Epic (4G) Signal Strength

[camtah]

I live in a 4G supported area and I have my Epic Pre order in hand. However, I have doubts about the 4G experience in my area since my current 3G coverage is low. I am talking signal strength in house readings of around -98dBm and outside readings around -89dBm. I suspect that I would not be happy with the 4G band.

I noticed a few reviews talked about the lack of 4G coverage in an area that was served by it. Anyone that has an Epic to play with have real world numbers on signal strength?

 

[milominderbinde]

Sprint maps only show some of the 4G markets. 4G towers have been found in many unannounced markets as well. Some areas aren't even on the notification list.

The Sensorly app lets users map 3G and 4G service while they drive. So far, users have mapped 4G coverage in 135 cities:

[EDIT] Updated list of cities in a new post below.

Check out the maps and you can see street-by-street if you will have 4G.
Note: New towers are often in testing and may not be on all of the time until that market is announced.

 

[caliskimmer]

Sprint says that there is 4G in a number of markets. But EVO users have found 4G service in a many unannounced markets as well. Some aren't even on the notification list.

The Sensorly app lets users map 3G and 4G service while they drive. So far, users have mapped 4G in 135 cities:

? California: Anaheim, Burbank, Hayward, Los Angeles, Modesto, San Francisco, San Jose, Tulare, Turlock
? Colorado: Arvada, Denver, Littleton
? Conn: Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury
? Deleware: Wilmington
? Florida: Daytona Beach, Holiday, Miami, New Smyrna, Orange Park, Orlando, St Augastine, St Pete, Tampa
? Georgia: Atlanta, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Marietta, Milledgeville, Roswell
? Hawaii: Honolulu, Maui
? Idaho: Boise, Meridian, Nampa
? Illinois: Aurora, Belleville, Chicago, Crystal Lake, Edwardsville, Elgin, Joliet, Naperville, Waukegan
? Maryland: Annapolis, Baltimore, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Towson
? Mass: Boston, Farmingham, Lowell, Medford
? Michigan: Grand Rapids, Walker, Wyoming
? Minn: Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Minneapolis-St Paul
? Missouri: Arnold, Florissant, Independence, Kansas City, O'Fallon, St. Charles, St. Louis
? Nevada: Enterprise, Henderson, Las Vegas, Searchlight
? New Jersey: Edison, Elizabeth, Newark, Patterson, Plainfield,
? New York: New York, Rochester, Syracuse, White Plains
? NC: Apex, Asheboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro, High Point, Raleigh-Durham, Winston-Salem
? OH: Cincinnati, Fairfield
? Oregon: Beaverton, Eugene, Hillboro, Portland, Salem, WIlsonville
? Penn: Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, York
? Rhode Island: Pawtucket, Providence
? Tenn: Franklin, Hendersonville, Murfreesburo, Nashville
? Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Borger, Conroe, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denton, Houston, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, McKinney, Midland/Odessa, Pampa, Plano, San Antonio, Waco, Wichita Falls
? Utah: Layton, Ogden, Orem, Provo, Salt Lake City
? Virgina: Arlington, Chesterfield, Manassas, Mechanicsville, Richmond, Woodbridge
? Washington: Arlington, Bellingham, Ellensburg, Everett, Kennewick, Lynnwood, Marysville, Pasco, Richland, Richmond, Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima, Snohomish, Vancouver
? Washington D.C.

Check out the maps and you can see street-by-street if you will have 4G.

Looks like I'll be gettin' 4g right out of the box!

 

[camtah]

My question was in regard to signal strength. I am in a 4G service area. Cell maps from Sprint, Verizon, etc. are marketing tools and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The signal strength in my home and immediate surrounding area is quite low for EVDO/1X service on my current Treo Pro. I realize that this HW is different which I was asking for some real world experience with the Epic. This effects my decision to pick one up on the 31st.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

My question was in regard to signal strength. I am in a 4G service area. Cell maps from Sprint, Verizon, etc. are marketing tools and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The signal strength in my home and immediate surrounding area is quite low for EVDO/1X service on my current Treo Pro. I realize that this HW is different which I was asking for some real world experience with the Epic. This effects my decision to pick one up on the 31st.

Sensorly reports actual signal strength by other users who have the app installed on their phones. You can go to sensorly.com to see the maps, but a zoomed in to your house is on the phone app only. You could go to any store with an android phone (doesn't matter what carrier) and you can download the app on a demo phone as long as the market opens. Its a free app. From there, you pick what type of service from which carrier you want to see and zoom in and voila... signal strength reported visually.

As for EVDO: reports have been lower speeds (way low) on the Epic than even my Hero. WiMax: Higher than the Evo. I hope the 3G speeds are fixed prior to release as that may be the only thing holding me back after I get the phone.

 

[rawvega]

My question was in regard to signal strength. I am in a 4G service area. Cell maps from Sprint, Verizon, etc. are marketing tools and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The signal strength in my home and immediate surrounding area is quite low for EVDO/1X service on my current Treo Pro. I realize that this HW is different which I was asking for some real world experience with the Epic. This effects my decision to pick one up on the 31st.

If you want a more specific answer, perhaps you should be a bit more specific about your location. Then maybe somebody who is in your general area may chime in about their 4G experiences thus far.

 

[dragonol2]

This is awesome thanks for the info on the Sensorly maps! From the looks of the map, I'll be well within the confines of 4G all around my area... great tool!

 

[milominderbinde]

Updated 4G City Listing

Text deleted.

[EDIT] More cites have come online now. The update cities listing is in a new post.

