I think this thread will be updated tomorrow, as CEO John Legere may announce big network plans for tomorrow, another with other industry-shaking moves.
Nope. Just new spectrum that you'll need a new phone for.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
T-Mobile LTE Sightings & Locations **Post Here**
- Thread starter PsstGreek
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Nope. Just new spectrum that you'll need a new phone for.
The 700mhz that they purchased from Verizon isn't compatible with any current phones so anyone who wants to take advantage of it later this year will have to buy a new phone.
Sorry I ment to quote "yeah" who claimed john legere will be making announcement today about LTE plans.
Edit: never mind turns out that post was from January 7th.
Lexington, MA
Waltham, MA
Everett, MA
Revere, MA
Arlington, MA
all have strong LTE signal (at least the areas i frequent in these cities daily)
Waltham, MA
Everett, MA
Revere, MA
Arlington, MA
all have strong LTE signal (at least the areas i frequent in these cities daily)
Lancaster CA and Palmdale CA, now have LTE. But Quartz Hill CA is hit and miss. We need just one Tower built in Quartz Hill and the whole valley will have full LTE coverage!
So the million dollar question is what will T-Mobile do now that they've covered most of their existing HSPA+ footprint with LTE? Will they upgrade some of the EDGE areas or will they just sit on their hands until the 600mhz auctions next year?
I'm guessing T-Mobile will start upgrading EDGE to HSPA+/LTE and on top of that, deploy their new 700 MHz LTE (we may need new phones
) and buy up more spectrum. This is their biggest complaint from their customers and T-Mobile is growing, they need to expand.T-Mobile's CTO Neville Ray did say that T-Mobile will perform expansions at an interview after the Un-Carrier 4.0 announcement, but he said that T-Mobile is looking to build more towers (which is good because in my house, I only get EDGE and outside, I only get one bar of LTE and I live in Philadelphia).
But on the other hand, upgrading thousands of towers to LTE will take billions of dollars, plus the fiber-backhaul needed and workers to complete this. Plus, building a cell site costs $40,000 to $250,000, which is a lot.
But as always, T-Mobile will eventually become #1 and their LTE network will be kicking butt, but let us also hope that Sprint/SoftBank do not buy T-Mobile, otherwise we would be screwed.
If T-Mobile becomes #1, how will their network be so fast? The only reason why their network is so fast now is because they have half as many customers as VZW/AT&T.
VZW has a reputation for having one of the best network management teams in the business. If they can't keep up with 100+ million customers, how will T-Mobile keep up with the rapid influx of customers?
They've already proven to us that they can't keep up with the increasing demand. If they did, they wouldn't have so many areas with EDGE in 2014. (And spare me the lack of spectrum excuse) They have more than enough AWS/PCS.
Your experience at home already proves that their LTE deployment has been half-assed at best. You should be getting a usable LTE signal in your house, but instead get a strong EDGE signal because they probably didn't bother adding LTE hardware to your nearest tower. We're in 2014. You should be seeing zero EDGE in a major city, like Phily. I've had the same experience in other major cities, such as DC, Baltimore, Boston, and Hartford.
Last edited:
It's not really "half-assed" because the tower closest to me does have LTE, just that the signals don't get through here that well (it could be that the walls are too thick, not just the network, but I don't know for sure). Also, I have LTE everywhere I go inside of Philadelphia, save for one HSPA+ spot and inside thick buildings. Also, T-Mobile has very, VERY good network management teams out there, especially the commander, CTO Neville Ray (they rolled out LTE to 273 metro markets in less than a year).
T-Mobile is going to eventually upgrade EDGE to HSPA+/LTE in the coming months, and they are rolling out more 2x10 and 2x20 sites this year, effectively making capacity even bigger, and T-Mobile is a carrier that knows how to efficiently use spectrum. Just look at how low their ping times are, even lower then AT&T/Verizon ping times even when right next to a tower.
I'm sorry to burst your bubble AutoUnion, but T-Mobile is growing at a VERY fast pace, and so is their network. It's either T-Mobile succeeds and wins, or they force competition into this market and still win.
Side note: Yes, one could argue that T-Mobile has fewer customers, but look at the other side, T-Mobile customers do have the option to purchase unlimited data (something that AT&T/Verizon don't have
) and that makes data usage go up, A LOT.Latency also has a direct relationship with the amount of users on said tower. VZW has proved that they go up once you start adding more people. People were seeing 50-60ms on a wide-open 2x10 B13 network. Now those are creeping up towards 100 due to the amount of traffic.
The latest latency tests on their wide-open B4 network are sub-50ms. You really except them to stay the same once everyone starts to jump on their AWS layer?
I have over a year of speed test data on my Ookla app from all over the Northeast. On my main AT&T line, the highest ping I've seen in a year was 76 ms. I'd love to see T-Mobile's blazing fast EDGE network match that around here.
Anyone with some sort of common sense knows that this sort of growth is not sustainable over a long-term. Having one solid year after multiple years of bleeding customers doesn't show a damn thing.
I'd love to see where exactly their network is "growing" in terms of coverage. Please show me. The numbers don't lie. They have, by far, the smallest 3G network in the business. AT&T and VZW have deployed a larger LTE network than TMo's HSPA network in 2 years. It's taken TMO almost 5 years to deploy their HSPA, FYI (and it's still not done.)
