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mikefla

macrumors 6502
Feb 27, 2011
450
49
So all the news sounds great but what is really going on in the front end for the customers. I tried Tmobile a few times in the past year for 1-2 weeks at a time and the coverage was terrible. They say they been doing a lot the last year or so are you seeing any difference? I'm looking to hear from those using an iPhone 6S or similar device that supports the additional new band tmobile is using. What is service like in NY, NJ, CT, PA now? Do you see improvements, better indoor coverage or coverage where no coverage existed before? I also hear about a year ago they were looking to add MIMO type antennas to all towers to improve range, etc are you seeing this benefit? I'm thinking about testing the service again and am curious what real users are seeing out there.

-Mike

I decided to give Tmobile another try. Currently testing using iPhone 6S. So far I'm seeing a signal of no more than 2 bars (indoors) in all areas of NJ I have visited which is fine as long as the signal is stable enough for use. Data speed tests look ok but nothing impressive that I have seen so far, AT&T would be very similar or even better. I have seen reports of the new band 12 (which helps improves indoor coverage) being seen in use in parts of NJ which sounds promising. As long as I get a usable signal regardless of what band is being used in all the places I need it I may stick around and give it perhaps two weeks of testing. One thing I have with AT&T that Tmobile doesn't have is a good phone App that lets me reports quality data on service issues, etc directly to AT&T (aka Mark the Spot). I have used this App a lot over the years and would love if others would join me in sending the suggestion to Tmobile to build something like that which would benefit them tremendously! All carriers should have something like that App as it provides them with a ton of accurate information and data they can use to help improve their networks and become aware of specific service issues. As far as pricing goes Tmobile is not cheap at all for 1 line. $50 for 2GB is not cheap at all! I do like the fact they they exclude things like data usage for apps like Pandora which I use quite a bit and likely is what easts the bulk of my data (I wonder if they throttle this usage or if it's always un-throttled LTE speed where available on the network).

Does anybody know if Tmobile includes data roaming at no extra cost for simple plan subscribers?


-Mike
 

mikefla

macrumors 6502
Feb 27, 2011
450
49
It's pretty simple: T-Mobile for the last year or so has been running at around a 1-5% profit margin. AT&T is around 8-10%. Verizon is 12-13%. (Sprint lost money every quarter but one since 2007; presumably they're still in business thanks to SoftBank's $5B cash infusion after some bad WiMax decisions and buying Nextel.)

Although it's obviously more complicated than this in reality--there's a lot going on, and financials are more than just a bottom-line number--in general terms AT&T and Verizon have used their monopoly-like status and general pricing/feature collusion to keep a pretty good chunk of operating income for their shareholders. T-Mobile, for whatever reason, is currently willing to run at much tighter margins, so the consumer gets more and the shareholders get less.

In a well-functioning industry (which US wireless carriers have traditionally not been) this kind of thing usually pushes the whole industry toward thinner margins and better prices. That seems to be changing now, although it's impossible to say whether this can/will continue and spread further long-term, or what will happen if T-Mobile eventually does get a really big chunk of subscribers.

I do hope they get and keep a ton of new subscribers and turn around and invest most of that new money to further improve the network in every way possible. It is my understanding that putting up new towers take years but there is plenty of other stuff that can be done to make noticeable improvements for everybody.

-Mike
 

JackieInCo

Suspended
Jul 18, 2013
5,178
1,601
Colorado
I just wanted to point out that in using T-Mobile since they announced support for the iPhone however long it's been, I've been using iPhones and Android phones on T-Mobile in nearly all that time.

I have found that my Note 4 and Note Edge always get better signal an data coverage then my 5S and 6+ ever could. With my Note Edge and Note 4, there is only one area here in Denver/Broomfield that I don't get a data signal and that is about a block range and with an iPhone, that area stretches to about a half mile.

I posted this on one of the Android forums when I noticed it back in the spring and many people said they noticed the same thing in their areas.
 

mikefla

macrumors 6502
Feb 27, 2011
450
49
I just wanted to point out that in using T-Mobile since they announced support for the iPhone however long it's been, I've been using iPhones and Android phones on T-Mobile in nearly all that time.

I have found that my Note 4 and Note Edge always get better signal an data coverage then my 5S and 6+ ever could. With my Note Edge and Note 4, there is only one area here in Denver/Broomfield that I don't get a data signal and that is about a block range and with an iPhone, that area stretches to about a half mile.

I posted this on one of the Android forums when I noticed it back in the spring and many people said they noticed the same thing in their areas.


This sounds like a serious lack of network fine tuning although different phones may have a significantly better antenna etc however in general all modern phone should perform very close to each other. This sounds like the Tmobile coverage map which appears very inaccurate even when taking into consideration the fine print. I was at an exact address listed on the map that shows 4G LTE good signal indoors/outdoors. The reality was I had 1 bar 4G only signal indoors on a sun deck facing the outside surrounded by windows. Latency was so bad Internet connection was pretty much un-usable. Outdoors 2 bars 4G signal no LTE. And while inside in the sundeck for a while had no service at all.


Tmobile really needs an app like AT&T's Mark the Spot that could really help them help themselves. So far I’m not impressed at all with my second day of testing the service. Doesn't seem much has changed at all since I last tested a few times in the last two years. Tmobile has no real way of reporting service issues either you can call them but they do absolutely nothing with the information you provide them, nothing ever happens and nobody from their end ever follows up. With such an outspoken CEO you figure they would have a better handling of these things by now.


-Mike
 
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