Carrier T-Mobile redid their coverage map

[XTheLancerX]

Before viewing their map, you are now prompted for the device you are using. If you select a device with Band 12 which in other words supports their "Extended Range LTE", you are given their map which includes Extended Range LTE (700 MHz). If you select a device that does not have Band 12, it shows the regular map without "Extended Range LTE".

I think this is great because it won't mislead people about their coverage. For example if someone has an iPhone 6 which lacks band 12, the coverage will be much worse than what was previously presented on the map. The map still probably isn't even any good no matter what but it's good to see they are making efforts to not mislead people.

They also moved away from the map showing 2G, 3G, 4G, and LTE. It simply says "4G LTE - Excellent Signal", "4G LTE - Good Signal", "4G LTE - Fair Signal", and "Talk, Text & Non-LTE Data". All in varying shades of magenta, with a stripe pattern on non-LTE. I think the Excellent/Good/Fair LTE is good but I can't agree with the "Non-LTE" label, that would include 2G, 3G, and 4G. 4G is a hell of a lot better than 2G, it's good to know what you may (or may not be) getting.

EDIT: Once you tap on the "Non-LTE" areas, it clarifies if it is 2G, 3G, etc. They also redid the notes that go along with the LTE areas, clarifying what Fair, Good, or Excellent means in terms of indoor and outdoor coverage, big buildings, etc.

 

[Retired Cat]

I just tried out the new map and it's interesting to see areas go from not covered or roaming to covered on Band 12.

Coverage still kind of mediocre overall, but T-Mobile is definitely making progress. We all need more competition to keep the heat on AT&T and Verizon.

 

[willmtaylor]

"Fair outside reception" at my address with "occasional reception indoors" and absolutely ZERO reception 5 minutes outside of town. Sounds about the same to me.

Haha. Ok. No switching for me any time soon. While it's good for others, I'll be sticking with my carrier which gives me 30 down and 10 up even in local rural areas.

I do appreciate them putting VZW & ATT's feet to the fire though. Competition is ultimately good for me, the consumer.

 

[XTheLancerX]

"Fair outside reception" at my address with "occasional reception indoors" and no reception 5 minutes outside of town. Sounds about the same to me.

Haha. Ok. No switching for me any time soon.

I do appreciate them putting VZW & ATT's feet to the fire though. Competition is ultimately good for the consumer.

Yeah I can't switch to them either, Western New York = DON'T USE T-MOBILE. They actually did make some great expansions this month with T-Mobile, but that's Band 12-only apparently and I have an iPhone 6, so.. No. Even with Band 12 I wouldn't be able to walk to the end of my street and still have LTE but very nearby areas have LTE, whereas without Band 12 it's still nothin'.

By the time my contract is up with my iPhone 6 which is like October of next year, T-Mobile may be a viable option. That's because it looks like they're beginning to expand along the i86 which more or less will solve WNY's coverage issues, goes right through the middle of a huge area with no LTE. I may not even upgrade until the iPhone 7S or 8 series though, so I'm almost willing to bet T-Mobile will be as good as or better than Verizon by then, Verizon is the only carrier around here that you can get by on.

Even with Verizon, seeing anything higher than -100dbm of LTE around here is rare; service is pretty meh. Speeds are usually 15-20mbps down and maybe 5 up. Nothing special. But that's probably because everything out here is on Band 13 which is pretty much T-Mobile's Band 12. ~700mhz, very far coverage, but slower speeds. There's one random tiny area that I get like -80dbm and 50mbps down and 30mbps up but again, it's a tiny area and very strange that it's there.

I really felt like getting a T-Mobile prepaid sim to try things out at one point because I simply hate Verizon as a company so much, but I don't even want to try because even based on their inaccurate maps, it couldn't work. Also, their pre-paid plans lack most of the features that are luring me over, and I've heard the domestic roaming is even worse than with their post paid service, which I've heard is still bad. Doesn't Walmart have like a $30 T-Mobile pre paid plan that has 100 minutes of talk, unlimited texting, and 5GB of high speed data?? If I were to "dip my toes in the water", that is what I would get.

 

[Eileen89]

Their update in PA isn't accurate since I can't use T-Mobiles service in a lot of areas in the NE Philly Suburbs. Like most carrier maps, it over estimates.

 

[Eileen89]

Yeah I can't switch to them either, Western New York = DON'T USE T-MOBILE. They actually did make some great expansions this month with T-Mobile, but that's Band 12-only apparently and I have an iPhone 6, so.. No. Even with Band 12 I wouldn't be able to walk to the end of my street and still have LTE but very nearby areas have LTE, whereas without Band 12 it's still nothin'.

By the time my contract is up with my iPhone 6 which is like October of next year, T-Mobile may be a viable option. That's because it looks like they're beginning to expand along the i86 which more or less will solve WNY's coverage issues, goes right through the middle of a huge area with no LTE. I may not even upgrade until the iPhone 7S or 8 series though, so I'm almost willing to bet T-Mobile will be as good as or better than Verizon by then, Verizon is the only carrier around here that you can get by on.

