Tmobile merger ruined sprint. They're telling me to get a Tmobile Sim? - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Questions & Answers

We all know 5G is garbage, 4G is fine and 80mb down was fine, but we bought two $1400 paperweights. I even disabled 5G and I have 2 bars and drop calls EVERYWHERE.
Sprint told me that there was an issue getting sprint people on Tmobile and that I needed to go to Tmobile and have them wipe my phone and put a Tmobile Sim.
I'm not comfortable with this but I'm pissed that I'm stuck with this ****ty service. Every time I pass a cell tower my call drops and I have no "mobile network" for miles. Sprint swears getting a Tmobile Sim will fix it but Tmobile has always been a crappy carrier and NO ONE around here has ever had it.
Is doing this a bad idea? I'm told we can't go back to sprint if they do this switch..
Thank you

AprilAr said:
We all know 5G is garbage, 4G is fine and 80mb down was fine, but we bought two $1400 paperweights. I even disabled 5G and I have 2 bars and drop calls EVERYWHERE.
Sprint told me that there was an issue getting sprint people on Tmobile and that I needed to go to Tmobile and have them wipe my phone and put a Tmobile Sim.
I'm not comfortable with this but I'm pissed that I'm stuck with this ****ty service. Every time I pass a cell tower my call drops and I have no "mobile network" for miles. Sprint swears getting a Tmobile Sim will fix it but Tmobile has always been a crappy carrier and NO ONE around here has ever had it.
Is doing this a bad idea? I'm told we can't go back to sprint if they do this switch..
Thank you
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Don't know where you are, but around here (southwest Missouri), Sprint has always been very spotty. I've had T-Mo for the last five years and have used it all over Oklahoma and Missouri. Ive used in in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. Chicago, Illinois. Northern Arkansas. Parts of Kentucky. Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. Birmingham, Alabama. Orlando, Melbourne, Tamba Bay, and Clearwater, Florida. And all the roads connecting those places. And I've had great luck with T-Mobile. There's dead spots for sure, but for awhile my work phone was ATT, my personal was T-Mobile, and my hotspot was Verizon. They usually all had the same service and dead spots in the same areas.

AprilAr said:
We all know 5G is garbage, 4G is fine and 80mb down was fine, but we bought two $1400 paperweights. I even disabled 5G and I have 2 bars and drop calls EVERYWHERE.
Sprint told me that there was an issue getting sprint people on Tmobile and that I needed to go to Tmobile and have them wipe my phone and put a Tmobile Sim.
I'm not comfortable with this but I'm pissed that I'm stuck with this ****ty service. Every time I pass a cell tower my call drops and I have no "mobile network" for miles. Sprint swears getting a Tmobile Sim will fix it but Tmobile has always been a crappy carrier and NO ONE around here has ever had it.
Is doing this a bad idea? I'm told we can't go back to sprint if they do this switch..
Thank you
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Sprint *is* t-mobile now. If you're on sprint you're on t-mobile and the company is going to try to make them one-in-the-same moving forward. You're basically saying that you don't want a sprint/t-mobile SIM and want to stick with your sprint/t-mobile SIM. They own all the same towers now so service is the same. They likely mean just get a newer SIM with the newer 4G and 5G support, a SIM that can use *all* the tower types.... It doesn't matter if it's "t mobile" or "sprint". They are the same thing now. If you walk into a sprint store. It's a T-Mobile store. You are already on t-mobile's service, it's just with an outdated SIM that can only use older sprint towers. The new SIM also would support the newer iterations of "4G" and have better coverage. 4G or 5G doesn't matter so much as you're going to want a new sim regardless for maximum service coverage in either.

AprilAr said:
We all know 5G is garbage,
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No, we don't.
Tmobile has always been a crappy carrier
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I've had T-Mobile for several years and I'm pleased with their coverage, customer service, and price.

I have sprint service and after the galaxy note 20 ultra software update, my signal had been spotty on 5g. I went to settings, then general management, then reset, then reset network setting. After I did that, my signal and internet speed has been great. Warning, you will lose all your saved wifi and Bluetooth pairings, but you can set all of them back up. It's worth it.

Time to move on to another carrier , you have plenty of choices in america ??

I read verizon was refarming their network for better coverage. But hey all carriers claim this bs anyway.

