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On 4/9/2019 at 4:16 AM, greenbastard said:

Great article!

Just one question; Since Sprint usage is prioritized over MVNO usage (at least that's what most MVNOs state in their fine print), are MVNO users assigned a different QCI that gives them lower QoS priority?

It would be interesting to see if plans such as Sprint's Kickstart, T-Mobile Essentials, and Verizon's goUnlimited also have a different QCI.

For some very interesting comments on this, see

Unlimited Basic is treated like Kickstart, as is Boost. [QVI 8 to start, then QCI 9 above 50 GB]

Unlimited Premium/Plus/etc is prioritized for the first 50GB (QCI 7) then deprioritized. Older plans like ED, SERO, etc are also QCI 7 for the first 50 GB, then deprioritized.

I believe (but can't confirm) that prioritized plans are only penalized with QCI 8 (after 50GB), and only hit QCI 9 on hotspot.

If the plan says "at times of heavy traffic, Sprint may deprioritize" then it's deprioritized out of the gate.

If it says "after 50GB, Sprint may slow speeds when the network is busy" or something to that effect, then it's QCI 7 (prioritized) out of the gate.

The wording is key because Plus/Premium/etc are prioritized at 50GB, so you get the best effort of all consumer data with those plans at the start of each bill cycle.

Kickstart/Basic/Boost are also hit with even more depro at 50GB, but importantly, start off deprioritized, so they move to QCI 9 at the 50GB point.

 

There is a gym I go to where the signal always used to drop to 3G indoors.
A couple of days ago I turned on VoLTE capability on my S8+.
I have not yet experienced any actual VoLTE calls yet here in Raleigh (we are not in the list of initial VoLTE markets but we are a 5G upgrade location I believe), BUT something else good happened.

My phone roamed on LTE in the gym for the very first time I have ever seen it roam anywhere. In fact, it was on TMobile band 4 at 80 down and 28 up on Speed Test.

Evidently they will no longer drop to 3G, but will keep LTE, roaming if necessary to do so, in order to preserve the ability to do VoLTE.

It seems this gift is being given only to people who have phones upgraded to VoLTE.

I got the "Welcome To VoLTE" screen too but I am in Raleigh which is not listed as a VoLTE market.

So maybe everybody everywhere gets that screen if they click the toggle to turn it on.