Even with Verizon, seeing anything higher than -100dbm of LTE around here is rare; service is pretty meh. Speeds are usually 15-20mbps down and maybe 5 up. Nothing special. But that's probably because everything out here is on Band 13 which is pretty much T-Mobile's Band 12. ~700mhz, very far coverage, but slower speeds. There's one random tiny area that I get like -80dbm and 50mbps down and 30mbps up but again, it's a tiny area and very strange that it's there.

I really felt like getting a T-Mobile prepaid sim to try things out at one point because I simply hate Verizon as a company so much, but I don't even want to try because even based on their inaccurate maps, it couldn't work. Also, their pre-paid plans lack most of the features that are luring me over, and I've heard the domestic roaming is even worse than with their post paid service, which I've heard is still bad. Doesn't Walmart have like a $30 T-Mobile pre paid plan that has 100 minutes of talk, unlimited texting, and 5GB of high speed data?? If I were to "dip my toes in the water", that is what I would get.

Yes, Walmart does carry the $30 T-Mobile prepaid plan.

 

[emilioestevez]

T-Mobile sucks. As Trump said, their coverage is donkey doo doo and they have LOTS of work to do.

 

[ABC5S]

Verizon or AT&T for me. Others are useless for now

 

[geoff5093]

It's a huge joke, they have an entire neighboring town covered in LTE according to their maps, but fair when zoomed in with band 12. Of course when you are anywhere in town you get zero signal at all.

Zoomed out:


Zoomed in:


If you are in a "fair" area with only band 12 coverage, you shouldn't count on getting usable LTE. Moving ever so slightly will just cause you to lose coverage.

 

[0000757]

T-Mobile sucks. As Trump said, their coverage is donkey doo doo and they have LOTS of work to do.

Well, YMMV, but so far everywhere I've gone with T-Mobile I've had faster data than any other carrier, and several places where my 2 bars of 4G is faster than Sprint or Verizon's full bar LTE.

I've only found one dead spot, where it also kills everyone else but Verizon (who gets stuck 3G).

 

[avanpelt]

Like most things in life, we get what we pay for. Even in areas with band 12 support, their coverage map still has plenty of areas where it says things like, "coverage outdoors, coverage in most homes and some buildings".

I'm sorry, it's 2015. I'm not going outside or standing by a window in order to use my cell phone. Oh, you'll send me an LTE microcell for free because your coverage still sucks even though you keep running commercials saying it's gotten so much better? That's cute.

T-Mobile still has a long way to go. And honestly, I think Legere is running out of ideas for Uncarrier because Uncarrier X was kind of a snoozer. Unlimited streaming of 480p video...thanks, I guess?

Wake me up when T-Mobile actually has coverage that's on par with or better than AT&T and Verizon. Maybe that'll happen by Uncarrier XX. That's really the only thing I want from T-Mobile. All the other stuff is worthless to me without coverage that rivals the big two.

 

[Retired Cat]

Wake me up when T-Mobile actually has coverage that's on par with or better than AT&T and Verizon. Maybe that'll happen by Uncarrier XX. That's really the only thing I want from T-Mobile. All the other stuff is worthless to me without coverage that rivals the big two.

It will probably be years or even a decade before T-Mobile has a chance of accomplishing that. Being left out of low-frequency spectrum early on means they were at a huge coverage disadvantage, and their 700 MHz licenses still aren't enough to get coverage everywhere the big carriers are covered. T-Mobile will need to win 600 MHz and start deploying in order to keep rolling.

Until then, T-Mobile will stay primarily an urban or dense suburban carrier. In places where they can blanket the area with 1700/2100 MHz AWS towers, coverage and speeds are excellent. Rural areas with sparse 1900 MHz towers, coverage gets narrow.

 

[lordofthereef]

T-Mobile still has a long way to go. And honestly, I think Legere is running out of ideas for Uncarrier because Uncarrier X was kind of a snoozer. Unlimited streaming of 480p video...thanks, I guess?

It's really not a terrible feed. I think it's 480p at minimum because I could hardly tell the difference. To each his own. I'd rather save $30 a month per line for a slight (in my opinion) quality downgrade in a video stream but be allowed to consume as much as I want. I'm more upset that they snuck in a 20gb data cap in our rollover pool if we are utilizing the unlimited video streaming.

This isn't in defense of T-Mobile. They have a long way to go. I used to back att with the same statements everyone else does; "coverage is everywhere". But I realized I travel very little, and if wherever I go has completely unstable service I can always buy a go phone sim and be set and be way ahead at the end of the year in what I paid. Realistically I could also use my work line but I don't give that number out and I generally don't take my work line in vacations because, well, it's a work line.

T-Mobile isn't for everybody. But in willing to bet a large number of folks are holding onto a more expensive carrier in the off chance that if they go to rural Alabama (example) they'll have cell and data service. That just doesn't make sense to me anymore, though I did the same for many years.