Gary02468 said:
No, we don't.
I've had T-Mobile for several years and I'm pleased with their coverage, customer service, and price.
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I'm glad your 5G signal gives you more than 2mg download, in West Virginia it does not. Nor does it work in Virginia, Maryland or Washington DC but 4G is flawless.
Thanks for the responses everyone. Tmobile doesn't work well in West Virginia and Sprint has always been the go to.
I feel as if I was misled. I recorded the conversation where they said "Sprint towers remain online, we will only be inheriting Tmobile towers." but all Sprint towers went offline here hence no service and only being on roam 24/7.
That night, we dropped $2800 on branded phones. I'm about to just unlock it, root it, get rid of the bloatware and hope for the best.
As of right now, I received a $300 account credit as we do not have service here and they can see on the map where it's black. I hope they get it together and are able to fix the network by the time the credit runs out. Worst case scenario a manager in corporate did agree to cancel our contracts and return the phones even though we got them on launch day. I'll have to wait and see how things pan out.

Totes sucks lol almost faster than my home internet. I have an unlocked running a sprint sim, I only seem to get tmo bands anymore very rarely do I pick up sprint bands even with a sprint airrave device nearby

AprilAr said:
I'm glad your 5G signal gives you more than 2mg download[. ]In West Virginia it does not. Nor does it work in Virginia, Maryland or Washington DC but 4G is flawless.
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I do see now when I look at the T-Mobile coverage map that there are huge black regions that I'm pretty sure weren't previously depicted. I haven't had difficulty yet myself, but I'm sorry you're without coverage.
I feel as if I was misled. I recorded the conversation where they said "Sprint towers remain online, we will only be inheriting Tmobile towers." but all Sprint towers went offline here hence no service and only being on roam 24/7.
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Keeping a record of tech conversations is indeed good (online chat rather that voice works best). But even better is to never trust assurances by tech reps, because they're often not knowledgeable and may pass along rumors or made-up answers. If they tell you something important, ask politely how they know and where you can find confirmation. (That's actually a good practice when dealing with almost anyone about almost anything important.)

TMO = T hird world M obile O perations.
Even more insult to injury for us USA users as we cannot get a proper dual SIM device that will work with two carriers. I have TMO and Verizon. I've been able to use two lines from these carriers since 2018 on my iPhone XS Max. Even though Samsung claims the S20 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra have esim capability they simply don't work in this fashion.

Related

returning phone :( T-mo sucks!

