Celebration in the Florida Panhandle - Networking

Well guys, I don't know how many of you (if any of you) live in the Florida Panhandle, but if you do, you would know that for years our area has been very much behind the rest of the nation in terms of upgrading to newer and faster wireless cellular networking standards. Well, we Panhandlers can now rejoice!! Our years of painful waiting have not been in vain.
On the GSM side...
T-Mobile
After years of dealing with the painfully slow Edge network, T-Mobile users in Pensacola got both 3g AND 4g coverage in limited areas this past week. I was not in town when it got switched on apparently (was in Louisiana where they already have 4g), but was pleasently surprised to see the HSPA+ indicator come on when I got back. It hasn't been turned on everywhere in town yet though, or at least not according to my phone. North, Northeast, and Central P-Cola are the areas I've tested thus far, all of which are served by one tower in the North Central section. Downtown area and Southeast side (East Hill/Heights) still running on Edge. No official announcement from T-Mobile about it though (which is weird, hope they're not just doing a large-scale beta test). Apparently 4g has been switched on a 100 miles east in Panama City as well, per the T-Mobile website. Also per the T-Mobile coverage locator, 2 new cell towers have just been added to the local Pensacola network (one in the northeastern suburb of Pace, and one on the southwestern beach town of Perdido Key), though I haven't been able to test if these are in fact 4g/3g towers yet.
AT&T
AT&T is still in the baby stages of rolling out their 4g system, with little information about when and if they are going to upgrade their infrastructure here in the Panhandle. But they have had 3g here in Pensacola for a while now, and it is decently quick. Much better than Edge, at any rate. I REALLY hope the T-Mobile buyout doesn't go through...I can't stand AT&T. But if it does, then AT&T will absorb all of T-Mobile's infrastructure, and therefore inherit whatever 4g systems T-Mobile has in place here in the Panhandle. This may, in fact be the reason why there is no news/rumors/anything about AT&T releasing their own 4g in the Panhandle - because they aren't planning to. Hmm...
On the CDMA side of things...
Sprint
Many unconfirmed reports have gone around that Sprint is testing their 4g network in and around small parts of Pensacola as well. I confirmed this (at least for myself) by testing out a friend's Evo 4g near the Cordova Mall area where there had been 4g spottings. Not very fast or strong, but we did pick up 4g. However, no one knows for sure when they will finish testing it and fully switch it on. But it's encouraging to see they're definitely working on rolling it out.
Verizon
Verizon just officially launched their 4g LTE in Pensacola and 50 miles to the west in Mobile, AL. Unlike T-Mobile, Verizon has made this event quite a public affair, with even the local news reporting on it: LINK. As Verizon is proudly displays their true data coverage map that breaks down the types of data networks by the different "g's" (unlike some other type of company i know *cough*AT&T*cough*), it is easy to see that their 4g coverage envelops all of Pensacola proper, with most of the surrounding suburbs/small towns getting 4g as well. There are a few 3g gaps here and there, but the overwhelming majority of all the urbanized areas now gets 4g service. It is by far the most expansive 4g network in the Pensacola area, and also covers most of Lower Alabama as well (Mobile, Daphne, Gulf Shores, Foley, Dauphin Island, Theodore, etc.). Panama City and most of the other Panhandle areas are not currently covered by Verizon 4g (save Tallahassle). However, according to THIS article, all other Panhandle areas will be covered by sometime in 2013. Not bad Verizon, not bad at all.
So, all in all, we now have 3 different cellular providers that offer (at least limited) 4g in Pensacola and other parts of the FL panhandle. All 4 providers now have at least 3g coverage in most urbanized areas. And at least two providers have documented plans to keep expanding their current 4g system deeper into the Panhandle.
I feel this video is appropriate for our current situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9y4iXAso4I

About time
I hope they run in by the base. I was at the Carmike the other day and BAM!!! 3G

Related

T-Mobile US service. Is it worth it coming from 9 years of Verizon?

I have the TP2 on Verizon, and I would like the HD2. My biggest concern is dropping and poor cell reception. I'm in Orange County, CA, but I do travel around the U.S. occassionally. Please be honest and let me know how people who are on T-Mobile U.S. service what you think. Do you drop calls a lot? Poor connections? Dead zones?
I've had Verizon for 9 years, so I've been spoiled with great cell service. I RARELY get dropped calls and dead zone (I'm being honest). So I'm wondering what people think about T-Mobile.
you won't be disappointed
I haven't dropped a call in chicago though i wish data was like philly lol
whiteblazer01 said:
I have the TP2 on Verizon, and I would like the HD2. My biggest concern is dropping and poor cell reception. I'm in Orange County, CA, but I do travel around the U.S. occassionally. Please be honest and let me know how people who are on T-Mobile U.S. service what you think. Do you drop calls a lot? Poor connections? Dead zones?