Clearly VZW/AT&T customers don't seem to care, nearly as much, about unlimited data plans. They both posted solid Q4 numbers and added a decent amount of subscribers. If unlimited data was really a big deal, Sprint and T-Mobile would have the largest customer bases in the industry.Side note: Yes, one could argue that T-Mobile has fewer customers, but look at the other side, T-Mobile customers do have the option to purchase unlimited data (something that AT&T/Verizon don't have
Better/reliable coverage and better overall speeds are much more important than having unlimited data on a network that is predominately dial-up EDGE.
Last edited:
T-Mobile's parent company wants to get rid of T-Mobile so it is going away one way or another. I can't see them putting much more money in to their infrastructure if they believe they are being sold.
All I can say is that their are HSPA+/LTE sites popping up in random EDGE areas, as shown on T-Mobile's coverage map (which by the way, is outdated).
Also, gaining 4.4 million customers in one year is AMAZING for the 4th largest carrier in the USA. Common sense says that John Legere is kicking butt.
I honestly feel sad that you have such hatred towards a company. If you don't like them, switch. No one is holding you back. You don't need to blabber on how T-Mobile's network is mostly EDGE, where T-Mobile covers most of the USA (major cities) with HSPA+/LTE. T-Mobile is going to upgrade EDGE to HSPA+/LTE, use low-frequency for their future network and will be successful.
Oh and one more thing: this is a T-Mobile LTE sightings thread, not a "I'm going to spew how AT&T/Verizon are the best and how 50+ million T-Mobile users hate their service because I can't get service on my street in Boston."
I switched to T-Mobile's $30 plan 3 months ago and I have to say it is an amazing plan for people like me that barely use voice minutes. 5GB of LTE data is generous. I live in Boston and can get a great LTE signal almost everywhere in Boston, Cambridge, Revere, Brookline, etc. When LTE is not there it drops to a quite capable HSPA+ "4G" signal. My one and only complaint, and it is a big one but I deal with it, is the fact that it slows to unusably slow EDGE in the MBTA tunnels. I get jealous of all those ATT/VZW folks with their usable internets deep in the bowels of this beautiful city.
Luckily for me I live on the slowest line ever (Green B Line) and my underground portion is for about 15 min (45 total) so I deal with it. Only because it is significantly less expensive than ATT/VZW. Once that $30 plan goes away and if T-Mo hasn't upgraded to at least HSPA then I'll jump ship back to ATT. I hope T-Mo is aware that they can just as easily lose all those customers they've gained.
Luckily for me I live on the slowest line ever (Green B Line) and my underground portion is for about 15 min (45 total) so I deal with it. Only because it is significantly less expensive than ATT/VZW. Once that $30 plan goes away and if T-Mo hasn't upgraded to at least HSPA then I'll jump ship back to ATT. I hope T-Mo is aware that they can just as easily lose all those customers they've gained.
Maybe I missed something here, but where did they state they plan on upgrading ALL the EDGE towers? All the towers in my area have been upgraded to LTE, the signal just doesn't go very far, resulting in EDGE. What they need to do is stop running it at full blast. The EDGE signal seems to overpower HSPA+ and LTE, which is unacceptable.
Adding the 700mhz spectrum will help them significantly in areas where they have licenses to run it. What about all the areas that won't get it, like mine? They seem to be only adding 700mhz in select metropolitan areas (where there are licenses for it). What are their plans to better service in the areas without it?
T-Mobile is crap in the Chicago suburbs where I live. The 700mhz would greatly benefit us out here, except they have no plans to implement it. AWS only goes so far and then cuts out about half the distance 700mhz would travel. But if they can upgrade all their EDGE towers, that would be great. I just do not remember them saying they would. And like I said, many have already been upgraded, its just the AWS frequencies do not go that far.
The $30 plan is awesome. I have only gone over my minutes once which isn't that bad. I've been on the plan since October of last year. Coverage is awesome in my area and I can't complain. They must be upgrading the towers in my area because I'm starting to get LTE at my house now. It's not strong maybe one to two bars at times and quickly goes back to full 4G.
Fastest speeds I've gotten yet on T-Mobile. Just a few minutes down the street outside of my neighborhood.
Attachments
Bingo. It has never been said explicitly. yeah is just regurgitating the marketing junk TMo spews. Ray and Legere have always danced around this topic when they're asked.
Similar to Sprint. "We'll improve...just don't ask us when, but feel free to continue your defensive posts about how awesome our mediocre company really is!"
Last edited:
AutoUnion39...why are you in a T-Mobile thread? Your hate for them is well know.....are you just trolling here to stir things up?
Some people actually like T-Mobile and want to post their like for T-Mobile in a T-Mobile thread without your hatred coming out for a company you hate so much.....
Wow really? I'm about 15 minutes away from there. My speed test came from East Lake/Tarpon.
Very nice. Are you in a 20+20 area for LTE? You should be very thankful that T-Mobile can really deliver in your area. Many of us hate being on AT&T, but have no choice. ):
And AT&T/Verizon never spewed marketing junk.
You know that T-Mobile will eventually cover all of their EDGE with LTE, as T-Mobile can't keep a 20-year old technology in their network portfolio. And especially with their growing customer base and profit/capital, it is the ripe time for T-Mobile to expand.