Map lies. Fair means no signal

[tonyr6]

Okay t-mobile works great in NYC even in the Holland tunnel and NJ is excellent. Pennsylvania sucks. It is good until you turn into Canadens then it goes to no signal AT&T roaming then no signal yet the map shows fair signal. Aunt and uncle there don't believe in the Internet not one byte of data comes through.

Now I at my cousin near Pittsburgh in Avonmore, PA going there it can go from perfect LTE to nothing also LTE can be slower than dialup at times yet again map says fair but no signal. He has Internet so I am forced to use wifi calling. Yet his phone wife's and kids work okay on AT&T.

Had enough as long as I stay in NYC or NJ it is fine. Too bad the price is great but outside NYC and NJ it sucks.

 

[Almeuit]

I have always said this and this applies here as well -- Do not trust any carriers map. Use trusted 3rd party data for actual facts. I have never found carrier maps to be accurate.

 

[tonyr6]

Thank goodness that my cousin has Internet and t-mobile supports WiFi calling on the 6p.

Also forgot band 12 is a joke too. I have a real time app most of the time it was band 4 with brief band 12 support. Also every map that said fair said you need a band 12 device to get service.

 

[tonyr6]

Update wifi calling drains the battery to much turned it off have it set to airplane mode with wifi. It anyone calls me just leave a message.

 

[theelite1x87]

Same experience here. In some suburbs or rural areas between suburbs it covered with band 12 labeled "fair". My experience is that you will get a fair signal. But only outdoors and hold the phone up high (not kidding). And good luck holding a phone call. Go inside a building? Nothing. Hell, in those areas I even lose signal if I get into my car. In most areas, fair realistically means barely working.

 

[srkmagnus]

Keep in mind that the carrier maps are meant to sell you a service. So like any (most) forms of marketing, they are going to paint the better picture as to how their network performs in your area. That's why you need to keep an eye on the fine print, which in T-Mobiles case, is located in the bottom right corner of their map under "map and service info". It notes that "map approximates anticipated coverage outdoors based on a variety of factors, which may included limited or no coverage areas, and does not guarantee service availability. Within coverage areas, network changes, traffic volume, outages, technical limitations, signal strength, your equipment, obstructions, weather and other conditions may interfere with service quality and availability."

Please be sure to use third-party data to double check network conditions, as suggested by Almeuit.

 

[anon(5719825)]

I have always said this and this applies here as well -- Do not trust any carriers map. Use trusted 3rd party data for actual facts. I have never found carrier maps to be accurate.

I never checked T-Mobiles coverage map myself. I used to have AT&T and their coverage map clearly showed a small area a block north of me that had no coverage. It was accurate but it should have extended another block south to include my block. I could never get 3G or LTE service here and Verizon was the same way. It was always like a dead area.

I only tried T-Mobile about four years ago when they first announced that they would be officially supporting the iPhone beginning with the 3GS. I was finally able to get 3G back then and then LTE a bit later and from then on, it's only gotten better. I would never think of leaving T-Mobile now.

There still is a small area west of me that has no coverage but I've noticed it's gotten a lot smaller over this last year.

I still can't depend on it for Google Maps or other over the air type GPS apps during congested times but it beats AT&T and Verizon for me.

 

[tonyr6]

I am back home in Brooklyn with strong LTE so sorry for the update. I was without any web access for two days at the aunt and uncles house.

I am asking if a cell phone outdoor booster would help in those areas the house not on the road. I was shocked at my cousins house where he lives in Avonmore, PA where I got worse service then in Greentown. The only saving grace was he has Wifi at his home so when it comes to Wifi calling (tip turn on airplane mode then wifi then wifi calling otherwise your phone will drain battery like a pig) I was still able to call, text and stream music.

In PA after we turn from Greentown into the side-roads which suck badly almost everywhere it goes from strong LTE to stupid R (Roaming) AT&T. Also using LTE Discovery the entire time I would see that the nearest transmitter is Band 4. Actually I rarely seen any Band 12 so what is the point then if most of the towers are Band 4 which travels less.

Also otherwise I would hate to drop T-Mobile as I streamed a lot of music and only used about 270 MB of data but total was 2.7GB.

 

[tonyr6]

Same experience here. In some suburbs or rural areas between suburbs it covered with band 12 labeled "fair". My experience is that you will get a fair signal. But only outdoors and hold the phone up high (not kidding). And good luck holding a phone call. Go inside a building? Nothing. Hell, in those areas I even lose signal if I get into my car. In most areas, fair realistically means barely working.