I've had Verizon for 9 years, so I've been spoiled with great cell service. I RARELY get dropped calls and dead zone (I'm being honest). So I'm wondering what people think about T-Mobile.
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Click to collapse
I've never had a dropped call... but the 3g signal sucks. It doesn't get 3g signals in buildings or houses. I really regret leaving at&t, which had great 3g signals. Also, looking at the t-mobile signal map, it looks like there's a lot of places in the US that don't get t-mobile.
I would suggest, if you can afford it, get the Telstra 9193 HD2 imported from australia and use At&t. You'll get much better service, at least 3g service.
3g & signal are great for me better than my friend with an iphone at&t i had tmobile since it was voicestream & the service has always been good but i say it all depends on your area givie it a try if you are not satisfy you could always go back as soon as you dont pass the 30days
Not for the HD2. Reception on this phone blows chunks. It makes a low signal a no signal. It switches over to EDGE at the drop of a hat. Anyone that switched to T-Mobile for the HD2 can't make a good evaluation based on that device, it truly blows. T-Mobile has an good soon-to-be HSPA+ Network in Orange County but I would avoid the HD2 at all costs.
Service
I live in Idaho. I have Att, it is ok, but don't get 3g. But I'm ok with edge. I have tried Tmobile,It was great in the town 14 miles from my home. But lost signal all the time. I would say from what other people say, is it's ok in big cities, but not rural. I would pay the extra, & get telstra, on Att. Actually, I did similar thing, just put my sim in from 10.00 data plan. I don't use much data so I'm not going to pay higher plan,, My bud in Pa has telstra,on att, loves it, no tmobile probs.
Former AT&T user for about 10 years - really depends on the area. I just got a T-Mobile HD2 and while the phone is phenominal compared to the current AT&T offerings (build quality, screen, etc.) the network in St Louis is VERY spotty. As others have said the 3g is very weak - as soon as you move say into a parking garage (3g worked with AT&T) it will immediately switch to Edge. Also there seems to be a ton of dead spots even in urban areas. The 3G speeds here at most get in to the 800 range where AT&T was well over 1200 BUT the latentcy and browsing speeds on AT&T seem slower. iPhones in this area suck up tons of bandwidth.
Traveling from say St Louis across to Atlanta on major interstates - AT&T is pretty much on Edge EXCEPT in really major cities like Nashville but other than that its Edge all the way to Atlanta. Used a AT&T Tilt and 8525 for this run. DON'T believe the coverage maps - as soon as I left St Louis it was Edge through Kentucky unless I passed a very populated city and the speeds were mediocre at best.
Until a radio ROM update is released that hopefully fixes the reception problem the phone will have issues. Call quality is just "ok" with some popping, hissing etc.
I think you'll be ok if you use it in MAJOR urban areas but if you go off route or go to some of the smaller cities/towns coverage will be pretty poor.
I only paid about 75 dollars for the phone with a two year commitment so I can't really complain - the only really bad decision on Tmobile part was to spec the phone differently than the European HD2 - finding cases, screen protectors that fit the phone at the moment is pretty difficult.
Nope you are better off with the htc incredible and stay on verzion
stim141 said:
Former AT&T user for about 10 years - really depends on the area. I just got a T-Mobile HD2 and while the phone is phenominal compared to the current AT&T offerings (build quality, screen, etc.) the network in St Louis is VERY spotty. As others have said the 3g is very weak - as soon as you move say into a parking garage (3g worked with AT&T) it will immediately switch to Edge. Also there seems to be a ton of dead spots even in urban areas. The 3G speeds here at most get in to the 800 range where AT&T was well over 1200 BUT the latentcy and browsing speeds on AT&T seem slower. iPhones in this area suck up tons of bandwidth.
Traveling from say St Louis across to Atlanta on major interstates - AT&T is pretty much on Edge EXCEPT in really major cities like Nashville but other than that its Edge all the way to Atlanta. Used a AT&T Tilt and 8525 for this run. DON'T believe the coverage maps - as soon as I left St Louis it was Edge through Kentucky unless I passed a very populated city and the speeds were mediocre at best.
Until a radio ROM update is released that hopefully fixes the reception problem the phone will have issues. Call quality is just "ok" with some popping, hissing etc.
I think you'll be ok if you use it in MAJOR urban areas but if you go off route or go to some of the smaller cities/towns coverage will be pretty poor.
I only paid about 75 dollars for the phone with a two year commitment so I can't really complain - the only really bad decision on Tmobile part was to spec the phone differently than the European HD2 - finding cases, screen protectors that fit the phone at the moment is pretty difficult.
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I don't see exactly what you're getting at. It's the HD2, not the network.. the signal might be weak but the HD2 totally drops the signal. Swap out your HD2 for a Motorola CLIQ or CLIQ XT and you'll see what I'm talking about. I'm not saying it won't ever switch over to EDGE again because the network still has some EDGE-only towers sprinkled in (said to be rectified in 2010+Fiber to the sites) but it will greatly reduce the occurrence.