I love this phone, but t-mobile sucks. I can't take the ****ty service anymore. I've had more dropped calls in the past 2 weeks than I've had with Att, sprint, and Verizon over the past 10yrs.
I originally thought I'd be able to use att towers, but we all know that isn't yet possible.
Not sure what carrier and phone to go with now. hmmmm....
What is Tmo's coverage map look like in your area? If it was bad to begin with, then you should be expecting this coming in.
If not, then you may just have a bad device.
not sure about dropped calls, but T-mobile signal coverage does suck
You meant to say Tmobile sucks in you location because it doesn't suck in mine (Baltimore) but you know who's service does suck in my area. ATT and Sprint. My wife's iPhone gets multiple dropped calls though out the week and there data speeds suck. Sprints WiMax is laughable and always gets static on the line. Tmobile however has insane 4g speeds where I live and I average 8mbs DL and 3mbs UL in and around Baltimore. Not to mention I haven't had a dropped call since I can remember. I don't even remember the last time I went without service. In the end there is no point for me to pay more and get less. A post like yours is all subjective depending on where you live and in the end, this thread is idiotic. Nobody wants to hear you high about carrier service in a forum dedicated to a device.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
eagercrow said:
I love this phone, but t-mobile sucks. I can't take the ****ty service anymore. I've had more dropped calls in the past 2 weeks than I've had with Att, sprint, and Verizon over the past 10yrs.
I originally thought I'd be able to use att towers, but we all know that isn't yet possible.
Not sure what carrier and phone to go with now. hmmmm....
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Try here.
mikett26 said:
What is Tmo's coverage map look like in your area? If it was bad to begin with, then you should be expecting this coming in.
If not, then you may just have a bad device.
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It shows as covering everywhere. I wouldn't have gotten the phone if the coverage maps were accurate. I get 3g att coverage on my company phone when I have 0 signal with tmobile.
Driving my kids to school 8 miles away I have NO service for 80% of the drive, never had issues with any other carrier. I can pretty much count on ONLY getting service if I'm at or near a city center.
In my area I have great t-mobile coverage and I had att before which was very bad.
So go for the network which works best for you. No point in cribbing here since I guess no can help you. All it does is a flame war.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
I'm just frustrated cause I like the phone so much. Don't need to get your panties in a bunch.
I get great service in my area (Indianapolis) with T-Mobile 4g damn near all day hardly ever drops to 3g and 4 bars everywhere I go..NO DROPPED calls ever I've been with T-Mobile since 2005
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App
After being with att, Verizon,and sprint, T-Mobile is by far the coverage for me on my area of Dallas TX, I sit at 1 bar with Verizon in the house if I'm lucky, sprint is always no more than 2 and att is the 2nd best for me.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
I'm having a fair amount of problems with lost signal, and all I did was upgrade from my Nexus 1. Still live in Chicago, still drive the same routes, but before where it was not an issue it is now. Which forces me to conclude it's either SW that still needs improvement, or hardware a la Apple's infamous antenna problems.
eagercrow said:
I love this phone, but t-mobile sucks. I can't take the ****ty service anymore. I've had more dropped calls in the past 2 weeks than I've had with Att, sprint, and Verizon over the past 10yrs.
I originally thought I'd be able to use att towers, but we all know that isn't yet possible.
Not sure what carrier and phone to go with now. hmmmm....
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sprint=over priced/behind the curve (4g?!?!?)
At&t = big bill/****ty network and customer serivce (in my area... i was a customer for 4 years)
verizon= jacked up plans/high prices no customer loyalty or service..... (good service tho in my area)
T-mo= great customer service/decent service (my area) and i got a free g2x from them so suck it
/thread go get a trac phone
stop making useless threads how your gonna get better phones/service NO ONE CARES rant about it on your myspace page
KTHXBYE
I love your threads today...Stop making me laugh. It hurts when I laugh.
I have to say though that I think the I'm leaving posts have their place. If I'm researching a potential phone, I'm interested in disgruntled customers and their rants. They helped me decide on this phone for instance.
While there are a few(I'm leaving posts) for the G2X, there are not that many. And when someone is leaving for a bs, unenlightened, not ever gonna be satisfied reason, it's usually pretty apparent. But go to Androidforums and see all the complaints about the Indulge. There are legions of users who are unhappy. If one person is detered then the people who've posted have helped.
Thank Zeus for the forums. An educated consumer is a powerful one. You have to have a lot of opinions to make an informed decision. Even the redonkalous ones LOL.
I drive between NJ and PA around 70 miles to work everyday. Never dropped a call even while on drive all the way. Tmobile coverage is very good. It sure hops between 2g and 4g, but that is due to the software. AT&T is not at all good in my area.
eagercrow said:
It shows as covering everywhere. I wouldn't have gotten the phone if the coverage maps were accurate. I get 3g att coverage on my company phone when I have 0 signal with tmobile.
Driving my kids to school 8 miles away I have NO service for 80% of the drive, never had issues with any other carrier. I can pretty much count on ONLY getting service if I'm at or near a city center.
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8 miles to school!!! damn. Must not be in the city
Tmobile works well in the cities but not so much in-between. I travel and it sucks sometimes. Airports are the worst. ALL AIRPORTS SHOULD HAVE GREAT COVERAGE ON ALL CARRIERS... but they don't. With AT&T and Tmobile I'm often left with little to no cell signal. Verizon has the best coverage and is the most reliable. AT&T is second with Tmobile last.
90% of the time I am within the city and get great 4G data speeds and a reliable network.
I am always amused by how people are so easily affected my the media machine. BMW is the ultimate driving machine, Verizon is the best, Mercedes never break, blah blah blah...
I have Tmo in SoCal...I've had ATT, Sprint and Verizon. I would not trade Tmo's customer service for any or all of the other 3's claims. Sprint and ATT's data speeds are laughable here. Verizon is good but not worth 3x the price. ATT I think spends all their time trying to make their automated phones menus more torturous. The last time I needed to call ATT, I spent 2 hours calling number after number and never got my issue resolved. I cancelled all my ATT services at that point...took nearly all day to do it but boy do I feel good about it now.
jrwingate6 said:
You meant to say Tmobile sucks in you location because it doesn't suck in mine (Baltimore) but you know who's service does suck in my area. ATT and Sprint. My wife's iPhone gets multiple dropped calls though out the week and there data speeds suck. Sprints WiMax is laughable and always gets static on the line. Tmobile however has insane 4g speeds where I live and I average 8mbs DL and 3mbs UL in and around Baltimore. Not to mention I haven't had a dropped call since I can remember. I don't even remember the last time I went without service. In the end there is no point for me to pay more and get less. A post like yours is all subjective depending on where you live and in the end, this thread is idiotic. Nobody wants to hear you high about carrier service in a forum dedicated to a device.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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Same in baltimore with good service.
eagercrow said:
I love this phone, but t-mobile sucks. I can't take the ****ty service anymore. I've had more dropped calls in the past 2 weeks than I've had with Att, sprint, and Verizon over the past 10yrs.
I originally thought I'd be able to use att towers, but we all know that isn't yet possible.
Not sure what carrier and phone to go with now. hmmmm....
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Do you feel better now?
I live in Kansas City, location of the Sprint World Headquarters, and can't recieve a Sprint signal in my house.
Do you have a point?
Try complaining to AT&T for not carrying the G2X...problem solved.
Tmobile is great in my location and wifi calling will not go against minutes pretty soon. You simply cannot beat that at all .
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

Probably leaving T-Mobile.. any suggestions based on rooting options??

