T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion V2

[Arysyn]

Hasn't every real merger/purchase in history started with a denial from one of the parties?  Not sure if that proves anything.  It may not happen.  I'm not saying it will.  But a denial from someone as untrustworthy as Comcast just doesn't mean much to me.  And even Reuters is saying it's from a source who would know, and he doesn't know about it.  Therefore it's not possible.  Whatever that means.

That is very true. Hopefully there will be some definitive news about it soon though.

[Vince]

Chicago just went wideband, and right on schedule, too.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

[gusherb]

According to a HoFo user it was up a half hour ahead of schedule at 11:30PM on the 17th. I'm not surprised. Can't wait to hear from everyone in the area about the results of this. 

[Vince]

According to a HoFo user it was up a half hour ahead of schedule at 11:30PM on the 17th. I'm not surprised. Can't wait to hear from everyone in the area about the results of this.

I checked around 11:30, and didn't see it until about 11:50-ish. Maybe it rolled (quickly) through the system. I didn't notice any interruption in service. Here's a speedtest from an unloaded tower next to the Hinsdale oasis along I-294. We shall see how it's different during the day, especially in those crushed areas near Chicago. Look at that upload.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

[WiWavelength]

Chicago just went wideband, and right on schedule, too.

 

Woo hoo -- if you are a T-Mobile LTE user.  But a big "screw you" from T-Mobile -- if you are a W-CDMA user.

 

AJ

[gusherb]

We've had 15x15 over here for about two weeks now and the highest I saw was in the upper 50s on an unloaded tower. presumably because of capped speeds or reduced backhaul due to the less dense nature of the area the sites are serving. I think in instances like that it should just at least be more consistent. 

[Vince]

Woo hoo -- if you are a T-Mobile LTE user. But a big "screw you" from T-Mobile -- if you are a W-CDMA user.

 

AJ

AJ, you seem quite bent on this subject, as you also voiced your opinion when Indianapolis had their AWS LTE expanded. What's the problem with it? Who is this going to affect? Believe me, the guy or girl using the 5-year-old gas station Android that was $39 brand new probably isn't a very data-centric user. They'll wake up, notice they're on "E," call T-Mobile to (hopefully) have explained to them what happened, and be offered a market-specific upgrade option for their inconvenience. Whether or not you know everything or nothing about wireless, you need to always understand that technology evolves. Look at Sprint: people still run band 25 only devices and complain. What about when CLWR gets shutdown, and grandma's WiMAX dongle doesn't work anymore. What about the USCC subs in the Midwest that got swallowed up by Sprint, and we're forced to find someone else, or sign with Sprint. CDMA Cricket? MetroPCS? The list goes on, and on.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

[Fraydog]

Isn't most of the T-Mobile user base upgraded? They seem hell bent on getting everyone on LTE for voice and data.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Arysyn]

Hey everyone!

 

I've been busy searching online for waterproof Bluetooth earbuds since I last posted here over an hour ago, I believe. Anyways, I took a brief break from that in order to check to see if the wideband kicked in, which sure enough it seemed to. Right now at almost 3am CST, usually I get at least 30mbps, but averages around 40mbps, up to 50mbps.

 

However, as I checked a moment ago, I got 66.15mbps download speed. Gusherb, your speed mention over a week ago was spot-on. This definitely looks like a 10-15mbps speed increase, maybe even up to 20mbps. For the sake of speed testing, I'll do another right now! WooHoo! 71.32mbps download and then 22.56mbps upload, with a signal reading by Signal Check Pro of -101 LTE AWS, yes!!!

 

Alright full disclosure here, I'm really not all that excited by it, though it is a good speed, which hopefully the spectrum increase will mean somewhat better speeds during congestion. On my way to Schaumburg Wednesday night while in Schaumburg, I experienced the same speeds there that I've noticed while testing in that area before with T-Mobile. Lots of drops below 3mbps. To note, in the same area with Sprint on band 41, it never got below 15mbps for me, usually was around 20mbps in the same fairly heavy 5pm Schaumburg traffic. That is why I'm such a supporter of Sprint using band 41 with at least 15x15 of it in as many places as possible.

