Related
I don't know how many here use podcast app that download mp3 files such as google listen, but for me this has recently been very slow unless using wifi. No mater wich app, kernel, modem, rom... I can only get 10kB/s. I'm not over the 5 gig limit either and everything else is plenty fast as it should be.
It appears that tmo is slowing all mp3 files down except the amazon mp3 app. Has anyone else been having issues with this?
I've found one other thread on the tmo forums about the issue.
XDA App
My data connection was pretty crappy last week. Back to normal this week.
This has been going on for almost two months for me
XDA App
I haven't been able to dl car talk via npr podcast apps on 3g as of late, this would explain why
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Amazon MP3 is slow on AT&T or T-Mobile for me.
This is impossible unless they are targeting particular hosts, but I think that might be illegal.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
It's definitely not impossible. As to the legality of it, that may be more of a gray area. They can make many seemingly reasonable claims to justify it, including improving the efficiency of their network.
XDA App
Well I really hope this is not true because this will heavily sway my current somewhat positive view of them.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App
SeanFloyd said:
Yeah, **** tmobile. Never realized how ****ty the network was till my gf got a Samsung Epic on Sprint. ****s all over tmobile.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint is garbage around these parts and they have traffic shaping as well - all carriers do. 4G a horrible experience because of the constant disconnects/loss of signal.
heygrl said:
Sprint is garbage around these parts and they have traffic shaping as well - all carriers do. 4G a horrible experience because of the constant disconnects/loss of signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't comment on the 4g sentiment but her 3g on Sprint seems at least twice as fast as T-Mobile's 3g. I am living in the Phoenix area so there should be ample coverage.
SeanFloyd said:
Can't comment on the 4g sentiment but her 3g on Sprint seems at least twice as fast as T-Mobile's 3g. I am living in the Phoenix area so there should be ample coverage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're kidding right? You must be in an area with a ton of T-Mobile customers because the last time I was out there Sprint 3G was complete garbage and I was getting 2-5Mbps easy with T-Mobile's 3G. Not to mention, Sprint's data card was switching back between 1X and EV-DO on Sprint and downloading any type of file at 27KB/sec. It was really pathetic and still is. There are rampant complaints about Sprint 3G in Phoenix right on this forum.. look in the Evo section.
This is definitely real. Just google it, people are complaining lots of places. It's odd because I can download other audio formats of the exact same file (or any other type of file I've tried) at normal speed. Speedtest confirms a solid 5.5mbps connection. I hit tmo up on twitter about it but haven't heard a response. Haven't tried calling them but others confirm they have.
I not sure it's illegal as of now. They control their networks until some form of net neutrality is passed.
yea ive noticed the same thing
I've noticed the same thing, google listen downloads over 3g are slow, wifi fast. When listening to shows on rapid transit, invariably the TCP connection will either break or I will hit the 'end' in the middle of the down load, and I'm left with like half a friggin download to listen to.
Slowing it down is easy to do. There are traffic shapers, the most popular ones are Sandvine and the Cisco Service Control Engine, that can pick out traffic and traffic signatures and rate limit them in hardware.
The legality is questionable if they don't disclose what they are doing up front.
I've been meaning to setup a vpn with home and the phone to avoid this slow down, but haven't found the time.
I actually spoke to a tmobile rep about this cuz I had experienced this problem for about a month. they went through the usual steps..... Turn off phone, take out sim card and battery, and ofcourse clear my browsers cache, that was a load of crap. Anyways the rep told me that I had an outdated sim card in my phone, I got a new one and still my downloads of twit podcasts and other MP3 files are slow as hell.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Same issue with a Nexus S. Called tmobile, claimed they have never heard of the problem, but their engineers will look at it when they get a chance since it is a low priority issue. So lame. However, not everyone is having this problem, it almost seems to be affecting people in certain area's I for one am in Orlando.
It's not a problem, you've just wasted your time by calling in.. it's intentional to manage network traffic. Even Slacker streams are shaped.
heygrl said:
Sprint is garbage around these parts and they have traffic shaping as well - all carriers do. 4G a horrible experience because of the constant disconnects/loss of signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint has a bigger network 3G network than T-Mobile - Voice too. T-Mobile depends on Roaming for voice, and they aren't building out their data network - just upgrading them to HSPA+ (Software upgrade, not hard or expensive).
