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Luna8
join:2013-07-15
Martinsburg, WV

Luna8

Member

Boosting incoming 4g LGE Signal Strength

Is there a way to boost an incoming Sprint 4g signal strength? I know there are kits and such to boost the 3g signal to your phone, but I haven't seen any for Sprint's 4g LTE network.
Max Signal
Premium Member
join:2008-03-07
Buffalo, NY

Max Signal

Premium Member

Sprint LTE is on 1900 mhz . Any good dual band booster will work fine . I recommend our products of course . But just do your research there are lots of options out there

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22 to Luna8

Member

to Luna8
Try location as well. Try it in a window, up higher, different corners of the location, etc. You might just find the sweet spot. If your device isn't strong enough to get the wifi back to your computer you can expand its wifi signal with a router repeating, or if your device is a usb device you can get a router to re-distribute the usb via wifi and ethernet.

Basically I am just saying before any antennas, try re-locating the device... would be cheaper as well as easier

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS to Luna8

to Luna8
You can see my cellular amplifier installation here: »Cellular Repeater Installation

My carrier is 3G, but it does handle PCS 1900. I am pleased with the results.
Luna8
join:2013-07-15
Martinsburg, WV

Luna8 to dib22

Member

to dib22
Thanks for the idea. It's no use really - I just can't get a strong enough signal in my house or out in my yard to keep it connected more than a few seconds. I'm wondering now if it's my phone itself. On the Spring Coverage website if I look at the general coverage data map it shows me as "Fair" in the 4g LTE area. However if I imput my specific phone model it comes up with 3g coverage only. I have the Samsung Epic 4g...

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22

Member

said by Luna8:

I have the Samsung Epic 4g...

From my understanding the Epic 4G only does 4G-WiMax... sounds like you are trying to get LTE coverage with a WiMax phone.
Luna8
join:2013-07-15
Martinsburg, WV

Luna8

Member

Yeah I'm just now finding that out. Not all 4g devices are created equal... :/

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

1 edit

dib22

Member

said by Luna8:

Yeah I'm just now finding that out. Not all 4g devices are created equal... :/

Well at the time the Epic was being designed the only 4G sprint offered was wimax. Now sprint offers wimax where it used to, plus they now offer LTE in some areas. They should eventually offer LTE in all locations and with 2 frequency groups (1900 and 800).

When shopping for your next phone get one with CDMA/EVDO + Dual Band LTE. That should keep your ready for any network changes for a while.

The ultimate device would be CDMA/EVDO + dual band 4G LTE + 4G WIMAX but I don't think they have a smartphone with that setup yet

Eventually they will sell CDMA/EVDO + Triple Band LTE... but that's a ways away.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

I'm holding out for a triple band LTE phone (800, 1900 and 2500). However, from what I've heard, Sprint's not going to be offering any more devices with WiMax; the Tri-Fi was the last of that line. One footnote: LTE is still piss-poor in my area (midtown Manhattan, zip 10022), even though it's already officially rolled out here according to the coverage map, and my own neighborhood has been labeled as Fair. I called Sprint tech support and asked for the minimum standards for Fair. It took me four people but I finally found someone who knew what I was talking about: Fair official minimums are 4 megs download/1 meg upload. Well, I'm not getting that; on the download side I get extraordinarily variable speeds, usually somewhere between .5 meg and 2 megs. (Uploads are usually at or above spec.) So there's no way I'm changing my phone until LTE is doing a lot better than that in neighborhood. Of course, while the Tri-Fi I have will tell me how the 1900 LTE is doing (currently very poorly), it won't tell me anything about the 800 or 2500 performance. So I'll be taking the plunge half-blind, I suppose, unless Sprint lets me sample the triple band LTE phone for their 14-day test period before I commit.

A problem I've noted with my current Sprint phone, the EVO Shift, is that the 4G is quite a battery hog. The 3G, on the other hand, is not a problem in that regard. So I'm hoping that whatever LTE phone I end up with isn't a battery hog on the three LTE bands.

Anyone have any idea why the WiMax is such a battery hog but the 3G is so reasonable? Has it something to do with frequency? What frequency does 3G run on?

xrayman
join:2008-12-09
Kansas City

xrayman

Member

said by criggs:

Anyone have any idea why the WiMax is such a battery hog but the 3G is so reasonable? Has it something to do with frequency? What frequency does 3G run on?

The new LTE phones will have chip sets that use much less power then the old WiMax phones, as I understand it.
Sprint 3G operates on the 1900MHz band.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Interesting; same frequency as the LTE. I'm surprised that doesn't cause interference issues.

With my EVO Shift, I have to leave it on 3G for most of the day unless I need some bandwidth-heavy firepower, for a Youtube clip or a live video stream or something like that. But, if I understand you correctly, I'll be able to leave my LTE phone on LTE most of the time. That will make a BIG difference.
seaprobe
join:2006-07-16
Sunnyvale, CA

seaprobe

Member

Same frequency band, yes, however different channels in that band, somewhat like AM and FM bands in your car radio, so no interference. The real problem for Sprint is they only have part of the PCS band (1900), so running EVDO and LTE simultaneously limits them to a smaller channel for LTE (5MHz) in many markets versus big red's wider channel. In practice, that means Sprint will have a lower top speed than big red as seen on speed tests.

xrayman
join:2008-12-09
Kansas City

xrayman

Member

Hopefully when Sprint gets the 2500 MHz band added to all the Network Vision upgrade sites, that will add much more bandwidth to the LTE pie. Throw in the old Nextel 800 MHz band and Sprint could have a good system, if they provide adequate backhaul from the sites to the network. In the past Sprint & Clearwire have never spent the $$$ required to pay for BIG Fiber pipes to all sites.
Luna8
join:2013-07-15
Martinsburg, WV

Luna8

Member

Just wanted to give an update on what I did. I got the Galaxy S4 and am loving it! The 4g LTE at my house is spotty (the "Fair" section on the map), but I remembered I had bought a Wilson Sleek for my old 3g phone, and sure enough the sleek boosts the 1900 MHz signal, so am using it for my phone and it helps ALOT! With the Sleek I get a steady signal and download speeds of around 4-6 mbps constantly (signal stays around -71 dBm, 16 asu, and am looking to get a better antenna for the Sleek to help the signal even more). I'm going to dump Frontier and get Wireless n Wifi.