So I'm over T-Mobile and their crappy reception in my area.
I've had work tickets opened for trouble-shooting in my area and nothing..
I've written to corporate and was basically told either deal with it or pay the termination fee.. this 2 days after re-newing. Little did I know that you cant cancel as soon as you renew a contract, unlike when you open a new line (Thanks for NOT telling me that T-Mobile).
Anyhow, I'm probably gonna sell my Sensation, my wife's Galaxy S 4G, and our niece's Vibrant to pay the cancellation fees, and look to go elsewhere.
Verizon & Sprint seem to have the best reception in my area, but I like rooting my phones and I'd like to know, what phones or service have the more options when it comes to rooting??
wait... you are not even getting 2G ? as in EDGE?
you can certainly ROAM for free in the USA, back then when i was living there even when i get no 3G i can still roam just fine in 2G and get reception everywhere where 3G did not reach without additional charges
AllGamer said:
wait... you are not even getting 2G ? as in EDGE?
you can certainly ROAM for free in the USA, back then when i was living there even when i get no 3G i can still roam just fine in 2G and get reception everywhere where 3G did not reach without additional charges
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Well the reception is so choppy that in and around my condo, the reception goes from 4G to Edge, to nothing, to edge, and back n forth - ALL DAY around my place! I literally have to cross the street to receive a picture message!!
I've just had it with all that and the fact that I kinda got duped by the freakin Loyalty dept themselves, I'm over T-Mobile.
AllGamer said:
wait... you are not even getting 2G ? as in EDGE?
you can certainly ROAM for free in the USA, back then when i was living there even when i get no 3G i can still roam just fine in 2G and get reception everywhere where 3G did not reach without additional charges
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Before I moved all I got was gprs sometimes. Most times I had to use wifi calling to make a call or stand by the street to talk. People could get 3 bars of AT&T 3G in my house.
Now I've moved and get full T-Mob coverage, but the 3G speeds are worse than Sprint and Verizon.
We plan to drop them soon, especiallyvafter they changed our rate plan and tried to extend our contract another.year.behind our backs and charged us $50 in minutes overages because their MyAccount app shoes the wrong minute used value on every phone.
Then lied about the rate plan change and told me there was a note on the account saying we were notified. After cussing her out for about 5 minutes I hung up in her face and called back. The next person fixed it probably just tobget me off the phone. I was fuming.
I'm going back to AT&T. They had much better customer service and infnitely better coverage. I don't mind paying more for piece of mind. Also, I want true unlimited mobile to mobile calling. Not T-Mobiles gimp version cause no one else except the people on my plan has them, anyways.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
I would get a Sgs2 of you can (At&T) or the sprint one. If the big (bad) red is your thing then the Razr seems to be the best from my useage. I work near a red store and Have gone to 2 and tryed both the razr and the 720p HTC and the razr seems more use able to me, but the S2 on AT&T H+ was able to = or beat them in loading web and video. The HTC could not even play 1080p video right and the first one I tryed at the store near me booted up and before I could do anything it went off for good.( I have never seen a phone do that in a store.)
I like AT&T now even if my speeds of 3-5mb is not as good as the 2.5-15mbs of LTE. P.S Yes I did a speed test on cnet and my phone got 3.8 and the HTC got 2.5. I don't think was right, but you never know.
Well in your area it could be complicated would not use Sprint their service is unreliable, so pick your poison, ATT and get bumped off alot from over crowding or Verizon and get over charged and deal with cdma
BTW, I have a friend who owns a percentage in the Arsenal team.....
You could get a booster for your house, TMO offers them, or you can buy a grey market one and THAT will solve alot of your problems.
perroh said:
So I'm over T-Mobile and their crappy reception in my area.
I've had work tickets opened for trouble-shooting in my area and nothing..
I've written to corporate and was basically told either deal with it or pay the termination fee.. this 2 days after re-newing. Little did I know that you cant cancel as soon as you renew a contract, unlike when you open a new line (Thanks for NOT telling me that T-Mobile).
Anyhow, I'm probably gonna sell my Sensation, my wife's Galaxy S 4G, and our niece's Vibrant to pay the cancellation fees, and look to go elsewhere.
Verizon & Sprint seem to have the best reception in my area, but I like rooting my phones and I'd like to know, what phones or service have the more options when it comes to rooting??
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verizon vs tmobile