Traveling around with an AT&T or Sprint phone is a different experience than T-Mobile. Driving to Houston, my Vibrant was drops signal (Voice and Data) between major cities like nothing.
That never happened when I had an AT&T phone. I could basically be on 3G the whole way there... My phone would never become useless while traveling.
With T-Mobile if you travel to some cities you also run the risk of having nothing but GPRS for voice and no decent data connection. The risk of that with the larger carriers is much less. T-Mobile is decent in bigger cities, but outside of them (I'm talking, drive 3-5 miles out of some of them) they are terrible.
They're cheap because the service is cheap, compared to other carriers. AT&T and Verizon get by with charging more because their networks are huge by comparison, and while AT&T has had issues they have been consistently building their network out and adding capacity. T-Mobile and Sprint haven't (not that they need to, they aren't that large). AT&T just put up a new tower here, for example, so they're the only carrier around here with 3G/HSPA coverage.
T-Mobile gets voice coverage due to roaming contracts. Verizon and Sprint get little to no coverage here...
EDIT: GSM 3G is faster than CDMA 3G. There's really no argument about that. Of course, if T-Mobile doesn't have great towers/service where you live that can flip. But Coverage and Reliability > Speed, and that's why T-Mobile is still the smallest carrier despite having the best prices/plans. Their 3G network is too small, and unreliable especially if you travel and/or live outside of major cities.
ibous said:
It's definitely not impossible. As to the legality of it, that may be more of a gray area. They can make many seemingly reasonable claims to justify it, including improving the efficiency of their network.
XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Horrible since with that excuse they cap everything,while still selling in BIG LETTERS The FASTEST 4G NETWORK.
N8ter said:
Sprint has a bigger network 3G network than T-Mobile - Voice too. T-Mobile depends on Roaming for voice, and they aren't building out their data network - just upgrading them to HSPA+ (Software upgrade, not hard or expensive).
Traveling around with an AT&T or Sprint phone is a different experience than T-Mobile. Driving to Houston, my Vibrant was drops signal (Voice and Data) between major cities like nothing.
That never happened when I had an AT&T phone. I could basically be on 3G the whole way there... My phone would never become useless while traveling.
With T-Mobile if you travel to some cities you also run the risk of having nothing but GPRS for voice and no decent data connection. The risk of that with the larger carriers is much less. T-Mobile is decent in bigger cities, but outside of them (I'm talking, drive 3-5 miles out of some of them) they are terrible.
They're cheap because the service is cheap, compared to other carriers. AT&T and Verizon get by with charging more because their networks are huge by comparison, and while AT&T has had issues they have been consistently building their network out and adding capacity. T-Mobile and Sprint haven't (not that they need to, they aren't that large). AT&T just put up a new tower here, for example, so they're the only carrier around here with 3G/HSPA coverage.
T-Mobile gets voice coverage due to roaming contracts. Verizon and Sprint get little to no coverage here...
EDIT: GSM 3G is faster than CDMA 3G. There's really no argument about that. Of course, if T-Mobile doesn't have great towers/service where you live that can flip. But Coverage and Reliability > Speed, and that's why T-Mobile is still the smallest carrier despite having the best prices/plans. Their 3G network is too small, and unreliable especially if you travel and/or live outside of major cities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon has better cover than both from what i read.
But here in Puerto Rico T-mobile is good,and i have data pretty much any were i go,they are cheap because they are the smaller guys not the big ones,and have a much better customer service than AT&T which ranked last.
Some of the best phone plans here were made by a company call Movi Star,before Movi start everything cell phone related here in Puerto Rico was ultra expensive.
In fact by the late 90's here you were charge by the minutes,in plans of 400 minutes and so and they counted both ways in or out,text ultra expensive as well,like .30 cents a text or more.
Movi Star actually came with the first all call receive free plan,and it was a hit,they also boosted the first pre-pay phones with unlimited receive calls free as long as you had balance to make calls as well.
Not only that they also came with the first plan here in Puerto Rico,that included both calls incoming and outgoing unlimited for a fixed price,in that time it was $99 dollars i remember it,it was like 1998 i think.
