4G info for those in Tampa,FL

[Buckeyes]

Wildmanruss, I agree totally. It does seem to be expanding more and more. Hopefully, it will come sooner rather than later.

 

[Buckeyes]

I have been getting a full three bars when I turn on 4G in downtown Tampa today. The sensorly app is showing greater 4G coverage all the time. And it is not shutting off periodically, but has stayed on the whole day. Niiiiiice!

 

[WildmanRuss]

I live in an area of Riverview that I received some 4G signal in on Saturday that has not returned. Just north of me, an area that was not previously covered seems solid now. Hopefully they are working in my area and I will have 4G coverage at home.

 

[kc1974]

Has anyone noticed anything north of USF? There are occasional spots around Bearss Ave, but I looked at the tower by Bruce B Downs and I-75 and one off Bruce B Downs near Cross Creek Blvd, and there's no nests or nesting birds on them. Hopefully they're filling out Riverview down to Apollo Beach and then moving north up I-75, but based on how places like New Port Richey and Trinity are getting 4G and Tampa Palms, Lutz and Land o Lakes have nothing yet, I'm becoming more and more concerned.

 

[WildmanRuss]

kc1974, I don't think there is anything to get concerned about. I've been seeing some areas give indication of 4G for a day and then not show any signs of life for a bit. What I thought was coverage near me only popped up for a few hours and went away, although a mile north of me has coverage. I still feel somewhat confident they will get to the south end of Riverview and cover me, but are still working out issues on the network. I think we'll see more work to the north as well. In my opinion though they still have a great deal of work to do and wonder if they'll have it all done by the end of the year now, that would be my concern.

 

[WildmanRuss]

Well I went another route and started looking at FCC applications KC1974 and it appears from what I can see that it may not reach my home afterall unless some new licenses are applied for. It looks like they may not go much further south than Gibsonton Rd. in Riverview.

 

[WildmanRuss]

Here are some of the addresses I see in the FCC database for Lutz:
2202 IRENE STREET LUTZ
405 HAYES RD LUTZ
17536 Darby Lane Lutz

I looked on Google Maps and although I had to manuever around the trees in street view I saw towers at all three of these addresses.

 

[WildmanRuss]

KC, I did a little more research into the FCC database and can at least put this info to the group for anyone living near or south of the Brandon area in Riverview, Apollo Beach, or Gibsonton off of I-75. Based on Clearwire's FCC pending applications and current licenses, the furthest south tower on the network will be at Symmes Rd. & US-301. Coverage from this tower is relatively weak and the signal drops off about 1/4 mile north of Big Bend Rd. It's not going to reach far enough to my home, but I'll use my wifi there. The tower at Symmes and US-301 has two backhaul antennas on it, one facing the tower north at Gibsonton Rd. & US-301, and the other towards US-41. That's about as far south on this side of the bay the 4G network is going to reach. It starts to cover a bit more to the east into Brandon and Valrico the further you head north.

There are not a lot of pending applications for Clearwire, so I suspect they arleady have the licenses applied for and approved to where they are going to finish up the Tampa 4G network.

One thing I am amazed at though is how small the coverage area is for each tower. The towers near me can be as close as 1.25 miles apart, but their actual range in coverage is almost exactly 2 miles away. This is where the closest tower's signal drops off from me. From what I have read on some of the Clear/4G user forums, each tower's coverage is approximately 2-3 miles. So, with my house is exactly 2.7 miles as the crow flies away to the clearest 4G tower from me, I'll have to use wifi at home as we won't see 4G here. 4G exists where both my wife and I work though. It's not like we're in the sticks or anything, we have 2700 homes in our community.

 

[milominderbinde]

One thing I am amazed at though is how small the coverage area is for each tower...

Have you tried driving the areas using Sensorly?

It shows the real coveage other users are getting. Your readings are added to the database.

There are towers with only a 2-3 mile coverage radius and others with a range of 8-10 miles.

It is how the tower is set up.