At my aunt and uncles house all I got was R (Roaming) though AT&T which I was only able to make phone calls up the road. At my cousins house at Avonmore, PA where the map also said Fair signal with a Band 12 device I got nothing no signal not even emergency calls would work but he has home internet with Comcast so I was able to use my phone.

 

[theelite1x87]

Tmobile is relying on band 12 to do too much. Its great for extending coverage. But it can only go so far. They need to add additional towers. For all LTE bands. But I imagine that's more costly than just adding 700mhz to existing towers. Until they actually ADD TOWERS to fill in gaps, they will always fall short on coverage. At the rate they are adding customers, they really should do this if they want to make sure everyone stays on board.

 

[Almeuit]

Tmobile is relying on band 12 to do too much. Its great for extending coverage. But it can only go so far. They need to add additional towers. For all LTE bands. But I imagine that's more costly than just adding 700mhz to existing towers. Until they actually ADD TOWERS to fill in gaps, they will always fall short on coverage. At the rate they are adding customers, they really should do this if they want to make sure everyone stays on board.

I agree to an extent -- Individuals still need to reply on 3rd parties. Not only for T-Mobile for all carriers. So many say "Signal here" but yet I don't see it (even on Verizon).

 

[tonyr6]

Band 12 is horrible. I want it off my phone. Downtown Brooklyn I use to be able to stream music now I can barely load a web page many times timing out. If this keeps up I am switching over to AT&T.

 

[Almeuit]

Band 12 is horrible. I want it off my phone. Downtown Brooklyn I use to be able to stream music now I can barely load a web page many times timing out. If this keeps up I am switching over to AT&T.

That sucks. band 12 between me and Orlando works and allows music streaming.

 

[tonyr6]

That sucks. band 12 between me and Orlando works and allows music streaming.

The weird thing is that after shutting off my phone for a while only indoors did the connection work again until going outside and it stupidly connected to Band 12.

BTW how is AT&T 700 MHz Network. If it just as bad then I am even more peeved that they took away useful TV spectrum for dial up speeds under any congestion.

 

[Almeuit]

The weird thing is that after shutting off my phone for a while only indoors did the connection work again until going outside and it stupidly connected to Band 12.

BTW how is AT&T 700 MHz Network. If it just as bad then I am even more peeved that they took away useful TV spectrum for dial up speeds under any congestion.

IMO Swap if it doesn't work. I wouldn't stay w/ T-Mobile if it didn't work for me.

 

[anon(631531)]

What are the names of these third party apps that show coverage areas? T-Mobile has always been bad in my area around Venice, Fl. I would go with them if their coverage was better. Is there a signal booster that would work for T-Mobile? Thanks.

 

[Almeuit]

What are the names of these third party apps that show coverage areas? T-Mobile has always been bad in my area around Venice, Fl. I would go with them if their coverage was better. Is there a signal booster that would work for T-Mobile? Thanks.

Check out root metrics.

 

[anon(631531)]

Well, assuming that "root metrics" is correct, T-Mobile truly sucks for service in my area. However, MetroPCS, which works off of the T-Mobile system, has good service instead of poor. That, i don't understand. I don't put too much stock into "towers", as there is an AT&T tower less than 1/4 of a mile away, but Verizon & MetroPCS have much better signals than AT&T.

 

[anon(631531)]

I need to switch from Verizon, to a GSM carrier.(I checked out MetroPCS, and i don't like their service deals). If i go with T-Mobile, my signal would be bad, but i recently installed Xfinity wifi which is super fast. A phone with wifi calling should help out and stop most "dropped calls". Outside of my neighborhood, T-Mobile is much better than AT&T (at least in the areas where i go). I could use some feedback from T-Mobile users who live within my general area( Sarasota, Fl.) Thanks for any help.

 

[tonyr6]

Don't rely on Wifi calling. First it is useless if your internet goes down and second it drains your phone battery real bad. When I went to my cousin who has Xfinity but I was not able to get any signal I used Wifi calling but it really drained the phone battery. Over 10-15% overnight not even touching it. Looking at the cell signal when using Wifi calling it showed a fake cell signal with 3 to 4 bars but when you went into the battery meter I would see the cell signal a solid red. Only putting my Nexus 6P first on airplane mode then connect to his Wifi network and then turn on Wifi calling my battery was fine. If I turned on Wifi calling without airplane mode I was forced to reboot as it caused a massive wakelock which still drained my phone battery even when I turned off Wifi calling after.