T-Mobile Named 'Best' U.S. Mobile Network in 2022 Carrier Showdown

[Return Zero]

Interesting. I've tried all three before and definitely preferred Verizon's combo of coverage and speed. I think at the time, AT&T had better coverage and worse speed, while TMo had better speed and worse coverage, so Verizon was the happy medium for me.

Recently I've been on FirstNet (because I work in healthcare critical infrastructure). It's run by AT&T and has dedicated bands/hardware, as well as data priority on the main network. No throttling or caps, tethering included. Best part is it's about $50 per month after tax, which is unbeatable for an unlimited non-MVNO carrier. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating, but it certainly is useful for work. I try not to abuse the privilege of having it.

 

[farkleboy]

TMo coverage maps are a map of lies. I had TMO for years, and while they show that every inch of my state was covered, if I ventured too far off a main highway, signal would be gone. Or worse, it would show signal but fail connections constantly. Now I'm on Verizon and while there are dead spots, they are few and far between. Verizon seems to latch onto whatever signal it can get and at least it works, maybe a bit slower. TMO would be either 3 bars of LTE or nothing. TMO's customer service was top notch though. Always had issues resolved right away. Well, once I figured out that the best way to get a hold of them was through Twitter, of which i never use anyway. I'd rather have better coverage than higher speeds myself.

 

[svish]

Good to see T-Mobile improving its services.

 

[ZachChad27]

Bahaha! I have T-Mobile! These Guys must not have visited Central Florida! Calls drop, and sound more static like than connecting to Dial-up! Another commenter did mention the hacks they’ve experienced, and I also had my Info all compromised. :/

 

[calliex]

I live in Pgh. Pa. and in the metropolitan area my Tmobile friends say the service in fine. The problem is when they go outside the area. One big positive about having a mobile phone is being connected to the outside world even in the rural areas. If I stayed with in city limits I would switch to t-Mobile. Their deals on home internet and 55 and over cell service is tremendous.

 

[cocky jeremy]

I've pulled 500 Mpbs with T-Mobile, so I buy it.

 

[Max Powers]

No complaints here in the Chicagoland area.

 

[kingtj1971]

T-Mobile has definitely improved, but I can still drive through my region (south central U.S.) and have multiple completely dead spots. That simply doesn't happen on Verizon or even AT&T, who almost always hold on to the lowest level of service (rather than none at all), even off the beaten path.

Yes, T-Mobile is likely faster in general, but I still prefer to have the most comprehensive coverage. I try them once every couple of years and keep coming to the same conclusion (as recently as 4 months ago with a 5G phone). I'm glad they're improving for competition's sake, though.

Yep. I'd say this is accurate, but in my case? I'd much prefer to have "faster coverage in many areas + good service in most places" than paying 2x as much to get "minimal levels of service almost everywhere, and comparable service in major cities".

As always, these things depend on individual needs. When I used to live in the DC Metro area, I remember my T-Mobile service became non-existent when I traveled over to Harpers Ferry, WV and that surrounding area. I would never use them if I was a WV resident in that general area. But on the flip-side? T-Mobile did fine throughout the greater DC metro area and even out in rural Western Maryland. It does fine for me now that I've moved back to the St. Louis, MO area, too. No loss of coverage if I'm on the Illinois side of the river either.

 

[ackmondual]

What a contest it should be more about best service, coverage and service package deals. Not network speed tests, that have a lot to be desired.

If we're going there, I hear T-Mobile still provides free year of Paramount Plus (plan w-ads), and Netflix (if you're on the Magenta or Magenta Max plans), whereas AT&T users won't get HBO Max (w-ads) anymore

 

[Killbynumbers]

To me, T-Mobile is better than AT&T. I had tried AT&T for the first iPhone and to this day, I still van't get AT&T service at my house. I also get unusable data speeds at my job and so I have to use my T-Mobile phone at these places.

I have learned that there is no perfect carrier. Each one has holes where the service is poor. It's the same with Verizon. Verizon was also one that could not get me service at my house and I am in Denver.

 

[lazyrighteye]

I find these speed tests and coverage maps pretty meaningless. Zoomed out to (say) show a country, it looks like the entire contry is covered. Zooming in, you begin to see tons of holes and pockets. Thus, it's much more about how the service performs (or not) in the areas you traverse. Ex: AT&T maps and CS reps, indicate I should have screaming 5G coverage at my house. In reality, I do not - to the point that I can not send/receive calls nor data. Thankfully, my 1G fiber ensures my iPhone 13 Pro is usable at home (where I spend most of my time). Even then, in Denver, CO, my 5G coverage has been noticeably underwhelming. This device is the first time I have enabled 5G. It's not been fun. My 12 Pro's cellular performance was much better.

 

[TravelsInBlue]

These titles and tests are always pretty worthless as there are so many variables that go into who has the best coverage in a particular location and scenario.



As always, mileage varies, and even within a city the “best” carrier can change depending on where you most spend your time.

 

[HorstBockman]

For an idea of how good T-Mobile service is at locations where you spend significant time, you can use their website to inquire whether Unlimited 5G Home Internet service is available at specific addresses. If it's said to be available at a location, I'm pretty sure it's their 5G Ultra Capacity service (T-Mobile's top tier) that's available, which is associated with highest speed. If Unlimited 5G Home Internet isn't available, then a location may have only "standard" 5G, LTE or no service--check on their overall coverage map.

 

[Amorie]

I switched to T-Mobile soon after John Legere took over and changed everything. They were offering unlimited everything for $50 a phone and they were paying early termination fees. Switched two phones over. Soon after, and if you had more than one phone, they offered to an additional line for free.

