vB Easy Archive - Update on 3G in CA Edge Wireless (AT&T Affiliate) areas

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Update on 3G in CA Edge Wireless (AT&T Affiliate) areas
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Posted by: ilvla2

This is confirmed by me when driving over from my home in Redwood Valley to and from Roseville this week

3G (HSDPA) live in:

Ukiah, Calpella, Redwood Valley (partial, the side near Lake Mendocino has it, but my side of Redwood Valley is still EDGE), Upper Lake, Lakeport, Kelseyville, Lower Lake, Clearlake

It may be in more areas of Edge's NorCal market (the North Shore of Clearlake, Eureka area, Yreka, Susanville and Fort Bragg are likely to have it), but those are the only ones I can personally verify right now, and I expect Willits to have it soon as well. I am amazed at how quickly Edge is turning the 3G up, AT&T could take some lessons from their affiliate

Edit-FYI: The AT&T deal to takeover Edge is set to complete by early June, at which time AT&T (who currently has a 40% stake in Edge) will take over the 60% of Edge they don't own.

Posted by: kilovolt

I was in Eureka this weekend, and I can confirm they have 3G in Eureka and Arcata. It starts just south of Eureka in Loleta, and dies around 101/299 in Blue Lake.

VZW was the surprise - their maps need to be updated. EVDO is now on in Wililts, dies for a bit, and then comes back on around the Ave. of the Giants. 101 from Cloverdale to Hopland was pretty shoddy.

EVDO is also now on in Red Bluff, but goes back to 1X until Corning on the 5. 299 still has ~40 miles of zero cell coverage between 96 and 3, but thats no surprise.

I did see a couple of micro-sites along 299 at the truck scales and the top of Lord Ellis summit. They weren't Edge or VZW - so they must have been either Sprint or USCC. The did a very good job making them small and painting them brown to blend into the scenery - incredibly hard to pick out if you aren't paying attention!

Posted by: ilvla2

Wow, EVDO must be on in Ukiah now too! I haven't been into town for a bit, and Verizon's signal is horrible out here so my phone goes over to Extended Network (US Cellular), and it's 1x, and even if I do pick up a VERY weak VZ signal, it's 1x. That Cloverdale to Hopland section is definitely bad in spots, especially around Hopland, Verizon did put up a site with Edge and USCC near Squaw Rock a couple of years ago, so it is okay there. Thankfully, US Cellular-Extended Network has flawless coverage of that section, up here US Cellular is the coverage leader.

That stretch of 299 sounds like Hwy.20 east of here, there is no cell signal for almost 40 miles, from the Hwy.53/20 interchange just east of Clearlake Oaks and North of Clearlake, to just west of Williams, the signal comes back once you drop out of Salt Creek Canyon and into the valley. There is also a small dead spot from just past Lake Mendocino to just east of Potter Valley Road on 20, and between just north of Willits to just south of Laytonville and in spots between Laytonville and Scotia on 101.

I am excited and amazed to see 3G going on so fast with Edge, they keep turning it up in more spots by the day, too bad AT&T can't do the same thing in their areas

At the rate they're going, they'll have much of their NorCal area live with 3G before the merger completes in early June

Posted by: Malibu21

Yep, 3G confirmed in Clearlake Oaks as well at the very least between central CLO and the 20/53 interchange and back Sulfur bank rd, to borax lake and the back way into CL.

Posted by: ilvla2

Cool, at this rate Edge will have everything 3G in no time! 3G is about 2 miles from me, I can get it near Lake Mendocino on Hwy.20, but once I get close to Shodokai Casino on 101 it drops back to EDGE. I live by Forsythe Creek, on the other side of the freeway from Shodokai and up a bit from the creek, it's still EDGE at my place. Now, if someone would just cover Hwy.20 between the 20/53 interchange and Williams, thankfully there are call boxes on the Lake County portion, but once you hit Colusa County they end. To be fair, the ONLY way to get cell reception on that route is to have a 3-watt phone, and even then it won't work in all places on that route.

Edit-Do you know if there is 3G in Glenhaven, Lucerne and Nice? We went on the south side of the lake on our trip to and from Roseville, so I couldn't check that section. I am going down to Santa Rosa for the day on Wed, I'll check to see how it is south of Ukiah, last time I went down there (early March) 3G ended just outside Ukiah, and didn't come back until somewhere between Windsor and Santa Rosa.