By that time the PRTC,Cellular One were the tops dogs here,and a 1000 minute plan on any of the 2 could cost you almost what Movi Star charged,but you only have 1000 minutes that counted both ways,with Movi Star it was unlimited.
Now that company is call Open Mobile and they sell just pre-pay phones,they are not as attractive to customers because they don't have a huge selection of phones,and they sell the phone to you without financial,unlike T-mobile and AT&T which sell you the phone cheap or free to tie you in the contract.
In fact they have the cheapest plan of any company here in Puerto Rico and have good signal to,they charge you $55 for unlimited calls, unlimited data,unlimited text.unlimited US long distance calls,Unlimited roaming in US,and even 411 (information to ask for numbers) Unlimited.
All that for $55 dollars,the only down side is that they don't use sim cards,and that only some Sprint phones are compatible out side the ones they sell you,and android phones like the hero are expensive like $300.
So you see usually the best plans comes from the smaller guys,because when they are big like AT&T they charge people what ever they want,is the number 1 reason why AT&T and T-mobile merge should not be allowed,because once T-mobile is in and the rest of the contracts are up,the abuse will begin,and believe me they will rise they price once your contract is done.
T-mobile service is not cheap because is bad,is cheap because T-mobile is not as big as AT&T and Verizon so to bring customers in they have to offer better prices,just because AT&T over charge for their services doesn't mean that what T-mobile is doing most be because their signal is bad.
I am currently on net10 and noticed that during peak hours my data is almost non existant. I learned that att mvno dont have priority on the network so I think that might explain why despite having full bars my data speeds are horrible during peak hours of the day. I heard that Tmobile doesnt deprioritize mvno so I was thinking of trying Solavei. I already have the sim card and free service for a month. I am just worried about coverage on tmobile's network. So my first question is how are people fairing with tmobile or solavei? I know tmobile is working on their network has anyone seen improvements in coverage? Also I was wondering if people are having the same issue with straight talk on the Att side during peak hours in large populated areas? I live in the bay area but i noticed the same speed issues over the holidays when I was in Memphis, Tn with net10.
IM loving it! i work in the bay area and get great speeds here! and at home also which is in fresno! coverage has gotten allot better and its only getting better! if i were you i would join before the 31st cause you get the free month of service and free sim card... if you want to join hit me up [email protected]...
asqwrd said:
I am currently on net10 and noticed that during peak hours my data is almost non existant. I learned that att mvno dont have priority on the network so I think that might explain why despite having full bars my data speeds are horrible during peak hours of the day. I heard that Tmobile doesnt deprioritize mvno so I was thinking of trying Solavei. I already have the sim card and free service for a month. I am just worried about coverage on tmobile's network. So my first question is how are people fairing with tmobile or solavei? I know tmobile is working on their network has anyone seen improvements in coverage? Also I was wondering if people are having the same issue with straight talk on the Att side during peak hours in large populated areas? I live in the bay area but i noticed the same speed issues over the holidays when I was in Memphis, Tn with net10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tmo/solavei coverage ain't bad if you live in a big city or populated area. once you leave the city it usually craps down to edge or you lose signal altogether. but when your getting good signal the data is pretty fast, and no they don't prioritize, you'll get the same speeds on any tmo mvno as actual tmo. only thing I hate about T-Mobile is the indoor signal strength sux. but seeing as how I just got throttled down to .23 mb/s by st at&t halfway thru my billing cycle, I'll be switching back to tmo (solavei actually) next month
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
lowrider262 said:
tmo/solavei coverage ain't bad if you live in a big city or populated area. once you leave the city it usually craps down to edge or you lose signal altogether. but when your getting good signal the data is pretty fast, and no they don't prioritize, you'll get the same speeds on any tmo mvno as actual tmo. only thing I hate about T-Mobile is the indoor signal strength sux. but seeing as how I just got throttled down to .23 mb/s by st at&t halfway thru my billing cycle, I'll be switching back to tmo (solavei actually) next month
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
were you having data issues during peaks hours where you couldnt use data or it was really slow? Also how long ago did you have tmobile im waiting on my sim from solavei but i have been trying to gauge how much of an improvement tmobile has made on their network as far as coverage. Seems like its not much based on research no one has out right said they are experiencing better coverage
Use T-Mobile's coverage map on their website.
