T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion

[WiWavelength]

I have a question. Does LTE coverage shrink vs HSPA+ like it it does for Sprint vis a vis 1x/EVDO?

 

It shrinks???

 

 

AJ

[Boosted20V]

It shrinks???

 

 

 

AJ

 

This episode JUST ended on TBS.

[Conan Kudo]

I used those hypothetical stats for illustrative purposes.  The actual percentages are not important.

 

But there is good reason why T-Mobile advertises its coverage POPs, not its coverage area.  T-Mobile is still -- by good measure -- the weakling among the big four.

 

AJ

Everyone advertises in POPs. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. No one, aside from Verizon, advertises on geographical coverage.

[WiWavelength]

Everyone advertises in POPs. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. No one, aside from Verizon, advertises on geographical coverage.

 

On that last count, why not?  Why is the "uncarrier" unwilling to advertise its advanced network coverage map against those of any of the other big three?

 

 

AJ

[joshnys8913]

Just like Ts map is they are hiding there 2G EDGE sites, they only give you the street coverage for 3G, 4G, and 4GLTE.  They show the 2G is dark purple but they wont show you zoom in other then you have 2G.  There green maps used to be much better. 

[joshnys8913]

On that last count, why not?  Why is the "uncarrier" unwilling to advertise its advanced network coverage map against those of any of the other big three?

 

 

AJ

I agree!!

[Trip]

Just like Ts map is they are hiding there 2G EDGE sites, they only give you the street coverage for 3G, 4G, and 4GLTE.  They show the 2G is dark purple but they wont show you zoom in other then you have 2G.  There green maps used to be much better. 

 

This map, or a previous official map?  http://maps.eng.t-mobile.com/

 

- Trip

[joshnys8913]

This map, or a previous official map?  http://maps.eng.t-mobile.com/

 

- Trip

I am talking about there pink map on there main site, that link you shared with me those are MUCH better!! (I call it there old green and yellow maps lol)

[Fraydog]

Progress still looks shitty here in the Midwest...maybe they're doing a lot more in the rest of the U.S. I haven't seen it here.

[maxsilver]

Progress still looks shitty here in the Midwest...maybe they're doing a lot more in the rest of the U.S. I haven't seen it here.

 

Yeah, rural Midwest towns/villages appear to be mostly untouched around here too so far. But freeways between cities, or 2G in/near metro suburbs/exurbs -- I've seen a lot of work done to fix that.

 

http://i.imgur.com/kElb20z.png is the changes in Grand Rapids metro. It's not where I wish they would be, but they are much closer.

[Paynefanbro]

They're upgrading Metro towers. That's a smart route.

[maxsilver]

They're upgrading Metro towers. That's a smart route.

 

Yeah, the coverage T-Mobile didn't have before (Muskegon, Grand Haven, etc) are Metro upgrades.

 

The urban / overlapping stuff on that map is almost all T-Mobile original sites. They upgraded their own towers to LTE, and are in the process of shutting down most-to-all of the Metro sites in those areas.

[Destroyallcubes]

They're upgrading Metro towers. That's a smart route.

The only reason East texas even has Tmobile LTE is due to Metropcs conversion. MetroLTE had LTE here first, spotty at that but thats the same 4-5 sites they use for 100k+ population.

[Conan Kudo]

Progress still looks shitty here in the Midwest...maybe they're doing a lot more in the rest of the U.S. I haven't seen it here.

From my view here in the Southeast, T-Mobile seems to be quite aggressive. Not sure why they are less so in the Midwest, but there's a huge amount of network upgrades going on in Mississippi, Alabama, and the Floridian panhandle. Of course, none of it shows up on the map yet...

[bigzeto]

From my view here in the Southeast, T-Mobile seems to be quite aggressive. Not sure why they are less so in the Midwest, but there's a huge amount of network upgrades going on in Mississippi, Alabama, and the Floridian panhandle. Of course, none of it shows up on the map yet...