Edit2-For a company that is going to be merged into AT&T in two months, Edge's web site seems to be business as usual, though I notice there are no job openings (they had a few as recently as the middle of March). I guess they are going to wait until a few weeks before the put the news on their page.

Posted by: ilvla2

Update-Well, we took a trip to Santa Rosa today to do some shopping, and 3G stops at the south end of Ukiah (right where Hwy.128 to Boonville cuts off), and doesn't start up again until just past Shiloh Road in Windsor. Edge has so much more of their territory covered than AT&T does theirs it's not funny. On a related note, Verizon finally turned up EVDO in Mendocino and Lake Counties!

Posted by: yovinman

Any word on HSPA or EVDO north of Redding? Specifically, Bridge Bay or Lakehead on I-5 along Lake Shasta? Thanks!

Posted by: ilvla2

Ya know, I'm not sure, it's been a few months since I've been north of Redding to Lake Shasta, Yreka, Mt.Shasta or Weaverville. Now, there is a AT&T tech on here (I forget his name) that said AT&T is going to be rolling out 3G this year very aggressively, now that the TDMA and AMPS bandwidth is freed up, he said most of the infrastructure for it is already in place, and it's just a matter of doing some final tweaks to turn it up.

Edit-Verizon has EVDO to the lake, but it looks to be 1X north of the lake. Now, that map is out of date, because we have EVDO here in Mendocino and Lake Counties now, the map still shows us as being 1X only. I would guess Edge Wireless has HSDPA up in Mount Shasta City and Yreka, and maybe Weed too, though I can't say for sure, but we have 3G with Edge Wireless here in Mendocino County, as well as in Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

Posted by: Malibu21

Didn't go up that far, Lucerne an Nice are kinda smaller towns, but i imagine all of the towers in Lake are 3G now,

Posted by: ilvla2

Yeah, I would imagine that's the case. I am waiting for them to get the sites serving me 3G, I can go over to the side of Redwood Valley near Lake Mendocino and get it, but I get back over here, it's still EDGE.

Edit-I have found the Edge Wireless sites serving me and mapped them, one is in the Golden Rule Park on the bottom of Laughlin Ridge, another halfway up the ridge and one on the top at Ridgewood Summit. The 3G sites are blocked by hills and mountains,, hopefully they get the ones near me upgraded soon, there are a lot of people who live out here and work in Ukiah. I'm heading up to Eureka on Monday, I am curious to see if Willits or Laytonville have it, I'm betting Wililts does, and per Kilovolt the Eureka/Arcata/McKinleyville/Fortuna area has it.

Posted by: kalbri

Edge Wireless is still only EDGE speeds here in Graeagle and Portola (2 towers serve this area).

Posted by: ilvla2

Maybe if the UP crews complain enough, they can get it in Portola, It's a crew change point/servicing facility for the UP (formerly WP), and I bet some of them use Edge Wireless.

Edit-Any word if Susanville has 3G up yet? I would think they, along with Yreka and Weed would be the next candidates for 3G.

Posted by: kalbri

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilvla2

Maybe if the UP crews complain enough, they can get it in Portola, It's a crew change point/servicing facility for the UP (formerly WP), and I bet some of them use Edge Wireless.

Edit-Any word if Susanville has 3G up yet? I would think they, along with Yreka and Weed would be the next candidates for 3G

I hope they will. It would be nice to get 3G before the sale to ATT is complete. Somehow I doubt ATT will keep the same commitment to the network that Edge has had.

I always turn off of Hwy 395 at the Hwy 70 junction so I never go up to Susanville. All I know is that the Edge Wireless antennas on the Verizon tower at the Highway 70/395 junction are still EDGE speeds, as well as the Edge tower in Portola and the Edge tower in Blairsden/Graeagle.

Posted by: ilvla2

Well, the way the speed at which Edge is rolling out 3G I bet it's in Portola soon. I am amazed at the speed and breadth at which Edge is turning up the 3G here in Northern California, so I wouldn't be suprised to see it up there in the next couple of months.

