Dish Network/Boost Mobile cell/5G buildout thread

[dkyeager]

Dish network down since 3:31am

Signalcheck Pro reports the Dish Network, at least the site at Scioto-Darby Rd Near I-270  in Columbus Ohio, was last operational at 3:31am. I normally pickup signal from two other Dish sites as well.  Reported via downdetector.com as Boost Infinite but one is such a lonely number. Tried to manually reconnect to Dish, but network is not appearing. Hopefully scheduled maintenance.

[dkyeager]

3 hours ago, dkyeager said:

Dish network down since 3:31am

Signalcheck Pro reports the Dish Network, at least the site at Scioto-Darby Rd Near I-270  in Columbus Ohio, was last operational at 3:31am. I normally pickup signal from two other Dish sites as well.  Reported via downdetector.com as Boost Infinite but one is such a lonely number. Tried to manually reconnect to Dish, but network is not appearing. Hopefully scheduled maintenance.

Came back in operation between 7 to 9am.  Roaming on T-Mobile and AT&T never went out so most people would not have noticed.

[JossMan]

What is the cheapest way to try Dish's wireless network?  Over the past year I've seen them add their equipment to just about every cell site here, I'm assuming just go through Boost's website?  What phones are Dish native?  

[iansltx]

3 hours ago, JossMan said:

What is the cheapest way to try Dish's wireless network?  Over the past year I've seen them add their equipment to just about every cell site here, I'm assuming just go through Boost's website?  What phones are Dish native?  

Boost Infinite with a rainbow SIM (you can get it SIM-only) is the cheapest way, at $25/mo, to my knowledge; the cheaper Boost Mobile plans don't run on Dish native. Check Phonescoop for n70 support on a given phone; the Moto G 5G from last year may be the cheapest unlocked phone with n70 though data speeds aren't as good as something with an X70 or better modem.

[JossMan]

19 hours ago, iansltx said:

Boost Infinite with a rainbow SIM (you can get it SIM-only) is the cheapest way, at $25/mo, to my knowledge; the cheaper Boost Mobile plans don't run on Dish native. Check Phonescoop for n70 support on a given phone; the Moto G 5G from last year may be the cheapest unlocked phone with n70 though data speeds aren't as good as something with an X70 or better modem.

Your referring to the $25.00 a month Infinite Unlimited plan?  I don't see any other plans on there even cheaper than that on their website.  I was looking at the Motorola 2023 Edge fwiw as well for $10.00 a month. 

[Yuhfhrh]

4 hours ago, JossMan said:

Your referring to the $25.00 a month Infinite Unlimited plan?  I don't see any other plans on there even cheaper than that on their website.  I was looking at the Motorola 2023 Edge fwiw as well for $10.00 a month. 

You could also just sign up for Project Genesis directly, $400 for the moto edge+ 2023 and $25/month for service.

[JossMan]

On 6/1/2024 at 1:56 PM, iansltx said:

Boost Infinite with a rainbow SIM (you can get it SIM-only) is the cheapest way, at $25/mo, to my knowledge; the cheaper Boost Mobile plans don't run on Dish native. Check Phonescoop for n70 support on a given phone; the Moto G 5G from last year may be the cheapest unlocked phone with n70 though data speeds aren't as good as something with an X70 or better modem.

I tried going into a Boost Mobile store and they wouldn't sell me a rainbow SIM card, said that it would be dead as soon as I put it in the Moto Edge 2023... which I know is bs... 

[JossMan]

Ok so I signed up for service through Boost Infinite, I ended up getting the Motorola Razr got it today.  They sent the rainbow SIM 2.0 card.  Activation was a breeze, connected to Dish's native network (n70 and n71), took the phone out and... IMPRESSED with their network!  Getting 200 to 300Mbps over n70 and around 50 to 60 on n71 no coverage drops!  Gosh I hope Dish can get it together, VoNR was crystal clear as well.  Paying $25.00 a month for the Infinite plan and $10.00 for the Moto Razr.  Amazing deal... will do more testing this evening when I get more time.  But so far from what I'm seeing Dish needs to stay in the fight. Just rebrand off of damn Boost and call it Dish Wireless... 

[Paynefanbro]

I haven't had the opportunity to test or map Dish here in NYC but they have tons of sites. I'm fairly certain that at this point they have contiguous coverage across the city, and in some places they likely have better coverage than the incumbents. I still think their weird split branding and lack of advertising is what's killing them, not the network. 

I have no idea what they were thinking by launching a sub-brand for people to beta test their network and then another sub-brand specifically for postpaid service, and not even with the guarantee that it uses their network. They need to get rid of everything and start with a clean slate.

