Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[dro1984]

Don't know what all the issues are, but if you are a "Sprint" account with a Sprint SIM card, then you have to use the anti Spam on your phone loaded by Sprint.   You can't use T-Mobile's Spam Blocker, as that only works with T-Mo sims.    

[javon23]

10 minutes ago, stlman314 said:

Are you able to try turning off 5G and see if the issue still happens with no connectivity?

Yes I have these options. Switching requires a reboot. 4G does work. 

[javon23]

[clbowens]

1 hour ago, jasonsteele said:

I have to opt in every two days. Call Screener is a hot mess.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Interesting, wonder if that's an iPhone issue.  My wife has an iPhone on Sprint, but not sure how much she opens that actually screener app.

[cyclone]

Maybe because I already had the basic free version enabled?? I still get a notification about every other day telling me to open the app so that the database can be updated. Thought that was a premium feature, therefore something we should now all get. Just was wondering if anyone else was having this issue

[iansltx]

Seems like TMo has done upgrades of some sort recently on one of the sites near me. B66 is now hitting in the 60s down and 10-15M up off-peak with signal in the mid to high -90s from my place, which is maybe 5-10 db better than it was before, with much higher speeds. Pretty sure I'm not just catching things at a good time. Have to force B66-only to hit these speeds; negative n71 SNR (or trying to do useful stuff with B2) gets in the way otherwise. No idea why TMo doesn't do 66+66+n71 CA here but they don't.

[jbahlman]

Anyone having service issues today?  2 times now my S20+ has had no service out of nowhere at home and once while i was driving to the gas station(I was streaming music via bluetooth and just lost service).  i had to reboot the phone to get service and i missed several calls.  Never had this happen before.

Edited August 23, 2020 by jbahlman

[floorguy]

On 8/18/2020 at 12:29 PM, dro1984 said:

Well folks, after 20 years with Sprint... I couldn't take the slow data at home and near my home.   7mbps down (on a good day) and .3 up.    Today I switched to AT&T prepaid.  141mbps down and 10 up.  Hugely better!    Unlimited Plus for $50. (current offer)   Saves me $$ and way better speed.     It's been long time and I just got tired of waiting for network improvements.      

Should have waited, these were after I got my s20s, which of course pushes you to tmo (tmo use to be garbage out here, 4 yrs ago).  I circled the big speeds.

 

[dro1984]

No.  20 years is enough.    Consistency is much improved using AT&T and the plan is $15/month cheaper.   Too many holes in coverage for me with T-Mo.     I'm glad for you, but I'm glad I left.      

[radem]

Big assumptions here but these numbers look possible.  The Apple September 10th announcement is expected to include the release date for the 5G iPhone 12 and possibly an iPad 5G and Apple Watch 5G. The release date is currently expected to be sometime in October.  T-Mobile is not allowing new 5G devices to be activated on the Sprint network and requires a migration of that line to T-Mobile's network when activating a new 5G device.

If we assume that more than 2% of Sprint legacy customers purchase a new device each month and that Sprint has ~50 million legacy customers still on its network and that Apple devices make up ~50% of Sprint's devices, we should see the mass migration of ~500,000 Sprint customers monthly from the Sprint network to T-Mobile's network once the iPhone 12 and other new Apple devices are released in October.  Most customers with Apple devices in the US will purchase one of the Apple 5G models when upgrading their apple device.  These numbers do not include the other 50% of Sprint's customers that have Android or other devices of which I assume that at least half of those ~500,000 customers will upgrade to a 5G compatible device each month.

My big assumption (you know what happens when you assume) using the above assumptions is that we should see around 750,000 customers with 5G devices moving from the Sprint network to the T-Mobile network each month starting in October due to purchasing a new 5G device.  This does not include the monthly new customers that T-Mobile usually gets.  I hope the new T-Mobile network can handle the load.

