Carrier Anyone in Boston with 5s and T-Mobile?

[Aylan]

Hi,

Just checking to see if anyone uses an iPhone 5s with T-Mo in Boston. I am interested in finding out what data signal is available in the MBTA tunnels. I'm on an iPhone 5 and LTE works like a charm mostly everywhere but it slows to crappy EDGE in the tunnels. I'm hoping the 5s' improved support for T-Mo bands at least lets it pick up HSPA+ or "4G"; I'll then have a reason to get the 5s

 

[Curun]

I have the later s/n 5, with full band support for TMo. It sucked in the tunnels as of last august.

 

[Aylan]

I have the later s/n 5, with full band support for TMo. It sucked in the tunnels as of last august.

That is right, I forgot that that there was a version of the 5 that had T-Mo support, thanks for reminding me. Last August LTE was not even deployed if I am remembering correctly. I'm hoping the situation is better now.

 

[T5BRICK]

Do you have the 5 or 5s? I ask because the 5 does not have the AWS bands and i have seen non-iPhones work on "4G" in the tunnels, hence my question.

The later version of the iPhone 5 does have AWS bands.

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/2...a-tweaked-model-a1428-phone-with-aws-support/

 

[Aylan]

I know, I realized as i posted that the post was edited to I edited mine in turn.

 

[7enderbender]

Hi,

Just checking to see if anyone uses an iPhone 5s with T-Mo in Boston. I am interested in finding out what data signal is available in the MBTA tunnels. I'm on an iPhone 5 and LTE works like a charm mostly everywhere but it slows to crappy EDGE in the tunnels. I'm hoping the 5s' improved support for T-Mo bands at least lets it pick up HSPA+ or "4G"; I'll then have a reason to get the 5s

I have a 5 (late model, T-mobile issued with extended bands) and my wife just got a 5s. I doubt this is anything that'll be dependent on the actual phone. I personally find the coverage on the T pretty impressive. Yes, there are a few spots where it goes blank but overall I get good signals (Green Line, Orange Line, Commuter Rail).

 

[Aylan]

I have a 5 (late model, T-mobile issued with extended bands) and my wife just got a 5s. I doubt this is anything that'll be dependent on the actual phone. I personally find the coverage on the T pretty impressive. Yes, there are a few spots where it goes blank but overall I get good signals (Green Line, Orange Line, Commuter Rail).

Do you get EDGE or 4G signals in the tunnels?

 

[Curun]

That is right, I forgot that that there was a version of the 5 that had T-Mo support, thanks for reminding me. Last August LTE was not even deployed if I am remembering correctly. I'm hoping the situation is better now.

I had LTE there when I was there.

Also.. PCMag says it was deployed last June, prior to Aug.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421617,00.asp

Service could very well be upgraded since I was there.

 

[Curun]

Do you get EDGE or 4G signals in the tunnels?

I had the original iPhone 5 from launch day. Here in ATL, I suffered from E in some areas where friend's on TMo had 4G.

Shortly before my Boston trip, June-ish. I was able to get a genius bar to swap my handset out.

I was polite, described my signal issues. It wasn't looking promising at first, but I was able to convince the manager that it was a hardware fault/bug. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5720 this document somewhat helped.

It also helped significantly that there were TMo handsets of my model iPhone 5, in the store at that exact time on 4G, and mine was on edge (luck).

The aws/1700/2100 frequency support is in hardware, it's turned on for LTE. Just not turned on for 4G/HSPA+. Apparently not remotely upgradeable.

 

[7enderbender]

Do you get EDGE or 4G signals in the tunnels?

I wanna say mostly LTE and 4G. But I'll try to keep an eye open on my way home tonight and report back.

 

[lordofthereef]

I used a later version of the 5 for a week to test things out last summer (also a lumia 520). It sucked pretty much everywhere. I would frequently have no signal indoors and drop to edge "out of nowhere". Hell, it sucked in the middle of cambridge. I don't know if anything has changed since, but I ditched the service after that torture.

 

[Aylan]

For the most part I have either LTE or 4G HSPA+ everywhere I go. Last summer it was not the same story, my friend had T-Mo at the time and he was on EDGE a lot. The only issue I come across now is in the MBTA tunnels. For $30 a month I guess I can't complain but if I can get a better experience on the 5s, I may get it. The way I see it is that I am saving $70 a month compared to what I was paying AT&T so I might as well use it to upgrade

 

[wordoflife]

For the most part I have either LTE or 4G HSPA+ everywhere I go. Last summer it was not the same story, my friend had T-Mo at the time and he was on EDGE a lot. The only issue I come across now is in the MBTA tunnels. For $30 a month I guess I can't complain but if I can get a better experience on the 5s, I may get it. The way I see it is that I am saving $70 a month compared to what I was paying AT&T so I might as well use it to upgrade

If you already have the later version of the iPhone 5, which I'm supposing you do since you get T-Mobile LTE, it won't be any different from a 5S, unfortunately.

 

[Curun]

If you already have the later version of the iPhone 5, which I'm supposing you do since you get T-Mobile LTE, it won't be any different from a 5S, unfortunately.

The early iPhone 5 also got TMo LTE.
LTE
4G 1900PCS refarm only
Edge

The later TMo,update only fixed 4G/HSPA+.
LTE
4G 1900PCS and added classic 1700/2100 band
Edge

Place with no LTE, but had 42mbps 4G/HSPA+ on 1700/2100 only... You'd get edge without update.

 

[wordoflife]

The early iPhone 5 also got TMo LTE.
LTE
4G 1900PCS refarm only
Edge

The later TMo,update only fixed 4G/HSPA+.
LTE
4G 1900PCS and added classic 1700/2100 band
Edge

Place with no LTE, but had 42mbps 4G/HSPA+ on 1700/2100 only... You'd get edge without update.

Oh I see, I didn't know the iPhone 5 without AWS could do T-Mobile LTE. Makes sense though.

So I'm not sure if the OP has an iPhone 5 with AWS or not. If he/she does, then there wouldn't be any point in upgrading to a 5S.

 

[Curun]

Oh I see, I didn't know the iPhone 5 without AWS could do T-Mobile LTE. Makes sense though.



So I'm not sure if the OP has an iPhone 5 with AWS or not. If he/she does, then there wouldn't be any point in upgrading to a 5S.

You're still a tad confused.

The original had AWS/1700 for LTE, just not 4G/HSPA+
The update fixed it, so it also has AWS/1700/2100 for 4G/HSPA+

But yes, if he/she has the later iPhone5, a 5S would be no better.

 

[Aylan]

I have the early non-AWS band iPhone 5. So I only get LTE and HSPA+ refarm which Boston is. I'm still unsure if the AWS bands provide data connectivity at speeds higher than EDGE in the tunnels though.

 

[Curun]

I have the early non-AWS band iPhone 5. So I only get LTE and HSPA+ refarm which Boston is. I'm still unsure if the AWS bands provide data connectivity at speeds higher than EDGE in the tunnels though.

I got a massive improvement in the ATL. Turned much of my E to 4G.

When I was in Boston, tunnels were crappy. But that was near 6mo ago,now, and TMo seems to be constantly upgrading.

 

[maflynn]

An old thread to be sure, but I'm thinking of switching to T-Mo because I can get 4 lines for the price of three - it looks like they'll charge me 120 dollars for those 4 lines. I understand that if I finance the phones and not pay cash, that will increase my cost, but so far T-Mo looks to be a lot cheaper for 4 lines over ATT.

Given that T-Mo has improved the networks, hows the coverage in Boston and surrounding area?