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Mjrtom7's profile

Explorer

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25 Messages

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012 6:57 PM

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Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

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...

Tutor

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5 Messages

10 years ago

Lewyman- They may have ran into problems. I know months ago i talked to multiple ATT reps regarding LTE in midland, MI. They told me for  the longest time by the end of November. I just spoke to them this week and they said the earlier Start of construction date would be End of December and probably not lit..by the latest until March.

Scholar

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151 Messages

10 years ago

I checked out the tower today and there is progress being made, there were two guys up on the tower working on it. Another good thing is Im getting a constant 4G signal on my phone anywhere from 1-3 bars when driving around my area. It's not coming from the Lathrop tower since they are working on it today so ATT must have put up a new tower somewhere.

 

ATT wireless coverage map is messed up. It's saying my area now has no voice or data coverage. lol

 

I was in Wisconsin last week and something I noticed they are doing is, they are putting putting the broadband panel antennas on most of the cities water towers, they had them on the top or the middle of them. I wish they would do that up here. That would help get better coverage in some of the more rural areas around here.

Scholar

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391 Messages

10 years ago

broski0508

 

That may very well be the case and unfortunately AT&T keeps a pretty tight lid on their LTE deployment and fiber backhaul information. With Midland being along 10 and so close to Mt Pleasant and Saginaw/Bay City, I am guessing they will have LTE service there before March of 2014. With AT&T still stating they will have LTE running on every site by the end of 2014, they know they have a lot of ground to cover and I bet they will start lighting up most areas of southern MI and in northern MI as well.

 

I have been keeping a close eye on Sensorly because I expect to start seeing LTE pop up in NW and NE lower MI along with the Houghton/Hancock area which had 3G/HSPA+ for a long time. It is going to be interesting and exciting:)

 

American Ninja

 

If crews were up installing panels a few days ago then don't be surprised to see the Lathrop tower get lit up sometime this coming week, or possibly on sooner. Once they swoop in, they move fast to get the site fired up. AT&T does infact install antennas on water towers and other structures. I agree, they need to start sprucing up their cell site density to fill in areas of shotty coverage which means adding more sites.

Mentor

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43 Messages

10 years ago

hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it extends to the entire area here in Iron Mountain/Kingsford.

 

Was at the pediatric clinic at the hospital with my daughter the other day and had HSPA+ throughout. Got away from the hospital and back to edge.

Other side of town back to the soccer field where I first had HSPA+ in the summer, it's back again. then back to edge.

 

Just received an offer for U-verse internet yesterday. Was the first u-verse piece of mail we've gotten.

 

Said "hello friend in Iron Mountain" or something similar. So maybe we won't have Gilligan's Island bamboo bike professor coconut connectivity much longer.

 

 

Scholar

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391 Messages

10 years ago

Ha Ha thats funny! In all reality though..... Gilligan's Island had a gigE fiber line ran to it back in 2009. Lol

Your area should be getting 3G/UMTS anytime now. In fact the vast majority of towers up there are supposed to be running HSPA+ by the end of the year. If you can get Uverse that would be great because the internet is fast. I can't get it at my house because I am 1 1/2 miles from the VRAD:(

 

AT&T LTE will indeed be everywhere in the U.P.:)

Teacher

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29 Messages

10 years ago

oops

Teacher

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29 Messages

10 years ago

Lewyman, I'm starting to think you work for ATT Smiley LOL

You seem to throw out a lot of "supposed to be, should be, soon, by the end of xxx" etc...just like they feed. 

 

Bottom line is they have been talking 3g for going on 2 years.  I would hope by now we have all learned that ATT rarely meets a date they publicly state or CSR's tell people.  

 

Once again, if you want to see how ATT operates, take a look at Sensorly 3g and 4g coverage for the carriers.  It shows how pathetic ATT really is even though they promise the world.  

 

   

Scholar

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391 Messages

10 years ago

Ha Ha.... No, I assure you I don't work for AT&T. I have received information on several occasions from someone that is actively involved in their buildout though. If you take a look at what AT&T has  accomplished in the last 6 months, it is quite amazing considering how much of northern MI was EDGE this past spring. Pretty much all of the towers in northern lower MI are upgraded to 3G/UMTS/HSPA+ including several towers in the U.P.    Basically, the western U.P. is the last large area in MI remaining on E with bare bones infastructure and backhaul, so it is going to take time to build out 2 generations of network technology. I'm sure there are several problems they have run into, especially with transfer lines (T-1 backhaul) and now the cold hard fact winter has set in.

 

As far as LTE, they will have no choice but to launch it within a certain amount of time. They are required to basically...use it or lose it and pay hefty fines. That was set by FCC, I believe to prevent companies from hording spectrum.

 

I have mapped many, many miles of Verizon LTE and AT&T 3G coverage in northern MI on Sensorly. Excellent program and very accurate. The question is....what percentage of people in northern MI have AT&T service and use Sensorly? And what percentage of those AT&T devices are iPhones? For some reason you cannot map coverage using an iPhone.....at least as of a few months ago.  I figure with the big universities in Houghton/ Hancock and Sault St. Marie, LTE will more than likely show up in those areas of the U.P. first. I check Sensorly everyday:)

 

Lovells tower update: My source has reaffirmed that the Lovell's tower is still on Edge and because of backhaul issues it will not be upgraded until March or April. 😞

 

 

Professor

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827 Messages

10 years ago

Have any of the '2G only' sites been turned off ?

AT&T's maps have removed all 2G only sites.  Personally, I think its a bit of a ploy on their upper level management, as a statement was made that '3G coverage will match that of 2G by the end of 2013', and by effectively removing the 2G coverage (from the maps?) will suffice to give those execs their bonus.

Scholar

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391 Messages

10 years ago

Hmmm that's an interesting thought. Possibly......or just a mapping error. Good point though!! None of the 2G only sites have been turned off just doesn't show on the map. Before the EDGE coverage disappeared, there were a few 2G towers not properly depicted on the map, just an orange blur not clearly shown on the map.

I wonder how many of the 3G sites in northern MI are now upgraded to HSPA+? The tower in downtown Lewiston used to show up on my device as UMTS but now it says HSPA+. That change is supported by the fact that when testing the sites network capacity, it is now showing up as 25+ Mbps. When it was UMTS, site capacity was 7 Mbps.
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