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Carrier T-Mobile is Fantastic!
- Thread starter crisg
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While technically you are right they do have nationwide AWS licenses and can theoretically deploy rural HSPA+/LTE using those bands if they want to. It's just totally uneconomical to do so. So yes they DO have something to do with each other in this case.
AWS bands are great for capacity but do not travel very far, requiring a lot more towers to cover the same area that low bands like 700mhz can. So why spend 3 times what Verizon/AT&T spend to cover rural areas? Especially when there are far less potential customers per square mile. The ROI (return on investment) is terrible. It doesn't make any sense and T-Mobile has nowhere near the financial resources required to build that many towers for rural LTE. Obtaining 700mhz and possibly 600mhz next year would allow them to address the rural coverage that many complain about in an economical fashion. AT&T and Verizon even know this. Notice neither of them built out LTE on their AWS bands in rural areas either. Doesn't make sense and it's too costly. They used their low band 700mhz and 850mhz spectrum for that. Watch the video I posted. You'll understand what I'm talking about.
I understand how the propagation is different for PCS and AWS as opposed to CLR and 700. And yes, the economic factor is true when you're looking at mega-rural areas over the entire country. However, there are two things to look at here. One is that AT&T has successfully done large PCS rollouts in fairly rural areas, including New Hampshire, which only just recently has been mostly overlaid with 700mhz LTE. The second is that T-Mobile has coverage in a lot of places like Connecticut that's still EDGE, and needs to be upgraded to Faux G and Four G before they even start talking about new coverage. Their network wouldn't be that bad if it was all Faux G, and they could expand some more with AWS and PCS before they really started to get to the super rural areas where you have to have low band to deploy in a cost-effective manner.
AT&T and Verizon use their higher band spectrum in rural areas, but it is coupled with low-band for coverage. However, they could use the method that AT&T used in New Hampshire, where they built out a PCS network on CLR spaced towers. They ended up with swiss cheese coverage, but it still works in most places most of the time, as long as you're not in a building (LTE should be much better up there new on 700).
Yes it would be cheaper for T-Mobile to deploy high speed data with lower frequency spectrum but the fact of the matter is that they have had nationwide AWS for quite some time now but have still chosen to leave even some decently sized cities and towns drowning in a sea of EDGE.
I can totally understand them not deploying HSPA+ in places like WV or rural midwest states, but for something like I-95 (the busiest highway in the country) to be EDGE from Richmond, VA all the way to Jacksonville, FL is pathetic. There is no excuse for that. Or even I-85 (one of the busiest highways here in the Southeast). It is riddled with EDGE for its entirety except for blips of LTE and HSPA+ in the cities that you pass through.
They've been gaining subscribers and making money with this "Uncarrier" stuff though. Let's see if they follow through and even make use of that 700mhz they got from Verizon. Or will they just deploy it in those core cities and leave the rest unused?
I can totally understand them not deploying HSPA+ in places like WV or rural midwest states, but for something like I-95 (the busiest highway in the country) to be EDGE from Richmond, VA all the way to Jacksonville, FL is pathetic. There is no excuse for that. Or even I-85 (one of the busiest highways here in the Southeast). It is riddled with EDGE for its entirety except for blips of LTE and HSPA+ in the cities that you pass through.
They've been gaining subscribers and making money with this "Uncarrier" stuff though. Let's see if they follow through and even make use of that 700mhz they got from Verizon. Or will they just deploy it in those core cities and leave the rest unused?
I loved T-mobile, but coverage was my issue. I do think given another year or so, they should be fine, but for now knowing I get better coverage with AT&T is worth the extra I will have to pay.
Hurrah for T-Mobile in Salt Lake City. Getting good 3G coverage on the refarmed spectrum for my iPhone 3GS.
It has depending on area. Here in Colorado, I get LTE everywhere I go with just a small patch of edge. I gave up AT&T and Verizon a year ago for T-Mobile and haven't regretted it.
In major areas T-Mobile is awesome (luckily for me, I'm in one of those). Other than that they're still kind of sucky.
I like using T-Mobile and it works perfect for me.
Same here. LTE in most areas. Also my calls stay connected and sound better than sprint. I just can't justify AT&T or Verizon prices.
Cheers
I find it interesting that if people dare to say that they have a good experience with T-Mobile that it's "propaganda," but if people bash T-Mobile that's somehow not.
