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max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
2,027
No service of any kind with any provider sometimes :( Mostly SOS

Every now and then would get 5g+, 5g or 4g lte

Is this normal ?


Have a iPhone 14 Pro Max on the highest priority plans on providers.
 

BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,968
4,294
Normal. Cell provider capacity is governed mostly by the laws of physics. There are spectrum resources, sector resources on the radio, capacity resources for the DAS, backhaul capacity and of course prioritization of data traffic with your fellow users.
 

max2

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 31, 2015
6,375
2,027
How many max can it handle in one spot? 1000 , 10,000 ?
 

ovbacon

Suspended
Feb 13, 2010
1,596
11,499
Tahoe, CA
No service of any kind with any provider sometimes :( Mostly SOS

Every now and then would get 5g+, 5g or 4g lte

Is this normal ?


Have a iPhone 14 Pro Max on the highest priority plans on providers.
I'm curious what this means "highest priority plan on provider", since I have never heard this plan...

are you thinking you have higher priority for cell service over another customer of the same provider, or is this just more service related to "customer service."!?!
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,968
4,294
How many max can it handle in one spot? 1000 , 10,000 ?
Only the carrier can tell you :)

The easy gripe is always 'just add more resources'!

It's not that simple. All of those constraints I listed above may be limited in a way that no amount of money or time can overcome. Think of it like trying to build a super highway through a mountain pass. You can throw a double-decker road through there, but there are still limitations. Some things can be overcome with certain technology capabilities (spectrum, slicing and associated network core management, etc.) , but not all.
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,592
23,401
How many max can it handle in one spot? 1000 , 10,000 ?

A pure 5G SA network can handle 1 million connections per square km. That's much smaller than the footprint of a stadium. It comes down to the carrier and how they've implemented it.

You look at the Beijing National Stadium, they can handle over 90,000 spectators no problem using 5G.
 
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BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,968
4,294
I'm curious what this means "highest priority plan on provider", since I have never heard this plan...

are you thinking you have higher priority for cell service over another customer of the same provider, or is this just more service related to "customer service."
All carriers have different data priorities for cellular traffic. Typically, wireless home internet and MVNOs get the lowest prioritization during periods of congestion. The highest tier plans have more of their data pushed when things get congested.

 

BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,968
4,294
A pure 5G SA network can handle 1 million connections per square km. That's much smaller than the footprint of a stadium. It comes down to the carrier and how they've implemented it.

You look at the Beijing National Stadium, they can handle over 90,000 spectators no problem using 5G.

Maybe IoT devices under specific laboratory circumstances. But if you think 5G SA can handle 1M people live-streaming Facebook, you obviously don't work in the cellular industry :)
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,592
23,401
Maybe IoT devices under specific laboratory circumstances. But if you think 5G SA can handle 1M people live-streaming Facebook, you obviously don't work in the cellular industry :)

No streaming, maybe just plain calls. But users definitely won't see "SOS" :)
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,592
23,401
Except @max2 did. Which means there are other limitations, as I related.

Was @max2 on a pure 5G SA network? Was the stadium littered with mobile base stations? All I'm saying is 70,000 users is easily achievable. But I agree there are other limitations., particularly with carrier infrastructure.

ChinaMobile_Generic_MWCS19_2.jpg
 

ovbacon

Suspended
Feb 13, 2010
1,596
11,499
Tahoe, CA
All carriers have different data priorities for cellular traffic. Typically, wireless home internet and MVNOs get the lowest prioritization during periods of congestion. The highest tier plans have more of their data pushed when things get congested.

Ok... but then it would be interesting that with the "highest priority" there is nothing... although I do highly doubt that anyone with the same provider would be able to make a call with a higher plan over someone with a lower plan.

I guess what I am really curious about is why it would matter to have service when you are in a stadium to see a act or sports event?
 

TechnoMonk

macrumors 68000
Oct 15, 2022
1,744
2,403
SOS probably means the part of stadium you were didn’t have good strength of signal. It used to be terrible with 3G and 4 G back in the day for data. With 5G, it is functional intermittently.
 