They've been busy in Louisiana as well.

[reedacus25]

They've been busy in Louisiana as well.

Which parts have you seen?

 

After getting I-10 from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and I-49 from Lafayette to New Orleans, as well as my pushing to get the Causeway modernized from GPRS, I haven't seen anything besides a couple sites towards Opelousas make progress.

 

I believe I-12 Baton Rouge to Hammond has been modernized to LTE, but you still have gaps on I-12 between Hammond and Covington, Covington and Slidell.

 

Have seen no PCS deployment in Louisiana yet. Have seen plenty of PCS LTE in Mississippi however.

[JeffDTD]

Have seen plenty of PCS LTE in Mississippi however.

Where? What locations not indicated on the coverage map?

 

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

[reedacus25]

Where? What locations not indicated on the coverage map?

 

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

5 MHz Band 2 LTE along I-59 near Picayune, Poplarville, Purvis, just north of Hattiesburg (adjacent to a band 4 site), Laurel, Sandersville, Heidleburg, and Vossburg.

 

On US-45 north of Meridian, Lauderdale, Shuqualak, Macon, and Brooksville are all 5 MHz Band 2 LTE as well.

 

According to Sensorly and RootMetrics it looks like some places like Collins, Mendenhall, Moss Point and Gautier as well.

 

Also worth noting that they deployed some Band 4/UMTS markets in MS within the last 9 months in West Point, Columbus, Oxford, and Vicksburg as well.

[Conan Kudo]

 

Where? What locations not indicated on the coverage map?

 

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

 

 

5 MHz Band 2 LTE along I-59 near Picayune, Poplarville, Purvis, just north of Hattiesburg (adjacent to a band 4 site), Laurel, Sandersville, Heidleburg, and Vossburg.

On US-45 north of Meridian, Lauderdale, Shuqualak, Macon, and Brooksville are all 5 MHz Band 2 LTE as well.

 

According to Sensorly and RootMetrics it looks like some places like Collins, Mendenhall, Moss Point and Gautier as well.

 

Also worth noting that they deployed some Band 4/UMTS markets in MS within the last 9 months in West Point, Columbus, Oxford, and Vicksburg as well.

Also, 5MHz FDD Band 2 LTE is active along Clinton-Raymond Road.  Spots of 10MHz FDD Band 4 LTE and WCDMA carriers (two AWS, one PCS) are live within Clinton proper, and it smooths out to ubiquity in Jackson.

[milan03]

New York City market is also 15MHz "Wideband" LTE as of yesterday. But they've done it quite creatively.

 

As a refresher, they hold C+D+E+F block AWS spectrum licenses in NYC. It used to be:

- C Block = MetroPCS CDMA

- D + E Block = 10MHz FDD LTE

- F Block = HSPA+42

 

As of yesterday it's:

- C Block = a lone CDMA carrier at the very bottom

- the rest of C + D + E + F guard band = 15MHz FDD LTE (EARFCN: 2236)

- F Block = HSPA+42

 

This is what a few quick 10MHz sweeps show:

 

C + D block:

 

 

 

LTE in E block biting into F, as the bottom guard band has been removed: 

 

[Paynefanbro]

Wait, you can deploy in the guard band?

[maxsilver]

Wait, you can deploy in the guard band?

 

They own the guard band, and they own both sides of what it's "guarding". 

 

Seems reasonable enough.

[Paynefanbro]

They own the guard band, and they own both sides of what it's "guarding". 

 

Seems reasonable enough.

True. That makes sense.

[WiWavelength]

Wait, you can deploy in the guard band?

 

1.25 MHz FDD + 13.5 MHz FDD = 14.75 MHz FDD

 

AJ

[Paynefanbro]

Sprint is now ahead of T-Mobile in Little Rock, AR; Louisville, KY; and Mobile, AL according to RootMetrics reports. Sprint is proving that a network is much more than how fast is is.