Jump to content

Sprint or T-Mobile: which is better for a BlackBerry fan?


BlackBerryRulez

Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

(To moderators) Please move this thread if you think it fits better in another category. Thanks.

 

So I noticed Sprint recently deployed B25 at the tower near(ish) my house (located in Northern Virginia). I'm picking up B25 intermittently on the top level and outside. Even without B25, I am satisfied with the quality of service in my area.

 

The one thing I wish Sprint could do is stay more up to date with the new BlackBerry phones. I like my Q10 but am bummed they never released the Z10 or Z30. There has been a tweet or two from Mr. Claure hinting there may be a new Sprint-BlackBerry release coming. This could be referring to the Classic or upcoming Leap, but it's anyone's guess at this point. Sprint has been pretty cautious in recent years about releasing BlackBerry phones. I'm not sure if that is going to continue now and into the future.

 

T-Mobile is in talks with BlackBerry about selling their phones again. Even without this, there is the ability to bring an unlocked phone to TMO because they are a GSM carrier.

 

So, I bought a used Z10 off of eBay last night. I'm going to purchase a prepaid plan and try the service for a month. But, I'm expecting TMO's service to be satisfactory as well.. I have a tablet that can connect to TMO's network and the service is pretty good overall.

 

What should I do? In your opinion, is there advantage to one carrier or the other?

 

I'm going to also post this on CrackBerry. Perhaps this post would be somewhat more relevant there.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Without doubt, T-Mobile. The fact that you can easily run unlocked phones makes it a no brainer.

 

And that's what I like about them. There would be a wider variety of choices. But part of me likes Sprint as a company. It's kind of like they're the underdog and I want them to win. The same could be said of T-Mobile, though.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The correct answer is neither Sprint nor T-Mobile.  Or, better yet, bury the BlackBerry in the ground and hope it grows.

 

With a BlackBerry on either Sprint or T-Mobile, you are going to have a less than optimal experience -- because no BlackBerry to my knowledge supports Sprint's band 26/41 LTE network nor T-Mobile's band 12 LTE network.

 

AJ

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The correct answer is neither Sprint nor T-Mobile.  Or, better yet, bury the BlackBerry in the ground and hope it grows.

 

With a BlackBerry on either Sprint or T-Mobile, you are going to have a less than optimal experience -- because no BlackBerry to my knowledge supports Sprint's band 26/41 LTE network nor T-Mobile's band 12 LTE network.

 

AJ

AGREED!! Topic done!! lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I immediately thought of that M&M commercial......

 

 

 

Seriously though, I understand why some folk hold on to Blackberry. I also wish Black berry would get their act together and decide on a future course of action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The correct answer is neither Sprint nor T-Mobile.  Or, better yet, bury the BlackBerry in the ground and hope it grows.

 

With a BlackBerry on either Sprint or T-Mobile, you are going to have a less than optimal experience -- because no BlackBerry to my knowledge supports Sprint's band 26/41 LTE network nor T-Mobile's band 12 LTE network.

 

AJ

Ha, nice pun. Anyways, it's not a deal breaker for me if BlackBerry doesn't pick up those bands on their older models. The service I get is good enough for most of my purposes. I expect the new ones that Sprint and T-Mobile release will pick those new bands up. It's just a question of when those new models will be released.

 

Seriously though, I understand why some folk hold on to Blackberry. I also wish Black berry would get their act together and decide on a future course of action.

 

I think BlackBerry has decided on their course of action- pursuing the enterprise market. Since John Chen became CEO in late 2013, that's what he has been doing. They released a new version of BES, added additional enterprise features to BBM, and struck some new deals with Ford and Samsung. BlackBerry is still available to consumers, it's just not trying to go toe to toe with iOS, Android, and Windows like it did when BlackBerry 10 OS was first released.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ha, nice pun. Anyways, it's not a deal breaker for me if BlackBerry doesn't pick up those bands on their older models. The service I get is good enough for most of my purposes. I expect the new ones that Sprint and T-Mobile release will pick those new bands up. It's just a question of when those new models will be released.

 

 

I think BlackBerry has decided on their course of action- pursuing the enterprise market. Since John Chen became CEO in late 2013, that's what he has been doing. They released a new version of BES, added additional enterprise features to BBM, and struck some new deals with Ford and Samsung. BlackBerry is still available to consumers, it's just not trying to go toe to toe with iOS, Android, and Windows like it did when BlackBerry 10 OS was first released.

