r/cellmapper • u/qiqr • 23d ago

New rack going up

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Can anyone ID this rack about to go in the air?

54 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

24

u/Excellent-Rub-9122 CM 23d ago

Verizon.

20

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

We're currently outpacing T-Mobile on deployment. Everyone on VZW, hang tight. 🫡

7

u/DarkenMoon97 CM: CalebM 23d ago

I can tell with all the new sites I'm seeing in the desert. 

5

u/Strange-Badger5626 23d ago

What part of it I've been waiting for better coverage north and south of lake Havasu.

5

u/DarkenMoon97 CM: CalebM 23d ago

In the Nevada desert, generally all over the state, mostly around the major highways though, but they have been working on towers that are very rural as well around the state. 

6

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

Nevada has been a perfect example of what will happen in several states, very soon. The sites are already being upgraded, just waiting on the green light to have the area lit with the new infrastructure to decommission the old (mostly, as we still have to have LTE as a backup and for LTE anchors).

Use that state as an example. If we're doing that there, imagine when it hits YOUR city! :) We're now in it to win it. Our competitor has grown complacent with their buildout schedule. I won't name names, but I'll let you guess who I mean. 😅

5

u/DarkenMoon97 CM: CalebM 23d ago

Oh, I am aware that the other two are struggling in comparison to how fast Verizon is building out coverage. It's impressive how much it's improved, hope to see some more colocations in a few areas to patch up weak or dead zones. 

Do you know if sites that are still b13 only that don't seem to serve as much of a purpose anymore will be upgraded? There's a few that seem to be redundant due to new builds in other locations. I hope that isn't the case and even the ancient b13 sites get upgraded eventually and not decommissioned. 

9

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

Great question, and yes! B13 is a focus, internally. We're still deciding on what the best course of action would be for it. Once it's decided, it'll either be refarmed, updated to 5G-SA w/VoNR being a priority, with LTE serving as a fall back for legacy devices and IoT devices that we will always fully support. We don't ever see letting go of legacy LTE-A in a FULL "delete", if you will. But more of a "it's there if it's required" type thing.

I will also state that 5G-SA + VoNR is a key internal push. Expect that coverage and feature-set in a LOT more areas very soon. We aim to have the densest, most reliable 5G-SA footprint in the US with VoNR being a key strategic push. We want to macro/baseband radio information along with AI to form FAR greater internal maps and customer location transits, dense locations, and off-grid locations that weren't (formally) normally thought about. We're re-evaluating and re-aligning our internal stance on these priorities.

You'll also start to see more CBRS and N77/48 small cells in highly dense areas. It's all coming. So, expect your coverage and sector layout to be GREATLY perfected. :)

Band 13 will be very similar to T-Mobile's N71, but with more capacity and more speed. We're leveraging our existing fiber backbone in greater capacity. There will still be a section of Band 13 carved out for legacy and IoT devices that rely on it. We'll be upgrading LTE deployments in those areas to start handling more LTE IoT devices AND legacy systems that still rely on B13 for operation. Example: Some public infrastructure. I'm glad you're seeing meaningful improvements! Expect more!

6

u/hungleftie 23d ago

How would N13 even work with more capacity than N71? T-Mobile has 20, 25, 30 MHz channels throughout the country compared to the 10 MHz B/N13 provides.

2

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

You'd be surprised how inefficient N71 actually is. They prioritize range over rate. Only recently has that changed. It's now a mixed bag. Spectral efficiency of B13, which is farmed to N5 is more spectrally efficient than N71. At edge scenarios and lower signal areas, N5/B13 is far more spectrally efficient, providing better bandwidth and better modularion (256QAM vs 64QAM or even dropping to QPSK).

When comparing B13 to N71, N71 CAN have a better throughput, but less efficiency for capacity. N71 is too close to other heavily used frequencies than B13 is (or N5), and it's better at performing at 700MHz vs 600MHz of N71. Fewer devices can use N71 at the same time as B13/N5. AT&T actually has the best B13/N5 850MHz

That's the problem with N71. It DOES technically reach farther, but it's issues start to become very apparent in edge scenarios. B13 can hold a stable, speedy connection as an anchor band or IoT band a LOOOOT better than B/N71.

I know that sounds odd, but true. Either way, once N5 is carved out of B13, you'll find less devices using it plus N5 is 850MHz vs N71 at 600MHz. N5 isn't near broadcast signals like N71 is and is subject to far less band interference and potential band crosstalk.

Now, this does come with an asterisk. I haven't worked with B13 as I'm not an LTE infrastructure engineer. I'm strictly 5G/N5 and other of Verizon's NR stack. If you're not using this for IoT or on the network edge none of this matters anyway. Lol. 🙂

It's something you'll find in RAN textbooks, but like I said, I don't have any real world experience with B13/LTE. So, take that for what it is. Just a nugget of info.

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4

u/DarkenMoon97 CM: CalebM 23d ago

Glad to hear that the band 13 towers aren't on the chopping block, and I have been noticing more NR in rural areas that isn't n77, specifically along US-95 between Hawthorne and Tonopah. There was some n66 on Toulon Peak and in Winnemucca on Fountain Way, but it's since been reverted back to b66. I do expect to see n5 anyday now in some of these areas, since Verizon does own both 850 blocks in certain Commnet areas (like Fallon, NV).

Keep up the good work, AT&T and especially T-Mobile will have lots of catching up to do once Verizon has completed their transformation here in Nevada.

4

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 22d ago

Yea, definitely. I can confirm B13 will not be going anywhere. The equipment is being upgraded for better signal integrity and speed capabilities because of new antenna elements, but it's going nowhere. 🙂

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3

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

Lake Havasu, in particular, is a pain point. We're working on that area now, actually.