Let them bash T-Mobile and pay their higher price for "coverage" that they will rarely use. Let those who are frugal and get great experience with T-Mobile stay.
Report says T-Mobile has the nation's fastest LTE network.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story...-fastest-115-mbps-according-report/2014-02-20
Also T-Mobile has lowest latency speeds among the Big 4 carriers when it comes to 3G and 4G data.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/speci...w-did-verizon-att-sprint-and-t-mobile-compa-1
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story...-fastest-115-mbps-according-report/2014-02-20
Also T-Mobile has lowest latency speeds among the Big 4 carriers when it comes to 3G and 4G data.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/speci...w-did-verizon-att-sprint-and-t-mobile-compa-1
These reports make me smile. First off my speed on verizon lte at home is 55 down. Secondly t-mobiles lte footprint is smaller than the the two biggest. Thirdly who cares about some national metric? Not me. What I care about is the speed at the square inch of land I'm on and I have coverage on that same square inch.
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Well that's all great for you. Likewise I don't care about Verizon's big red LTE maps bragging about LTE in Nebraska when their coverage is crap in my house. My speed on Verizon at home is a blazing fast 2mbps down.
The purpose of the reports are to give potential users an idea of what average data speeds might be like from carriers in various areas around the country where they might live or travel to. The results showing that TMO is posting the highest LTE speeds on average. As always YMMV, nothing is absolute.
Exactly my point, bully for tmobile. I think if your coverage needs meshes with their coverage footprint great.
But I could care less about latency, on cell phones it's meaningless. I care about coverage as I'm all over the country.
And to me an average speed is a ridiculous metric. I fault every carrier who promulgates it. However I need to understand a websites advertising traffic has to be sold.
T-Mobile is Fantastic!
T-Mobile works great in my area too. It's only when I leave the city do I have any trouble. San Antonio, Texas.
T-Mobile works great in my area too. It's only when I leave the city do I have any trouble. San Antonio, Texas.
Had an inquiry for T-Mobile users. Have you guys/gals noticed any slow downs on the network for those that are unlimited? I've been thinking of switching because I'm getting over AT&T throttling me when I use 5GB on my unlimited plan. I haven't had T-Mobile since I was 15 on prepaid, but never had an issue then, but of course 3G was just coming out and 4G/LTE weren't even a thought yet lol. From what I understand they have a fair use clause and reserve the option to slow down your speeds if you're using the network for things they deem shouldn't be used for data on their network.
I usually watch Netflix a good portion on Sundays for about 5-6 hours, do some web browsing and Facebook. Most data I've used was 13GB on AT&T a few months back, and they didn't see to care about throttling up until the jailbreak came out So far I've been throttled each month since the jailbreak has been out lol. The speeds I'm seeing are very impressive, and have seen they are faster than AT&T in my area.
I usually watch Netflix a good portion on Sundays for about 5-6 hours, do some web browsing and Facebook. Most data I've used was 13GB on AT&T a few months back, and they didn't see to care about throttling up until the jailbreak came out So far I've been throttled each month since the jailbreak has been out lol. The speeds I'm seeing are very impressive, and have seen they are faster than AT&T in my area.
I don't use Netflix but I do sometimes stream ESPN with the WatchESPN app some days during the week when away from home. Never noticed any slowdown. Most I've used in a month so far is 12GB.
Thanks, I may do the trade in of a blackberry I was provided from a friend to get the $200 trade in value. May try out the service first to see how it is. From what I saw at work, my supervisor was getting 30+ down and 20 up. Much faster than what AT&T offered.
I have used 80Gb and have not been throttled I even called customer service to see if this is ok. CS gave me the green light. I also have a Dropcam pro monitoring my home that must eat a lot of data.
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Welcome to the club. Their "Nationwide 4G" is the biggest lie in the industry.
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On the topic of latency, it is pretty interesting to compare the raw data between the carriers.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/speci...w-did-verizon-att-sprint-and-t-mobile-compa-1
There is virtually no difference between AT&T's, TMo's, and VZW's latency on LTE. Where T-Mobile beats the competition is sub-4G technology latency (HSPA/UMTS/etc).
And even then, it's not a big deal when you realize that they run, by far, the smallest 3G network in the US. AT&T/VZW's LTE networks are far more expansive than T-Mobile's 3G network. You have a better chance of being on AT&T/VZW LTE than T-Mobile's 3G network.
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