[Bennyjet29]

Big assumptions here but these numbers look possible.  The Apple September 10th announcement is expected to include the release date for the 5G iPhone 12 and possibly an iPad 5G and Apple Watch 5G. The release date is currently expected to be sometime in October.  T-Mobile is not allowing new 5G devices to be activated on the Sprint network and requires a migration of that line to T-Mobile's network when activating a new 5G device.
If we assume that more than 2% of Sprint legacy customers purchase a new device each month and that Sprint has ~50 million legacy customers still on its network and that Apple devices make up ~50% of Sprint's devices, we should see the mass migration of ~500,000 Sprint customers monthly from the Sprint network to T-Mobile's network once the iPhone 12 and other new Apple devices are released in October.  Most customers with Apple devices in the US will purchase one of the Apple 5G models when upgrading their apple device.  These numbers do not include the other 50% of Sprint's customers that have Android or other devices of which I assume that at least half of those ~500,000 customers will upgrade to a 5G compatible device each month.
My big assumption (you know what happens when you assume) using the above assumptions is that we should see around 750,000 customers with 5G devices moving from the Sprint network to the T-Mobile network each month starting in October due to purchasing a new 5G device.  The does not include the monthly new customers that T-Mobile usually gets.  I hope the new T-Mobile network can handle the load.

Those numbers definitely look possible and we still are not entirely sure what kind of incentives New T-Mobile has up their sleeve. [emoji1417]


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[dewbertdc]

This is quite the Speedtest result in NYC... 

 

[Paynefanbro]

12 minutes ago, dewbertdc said:

This is quite the Speedtest result in NYC... 

I still don't know where he is finding these 60MHz sites. Everywhere I have tested in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens has been 40MHz. That said, he's using a combined 95MHz of LTE over and 60MHz of sub-6GHz 5G to get those speeds so I'm not surprised that he is seeing speeds that you'd typically get on 200MHz of mmWave spectrum.

[iansltx]

4 minutes ago, dewbertdc said:

This is quite the Speedtest result in NYC... 

Oh hey, it's mmWave speeds, but with all of the used spectrum sub-6. Which means that, while not all phone can simultaneously lock on to these channels, the capacity is there across the cell.

Now if TMo would just put B66 (and ideally 71) on the cell sites near my parents' place that already have Sprint, I could switch them over.

[clbowens]

Why doesn't T-Mobile release more phones with MMWave capabilities?  They will be doing more MMWave deployments, right?  Why not just include that with the phones so they'll be able to use it when available.

[Paynefanbro]

57 minutes ago, clbowens said:

Why doesn't T-Mobile release more phones with MMWave capabilities?  They will be doing more MMWave deployments, right?  Why not just include that with the phones so they'll be able to use it when available.

mmWave unfortunately seems like it's super low priority right now. I think that T-Mobile sees n41 and n71 deployment as most beneficial for the most users so that's their focus.

We likely won't see T-Mobile begin to ramp up mmWave deployments for another year or two.

[iansltx]

2 hours ago, clbowens said:

Why doesn't T-Mobile release more phones with MMWave capabilities?  They will be doing more MMWave deployments, right?  Why not just include that with the phones so they'll be able to use it when available.

mmWave components are expensive. Just look at VZW's phone pricing (and, for the S20, spec drops). 5G phones are already rather expensive as it is.

Additionally, with 60 MHz of n41 and a decent amount of LTE (potentially with some LAA mixed in), the only benefit of mmWave is turning your phone into a pocket warmer and being at the top fo speedtest charts.

Plus, you basically *have* to use small cells to do a mmWave deployment, and T-Mobile has already said they prefer the more consistent footprint that is a nearly macro-only network. When you can throw 60 MHz of n41 a mile or two, the number of places you *need* that extra mmWave capacity is way lower than if your only mid-band options are CBRS or LAA LTE, with your only actual NR running below 1 GHz.

Put another way, I fully expect T-Mobile to have a smaller mmWave footprint than AT&T or Verizon, because they don't have to choose between negligible coverage plus high throughput and reasonable coverage that runs the risk of congestion. Because you're missing way less on T-Mobile by not having mmWave than either AT&T or Verizon, T-Mobile isn't forcing phone manufacturers to include expensive mmWave components in cheaper phones like VZW is (note that AT&T sells non-mmWave 5G phones as well).

[dkyeager]

21 hours ago, clbowens said:

Why doesn't T-Mobile release more phones with MMWave capabilities?  They will be doing more MMWave deployments, right?  Why not just include that with the phones so they'll be able to use it when available.

mmWave's best use is in crowded stadiums/concert venues, and other outdoor crowded areas etc. Not certain when we will get back to that with Covid-19 so active here therefore mmWave equipment has a bad ROI right now.