8 years with verizon, 5 lines in south florida
Switched one line specificly for HD2 to tmobile. SUx 3g signal
Most of the tiem ti shows 3g or H but the connection is weak, i get mostly 300-500 range, once ina while it may spike to 800.
Cant even compare to Verizon, i had Droid.
Thinking to go wimax for Sprint. Same phone but better data output.
I've been with them all - Verizon, Tmobile, AT&T - even dating back to 'Cellular One'. I also used to travel far more in the US than I do now and I've never been disappointed with what is now AT&T's network or service area. Tmobile had been spotty for me.
If you're looking into an HD2, I'd recommend buying a T9193 and going with AT&T. It'll cost you more for the hardware but you won't be forced into a $30+/month data plan for two years because you can go with their 'MEdia Net' unlimited plan for $20/month instead, saving $10 per month over the data plan that iPhone users are forced into. IOW, the $240 it'll save you over two years will help reduce your private purchase of the phone to about $500 or less, if you shop hard and wait for a deal.
it would really depend on your own location i've had verizon< noproblems though many years ago. then moved over to nextel< its nextel:x then moved over to at&t (found this site) at&t I would always have drop spots, not random alsways a consistant few locations other than that it was fine. I recently switched to t-mo for the hd2 on no contract as i plan on moving over to sprint once the evo comes out. so far the best service has come from verizon though at the time I only had a flip phone. I would go back but haven't liked any of the phones and that was the only reason i left. I would stick with verizon and try out the incredible. I haven't encountered any issues being in the OC myself with t-mo service but its only been about a month and I haven't traveled out of OC.
picassoianctions said:
8 years with verizon, 5 lines in south florida
Switched one line specificly for HD2 to tmobile. SUx 3g signal
Most of the tiem ti shows 3g or H but the connection is weak, i get mostly 300-500 range, once ina while it may spike to 800.
Cant even compare to Verizon, i had Droid.
Thinking to go wimax for Sprint. Same phone but better data output.
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LOL.. I really hope you do pick up a WiMAX phone. If you think you're disappointed now just wait. Also the connection has nothing to do with it, if you're getting slow speeds that's because the backend of the network is still on one T1. When HSPA+ is enabled it will blow WiMAX out of the water.
BillTheCat said:
I've been with them all - Verizon, Tmobile, AT&T - even dating back to 'Cellular One'. I also used to travel far more in the US than I do now and I've never been disappointed with what is now AT&T's network or service area. Tmobile had been spotty for me.
If you're looking into an HD2, I'd recommend buying a T9193 and going with AT&T. It'll cost you more for the hardware but you won't be forced into a $30+/month data plan for two years because you can go with their 'MEdia Net' unlimited plan for $20/month instead, saving $10 per month over the data plan that iPhone users are forced into. IOW, the $240 it'll save you over two years will help reduce your private purchase of the phone to about $500 or less, if you shop hard and wait for a deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When did you have T-Mobile?
whiteblazer01 said:
I have the TP2 on Verizon, and I would like the HD2. My biggest concern is dropping and poor cell reception. I'm in Orange County, CA, but I do travel around the U.S. occassionally. Please be honest and let me know how people who are on T-Mobile U.S. service what you think. Do you drop calls a lot? Poor connections? Dead zones?
I've had Verizon for 9 years, so I've been spoiled with great cell service. I RARELY get dropped calls and dead zone (I'm being honest). So I'm wondering what people think about T-Mobile.
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Click to collapse
I have T-Mobile as my personal phone (Proud owner of The HD2) and have AT&T phone as my business phone (company gave it to me to use it)... So, here is the comparison:
Where I live the reception is very strong for both T-Mobile and AT&T - when you check their maps... T-Mobile has not failed me in last 5 years. I recall only one outage I have experienced and that was due to bad weather where I simply was not able to make phone calls to certain people. So my rating for T-Mobile is and stays 5 stars hands down...
Now AT&T - it appears to have faster 3G - like it is a big deal since I do not use it at all - but anyway, having faster 3G that's where everything stops. Call Reception is terrible, dropped calls all over the place, you get into the building you loose reception easily, etc. Therefore, can easily rate AT&T with lousy 2 stars - which they get only based on faster 3G.
Bottom line T-Mobile is definitely better in service where I live which is Chicagoland Northern burbs - but comparing it to Verizon? Well, I never had Verizon as I am not fan of CDMA networks - more like GSM person (habbit I brought from Europe I guess lol)... I heard Verizon is good with coverage; not that great in Basements - but having HD2 in mind - I do not think you will regret it...
PS test it out and see how it works - you can get that done and see for your area if it's working or not... good luck!

Interesting 4G information I heard (why areas don't have them)

I was trying to figure out when 4G would be full rolled out in a certain area, & here is a response I received.
..............................................................
