Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

[RedSpark]

4 minutes ago, S4GRU said:

Major respect to the person who thought of this and pitched it to Corporate.

[dkyeager]

Sprint CDMA is gone from Columbus OH.  Like Magic Box, the base signal still exists but the devices no longer connect. Roaming on Verizon is still supported according to UPdownLoAD.

[S4GRU]

5 hours ago, dkyeager said:

Sprint CDMA is gone from Columbus OH.  Like Magic Box, the base signal still exists but the devices no longer connect. Roaming on Verizon is still supported according to UPdownLoAD.

End of an era.  But no real functional use any longer.  Except remote texting on weak 1x 800 signals.

Robert

[RedSpark]

4 hours ago, S4GRU said:

End of an era.  But no real functional use any longer.  Except remote texting on weak 1x 800 signals.

Robert

 

The lyrics speak to me on all this....

End of an era indeed.

[RedSpark]

Here we go!

[dkyeager]

41 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

Here we go!

I could not get it to work on my s21 ultra factory unlocked using tello or boost t-mobile*. But I also can not get band selection to lock on to nr71 either, but can with my Samsung a32 5g on T-Mobile.

* I am a Sprint second class citizen on T-Mobile stuck with the old biller for eternity (so it seems).

[RedSpark]

2 hours ago, dkyeager said:

I could not get it to work on my s21 ultra factory unlocked using tello or boost t-mobile*. But I also can not get band selection to lock on to nr71 either, but can with my Samsung a32 5g on T-Mobile.

* I am a Sprint second class citizen on T-Mobile stuck with the old biller for eternity (so it seems).

According to the release, VoNR has only been launched in limited areas of Portland and Salt Lake City so far.

Our Sprint Unlimited Freedom family plan was updated to an Unlimited Plan with Taxes/Fees included and our cost actually dropped. We all have T-Mobile SIMs. I'm debating whether it's worth it to switch us over to Sprint Max. I would lose 20GB of included hotspot but gain 4K streaming, ScamShield Premium and GoGo for about the same price.

Just waiting for them to throw the switch and move us over to T-Mobile billing....

Edited June 3, 2022 by RedSpark
Spelling

[dkyeager]

"The Un-carrier plans to expand VoNR to many more areas this year."

This is the part that I took as a challenge. We all know that it will need some testing in all areas first before it is publicly announced. However I may also be hindered by my equipment.

[jreuschl]

Interesting that only the S21, not S22 or any iPhone models support it yet.

[RedSpark]

6 minutes ago, jreuschl said:

Interesting that only the S21, not S22 or any iPhone models support it yet.

I'm betting they used the S21 for pre-launch testing VoNR so it has a unique carrier settings file to support it. Other devices are likely still in the certification process for it.

[Paynefanbro]

T-Mobile sure hopes no one notices any difference with 5G VoNR

Looks like T-Mobile is done beefing up their LTE network. Now that CDMA is gone they're gonna use that 5MHz of spectrum for n25.

Quote

T-Mobile still has a fine LTE network, but all of its investment is going into 5G, he said. To wit: T-Mobile just shut down the old Sprint CDMA network. It doesn’t make sense to put LTE on that spectrum. So T-Mobile is going to aggregate the 1900 MHz spectrum and create another 5G channel. It will have its low-band 600 MHz, the 2.5 GHz and another layer that includes the 1900 MHz.

 

[mdob07]

On 6/4/2022 at 11:22 AM, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile sure hopes no one notices any difference with 5G VoNR

Looks like T-Mobile is done beefing up their LTE network. Now that CDMA is gone they're gonna use that 5MHz of spectrum for n25.

 

Currently n2 and n25 aren't enabled on my S22 Ultra on T-Mobile firmware. Hopefully they enable that soon if that is indeed their plan to use that spectrum for n25.

[dkyeager]

On 6/4/2022 at 11:22 AM, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile sure hopes no one notices any difference with 5G VoNR

Looks like T-Mobile is done beefing up their LTE network. Now that CDMA is gone they're gonna use that 5MHz of spectrum for n25.

