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Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread


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Some interesting info about the shutdown in this article. Also found these pages on the T-Mobile Website interesting as well:

T-Mobile Network Evolution: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/t-mobile-network-evolution

What does the Sprint 3G (CDMA) network retirement mean to me?

On January 1, 2022, Sprint’s older 3G (CDMA) network will be retired. If you are still using a device that is dependent on Sprint’s 3G (CDMA) network or that does not support VoLTE, you’ll need to upgrade to a more modern device no later than the end of 2021 to continue getting service, including the ability to make 911 calls depending on your location.

What does the Sprint LTE network retirement mean to me?

Sprint’s LTE network will be retired on June 30, 2022. The good news is most Sprint LTE and 5G devices are compatible with the T-Mobile LTE or 5G network and will continue to operate on T-Mobile's LTE and 5G networks.  Customers only need to take a few easy steps:

  • Replace the Sprint SIM card with a T-Mobile SIM card
  • Ensure Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is enabled in device settings for voice calls (on applicable devices)

Sprint Migration Center: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/sprint-migration-center

Given the timeline for the Sprint LTE shutdown on June 30, 2022, I wonder if the upcoming iPhone will ship with a T-Mobile SIM Card pre-installed this Fall as it will be required to replace the Sprint SIM Card with a T-Mobile SIM card.

Unless I'm misreading, June 30, 2022 also sounds like it will be the end of TNA?

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What's irritating to me is that they've issued conflicting notices.  I've gotten e-mails saying one of the phones on my account needs to be replaced, a paper letter saying all of them do, and then the website says any device that supports VoLTE is fine, which all of the devices do.  So which is it?

I wish T-Mobile were competent.

- Trip

 

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11 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Unless I'm misreading, June 30, 2022 also sounds like it will be the end of TNA?

Does seem that way. Maybe between now and then they'll figure out how not to throttle video to 1.5 Mbps on all TNX lines.

My guess is 6/30/22 is when the Sprint mobile core network will be decom'd, so Sprint SIMs will stop working. New iPhones coming with T-Mobile SIMs seems like a good guess.

One question I have is whether T-Mobile thinks they'll have all Keep Sites swapped over to T-Mobile equipment by then. If so, I should be able to switch my family back over to T-Mobile based service at that point, as I don't imaging they'll do those retrofits without at least n71. Or are they expecting to switch L-Sprint sites that remain to T-Mobile's core, and upgrade equipment when they get around to it?

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23 minutes ago, iansltx said:

Does seem that way. Maybe between now and then they'll figure out how not to throttle video to 1.5 Mbps on all TNX lines.

My guess is 6/30/22 is when the Sprint mobile core network will be decom'd, so Sprint SIMs will stop working. New iPhones coming with T-Mobile SIMs seems like a good guess.

One question I have is whether T-Mobile thinks they'll have all Keep Sites swapped over to T-Mobile equipment by then. If so, I should be able to switch my family back over to T-Mobile based service at that point, as I don't imaging they'll do those retrofits without at least n71. Or are they expecting to switch L-Sprint sites that remain to T-Mobile's core, and upgrade equipment when they get around to it?

I know the site near me in Harrisburg PA is supposed to get all the low frequency bands where the existing Sprint gear is now. I'm crossing my fingers!  

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10 hours ago, Trip said:

What's irritating to me is that they've issued conflicting notices.  I've gotten e-mails saying one of the phones on my account needs to be replaced, a paper letter saying all of them do, and then the website says any device that supports VoLTE is fine, which all of the devices do.  So which is it?

I wish T-Mobile were competent.

- Trip

 

May I ask what devices you have on your account?

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5 hours ago, iansltx said:

Does seem that way. Maybe between now and then they'll figure out how not to throttle video to 1.5 Mbps on all TNX lines.

My guess is 6/30/22 is when the Sprint mobile core network will be decom'd, so Sprint SIMs will stop working. New iPhones coming with T-Mobile SIMs seems like a good guess.

