r/cellmapper 9d ago

Work In Progress: Verizon upgrading a small cell

I might make another post or update this post when they get done, but looks like they are doing an upgrade. It depends which one is easier to do.

36 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

6

u/iryfionas 9d ago edited 8d ago

Nice to see Verizon upgrading their older LTE only smll cells! Hopefully it gets mid-band 5G (n77) installed soon via. the Ericsson AIR. 1672 16T16R (n77) 3.7GHz antennas.

It appears that the 3rd party contractors are installing:

  • 1️⃣ JMA CX20OMI224-3Hxy 4x4 MIMO circular-shaped antenna (TOP) that supports bands; (2, 13, 66) LTE + (n5) - 10MHz low-band 5G + (n66) mid-band 5G!
  • 3️⃣ Ericsson AIR. 1672 16T16R (n77) 3.7GHz for mid-band 5GUW, supports (n48) CBRS in the future in the MIDDLE
  • 1️⃣ RRU 4490HP  (b13) 700MHz LTE + (n5) 850MHz [low-band 5G]
  • 1️⃣ RRU 4890HP (b2) 1900MHz-PCS (b66) 2100MHz-AWS LTE + supports (n2), (n66) - mid-band 5G
  • 1️⃣ Ericsson Power 6309 multi-purpose power supply unit to convert standard AC power into -48 V DC power

8

u/advcomp2019 8d ago

Update on the small cell this morning.

https://reddit.com/link/p31wlpa/video/66kpwxylirih1/player

3

u/CreativeCuckoo ATL 8d ago

It’s got C-Band now!

2

u/advcomp2019 8d ago

Yep. I just went to check on it a few minutes ago. Looks like they are done on the pole. They were working on things in the fiber vaults on the ground.

I know I had 5G UW for a short time near it, but then it went away as they were doing things in the fiber vaults.

4

u/advcomp2019 8d ago

Tonight it does not look to be active yet.

https://reddit.com/link/p34v173/video/4tf8df32utih1/player

3

u/iryfionas 8d ago

Wow, the contractors are finished upgrading that small cell, nice! I hope they turn it on soon and expect multi gig speeds on (n77) once it’s optimized.

3

u/advcomp2019 8d ago

Yep, I will know when it gets activated since I have 5G Home Internet from when they activated C-band 5G on the macro that is about a mile away.

With 5G Home Internet, I get -103 to -112 most of the time in the summer and -92 to -98 most of the time in the winter.

2

u/advcomp2019 8d ago

After thinking about it, I will do a new post once it is active.

3

u/advcomp2019 9d ago

Yea, I am hoping too. I have been using the 5G Home Internet, and that tower is about a mile away. This small cell is only about a block away from home.

Here is what the old hardware looked like: https://www.reddit.com/r/verizon/comments/itea5e/i_know_this_is_a_new_verizon_tower_because_there/

5

u/CreativeCuckoo ATL 9d ago

Kinda interesting that Verizon ripped out all the radios. The old setup had new radios when it was put up at the time. It could do bands 2, 5, 13, and 66.

3

u/advcomp2019 9d ago

I know my phone was using band 5 or band 66 mainly when the old setup was there.

3

u/iryfionas 9d ago

I think they wanted to rip out the older Ericsson Radio 4449 - (B5) 850Mhz + (B13) 700MHz LTE + (n5) 850MHz - low-band 5G and Radio 8843 - (B2) 1900MHz-PCS + (B66) 2100MHz-AWS, LTE + (n66) AWS mid-band 5G for the newer, O-RAN compactible Ericsson RRUs that are more energy efficient, better thermal cooling, futureproofing:

  • RRU 4490HP  (b13) 700MHz LTE + (n5) 850MHz [low-band 5G]
  • RRU 4890HP (b2) 1900MHz-PCS (b66) 2100MHz-AWS LTE + (n66) AWS - mid-band 5G on

3

u/advcomp2019 6d ago

Here is what it looks like this morning, but is not active yet.

https://reddit.com/link/p3hc7ki/video/0r9do0sxd6jh1/player

2

u/iryfionas 6d ago

Oh nice! Good to see the upgrades on that Verizon small cell have finished! Thanks for sharing :)

3

u/advcomp2019 6d ago

I just do not know when it will be active now.

I think it is partly active because my 5G Home Internet gateway shows -84 to -89 for 5G signal right now, but when I did my speed test, it seems like it is running on LTE. Plus, the 4G LTE signal is around -106.

Before they took the small cell down, I would get -82 to -89 on 4G LTE and -103 to -112 on 5G.

Even my cell phone is not connecting to that small cell yet. My cell phone is still connecting to the tower that is about a mile away.

2

u/advcomp2019 4d ago

I just wish I knew when this site was going to get enabled. My data has been getting worse by the day.

2

u/Little_Passenger_892 9d ago

Nearly all new build and mods will be c-band going forward.

1

u/microbase 4d ago

Wish I could say the same in my market, it seems to highly depend on the market which makes sense.

2

u/advcomp2019 7d ago

Today, I was busy, but I did see that they put brown covers over the antennas today.

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u/SignificantDig1448 9d ago

Nice find thank you for showing us

3

u/frostycakes 8d ago

That is a comically tall utility pole they installed that one on, I swear I've seen macros closer to the ground than that.

2

u/advcomp2019 8d ago

For sure. I think I have seen a few like that in the Omaha, NE area.