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Official 4G/WiMAX Coverage Areas

Finally we can add New Orleans, Louisiana along with the burbs of Metairie and Kenner. I connected on I-10 at Xavier University and maintained connection throughout the CBD. Talked and surfed the net simutaneously to make sure I was actually on 4G. Drove to Best Buy located @I-10 and Veterans to let the guys in mobile know that 4G was somewhere beyond the Convention Center and discovered that the store had a good signal in the parking lot and coverage inside. My coworker hated driving me around but it had to be done!
 
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Finally we can add New Orleans, Louisiana along with the burbs of Metairie and Kenner. I connected on I-10 at Xavier University and maintained connection throughout the CBD. Talked and surfed the net simutaneously to make sure I was actually on 4G. Drove to Best Buy located @I-10 and Veterans to let the guys in mobile know that 4G was somewhere beyond the Convention Center and discovered that the store had a good signal in the parking lot and coverage inside. My coworker hated driving me around but it had to be done!

It's been on for weeks but can't add Kenner and Metairie. It is literally only in a very small area from just before David Drive to Transcontinental. Only really reliable from Poydras to Washington And Convenion Center to Superdome. It is unofficially on so tons of holes and drop outs. Download Sensorly from the market and you will see where coverage actually is.
 
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There must be some regulatory issue in Louisiana. They did not even have 3G for years after Texas had it. You would cross over the border and drop to 1x.

I am not sure if it is a regulatory issue here in Louisiana or a politics problem or just a simple fact of not having the spectrum. I will say this though, a majority of the 3g here was gotten by the reciprocal roaming agreement with Alltel so that they didn't have to do build outs in the rural areas.
 
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I am not sure if it is a regulatory issue here in Louisiana or a politics problem or just a simple fact of not having the spectrum. I will say this though, a majority of the 3g here was gotten by the reciprocal roaming agreement with Alltel so that they didn't have to do build outs in the rural areas.

I know Baton Rouge had roaming provided by Alltel since 2007, but I don't think other parts of the state did. New Orleans has had Sprint 3G for a good while, but Baton Rouge did not get it until June of last year. It has been abysmal since to say the least. Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, Shreveport all got 3G from Sprint in the past 6 months as well.

I don't think it's regulatory issues. Sprint doesn't spend as much on cap ex in the Southeast in general, not just Louisiana. Hopefully with network vision, things will get a little better.
 
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I wish Sprint would finish building out WiMax properly and forget about LTE.
While I can understand you saying that, as we have WiMax devices, in actuality this exactly backwards; I also have a VZ LTE data card, and LTE beats the holy living crap outta WiMax. I've gotten ~50 MBit/sec thruput via LTE with a 20% (-74 dBm) signal strength, and while some of that speed is likely due to LTE being undersold right now, it takes a lot more signal to get to the theoretical max of ~13Mbit/sec with WiMax.

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We'll suffer as early WiMax adoptees (but maybe not; Sprint's LTE won't be for another couple of years and it'll be time to get a new handset by then anyway), but LTE is better (and not just in speeds, but in the underlying technology) and I'm glad Sprint has seen the light.
 
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While I can understand you saying that, as we have WiMax devices, in actuality this exactly backwards; I also have a VZ LTE data card, and LTE beats the holy living crap outta WiMax. I've gotten ~50 MBit/sec thruput via LTE with a 20% (-74 dBm) signal strength, and while some of that speed is likely due to LTE being undersold right now, it takes a lot more signal to get to the theoretical max of ~13Mbit/sec with WiMax.

1434883387.png


We'll suffer as early WiMax adoptees (but maybe not; Sprint's LTE won't be for another couple of years and it'll be time to get a new handset by then anyway), but LTE is better (and not just in speeds, but in the underlying technology) and I'm glad Sprint has seen the light.

50 Mb/s is completely useless with 2GB per month data cap... All that speed and you can't use it. LTE cannot handle the traffic that WiMax can, hence why VZ has data caps and has a limited selection of 4G phones. The same is likely to happen to Sprint if they go LTE.

The only hope is that they would use some kind of LTE/WiMax hybrid network which would end up being just a big waste of money because WiMax is capable of the same speeds as LTE if they would just build the network out properly. In fact the fastest speed on record for a 4G wireless network was with WiMax, not LTE. I don't know the exact speeds, but ROI has posted them on this site before.

Despite the lack of proper build out I'll still take my unlimited 3-4 Mb/s over an occasional peak 50 Mb/s limited network.
 