[travismheim]

 

 

AJ, you seem quite bent on this subject, as you also voiced your opinion when Indianapolis had their AWS LTE expanded. What's the problem with it? Who is this going to affect? Believe me, the guy or girl using the 5-year-old gas station Android that was $39 brand new probably isn't a very data-centric user. They'll wake up, notice they're on "E," call T-Mobile to (hopefully) have explained to them what happened, and be offered a market-specific upgrade option for their inconvenience. Whether or not you know everything or nothing about wireless, you need to always understand that technology evolves. Look at Sprint: people still run band 25 only devices and complain. What about when CLWR gets shutdown, and grandma's WiMAX dongle doesn't work anymore. What about the USCC subs in the Midwest that got swallowed up by Sprint, and we're forced to find someone else, or sign with Sprint. CDMA Cricket? MetroPCS? The list goes on, and on.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

While I don't disagree with you, comparing it to the wimax shutdown is not a good example. There has been over a years notice, just as there was for the iden shutdown. I wonder what T-Mobile is doing for any subscribers that complain.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[maxsilver]

Isn't most of the T-Mobile user base upgraded? 

 

Yes.

 

HSPA+ is still 100% live. Just AWS-specific HSPA+ is gone. So only AWS-exclusive-HSPA+ devices are even effected.

 

Which, from what I'm told, is less than one percent of their postpaid subscribers. And T-Mobile has already offered those people free phone upgrades.

[Yuhfhrh]

Yes.

 

HSPA+ is still 100% live. Just AWS-specific HSPA+ is gone. So only AWS-exclusive-HSPA+ devices are even effected.

 

Which, from what I'm told, is less than one percent of their postpaid subscribers. And T-Mobile has already offered those people free phone upgrades.

 

I find it hard to believe less than 1 percent of their postpaid subscribers are on AWS HSPA only phones. That's all T-Mobile sold years ago, and some people hold onto their phones for many years. I suspect that number to be closer to 5%. I just talked to someone a few days ago who has been with T-Mobile for three years, still rocking an LG G2X. He will be getting a new phone soon after our conversation about LTE, but still.

[Fraydog]

That is why I'm such a supporter of Sprint using band 41 with at least 15x15 of it in as many places as possible.

Not to nitpick, but the Sprint band 41 channels are 20 MHz TDD channels. Carrier aggregation can bond multiple channels together.

[Arysyn]

Not to nitpick, but the Sprint band 41 channels are 20 MHz TDD channels. Carrier aggregation can bond multiple channels together.

Thank you for the information. I'm still far behind on my knowledge of the technical aspects of how carrier aggregation works on the different spectrum frequencies.

 

So basically more spectrum on band 41 beyond 10x10 needs CA in order to work?

[anthony.spina97]

Thank you for the information. I'm still far behind on my knowledge of the technical aspects of how carrier aggregation works on the different spectrum frequencies.

 

So basically more spectrum on band 41 beyond 10x10 needs CA in order to work?

Currently in most places, Band 41 is running at one 20 MHz TDD LTE carrier. Some places are seeing an additional carrier, which moves it up to two 20 MHz carriers. And when carrier aggregation is enabled, the classification will be 20+20 MHz. TDD is measured as a chunk of spectrum for both Download and Upload (hence it being 20 MHz and Carrier Aggregation is 20+20), rather than as a paired Download chunk and Upload chunk (like FDD LTE is measured, I.E. 10x10 like you said).

 

-Anthony

[danlodish345]

Currently in most places, Band 41 is running at one 20 MHz TDD LTE carrier. Some places are seeing an additional carrier, which moves it up to two 20 MHz carriers. And when carrier aggregation is enabled, the classification will be 20+20 MHz. TDD is measured as a chunk of spectrum for both Download and Upload (hence it being 20 MHz and Carrier Aggregation is 20+20), rather than as a paired Download chunk and Upload chunk (like FDD LTE is measured, I.E. 10x10 like you said).

