T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion V2

[Brad The Beast]

1 minute ago, danlodish345 said:

Well how bad is the coverage in your area?

AT&T roaming as soon as you leave town or get off a major highway. In town the coverage is good but the data speeds suck. 

[danlodish345]

AT&T roaming as soon as you leave town or get off a major highway. In town the coverage is good but the data speeds suck. 

I can understand that. In Delaware when I go during the winter and the summer as soon as you get off the beaten path the coverage does suck a bit but it's gotten better. I'm not going to say it doesn't need improvement because it drastically does but it's gotten a little better.

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[Trip]

21 hours ago, belusnecropolis said:

I don't know why everyone keeps spreading misinformation about these bands not aggregating, just like certain roaming bands being restricted, this is untrue. Y'all should stop.

The roaming restriction is based on first-hand experience.  I have roamed on T-Mobile 600 and 700 before in select locations, but in many areas, I have never connected to T-Mobile 600 or 700, even when the alternative has been no service, and sometimes even while my T-Mobile phone is connected to 600 or 700. 

My impression is that in places where 600 and 700 are not loaded, they allow such roaming.  In the places where it's under considerable demand, either due to high number of users or low density of sites, Sprint roaming appears restricted to AWS and PCS.

- Trip

[belusnecropolis]

23 minutes ago, Trip said:

The roaming restriction is based on first-hand experience.  I have roamed on T-Mobile 600 and 700 before in select locations, but in many areas, I have never connected to T-Mobile 600 or 700, even when the alternative has been no service, and sometimes even while my T-Mobile phone is connected to 600 or 700. 

My impression is that in places where 600 and 700 are not loaded, they allow such roaming.  In the places where it's under considerable demand, either due to high number of users or low density of sites, Sprint roaming appears restricted to AWS and PCS.

- Trip

That is wild, you would think no service on Sprint would roam before Tmo since Sprint has always been liberal with the roaming versus Tmo. I had the opposite experience yesterday.

I threw a Sprint SIM in an embedded radio and ran through every band available in the T-Mobile network from the coast to the capital yesterday. Bands 2/4/5/12/71/and aws3 66 in 3 markets and 2 states. Also during the App state v S Carolina game. It doesn't get busier than that. Yes they all aggregated. Just a plain old phone line too. 

I wonder what the dynamic network controls are that let an enb tx the clearwire mnc only on certain channels or maybe even sectors? Roaming has generally been a plan level feature. But I guess if it is not switched on you won't get it.

Unfortunately it is all subjective or anecdotal and no one has put forward an answer how or why.

 

[Brad The Beast]

On 11/9/2019 at 7:49 AM, belusnecropolis said:

Band 71 @5MHz aggregated with band 2 @10MHz, these are the only channels available on this site. Interstate 95 N of Florence SC.

I don't know why everyone keeps spreading misinformation about these bands not aggregating, just like certain roaming bands being restricted, this is untrue. Y'all should stop.

I've yet to see 2+71 aggregation in my area. Not that it would do much good anyway tbh. Bands 2, 4, 12, and 71 are deployed as 5x5. 

[Trip]

On 11/10/2019 at 7:17 AM, belusnecropolis said:

That is wild, you would think no service on Sprint would roam before Tmo since Sprint has always been liberal with the roaming versus Tmo. I had the opposite experience yesterday.

Just for kicks, I looked at a log copy from a few days ago.  Filtering on the 311490 PLMN, I have 193 rows total.  I have no rows for T-Mobile B71, but my LG G6 does not support Band 71.  I have 10 rows for T-Mobile B12, eight of which were in western Maryland near Frostburg.  The other two were momentary connections at the hospital near here and in New Jersey.

- Trip

[danlodish345]

Just for kicks, I looked at a log copy from a few days ago.  Filtering on the 311490 PLMN, I have 193 rows total.  I have no rows for T-Mobile B71, but my LG G6 does not support Band 71.  I have 10 rows for T-Mobile B12, eight of which were in western Maryland near Frostburg.  The other two were momentary connections at the hospital near here and in New Jersey.
- Trip

What does it mean to be liberal with roaming on cell phone carriers?

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[Brad The Beast]

The downgrade from 10x10 to 5x5 on b71 makes sense now with the 600MHz 5G-that's-the-same-speed-as-4G-so-it's-not-really-5G 5G announcement. 

[danlodish345]

The downgrade from 10x10 to 5x5 on b71 makes sense now with the 600MHz 5G-that's-the-same-speed-as-4G-so-it's-not-really-5G 5G announcement. 

well still though until they can get 5G deployed and densified and rolled out across the country they should really increase it to a 10 by 10 chunk instead of just leaving it at 5

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[Brad The Beast]

Just now, danlodish345 said:

well still though until they can get 5G deployed and densified and rolled out across the country they should really increase it to a 10 by 10 chunk instead of just leaving it at 5

They should be deploying 5G on 600MHz at 15x15 most places. That would only leave 5x5 for LTE most places. 

[danlodish345]

They should be deploying 5G on 600MHz at 15x15 most places. That would only leave 5x5 for LTE most places. 