I've been with verizon since 2000 and never really had an choice to change since they always had the best service in my area. I've never liked at&t and the rep for tmobile has been its known for prepaid and shotty service. Thing is now, I see more and more people moving over to tmobile and are loving it. Its cheaper per month than verizon and service in my area in NJ is pretty much the same as verizons. Plus there are some features like the wifi calling, the hspa+ coverage, lte. that make it pretty attractive. But the kicker on whats making me consider the change is the phone selection. Verizon seems to always be lagging behind and I'm tired of having to wait for new phones to hit verizon and for updates to be released. Has anyone else thought about a move?
topaz330 said:
I've been with verizon since 2000 and never really had an choice to change since they always had the best service in my area. I've never liked at&t and the rep for tmobile has been its known for prepaid and shotty service. Thing is now, I see more and more people moving over to tmobile and are loving it. Its cheaper per month than verizon and service in my area in NJ is pretty much the same as verizons. Plus there are some features like the wifi calling, the hspa+ coverage, lte. that make it pretty attractive. But the kicker on whats making me consider the change is the phone selection. Verizon seems to always be lagging behind and I'm tired of having to wait for new phones to hit verizon and for updates to be released. Has anyone else thought about a move?
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I'm probably going to switch to their pre-paid service when my contract is up. I want a Nexus.... Verizon doesn't seem to be getting another any time soon.
I would definitely go with Tmobile for better phone selection & price, but the service in my area is below average. Hopefully LTE rolls out to my area then I'll jump ships.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
I have to jump ship Verizon breaking my bank bad got to pay a fortune to keep service . I gotta switch back to my iPhone I know -_- and go to T-Mobile prepaid because they have the 1900 MHz support in my area
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
If you go to a T-Mobile store they might be able to help you pay for your ETF fee, at least that's what they did for me. I would have to pay Verizon 150, but the rep just credited my T-Mobile account 100$ when I switched. He told me that this is something every store has a budget for. It's definitely worth a shot just asking the rep. It's saved me quite a bit of money so far (even if coverage isn't perfect)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
I had T-Mobile and really liked 'em. They were NOT cheaper, I'm able to get on VZW's Old Fart Plan and it was just $5/mo more than the T-Mo plan I had.
CS is about equal with both except for T-Mo's prepaid which gets you people who speak no intelligible English, with postpaid you get good CS.
Coverage, very close to zero with T-Mo, everywhere I went. Only spotty coverage in the largest cities, VZW has 3g or better everywhere I travelled.
A phone that can't make a call until you find a Starbucks with free WiFi isn't useful to me.
Have your car break down on California 371 in the middle of the Cahuilla Indian Reservation? You're 50 miles from ANY T-Mo signal and you've got 2 - 3 bars with Verizon.
I really liked T-Mo but it wasn't usable for me.
for those that had coverage issues how long ago did you have tmobile? I heard coverage recently got better and that they are aggressively expanding to more towers across the country.
I don't like Verizon's pricing, phone selection, and the hassle required to unlock their phones for international use.
That being said, I switched from t mobile to Verizon in 07 for one reason: coverage. I use to live in Philadelphia in an 5 floor apartment with a T-Mobile store like three blocks away. No coverage in my apartment unless I kept the phone by the window.
Now I live and work in north nj and Verizon is the only reliable wireless carrier (by word of mouth). Not sure how much has changed in six years but I would leave Verizon if anyone had coverage close to the theirs
topaz330 said:
for those that had coverage issues how long ago did you have tmobile? I heard coverage recently got better and that they are aggressively expanding to more towers across the country.
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I tried 2 weeks ago, just to test their service and see how it was since I haven't been with them for 1 year and a half and its still sucky. They do have 4G (HSPA+) in my area now but I get 1 bar of it and when it dont get a strong signal it'll go to Edge. I hear a nearby area "might" get LTE in late June so that means my area "might" get it late 2013. I'm just waiting to see what happens...my contract is up in November for Verizon
My buddy has tmo and hates the service. He doesn't get service with his phone and winds up using his Verizon work phone 90 percent of the time to make calls.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
I had Verizon before I switched to T-Mobile. T-Mobile is cheaper, has just as good of support and a good selection of phones. However, Verizon does have better service so if you travel frequently expect some dead zones.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
I used to have T-mo and I loved it! The reception in my area was incredible. I moved to verizon and it's still in the same category in satisfaction. T-mo is a lot cheaper than verizon, so I would give it a try. You're not going to regret it. Sim cards are the best.
I recently jumped from Verizon to T-Mobile and pretty much all comments thus far are justified.
topaz330 said:
for those that had coverage issues how long ago did you have tmobile? I heard coverage recently got better and that they are aggressively expanding to more towers across the country.