 

 

9 hours ago, mdob07 said:

Currently n2 and n25 aren't enabled on my S22 Ultra on T-Mobile firmware. Hopefully they enable that soon if that is indeed their plan to use that spectrum for n25.

I tested for this (n25 and n71 VoNR) on my s21 ultra factory unlocked without success, however T-Mobile firmware may be needed for the VoNR along with a good location.

[Paynefanbro]

T‑Mobile Tops 3 Gbps with World’s First Standalone 5G Carrier Aggregation Achievement

Quote

T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced today it was able to aggregate three channels of mid-band 5G spectrum, reaching speeds over 3 Gbps on its standalone 5G network. It’s the first time the test has ever been done with a commercial device (Samsung Galaxy S22 powered by Snapdragon® 8 Gen 1 Mobile Platform with Snapdragon X65 Modem-RF System) on a live production network.

— — — — —

In this test, the Un-carrier merged three 5G channels – two channels of 2.5 GHz Ultra Capacity 5G and one channel of 1900 MHz spectrum – creating an effective 210 MHz 5G channel. That’s all mid-band spectrum, by the way. And over 3 Gbps of speed!

— — — — —

NR CA is live in parts of T-Mobile’s network today, combining two 2.5 GHz 5G channels for greater speeds, performance and capacity. Customers with the Samsung Galaxy S22 will be among the first to experience a third 1900 MHz 5G channel later this year. This capability will expand across the Un-carrier’s network and to additional devices in the near future.

 

 

[clbowens]

3 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

T‑Mobile Tops 3 Gbps with World’s First Standalone 5G Carrier Aggregation Achievement

 

 

Yeah, I read about that.  How many carriers can the S21 aggregate?

[rjw]

53 minutes ago, clbowens said:

Yeah, I read about that.  How many carriers can the S21 aggregate?

I believe 2 based on the x60 Snapdragon chipset

[jreuschl]

Sites only need that backhaul to support those speeds now!

[iansltx]

Guessing n25 at 20x20 won't be here for another couple years, as our setup here is 25x25 + 10x10, with the latter including the G block. Betting we see at least 10x10 as of July 1 here though, maybe 2x 10x10 if TMo is willing to drop their B2 LTE carrier to 15x15 (otherwise they'd only have 5x5 to play with there). As they bleed LTE traffic off, guessing we'll see 15x15 n25 sometime in 2023, and 20x20 in 2024, though at that point they'll be at 5x5 B2. Which will mean they're leaning heavily on 2x 10x10 + 5x5 on AWS to handle heavier-duty LTE...which is probably fine.

I do think we'll hit 100+90 MHz n41 here early next year though. Pointless without backhaul, but they have the spectrum for it here AFAIK.

[RedSpark]

Curious what this will be:

Update:

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by RedSpark
New Info

[RedSpark]

17 hours ago, iansltx said:

Guessing n25 at 20x20 won't be here for another couple years, as our setup here is 25x25 + 10x10, with the latter including the G block. Betting we see at least 10x10 as of July 1 here though, maybe 2x 10x10 if TMo is willing to drop their B2 LTE carrier to 15x15 (otherwise they'd only have 5x5 to play with there). As they bleed LTE traffic off, guessing we'll see 15x15 n25 sometime in 2023, and 20x20 in 2024, though at that point they'll be at 5x5 B2. Which will mean they're leaning heavily on 2x 10x10 + 5x5 on AWS to handle heavier-duty LTE...which is probably fine.

I do think we'll hit 100+90 MHz n41 here early next year though. Pointless without backhaul, but they have the spectrum for it here AFAIK.

Is sufficient backhaul already laid to the sites, or will new lines have to be dug/run/provisioned?

[PedroDaGr8]

20 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

Is sufficient backhaul already laid to the sites, or will new lines have to be dug/run/provisioned?

Based on what my local ISP has posted, fiber is nice in that you don't have to dig it up and replace it. You just pair it up with equipment on each end. They mentioned that because they have fiber which was laid in the early 80s carrying 100s of Gb/s of data today. 

[radem]

1 hour ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

Based on what my local ISP has posted, fiber is nice in that you don't have to dig it up and replace it. You just pair it up with equipment on each end. They mentioned that because they have fiber which was laid in the early 80s carrying 100s of Gb/s of data today. 