I keep my phones for a long time so I would want all layers of the cake plus Vo5G. Personally I need to stay on Sprint since my T-Mobile network phone lives on b71 in my urban home inside the beltway. Fine with what I have right now, but without nearby Sprint site conversions, I would move to AT&T if my current phone breaks (or CDMA is dropped) and I was forced to be only on the current T-Mobile network. (I get up to 100Mbps on Sprint at home.)

[bigsnake49]

Just as an OT, the CBRS auction just concluded yesterday with $4.58B in proceeds. The FCC has not announce the names of the winners yet.

[iansltx]

4 hours ago, dkyeager said:

mmWave's best use is in crowded stadiums/concert venues, and other outdoor crowded areas etc. Not certain when we will get back to that with Covid-19 so active here therefore mmWave equipment has a bad ROI right now.

I keep my phones for a long time so I would want all layers of the cake plus Vo5G. Personally I need to stay on Sprint since my T-Mobile network phone lives on b71 in my urban home inside the beltway. Fine with what I have right now, but without nearby Sprint site conversions, I would move to AT&T if my current phone breaks (or CDMA is dropped) and I was forced to be only on the current T-Mobile network. (I get up to 100Mbps on Sprint at home.)

Fingers crossed for ya on TMo converting the site and adding n41.

As far as I'm converned at this point, there isn't a compelling reason to get a 5G device at all for AT&T or VZW, as for non-mmW you'll have access to the same spectrum via DSS anyway. So for AT&T/VZW it wouldn't be a horrible idea to buy a Pixel 4a right now, where for T-Mobile doing that would limit you to 5, maybe 10, MHz of low-band spectrum in most places...and you'd miss n41.

[though]

3 hours ago, iansltx said:

Fingers crossed for ya on TMo converting the site and adding n41.

As far as I'm converned at this point, there isn't a compelling reason to get a 5G device at all for AT&T or VZW, as for non-mmW you'll have access to the same spectrum via DSS anyway. So for AT&T/VZW it wouldn't be a horrible idea to buy a Pixel 4a right now, where for T-Mobile doing that would limit you to 5, maybe 10, MHz of low-band spectrum in most places...and you'd miss n41.

Pixel 4a not recommended for Sprint/T-Mobile??????

[iansltx]

10 minutes ago, though said:

Pixel 4a not recommended for Sprint/T-Mobile??????

It doesn't have 5G. I wouldn't spend more than $250 on a 4G phone on TMo right now.

[PythonFanPA]

1 hour ago, iansltx said:

It doesn't have 5G. I wouldn't spend more than $250 on a 4G phone on TMo right now.

Unless you just have that much surplus money to play with or you're so into wireless industry/tech that you always want to be on the bleeding edge, I honestly wouldn't spend more than $250 on a phone period right now anyway even on New T-Mo.  Trying to 'Keep up with the Joneses' these days with wireless devices is a fairly jarring cost dynamic. 

Unless network changes make things so bad you have no choice but to switch phones (or worst case carriers), to me playing the waiting game is a smarter approach for now - see how all the dominoes fall with changes/coverage where you happen to live, and then make a more informed decision on a more robust but economical upgrade path into a 5G device.

[DurhamHusker]

Unless you just have that much surplus money to play with or you're so into wireless industry/tech that you always want to be on the bleeding edge, I honestly wouldn't spend more than $250 on a phone period right now anyway even on New T-Mo.  Trying to 'Keep up with the Joneses' these days with wireless devices is a fairly jarring cost dynamic. 
Unless network changes make things so bad you have no choice but to switch phones (or worst case carriers), to me playing the waiting game is a smarter approach for now - see how all the dominoes fall with changes/coverage where you happen to live, and then make a more informed decision on a more robust but economical upgrade path into a 5G device.

Well ... If you're like me and have a CDMA (non VoLTE) device on Sprint, I can still wait around ... But for how long?

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[belusnecropolis]

I built a sub 6Hz 5G multi SIM hotspot that cost me less than a mid range 5G phone to hold me over. I can build a mmWave capable one for the cost of a mid range phone. 

If the radio in my 100 dollar Potatorola doesn't cut it for speed I just turn on wifi and then everyone around me has 5G access from multiple carriers. This also meets my needs for tracking, logging upgrades.