Northeast PA 3G expansion?

[ssavoy]

Today from 7am-11am there was a large 100-some foot bucket truck arm that was up on the main tower in Dallas. I know most of you aren't on this side of the mountain, but nonetheless I thought it would be beneficial for you to know.

The main tower in Dallas has been here for 10 years at least. It's used by T-Mobile and AT&T (not Verizon). There are three antenna panels on it, but they all face in different directions. The lower panel of antennas face one way, the middle faces another, and the top faces a different direction.

After the truck left the bottom panel of antennas was removed completely and there were hanging wires left over where it was previously. However I noticed the top antenna panel either got additional antennas or new ones. They may have just moved the ones from the bottom up to the top (because it would make more sense), but they definitely did some serious antenna rearrangement on them today. Still EDGE service =(

[ssavoy]

iPhone service programming revealed that UMTS (3G) is actually running in the background now. Here are screenshots from my phone in an EDGE service area.



The phone now detected 5 UMTS sets while in an EDGE service area.
____



Detects a UMTS downlink frequency of 487 (everything else in unknown).

___



Last, detailed info on a UMTS site.
__

My feeling is it's a flip-of-a-switch away.

[baaadandy]

iPhone service programming revealed that UMTS (3G) is actually running in the background now. Here are screenshots from my phone in an EDGE service area.

img

The phone now detected 5 UMTS sets while in an EDGE service area.
____

img

Detects a UMTS downlink frequency of 487 (everything else in unknown).

___

img

Last, detailed info on a UMTS site.
__

My feeling is it's a flip-of-a-switch away.

That's really funny you post that - just a few days ago (well a week maybe) I went to the EScreen on my Bold and discovered this:

GSM cells: (always appeared)


And I never noticed this before, on the second page.
Presumed active 3G cells:


This is right in Mountain Top so maybe it is like you say, active but just needs the flip of a switch. I though the same thing but figured that was just the device itself looking for a 3G signal. More cells with better -dBm readings appear if I go upstairs (took those shots in the basement.) We'll see I hope you're right.

[ckochkah]

How do I check the 3G frequencies with my iPhone 3GS in the Hazleton Area?

I wanna see if we are experiencing the same thing as you guys are....

[ssavoy]

Open up the regular phone dialer and type in without quotes "*3001#12345#*" then press call. A field test menu will appear.

Go into UMTS Cell Environment > Neighbor Cells to see the active 3G cell sites around. On mine it was luck that 5 of them appeared. Usually I see one or two of them appear and it may take a few minutes before one pops up. Also if you go into UMTS RR Info you'll note the downlink frequency. Mine was 487 and all other values were unknown.

[baaadandy]

How do I check the 3G frequencies with my iPhone 3GS in the Hazleton Area?

I wanna see if we are experiencing the same thing as you guys are....

I was in Drums recently and noticed the same thing that has been going on in surrounding areas. Hopefully it's coming soon because I'm growing very impatient already. Another thing that dawned on me was WHY would they be testing and\or implementing 3G on 1900? For the most part, the areas that don't have 3G yet NEED 850 or there is no way it will be at all reliable. Maybe that's the reason it's taking so long, they need to get 850 running alongside 1900.

[ssavoy]

AT&T seemed to make a major 3G speed improvement in the area. No 3G coverage improvements yet, but I can easily pull 2.5mbps down on my iPhone. Wilkes-Barre used to have sub-par performance (always around 600kbps or less), but it flies now. I would imagine we've been upgraded to 850Mhz for such a widespread speed improvement. Now all we need is that coverage expansion. A store rep told me after Christmas, so it's just a waiting game now.

[baaadandy]

Now all we need is that coverage expansion. A store rep told me after Christmas, so it's just a waiting game now.

I sure hope so. Where I am Verizon is blazing past them. Just since October they have turned on two new cell sites within about 5 miles of my house while AT&T twiddles their thumbs. I agree about the AT&T Wilkes-Barre speeds also. It used to really suck on the downlink but I noticed about a month ago that my speeds were way up, averaging 1.9Mbps down.

[dchri2]

When I received new iphone in late Nov they stated 3g was to start in 1st quarter of this year. I hear new T1 or better lines are going in at att towers, from a reputable source. It's a matter of a short time now. Can't wait.

[blkballoon925]

When I received new iphone in late Nov they stated 3g was to start in 1st quarter of this year. I hear new T1 or better lines are going in at att towers, from a reputable source. It's a matter of a short time now. Can't wait.

That's great news. I was there this summer. Seems like everybody has Verizon in that area. It really surprises me that AT&T still doesn't have 3G along much of I-80 through the state yet. In fact, their 2G coverage is spotty in a few areas along the interstate. It wouldn't hurt them to look at getting something up at least along the highway itself.

[buckspaul]

yeah seriously att 3g is nothing special.. we all know atts 3g network has been pressed to brink of its limit with capacity.. even if you live on site thats not high traffic speeds are slow because the 3g network is trying to be balanced to where they need capacity so people even the rural areas with 3g can experience a BAD 3g experience because of the bandwith is being piped to where its needed.... am i correct????

[blkballoon925]

yeah seriously att 3g is nothing special.. we all know atts 3g network has been pressed to brink of its limit with capacity.. even if you live on site thats not high traffic speeds are slow because the 3g network is trying to be balanced to where they need capacity so people even the rural areas with 3g can experience a BAD 3g experience because of the bandwith is being piped to where its needed.... am i correct????

I think it depends on the area. In some places, like where I live AT&T's 3G service is worlds better than their GSM service. Never drops calls, never has capacity issues, and data is fast. GSM (with GPRS/EDGE) on the other hand has gotten exponentially slower (data latency is higher and throughput has dropped) than it used to be and GSM voice service frequently "garbles" calls because of too-frequent handoffs between channels. Other people in other areas of the country complain of the opposite, where GSM service is near-perfect while 3G is near-useless. It all depends on the available spectrum groupings that AT&T has access to and in some cases an individual's phone might even change the 2G and 3G experience, whether for better or worse.

[TerraPhantm]

I just tried the field test thing in mountain top, and I'm not getting anything =/

[baaadandy]

I just tried the field test thing in mountain top, and I'm not getting anything =/

Yeah, I did it on my GF's iPhone a few days ago and wasn't getting anything either. And I can make it 3 cell sites that Verizon has put up now, because I just noticed the one they applied to put up in March is up right before the I-81 bend by the Nuangola exit.

[ssavoy]

Just looked at my iPhone today at 1pm and 3G seems to be active in the Dallas area! Can anyone confirm elsewhere?

This morning when I woke up and at 12:30pm it was still on EDGE.

I'm getting 1.6mbps down and about 325kbps up. Can anyone else confirm this elsewhere in Northeast PA where 3G service did not exist already? I'm assuming Hazleton probably lit up too.