T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion V2

[gusherb]

Well I switched over to T-Mobile. Honestly I feel as though my experience is way smoother with them. Porting over and getting the account was quick and painless. I was in and out in 30 mins. I love VoLTE. Calling another T-Mobile user it was super clear. So far I have no complains at all but will keep my eye out.

 

I did play the system very well with their buy one get one 50%. I used my sprint 6s plus as a trade in and it paid in full the second 6s plus I got for 50% off. So I walked out a happy camper with a free extra phone that I can do whatever with.

 

 

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I have to hand it to them they do an excellent job at making becoming a customer a very simple and polished experience.

 

They also do an excellent job making sure their network works well where it does work barring any speed or signal related issues. Can't really say the same for their GSM counterpart that generally doesn't run as tight of a ship in terms of network consistency/quality.

[derrph]

I have to hand it to them they do an excellent job at making becoming a customer a very simple and polished experience.

 

They also do an excellent job making sure their network works well where it does work barring any speed or signal related issues. Can't really say the same for their GSM counterpart that generally doesn't run as tight of a ship in terms of network consistency/quality.

I agree I was pleasantly pleased with the speed of service. How inviting the associate was and answered every last question I had and even got honest feedback on his experience with his service. Though when I walked in the store it was crowded and witnessed users switching over from other carriers but they did get people in and out.

 

My friend also made the switch with me but she was coming from AT&T and she immediately saw a difference in service for the better even while working in the basement at the hospital where no one get little to no service. She at times had LTE but mainly HSPA+ but extremely usable. She told me this morning that her coworkers who work with her down there will be switching as well.

 

 

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[irev210]

At a certain point we'll be asking for too much, or what will be enough? 

 

Price is comparable, network is pretty much there, and it's proven that giving away the farm only creates a welfare base that will jump the second the freebies are taken away.

 

This sort of makes my point.

 

Price is comparable, network is comparable - why would someone switch to Sprint?  If you are looking to hold subs, having comparable price/network will keep churn low but if you are looking to add subs you need to given people a compelling reason.

 

Just because I said Sprint needs to offer innovative plans doesn't mean give away the farm.

 

Look at ringplus.net - they are offering innovative plans that basically shoot for data overages.  It's an interesting idea.

 

Gross margins are so big for sprint, I'd take a much different approach and offer two plans:

• Follow Google's approach (access for the line + $ per GB)
• And unlimited

 

That's it.  Keep it simple.  I think for 5 years, sprint needs to bite the bullet and just cut prices to something like this:

• Follow Google's approach ($10 per line + $10 per GB)
• And unlimited $40/month per line
• If you go over 3GB/month, you automatically roll over to unlimited for that month - keep customers happy

 

SEE, SO FRIGGING SIMPLE!  GET RID OF ALL THE OLD SPRINT PLANS - AXE ALL THAT CRAP.  Keep it simple.

 

Move on with life, in 5 years, just start raising prices for everyone. 

[RAvirani]

This sort of makes my point.

 

Price is comparable, network is comparable - why would someone switch to Sprint? If you are looking to hold subs, having comparable price/network will keep churn low but if you are looking to add subs you need to given people a compelling reason.

 

Just because I said Sprint needs to offer innovative plans doesn't mean give away the farm.

 

Look at ringplus.net - they are offering innovative plans that basically shoot for data overages. It's an interesting idea.

 

Gross margins are so big for sprint, I'd take a much different approach and offer two plans:

• Follow Google's approach (access for the line + $ per GB)
• And unlimited

That's it. Keep it simple. I think for 5 years, sprint needs to bite the bullet and just cut prices to something like this:

• Follow Google's approach ($10 per line + $10 per GB)
• And unlimited $40/month per line
• If you go over 3GB/month, you automatically roll over to unlimited for that month - keep customers happy

SEE, SO FRIGGING SIMPLE! GET RID OF ALL THE OLD SPRINT PLANS - AXE ALL THAT CRAP. Keep it simple.