The other thing about fiber is that it is never deployed as a single strand.  A strand is usually a single highly reflective plastic fiber tube that light pulses of different colors are rapidly sent through.  A fiber stand is almost always part of many strands of fiber run as a fiber optic bundle.  A fiber optic bundle of 24 or more strands within the same protective structure that looks like a cable or other communication line is often run inside a flexible plastic water resistant tube that is colorful (orange is commonly used) if it is buried or black with a steel cable in it for support is used if it is hung on poles. 

Some strands of that fiber optic bundle may be used at other locations the bundle passes by or some strands may currently be dark and not be in use at all waiting for a customer.  Each strand has a maximum data capacity based on the equipment on each end which is often 100Gb/s today.  This allows a cell site, business or other data consumer to use a massive amount of data based on the number of fiber strands in use at that location.  For example a site using 24 strands of 100Gbp/s for each strand could effectively use 2.4Tb/s ( 2.4 terabits or 2400 gigabits per second).  Dark fiber can be used simply by deploying the equipment at both ends to authenticate and send and receive data over that fiber connection.  

Fiber strands can also be shared by multiple customers and even over-committed when bandwidth is not guaranteed business class service with each customer being assigned part of the bandwidth of a single strand but totaling more than the strand maximum.   That is how the 1Gb/s fiber that runs to my house works as that is capped at 1% of a 100Gb/s fiber by for my home use but since I rarely use all of the 1Gb/s throughput there could easily be well over 100 homes and businesses sharing that single 100Gb/s fiber. 

[Paynefanbro]

T‑Mobile Expands Coverage Above and Beyond Its Own Maps

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/coverage-beyond

 

Quote

Starting June 21, when touching down in a foreign country, T-Mobile customers will get 5GB of free high-speed data each month, up to 5G speeds where available, in 210+ countries and destinations on T-Mobile’s most popular plan, Magenta MAX, and on the Business Unlimited Ultimate plan.

— — — — —

Plus, customers get the same experience of 5GB of high-speed data in 11 European countries — Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — on Magenta, most business plans and equivalent Sprint plans thanks to T-Mobile’s partnership with Deutsche Telecom. Essentially, everywhere a phone says “T-Mobile” customers will get the highest speeds available for their plan.

— — — — —

And T-Mobile is doubling the speeds worldwide across all 210+ countries and destinations (from 128kbps to 256kbps) so customers’ phones just work from the moment they touch down for things like basic navigation and email. This is in addition to the free texting customers already enjoy in those destinations. 

— — — — —

In addition, T-Mobile for Business customers will soon get the Secure Wi-Fi mobile app, included at no extra cost with Business Advanced and Ultimate plans. Secure Wi-Fi is a set-and-forget app that, when connected to public Wi-Fi, automatically helps protect customers’ data and enhance their experience on their smartphone – anywhere in the world.

— — — — —

To keep Un-carrier customers connected in-flight, T-Mobile is working with in-flight Wi-Fi providers to give customers free connectivity WITH streaming all flight long on the biggest U.S. airlines. Delta, American and Alaska Airlines will launch first on select flights starting June 21. United Airlines will follow. And T-Mobile will continue to work hard to keep customers covered on even more airlines over time.

 

Amazing that it took them this long to leverage the fact that they're a DT company to get better roaming deals in countries where DT operates a network. This is probably what'll finally get me to upgrade to Magenta Max. I'm also glad to see that they dropped Gogo and went to the airlines themselves to get deals on in-flight WiFi.

[RedSpark]

5 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

T‑Mobile Expands Coverage Above and Beyond Its Own Maps

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/coverage-beyond

 

 

That's pretty great! Our lines are on the Sprint Max plan with T-Mobile SIMs. I ran the numbers and it came out to be a better value to switch from our Unlimited Freedom plan.

This reminds me of how SoftBank gave Sprint customers roaming access in Japan way back when: https://shop.sprint.com/global/pdf/shop/japan_roaming_add_on.pdf

Edited June 16, 2022 by RedSpark
Added Link

[RedSpark]

Pretty nice.