[JossMan]

[Paynefanbro]

Boost Mobile – the Newest Wireless Carrier – Launches New State-of-the-Art Nationwide 5G Network, Plans and Branding

https://about.dish.com/2024-07-17-Boost-Mobile-the-Newest-Wireless-Carrier-Launches-New-State-of-the-Art-Nationwide-5G-Network,-Plans-and-Branding

Quote

• New Boost Mobile brand with new unified digital experience at BoostMobile.com. Boost Mobile is now the only nationwide carrier with both prepaid and postpaid mobile services under one name because Boost believes how you pay is not a product.
• New simplified pricing with Unlimited plans starting at just $25 a month, while other carriers offer their best pricing on an account holder's third or fourth line, Boost Mobile gives the best pricing on any line – and the $25-a-month plan is price locked forever for customers who sign up now with autopay.
• Boost Mobile is also kicking off a nationwide brand and advertising campaign, positioning Boost Mobile as the ultimate value in wireless, and bringing awareness to its new 5G network as the best choice in wireless.
• Boost Mobile customers have access to more towers than any other carrier, offering coverage to 99 percent of the country.ⁱ
• Boost Mobile is launching a new 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing new customers to test Boost Mobile's nationwide 5G network risk-free and experience its speed and reliability firsthand.

I'm really digging the relaunch of the brand. The new app is a lot better than before in that it actually feels like they're going a more premium route. The BoostOne app tried to gamify wireless service by making you want videos or download games in order to get discounts on your bill. Now it's decluttered and basically only account management. It's perfect.

I was on a promotional $25/month unlimited plan on Boost Mobile and I just switched to the new $25 forever plan which is pretty much the same as before, the only exception being that now I'm price locked.

The only thing I wish they'd do is start using QCIs instead of throttling once you use up your allotment of "premium data". I understand that they don't have as much capacity as the big 3 and that they're super reliant on AT&T and T-Mobile outside of major metros but hitting 30GB and being throttled to 512kbps is not competitive. They then try to charge $30 for an extra 10GB of high speed data. The big 3 and their prepaid brands have basically given up on hard throttling and use prioritization instead. They should consider doing the same.

The next step for them is getting their name on Apple's websites this fall when the new iPhones drop. That's some of the best advertising a carrier can have. Instantly millions of people will learn that Boost Mobile is an actual carrier if they can pull that off.

[iansltx]

They have plenty of capacity, as long as you're in an area where signal is strong enough to CA n66+n70, and network traffic is low enough that deprioritization wouldn't be noticeable.

This July 4th it did seem like they actually had subs on the network, as speeds did drop a bit vs. basically unloaded, but 100+ Mbps at a fireworks show on 55 MHz of downlink is still not hugely loaded (VZW was much faster as few people use them here I think).

I think I'll stick with $25 Infinite for now, and should either do the mini games for the year of free service or drop my Project Genesis line since now with eSIM I have all four networks available on my S24 (including AT&T and TMo roaming on Infinite).

Of note, the roaming above works in-network, so if I network select I really do have a triple-network SIM. And hotspot works even though I guess it's not supposed to.

[dkyeager]

On 7/17/2024 at 10:05 AM, Paynefanbro said:

Boost Mobile – the Newest Wireless Carrier – Launches New State-of-the-Art Nationwide 5G Network, Plans and Branding

https://about.dish.com/2024-07-17-Boost-Mobile-the-Newest-Wireless-Carrier-Launches-New-State-of-the-Art-Nationwide-5G-Network,-Plans-and-Branding

I'm really digging the relaunch of the brand. The new app is a lot better than before in that it actually feels like they're going a more premium route. The BoostOne app tried to gamify wireless service by making you want videos or download games in order to get discounts on your bill. Now it's decluttered and basically only account management. It's perfect.

I was on a promotional $25/month unlimited plan on Boost Mobile and I just switched to the new $25 forever plan which is pretty much the same as before, the only exception being that now I'm price locked.

The only thing I wish they'd do is start using QCIs instead of throttling once you use up your allotment of "premium data". I understand that they don't have as much capacity as the big 3 and that they're super reliant on AT&T and T-Mobile outside of major metros but hitting 30GB and being throttled to 512kbps is not competitive. They then try to charge $30 for an extra 10GB of high speed data. The big 3 and their prepaid brands have basically given up on hard throttling and use prioritization instead. They should consider doing the same.

The next step for them is getting their name on Apple's websites this fall when the new iPhones drop. That's some of the best advertising a carrier can have. Instantly millions of people will learn that Boost Mobile is an actual carrier if they can pull that off.

I am not certain QCIs would solve their issues. They lack density and capacity, thus a few users per their huge sectors can wipe out performance for a quarter to several suburbs.

Dish needs to implement their DOD and CBRS spectrum for capacity to be more stable. I think the current strategy is to use roaming basically in areas where capacity is an issue with the Dish network.

Getting marketing stability is job 1.  They need cash flow.