Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[BlueAngel]

10 minutes ago, Yuhfhrh said:

Sorry, I'm just trying to make sure. Trying to gather information for the next ticket I open. Does the fast.com test actually finish?

I'm trying to figure out what your throttle point is, and if those few seconds unthrottled are bringing your average mbps way up on what you're seeing.

The test will finish yes.

[Yuhfhrh]

2 minutes ago, BlueAngel said:

The test will finish yes.

Final question, when you dial #264#, what does it say? (it will tell you binge on status).

[BlueAngel]

3 minutes ago, Yuhfhrh said:

Final question, when you dial #264#, what does it say? (it will tell you binge on status).

Says it's enabled.

[though]

7 hours ago, BlueAngel said:

My tests start out at like 20Mpbs then slows down to 7 or so. Speed test is over 100 or 50 or so on SA.

You are being throttled. Sprint used to have a 4K option for your plan (still might) where it is truly unthrottled for I think $10/mo additional.

[Yuhfhrh]

As of midnight CST, I no longer have any video throttle. 100mbps+ on fast.com. They fixed that a lot faster than I thought they would.

[BlueAngel]

1 hour ago, Yuhfhrh said:

As of midnight CST, I no longer have any video throttle. 100mbps+ on fast.com. They fixed that a lot faster than I thought they would.

I'm still getting about 6-7 on fast.com. I know for a fact I pay extra for the best streaming option my other line no, so weird.

Edited October 10, 2020 by BlueAngel

[Yuhfhrh]

2 hours ago, BlueAngel said:

I'm still getting about 6-7 on fast.com. I know for a fact I pay extra for the best streaming option my other line no, so weird.

Yeah if you have the premium add on for your line, you shouldn't be throttled. I think your plan without the add on gives 1080P video, which matches the ~7mbps throttle you're currently seeing. If you have other lines on your plan that are still on Sprint sims, you could do some testing with them to see how they're currently working.

I bet they're still combing through all the initial plans they allowed for TNX and are trying to set everything correctly.

[1dante]

In areas where I used to roam on AT&T, I’ve been seeing extended LTE. I opened the field test, and saw that I was on band 5. Maybe they removed the AT&T alpha tag? 

[Terrell352]

Yeah my throttle issue has been resolved now. Hit 180 on fast.com

[BlueAngel]

6 hours ago, Yuhfhrh said:

Yeah if you have the premium add on for your line, you shouldn't be throttled. I think your plan without the add on gives 1080P video, which matches the ~7mbps throttle you're currently seeing. If you have other lines on your plan that are still on Sprint sims, you could do some testing with them to see how they're currently working.

I bet they're still combing through all the initial plans they allowed for TNX and are trying to set everything correctly.

I know on my line I had the better video streaming, gonna have to look at see if they didn't remove it which seems to be the case.

[RedSpark]

How could this even be a possibility?:

I can't imagine there wasn't a merger condition prohibiting this very thing from happening. Perhaps it wasn't enough of a deterrent if this is even being floated or discussed out there.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-approves-t-mobilesprint-transaction-conditions

[belusnecropolis]

3 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

How could this even be a possibility?:

I can't imagine there wasn't a merger condition prohibiting this very thing from happening. Perhaps it wasn't enough of a deterrent if this is even being floated or discussed out there.

Who knew the merger would be a jobs program for the PRC home modem industry?

Multinational corporation's love milking this country at bottom dollar 🤑

[RedSpark]

2 hours ago, belusnecropolis said:

Who knew the merger would be a jobs program for the PRC home modem industry?

Multinational corporation's love milking this country at bottom dollar 🤑

Look at Section 349 here : https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-19-103A1.pdf

That's what the FCC had to say about "National Security" concerns.

EDIT: Looks like this is getting noticed

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by RedSpark
Updated

[greenbastard]

2 hours ago, RedSpark said:

How could this even be a possibility?:

I can't imagine there wasn't a merger condition prohibiting this very thing from happening. Perhaps it wasn't enough of a deterrent if this is even being floated or discussed out there.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-approves-t-mobilesprint-transaction-conditions

I think they're talking about the Revvl line of phones (which is currently made by TCL iirc). Not that big of a deal tbh.

[RedSpark]

1 hour ago, greenbastard said:

I think they're talking about the Revvl line of phones (which is currently made by TCL iirc). Not that big of a deal tbh.

I’m reading “all of their consumer 5G hardware” to refer to network hardware, not devices. Of course you may be right.

[Dkoellerwx]

2 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

I’m reading “all of their consumer 5G hardware” to refer to network hardware, not devices. Of course you may be right.

Consumer hardware would indicate to me either devices, or small cell or in home devices (think magic box), not network gear.

[iansltx]

2 hours ago, Dkoellerwx said:

Consumer hardware would indicate to me either devices, or small cell or in home devices (think magic box), not network gear.