I hope AT&T keeps the committment Edge had like you, though I admit I have my doubts as well. However, from what I have heard from Edge and AT&T people, they plan on keeping all the Edge employees and stores, they are VERY impressed with Edge, so if that's true than the same, dedicated folk will be serving us under the AT&T name. Edge is a different ball game than when they have acquired other carriers, Edge is headed by former AT&T Wireless Execs (like Wayne Perry and Donnie Castleman) and AT&T has had a 40% stake in them since the beginning of the company and partnership in 1999, I don't think AT&T wants to tick off people like Wayne and Donnie as they are both VERY influential in the wireless world, and live in Edge's territory. The deal is set to close by early June, so I guess we'll find out pretty soon.

Posted by: kalbri

Any chance that ATT will be able to add 850Mhz into some of the Edge Wireless areas, or will the former Edge network likely remain 1900Mhz?

Posted by: ilvla2

I don't think so, Edge/AT&T only has 1900 licenses in the areas they serve, though AT&T just bought a ton of 700 Mhz spectrum in that auction, so that's a possibility. I haven't had any problems with the 1900 here, and it's very hilly/mountainous and heavily forested out here, is the signal having problems there? I have 3 sites that look at my house (1 on the north end of Redwood Valley, 1 half way up Laughlin Ridge and 1 on top of Ridgewood Summit), so I'm sure that helps too. There are also a few sites in and around Ukiah, but I can't see those due to a big hill and trees blocking the view.

Posted by: kalbri

I think Edge Wireless does extremely well with their 1900 mhz network, but my place is about 3.5 miles away from the Graeagle tower and the area is heavily forested. I am too far away to get any signal from the Portola tower. I can get good reception outside, but only passable reception indoors. On a proir Nokia phone it showed a signal of about -97 to -99 indoors. I usually don't drop calls, but the person on the other end will often tell me the audio drops out occasionally during a call, and I will have to repeat myself. Standing next to a window helps somewhat. I would imagine that with 850 they could do a lot better than 3.5 miles for indoors reception penetration.

Edge does have very good call quality when the signal is good. My iPhone network test screen shows that Edge is using the AMR-FR codec, which probably helps. My hope is that ATT doesn't switch to HR to help add more capacity to be able to run GSM and 3G at these Edge sites. In Reno, my iPhone has always shown AMR-HR when I have looked at the test screen.

Posted by: kalbri

Does anyone know if the Edge Wireless network that has already been upgraded to 3G still uses AMR-FR full time, or is it programmed to use AMR-HR sometimes now?

Posted by: ilvla2

I haven't been able to find out, my Tilt's AMR test screen says unknown, and that's for EDGE and 3G. Is there another test program out there for Windows Mobile?

Edit-Update on Edge 3G, Willits, Laytonville and Garberville are still EDGE only. I haven't been over to Fort Bragg for a bit, so I don't know if they have it over there now, and I am pretty sure Point Arena, Potter Valley, Mendocino, Philo, Boonville and Navarro are still EDGE only.

Posted by: awj223

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalbri

I can get good reception outside, but only passable reception indoors. On a proir Nokia phone it showed a signal of about -97 to -99 indoors. I usually don't drop calls, but the person on the other end will often tell me the audio drops out occasionally during a call, and I will have to repeat myself. Standing next to a window helps somewhat. I would imagine that with 850 they could do a lot better than 3.5 miles for indoors reception penetration.

Sounds like the perfect location for a repeater/amplifier. http://www.wi-exstore.com/MyCart/Pr...YX500-PCS_.aspx

Posted by: kalbri

Quote:

Originally Posted by awj223

Sounds like the perfect location for a repeater/amplifier. http://www.wi-exstore.com/MyCart/Pr...YX500-PCS_.aspx

I was wondering about the same thing. I found the same one here for much less: http://www.repeaterstore.com/produc...boost-1900.html

Posted by: zephxiii

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilvla2

I haven't been able to find out, my Tilt's AMR test screen says unknown, and that's for EDGE and 3G. Is there another test program out there for Windows Mobile?

Edit-Update on Edge 3G, Willits, Laytonville and Garberville are still EDGE only. I haven't been over to Fort Bragg for a bit, so I don't know if they have it over there now, and I am pretty sure Point Arena, Potter Valley, Mendocino, Philo, Boonville and Navarro are still EDGE only.

you can tell if its HR or FR on GSM/EDGE via this method:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...t=amr-hr+amr-fr

Posted by: ilvla2

Quote:

Originally Posted by zephxiii

you can tell if its HR or FR on GSM/EDGE via this method:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...t=amr-hr+amr-fr

Very cool, thanks zephxiii!