 

Move on with life, in 5 years, just start raising prices for everyone.

That would be nice and pretty effective imo but I would change the 3GB to 7GB. A national carrier definitely cannot operate on $40 unlimited plans. Plus sprint is deep in depth. They need to be bringing in more money that just enough to cover operating costs. They have to start making payments.

[irev210]

That would be nice and pretty effective imo but I would change the 3GB to 7GB. A national carrier definitely cannot operate on $40 unlimited plans. Plus sprint is deep in depth. They need to be bringing in more money that just enough to cover operating costs. They have to start making payments.

 

Yeah the details aren't important - the point just being, Sprint needs to give people a reason to switch.

 

Price and network parity are not reasons.

 

Sticky customers with lots of income are not going to switch unless there is a HUGE incentive in front of them.  50% isn't bad, it's just too confusing.

[derrph]

Sprint just have to pull themselves away from the competition and do something that makes them stick out. 50% is good but it's just that word of mouth that's killing them. I would say they they should do a mini tour having folks testing out the network versus their own but that ideal is taken. No matter how good the network is if they don't wipe way the bad from years ago and convince folk that this is new sprint they will always be stuck with little movement on the customer front.

 

 

 

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[RAvirani]

Sprint just have to pull themselves away from the competition and do something that makes them stick out. 50% is good but it's just that word of mouth that's killing them. I would say they they should do a mini tour having folks testing out the network versus their own but that ideal is taken. No matter how good the network is if they don't wipe way the bad from years ago and convince folk that this is new sprint they will always be stuck with little movement on the customer front.

 

 

 

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It would be cool if sprint did something like tmobiles test drive.

[derrph]

It would be cool if sprint did something like tmobiles test drive.

That would be nice. Actually I could have sworn that was in the works if I wasn't mistaken but that was almost a year ago.

 

 

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[Deval]

So what do you do now to attract users away from the Big 3?

 

Sent from my SM-N910T

 

The same thing they are doing every day to attract new business. The churn didn't go down on its own.

[Deval]

Yeah the details aren't important - the point just being, Sprint needs to give people a reason to switch.

 

Price and network parity are not reasons.

 

Sticky customers with lots of income are not going to switch unless there is a HUGE incentive in front of them.  50% isn't bad, it's just too confusing.

 

I really believe that people see the reason to switch, and they do so. I don't want Sprint to give free video streaming or audio streaming, or other stuff like that.

 

All the new plans remove the overages, offer international 2G and text, and now unlimited at the cheapest possible price, what more do they need?

[Deval]

Sprint just have to pull themselves away from the competition and do something that makes them stick out. 50% is good but it's just that word of mouth that's killing them. I would say they they should do a mini tour having folks testing out the network versus their own but that ideal is taken. No matter how good the network is if they don't wipe way the bad from years ago and convince folk that this is new sprint they will always be stuck with little movement on the customer front.

 

 

 

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Haters gonna hate, and nothing you do can change that. People no longer have open minds, and follow the hive mind blindly.

[irev210]

I really believe that people see the reason to switch, and they do so. I don't want Sprint to give free video streaming or audio streaming, or other stuff like that.

 

All the new plans remove the overages, offer international 2G and text, and now unlimited at the cheapest possible price, what more do they need?

 

What more do they need?  Arguably, they didn't need to remove overages, they didn't need free international, etc.

 

I think you are identifying people at the fringe who are so disgruntled with their current provider they are switching.  Given that churn is so low and everyone has a cellphone, you are really looking at a narrow customer base.  Not one in which Sprint can get the adds its looking for.

 

Simply put, if Sprint wants to see net adds like T-Mobile is seeing, they need to change the way they market - the network isn't driving the difference in net adds between the two carriers.

[Deval]

What more do they need?  Arguably, they didn't need to remove overages, they didn't need free international, etc.

 

I think you are identifying people at the fringe who are so disgruntled with their current provider they are switching.  Given that churn is so low and everyone has a cellphone, you are really looking at a narrow customer base.  Not one in which Sprint can get the adds its looking for.