One question I have is whether T-Mobile thinks they'll have all Keep Sites swapped over to T-Mobile equipment by then. If so, I should be able to switch my family back over to T-Mobile based service at that point, as I don't imaging they'll do those retrofits without at least n71. Or are they expecting to switch L-Sprint sites that remain to T-Mobile's core, and upgrade equipment when they get around to it?

I didn't realize Video was throttled to 1.5 Mbps on TNX lines. I haven't noticed any performance change in video.

It would make sense to have the new "Sprint" iPhones released with a T-Mobile physical SIM, or else these customers will suddenly lose service on June 30, 2022.... Unless they come up with another way to have customers re-provision their devices to T-Mobile with a pushed update, etc. I'm curious how they'll do this. Perhaps with an eSIM?

I also wonder what will happen to current TNX customers when they upgrade this Fall. It would be crazy to have to provision a Sprint SIM first and then switch to a T-Mobile SIM. Hopefully they don't have us do that.

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6 hours ago, RedSpark said:

I didn't realize Video was throttled to 1.5 Mbps on TNX lines. I haven't noticed any performance change in video.

It would make sense to have the new "Sprint" iPhones released with a T-Mobile physical SIM, or else these customers will suddenly lose service on June 30, 2022.... Unless they come up with another way to have customers re-provision their devices to T-Mobile with a pushed update, etc. I'm curious how they'll do this. Perhaps with an eSIM?

I also wonder what will happen to current TNX customers when they upgrade this Fall. It would be crazy to have to provision a Sprint SIM first and then switch to a T-Mobile SIM. Hopefully they don't have us do that.

Video is only throttled on TNX lines that are legacy. The Premium plan is NOT throttled even on TNX

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9 hours ago, Terrell352 said:

Video is only throttled on TNX lines that are legacy. The Premium plan is NOT throttled even on TNX

Would a good way to test that be the new "Video" tab in the Speed Test app?  And see what the highest video it says you can stream while on the network?

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13 minutes ago, clbowens said:

Would a good way to test that be the new "Video" tab in the Speed Test app?  And see what the highest video it says you can stream while on the network?

Yes. If it lets you do 4K your good. Make sure your in a area that’s fast enough though 

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43 minutes ago, Terrell352 said:

Yes. If it lets you do 4K your good. Make sure your in a area that’s fast enough though 

Ok, cool.  So yeah, I'm a Sprint customer, on TNX (we have T-Mobile SIMs) and the speed test app says I can do 4K video.  So no throttling here.

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2 hours ago, clbowens said:

Would a good way to test that be the new "Video" tab in the Speed Test app?  And see what the highest video it says you can stream while on the network?

T-Mobile's network whitelists all data in the Speedtest app so if your connection is fast enough it'll show 4K even if they actually throttle you for video. Instead I'd suggest using fast.com which tests through Netflix's servers.

I'm on the Magenta plan and if I do a video test on Speedtest.net it says I can stream 4K however when I test using fast.com it is initially very fast but progressively slows down and caps out at 1.5Mbps.

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14 hours ago, Trip said:

LG G7, LG G8, and two LG G8X.

- Trip

That might be the problem, from what I've heard, T-Mobile is not wanting to support LG devices anymore for some reason.  The G8X is the only device on my account that is LG, and the only one I get anything about needing to replace.  The phone is still under a lease agreement, even!  LOL  I'm thinking about trying a TNX sim in it to see what it does.  Of course, I'll have to pry it out of the kid's hands, first.

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37 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile's network whitelists all data in the Speedtest app so if your connection is fast enough it'll show 4K even if they actually throttle you for video. Instead I'd suggest using fast.com which tests through Netflix's servers.

I'm on the Magenta plan and if I do a video test on Speedtest.net it says I can stream 4K however when I test using fast.com it is initially very fast but progressively slows down and caps out at 1.5Mbps.

Ah, ok.  So the speed test app would NOT be good to test that.