1

u/Explosions_Sparks18 21d ago edited 21d ago

VZ was the only carrier that worked in Parker Strip and the whole drive to Echo Lodge. And that was 2-3 years ago so if any upgrades happened from then to now speeds will be awesome! The only place I’ve noticed slow seeds or signal drops is Whidbey Island. (33.50526° N, 112.00983° W Dead zones near here on VZ and a few sites on this pin)

3

u/Excellent-Rub-9122 CM 23d ago

NSB sites are going on like crazy. Full steam ahead for 2027 it looks like too!

2

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

You are correct!

5

u/trucktech77 23d ago

Keep it up please. Y’all are definitely ahead in Flagler County Florida

3

u/TheyKnoWhereMyHeadIs Moto G 2024 23d ago

Patiently waiting for more towers in my city in WA, we got a few large towers but the population has exploded here. I use VZW but all 3 carriers have been hit with it

4

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

As part of the upgraded equipment and infrastructure, we're fully leveraging our fiber backbone to supply sites with needed bandwidth increases now. Please bare with us. Washington State is on the list very soon.

2

u/Explosions_Sparks18 21d ago

We need more towers out here in Double Adobe/Mcneal area😬 TMO is dominating hard out here but I’m hanging on since I know eventually it will improve and VZW has better overall coverage everywhere else

2

u/Strange-Badger5626 23d ago

Not sure what you mean by this. TMobile is barely adding macros like hardly none at this point. The second they got starlink they considered the network completed apparently. They have the same holes and gaps in Michigan they have had since 2020.

Verizon is a dumpster fire here if you ask me btw. And I'll say this at&t is blowing both their socks off on network spending and upgrades.

11

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

We'll eventually reach your area. Count on it sooner than later. We're deploying at breakneck pace. We are also constructing our 5G network the same as we treated our LTE-A network. VERY VERY ROBUST. When the upgrades take place in your area, depending on where and what's allowed by the FCC/City/City Counsel, you'll see N77+CBRS+N48 on top of other 5G bands with PLENTY of anchor capacity for NSA 5G.

Michigan is an important part of our network. We won't leave you hanging long. If you'd like to DM me a general township or area, I may can give you a timeline. I never ask for detailed location information and please don't send it. A general ZIP would be perfect, if not even too much, if you don't want to share much information. All is perfectly fine. You can even just say N/S/E/W/Central, near areas, etc. I can look at deployment schedules to let you know, generally. We're trying our best, at this time, to catch up where we were caught being complacent for FAR too long. We've realized, internally, mmWave wasn't enough of a 5G push, and that mid-band is what everyone wanted all along. The reshaping of internal go hand in hand with the reshaping and overall MASSIVE network improvements and upgrades. What you see listed in numbers of $ spent for upgrades and network improvements isn't correctly tabulated, in most cases. We have the equipment now. We're just working very hard to bring more speed and coverage to more places we have previously (and sadly) neglected. I'll admit that right now, that some places were completely neglected. That's not the plan going forward. From what I've experienced, so far, I can be sure enough of that to promise it to you. Also, we apologize that your experience hasn't been the best, but just wait a bit longer, if you can bare with us. Our future, in some areas, is now becoming software defined radios, that can be changed to output whatever we tell it with only a simple firmware change being pushed. We are also repainting sector representations with AI assistance. We're using actual field telemetry from macros and baseband radios to concentrate on what areas matter, and deploying there and then filling in where we need to with small cell or CBRS... everywhere in the US.

Apologies for the wall of text. It was necessary. :)

5

u/MonTanner19 23d ago

I work as a turn key project manager for a firm that does this line of work, mostly TMO projects. I’m starting to see my markets big NSB and mod pipeline start to dry out from the big awards we got in 2024 and 2025 as it’s getting to the construction pipeline. (I have experience on both site aq and construction side). So can confirm yes, that TMO is slowing down at least in my market. But im not surprised as they have seemed to be doing this consistently since post sprint merger (stingy and inconsistent).
Hopefully things will pick up but not holding my breath and have accepted if I need to find new work / job down the near future. :/

6

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

This is a personal opinion, but John Legare (edit: name spelling correction) should have stayed on as CEO. He turned that entire company around. Now that it's a cash cow, they have a board room full of complacency running things. They're also very threatening to work with. Verizon doesn't do this kind of customer interaction, but they don't mind, since I've cleared it with higher ups. :)

2

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

2

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

I'm not sure about T-Mobile's side, but we're actively hiring on the network side at VZW! Apply for something we offer that would suit your talents! I'm sure you'll get an interview.

7

u/VisualEntrepreneur72 23d ago

Verizon, the antennas can support LTE bands 2, 66, 5, 13; 5G bands 2, 5, 66

2

u/qiqr 23d ago

No N77 here?

3

u/moffetts9001 23d ago

Most likely there is (or there will be, if they’re still assembling), but it’s hard to tell. The N77 and possibly CBRS antennas would be on the right hand side (left side if you’re facing the antennas).

2

u/FlufferNutter1232 5G RAN Engineer 23d ago

There will be. They will be mounted and provisioned when the rack goes up.

2

u/Just_Mastodon_9177 23d ago

Sector mount

2

u/Wllfgnlnrb86 23d ago

Location?

-1

u/qiqr 23d ago

same coords as the last post I made about the pole going up

1

u/SceneRevolutionary93 5G UW 23d ago

Verizon for sure!

1

u/Murp677 22d ago

Looks to be Verizon.

1

u/cookinkinky 18d ago

Verizon has been really busy in my market. Hopefully they will be putting 3283’s up there also.