asqwrd said:
were you having data issues during peaks hours where you couldnt use data or it was really slow? Also how long ago did you have tmobile im waiting on my sim from solavei but i have been trying to gauge how much of an improvement tmobile has made on their network as far as coverage. Seems like its not much based on research no one has out right said they are experiencing better coverage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no my data was fine during peak hours on tmobile. I was on tmo up until the 9th of this month then I switched to st at&t
xdviper said:
Use T-Mobile's coverage map on their website.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used the coverage map but user experience is better than looking at a map. Those maps arent always accurate and i feel sometimes the carriers embellish a little bit about their actual coverage. I guess ill just have to wait and see when the sim comes
asqwrd said:
I have used the coverage map but user experience is better than looking at a map. Those maps arent always accurate and i feel sometimes the carriers embellish a little bit about their actual coverage. I guess ill just have to wait and see when the sim comes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bump
I use att.mvno with H2O Wireless and don't get no peak slowdowns AFAIK. I don't stream videos and in general i view mobile sites rather than full sites as well so maybe that's part of why i don't notice much of a difference. Then again certain parts of AT&T's network are slammed, doesn't matter if it's prepaid of full post paid contract plans.
asqwrd said:
I have used the coverage map but user experience is better than looking at a map. Those maps arent always accurate and i feel sometimes the carriers embellish a little bit about their actual coverage. I guess ill just have to wait and see when the sim comes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may sound weird, but I've found T-Mobile's coverage map to be superbly accurate. It's inside buildings where it gets hazy.
To the OP, Straight Talk and Net10 use the same service ..just Net10 charges $5 more for it.
You go with these for the unlimited talk or data? Which is more important? If you can live with 100anytime mins try T-Mobile prepaid they have a 100 anytime min, unlimited text and 5GB of 4G speed then throttled but still unlimited, for $30/month.
Sent from my Nexus 4 16GB using Tapatalk 2
I have been with Tmo for 9 years and 3 months ago cancelled and started a Solavei plan on the Tmo network. I went from a $180/month to $110/month month (2 phones). 4gb (per month) 3G/4G before throttle to 2G was the selling point for me. Tmobile is great if you don't travel out of cities/off the interstate. I've never had problems even when I traveled for my job 100% across America, but I was in cities and rarely went to rural/redneck areas.
The only downside (if its a downside) is that the Solavei website is fairly stripped of information about your phone plan. You really just log in and pay your bill (or setup auto-pay). There is no statistics (minutes/data/call log/etc...) like Tmobile had so you will have to use apps to track that stuff. I re-Rom a lot so it is tough for me to track statistics smoothly but this is really trivial and not a big deal.
The data being used on Straight Talk with TMob is a hairy one..on HowardForums some say they get capped at 4gb then some say at 7-10gb, but supposedly tmob is cracking down on the mnvos for data usage..
Atat on the other hand will straight up kick your ass off data completely on mvnos. But tmobiles own prepaid offerings aren't bad and you know what they say is what you'll get. And the T-Mobile my account info app on the play store works for their prepaid.
Sent from my Nexus 4 16GB using Tapatalk 2
ztmike said:
To the OP, Straight Talk and Net10 use the same service ..just Net10 charges $5 more for it.
You go with these for the unlimited talk or data? Which is more important? If you can live with 100anytime mins try T-Mobile prepaid they have a 100 anytime min, unlimited text and 5GB of 4G speed then throttled but still unlimited, for $30/month.
Sent from my Nexus 4 16GB using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI - Straight Talk operates on both AT&T and T-Mobile and even Verizon in some places. You can get SIMs for either service depending on your phone (excepting Nexus and other unlocked devices where you can use both - even swap around if you want to).
ztmike said:
To the OP, Straight Talk and Net10 use the same service ..just Net10 charges $5 more for it.
You go with these for the unlimited talk or data? Which is more important? If you can live with 100anytime mins try T-Mobile prepaid they have a 100 anytime min, unlimited text and 5GB of 4G speed then throttled but still unlimited, for $30/month.
Sent from my Nexus 4 16GB using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wanted to try Solavei because I heard it has data roaming while T-mobile prepaid doesnt. I figured that would help a little with coverage for data also 100 mins is too little for me I can run through that easily in a day( I work remotely from home 2 days out of the week so meetings can run over)
Thanks for the reply patiently waiting on the sim card hopefully I get good results on tmobile i just think Net10 and I guess Straightalk are pointless if i cant use data well during certain times of the day despite having full bars. It happened to me on too many occasions this past month in two different cities.
