Sprint and T-Mobile Make Improvements in 2014, but Continue to Trail Verizon and AT&T in Performance

[TWSS37]

Interesting...up until a few days ago for a period of at least a few months Verizon was offering 10 GB for just $80/month and 15 GB for $100/month, which seems to be cheaper.

Then add in the $40 per line charge if you want LTE for that data.

 

[Art0fLife]

Surprised Sprint isn't better. Where I'm at, they knock the **** out of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Price-wise they work better for us too.

Nice to see all the competition though. That's only better for all of us at the end of the day.

 

[C DM]

Then add in the $40 per line charge if you want LTE for that data.

LTE is already part of that. What you pay per line is simply the line charge, which is how the pricing works on today's shared plans, and something that exists for AT&T shared plans as well, so no real difference there.

 

[avanpelt]

Not sure which coverage maps you were looking at (the green ones from 2012 perhaps?) but according to the ones on their site the area you're complaining about is pretty much all LTE. Here it is from Atlanta to Macon and Macon to Valdosta. In fact I-75 looks like a near full LTE experience from Atlanta to Miami. They've definitely improved. Nice try though...

You're incorrect. If you zoom in on the maps on T-Mobile's site, you'll quickly see that most of the coverage you're touting as LTE quickly changes shades to match the color for "2G" in the legend. You have to zoom in to see the color change to indicate the 2G coverage. I just did it myself on T-Mobile's site. The majority of the areas of the maps that you're showing are, in fact, only covered with 2G service by T-Mobile.

Actually, I just realized that the map you took screenshots of only denotes where T-Mobile has coverage. The different shades of pink denote Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, or partner coverage. The pink colors don't denote what type of data coverage it is. You need to look at the maps that denote what type of data coverage (LTE/3G/2G) is provided. You will find those maps on T-Mo's website, as well.

 

[CEmajr]

You're incorrect. If you zoom in on the maps on T-Mobile's site, you'll quickly see that most of the coverage you're touting as LTE quickly changes shades to match the color for "2G" in the legend. You have to zoom in to see the color change to indicate the 2G coverage. I just did it myself on T-Mobile's site. The majority of the areas of the maps that you're showing are, in fact, only covered with 2G service by T-Mobile.

Actually, I just realized that the map you took screenshots of only denotes where T-Mobile has coverage. The different shades of pink denote Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, or partner coverage. The pink colors don't denote what type of data coverage it is. You need to look at the maps that denote what type of data coverage (LTE/3G/2G) is provided. You will find those maps on T-Mo's website, as well.

You're reading it wrong. I took the screenshots with the legend in the picture this time so that you can see it. This first one only denotes coverage. It has only 3 colors (bright pink for native coverage, dark pink for roaming, and white for no service) per the legend on the bottom right.

The second map I have here is like the ones I posted previously. It's zoomed in another level. The brighter pink areas are different levels of either 3G or LTE coverage, you have to click on a spot to see if it's Band 2 LTE, Band 4 LTE, or 3G. The Excellent/Good/Satisfactory only applies to the LTE or 3G areas. 2G on this map is denoted by the dull pink color. T-Mobile doesn't provide information on whether 2G areas are Excellent/Good/Satisfactory. Notice when I clicked on the 2G area it just says "2G" but when I clicked on the LTE area it says "Good". Try clicking in the pink areas along 75 between Atlanta and Valdosta, the "4G LTE" popup comes up. Then click on that lighter dull pink color around Abbeville and "2G" pops up.

This data is also backed by Sensorly and mirrors the crowd sourced data maps there as well as my own experience in driving from Charlotte to Atlanta to Columbus, GA last month. The trip was entirely LTE except for a 15 mile stretch along 85 near Commerce, GA (using iPhone 6 Plus).

These pink coverage maps can be somewhat confusing I know. I liked the old green and yellow coverage maps better where they just used to have green for 3G and yellow for EDGE but they seem firmly set in on the "Magenta" color.

 

[76ShovelHead]

For my coverage area Sprint has the speed but consistency needs to be worked on. Explain why I can get Sprint Spark throughout my commute and all day long, but on my way to work the next day Spotify chokes because all of a sudden my data is 3G.

My uncle visited from CT and has Verizon. We did speed tests on our phones and in my area Verizon didn't come close to Sprint. However once we got out of the city to visit my Aunt, I was roaming and he could still get data.

 

[tmarks11]

You should add the "we are dirtbags" comparison.

ATT wins! When I transferred my iPhone over to t-mobile on 14 Dec after 4 years, ATT charged me an extra month service. When I closed my account, the CS agent said I was paid in full. But the next month, I got a bill that clearly stated "Cellular service for the period of 15 Dec-14 Jan". And the ATT website clearly says that calling plans are paid one month in advance. But multiple calls to ATT billing got the same response "that charge is for your last full month of service, ending on 14 Dec". They finally dunned me with a collection notice, and I paid up.

NEVER EVER will I sign up with ATT again.

T-Mobile service sucks in my area, but prepaid charge of $35/month for 5 GB of data and 100 minutes fits my use pattern perfectly. Nobody else offers that kind of deal.