 

When I do a test on fast.com, i get 6.3Mbps.  Upload is 6.5Mbps

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2 hours ago, clbowens said:

Ah, ok.  So the speed test app would NOT be good to test that.

 

When I do a test on fast.com, i get 6.3Mbps.  Upload is 6.5Mbps

6.3Mbps is solid for video streaming.

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On 8/4/2021 at 10:38 AM, iansltx said:

Does seem that way. Maybe between now and then they'll figure out how not to throttle video to 1.5 Mbps on all TNX lines.

My guess is 6/30/22 is when the Sprint mobile core network will be decom'd, so Sprint SIMs will stop working. New iPhones coming with T-Mobile SIMs seems like a good guess.

One question I have is whether T-Mobile thinks they'll have all Keep Sites swapped over to T-Mobile equipment by then. If so, I should be able to switch my family back over to T-Mobile based service at that point, as I don't imaging they'll do those retrofits without at least n71. Or are they expecting to switch L-Sprint sites that remain to T-Mobile's core, and upgrade equipment when they get around to it?

Every TNX line is throttled to 1.5 mbps? Every plan?

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14 hours ago, Terrell352 said:

Yes. If it lets you do 4K your good. Make sure your in a area that’s fast enough though 

I don’t think the speedtest app is being throttled which wouldn’t show a video throttle. It would show you can do 4k when you can’t.

Ive heard that the video throttle on legacy plans is supposed to be fixed.

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On 8/4/2021 at 10:57 PM, Terrell352 said:

Video is only throttled on TNX lines that are legacy. The Premium plan is NOT throttled even on TNX

I have Unlimited Plus Subsidy (business plan). Throttling was still there. Fast.com settled down at 1.5 Mbps. Without TNX I was at 6.5-8 Mbps.

Edited by iansltx
I have unlimited plus, not premium
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13 hours ago, Cardsfan96 said:

I don’t think the speedtest app is being throttled which wouldn’t show a video throttle. It would show you can do 4k when you can’t.

Ive heard that the video throttle on legacy plans is supposed to be fixed.

The FAST app from Netflix will show if you are throttled. When I was throttled it showed about 1.5Mbs now it shows 150Mbs+. 

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4 hours ago, schmidtj said:

The FAST app from Netflix will show if you are throttled. When I was throttled it showed about 1.5Mbs now it shows 150Mbs+. 

Is this widely known? I had no idea, possibly because I've never been throttled on native coverage. I doubt I've ever used it when roaming. 

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1 minute ago, Grabber5.0 said:

Is this widely known? I had no idea, possibly because I've never been throttled on native coverage. I doubt I've ever used it when roaming. 

I picked up the tip on Reddit. 

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3 hours ago, Dkoellerwx said:

Sounds like mainly older Sprint plans. But not sure, I haven't given up on TNA yet.

Any plan that specifically doesn't mention 1080p (~6mbps) or 1080p+ (unthrottled) is throttled down to to 480p (~2.5mbps) right now on TNX. This may be something T-Mobile tries to force down Sprint customer's throats, even though it's inconsistent with how they've treated their own customers with legacy plans before video streaming limits.

 

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9 hours ago, Grabber5.0 said:

Is this widely known? I had no idea, possibly because I've never been throttled on native coverage. I doubt I've ever used it when roaming. 

Basically yes.

That was from the beginning and still is the sole purpose of the FAST.com site - to test for and prove carrier thottling. 

It was created by Netflix for that purpose, for the benefit of Netflix users who have inadequate Netflix performance, to allow them to know for sure what the source of the problem is.

Edited by comintel
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On 8/6/2021 at 5:04 PM, Dkoellerwx said:

Sounds like mainly older Sprint plans. But not sure, I haven't given up on TNA yet.

I’ve heard from a decent source that legacy plans at least Everything Data will be fixed to get hd instead of sd like it currently is on TNX. It will have the same video experience as unlimited plus.

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