Yeah, this feels overwrought. T-Mobile-branded phones have been made by Coolpad and TCL. Wouldn't be surprised if this is about 5G home modem/routers. Historically, T-Mobile has used Huawei and ZTE for their USB modems (I had a Huawei H+21 USB stick, then later a ZTE DC-H+ one). Wouldn't be surprised if one of those manufacturers, or someone like Coolpad (makers of the Coolpad Surf) or TCL are offering decent pricing on 5G home modems, and no one else is.

Not sure who makes the LTE home modem, but wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the Chinese manufacturers already.

IMO it's less of a big deal to have Huawei/ZTE gear at the edge than at the core; if the gear at the edge does something untoward, T-Mobile can block that traffic before it gets to the internet. Not like they're going to deploy anything other than Ericsson or Nokia (or maybe Samsung) in their core.

[belusnecropolis]

https://www.askey.com.tw/about.html

"Built on Trust Thanks to the trust of our worldwide customers, Askey has become a major player in the Information Technology arena. Askey is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Additionally, Askey owns a factory park in Suzhou, China, where it operates three highly advanced processing plants."

Sweet. Def not AM1st

1 hour ago, iansltx said:

Wouldn't be surprised if this is about 5G home modem/routers

 

[RedSpark]

Neville responded to the report:

Define "consumer device". Does that include home modems/routers?

It would be one thing if it was a single source, but multiple sources? Who could have had an agenda here and what was the motivation to plant this? Perhaps Verizon/AT&T?

Edited October 13, 2020 by RedSpark
Added context

[dewbertdc]

2 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

Neville responded to the report:

It would be one thing if it was a single source, but multiple sources? Who could have had an agenda here and what was the motivation to plant this? Perhaps Verizon/AT&T?

Consider the outlet that the journalist works for, and the weird use of "consumer 5G hardware."  This was clearly written to cause confusion amongst customers - and if you look at the replies to the original tweet, it's a lot of "my family will take their business elsewhere if this is true..."

I'm trying my hardest not to dive into politics here (and someone slap me if I get too close to the line), but it's no secret that T-Mobile got VERY cozy with the current DOJ and FCC in order to get the merger approved and the divestiture of Boost and the 800MHz spectrum to Dish facilitated.

Aside from the other big two carriers, T-Mobile's made some enemies among NWIDA with its policy changes on Metro dealer commission structure and accessory suppliers and the CWA union on its refusal to voluntarily recognize employee unionization attempts.  

[greenbastard]

5 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Neville responded to the report:

Define "consumer device". Does that include home modems/routers?

This story is a huge nothingburger. All three carriers already carry chinese phones with chinese components. Any phone sold under the T-Mobile or Revvl brand will be a Chinese phone. You will still be able to buy your Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxies.

Edited October 13, 2020 by greenbastard

[bigsnake49]

Which reminds me, the new iPhones are out or will be shortly. So all of you guys that have 5g even if it is just one tower can rush and buy them 🤣. Me, I will wait until they have basically blanketed the area with 5G before I upgrade. Meanwhile I will wait for the integration of the 4G networks or they move me to T-Mobile whichever comes first.

[RedSpark]

44 minutes ago, bigsnake49 said:

Which reminds me, the new iPhones are out or will be shortly. So all of you guys that have 5g even if it is just one tower can rush and buy them 🤣. Me, I will wait until they have basically blanketed the area with 5G before I upgrade. Meanwhile I will wait for the integration of the 4G networks or they move me to T-Mobile whichever comes first.

Yup. They've been announced. All models (12/12 mini/12 Pro) support sub-6 GHz and mmWave. Apple's website shows Sprint and T-Mobile as separate carriers under the purchase fields. Perhaps next year this will no longer be the case as merger and network integration continues. I guess we'll see how these devices launch out of the box on Sprint.

Of note, Verizon was given a lot of virtual stage time to talk up its 5G Ultra Wideband and speeds. Perhaps they were willing to pay the big bucks to announce a "Nationwide" launch:

T-Mobile had a response ready:

 

Also, the new iPhones have a "Smart Data" setting which enables it to stay on LTE and turn on 5G only when additional speed is necessary, like for a large download, etc. You can also set it so that it's always on 5G whenever available, albeit at greater battery drain I'm sure.

I'm trying to imagine Sprint going it alone here on 5G without T-Mobile. There's simply no way it could effectively compete with this, short of Masa coming in with a huge cash infusion to shore up things.... and he wasn't about to do that.

[iansltx]

On the network side of things, NR is up to 15x15 here as of today. Not seeing bits-and-pieces CA like I was previously, so speeds are actually down slightly, but I know capacity overall is up, and connectivity seems to be a bit more reliable than usual. I'm being routed over Sprint's backbone at the moment again rather than getting a direct T-Mobile IP, so maybe that has something to do with it.

[BlueAngel]

n71 is only 10x10 here but on SA I usually top out around 50 down.