There will not likely be any more (my city) coverage until Winter at the earliest. Sprint/Clear are running around putting up "Protection Sites" in every CMA (Cellular Market Area) in the country. There are over 700 CMA's in the U.S. These are regions that the FCC breaks down the country into to issue spectrum licensing for mobile carriers.
There are two types of crews putting up new 4G service now. Fill-In Crews and Protection Site Crews. The Fill-In crews are adding service in primary markets that already have service. They expanded service in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle and New York this year. They will keep moving on in Primary Markets only that already have service. (your city is a secondary market) The Protection Site crews are running all over the Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands installing at least one tower in every CMA. Two or three in secondary markets.
The two towers already operating in your city are "Protection Sites." These are limited deployments. They are operating at full strength signal, but do not have all the antennas as a full deployment would, and also the antennas are not fully directed to help building penetration. They are pointing straight out for maximum coverage area. Also, these do not have upgraded backhaul (microwave or fiber) that 4G really needs for maximum data throughput and speeds. They just utilize whatever internet service is already at the tower. Which may or may not be sufficient. Varies greatly from tower to tower and market to market.
In the Fall, Sprint is coming out with a new 4G plan. We know it will include LTE. But no one is sure to what extent. Whether Sprint and Clear will stop expanding WiMax completely and just service existing WiMax areas. All new deployments after the announcement might be LTE. Or they might finish building out WiMax completely, but this is unlikely. Or maybe they will announce they will finish WiMax in primary and maybe secondary markets before switching to LTE. We just don't know.
So no one knows how communities like yours will be impacted with their Sprint 4G deployment with this all up in the air. Only the highest executives are in on what's in-store. They are being very tight lipped. I think it's because they aren't even 100% sure yet. They are out striking deals with vendors, sub-contractors, joint venture partners and trying to get Network Vision off the ground too. But the Protection Site roll out will not be complete until Fall. Then those crews will be going on to something else. But no one knows where for sure yet.
In the end, it leaves a very frustrated Sprint customer service experience for 4G device owners. And with their 3G network speeds deteriorating below 2G, it just is ticking off people all the more!
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Well guess what? VERIZON has 4G NOW in my area. Anyway, it was an interesting read & I wonder how that will affect the phones that are going to come out, or even our Epic 4G
I really wish I had answers, but the above post is the best I have right now for those wondering WHY 4G is not in your area yet.
Is this why there is no Galaxy S2 yet on Sprint because they don't know what it will run on? Maybe that's the wait. Frustrating to say the least, & yes, 3G is declining not only in my area, but probably others as well. I really thought when I bought my Epic 4G i'd be looking at 6 months & 4G would be all set to go. Little did I know i'd be getting a phone I could never use for its full potential. At least not where I am at.
First
Looking forward to lte
Grapes
The protection towers has been well known for quite a while...along with the nothing new for this year.
Whats upsetting is nyc has the most dense population out of all the 4g markets and they still can't cover the entire city in 4G, and I am not talking about inside buildings, there are just too many holes on their coverage map.
4g? What's that? I would be happy with decent 3g coverage in my city. I don't think that's too much to ask for a city with a population of roughly 420,000 (and growing.)
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This kind of thing makes me want to get sprint on the phone and scream to all hell about this issue, but in the end, the customer service rep, their superior, and THEIR superior can't do anything about it. All the good, "decent" phones are 4g now anyway, so I guess all the biggest city in New Hampshire has to show for itself is 3g and FIOS....oh wait, we don't have FIOS either. Whenever my contract is up, for the first time in 9 years, I'm going to look at switching carriers. Uhg.
Same here. Upsets me as well. You could always tweet about it, & maybe Dan Hesse will get back to you......or maybe not.
I am a premiere member & just got a $5 credit for my anniversary. While nice, it doesn't change the fact that not only does 3G suck, 2 out of 3 places I really use my phone I barely get coverage or it roams, but 4G is only in this tiny section
I have a feeling I will be switching, or something, because aside from the 4G, I tested my phone in a new home we are buying, & guess what? Just like the other two places I use my phone. CAN'T GET SERVICE. My wife said it even sucked outside when we were in the new home.
I'm just about exhausted & fed up with Sprints lack of coverage.
That's what I realized why they are cheaper and unlimited not because they claim to be different but no service issues.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I will stay Sprint for now as long as they provide an unlimited data plan.
However, if I get sufficiently rich, I may switch to Verizon and pay for their largest data plan.

Sprint's New Direction and What It Means to Consumers

Hello everyone,
Today was a very big day if you are on or thinking about making the move over to Sprint. Today, they announced their plans for their future LTE network and how they plan to move forward over the next few years.