 

[Phone#IM]

Jacksonville has 4g and is not mentioned in that list

While Orlando is in the list but does not have 4g yet


The list isn't accurate

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Jacksonville has 4g and is not mentioned in that list

While Orlando is in the list but does not have 4g yet


The list isn't accurate

Actually, Orlando does have 4G, just isn't officially released. His app pulls data from phones running the app. Right now, he's getting 4G information from people with Evo's, running the app and testing if there is 4G signal.

 

[caliskimmer]

Actually, Orlando does have 4G, just isn't officially released. His app pulls data from phones running the app. Right now, he's getting 4G information from people with Evo's, running the app and testing if there is 4G signal.

Is LA even official yet? I heard it's only supposed to be official at the end of the year, but there are so many locations that have it. My school even has it of all places. The wifi sucks so much there, that I think I'll just be tethering on 4g the whole time (if it's possible at the moment).

 

[it.]

Dang. I'm about 10 miles from 4G coverage. Are there any sites that show towers that will broadcast 4G in the future? I've tried towerco and antennasearch but I'm not really sure what the results mean. On towerco, it showed a tower about 2 miles from my house. And on antennasearch, there was an antenna that was actually less than a block from my house that was owned by "Clearwire Spectrum Holdings, lii, Ll". I know currently I don't have 4G because my dad's Evo doesn't pick it up. Does anyone what the results mean?

 

[mooshubob]

@it.
Based on my understanding of antennasearch, Clearwire has placed towers in many, many regions (after securing all of the necessary permits, what have you from the cities, states, federal regions, etc.), but is only rolling out on a somewhat limited basis in order to coordinate regional 4G launches. For instance, when LA and SF come up by the end of the year, all of the "dormant" Clearwire antennae will be pulsed online.

However, before they can do this, they have to make sure everything is working perfectly, so some towers are kept on for testing/QA purposes. This explains the data collected, for instance, by Sensorly - in regions not "officially" announced by Sprint yet.

For now, if you have no 4G, pretend you didn't see antennasearch
When sensorly (or Sprint official) indicates you have Wi-max/4G signal where you live, you'll have a pretty strong 4G signal due to the closeness of the antenna to your location.

Hope that helped.

 

[caliskimmer]

Wow, they must be testing a heck of a lot of towers in LA then...

 

[it.]

@it.
Based on my understanding of antennasearch, Clearwire has placed towers in many, many regions (after securing all of the necessary permits, what have you from the cities, states, federal regions, etc.), but is only rolling out on a somewhat limited basis in order to coordinate regional 4G launches. For instance, when LA and SF come up by the end of the year, all of the "dormant" Clearwire antennae will be pulsed online.

However, before they can do this, they have to make sure everything is working perfectly, so some towers are kept on for testing/QA purposes. This explains the data collected, for instance, by Sensorly - in regions not "officially" announced by Sprint yet.

For now, if you have no 4G, pretend you didn't see antennasearch
When sensorly (or Sprint official) indicates you have Wi-max/4G signal where you live, you'll have a pretty strong 4G signal due to the closeness of the antenna to your location.

Hope that helped.

Thanks. That cleared a lot up. But I'm still wondering am I guaranteed eventual 4G coverage just because there is a clearwire antenna right by my house. Are all clearwire towers set up to broadcast 4G? I'm in southern Orange County (in between San Diego and LA)

 

[caliskimmer]

Thanks. That cleared a lot up. But I'm still wondering am I guaranteed eventual 4G coverage just because there is a clearwire antenna right by my house. Are all clearwire towers set up to broadcast 4G? I'm in southern Orange County (in between San Diego and LA)

Yes, you are. As long as you have a Wimax 4g capable phone, you are guaranteed unless the tower is down.

 

[mooshubob]

Ha yeah skimmer, they'd certainly need tons of towers in major metropoli like LA, SF, NYC, etc....especially since Clearwire's Wi-Max isn't very good at penetrating dense materials, e.g. concrete. Wooden houses should be fine, however

Skyscrapers = not so much.

@It. Yes, to both questions. Clearwire's towers are just that, towers. They've been strapping their wi-max "boxes" (for lack of a proper term) on their towers. Now, in the future, those "boxes" could be easily swapped out, or added onto, using technologies such as LTE (true 4G), or whatever technical wizardry appears in the future.

As I understand it, the hardest part for most companies is securing the permits associated with being allowed to build a tower. It's a whole mess of bureaucratic red-tape that cities often fight over (especially w.r.t. infrastructure grants that these towers usually come part-and-parcel with from, say, a state government). Once towers are established, it's a pretty straightforward deal to modify what goes on the end of them.

 

[caliskimmer]

Ha yeah skimmer, they'd certainly need tons of towers in major metropoli like LA, SF, NYC, etc....especially since Clearwire's Wi-Max isn't very good at penetrating dense materials, e.g. concrete. Wooden houses should be fine, however

Skyscrapers = not so much.

@It. Yes, to both questions. Clearwire's towers are just that, towers. They've been strapping their wi-max "boxes" (for lack of a proper term) on their towers. Now, in the future, those "boxes" could be easily swapped out, or added onto, using technologies such as LTE (true 4G), or whatever technical wizardry appears in the future.

As I understand it, the hardest part for most companies is securing the permits associated with being allowed to build a tower. It's a whole mess of bureaucratic red-tape that cities often fight over (especially w.r.t. infrastructure grants that these towers usually come part-and-parcel with from, say, a state government). Once towers are established, it's a pretty straightforward deal to modify what goes on the end of them.

best part of Wimax antennas is that they can be placed on buildings and have a 30 mile radius. 802.16e for the win!

 

[mooshubob]

Hell yes! I can't wait till 802.16m is unleashed...been waiting for those gigabit/s speeds.

 

[caliskimmer]

Hell yes! I can't wait till 802.16m is unleashed...been waiting for those gigabit/s speeds.

Wimax 2 also ftw!