Posted by: ilvla2

Another update, 3G is also live with Edge in Lucerne, Glenhaven, Pepperwood Grove and Hough Springs, but goes back to EDGE until you get to Lake Mendocino, where 3G comes in again.

Posted by: S12dxer

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilvla2

Another update, 3G is also live with Edge in Lucerne, Glenhaven, Pepperwood Grove and Hough Springs, but goes back to EDGE until you get to Lake Mendocino, where 3G comes in again.

I've posted this in another thread, but Coos Bay/North Bend as well as Brookings now have 3G HSDPA. In Coos Bay/North Bend its in most of town from about Transcontinental Parkway down to Millington on 101.

In Brookings its only from the downtown tower, so it only covers from about Harris Beach to Oceanview Dr.

They've also expanded the 3G in the I-5 Corridor to include most of the area between Roseburg and Cottage Grove.

I was in Fortuna, CA recently, and noticed the 3G is working well there in most of town. Its interesting to see Edge is keeping up better than AT&T.

Posted by: ilvla2

Cool, thanks for the update S12! 3G has been kinda flakey here in the Ukiah area lately, as well as over in Lakeport, but I am pretty sure that's because Edge is tweaking it, I can get good speeds, but sometimes during a data session it will drop from HSDPA back to EDGE. Did you see the new info page about the merger? Edge is now part of AT&T, the jobs link on their site even goes to the AT&T Web site-

http://www.wireless.att.com/mergers...equestid=252669

I am surprised to see them offering a new promo for May, I thought they would have ceased those by now. The deal is set to be all closed by the end of this month, so sign up now if you want any of the Edge plans before they're gone!

Edit-I wish they'd roll out 3G to Redwood Valley, we're only 8 miles north of Ukiah, and a lot of people that work in Ukiah live out in this area, so it'd be money well spent. Willits and Fort Bragg are still without 3G as well.

Edit2-I wonder if the 3G dropping back to EDGE during some data sessions is because of a lack of bandwidth and/or T1's at the sites.

Posted by: S12dxer

Thats interesting that they've finally communicated the merger.

I'm wondering how the merger will affect the local offices? AT&T has a habit of selling them off to Agents in small areas.

I've noticed the same with the 3G dropping back in some cases. It's more noticeable in some areas than others, also with certain phones. I'm sure this will be worked out once they have the entire network up to 3G standards.

I'm surprised at how much 3G Edge has actually deployed. There are many AT&T areas in the NW that have large populations, but no 3G.

Posted by: ilvla2

Edge has a store in Ukiah (about 9 miles south of me), and from what Edge and AT&T are saying, they plan to keep all of the stores open (and maybe the call centers too), and to keep on most, if not all of the current Edge employees. AT&T is very impressed with Edge's setup, in fact, other than the plans I'm sure that will change the only thing AT&T is interested in changing is the name, from Edge to AT&T.

I'm very impressed by the amount of 3G they've gotten up in the past year, we've had it in the Ukiah area since last summer, and I've found it in Lake as well as Humboldt Counties as well. It doesn't surprise me though, Edge was founded and is headed by Ex-AT&T Wireless Execs, like Wayne Perry and Donnie Castleman, and their goal was to bring big city technology to these rural and small town areas, I hope that AT&T continues the dedication to rural areas like mine that Edge has had, I don't think Wayne or Donnie would want it any other way. They live and play in the areas they cover (CA, OR, ID, WY), and being big wigs I'm sure AT&T would hear about it if the network didn't stay good.

Posted by: S12dxer

I sure hope they retain there current style of operation with a local focus. However once the money changes hands, and the papers are signed Wayne will probably not have any say in what goes on.

Posted by: ilvla2

Another update-

I went to AT&T Wireless's web site just now, and put in my zip (95470, Redwood Valley, CA) to see if it showed up as native yet or gave me the usual "we don't cover your area" message, and lo and behold it now accepts my zip.

Coverage area: 95470 (REDWOOD VALLEY)

The coverage maps still show Edge Wireless areas as partner, and the 3G Edge has up isn't show yet either. I expect that to change this month sometime.