The first thing to discuss is Wimax. Wimax is a good technology, but the problem is that both Clearwire and Sprint deployed it very poorly. First of all, it was deployed on a very high spectrum, making it difficult to penetrate through buildings and travel long distances, while not degrading in signal strength. The other thing about the current Wimax deployment is that (and I have noticed this personally) switching from tower to tower over Wimax is very poorly done. What I mean by this is that switching from tower to tower doesn't work like it would if I were to use 3G.
Wimax was, however, a great investment. Wimax gave Sprint a great partnership with Clearwire, and it also gave Sprint the the title of the first 4G network(not that the title really matters anymore). I feel that Sprint knew they were going to at some point make the switch to LTE, which is why they used Wimax instead of LTE. It turns out that it is pretty easy to convert a Wimax tower to an LTE tower, its just a few hardware and software changed and you are ready to go.
Now its time to get down to the exciting stuff, the conversion over to LTE. Sprint plans to deploy its LTE network by the middle of 2012 using its current Wimax network (which will be converted over to LTE), Lightsquared's new LTE network (assuming it goes through the FCC), and most importantly, Nextel's IDEN network. I say that IDEN is the most important because of two things; the first being that the network is already of decent size, so there would be a good signal in much of the country, the second being that the IDEN network runs a lower part of the wireless spectrum, allowing the signal to reach farther distances and penetrate buildings. All three of these solutions will expand Sprint's network effectively and quickly, and give many people in America 4G.
As far as devices go, Sprint will be releasing 15 LTE equipped devices in 2012 (the first phones will be strictly 1900Mhz which will be Sprint's 4G), and will continue to sell Wimax devices throughout 2012. This is a smart move, as I believe that completely dropping Wimax support would cause a sort of uprising among Sprint customers. If Sprint turns off its Wimax network at the end of 2012, they should allow any customers that still have a Wimax phone to upgrade to a new LTE phone, thereby honoring their promise of unlimited 4G.
The price of this new network is not cheap. Currently, Sprint believes it will spend around $10 billion to create this new LTE network. They also believe that they will be saving about $17 billion within the next 5-6 years because they will be fading out their IDEN network (which currently costs $4 billion a year to run). Note that this number is much higher than wall street analysts had expected, but Sprint is going to do what it has to do.
So what is the end result? I believe that if all goes smoothly, the LTE rollout will go quickly and Sprint will have a thriving LTE network by the middle of 2013, and at that point it will cover most major cities in America as well as the more populated suburbs. However, if this transition does not go well, I feel that this could be the end of Sprint. Sprint is spending a lot of money these days ($10 billion on a new network over 3 years, $30 billion on Iphones over the next 4 years) and I am sure investors are a bit wary of the overall situation.
I have very high hopes for Sprint, and I hope that they rollout their new network successfully and quickly, so that everyone can experience the true speed and power of 4G LTE on the (in my opinion, maybe not yours) best wireless network in the nation.
PS: If you read all of this, thank you.

How is AT&T's network (U.S.)?

I'm currently trying to decide which carrier to go with for the GS4, does anyone have experience with AT&T? I know they have a bad reputation for unreliability, has that improved at all? How is their coverage in the NJ/NY area?
NY/NJ are you referring to downstate NY, upstate wise its pretty good and frankly I was already leaving Verizon before today's announcement about the no early upgrades at 20 months crap and no using a MiFi or tablet line for an upgrade both of which are things I enjoyed so FU Verizon and hello AT&T.
RaptorMD said:
NY/NJ are you referring to downstate NY, upstate wise its pretty good and frankly I was already leaving Verizon before today's announcement about the no early upgrades at 20 months crap and no using a MiFi or tablet line for an upgrade both of which are things I enjoyed so FU Verizon and hello AT&T.
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I'm referring specifically to central NJ and Brooklyn, NY (one of my family members commutes there).
snapple232 said:
I'm currently trying to decide which carrier to go with for the GS4, does anyone have experience with AT&T? I know they have a bad reputation for unreliability, has that improved at all? How is their coverage in the NJ/NY area?
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I work for at&t.
It's an excellent service for people up north and I've never heard of a complaint from the region. Also, checking our private coverage viewer you seem to be fine around those locations.
Just know that for individual lines, at&t can be expensive.
Your entry level plans are as follows.
85$ for 1 gig of data and unlimited talk and text.
90$ for 3 gigs of data, 450 minutes to landlines, unlimited to other cellphones and unlimited text.
You can save been 4 to 12 dollars a month depending on where you work. Discounts can be added through paystubs or work emails.
After tax expect it to come to around 100 dollars a month.
snapple232 said:
I'm currently trying to decide which carrier to go with for the GS4, does anyone have experience with AT&T? I know they have a bad reputation for unreliability, has that improved at all? How is their coverage in the NJ/NY area?
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I've had every major carrier. I rate AT&T to be nearly as good as Verizon, personally, and faster data. I've used it in Washington D.C., los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, and various other large cities and I've never had any complaints.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
Verizon is much better in Chicago. Been with at&t since 2004 and have the same dead zones and during 9-5 hours downtown, the network is unusable. Verizon crushes at&t in reception and speed in Chicago. Fact.