BeatCrazy

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2011
4,968
4,294
Was @max2 on a pure 5G SA network? Was the stadium littered with mobile base stations? All I'm saying is 70,000 users is easily achievable. But I agree there are other limitations., particularly with carrier infrastructure.

View attachment 2255603

Based on the info that the OP shared, we can assume the answer to those questions is a 'no'. And I suppose anything is 'easily achievable' if you throw hundreds of millions of dollar at it.;)

Ok... but then it would be interesting that with the "highest priority" there is nothing... although I do highly doubt that anyone with the same provider would be able to make a call with a higher plan over someone with a lower plan.

You might be surprised.


I guess what I am really curious about is why it would matter to have service when you are in a stadium to see a act or sports event?

Have you been to any big concerts lately? Live-streaming the experience to followers (or whoever) seems to be a popular activity, especially with the <30 crowd.
 

ovbacon

Suspended
Feb 13, 2010
1,596
11,499
Tahoe, CA
Based on the info that the OP shared, we can assume the answer to those questions is a 'no'. And I suppose anything is 'easily achievable' if you throw hundreds of millions of dollar at it.;)



You might be surprised.




Have you been to any big concerts lately? Live-streaming the experience to followers (or whoever) seems to be a popular activity, especially with the <30 crowd.
Ok, this is funny..... to immediately assume anything about me. But I think the "live streaming" is not just obnoxious (putting your cell in front of someone else's face) but also useless since you are going to be one of many that showed the exact same stuff. So no, I really do not understand needing service at a venue where someone profesional is probably recording it a lot better...

I understand that people feel the need to show that they were there but a few photos takes care of that problem (if you feel that is a problem).

I actually find it really interesting that most, I guess, <30 crowd expects cell service everywhere.... That really is the most surprising thing to me.
 

engbren

macrumors regular
Jul 21, 2011
122
80
Australia
I recently attended an event that had over 75,000 people at it and had no issues whatsoever with my iPhone 13 picking up 5g with occasional fallback to 4g services from my carrier. The data connection was quite good to load webpages, even stream a sport match while I was waiting for the event to kickoff as well as messaging use cases. I have been to the same stadium previously with far fewer people when I was on a different mobile network and had no usable signal.
 

iAppleOrchard

macrumors 6502a
Feb 19, 2022
852
1,151
Colorado
Not normal.

I work at concessions at a couple of stadiums pretty often, and I never get this kind of performance.

I get 5GUW
 

JustAnExpat

macrumors 6502a
Nov 27, 2019
895
911
Too many variables to answer this question.

Who's the provider?
Was the provider expecting 70K people to show up in one location?
What's a "high priority" plan?
Where is the stadium located?

Vague questions get vague answers.
 
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headlessmike

macrumors 65816
May 16, 2017
1,243
2,525
Have you been to any big concerts lately? Live-streaming the experience to followers (or whoever) seems to be a popular activity, especially with the <30 crowd.
At my last concert the couple in front of me, probably in their 40s, were shooting with two devices each (smartphone for video and mirrorless camera for stills) held above their heads. It drove me crazy.

As for the actual topic. Things can vary a lot depending on the local cellular infrastructure available. I’ve been to events with only a few thousand people where the networks were completely overloaded. And on other occasions more than 100 thousand people didn’t bring them down.
 
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BeerDrinkerDan

macrumors member
Dec 27, 2022
86
265
No service of any kind with any provider sometimes :( Mostly SOS

Every now and then would get 5g+, 5g or 4g lte

Is this normal ?


Have a iPhone 14 Pro Max on the highest priority plans on providers.
Sounds like every experience ever at the Virginia Tech home games. Man, it blows.

-dan
 

Rychiar

macrumors 68030
May 16, 2006
2,540
5,589
Waterbury, CT
No service of any kind with any provider sometimes :( Mostly SOS

Every now and then would get 5g+, 5g or 4g lte

Is this normal ?


Have a iPhone 14 Pro Max on the highest priority plans on providers.
This happens at my gym every day
 
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