T-Mobile Launches 600MHz 5G Network Across United States

[MacRumors]

T-Mobile today announced that its 600MHz 5G network has gone live across the United States, bringing 5G connectivity to those who have a compatible smartphone.

According to T-Mobile, its 5G network covers more than 200 million people and more than 1 million square miles, though connectivity is limited to the OnePlus 7T 5G McLaren and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, both of which are launching on the T-Mobile network this Friday.

There are currently no iPhones that are compatible with T-Mobile's 5G network, with Apple planning to release its first iPhones that support 5G connectivity in 2020.

T-Mobile's 5G network is a 600MHz network, which gives it greater range than the mmWave 5G networks other carriers like AT&T and Verizon are focusing on, but less speed. T-Mobile's 5G is faster than 4G, but it won't reach some of the blazing fast speeds that are possible with mmWave technology.

When 5G is mentioned, most people are talking about millimeter wave spectrum, which offers blazing fast data transfer speeds, but it is sensitive to interference from buildings, trees, and other obstacles and it is best suited to use in dense, urban locations.

5G in rural and suburban areas will be on mid and low-bands, which is also known as sub-6GHz 5G, simply because of the restrictions of the mmWave technology. From T-Mobile CEO John Legere:

"5G is here on a nationwide scale. This is a HUGE step towards 5G for All. While Dumb and Dumber focus on 5G for the (wealthy) Few, launching in just a handful of cities -- and forcing customers into their most expensive plans to get 5G -- we're committed to building broad, deep nationwide 5G that people and businesses can access at no extra cost with the New T-Mobile ... and today is just the start of that journey."

T-Mobile says that its 5G network goes "far beyond the limitations" of 5G networks from other carriers, bringing 5G to more people in more places, with coverage available in a map on the T-Mobile website. According to T-Mobile, after its merger with Sprint is completed, the new larger company will be able to further expand its 5G network.

Article Link: T-Mobile Launches 600MHz 5G Network Across United States

 

[cocky jeremy]

I wish their map showed state borders. I would assume Columbus has 5G though.

 

[BeefCake 15]

Is this really 5G or "5G"?

 

[Tivoli_]

The coverage map means nothing. Even now and during the busy daytime T-mobil still throttles the speed of the LTE. Mine hits only about 0.5mps, but during the wee hours of the morning it goes up to 15-17mps.

 

[crawfish963]

The coverage map means nothing. Even now and during the busy daytime T-mobil still throttles the speed of the LTE. Mine hits only about 0.5mps, but during the wee hours of the morning it goes up to 15-17mps.

This is, of course, anecdotal. I get 30-45 down during peak hours and 80-120 during non-peak. It’s all about where you live, your home’s physical characteristics, distance from tower, etc.

 

[smithrh]

It's real 5G. There's nothing wrong/illegal/immoral about having 5G on a lower band.

It's an interesting combination, to be sure. 600 MHz is a low frequency for cell coverage, which (in general) means it will travel farther.

But it's also somewhat meaningless, without knowing the actual buildout specs - bandwidth used, backhaul available, etc and so on and so forth.

 

[JPack]

When 5G is mentioned, most people are talking about millimeter wave spectrum, which offers blazing fast data transfer speeds, but it is sensitive to interference from buildings, trees, and other obstacles and it is best suited to use in dense, urban locations.

Disagree.

For most of the world, Sub-6GHz forms the backbone of 5G. In the U.S., the FCC has been unwilling to give up more sub-6 frequencies, as a result, U.S. carriers are forced to use mmWave.

 

[Jetfire]

I wish their map showed state borders. I would assume Columbus has 5G though.

If you mean Columbus, OH, then nope. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and others though. Download the coverage Doc.

 

[JimmyHook]

mm Wave tech will be good for connecting peripherals to devices or hubs, but TERRIBLE for tower communication. They need to abandon that idiotic idea, it’ll never work consistently. 600 is a better idea

 

[alexandr]

that's great news. i wish the quality of their coverage was good though. i'm in nyc and it is behind vz and att when it comes to coverage...

