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

BlackBerryRulez

By BlackBerryRulez
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BlackBerryRulez Member Level: 1xRTT

BlackBerryRulez

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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

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BlackBerryRulez Member Level: 1xRTT

BlackBerryRulez

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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.

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WiWavelength Member Level: LTE Advanced

WiWavelength

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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

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joshnys8913 Member Level: eHRPD

joshnys8913

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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

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centermedic Member Level: 4G WiMax

centermedic

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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.

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BlackBerryRulez Member Level: 1xRTT

BlackBerryRulez

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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.

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centermedic Member Level: 4G WiMax

centermedic

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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.

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Conan Kudo Member Level: eHRPD

Conan Kudo

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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.

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BlackBerryRulez Member Level: 1xRTT

BlackBerryRulez

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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.

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Conan Kudo Member Level: eHRPD

Conan Kudo

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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.

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maxsilver Member Level: 3G EVDO

maxsilver

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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.

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BlackBerryRulez Member Level: 1xRTT

BlackBerryRulez

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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.

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