I've been using Straight Talk (with ATT Sim) for about a month and haven't run into any issues with using data throughout the day. I haven't reached the throttle point yet though.. Speeds with ATT are consistently 3mbit (yes, a lot slower then TMobile, but better coverage).
madferretx said:
I've been using Straight Talk (with ATT Sim) for about a month and haven't run into any issues with using data throughout the day. I haven't reached the throttle point yet though.. Speeds with ATT are consistently 3mbit (yes, a lot slower then TMobile, but better coverage).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you live in the bay area or similar place with a lot of people?
Don't do Solavei. I had it for a few days and data is very jumpy. I'm right outside of Dallas and my speeds were worse than Metro PCS. I think at one point it got down to 100-200 kbps. Way worse. And when I tried to set up my APN settings to get MMS and Solavei Web to work when only one or the other was working I went through two customer service reps and they didn't know what the hell they were doing. I got a refund and just went with a tmobile contract plan where I'm getting unlimited everything with no caps for $64 a month. I hate caps. Just stay away from Solavei.
Had AT&T ST, now T-Mobile prepaid, switching to Solavei soon.
For me on AT&T my phone gets decent reception in buildings, but T-mobile's HSPA+ is very fast outside big corporate buildings, which I prefer actually for streaming media. T-Mobile prepaid doesn't offer conditional call forwarding, so that's the main reason I'm switching to Solavei since I can't use Google Voice as my voicemail without that feature. AFAIK they are the only T-Mobile MVNO that offers it.
Did a bunch of reading.
I use/need:
1. ~800 minutes
2. ~1.5GB of data (was using 500MB on sprint, assume I'll use more on faster network)
3. Mostly urban, rarely rural. Willing to forego data when out in the wilderness
4. Google Voicemail
5. Would like to be less than $50/mo and/or 'contract free' (don't want to pay phone subsidy when I own my phone)
T-mobile $30 prepaid plan: Ruled out by 1.
Straight Talk - T-Mobile SIM: Ruled out by 4.
T-mobile $60 prepaid plan: Ruled out by 5. ($10/mo+ * 24 = a new nexus phone)
AT&T $65 plan: Ruled out by 2, 5.
Looks like my options are:
A: Solavei - T-Mobile Network
Pros:
1. Faster when data works
2. Same priority as T-mobile customers
3. 4GB on 4G data before throttle
4. Voice+Data roaming
5. Possible to save $20/mo if I refer 3 subscribers and they're sure to use my referral code (I already have 2 possible)
6. Seems to be better in congested areas (from visually reviewing data on rootmetrics)
Cons:
1. $ more than ST
2. Smaller overall network
3. Weaker building penetration
4. Expects me to become a network marketer to save, new users most likely won't properly attribute my referral
5. If you do sign up 3 referrals, you're basically on-contract and won't want to leave because of the savings, even if quality starts to suffers
B: Straight Talk - AT&T Network
Pros:
1. $5-8 less than Solavei
2. Bigger overall network = better voice+data coverage
3. Better building penetration
4. Easy to switch
Cons:
1. Slower data
2. Random throttling. Is it 70MB/day? Is it 2GB/mo? What is it? You'll end up asking: "WHY DID YOU THROTTLE ME?" They'll end up saying: "Dunno, see if it's faster next month. Everything is fine on our end."
3. Lower priority voice+data in congested areas/times. Network is getting beat up by iPhones+iPads.
4. No data or voice roaming
I looked at:
http://www.airportal.de/
http://www.rootmetrics.com/
I've read several reports of poor T-mobile service in Buffalo, NY, but the fresh maps (-90 days) on these sites say otherwise. Willing to try magenta first, then fall back to random throttling and low priority on ST-ATT.
