There is a new cell going up on a bank , corner of Forest Ave & Spring Valley Rd. The panels are not up yet, but I have been told that all the equipment is ready to be installed, & it should be up & running in the next 3 to 6 weeks. This particular area is a real dead zone/hole for Every carrier, & there is about 1 bar to no service (outdoors), & virtually no service indoors, with all cell companies, thru most of the entire area (Forest & Spring Valley up to Midland Ave, & the surounding streets & Area). Although Forest Ave is a 4 lane street, the area is pretty much all residential homes, with a couple of banks, a Dunkin Donughts small deli & KFC in the area. This will be one of those neighborhoods where VZW will be the only carrier to have service , especially indoors. The site will include VZW 800 & 1900 voice channels & 1900 EVDO, no Analog.
NO Analog :rant: issed: meatchicken if you have a tri-mode and the tower is finished see if analog has a weaker signal there than digital.
I see the Area you mean, It is really North Forest Ave and Not the Forest Ave Also North Spring Valley Rd and Not the Spring Valley rd This area is really a weak spot for all carriers. This is the right place to put a Panel. I thought you mean Forest Ave and Spring Valley Rd that are Close to RTE 4. Nice reporting Meat Chicken. AGENT no carrier has been building ANALOG at least in the Last 2 years, I posted that before.
Thanks! Right, there is also a Corner of Forest Ave & a (different) Spring Valley, further south, near rt4 & the Bergen Mall/Maywood border, where most carriers are about full strength. I believe one of them is Spring Valley Rd, while the other is Spring Valley Ave.
meatchicken, is that the corner where Commerce Bank is? Lord I hope so, my fiance lives a block or two away and coverage is 1-0 bars at best. I havent seen any work being done there yet, is this absolutely 100% gonna happen? Thanks for the heads-up!
Across is KFC and there's also a Church where they can use the Stiple. Especially when you get to Midland Ave, DEAD ZONE. T-Mobile shows it as a DEAD Zone on their Compass Map.
Yes, The VZW Site is going on top of the Commerce Bank Building, & it is 100% . (Which, BTW, is the corner of Forest Ave & Spring Valley Road (not Sp V Ave -- I double checked today) If he has VZW, he will have no problems within 3 to 8 weeks .......
Hey MeatChicken, any news on when this site is gonna go up? I've been waiting patiently but I feel like I cant wait anymore! It'll be 4 weeks this friday since you posted about it....
From my source I can tell you this: VZW is ready to go, & has had all the equipment for this site on hand, but they are waiting for the building owner to finish constructing the room & wiring on the upper floor of the building, that will house the electronics of the site, & the building people have been behind schedule with this part of the project. As soon as this is finished, the transmitters & panels will go up quickly. It was expected to be up & running by now, but be patient, it's gonna happen very soon, I'll keep you posted, I drive by regularly ....
UPDATE: I drove by this morning & noticed some workers on the Roof, & a couple of trucks in the parking lot. This "could" be a false alarm, & they were fixing an Air conditioner or somesuch, I will know more tonight when I pass again.
The Panels Are Indeed up & mounted Now, although as of this morning the cell site is not Up & running. I drove by quickly, & only noticed 2 sectors, those roughly facing each direction of Forest ave. Either the 3rd sector isn't up yet, it is facing west off the rear of the building, or this will be a 2 sector site. West would be a very odd choice, since the terrain to the west is a fairly sharp upward sloping hill / residential area ( eventually rising to the top of Farview ave which has great coverage), , with that bank building at the very bottom, making that sector point almost directly into someones backyard lawn not too far up from the sector. Although that side hill neighborhood does need the coverage... The Panels are WELL Concealed. Stealth. They are mounted to the Air conditioner housing in the deep center of the building roof, & painted dark brown to match, & are even with , rather than above the housing. The building top skirt, combined with the middle roof placement & color, makes them almost not visible in most nearby vantage points. I haven't yet been able to determine the exact angle of the visible panels, weather they follow Forest ave directly, or skirt slightly to another direction, I will have to park nearby & investigate. There could be anywhere from a few days, to possibly 2 or 3 weeks of work left, Drive tests, hookups, ect before the site goes live, I'll keep you posted. I would guess 1 to 2 weeks "if" the indoor electronics are already installed.....
Another Update: Passed by the Bank this morning, & a couple of guys were rolling in a large reel of coaxial cable into one of the building entrances ... so work is actively progressing at this site ..
Another Update - Saw VZW truck Today & yesterday with big reel of cable working across the street from the building, & more workers in the parking lot & roof ..... It's still progressing nicely.
... Wow this site build is more work than I thought. Every day I pass I see lots of work going on ... Today there were 3 VZW trucks working on poles a block away, 1 w/ the big reel, 3 Lucent Technology vans were in the parking lot, & the roof is now squared off w/ yellow tape & workers were on the roof & going into the building . Gotta give 'em credit, it has been 2 weeks since the panels 1st appeared on the roof & they have been working virtually every weekday since, often with multiple crews.. Once it is up & running I will report on signal strength, 1900 status & sector P/n's & directions for those of us "tecchies" curious !!
I've been driving by occasionally, and I've been impressed with how much work it takes to get one of these things running. I'd be interested in hearing the technical info from you once the site is up...