 

-Anthony

isnt carrier agregation capable of being used with band 12 ?

[anthony.spina97]

isnt carrier agregation capable of being used with band 12 ?

If Band 12 is being used as the PCC (Primary Component Carrier) and something like Band 4 or 2 is being used as the SCC (Secondary Component Carrier), then yes. But I'm unsure of T-Mobile's plans to do so. Band 12 is going to be used as a coverage band, and is mainly for those people who are out of range of Bands 4 and 2, so I don't see it happening.

 

Edit: See Tim's post below this one.

 

-Anthony

[lilotimz]

If Band 12 is being used as the PCC (Primary Component Carrier) and something like Band 4 or 2 is being used as the SCC (Secondary Component Carrier), then yes. But I'm unsure of T-Mobile's plans to do so. Band 12 is going to be used as a coverage band, and is mainly for those people who are out of range of Bands 4 and 2, so I don't see it happening.

 

-Anthony

 

Band 12 is being used for CA right now and is active for subscribers. 

[Fraydog]

http://www.tmonews.com/2015/06/do-t-mobile-and-dish-need-each-otherl/

 

This is what it has come to for TMoNews. Using Seeking Alpha as inspiration. 

[anthony.spina97]

Band 12 is being used for CA right now and is active for subscribers. 

Oh, wow, really? I guess that's what happens when I comment about matters that I'm not entirely knowledgeable about. Oops. 

 

-Anthony

[mozamcrew]

Oh, wow, really? I guess that's what happens when I comment about matters that I'm not entirely knowledgeable about. Oops. 

 

-Anthony

 

Just because they SHOULDN'T doesn't mean they won't. Sacrificing usable coverage for some addition speed on a speed test seems like typical "Data Strong" marketing. Consistency is much more important than having the fasted peak speed, IMHO.

[Arysyn]

I've got to give credit where it is due. T-Mobile has been quite awesome here in Chicago since they've upped the LTE on AWS. In many of the areas I've been to, the speeds have nearly doubled. I now get around 50 to 80 Mbps at home. Right now on 294 South getting around 40 Mbps. This truly is a Data Strong experience.

[Vince]

I've got to give credit where it is due. T-Mobile has been quite awesome here in Chicago since they've upped the LTE on AWS. In many of the areas I've been to, the speeds have nearly doubled. I now get around 50 to 80 Mbps at home. Right now on 294 South getting around 40 Mbps. This truly is a Data Strong experience.

It has definitely helped tremendously. I spent Sunday in and around the south loop, and where data was previously unusable, it's now fine.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6

[gusherb]

It has definitely helped tremendously. I spent Sunday in and around the south loop, and where data was previously unusable, it's now fine.

Sent from my iPhone 6

I guess that seemingly piddly upgrade of 10 MHz made a whole lot more difference then one might've thought. Where I've tested I've seen much improved results.

I'm very happy about this in case I decide to join T-Mo again, which may happen if AT&T doesn't fix the congestion in NWI soon (and they probably won't)

[lilotimz]

I guess that seemingly piddly upgrade of 10 MHz made a whole lot more difference then one might've thought. I'm very happy about this in case I decide to join T-Mo again, which may happen if AT&T doesn't fix the congestion in NWI soon.

 

In my observation, going from 10x10 to 15x15 for T-mobile does boost speeds by at least 20-50% in most areas at least initially. My market went 15x15 about half a year ago and now it's back to the speeds it was at when they were running 10x10 and in some areas congestion has hit pretty damn hard (slower than even Sprint at some areas).

 

Still waiting for their B12 to fire up here which should provide another good boost for a while but still.. AWS3 capable RAN equipment and UE  equipment can't come soon enough for T-mobile and the other carriers.