most people including myself have been getting. When I was in Chicago about a month ago, ping times were around 80 ms with speeds anywhere from 3-10 Mb down.

Why pay for what probably adds up to gigabits of bandwidth until you really need it. That my theory at least.

First post!

 

[italianotampa]

I hope so. My rep told me Nov first so either way its coming soon.
Edit: just for kicks I turned on 4g and I have it! From 56th st in Temple Terrence to the Bucsh gardens area.

 

[kc1974]

If the launch is in the next week or so, it doesn't look like it'll be out in many commuter areas with large populations, like Lutz, Land o Lakes, New Tampa, Tampa Palms, Riverview etc. if the testing areas are anything to go by. I think the closest to me would be I75/Fowler, a good 7 miles away. Hopefully I'm wrong..

 

[vladm]

If the launch is in the next week or so, it doesn't look like it'll be out in many commuter areas with large populations, like Lutz, Land o Lakes, New Tampa, Tampa Palms, Riverview etc.

I agree. I think Sprint's just trying to add as many cities to their list before Verizon releases their flavor of 4g. I think they'll do a decent job of building it out over the next year or so. If you look at Clear's map for Chicago, which is a more "mature" market, the coverage goes all the way out to where the suburbs turn into farmland. Since Clear's marketing 4g as home broadband replacement, it's to their benefit to cover as much of the suburbs as possible.

Also, the tower by where I work just came back online this morning. Ping times are better (around 150ms) if I choose closer servers but the default one showed the most impressive speeds.

 

[kc1974]

Well Orlando got the official turn on today.. the spotty, poor latency, slow 4G we have here doesn't seem ready for primetime just yet, but any word on a release date here?

 

[WildmanRuss]

Orlando on now, Tampa next

I realize Tampa will be turned on soon, but can we expect the current parts of the network turned on now to be in the end the coverage shown by users using the Sensorly app?

(to see the map go to Sensorly Maps | 4G - USA - Sprint | Sensorly)

Are they still working on the network and we could see more sites using 4G?

Only reason I ask is that I live just south of Brandon in Riverview and am just out of the coverage zone thus far. Although my wife and I work in current zones being tested/used and not official, it would be nice to have coverage at home as well.

 

[kc1974]

I have noticed some more areas with 4G over the last week, so it appears they're still adding 4G. Westchase, Carrolwood and the Citrus Park areas in particular. I will say that a month ago, there was nothing south of the I4/75 interchange, but now its moving south so maybe Riverview will get it. I'm in the same boat in Tampa Palms and New Tampa, nothing north of Fletcher so far.

As for Sensorly, I use it, but if you look around Westchase, you won't see much green.. Seems the info I'm collecting isn't writing to the servers or I'm doing something wrong.. Also, it seems to collect erroneous information given the 4G coverage in the middle of the Howard Frankland bridge and the Courtney Campbell causeway. Plus, the app is dependant on network connection, and my experience with poor 4G speeds likely means the data can't be sent, but I'm just guessing here.

 

[italianotampa]

I have noticed some more areas with 4G over the last week, so it appears they're still adding 4G. Westchase, Carrolwood and the Citrus Park areas in particular. I will say that a month ago, there was nothing south of the I4/75 interchange, but now its moving south so maybe Riverview will get it. I'm in the same boat in Tampa Palms and New Tampa, nothing north of Fletcher so far.

As for Sensorly, I use it, but if you look around Westchase, you won't see much green.. Seems the info I'm collecting isn't writing to the servers or I'm doing something wrong.. Also, it seems to collect erroneous information given the 4G coverage in the middle of the Howard Frankland bridge and the Courtney Campbell causeway. Plus, the app is dependant on network connection, and my experience with poor 4G speeds likely means the data can't be sent, but I'm just guessing here.

Actually the radio waves travel better over water, thats why you get the readings on the bridges. No terrain to block the signals.

 

[kc1974]

I thought the same about the bridges, but its weird how there's only one spot on each, but I guess its good news anyway. As for new coverage, South Tampa now has 4G pretty much all over. Mapping in the background as I type. If it doesn't show up on Sensorly in the next day or two, the servers might be having issues.

Edit: It's writing, but looks like they turned off the 4G so didn't write much.

 

[WildmanRuss]

Good, I hope you're right KC. In looking at how the coverage was setup for Orlando I am hopeful that they are still working out on expanding the Clear/Sprint 4G map throghout the Tampa metro area. I'll keep using the Sensorly app and hoping to see more places 4G that I have not seen before in the coming weeks.

 

[italianotampa]

I picked up 4G at Bruce B Downs and I-75 today, one bar.

 

[kc1974]

I picked up 4G at Bruce B Downs and I-75 today, one bar.

Yeah I live close by, just north of that intersection. It lasted maybe a couple of hours, then dropped. Was either a freak catch or something went wrong with an install somewhere. With it being only 0 bars/1 bar, my guess is the weather allowed the signal from the tower up by Fletcher/I-75 to get further than normal.

 

[papayadialog]

i can pull a few bars at hcc brandon campus. got swarm to torrent on it but only got a 2 mbps speedtest compared to 8 in atlanta.

 

[WildmanRuss]

It's been a little while since I have posted anything on this, but I haven't really seen any new growth in the 4G coverage or new areas. I am assuming it's pretty much now how it is going to end up, unless there are some areas that are completed and not yet lit up.

 

[fldevs]

A sprint 4G signal just showed up in the Westshore/Cypress area although it isn't allowing connections yet.

 

[bucabuc]

Sprint just held a launch event in tampa on oct 5. I talked to one of the regional managers at the event and she said the tampa rollout hit some snags and is only about 60 pct complete. One of the issues they had were nesting birds. She said that they could not touch a tower that had an active bird nest but that nesting season should be over very soon. Hold on tight, they should be making more progress soon. The person I was speaking to thought they would be complete by end of year. They had some very cool commercial applications they were showing off at the event.

Sent from my EVO Droid

 

[WildmanRuss]

Floid, thanks for sharing the info, that is great news.

 

[Feech]

Not sure if these means anything at all but with people seeing more coverage it might make sense. About 2 weeks ago i ran into a father from my sons old football team. Its been about a year since I had seen him. Because I'm a techno nut he said he had a opportunity for me. He asked me if I had heard of 4G internet, and I said of course I got a EVO 4G. He asked mne to come to a meeting to become a Clear reseller in the area. I told him I was a little skeptical because of the 4G speeds I had been seeing and with Verizon right around the corner with its release and reported speeds I didnt know if Clear/Sprint would be able to compete. Well he told me that Verizon was at least a year from being in this area and the Clear was rolling out on the 15th of this month.

Sorry the story was so long but want to give a little background of where I pulled that date from. So I'm waiting to hear if something drops tomorrow.

 

[Buckeyes]

Guys, I can't tell you how many times somebody has posted a date for 4G to be turned on in Tampa. Here it is October 18, and still no official announcement. It's still hit or miss as far as coverage goes. Please, I am not knocking anyone or being critical of the posts, it's just that nobody has a definitive date for the switch being flipped. Until it does, enjoy the sporadic 4g coverage. It will be here soon enough, then we can all read the posts about how bad a battery drain 4G is!! Lol

 

[WildmanRuss]

Buckeyes, I think Floid is on to something with regards to his post and the tower/nesting birds issue. I have been using Sensorly and watching areas for 4G coverage and noticed a lot of activity in the past two weeks. I am running into areas that were not previously 4G that are now. It appears that a great deal of work is happening much faster now and at this rate I think they should have it completed by the end of the year. Its great weather right now to be working outside as well so hopefully it will help speed up the process.