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They've added -some- sites in recent times, but the "re-farm" you seem to have heard about is primarily a massive equipment refresh for about 85% of the existing WCDMA sites. Unlike Sprint's Network Vision or AT&T's "add an LTE panel to an 8 year old WCDMA site" rollout, T-Mobile is doing a -complete- equipment refresh on said sites using either Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Base Station solutions or Ericsson's Antenna Integrated Radio setups. For the sites that get the new equipment, coverage could see a 10-15% improvement in coverage and in-building penetration due to each of the NSN/Ericsson setups having the radio at tower-top.
T-Mobile will do you well if you are a city-rat. The lack of rural expansion pre-AT&T failed merger was due to the cost of infrastructure and backhaul when the only spectrum you have is high-frequency (PCS/AWS). Even in areas of excellent coverage, there's still a few limitations: Deep inside buildings, attenuation -will- eat the signal. Terrain is another big one that affects all carriers... if you happen to be in a place where terrain blocks your line of sight, you're not gonna get a good signal. Now, the equipment refresh is to facilitate LTE, as both setups are capable of LTE-A out of the box. T-Mobile had to sit on their hands for 18mo and not do any proactive system/coverage upgrades due to the AT&T merger debacle, but it was a good thing as now that they have the money and spectrum from both the merger fallout and MetroPCS plus new equipment, they're good to go. So, depending on where you live, work, and play, T-Mobile could potentially be great...
but...
bbqsfire said:
My buddy has tmo and hates the service. He doesn't get service with his phone and winds up using his Verizon work phone 90 percent of the time to make calls.
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MiG8GT said:
I had Verizon before I switched to T-Mobile. T-Mobile is cheaper, has just as good of support and a good selection of phones. However, Verizon does have better service so if you travel frequently expect some dead zones.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
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Unfortunately, when all you have is high-frequency spectrum to use and a network that hasn't seen significant expansion since 2009, this is going to happen. As with all carriers, one man's perfect signal might have a crap signal from another carrier in the exact same spot. Happened to me: with Verizon, could pull 30mbit LTE from bed, but at work I could kill an entire charge with light use because the phone had crap signal on all 3 services (1x EVDO and LTE(whose average speedtest at the desk was 2-3mbit down)). Meanwhile, terrain eats T-Mobile's WCDMA signal at my house(edge only), but I pull 3x the speeds on T-Mobile because of a near perfect signal than I could with Verizon at work.
If you have a friend with T-Mobile, treat'em to lunch and ask them to take a ride around town with ya to see how the service is where you go. Another option is to borrow someone's unused, unlocked T-Mobile phone and grab a sim, sign up for the $30 100min/unlim data&text online and carry that around with you for a bit.
For someone like me who -rarely- leaves metro areas when I travel, T-Mobile is great. For you, it could be different, just take the "ZOMG SPOTTY COVERAGE TMO SUCKS" with a grain of salt, and understand that no carrier is perfect everywhere, even if those comments for that individual are justified.
Forgot to add: T-Mobile won't see any WCDMA expansion for the foreseeable future since their current focus is on the equipment refresh on existing sites. The next round of expansion will come after the 600MHz auction next year.
Shoot me an IM/PM if you have any more questions.
Opposite for me, since Tmo coverage is awful for even making calls in a lot of areas where I live. I agree that they are easier to deal with, but lack of coverage in a lot of areas in Kentucky and Ohio nix them for me.
rushless said:
Opposite for me, since Tmo coverage is awful for even making calls in a lot of areas where I live. I agree that they are easier to deal with, but lack of coverage in a lot of areas in Kentucky and Ohio nix them for me.
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yes, I have Vzw, for two reasons, one they have good coverage nearly everywhere in the us and two data speeds are good. important if you need t use Google Navigator.
topaz330 said:
for those that had coverage issues how long ago did you have tmobile? I heard coverage recently got better and that they are aggressively expanding to more towers across the country.
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I have a T-Mobile S3 and Verizon Z10 for work, Verizon Bionic and TB for personal.
I get better coverage and internet speed on my Verizon devices than my T-Mobile.
I'm in Chester County, PA.
coverage
You could always do a bit of research for your expected area to see what the coverage is like across the various carriers.
www dot opensignal dot com
As if the captchas and relogins aren't enough, I can't friggin post links either.
I've started to take a hard look at T-Mobile and seriously thinking of switching when my contract end on Verizon. I live in southern NH and work in MA. There are T-Mobile 4G towers close to my house and work, but my commute would be mostly 2G.
Comparably, Verizon is mostly 4G in the area, a strong 4G signal at work, but at home I rarely get a 4G signal and half the time the phone will drop because of poor signal strength. There are 3G spots and some bare areas on my commute.
My step-son has T-Mobile and he get a strong 4G signal at our house. He also says he mostly has phone service in the area(drop spots) and data is mostly 2G. When you get closer to the highways or bigger tows / cities there is better service.
Verizon
T-Mobile is awesome, if you live in a coverage area, work in a coverage area, and/or go to school in a coverage area. Also, if you DO NOT EVER plan on traveling, or, at least, taking your phone with you when you go.... Their coverage is horrible compared to Verizon, but their prices are nicer, the packages are more appealing, and prepaid is way better. Really, it's just all up to you, and what you want.
I never had any problems while traveling with t mobile service I have gone from one end of the country to another with mine when I had them before and I'm looking to switch back only switched because I wanted to give Verizon a try not liking them way to pricey and crappy phone selection
Sent from my SCH-I535

