4G? How about 3G!

pappy53

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One thing that I don't understand about T-Mobile. I live in a well populated area in eastern NC. T-Mobile service here is not 4G, and as a matter of fact, it isn't even 3G! Yet they have 4G posters all over the store. I asked the employees there when they were going to get 4G, and their response is "we're still looking for 3G". I just don't understand.
 

Mellimel22

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That's T-Mobile for u. Honestly if u are looking for truly unlimited lte I'll switch to sprint these speeds are my norm now and if u go to s4gru.com u can track lte development in NC which I hear is underway as I type.

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Jon_Doh

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Welcome to the club! At least the sales reps didn't show you fake maps of 4G coverage in your area like they did to me. I travel all over NC and other states and only find 4G in large metro areas. Even then it doesn't cover the entire city footprint. Then the coverage always drops off to 2G. Although my phone has the 3G bands I've never picked up T-Mobile 3G anywhere except in Europe.
 

Mellimel22

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Welcome to the club! At least the sales reps didn't show you fake maps of 4G coverage in your area like they did to me. I travel all over NC and other states and only find 4G in large metro areas. Even then it doesn't cover the entire city footprint. Then the coverage always drops off to 2G. Although my phone has the 3G bands I've never picked up T-Mobile 3G anywhere except in Europe.

That last line is nothing but a damn shame lol.

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gone down south

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Welcome to the club! At least the sales reps didn't show you fake maps of 4G coverage in your area like they did to me. I travel all over NC and other states and only find 4G in large metro areas. Even then it doesn't cover the entire city footprint. Then the coverage always drops off to 2G. Although my phone has the 3G bands I've never picked up T-Mobile 3G anywhere except in Europe.


That's more a problem of naming conventions than anything. What Tmobile calls 4g here is considered 3g in Europe. 2g (ie Edge) is the level below HSPA/HSPA+, you're not missing a level in between there.


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moosc

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I asked T-Mobile what year it was they said 2013 I asked if it'd 2013 then why Is 90% of your service in edge mode. That is so 90s and AOL dork speeds. All they replied was we are working on it. I tether my N4 to my vzw nexus. Can't believe they have so slow of a network


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SERO wireless

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Last to get 3G
Last to get the iPhone
Last to get LTE
The network built for for Luddites*!

* "Luddite" is a term describing those opposed to industrialisation, automation, computerisation or new technologies in general.
 

zorak950

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T-Mobile is a budget carrier. Its footprint is smaller and its network upgrades happen slower. If you need the coverage area and/or higher speeds, you'll have to look elsewhere. If you don't, T-Mobile is usually a better deal. That's the way it's been for years, and it's the way it will continue to be for years more.
 

lilotimz

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Sprints Network Vision project.

Basically rebuilding sprints entire network with new gear from Samsung / Ericsson / Alcatel-Lucent. Get LTE on 1900mhz / 800mhz (iDen shutdown & refarm) / 2500mhz TDD-LTE (clearwire). All rural / urban / whatever sites will get upgraded. It's going steadily so far but they're behind thanks to the lack of trained contractors thanks to all 4 major carriers + regionals doing tower work at the same time.

From what I understand, T-mobiles LTE program is part of the refarming to 1900mhz with the new Nokia Siemens & Ericsson panels. Fairly simple though and they should get their urban sites ready faster than sprint thanks to the presence of ethernet / fiber backhaul thanks to their DC-HSPA+ / HSPA network and don't need to wait for backhaul contractors. If my knowledge is correct, no rural sites or sites without 3g/4g HSPA will be upgraded which is a shame but it is what it is.
 

Mellimel22

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Sprints Network Vision project.

Basically rebuilding sprints entire network with new gear from Samsung / Ericsson / Alcatel-Lucent. Get LTE on 1900mhz / 800mhz (iDen shutdown & refarm) / 2500mhz TDD-LTE (clearwire). All rural / urban / whatever sites will get upgraded. It's going steadily so far but they're behind thanks to the lack of trained contractors thanks to all 4 major carriers + regionals doing tower work at the same time.

From what I understand, T-mobiles LTE program is part of the refarming to 1900mhz with the new Nokia Siemens & Ericsson panels. Fairly simple though and they should get their urban sites ready faster than sprint thanks to the presence of ethernet / fiber backhaul thanks to their DC-HSPA+ / HSPA network and don't need to wait for backhaul contractors. If my knowledge is correct, no rural sites or sites without 3g/4g HSPA will be upgraded which is a shame but it is what it is.

Yeah all 2g will stay that way unlike nv which will help urban and rural customers

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zorak950

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Is it cool with everyone if I automatically hate people who insert the word "bro" in their sentences from now on?
 

Dreamliner330

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I left T-Mobile When they were Voicestream. Very poor coverage in suburban/rural areas.

I was happy with Sprint for a long time. I had good WIMAX 4G coverage. Then they started pushing LTE phones without LTE service... Almost 2 years after the EVO LTE launched, still no LTE in Minneapolis, Minnesota!

I moved to Verizon after Sprint dropped my discounts and had no LTE coverage.

Moral of the story? Follow coverage.

Is it cool with everyone if I automatically hate people who insert the word "bro" in their sentences from now on?
No problem, brah.
 

Jon_Doh

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That's more a problem of naming conventions than anything. What Tmobile calls 4g here is considered 3g in Europe. 2g (ie Edge) is the level below HSPA/HSPA+, you're not missing a level in between there.

HSPA + is recognized as 4G by the International Cellular Standards Committee because it is fourth generation technology. And phones can tell the difference. 3G in Europe is not the same as 4G here, at least where I've been. I've been on 3G there and tested the network and it was no faster than 3G is here on average. With T-Mobile 4G, I get 18 mps download regular. My nephew was visiting this weekend and he has Verizon LTE and he was only getting 15 mps with a full signal.

I don't know any 3G that can pull down the kind of speeds I get with HSPA 4G. My findings compare favorably to tests PC Magazine did last year where they concluded T-Mobile's HSPA 4G was about as fast as Verizon's LTE in every part of the country. So yes, according to the data speeds and the folks who name the bands HSPA 4G is a form of 4G technology.

I love HSPA 4G; my complaint is that T-Mobile just doesn't have enough of it and when you leave a 4G area you fall back on EDGE, where the fastest speeds I've gotten were 245 KPS down. Normally, I get less than 50 where I live.
 

Mellimel22

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HSPA + is recognized as 4G by the International Cellular Standards Committee because it is fourth generation technology. And phones can tell the difference. 3G in Europe is not the same as 4G here, at least where I've been. I've been on 3G there and tested the network and it was no faster than 3G is here on average. With T-Mobile 4G, I get 18 mps download regular. My nephew was visiting this weekend and he has Verizon LTE and he was only getting 15 mps with a full signal.

I don't know any 3G that can pull down the kind of speeds I get with HSPA 4G. My findings compare favorably to tests PC Magazine did last year where they concluded T-Mobile's HSPA 4G was about as fast as Verizon's LTE in every part of the country. So yes, according to the data speeds and the folks who name the bands HSPA 4G is a form of 4G technology.

I love HSPA 4G; my complaint is that T-Mobile just doesn't have enough of it and when you leave a 4G area you fall back on EDGE, where the fastest speeds I've gotten were 245 KPS down. Normally, I get less than 50 where I live.

Well in Chicago if by a slim chance u don't got lte we have 800 voice coverage and updated 3g so yo speeds will be around 1-2 mb

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ZachA

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You are in the same boat as me T-Mobile has only edge in my area. So I'm struck with Verizon.

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