Let’s Talk About Improved JMA Wireless Dome Internet Access

[richmondcuse03]

I work in this space, designing indoor cellular systems for stadiums/venues/airports/terminals/buildings etc across the country. I've worked with JMA, their competitors and and all the carriers. I have NO KNOWLEDGE of the Dome specifically, but their quote "all JMA equipment has been installed" means that they are waiting on the carrier signal sources from the carriers themselves. This is typically a long and tidious process that takes up to 24 mos to plan in advance, as historically, the venue does not pay any costs for the source or the transport. Therefore the carriers have to budget for this in there forecasts well in advance. If that isnt accounted for early enough, then you have a completed DAS with no signal. Think plumbing in a building is finished with no tie into the water service from the street.

Glad to hear that the new 5G bands are going to be fired up shortly if true. It will dramatically improve the experience.

Good insight and makes sense given what they previously said about waiting on the carriers.

 

[orangeinjersey]

Good insight and makes sense given what they previously said about waiting on the carriers.

I would imagine that JMA installed their latest and greatest solution(s) in order to use it as a sales showcase to potential future clients/owners when touring the JMA factory. I'd love to see the install personally.

 

[sutomcat]

I would imagine that JMA installed their latest and greatest solution(s) in order to use it as a sales showcase to potential future clients/owners when touring the JMA factory. I'd love to see the install personally.

I read somewhere that this is their intention. They want to get their solution in as many college football stadiums and basketball arenas as possible.

Hoping someday the dome is a showcase for state of the art technology.

Holograms of our great players in our hall of fame, on line ordering of food and beverages, highly customizable dashboards in the Cuse app for tracking our favorite game statistics, out of town scores, stock prices and AI psychoanalysis.

We need the psychoanalysis first.

 

[MadNY3]

I read somewhere that this is their intention. They want to get their solution in as many college football stadiums and basketball arenas as possible.

Hoping someday the dome is a showcase for state of the art technology.

Holograms of our great players in our hall of fame, on line ordering of food and beverages, highly customizable dashboards in the Cuse app for tracking our favorite game statistics, out of town scores, stock prices and AI psychoanalysis.

We need the psychoanalysis first.

And certain esports things.

 

[Chip]

 

[JeremyCuse]

LOL was there any doubt this was coming? At this point SU should stop giving a projected date, it's well over a year late.

 

[upperdeck]

I get that its a complicated install.. What is actually involved with this though.. Since its a 5g cell interface isnt the JMA equipment actually taking the cell signals and interfacing it into the verizon DAS piece?

From there is it going into fiber?

 

[upperdeck]

LOL was there any doubt this was coming? At this point SU should stop giving a projected date, it's well over a year late.

I am sitting at my house waiting on Verizon to bury the Fiber for the FiOS they installed in May.. If I cancel my order will that bump up the technician with time to work on the JMA project.

 

[orangeinjersey]

So much for the poster "who had it on good authority..." lol

 

[orangeinjersey]

I get that its a complicated install.. What is actually involved with this though.. Since its a 5g cell interface isnt the JMA equipment actually taking the cell signals and interfacing it into the verizon DAS piece?

From there is it going into fiber?

To make this as simple as possible for laymans...there are a few pieces involved...

1. The DAS network equipment in the dome (think of this as the electrical wiring and light bulbs in your house).
2. The commercial carrier signal source, the "radio" that transmits the RF signals between the carrier network and the DAS network light to RF and vice versa (think of this as the transformer outside your house)
3. The transport circuit, this is the fiber/copper that transports the signals from the carrier network head-end/switching to the dome (think of this as the high voltage cable in the dirt or on power lines outside your home).

The latest story posted above says that the issue is "equipment delays". It sounds to me from this story and the earlier ones posted all of the dome JMA equipment has been installed and tested already with a dummy signal. All that is left is the carrier signal integration, and some quick integration testing.

The Carrier equipment delays can be permitting/construction inspection delays on the carrier side from their contractor. Think general electrical equipment. It could be they are waiting on a "radio/signal source" or any piece of equipment to interface to the DAS. It could mean that they are waiting on a piece of standard cisco routing gear that is part of the transport from the radio to the outside VZW/carrier network. That piece could be out of their control and in the hands of a 3rd party like spectrumm or whoever the outside provider is.

The interesting quote here is, "Verizon informed the university that due to equipment delays and to prevent negatively impacting Verizon customers..." the latter portion specifically. This is telling, carriers do NOT accept subpar user experiences. They either want it to work correctly as advertised in the commercials, or it not work at all. My guess is that they found something in the testing that wasn't up to snuff that they are waiting on a component/equipment to add/replace to the system. If they green-lit the system as is, it would likely work as advertised in some of the space but not ALL of the dome. Therefore, they choose to not green-light it and avoid complaints and bad user experiences.

Patience young grasshopper, my guess is that when all is said and done, SU will have the best wireless experience in a college venue, one that will rival the latest and greatest at Sofi, Allegient etc.

 

[upperdeck]

Would anyone notice if it didn't work since we are all negatively impacted every time we go into the dome now. If they wanted a better user experience, they could put a temp cell truck outside the dome for games that would fix the issue pretty fast and easily.