Switching to t-mobile from vzw, bad decision?

Can anybody let me know if they switched from VZW to T mobile how the experience has been?
Do you regret it because of signal issues?
Thanks for any advice. [emoji106] [emoji111]
My girlfriend has T-mobile, and I used to have Verizon, until I switched to Sprint for their Google Voice integration. With T-mobile, the signal is realllyy spotty, but with Verizon it was quite good. This is from having been in the same place as her and only I had signal. So, I think you made a good choice.
I think it depends on where you are. Some areas T-Mobile sucks and some areas they are great but if you consider the savings worth, that what matters.
you can test drive Tmobile for 7 days free !
they even send you iphone5s to play for 7 days !
just google tmobile test drive
It just sucks that we probably won't have root with the Verizon version of the Edge.
It depends on where u live if you stay , Here in metro Detroit T-Mobile is the best provider IMO and there LTE speeds beats Verizon , AT&T, and Sprint. If you live in a rural area T-Mobile shouldn't be considered.
Detroitking02 said:
It depends on where u live if you stay , Here in metro Detroit T-Mobile is the best provider IMO and there LTE speeds beats Verizon , AT&T, and Sprint. If you live in a rural area T-Mobile shouldn't be considered.
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T-Mobile has converted some of their Edge network to LTE already and is continuing that process as we speak. Also, they are setting up their 700Mhz LTE network which will require a phone with Band 12 capabilities. Their network continues to improve, but I would try out the test drive and see how you like it. Be sure to return the phone or else they are going to bill you for it.
drbveb88 said:
Can anybody let me know if they switched from VZW to T mobile how the experience has been?
Do you regret it because of signal issues?
Thanks for any advice. [emoji106] [emoji111]
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Here in Minnesota tmobile is awesome, verizon obviously has the best coverage overall, but tmo In the last couple years has extended it's reach immensely, don't get me wrong, the coverage up here is outstanding, speeds are faster than verizon overall, the only difference in the extreme northwoods, like border of Canada in the middle of a lake miles and miles from a person I will have service, i might not have lte whereas verizon does spottingly (that a word?) Lol but overall I have zero complaints, in fact I have a couple buddies that are also in your dilemma take them for a spin first and see what you think
DigChrono said:
My girlfriend has T-mobile, and I used to have Verizon, until I switched to Sprint for their Google Voice integration. With T-mobile, the signal is realllyy spotty, but with Verizon it was quite good. This is from having been in the same place as her and only I had signal. So, I think you made a good choice.
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le0.br4zuc4 said:
I think it depends on where you are. Some areas T-Mobile sucks and some areas they are great but if you consider the savings worth, that what matters.
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netnerd said:
you can test drive Tmobile for 7 days free !
they even send you iphone5s to play for 7 days !
just google tmobile test drive
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Click to collapse
Detroitking02 said:
It depends on where u live if you stay , Here in metro Detroit T-Mobile is the best provider IMO and there LTE speeds beats Verizon , AT&T, and Sprint. If you live in a rural area T-Mobile shouldn't be considered.
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slimc84 said:
T-Mobile has converted some of their Edge network to LTE already and is continuing that process as we speak. Also, they are setting up their 700Mhz LTE network which will require a phone with Band 12 capabilities. Their network continues to improve, but I would try out the test drive and see how you like it. Be sure to return the phone or else they are going to bill you for it.
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jdidtht said:
Here in Minnesota tmobile is awesome, verizon obviously has the best coverage overall, but tmo In the last couple years has extended it's reach immensely, don't get me wrong, the coverage up here is outstanding, speeds are faster than verizon overall, the only difference in the extreme northwoods, like border of Canada in the middle of a lake miles and miles from a person I will have service, i might not have lte whereas verizon does spottingly (that a word?) Lol but overall I have zero complaints, in fact I have a couple buddies that are also in your dilemma take them for a spin first and see what you think
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Thanks everyone. I am in Northern Virginia and the reviews are mixed here. While I am close to DC and Richmond so signal and coverage should be strong, there are so many military bases, Airports and suburbs- which all help to create problem areas.
I will have to give it a try to really get a good gauge. Why can't VZW just release a unlocked phone, save me these dilemmas. Lol.
Again, thanks for all the feedback.
jwjames83 said:
It just sucks that we probably won't have root with the Verizon version of the Edge.
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That's the whole reason I'm even contemplating. Uugh. [emoji53]
drbveb88 said:
That's the whole reason I'm even contemplating. Uugh. [emoji53]
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It's been a little over a year since I have been in that area, but when I was there, I had pretty good service. The only time I had any issues, was when I was inside buildings. But they have rolled out the 700 mhz spectrum there so that should greatly improve signal quality indoors.
Edit: Also, the only two phones listed on the T-Mobile website that support Band 12 are the Note 4 and the Note Edge. So you won't be able to test the connectivity if you do the 7 day test drive with the Iphone 5S.
drbveb88 said:
That's the whole reason I'm even contemplating. Uugh. [emoji53]
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Could you maybe pay off your t-mobile phone and just use straight talk with the t-mobile compatible straight talk sim card?
It's what I do.
If you have the unlimited data from Verizon i'd stay. they no longer offer that and if you switch to a carrier with bad reception in your area then you wont get to go back. as far as the strait talk comment goes that is no good either, their data speeds are ridiculously low. my wife has straight talk (Verizon phone) and i run circles around her with my Verizon contract phone. it may say 4g, but it's a lie... i just wish they still offered unlimited data so i could have used my upgrade that now will never be used.
if you do not have the unlimited package with Verizon i suggest you run like hell to the first available option that has service in your area. Verizon is mean. unfortunately for me there is no other choice atm.
Straight talk users a bunch of networks like at&t and T-mobile. It will vary by which network you're using on which phone in what area. Even different phones can vary because of their antenna and design blocking reception like some early iPhones. Just a thought. There's a lot of prepaid plans out there, I'd look into those and keep the phone if possible.