And I'm an at&t customer. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I know in South Jersey, AT&T is much better than Verizon. In fact, my girlfriend finally went on my plan because she was tired of not having very good coverage in Glendora, NJ.
cfn87 said:
Verizon is much better in Chicago. Been with at&t since 2004 and have the same dead zones and during 9-5 hours downtown, the network is unusable. Verizon crushes at&t in reception and speed in Chicago. Fact.
And I'm an at&t customer. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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Maybe, but it really depends on where you spend most of your time. When I was in Chicago I never lost a good signal for an entire weekend and my data speeds killed my friend on Verizon. Maybe we just didn't go to the AT&T dead zones.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
I travel all over - rural and cities - the only place that I have ever strugged with AT&T in the past year has been San Francisco.
I came from 13 years of Sprint to AT&T for the first time today. All I can say is, nothing can be worse than Sprint. At least with AT&T, I get reception INDOORS. Good grief Sprint's indoor reception is just balls.
snapple232 said:
I'm referring specifically to central NJ and Brooklyn, NY (one of my family members commutes there).
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Click to collapse
Should be good especially in Brooklyn.
There are several android apps that compares cell phone coverage for any given area.
If you are using an android smart phone now you could download one and see what the coverage looks like according to the various cellmap / cell coverage apps
[Also ask your relatives in the areas that they live in to do the same!]
I used one app called: Cell Maps Mobile Coverage (I think) and it was quite accurate for my area and the different service providers. I was lucky to hit the right provider without it, but I can say that what the app provided in results matched what I had seen!
My opinion:
#1. Coverage is the key more than anything.
Check the area where you are going to use the phone. Don't use the provider maps of coverage -they are pretty useless. Get an app like I mentioned and drive arround. Ask folks who are in the area what phone service they have there. We on XDA are all over the world and that won't help you (much).
#2. AT&T coverage in lower NYC, SI and Jersey-opposite the city for me has been fine.
Service is also important, (but not as important) I am in California and have used AT&T for years now. But I visit family and friends in Staten Island and the NYC area and my AT&T coverage has been very good. Including in Jersey area across the river. Every now and then I can hit a weak spot, but no serious complaints.
#3. Service is also important (but not as important as coverage)
I like the personal service of AT&T, especially their call-in phone support operators (their stores are not so hot. . .) I had VZ for years and Verizon was not really good at listening or caring for my problems or questions. AT&T is really good at that.
However, AT&T is also pretty expensive. They say they are not, but it just doesn't seem to work out that way! (Verizon is close!) Some folks who could do AT&T for good phone coverage use Straight Talk for their good price. Although they seem to have zero personal suppport service --at least for most people I have talked with. (my opinion only).
#4. Bottom line: If you can't talk, you might as well not have the phone, so number one priority is to get an app and to test the coverage in the target area.
Then go with the company that gives you the best coverage. (price and service come after coverage!)
Good Luck!

those of you on tmobile

Want to switch to T-Mobile from VZW at end of my Verizon billing cycle around Nov4 (anywhere before that maybe like 2-3 days)
How is signal treating you guys without band12?
I will be joining my friends plan he has 2 lines for 100 unlimited everything so my line will be +40
I understand on 5.1.1 there is no wifi calling on Moto X but that might change in 6.0 and maybe with 6.0 they will add band12?
One place I travel to frequently has very bad tmo signal inside the building nothing has changed since year ago when I tested tmobile otherwise everywhere I go signal is always great (while I tested)
I'm guessing that you're on the East Coast, in the NY area (based on the screenshot of your Speedtest results). I'm also there, and I recently switched from Verizon to Ting (which runs on the T-Mobile network).
What can I say? Verizon is king when it comes to coverage, signal strength, and network speed. Absolutely unbeatable anywhere along the Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington DC). If you are highly mobile for work in remote areas (e.g. upstate New York), then you'll want to stick with Verizon purely for coverage reasons.
T-Mobile coverage and signal strength is going to be lower than Verizon in most areas, but will still retain acceptable signal strength in most areas that aren't rural. Network speeds on LTE are acceptable (around 8Mbps - 12Mbps downstream, and 1.0Mbps upstream).
If you spend most of the time on your smartphone near WiFi, you'll be fine switching to TMobile to save yourself some money.
kent1146 said:
I'm guessing that you're on the East Coast, in the NY area (based on the screenshot of your Speedtest results). I'm also there, and I recently switched from Verizon to Ting (which runs on the T-Mobile network).
What can I say? Verizon is king when it comes to coverage, signal strength, and network speed. Absolutely unbeatable anywhere along the Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington DC). If you are highly mobile for work in remote areas (e.g. upstate New York), then you'll want to stick with Verizon purely for coverage reasons.