So if I pay off phones then I get 3 phone lines for something like $110 after taxes. Pretty sweet deal. I think the only thing that isn't completely unlimited is if I use over 7GB of 5G tethering in a month then it goes to 4G speeds. So much better than before. No surprises on my phone bill at the end of the month.

They've also made a bunch of great moves to infrastructure. So I'm really happy with them and won't leave unless another company offered some insane benefits for cheaper which it doesn't look like anyone can beat that now. At least not with the service you get.

 

[jlc1978]

If you’re considering switching to T-mobile, activate lines yourself online for free and avoid their stores. Clerks at a local T-Mobile store said it was the same price online as in the store and charged me $35 each, as well as telling me I needed a SIM card for my Apple Watch. All baloney. And when confronted about the fraud, the manager said a refund couldn’t be given. (Credit card dispute filed, but what a pain.) Also note you’ll be limited to arbitration over any disputes—unable to sue—if you don’t opt out of their terms within 30 days.

Call their customer service. I've had them give me a $35 credit; since they can't refund the charge.

 

[Harthag]

Call their customer service. I've had them give me a $35 credit; since they can't refund the charge.

I unfortunately went into a corporate store to activate service for 2 lines and ended up only needing one. The store couldn't refund the $35 for the 2nd line and CS wouldn't work with me either. Not worth the aggravation to call into CS again. Lesson learned: always avoid humans whenever another option exists. Things get done better and quicker.

They all cap the cellular speed if they detect that you are streaming videos from known services like YouTube or Netflix. You can get around this limitation by using VPN service like NordVPN.

Not true. My plan allows 4K streaming with no throttle, I had to toggle the option on in my account. Tested it by using the fast.net speed tests before and after toggling the option.

 

[LogicalApex]

I did try it out, back in September. It was virtually unusable, at home and work. Props to them for making it easy to do so, though. As far as build out goes since then, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, a coworker hasn‘t seen any improvement. Nobody at work asks for the Wi-Fi password unless they are on T-Mobile or AT&T. I think it just comes down to T-Mobile knows where they can best compete and unfortunately it’s not where I live and work. Maybe that will change.

Individual coverage will definitely vary heavily. A major factor is spectrum. T-Mobile may not yet own or have the rights or the clearance to light up your area. You’d be surprised how challenging it can be.

That said, you go with who does work and have covers for you. I wish all carriers did an easy test drive setup like T-Mobile though so you could easily check in periodically to see how it changes for you.

I live in the NE where T-Mobile has been able to best use their spectrum and aren’t challenged by school districts and other users holding them up. So for me I usually have better coverage than AT&T and Verizon. But the NE isn’t everywhere…

 

[SactoGuy18]

I've seen 850 mbps download speeds on my iPhone 12 on T-Mobile US' network. Good enough for me!

 

[Yrmmont]

I live on the Central Coast of California. Spectrum is the leader here. Tried AT&T and had miserable experience. Also, can’t beat their pricing model!

 

[Ram65]

T-mobile will soon be #1 by 2024 😎

 

[technole]

T-Mobile has been the best for awhile now, Sprint merger basically was folding up their network and taking all those extra bands to improve the TM network.

 

[jntdroid]

Yep. I'd say this is accurate, but in my case? I'd much prefer to have "faster coverage in many areas + good service in most places" than paying 2x as much to get "minimal levels of service almost everywhere, and comparable service in major cities".

As always, these things depend on individual needs. When I used to live in the DC Metro area, I remember my T-Mobile service became non-existent when I traveled over to Harpers Ferry, WV and that surrounding area. I would never use them if I was a WV resident in that general area. But on the flip-side? T-Mobile did fine throughout the greater DC metro area and even out in rural Western Maryland. It does fine for me now that I've moved back to the St. Louis, MO area, too. No loss of coverage if I'm on the Illinois side of the river either.

Fair point (about individual needs), and speeds definitely differ per region. But you should check pricing if you haven't recently. I pay $8 more per month for my 5 lines on Verizon than I would on T-Mobile for similar levels of service (and that's not factoring in any perks).

Plus, I don't really have "minimal levels of service almost everywhere, and comparable service in major cities". I have solid to great service almost everywhere, and minimal levels of service in the black holes in between "almost everywhere." Those black holes are where T-Mobile usually drops out completely, while I can at least still make a call or get an SMS sent on Verizon. Those black holes aren't always rural, either.

We're really getting twisted up in some semantics here lol

 

[Mousse]

These titles and tests are always pretty worthless as there are so many variables that go into who has the best coverage in a particular location and scenario.

As with any pissing contest, some contestants will always benefit from wind assistance. I take stuff like this with a unhealthy dose of salt.

Since I spend 99.44% of my time in a major metropolitian area, T-Mo having the fastest 5G is great.😉 But I've got an old phone (no 5G), T-Mo having the fastest 5G speed means nothing to me.😑

 

[_Spinn_]

T-Mobile has never had the best coverage where I live.

 

[ackmondual]

T-Mobile has never had the best coverage where I live.

For me, I stuck with T-Mo partly due to laziness. However, they were kind in waiving certain txt fees, and when I went over my minutes (this was a decade ago when I was buying a house, and really wracked up call time minutes!). Another is you got more minutes for less monthly bill. It was a shame to not have coverage in some areas, but I always figured if we're trapped in an elevator and T-Mo couldn't get through, odds are, we'd have a Verizon user with us