iWireless (Iowa)

[bmoses]

Heard on the radio this morning an advertisement for iWireless for their 4G LTE network. I don't know the exact relationship but they are listed as a T-Mobile affiliate, however I know they have been deploying their own LTE network and it sounds like its finally live.

 

does anyone know, or can point me in the right direction to find out, what they are using for frequency and channel width for their LTE?

 

I'm considering at least doing their test drive as they installed a tower just up the road from my work and it would hopefully be able to give me better service than sprint does at my work. i'm not sure if i would actually switch though because their phone selection isn't the best and i'm on a 7 member framily plan on sprint where all 7 members are actual family and it would suck losing that plan!

 

just trying to find some more technical info about them so i can be better informed

[bmoses]

well surprisingly wikipedia seems to have a lot of information on them

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWireless

 

now i just need to find exactly what frequencies they have. looks like maybe even most newer sprint phones would work on their network assuming they allowed that?

[bkco14]

I believe it is the 1700/2100 spectrum. I am looking at them closely as once you leave their native coverage you get to use t-mobiles network as native. I think they only have a 5x5 network in the quad cities though so don't know how speedy they will be.

[endlessweather]

Keep in mind the mass majority of their network is Edge or slower. They also don't roam in Iowa so there are gigantic holes of no coverage. Here we have a HSPA+ network that is a solid 10x10 but 3 miles south and it's a dead zone 60 miles to Missouri.

[Sprke]

Keep in mind the mass majority of their network is Edge or slower. They also don't roam in Iowa so there are gigantic holes of no coverage. Here we have a HSPA+ network that is a solid 10x10 but 3 miles south and it's a dead zone 60 miles to Missouri.

Yep I live in SW Iowa and I can't excited about iWireless at all. No coverage for miles around me and then it's edge. Looks like they favor East Iowa

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[red_dog007]

Doesn't TMobile roam on them now free and clear over LTE? Might be better with that? What about USCC, too expensive?

 

But then Sprint roams on USCC there now if your roaming bucket is large enough for your needs.

[bmoses]

Doesn't TMobile roam on them now free and clear over LTE? Might be better with that? What about USCC, too expensive?

 

But then Sprint roams on USCC there now if your roaming bucket is large enough for your needs.

 

iWireless roams on T-Mobile LTE for free and adheres to whatever plan you have. I don't know that T-Mobile customers can roam on iWireless LTE though. one of my coworkers has T-Mobile and i checked his phone yesterday and he was connected to W-CDMA according to signal check pro yet we have a closer iWireless tower than a T-Mobile tower. i believe he has a galaxy S4 so not sure if that was the issue or if T-Mobile just can't get on iWireless LTE.

 

USCC thinks they are AT&T or Verizon and so they are way too expensive and don't have an unlimited option.

[Tengen31]

iWireless roams on T-Mobile LTE for free and adheres to whatever plan you have. I don't know that T-Mobile customers can roam on iWireless LTE though. one of my coworkers has T-Mobile and i checked his phone yesterday and he was connected to W-CDMA according to signal check pro yet we have a closer iWireless tower than a T-Mobile tower. i believe he has a galaxy S4 so not sure if that was the issue or if T-Mobile just can't get on iWireless LTE.

 

USCC thinks they are AT&T or Verizon and so they are way too expensive and don't have an unlimited option.

USCC is actually cheaper than vzw. Thats why sprint LTE roams on to vs 1x roaming on vzw. There were once reports Tmobile could also roam onto US Cellular.

[WiWavelength]

USCC thinks they are AT&T or Verizon and so they are way too expensive and don't have an unlimited option.

 

In Iowa, USCC is equal to VZW and superior to AT&T.

 

AJ

[Mr.Nuke]

does anyone know, or can point me in the right direction to find out, what they are using for frequency and channel width for their LTE?

They're trying to deploy 10x10 using 1700 (4) and 1900 (2). Their spectrum holdings vary a bit depending on the part of Iowa so it isn't going to be universally standard.

maybe even most newer sprint phones would work on their network assuming they allowed that?

Band 2 is a subset of band 25 so in the theoretical sense, Sprint could roam on that. In reality, I don't see it happening. T-Mobile still owns 50% of iWireless. 1) It is still unclear whether even their own customers can access iWireless 2) They have no incentive to help Sprint 3) Us Cellular other than extreme Northwestern Iowa already provides Sprint LTE roaming in virtually the entire state.

USCC thinks they are AT&T or Verizon and so they are way too expensive and don't have an unlimited option.

Like AJ said, maybe because they are. Excluding Omaha, Lincoln and Des Moines and even if you lived in one of those cities and regularly traveled to rural areas; in Iowa you'd want to be on Verizon or US Cellular (maybe iWireless if you are in the East part of the state). In Nebraska you'd want to be on US Cellular, Verizon, or Viaero. Those carriers have ridiculous rural buildouts.

[WiWavelength]

Like AJ said, maybe because they are. Excluding Omaha, Lincoln and Des Moines and even if you lived in one of those cities and regularly traveled to rural areas; in Iowa you'd want to be on Verizon or US Cellular (maybe iWireless if you are in the East part of the state).

 

Eh, I would not discount -- pardon the pun -- USCC in Des Moines.  In chronological order, USCC has Cellular 850 MHz, PCS 1900 MHz, AWS-1 1700+2100 MHz, and Lower 700 MHz spectrum.  That is a lot of spectrum, not to mention, low band spectrum.  USCC can go toe to toe with VZW in Des Moines.

 

AJ

[bmoses]

They're trying to deploy 10x10 using 1700 (4) and 1900 (2). Their spectrum holdings vary a bit depending on the part of Iowa so it isn't going to be universally standard.

Band 2 is a subset of band 25 so in the theoretical sense, Sprint could roam on that. In reality, I don't see it happening. T-Mobile still owns 50% of iWireless. 1) It is still unclear whether even their own customers can access iWireless 2) They have no incentive to help Sprint 3) Us Cellular other than extreme Northwestern Iowa already provides Sprint LTE roaming in virtually the entire state.

 

in regards to the cell phones, i was meaning that from the point of view of possibly being able to take a sprint phone and use it on iWireless if i were to switch. i wasn't meaning being able to roam on iwireless while still on sprint.

[bkco14]

You should be able to. I used my unlocked sprint iPhone 6 and it worked on their network when I popped in a sim card