T-Mobile coverage and signal strength is going to be lower than Verizon in most areas, but will still retain acceptable signal strength in most areas that aren't rural. Network speeds on LTE are acceptable (around 8Mbps - 12Mbps downstream, and 1.0Mbps upstream).
If you spend most of the time on your smartphone near WiFi, you'll be fine switching to TMobile to save yourself some money.
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I am mostly in the city though and on Verizon I am out of contract but I am just sick of this company (Wireless part) right now around 45$ 30GB to share+2GB free for 3 months vs T-Mobile same price everything unlimited.
What does your usage look like (minutes, text, data GB) per month, as a typical month of usage on VZW?
kent1146 said:
What does your usage look like (minutes, text, data GB) per month, as a typical month of usage on VZW?
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Last month was a round 5k texts 5.6GB and around 500 min just for my line.
I like to watch soccer games on my phone and always have to watch it in lowest quality instead of HD and listen to spotify everyday at highes quality as well.
So many reasons to want tmobile lol
Wow. That's a whole lot of usage.
So yeah, go with T-Mobile's unlimited plan. You'll be better off with that.
kent1146 said:
Wow. That's a whole lot of usage.
So yeah, go with T-Mobile's unlimited plan. You'll be better off with that.
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Yea man that's what the plan is. The one place I spend a lot of time has weak service otherwise everywhere I am is great signal so I am silently hoping that either 6.0 or moto releases new radio fast with band12 support so I can dump Verizon forever and ever lol
By the way were you receiving calls from winback team from Verizon? just wondering I don't have contract anymore so it wouldn't matter and they would not be able to offer me anything anyway but for people who were on contract they would cancel your contract if you came back and all that sort of stuff
I moved from Verizon to T-Mobile a few years back with no issues. I would double check if the location your referring to has any type of WiFi close by. Keep in mind Motorola has really good antennas so if you tested it a year ago on a different phone (Samsung or Nexus 5) it might hold a signal better. At one point I had a Nexus 5 and MotoX 2013 and one of the main reasons I kept the MotoX was due to significantly better signals in the same place.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
SymbioticGenius said:
I moved from Verizon to T-Mobile a few years back with no issues. I would double check if the location your referring to has any type of WiFi close by. Keep in mind Motorola has really good antennas so if you tested it a year ago on a different phone (Samsung or Nexus 5) it might hold a signal better. At one point I had a Nexus 5 and MotoX 2013 and one of the main reasons I kept the MotoX was due to significantly better signals in the same place.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
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I tested few weeks ago AS well but on droid turbo not moto x, and yeah they have time Warner and soon fios so fast internet is not an issue. Are you able to use Wi-Fi calling AS IF now ?
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I've never had to use WiFi for anything lol
Nexus 6 has had it for a while, I remember testing it, didn't care for it, haven't had a need to use it yet. It's not available yet for the MotoX but it's expected (not sure if confirmed) to be activated with marshmallow. I will state that marshmallow has a new toggle for it so I wouldn't be surprised if every phone has it at some point.
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SymbioticGenius said:
I've never had to use WiFi for anything lol
Nexus 6 has had it for a while, I remember testing it, didn't care for it, haven't had a need to use it yet. It's not available yet for the MotoX but it's expected (not sure if confirmed) to be activated with marshmallow. I will state that marshmallow has a new toggle for it so I wouldn't be surprised if every phone has it at some point.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
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Yea there is only one place with bad signal where i spent a lot of time but band12 is in this area just not yet with moto hopefully soak test will add it.
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You can see if Band 12 is in a particular area with this: http://www.spectrumgateway.com/t-mobile-700a-spectrum . Combined with T-Mobile official coverage map, you should be able to get a good idea of the T-Mobile coverage of an area.
It looks like T-Mobile is using Band 12 to fill out national coverage gaps. That's a good thing IMO, if Band 12 has reach/penetration like they say it does. (I live where there is no Band 12 yet, so I haven't tested it.) There are maps floating around (see tmonews.com for example) of the national coverage that T-Mobile plans by end of the year, this planned coverage looks like a blanket similar to Verizon, I think much of this will be the added Band 12 areas. Based on T-Mobile track record, I believe they will get there, if not by end of year then not long after that.
I bought the MXPE counting on Motorola to update it with Band 12 /VoLTE support in the near future, with the idea that it will support it by the time Band 12 is deployed where I need it. The LTE Discovery app is a good tool to see what LTE Band (or other) the phone is using in a particular area, too.
There are still gaps in the T-Mobile national coverage where Verizon has decent coverage while T-Mobile does not. I traveled through one a few days ago, in a rural area about 15 miles from my house. Verizon phone had decent signal, but T-Mobile phones (MXPE and iPhone 6s) had no signal. Since iPhone 6s has robust wireless support including Band 12 /VoLTE, the fact that it had no signal there means there was no T-Mobile signal.