I recently received my Nexus 4 phone and went with a T-Mobile no contract plan. I noticed that I am only getting 2g service. Next to my connectivity bars it shows a G. My data reception is very slow. Is there a way to get faster data speeds by tweaking some settings or am I stuck with the slow 2G speeds? Where I live I am limited to Verizon or us cellular. In order to get a no contract with one of these companies I would have had to get one of their no contract phones. Had to travel about an hour to get to T-Mobile store. Is AT&T any better? Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Do you live in an area with T-Mobile 4g coverage? If not, you are borked. If you should have 4g coverage, make sure your APN settings are all entered correctly. They have to be exactly right.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
After doing some research I believe the data service is only going to be 2G. What a bummer! Such a great phone and I can't use it to it's full potential. Only had it a week and looks like I'm going to have to get rid of it already. Thanks for the the info. Guess I'll have to go back to the money sucking Verizon.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Sounds like you are out in the boonies so chances are tmo is not a good choice for you (ATT is probably lousy too) you don't necessarily have to go back to verizon proper though, pageplus is a viable option and could be much cheaper ($55/mo for unl talk/text + 1gb data) depending on your usage. You won't be able to use the n4 on pageplus but you could always "downgrade" to a galaxy nexus.
edit - Looks like pageplus has some updated plans, the $55 plan now has 2gb of data and they've added a $70 plan that has 5gb of data.
I don't really live in the boonies, but where I live there is basically verizon or us cellular to choose from. Can not use the nexus4 on their networks because they do not support the nexus 4 technology. I only get 2G with t mobile or att and the data speed is horrible. Believe I will be looking for a galaxy nexus 4g phone. At least I can use that on verizons network. Again, thanks for your info.
I received my Nexus 4 form T mobile and didn't really buy in to the whole death grip issue but noticed the cell antenna signal was really jumpy - i first thought it was software related. In my area i have my ime attached to my optimum wifi to pickup a signal which is heavily available on long island, ny. Switching form the iphone and sprint which i always put 3rd behind verizon, att. I assumed t mobile would be an issue but did not expect the poor coverage i got. The iphone on sprint never showed no signal, i actually cant remember one time with my evo 4g, nexus 3, iphone 4, 4s and 5 where i was anywhere saying dam no signal or dropped call while on sprint. tmobile on the nexus 4 would show an empty triangle as soon as i walked inside a building and was non existent in my home. I assumed software because with wifi off it would hold a signal longer, I'm ok with it dropping cell data on wifi and even tried to not use wifi on weak signal but still had issues.
The phone never went to edge, which i would have been ok with becasue it meant i could make a call, nothign worse than no signal at all. my friend had tmobile sg3 and in my house it would auto switch to full edge in my house, my nexus would show one H bar and then go empty until i switched to 2g or turned off wifie to kill my battery while struggling for one H bar.
I actually got tmobile to drop my contract becasue they could not supply a signal boost. i went to straight talk att sim and had issues, better but still issues. Moved on to gophone, while gophone att is the best signal i noticed since getting the phone i have an open support case with LG to send it in and but am waiting until i have my new nexus 4 form google play which is coming monday. I plan to test the new one, non tmobile while i send in the tmobile one to LG and will resell the LG resend if all goes well. im hoping i received a lemon and all my signal issues go away but have been really frustrated to date.
Especially with APN and prepaid settings, at least straightalk att sim had settigns included, the att gogphone is really secredt about what to give me, multiple reps give different info and advise i need different gophone plans.
Its killing the nexus 4, i even tried the t mobile $60 or $65 plan and could not get a signal in my home or get it to switch to 2g automatically.
I'm leaving Sprint, and was planning on moving to ATT, but now taking a look at Verizon. It appears that VZ has slightly better coverage in my rural area. I'm also moving up to the GN3 and have been reading that some features may not be available on VZ. I would really appreciate any opinions or recommendations that would make this decision easier.
Cost? Seems pretty close.
Phones? Does one carrier limit their instruments more than the other?
Coverage and reliability?
Anything else?
Thanks in advance.