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You're obviously mixing up "Technical Details" and "Corporate Policies". There's absolutely no reason that Sprint can't be just as unlimited on LTE as they are with WiMax. The underlying technology involved has nothing to do with how it's metered.
50 Mb/s is completely useless with 2GB per month data cap ... All that speed and you can't use it.
I have a 10GB plan. I use it every day, and it suits me just fine; I'm not limited in what I do with it.

LTE cannot handle the traffic that WiMax can, hence why VZ has data caps
Uh, what?! The only reason for data caps is 'cause VZ are dicks. They cap merely because they can.

and has a limited selection of 4G phones.
Compared, of course, to the three(? four?) that Sprint has on WiMax, right? The technology's deployment is brand new- the same could have been said about the EVO last year.

The same is likely to happen to Sprint if they go LTE.
You're really just full of rampant speculation today, huh? Why would they do that? Even if they gave into market pressure and started to meter, they'd likely do the same with WiMax as well. Apples and oranges.

... I'll still take my unlimited 3-4 Mb/s over an occasional peak 50 Mb/s
Nah, I'm getting that fairly consistently. I'm actually impressed at how I am getting limited by the sites I visit. Again, some of that is limited LTE user-consumption, but the technology is also much better- I decided to give LTE a shot after looking over some of the technology whitepapers on it. Why do you think Sprint is switching? Not only that, the LTE being used today isn't the best available version, and there's better implementations being developed and ratified now.
 
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You're obviously mixing up "Technical Details" and "Corporate Policies". There's absolutely no reason that Sprint can't be just as unlimited on LTE as they are with WiMax. The underlying technology involved has nothing to do with how it's metered.

I have a 10GB plan. I use it every day, and it suits me just fine; I'm not limited in what I do with it.


Uh, what?! The only reason for data caps is 'cause VZ are dicks. They cap merely because they can.

Really? Maybe you should actually read the technical details rather than just calling VZ dicks.

"As a result, the DL system capacity of WiMAX is significantly higher than that of LTE, even though they have similar spectral efficiency."

http://www.unleadedonline.net/wimax/WWAN_Capacity_Analysis_White_Paper.pdf

These are the actual facts, and this is why Sprint is still the last carrier with unlimited data.

Compared, of course, to the three(? four?) that Sprint has on WiMax, right? The technology's deployment is brand new- the same could have been said about the EVO last year.

Again, the real facts are that Sprint has twice as many 4G phones as VZW.

Sprint is switching to LTE purely as a result of market pressure.
 
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Maybe you should actually read the technical details
I have- overviews of the ones submitted to the ITU; and in there it explains that capacity, bandwidth and thruput are far more expandable with LTE. Why do you it's adoption is growing abroad, and that of WiMax is stalling?

Intel's trying to push a WiMax chipset (and IIRC, they were involved in the development of WiMax), so I can understand why they'd come out for it.

Again, the real facts are that Sprint has twice as many 4G phones as VZW.
Yes, today. It's a sure bet that it won't be like that tomorrow, esp. if the iPhone 5 rumors of LTE are true.

Sprint is switching to LTE purely as a result of market pressure.
Which "market pressure" are you talking about? All that money dumped into Clearwire, you think they're looking forward to having to build a new infrastructure? Nah, unless you mean "they want to remain competitive and ensure bandwidth" when you say "market pressure" the writing's on the wall- I'm just glad they had the foresight to not get left behind.

Had they not invested into Clear/WiMax first (as it was ready at the time) and into LTE, they'd already have had it by now.
 
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I have- overviews of the ones submitted to the ITU; and in there it explains that capacity, bandwidth and thruput are far more expandable with LTE. Why do you it's adoption is growing abroad, and that of WiMax is stalling?

Intel's trying to push a WiMax chipset (and IIRC, they were involved in the development of WiMax), so I can understand why they'd come out for it.

Maybe try supporting your information? So far I'm the only one that has posted documented tests that prove WiMAX has a higher capacity than LTE.




Yes, today. It's a sure bet that it won't be like that tomorrow, esp. if the iPhone 5 rumors of LTE are true.

Last I heard the iPhone 5 was only 3G, but another one may be in development already.


Which "market pressure" are you talking about? All that money dumped into Clearwire, you think they're looking forward to having to build a new infrastructure? Nah, unless you mean "they want to remain competitive and ensure bandwidth" when you say "market pressure" the writing's on the wall- I'm just glad they had the foresight to not get left behind.