 

Simply put, if Sprint wants to see net adds like T-Mobile is seeing, they need to change the way they market - the network isn't driving the difference in net adds between the two carriers.

 

I agree, marketing will have to change, but the fact still remains that Verizon and AT&T customers gladly walk into Sprint stores on a daily basis and sign up for service.

 

T-Mobile is becoming ambitious going after Verizon directly on LTE coverage, will be interesting to see how that plays out. Sure they'll win in urban markets for the most part, but those same markets are just as solid for Verizon as well. In my experience, customers who switch are looking at short term differences, the reality will set it based on what they are willing to accept.

 

What becomes acceptable? Do you tell yourself that $XX amount of savings per month is worth any limitations you may come across? Or perhaps your usage is similar to millions of people who connect to about 6-7 cell sites a day, and as long as those are functional, do not worry about other things till they face them?

[Terrell352]

Haters gonna hate, and nothing you do can change that. People no longer have open minds, and follow the hive mind blindly.

If you take a look back in history most people never had open minds only a select few. That has not changed.

[Deval]

If you take a look back in history most people never had open minds only a select few. That has not changed.

 

I've been involved with Sprint in one way or another since 1999, and I can tell you that so much of the hatred actually has no merit. 

[gusherb]

I take back the good things I said about T-Mobile. Was downtown again this time at rush hour and it was HORRIBLE. pretty much 150 Kbps for blocks af a time, lost service at one point out on the street and towards Michigan avenue it was just more 150 Kbps speeds as well as calls not going through properly and dropping. I was seeing like 100-700 Kbps down while uplink was 3-15 Mbps.

 

iPhone doesn't show SNR but the signal bars are based partly on that and I was seeing 1 bar quite a lot while signal was actually -96 dbm or so.

There were a few spots in the 3-9 Mbps range but they were less common than the SLOW spots.

 

I'll be porting out when my testing is done. I couldn't stay with T-Mobile unless they do something about their congestion downtown and around the city.

 

I wouldn't have minded having a sprint line to test out, I'd bet they're fantastic downtown.

[WiWavelength]

I take back the good things I said about T-Mobile. Was downtown again this time at rush hour and it was HORRIBLE. pretty much 150 Kbps for blocks af a time, lost service at one point out on the street and towards Michigan avenue it was just more 150 Kbps speeds as well as calls not going through properly and dropping. I was seeing like 100-700 Kbps down while uplink was 3-15 Mbps.

 

Yes, that is the upside down T-Mobile network once again rearing its head in both objective testing and real world usage.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

I'm in Sioux Falls. Some Tmo GMO B2 LTE sites work OK. Like 3-5Mbps. These typically are the ones that also have B12 deployed.

 

Others completely time out. And I cannot get any throughput. Or it's measured in kilobits. One 5x5 GMO carrier with sparse density will not cut it in a metro area of 200,000 people.

 

Fortunately they are deploying B12 here...albeit slowly. But that just makes the network usable. With these unlimited promos and general Tmo growth, they need to deploy even more spectrum here quickly.

 

Feeling the squeeze in the 'Best Little City in America.' BTW, AT&T is almost exactly the same.

 

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[joshuam]

If you take a look back in history most people never had open minds only a select few. That has not changed.

That is a generational thing. Baby boomers and Gen X tends to be very brand loyal, Gen X tend to have zero brand loyalty...but millenials are bringing brand loyalty back.

[mnjeepmale]

Is there a setting on the Galaxy S6 to combine a long text message together?

When I send a long text message from my Sprint Note 5 to T-mobile S6 it splits it up into multiple messages. I don't have this problem receiving long texts in my Note 5.

[red_dog007]

I'm in Sioux Falls. Some Tmo GMO B2 LTE sites work OK. Like 3-5Mbps. These typically are the ones that also have B12 deployed.

 

Others completely time out. And I cannot get any throughput. Or it's measured in kilobits. One 5x5 GMO carrier with sparse density will not cut it in a metro area of 200,000 people.