So you just have to look at the maps and see if T-Mobile has coverage where you want coverage. That and actual testing. (If I was on Verizon considering T-Mobile, I would probably buy a month of prepaid T-Mobile or MetroPCS service, pop the T-Mobile SIM in the XT1575, and just try it. "One proper test is worth a thousand expert opinions".)
One thing adding even more wrinkles to all this is the increasing number of LTE roaming arrangements between the tier 1 carriers...
Tinkerer_ said:
You can see if Band 12 is in a particular area with this: http://www.spectrumgateway.com/t-mobile-700a-spectrum . Combined with T-Mobile official coverage map, you should be able to get a good idea of the T-Mobile coverage of an area.
It looks like T-Mobile is using Band 12 to fill out national coverage gaps. That's a good thing IMO, if Band 12 has reach/penetration like they say it does. (I live where there is no Band 12 yet, so I haven't tested it.) There are maps floating around (see tmonews.com for example) of the national coverage that T-Mobile plans by end of the year, this planned coverage looks like a blanket similar to Verizon, I think much of this will be the added Band 12 areas. Based on T-Mobile track record, I believe they will get there, if not by end of year then not long after that.
I bought the MXPE counting on Motorola to update it with Band 12 /VoLTE support in the near future, with the idea that it will support it by the time Band 12 is deployed where I need it. The LTE Discovery app is a good tool to see what LTE Band (or other) the phone is using in a particular area, too.
There are still gaps in the T-Mobile national coverage where Verizon has decent coverage while T-Mobile does not. I traveled through one a few days ago, in a rural area about 15 miles from my house. Verizon phone had decent signal, but T-Mobile phones (MXPE and iPhone 6s) had no signal. Since iPhone 6s has robust wireless support including Band 12 /VoLTE, the fact that it had no signal there means there was no T-Mobile signal.
So you just have to look at the maps and see if T-Mobile has coverage where you want coverage. That and actual testing. (If I was on Verizon considering T-Mobile, I would probably buy a month of prepaid T-Mobile or MetroPCS service, pop the T-Mobile SIM in the XT1575, and just try it. "One proper test is worth a thousand expert opinions".)
One thing adding even more wrinkles to all this is the increasing number of LTE roaming arrangements between the tier 1 carriers...
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I actually have a friend who works at tmo he even typed the address and showed me all types of signal available to me and band12 was all over it. I hope that soak test brings b12.
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T-Mobile for data hogs like me is great. Unlimited data for $30, I used around 10GB a month alone. But that is the only reason I use T-Mobile. Coverage pretty much sucks. If I am in the Bay Area CA its fine great signal. As soon as I leave the area I'm lucky if I get 3G speeds let alone a signal. Indoors is even worse. Went to the movies the other day, phone was dead inside no signal at all. My friend who is on At&t got a full 4 bars of LTE. T-Mobile is great for data and coverage in the cities, you leave those cities and you'll be lucky to even get a signal...
falcon26 said:
T-Mobile for data hogs like me is great. Unlimited data for $30, I used around 10GB a month alone. But that is the only reason I use T-Mobile. Coverage pretty much sucks. If I am in the Bay Area CA its fine great signal. As soon as I leave the area I'm lucky if I get 3G speeds let alone a signal. Indoors is even worse. Went to the movies the other day, phone was dead inside no signal at all. My friend who is on At&t got a full 4 bars of LTE. T-Mobile is great for data and coverage in the cities, you leave those cities and you'll be lucky to even get a signal...
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I mainly spend time in the city Brookyln & Queens so I don't think it should be an issue but one place where I spend a lot of time otherwise everywhere else it's pretty good when I tested it.
Cell Spot
If there is one place you work or live with poor coverage, T-Mobile also has a couple of options that are basically either a range extended or an internal "tower" so you can use your phone inside where you don't get coverage.
https://support.t-mobile.com/community/coverage/personal-cellspot/4g-lte-signal-booster
Ugh. In principle, I'm not a fan of that at all.
T-Mobilr is basically telling cuatomers to buy hardware, install it themselves, possibly connect it to their home internet networks (and use your bandwidth), for potentially multiple people that don't live in your household.
All of this, because T-Mobile didn't invest in building out network infrastructure like Verizon did.
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ExDis said:
If there is one place you work or live with poor coverage, T-Mobile also has a couple of options that are basically either a range extended or an internal "tower" so you can use your phone inside where you don't get coverage.
https://support.t-mobile.com/community/coverage/personal-cellspot/4g-lte-signal-booster
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Click to collapse
Yea I am still staying with VZW for now. But there are 2 places that I spend time that have weak service one has no cable internet so that won't do any good even verizon there has weak service 3G and 1 weak bar of lte.
So I am testing tmobile in some place I mainly spend 2 time in 2 places , 1 there is edge and weak LTE -116 around that,I just can't do anthing for the phone to pick up band12 signal. I am running true-pure-x MM
always band4 or HSPA/+ or EDGE.

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