Had they not invested into Clear/WiMax first (as it was ready at the time) and into LTE, they'd already have had it by now.

Market pressure, as in the uneducated consumer/investor that sees the good marketing hype surrounding LTE and thinks that Sprint is automatically no good without it. The same type of marketing hype that causes an outdated before it's even launched iPhone4 to be so popular.
 
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Having used both Sprint Wimax and Verizon Lte in the Baltimore area I am going to have to say that Wimax is a complete joke. The speeds are worse, coverage is worse, and when I did get it it would only be outside. If I went into a building I would be back on 3g. When I was on Sprint I would leave Wimax disabled unless I knew I was in an area that had it and wanted the speed. On Verizon I keep Lte enabled at all times unless I am going into a less populated area that does not have coverage yet.

The reason Sprint is the only carrier that still offers unlimited data is if they stopped it they would probably go under. Being number 3 and with the whole ATT/Tmobile merger possibly happening they would collapse into the last place position for nationwide carriers by a huge margin. I don't see how Sprint is still considered a nationwide carrier if you roam in half of the country.
 
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Having used both Sprint Wimax and Verizon Lte in the Baltimore area I am going to have to say that Wimax is a complete joke. The speeds are worse, coverage is worse, and when I did get it it would only be outside. If I went into a building I would be back on 3g. When I was on Sprint I would leave Wimax disabled unless I knew I was in an area that had it and wanted the speed. On Verizon I keep Lte enabled at all times unless I am going into a less populated area that does not have coverage yet.

The reason Sprint is the only carrier that still offers unlimited data is if they stopped it they would probably go under. Being number 3 and with the whole ATT/Tmobile merger possibly happening they would collapse into the last place position for nationwide carriers by a huge margin. I don't see how Sprint is still considered a nationwide carrier if you roam in half of the country.

The reason Sprint is still unlimited is because of network capacity. Sprint and Clearwire own more spectrum than Verizon and AT&T combined plus WiMAX has a larger capacity than LTE.
 
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The network capacity is so high because no one can even connect to it.

For one, I'm connected to it right now at work.... inside a building.

Second, I keep telling you that it's the buildout of Clearwire's WiMAX, not the technology that is the problem. I said that I wish Sprint/Clearwire would just buildout the WiMAX network properly. Jumping ship to LTE is not an improvement in technology, we'll just be starting over with another half-assed buildout that will have the same results and likely a limited data plan. I don't understand why this concept is so hard to comprehend.
 
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Maybe try supporting your information?
Well, this part's going to sound like a cop-out, but I can't as it's all under NDA; but I can say my previous client is developing an LTE handset.

So far I'm the only one that has posted documented tests
... from one of the companies pushing WiMax over LTE, and who makes chipsets for WiMax ...

Market pressure, as in the uneducated consumer/investor that sees the good marketing hype surrounding LTE ...
It's more than that.

I thought I'd listed this in the original post when I talked about it, but I realize I'd omitted the impetus for trying out VZ LTE in the first place. Where I stay when I commute to NoCal has a very strong signal (-65 dBm) but the tower is oversold and there's plenty of WiFi interference (which is another 2.5GHz WiMax weakness- even my Cradlepoint router warns not to retransmit on WiFi channels > 3 else you'll interfere with the WiMax signal) so my thruput bounces all over the place, going from as low as 700 kbit/sec all the way to about 8Mbit/sec- even the Speedtest.net graphs bear this out.

I'm sure some of that is due to to congested pipes (and I've told Sprint more than once about that tower) but I know I get a more-consistent connection on VZ, and I've never had more than ~40% (-68 dBm) LTE signal. Part of that is also due to superior technology, and the better building penetration of 700 MHz. In either case, wherever I've been in the Western US where there's been both VZ LTE and Sprint WiMax signals available, the VZ solution has been more consistent each time.

I've been reading some pretty specious things on these boards re: WiMax vs. LTE (like how any WiMax user can roam to any WiMax network, or how "it's easier to disallow services on LTE than it is on Wimax"), so I take a lot of things that don't have a basis in the underlying technology with a grain of salt.

But in any case it'll be a moot point as every carrier transitions to LTE, Sprint included.
 
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... and likely a limited data plan. I don't understand why this concept is so hard to comprehend.
I don't understand why you think caps on your data plan are somehow limited to the underlying technology. You keep mentioning "Marketing hype", yet it's due to that same marketing- and only that- why Sprint remains uncapped. If they have the same backhauls they're using on WiMax, there's no reason to cap "just because".
 
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