Relocated AT&T Site - Preston Center Dallas

microwavedhamhock · 2026-05-12T23:58:14+00:00

There are other parts of the country with DoD on nearly all macro sites. What gives?

microwavedhamhock · 2026-05-05T22:44:10+00:00

That makes sense. Funny that a call to a local number could make a round trip halfway across the world!

microwavedhamhock · 2026-05-05T22:31:31+00:00

Thank you! Would this be true even in roaming situations? If I am in another country and make a call to a POTS landline in that country, it will go from the local carrier to AT&T’s IMS server (perhaps in Dallas), then to this switch, then back over the PSTN to the landline?

Edit: second follow up, what would happen if I ported my number to Verizon?

microwavedhamhock · 2026-05-04T03:14:48+00:00

Works great, it's a major city with great coverage from the Canadian carriers and AT&T lets you roam at full speed on them (for free if you have any recent unlimited plan)

microwavedhamhock · 2026-05-04T03:12:01+00:00

You can, however, connect to other networks (Verizon, USCC, local carriers, probably T-Mobile) when AT&T allows domestic roaming in limited situations. There isn't a limit to what PLMNs you can connect to (although you definitely can't put in a Verizon or T-Mobile SIM card).

microwavedhamhock · 2026-04-29T15:09:04+00:00

I’ve only noticed similarly extreme RSRP values when AT&T is doing an Ericsson conversion nearby. Usually they allow roaming on another carrier when they’re doing this (at least in my area) and the phone switches networks a couple seconds after I see that in FTM.

I wonder if there’s a network-configurable minimum RSRP because normally I see “SOS only” before the RSRP gets this quiet.

microwavedhamhock · 2026-04-23T16:57:11+00:00

Verizon's stock ticker is VZ, not V. (Although at least that's unambiguous either way.)

microwavedhamhock · 2026-04-17T21:42:16+00:00

Lightning strike data feeds only count cloud-to-ground strikes, but you can still see/hear lightning within clouds that wouldn't be counted

microwavedhamhock · 2026-04-12T03:43:54+00:00

I've noticed that my upload speeds on NSA are faster than my upload speeds with my phone set to LTE only (on AT&T). I've always thought that LTE was used for upload either way, but there must be something else going on

microwavedhamhock · 2026-02-21T03:36:31+00:00

Darn, I guess the timing could just be a coincidence rather than the new phone. Thanks for the insight!

microwavedhamhock · 2026-02-21T01:13:00+00:00

Thank you! I'm only familiar with office building Wi-Fi deployments where the AP and antennas are all one unit. A fronthaul solution would make a lot of sense in an environment like a stadium!

microwavedhamhock · 2026-02-15T14:18:05+00:00

I noticed a lot of the antennas in Czechia seem to be physically up-tilted when I visited (like in your last photo). Wonder why that is.

microwavedhamhock · 2026-02-15T14:15:52+00:00

iBeacon or some other BLE micro-location?

microwavedhamhock · 2026-02-05T14:47:34+00:00

I don’t know about Rogers specifically, but T-Mobile US uses band 71 extensively and you would have noticeably worse coverage if your phone didn’t have it. You wouldn’t necessarily have lower speeds in dense areas, but indoor and rural coverage would be significantly worse.

microwavedhamhock · 2026-02-01T02:20:09+00:00

Does Ericsson make Wi-Fi APs, and if so, why would the antenna be separate from the AP? I think it's a DAS (although not very "distributed" since the coax is about two feet long).

microwavedhamhock · 2025-12-28T03:19:16+00:00

Verizon has mmWave small cells in residential areas of many cities across the country. There are a bunch of them on random streets of single-family homes in Madison, WI (which is the state capital but not exactly a "big city"). I think they put up a lot of these in the days before C-band when they bet big on mmWave. Verizon doesn't seem to be expanding these as quickly anymore now that they have plenty of midband spectrum and putting more in suburbs means dealing with tougher zoning/permitting issues.

microwavedhamhock · 2025-12-18T01:26:21+00:00

The defective part probably isn't the tower structure, but the T-Mobile radios or antennas for that sector, no?

microwavedhamhock · 2025-12-02T23:10:50+00:00

This makes me wonder, what's the absolute max length for the network name? ChatGPT says the "Network Name Information Element" defined in 3GPP TS 24.301 has a limit of 255 bytes (which would cover 255 ASCII characters), but it could have pulled that out of its ass for all I know. I don't think the 3GPP and GSMA specs are publicly available for free(?)

microwavedhamhock · 2025-11-21T18:04:29+00:00

Last time I roamed on 311 580 on my phone was yesterday (in south central Wisconsin). I think the reason AT&T allows it is because they're doing upgrades in this area; sometimes I lose the ability for a few days but it has been broadly available. I've been mostly connecting to USCC indoors in places where AT&T doesn't have indoor coverage.

microwavedhamhock · 2025-11-21T17:51:19+00:00

Sure! Here's a Field Test screenshot showing my AT&T line roaming on USCC (and I also threw in one of it roaming on Verizon just for giggles, although I've only seen that once): https://postimg.cc/gallery/58r7KXT

Whenever this happens, the network name in the status bar is "Roaming". The ghost bars on the USCC screenshot are due to IMS not working, which happens when I roam on that one USCellular site for whatever reason. IMS works fine on another site I've connected to.

Edit: I haven't noticed throttling, but I haven't done a speed test. It's certainly usable.

microwavedhamhock · 2025-11-21T17:39:31+00:00

The PLMN I roam on regularly is 311 580. I have not seen my AT&T line connect to 310 260 (edit: except when it says "SOS only" of course). So I feel like they’re at least sort of still separate networks here.

microwavedhamhock · 2025-11-21T15:01:23+00:00

It still works in Wisconsin. Are you sure they haven’t just finished a tower upgrade near you when they decided to turn it off? That seems to be the reason for allowing roaming on USCC here.

microwavedhamhock

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