You are absolutely right. However, Apple and Google are still on the fence about becoming significant competitors in that space or cooperating with Blackberry/QNX.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What should I do? In your opinion, is there advantage to one carrier or the other?

While it is true (as A.J. pointed out earlier in the thread) that BlackBerry phones currently do not support band 26 or band 12, they will support band 12 eventually, because Rogers, Telus, and Bell all have spectrum in the Lower 700MHz A block (though they've just started deploying in the band). This is why the unlocked BlackBerry Passport has both bands 13 and 17, and why the Canadian Samsung Galaxy S6 has bands 12 and 13. Telus is also starting to use band 25 LTE in former Public Mobile CDMA areas (backed up with HSPA+ on 850MHz and PCS A-F), which is why the unlocked BlackBerry Classic has the band.

 

While the unlocked BlackBerry Leap doesn't have band 12, a future BlackBerry device will. And if T-Mobile gets a deal in place with BlackBerry again, we may see it even sooner.

 

And of course, all of these devices currently work fine on T-Mobile's PCS+AWS HSPA+/LTE network. So I'd go with T-Mobile because of the availability of compatible devices.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are absolutely right. However, Apple and Google are still on the fence about becoming significant competitors in that space or cooperating with Blackberry/QNX.

 

Yeah, I remember reading on CrackBerry a while ago that Samsung turned to BlackBerry for help with their enterprise KNOX program. Not sure what Apple is doing; I don't really follow them much.

 

While it is true (as A.J. pointed out earlier in the thread) that BlackBerry phones currently do not support band 26 or band 12, they will support band 12 eventually, because Rogers, Telus, and Bell all have spectrum in the Lower 700MHz A block (though they've just started deploying in the band). This is why the unlocked BlackBerry Passport has both bands 13 and 17, and why the Canadian Samsung Galaxy S6 has bands 12 and 13. Telus is also starting to use band 25 LTE in former Public Mobile CDMA areas (backed up with HSPA+ on 850MHz and PCS A-F), which is why the unlocked BlackBerry Classic has the band.

 

While the unlocked BlackBerry Leap doesn't have band 12, a future BlackBerry device will. And if T-Mobile gets a deal in place with BlackBerry again, we may see it even sooner.

 

And of course, all of these devices currently work fine on T-Mobile's PCS+AWS HSPA+/LTE network. So I'd go with T-Mobile because of the availability of compatible devices.

 

Thanks for your input. I think that's what I'm going to do. Is there a forum comparable to S4GRU that any of you all are aware of?

 

I'm also curious to see what happens with this 600mhz auction. I'm hoping that the FCC lets Sprint and Tmo get a good piece of that spectrum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I remember reading on CrackBerry a while ago that Samsung turned to BlackBerry for help with their enterprise KNOX program. Not sure what Apple is doing; I don't really follow them much.

 

 

Thanks for your input. I think that's what I'm going to do. Is there a forum comparable to S4GRU that any of you all are aware of?

 

I'm also curious to see what happens with this 600mhz auction. I'm hoping that the FCC lets Sprint and Tmo get a good piece of that spectrum.

Well, you're just in luck. T4GRU is now a thing. It's new, but it aims to be an environment for wireless enthusiasts interested in T-Mobile can come together.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You guys are awesome. So can I use my s4gru account or do I have to create a new one?

 

You'll need to make a new one, although you could probably use the same screenname if you wanted.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You'll need to make a new one, although you could probably use the same screenname if you wanted.

 