Options available to leave Sprint??

I have the Sprint HTC U11, so am I stuck on only Sprint with this phone? The phone is currently rooted, with an unlocked bootloader. Can I pay it off, unlock it, flash another carrier radio/rom/etc and be on a better network, and fully functional using all frequency bands for that carrier? I read somewhere the hardware is the same for Sprint and Unlocked variants, has this been confirmed? I really hope there is a way to take this phone somewhere else, since the only carrier that offers it on installments is unfortunately Sprint. I initially tried to buy the thing through HTC.com using the PayPal finance option, but they did not approve me for whatever reason.
I have never had Sprint until the HTC U11 and if the U11 were offered via carrier installments on ANY other carrier, I still wouldn't have picked Sprint. I thought I knew what to expect from their so called "coverage" but wow was I mistaken. To call their service bad is a profound understatement. I have never hated a cellular carrier so much until now. Not only is their network coverage spotty, slow and ill, when the power goes out, so does the Sprint service, which leaves me completely helpless in a potential emergency situation.
Check out this thread here for SIM Unlock
https://forum.xda-developers.com/u11/how-to/sprint-sim-unlock-t3619042
Does the power go out a lot where you live? If the power outage is large scale and being close to a cell tower of course your coverage would be affected, that's no fault of Sprint. been a Sprint customer for over 20 years, but I guess living in the Tri-state area coverage is not an issue for me.
the Sprint U11 does have the same hardware, but you would need S-OFF (not available yet) to change CID/MID & flash another RUU or firmware, or you could do what schmeggy929 recommended & unlock SIM then use another carriers SIM for service.
Storms are frequent here, so yes. However Sprints tower is visible from my house and I get full signal. On Vzw, and Tmo I never had a great signal but when the power went out I'd still be able to use it even with a low signal. Sprint I can't even call 911 during power outages, the signal vanishes and I can't even roam to dial 911... If I sim unlock the phone will it get proper frequency bands for other carriers without flashing firmware and a rom, etc? I figured not having S-off would prevent me from using all the necessary bands, it's been a while since I had to do something like this... I hope we get S-off soon.
I have T-Mobile, they will buy you out of your contract with Sprint. I have brought over several family members from other carriers to T-Mobile and they love it. I would suggest calling T-Mobile and seeing what your options are. Once you unlock the SIM you can use with whatever carrier.
Sprint may not be too great in your area, but in my area I get great speed and coverage. My work phone is with Verizon, it is no better.
Sent from my unknown using XDA Labs
If it worked well enough to justify the price I'd keep it. After losing signal in and outdoors in more places than I could count, and after being in several areas where 5 bars of signal resulted in 56k dial up speeds I was irritated. But after talking to customer service yesterday, I'm done with them. 1% within Verizon or hell even Tmobile, it's an absolute lie. If Sprint won't even own up to their own problems with power outages causing service to vanish, then they're never going to improve. CS was rude and insulting repeatedly the last several times too, insisting that their coverage was supreme and I was somehow wrong.

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