Well for me the license for here is only a 10 by 10 not 15 by 15

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[Brad The Beast]

Just now, danlodish345 said:

Well for me the license for here is only a 10 by 10 not 15 by 15

They only have 10x10 600MHz in your area? Wow. Prepare for some of the worst 5G speeds you have ever seen lol. My area is 20x20. They just dropped L600 from 10x10 to 5x5 so it should be 5x5 LTE and 15x15 5G NR.

[danlodish345]

They only have 10x10 600MHz in your area? Wow. Prepare for some of the worst 5G speeds you have ever seen lol. My area is 20x20. They just dropped L600 from 10x10 to 5x5 so it should be 5x5 LTE and 15x15 5G NR.

Yeah but that's only for band 71 and band 12 is a 5x5 carrier. But they have 20x20 PCS and then another 20x20 band four and band 66. But still that's not enough T-Mobile really skimped out over here.

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[Brad The Beast]

1 minute ago, danlodish345 said:

Yeah but that's only for band 71 and band 12 is a 5x5 carrier. But they have 20x20 PCS and then another 20x20 band four and band 66. But still that's not enough T-Mobile really skimped out over here.

More than what I've got here. 10x10 band 2 that's deployed as 5x5. Non-contiguous 10x10 band 66 that's deployed as 5x5. 5x5 band 12. 20x20 band 71 that's deployed as 5x5. Gives me a grand total of 20x20 for LTE.

[danlodish345]

More than what I've got here. 10x10 band 2 that's deployed as 5x5. Non-contiguous 10x10 band 66 that's deployed as 5x5. 5x5 band 12. 20x20 band 71 that's deployed as 5x5. Gives me a grand total of 20x20 for LTE.

Well for over here. It's a total of 55 megahertz.

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[Dkoellerwx]

On 11/9/2019 at 11:03 AM, derrph said:

Once the two networks are combined, will it honestly be competitive with the big two? Especially in areas where both Sprint and T-Mobile struggle or have no coverage?

Also, in a area where Sprint is stronger and T-Mobile is weak, will the T-Mobile tower get decommissioned or will the Sprint tower still go? These are my concerns and why I don’t want the merger if I take a hit in coverage because of T-Mobile favoring their own towers.

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It has been previously discussed that the network thinning will complement either other. The best of both networks will remain. More Sprint sites than T-Mobile will be decommissioned or moved, but where Sprint is stronger (or the only one present) it will remain.

[Carrilloevo]

Saw this microcell, not active yet, but wondering if it's tmobile

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[dkyeager]

On 11/9/2019 at 8:49 AM, belusnecropolis said:

I don't know why everyone keeps spreading misinformation about these bands not aggregating, just like certain roaming bands being restricted, this is untrue. Y'all should stop.

I could see this varying by area and point in the implementation cycle.  I could also see people thinking that Sprint roaming on T-Mobile equals what a T-Mobile customer would get, which is always a dangerous assumption when roaming on any carrier.

[danlodish345]

I could see this varying by area and point in the implementation cycle.  I could also see people thinking that Sprint roaming on T-Mobile equals what a T-Mobile customer would get, which is always a dangerous assumption when roaming on any carrier.

And how do you feel about T-Mobile's home internet program?

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[dkyeager]

As a T-Mobile network user I am concerned.  As a computer consultant I think it is good.  From a T-Mobile business standpoint it may help justify more rural sites and puts cable companies on the defensive.

Personally I would always recommend that your ISP and cell phone carrier should be different, since most people do not have different ISPs.  That way if one goes down you can still communicate with the outside world (in everyday situations).

[dkyeager]

1 hour ago, Carrilloevo said:

Saw this microcell, not active yet, but wondering if it's tmobile

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If you can zoom in further the frequencies are likely visible on the antenna.

[danlodish345]

As a T-Mobile network user I am concerned.  As a computer consultant I think it is good.  From a T-Mobile business standpoint it may help justify more rural sites and puts cable companies on the defensive.
Personally I would always recommend that your ISP and cell phone carrier should be different, since most people do not have different ISPs.  That way if one goes down you can still communicate with the outside world (in everyday situations).

Yeah I do use T-Mobile as well. I don't know if I would ever use T-Mobile's home internet at all. I get pretty good speeds from Comcast. They're a bit more expensive but they work pretty well and they have a reliability rate of about 99% here. There's only been a couple of times where they were having a problem here. And I do think in my own personal opinion in my area T-Mobile would have to densify dramatically in order to provide such a service. During rush hour at times their network crawls. so I agree with you as a T-Mobile user I would be worried.

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[Brad The Beast]

14 minutes ago, danlodish345 said:

Yeah I do use T-Mobile as well. I don't know if I would ever use T-Mobile's home internet at all. I get pretty good speeds from Comcast. They're a bit more expensive but they work pretty well and they have a reliability rate of about 99% here. There's only been a couple of times where they were having a problem here. And I do think in my own personal opinion in my area T-Mobile would have to densify dramatically in order to provide such a service. During rush hour at times their network crawls. so I agree with you as a T-Mobile user I would be worried.

tbh I'd never use it without Sprint's 2.5GHz. It would be congested and worthless all the time just like their service currently in a lot of places. 

[jthawks]

10 hours ago, Carrilloevo said:

Saw this microcell, not active yet, but wondering if it's tmobile

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That off pecos? 

[Carrilloevo]

That off pecos? 

Nope it's by zenobia and 10th Ave in Denver

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