 

[adamjackson]

It’s all about where you live, your home’s physical characteristics, distance from tower, etc.

Indeed. I live just 2 hours from Boston in a populated area and our 3G / 4G map looks identical from all of the carriers:

I just want to be able to stream music. I use Verizon as its the best in our area but not great.

Here's Verizon's 2G network:

 

[Xenden]

I’d take a more flushed out LTE network. I’m live on the outer edge of Albuquerque and have to use WiFi calling. Drive 5-10 min south and you get 5 bars.

 

[m1Garand]

I wish their map showed state borders. I would assume Columbus has 5G though.

You should be able to zoom in using the coverage map on this page https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/5g-coverage-map

 

[JimmyHook]

side note, there’s no point to buying a 5G phone now anyway. The specs will likely change and compatibility will be a huge issue. Switching to another carrier’s 5G etc will be a pain or impossible. It’ll be better to wait until 5G is standardized before buying one

 

[imlynxy]

Apple is not ready for 5G :-(

 

[Xenden]

The coverage map means nothing. Even now and during the busy daytime T-mobil still throttles the speed of the LTE. Mine hits only about 0.5mps, but during the wee hours of the morning it goes up to 15-17mps.

If you have their cheap plans (is 4 iPhone 11s plus unlimited data for $120), then your data gets throttled before those paying more.

 

[imlynxy]

I’d take a more flushed out LTE network. I’m live on the outer edge of Albuquerque and have to use WiFi calling. Drive 5-10 min south and you get 5 bars.

May be because the signal is “Breaking Bad”

 

[mabhatter]

It's real 5G. There's nothing wrong/illegal/immoral about having 5G on a lower band.

It's an interesting combination, to be sure. 600 MHz is a low frequency for cell coverage, which (in general) means it will travel farther.

But it's also somewhat meaningless, without knowing the actual buildout specs - bandwidth used, backhaul available, etc and so on and so forth.

but in general 600MHz will me MUCH better for rural users. That’s the real benefit. These are the old UFH TV bands... that used to get 30-40+ miles of TV coverage. if rural users can get a consistent 20Mbs stream, they’ll be beating DSL which is the only barely serviceable option.

if the companies are smart, they’ll “dual purpose” towers. Place the new towers near main travel paths and use the faster frequencies there... use the new frequencies to pump data to the countryside because they’ll easily double (or more) the area served by each tower.

My parents live in one of those “black holes” where they’re near the highway, but too far from the towers for good cell coverage and too far from town for DSL or Cable. And AT&T wants POTS to die, so they wouldn’t fix their lines to even get 56k dialup.

 

[JPack]

side note, there’s no point to buying a 5G phone now anyway. The specs will likely change and compatibility will be a huge issue. Switching to another carrier’s 5G etc will be a pain or impossible. It’ll be better to wait until 5G is standardized before buying one

Huh? The 5G standard was adopted in 2017.

 

[JimmyHook]

Huh? The 5G standard was adopted in 2017.

Lol, good one. How long did “standardized 4G” take to actually become standardized? Talk to me when the carriers agree and actually implement

 

[iapplelove]

Personally, I’m going to wait for 6g

 

[JPack]

Lol, good one. How long did “standardized 4G” take to actually become standardized? Talk to me when the carriers agree and actually implement

5G is already an agreed upon standard, since 2017.

Carriers buy 5G equipment from Huawei, Nokia, and Ericsson. That equipment was developed using those agreed upon standards.

Things may be slower in the U.S., but other countries in the world have already deployed 5G equipment and services. China for example, has more than 10 million 5G subscribers.

 

[pedzsan]

All the comments here hit me as rather a downer. 600Mhz, sub 6Ghz, mmWave (24-100Ghx)... Sounds like a compatibility nightmare.

 

[imlynxy]

Huh? The 5G standard was adopted in 2017.

We simply live in era of “double standards”.

probably they change it again and again.

 

[realeric]

600MHz can’t be 5G. True 5G works on 28GHz frequency.