 

Fortunately they are deploying B12 here...albeit slowly. But that just makes the network usable. With these unlimited promos and general Tmo growth, they need to deploy even more spectrum here quickly.

 

Feeling the squeeze in the 'Best Little City in America.' BTW, AT&T is almost exactly the same.

 

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From what I have been hearing, TMo is doing just single band 700.  Are they not even using dual band antennas where it can be a serious benefit like in PCS only or no previous deployed markets. 

[Arysyn]

My mother went and got the Microsoft Lumia 950xl for me yesterday, considering that the Surface phone isn't available yet, and no official word on when it will be either. Although even so, likely not anytime soon, and I really need a new phone. It is a very nice thing T-Mobile has held onto my line for free the past few months now, and not even charging us for the hold on the account either. I'm going to check over the device later today and make sure everything is good with it, which if so, I'll keep it around either until the Surface phone is available, or possibly I'll make the switch to Apple with the IPhone 7. I am completely anti-Google now and refuse to get anything with their branding, etc., since an account issue a few weeks ago, which now they've lost me as a customer on anything. However, Microsoft really needs to get their mobile system improved with desktop app support, etc., otherwise I'll go with Apple. It is nice knowing T-Mobile will take care of things if/when I need to change devices as they've done lately.

 

One issue though that does still bug me about T-Mobile, and it isn't John Legere anymore, since he seems to have quieted down and is becoming more professional lately. T-Mobile just doesn't have the same strong network as AT&T does, based from my trial with Cricket a few months ago. If getting Unlimited with AT&T didn't require television service, it really would be worth the extra cost, especially since reliability is becoming increasingly required nowadays for me, which is a major reason why I'm rushing getting the Lumia 950xl now, rather than waiting longer, since T-Mobile has been so cooperative with that, as they are on pricing I mentioned here some time ago about getting on the loyalty plan at $45 monthly. Yet, if AT&T were $90-$100 monthly, not requiring television service, then it would be worth the extra cost for the reliability. The basement here gets no LTE on T-Mobile, while where my aunt lives, she barely gets a T-Mobile signal anywhere in her house. That is an issue if I'm in these places alone and have a bad fall. So, I'm considering this also, and at least have a more flexible opportunity at that than I use to when I posted here more frequently a few months ago and beyond. My mother has her own T-Mobile prepaid plan at $25 monthly, which does give me that freedom now to change, if needbe.

 

Reading here on this thread today has given me more thought about this. I really can't see T-Mobile focusing much on the network around Chicago any time soon. That is something to consider. 

[gusherb]

 

 

Reading here on this thread today has given me more thought about this. I really can't see T-Mobile focusing much on the network around Chicago any time soon. That is something to consider. 

 

 

I don't see how they could ignore the network here much longer. Part of the problem is they are spectrum constrained. Their next move will be refarming PCS, possibly shutting GSM off in the process and getting band 2 LTE up and running. I don't doubt that they already have this in the works for sometime this year, possibly late spring. If they waited any longer than that they'd start losing subs in the area and there's alot of them. 

[Overstew]

Is there a setting on the Galaxy S6 to combine a long text message together?

When I send a long text message from my Sprint Note 5 to T-mobile S6 it splits it up into multiple messages. I don't have this problem receiving long texts in my Note 5.

There is an option in Textra (third party sms app) that can split long-text messages or combine them (I think it forces it to do MMS if you combine more than 160 characters.)  I'd give that a shot.

[PythonFanPA]

There is an option in Textra (third party sms app) that can split long-text messages or combine them (I think it forces it to do MMS if you combine more than 160 characters.)  I'd give that a shot.

 

Believe its the same in Handcent.  I always force-split them myself, it makes more sense to me anyway.  Handcent at least (have never even heard of Textra so not familiar enough to comment there) also has a number labeling option (1/3, 2/3, 3/3) such that the reader will know the order in which they're to be read - or if one is missing.