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iPhone Air iPhone Air Vs 17PM cell reception

shady16

shady16

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 3, 2019
942
873
so im just wondering if the antennas on the 17PM and the qualcomm modem outperform the Air in cellular reception and or data speeds and if the difference is noticable. i live in a area with low reception on verizon i typically only get 1 bar of service.
 
Even when I have 1 bar of service, I haven't noticed any real problem with service with my Air. If it does become a problem, I can instantly switch to AT&T, as I have US Mobile and they offer service with all three carriers. I downloaded the US Mobile shortcut that allows me to instantly switch back and forth at the drop of a hat. I also turned the toggled on the phone so that it will automatically switch between carriers when it detects service is too weak with Verizon or vice versa (AT&T).

I am not going to go looking for problems that aren't happening to me.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
Even when I have 1 bar of service, I haven't noticed any real problem with service with my Air. If it does become a problem, I can instantly switch to AT&T, as I have US Mobile and they offer service with all three carriers. I downloaded the US Mobile shortcut that allows me to instantly switch back and forth at the drop of a hat. I also turned the toggled on the phone so that it will automatically switch between carriers when it detects service is too weak with Verizon or vice versa (AT&T).

I am not going to go looking for problems that aren't happening to me.
Click to expand...
i know this is a bit off topic but how is US mobile compared to verizon? better pricing?
 
Apple_Robert said:
Even when I have 1 bar of service, I haven't noticed any real problem with service with my Air. If it does become a problem, I can instantly switch to AT&T, as I have US Mobile and they offer service with all three carriers. I downloaded the US Mobile shortcut that allows me to instantly switch back and forth at the drop of a hat. I also turned the toggled on the phone so that it will automatically switch between carriers when it detects service is too weak with Verizon or vice versa (AT&T).

I am not going to go looking for problems that aren't happening to me.
Click to expand...

Oh I definitely need to look into this... didn't know they were doing that now.
 
Apple_Robert said:
The price is about half that of the major carriers and US Mobile uses the same towers.
Click to expand...

All MVNOs use the same towers as the carrier they're piggybacking on (albeit usually no roaming).

The benefit of US Mobile's Unlimited Premium plan is I believe it's given the same priority as Verizon's most expensive postpaid plans for a fraction of the cost. Depending on network congestion, that can be a big deal. I once used regular Visible and I couldn't even open Google and running Speedtest fails while Verizon postpaid (Do More) worked just fine. I switched to Visible+ and it was significantly better (actually usable).

US Mobile Unlimited Premium should have the same higher priority plus it offers the flexibility of switching among the 3 major carrier networks.
 
Apple_Robert said:
Even when I have 1 bar of service, I haven't noticed any real problem with service with my Air. If it does become a problem, I can instantly switch to AT&T, as I have US Mobile and they offer service with all three carriers. I downloaded the US Mobile shortcut that allows me to instantly switch back and forth at the drop of a hat. I also turned the toggled on the phone so that it will automatically switch between carriers when it detects service is too weak with Verizon or vice versa (AT&T).

I am not going to go looking for problems that aren't happening to me.
Click to expand...
Wow - that is really cool that it automatically will switch between carriers. How does that affect phone calls then? Tempted to try them. Have T-Mobile and always have liked them on Military plan, but US Mobile sounds interesting and they include the watch plan too, plus a lot of global data, which I could use when traveling to Canada. Assume Canada would be 5g data too.
 
GDF said:
Wow - that is really cool that it automatically will switch between carriers. How does that affect phone calls then? Tempted to try them. Have T-Mobile and always have liked them on Military plan, but US Mobile sounds interesting and they include the watch plan too, plus a lot of global data, which I could use when traveling to Canada. Assume Canada would be 5g data too.
Click to expand...
The feature is called Mult-Network Backup Add-on. I pay $7.50 a month for the feature. Say, I am in a bad cell area and my primary network Warp - (Verizon) doesn't have signal, it will automatically switch to Dark Star (AT&T) The add-on is essentially a second line with a separate number. If my family needed to get a hold of me (or someone else) and I was in a bad area and the phone switched to AT&T, the people calling me would need to know my Dark Star number or wait until I was back in cell range for Warp. Hope that wasn't confusing.

You can try US Mobile's service free for 30 days.

Without the add-on I pay $25 / month for unlimited talk, text, and I believe 50GB of data.
 
Apple_Robert said:
The feature is called Mult-Network Backup Add-on. I pay $7.50 a month for the feature. Say, I am in a bad cell area and my primary network Warp - (Verizon) doesn't have signal, it will automatically switch to Dark Star (AT&T) The add-on is essentially a second line with a separate number. If my family needed to get a hold of me (or someone else) and I was in a bad area and the phone switched to AT&T, the people calling me would need to know my Dark Star number or wait until I was back in cell range for Warp. Hope that wasn't confusing.

You can try US Mobile's service free for 30 days.
Click to expand...
Ah ok. So, you would have three different numbers with that feature. It Helps you if you have no signal with Verizon, but can switch to AT&T or T-Mobile to make a call or use data. Still seems helpful.

Saw that had a free trial, but I think I would have to transfer my number though. Thought about just signing up for a month and adding a secondary line to trial the service. Visible sounds good too, but pricier at the highest tier level. Thanks!
 
GDF said:
Ah ok. So, you would have three different numbers with that feature. It Helps you if you have no signal with Verizon, but can switch to AT&T or T-Mobile to make a call or use data. Still seems helpful.

Saw that had a free trial, but I think I would have to transfer my number though. Thought about just signing up for a month and adding a secondary line to trial the service. Visible sounds good too, but pricier at the highest tier level. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have 2 different lines on my personal phone. The Warp line and the DarkStar line. Customer service has been top notch for me. I can talk pretty much talk to CS 24/7 in chat or call. I use online chat.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
The feature is called Mult-Network Backup Add-on. I pay $7.50 a month for the feature. Say, I am in a bad cell area and my primary network Warp - (Verizon) doesn't have signal, it will automatically switch to Dark Star (AT&T) The add-on is essentially a second line with a separate number. If my family needed to get a hold of me (or someone else) and I was in a bad area and the phone switched to AT&T, the people calling me would need to know my Dark Star number or wait until I was back in cell range for Warp. Hope that wasn't confusing.

You can try US Mobile's service free for 30 days.

Without the add-on I pay $25 / month for unlimited talk, text, and I believe 50GB of data.
Click to expand...
Don't they also have a manual transfer option where you can switch yourself if in a bad area?
 
Apple_Robert said:
The feature is called Mult-Network Backup Add-on. I pay $7.50 a month for the feature. Say, I am in a bad cell area and my primary network Warp - (Verizon) doesn't have signal, it will automatically switch to Dark Star (AT&T) The add-on is essentially a second line with a separate number. If my family needed to get a hold of me (or someone else) and I was in a bad area and the phone switched to AT&T, the people calling me would need to know my Dark Star number or wait until I was back in cell range for Warp. Hope that wasn't confusing.

You can try US Mobile's service free for 30 days.

Without the add-on I pay $25 / month for unlimited talk, text, and I believe 50GB of data.
Click to expand...
Thank You for the details about this service.

It looks like it would be beneficial for my requirements, I will give it a try.
 
shady16 said:
so im just wondering if the antennas on the 17PM and the qualcomm modem outperform the Air in cellular reception and or data speeds and if the difference is noticable.
Click to expand...
Be good if someone could answer this, probs hard as need both phones in same spots.
 
Well what I have found is the 17 pros have stronger overall signal but the modem in the air handles weaker signal better then the pros so don’t know which is better
 
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