Can you give us the link you are using for the new tower applications?

 

[WildmanRuss]

I use sensorly, and unfortunately the mapping for my area is wrong. I say this because on a recent Saturday my wife, who also has an Epic, and I showed 4G closer to our home. Then I realized I couldn't do anything with it and no data would come across. Hers showed 4G coverage as well. However, once we turned off 4G and back on no coverage. We drove by a cell that did something strange and locked 4G on for both of us in an area with no coverage and Sensorly picked this up like there was coverage. Anyway, enough of that nonsense... I do use Sensorly on a regular basis though and am amazed as I go down US-41 from tower to tower how fast it drops off, then picks up the next tower which is not that far away.

Now, with regards to the FCC applications. I chose the Georgraphic search on CLEARWIRE and chose a radius of 8 miles near me using my GPS coordinates. (If you are unsure of your GPS coordinates I recommend geocoder.us: a free US address geocoder).

Go the License Search - Geographic Search
for a geographic search. You can also use License Search and then select to search by name or select Advanced Search and look by county. Choosing too large a search area will give you hordes of data. However, they give you the option of doing a query results download so you can load it up in Excel or whatever and view the data. They will provide you with application pending data as well. I would recommend excluding Leases or you can view all that data as well.

Once you look at each individual license/call sign, select the LOCATION tab to view the location for that license and the data for it will be displayed.

Play with the Advanced and Geographic searches and you'll be able to limit right down to the data you want.

Hope this helps.

-Russ

 

[WildmanRuss]

I forgot to mention another cool site. AntennaSearch - Search for Cell Towers, Cell Reception, Hidden Antennas and more..

 

[italianotampa]

Wimax is still an infant. Wimax 2 is coming soon, its basically a software update and the range and speed will improve.

 

[Buckeyes]

I have been getting strong 4G signals in south Brandon, my home in Riverview, and on Rt. 60 in Brandon near the mall. This was all yesterday. My job in downtown Tampa has also been getting strong, three bar signals lately.

 

[WildmanRuss]

Signals this morning

I noticed this morning a number of areas in Pinellas, as well as around Tampa Intl Airport, were not on today for 4G, guess they are doing some other work on the system. Will check it again on my way home.

 

[05 TypeS DC5]

my brother called sprint support, their tech people said, they are working on putting 4 new 4g towers in Tampa this year before Christmas, hopefully it pans out, we were supposed to have it before Orlando, but for some reason they got it first over priority as well as Jacksonville.

 

[WildmanRuss]

Well Buckeyes you must live further north than I do in Riverview. No coverage where I am at.

 

[WildmanRuss]

Tampaflusa, I read an article at the following link which mentions Clearwire. Although Wimax2 will increase capacity, it doesn't appear it will increase range.

Watch for WiMAX 2 in 2011 - PCWorld

"But while the new WiMAX standard gives the technology a major speed boost, Shakouri says that it won't propagate any farther than current WiMAX technology that covers around 31 square miles per access point."

 

[Buckeyes]

Wildmanruss, I live near Providence and Bloomingdale near Winthrop. I get two bars at my house. Most people think I live in Brandon, but my address is actually in Riverview. Pretty good coverage in hay area.

 

[WildmanRuss]

Coverage

Buckeyes, I live in Summerfield, a fairly large community off of Big Bend Rd near US-301. However, coverage will not reach to us. You have four towers near you with Clearwire/Sprint 4G antennas on them. One is at the 301/75 interchange on the southeast side, another at 301 and Johanna Ave, another off of Providence Rd. on the other side of the road from Providence Baptist Church, and one more on the southwest corner of Kings and Bloomingdale Ave.

 

[Buckeyes]

Yeah, Wildmanruss, I see there are a few towers near me. I live in Bloomingdale Hills on Bloomingdale Ave. I would hope that with the large subdivisions near you(South Point, Panther Trace, etc.) that they would put up some 4G towers near you in the South County area.