That's what I ended up doing. I tried logging in using my S4GRU password and it didn't work. So I just created the same screenname again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • Just installed the update, and it's good!  As you recommended, I turned off both TA adjustments, and turned on displaying it when it's zero.  The value is basically spot-on.  It's bouncing between 18 and 19 for the Cameron Valley site, and it is in fact between 0.87 and 0.92 miles, as displayed in the app.  This is probably a better estimate of the TA values than any other device I own provides. As far as the -44 goes, I'll have to take it out and verify that it no longer records those cases. If this device didn't have that annoying reset problem, and got the Android 14 update (and in so doing supported TA on NR and continued to allow band locking), it would easily be the best device I own.  Easily.  And would be the device I standardize on for the 5G era.  I'll probably have to wait for a future device to come out with Android 14 and then see what happens. And I know I didn't have to, but I love SCP.  It is my primary tool for tracking the goings-on of the various networks and is very easy to use and work with across my 10 phones.  I am very happy to send a token of my appreciation your way now and then.  Thanks again! - Trip
    • Sorry, I misread your message -- yes, the app would show 0 if an invalid value was being reported. I don't think I had any MediaTek devices myself, but the beta testers have had a decent variety of devices over the years.   Sorry, I didn't word that very well in my last post -- I added an option to control display of LTE TA when it is 0. By default it will now be hidden (sadly a lot of devices do not show it) but anyone who wants to display it can adjust accordingly. There will be 3 user-selectable options related to LTE TA now -- the existing correction option, correction on LTE-TDD (which is independent/in addition to the existing correction option), and TA:0 display. In your case, I'd disable the TDD option and enable the TA:0 option; the defaults will be the opposite of what I think you need.   You did not have to do that, but I sincerely appreciate it, thank you! Beta update is rolling out now, let me know how it goes.
    • In order: This is very helpful to know.  Thanks. That makes a lot of sense, though it's showing me zero rather than nothing; it looks like if it's calculating a negative number, I'm seeing zero instead.  It makes me wonder how many devices you've tested against which use the MediaTek chipset.  This is only the second one I've used, and the first one was very, very old (didn't have B41), so it's possible that the MediaTek chip doesn't need the correction while others do.  Separately, I doubt that a real world case will ever see 1282, so I imagine any value above 1281 could be ignored. I would ask you to please not hide TA values of 0, or if you hide them by default, add an option to not hide them.  I am aware that, for example, the S22 doesn't report a valid TA value and always reports zero, but zero is a legitimate value and is useful to know when trying to identify sites. I'll look forward to your impending update, and I'm going to send along another donation if I can find the link.  Thanks so much, as always!  - Trip
    • I received the reports, thanks! You didn't catch it happening (it captures the diagnostics as soon as you hit send or long-click the connection banner on the main screen), and I had sent you an e-mail to clarify which value was -3.. but your screenshots confirmed my hunch that you meant RSRQ!   I know exactly what is happening here. Somewhere along the way, I learned that TD-LTE bands (33-53) needed a TA correction of -19 applied, and I confirmed it on several devices. Perhaps that is no longer universally true.. but what you're seeing SCP display matches that correction. Below 19 you see nothing, at 19 you see 0, and above that you see TA-19. The upper limit is 1282, which is why you see 1263. Your phone must report 1282 when the TA is unknown, which is not technically safe but I can work around that. Funny enough, I had a change to TA coming in the next update that had nothing to do with your issues.. TA:0 will be hidden moving forward, since several devices report 0 when it cannot be identified. I'll have an app update out shortly that addresses all of this, let me know how it works for you and thanks for the detailed feedback!
    • Mike, We ended up going out this morning to do errands in spite of the tropical storm.  I locked the phone on LTE B41, turned off the TA correction checkbox, and watched it carefully while out and about.  I have four screenshots for you. https://imgur.com/a/kCPTCnB First, I happened to get a screenshot of it doing the -44 dBm thing.  I also tried to send you at least one set of diagnostics showing the -44 dBm but I don't know where precisely in the process it collects the diagnostics.  Hopefully there's something useful in them. The rest of the screenshots are far more interesting.  All three were taken within seconds of each other in the CVS parking lot.  The phone's diagnostic screen shows a TA of 17, and oddly, the SCP diagnostics screenshot also appears to show a TA of 17.  But SCP's normal display is showing 0.  Not entirely sure what to make of that.  It looks like SCP won't show me a value other than 0 until I hit about 19 according to the phone diagnostic screen. It also appears that when SCP is showing a TA of 1263, that's the equivalent of a null value for the TA--no TA is calculated.  The phone diagnostic screen appears to show just "12" when that's happening; the SCP diagnostic screen shows 1282 in the TA section when that happens, a difference of 19, which is highly convenient given what I noted above about the TA value.  (I can't test that the phone diagnostic screen is limited to two characters and is thus truncating 1282 to just "12" as I suspect given where I am right now.  Had I known to be looking for it, I'd have tested in the middle of nowhere yesterday.) Anything catch your eye?  Anything I can do to help more?  - Trip
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...