Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

[Mjrtom7]

I've heard talk about how ATT is "working on their network coverage" and plans to provide 3G service in Northeast MI "in the coming months".  Well, now that another 2 year contract has expired, I'm seriously wondering if I would be better off jumping to Verizon.  The EDGE data network up here if virtually useless.  5 full bars, yet extremely poor data transfer.  

Can anyone provide an HONEST answer as to when this coverage is planned to be upgraded???  Verizon has had 3G for quite a long while up here...

[American Ninja]

Yeah that was super fast! I think its the Lathrop tower. Looks like they may be doing some tests because I usally get 4 bars when I set my phone by my window and I'm only getting 2-3 at the moment. Plus the weather here is cloudy and foggy at the moment so that could be why as well. Ill go check out the tower this weekend though.

EDIT:

Yeah, they must still be working on it. Its switching back to No Service, E and 4G.

[Lewyman]

That is awesome. The signal did the same thing in Lewiston for a while but it won't be long before its fully up to speed. During peak times a tower may switch the phone over to Edge for load balancing but that is normal. I was told AT&T is using 5 MHz carriers rather than 10 MHz because 5 has a better range. Not sure if they are using 850 or 1900 for their HSPA/UMTS upgrades in northern MI.

[American Ninja]

Looks like the 4G isnt at full power yet. When I get a 4G signal I only get 1-2 bars but, when it connects to E I get 4-5 bars.

[Lewyman]

There is a strong possibility that your phone is picking up 4G from another tower besides the one in Lathrop. When I discovered Lewiston had 4G, I was actually picking up the signal from the tower that's 5 miles north of town rather than the site right in town. AT&T turned on that tower about a week later. If you go check out that site you should be able to tell for sure. Another thing to check is your dBm on both E and 4G.....they should be the same. The person I have had contact with assured me that when they activate a site, they don't run it at a lower power but if they have tower crews up on the site, they will power the whole thing down due to RF hazards.

[American Ninja]

Hmm..I dont know of any other AT&T tower around here besides the one in Lathrop. I'll be checking the tower out this weekend. I put my phone in field test mode and the signal I'm getting on E is -81 and on 4G its -104. And I never had a 4G signal here until the other day. I'm too far away from the tower in Gladstore so I know its not that one.

Something interesting, I put my sister's fiancé's iphone 4S in field test mode and he doesnt get the 4G signal but I do on my iphone 5. He is getting a -86 on E. also my firend who has a S3 cant get the 4G signal either.

[Lewyman]

Wow that is wierd!!!  I really don't know because if the tower in Lathrop is live all of those other phones should be lit up with "4G" as well.  If there are no broadband antennas on the Lathrop/McFarland tower then that will be very interesting, because your iPhone 5 has by far the best antenna out of those other phones.  Maybe.....just maybe....AT&T has activated a new cell site somewhere in the vicinity

[Lewyman]

Are you still picking up the 4G signal at your house? Just wondered if you found the source because it is quite a ways away from any other tower.

[American Ninja]

I havent had a chance to check the tower yet. If not tonight I will tormorrow. I agree its weird because the 4G signal is very weak 1-2 bars comapred to 4-5 bars I get on Edge.

[Lewyman]

More than likely there is a podunk tower that has been activated from which you are picking up the 4G signal, but probably not the site in Lathrop. I heard most of the eastern half of the U.P. has been upgraded and now AT&T is working on the western half

[American Ninja]

Just got back from the tower in Lathrop. No change there. I dd get a 4G signal on the way there it was beween 1-3 bars never got any higher. So a new cell site might have been activated or they increased the signal power from a tower further north or something is what I think.

[Lewyman]

Thanks for the info. That is really a mystery!! I just looked at the map on my work computer and I can't figure out where the signal could be coming from. You are too far for the signal from Gladstone.....maybe Trenary but that tower was active a month ago. The towers to the north/northwest possibly but they are quite far away from Rock. There must be a brand new site, or their signal is getting out further than what the map is depicting. At any rate it won't be long for the Lathrop tower now and there should be awesome coverge when that tower goes live!!

[American Ninja]

Something interesting, when I connect to that 4G signal and do a speed test, I get like 2mbps the first time. Then if I do another test it drops down to like 0.44 mbps. Must be some type of throttling or something?

[Lewyman]

It is hard to say, but I kinda doubt they are throttling it being that it is newly activated. It seems to toggle between HSPA and UMTS here in Lewiston, which UMTS I have found to be slower. Probably the only way to figure out the source of that 4G is to scout around. Wonder if they possibly activated a new tower to the west of you ....in the white(no coverage) area?
On a side note, AT&T has fired up LTE in Mt. Pleasant

[American Ninja]

That's what I was thinking. They activated a tower out that way. Cool to hear about Mt. Pleasant getting LTE. Do you know what the estimated time frame for the U.P. getting LTE is? I know we are barely just getting 4G. lol I thought I heard 2014 for around here.

[Lewyman]

I would say it will be late 2014 for LTE up in the U.P. Getting fiber backhaul is the biggest issue right now. I think AT&T will be using a diverse combination of spectrum for LTE because they don't own statewide 700 MHz or AWS so it should be interesting. The antenna in your iPhone 5 is pretty good to be picking up a 4G signal. If the upload speeds are very slow then
you know you are a ways from that tower.