For a cell company to say they care about user experience is a joke. They force us to use 5G and they haven't even gotten 5G service to 90% of the areas they make us use it in.

 

[orangeinjersey]

Would anyone notice if it didn't work since we are all negatively impacted every time we go into the dome now. If they wanted a better user experience, they could put a temp cell truck outside the dome for games that would fix the issue pretty fast and easily.

For a cell company to say they care about user experience is a joke. They force us to use 5G and they haven't even gotten 5G service to 90% of the areas they make us use it in.

So much misinformation quoted above, so I will just leave it with this...

If a PR goes out that the Dome wireless is now faster than your home wireless, and you get to the game and notice its the same lame 3G/4G exp with avg DL/UL speeds, do you not think there would be complaining here, Syr.com, twitter, post standard etc? Of course there would. So why make an announcement that something is ready for primetime when its not?

Beleive me folks, in construction when deploying these...NO ONE likes delays. No one is intentionally delaying anything. There are soooooo many moving pieces to a system like this. Its very fluid. Under promise...over deliver. That is the name of the game.

 

[orangecuse]

So much misinformation quoted above, so I will just leave it with this...

If a PR goes out that the Dome wireless is now faster than your home wireless, and you get to the game and notice its the same lame 3G/4G exp with avg DL/UL speeds, do you not think there would be complaining here, Syr.com, twitter, post standard etc? Of course there would. So why make an announcement that something is ready for primetime when its not?

Beleive me folks, in construction when deploying these...NO ONE likes delays. No one is intentionally delaying anything. There are soooooo many moving pieces to a system like this. Its very fluid. Under promise...over deliver. That is the name of the game.

If only Dino "didn't know" had known better during that inaugural speech of his...

 

[dwilmont44]

Are we sure we're getting individual seats by next year?

 

[kirbivore]

Are we sure we're getting individual seats by next year?

Sala's hard at work on that one

 

[upperdeck]

So much misinformation quoted above, so I will just leave it with this...

If a PR goes out that the Dome wireless is now faster than your home wireless, and you get to the game and notice its the same lame 3G/4G exp with avg DL/UL speeds, do you not think there would be complaining here, Syr.com, twitter, post standard etc? Of course there would. So why make an announcement that something is ready for primetime when its not?

Beleive me folks, in construction when deploying these...NO ONE likes delays. No one is intentionally delaying anything. There are soooooo many moving pieces to a system like this. Its very fluid. Under promise...over deliver. That is the name of the game.

So do they have to issue any statement at all.. If 75% of the dome is better and you must put out a PR say that.. I mean you have no way to test the setup until you have 30K in the dome no matter what they do for deployment. The current system is bad.. You could turn on a completely faulty system and make it better for 10% and no one would complain. You could fix the wifi in addition to the 5G wireless as well.

Much better to come out with a statement that we are almost 2 yrs down the road and we are delayed by supply side issues? Basically Verizon saying dont blame us..

If Verizon isnt ready then why not see if the other 2 are ready to go with equipment.

Wait until fall when we find out after all the seat moves that they are short 2000 rows of seats and some people will have to stand up all game.

 

[FasterCuse]

So much for the poster "who had it on good authority..." lol

haha I guess my source isn't as connected as I thought

 

[Cuse181]

Would anyone notice if it didn't work since we are all negatively impacted every time we go into the dome now. If they wanted a better user experience, they could put a temp cell truck outside the dome for games that would fix the issue pretty fast and easily.

or a cell company to say they care about user experience is a joke. They force us to use 5G and they haven't even gotten 5G service to 90% of the areas they make us use it in.

How can they force you to use it if it isnt available? Do you mean pay for access to 5G networks?

 

[upperdeck]

How can they force you to use it if it isnt available? Do you mean pay for access to 5G networks?

you dont have a choice when you have a newer phone on most networks. For example on verizon you have to use the 5G until it decides it cant find it and then it decides what network to connect to. If you go in and out of 5g coverage you have no choice that it will be bad service. i will have to time out before it drops to 4g and every time it thinks it finds 5g it will do it again and again.. So in a place like the Dome thats over saturated with users it has huge issues.

On some other networks and phones you can change it..

So if you live in a location like I do where there is no 5g Coverage most of the time, you have to be inside a wifi zone to make the calls work.. Or else go outside and spin around 3 time and clap your heels to get an occasional call to go through.

 

[MSOrange]

 

[upperdeck]

today is an example of why bad internet sucks.. cant even go in early and bet the breeders cup

 

[rrlbees]

today is an example of why bad internet sucks.. cant even go in early and bet the breeders cup

Why not? I’ve had no trouble with the Wi-Fi or internet. Not super fast but it still works.

 

[oldpinepoint]

I am sitting at my house waiting on Verizon to bury the Fiber for the FiOS they installed in May.. If I cancel my order will that bump up the technician with time to work on the JMA project.

Ours is getting installed now

 

[upperdeck]

Why not? I’ve had no trouble with the Wi-Fi or internet. Not super fast but it still works.

from my seats nothing works if more than a few kids are in the building.. Wifi never works at all.. occasionally the cell will connect if the fans leave. so maybe mid first quarter now.

 

[FasterCuse]

Verizon 5g should be on today... Try it out and let me know.