I'm posting in General, because although there are question marks here, they're not exactly questions. Please move if you think so.
re: AT&T or VZW
kat3k said:
I'm leaving Sprint, and was planning on moving to ATT, but now taking a look at Verizon. It appears that VZ has slightly better coverage in my rural area. I'm also moving up to the GN3 and have been reading that some features may not be available on VZ. I would really appreciate any opinions or recommendations that would make this decision easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 2 cents: It really depends on coverage. If you get a signal with VZW and not with AT&T, your problem is solved, and vice versa. If you live in a rural area and get a weak signal, there are boosters (I have used a Wilson Yagi antenna with 4G Sleek cradle and gone from 0 to 5 bars...but the cradle limits mobility. It comes in versions for VZW or AT&T but not both). VZW offers 6Gb data for $50 while AT&T gives you 5Gb. However, AT&T gives access to WIFI hotspots, and may give you more options if you travel overseas. As for the GN3 - I'm eagerly awaiting mine - on AT&T, after 15 years a Verizon customer. Both versions look like they will be more difficult to mod than other phones (which is why some people are buying a T-Mobile version and moving to AT&T). I had no issues with Verizon in the 15 years I was with them, and am only buying the AT&T GN3 to find out if coverage on their network is better here than VZW; if not I'll return it and probably cease using cellular coverage for internet access and go with Excede - I live in a rural area, too, and have to climb a hill to use voice. Radio Shack rep told me Wilson is coming out with a signal booster "in a couple months" that will not tie you to a cradle. I get my phone tomorrow, and am anxious to find out how the radio on the Note 3 compares to my Droid Razr. Good luck!
bienbien said:
My 2 cents: It really depends on coverage. If you get a signal with VZW and not with AT&T, your problem is solved, and vice versa. If you live in a rural area and get a weak signal, there are boosters (I have used a Wilson Yagi antenna with 4G Sleek cradle and gone from 0 to 5 bars...but the cradle limits mobility. It comes in versions for VZW or AT&T but not both). VZW offers 6Gb data for $50 while AT&T gives you 5Gb. However, AT&T gives access to WIFI hotspots, and may give you more options if you travel overseas. As for the GN3 - I'm eagerly awaiting mine - on AT&T, after 15 years a Verizon customer. Both versions look like they will be more difficult to mod than other phones (which is why some people are buying a T-Mobile version and moving to AT&T). I had no issues with Verizon in the 15 years I was with them, and am only buying the AT&T GN3 to find out if coverage on their network is better here than VZW; if not I'll return it and probably cease using cellular coverage for internet access and go with Excede - I live in a rural area, too, and have to climb a hill to use voice. Radio Shack rep told me Wilson is coming out with a signal booster "in a couple months" that will not tie you to a cradle. I get my phone tomorrow, and am anxious to find out how the radio on the Note 3 compares to my Droid Razr. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much for the helpful response. Both carriers are neck and neck reception-wise, with VZ probably slightly better. I have used Sprint's femtocell and was considering the counterpart for whichever carrier I go with, as it's been my understanding my signal is not adequate for a booster, but hooking up to DSL does work great. I have looked at a Wilson model booster before, and might give that another look after hearing from you. I don't know much about that option. In any case, I'm going with Costco for carrier and phone, and am going to try to hold off for Black Friday, just in case, but might not make it, especially if my N2 gets sold first. Thanks again.
amplification & mini cell tower
for voice, texting and 3g in a poor coverage area Verizon offers a free or low cost mini cell tower that runs off of an ethernet connect to the internet. when synched you have your own mini cell tower in the house
my situation was odd: i had very good cell and data. then verizon re-did their antenna system and my neighborhood got horrible reception and data. after about 6 weeks of my calling a few times per week and insisting on level 2 techies,
a supervisor approved selling me a refurbed mini tower for $100. or cancelling my contract. i took the tower and that ended my problems for voice, texing and slow internet at home. i have fast interent with good wifi converage all around my house and property.
months later they fixed the antenna problem. my service is not great--like it was 18 months ago, but good. i still use the mini tower and am very pleased. $100 well spent.
you way want to make inquiries before they sign you up. customer service supervisors at verison are generally pretty good.
4g or LTE if you have any signal at all, there is a 4 lte amplifier available for about $250. zBoost SOHO DataBlast 4G Data Booster Kit for Verizon LTE
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009UNGTCQ/ref=gno_cart_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
If you are in a rural area, sometimes there are choices, none of which are great i have no idea what is available with at&t to augment their signals.
i live in a suburb very close to downtown just outside the city limits of miami. when my home area was having problems, 2 miles away at my office, i was down loading generally at over 20mgs. today my office is the same. at home my down load sppeds vary from sometimes mid-teens to 3 to 5 mgs lower end. during the few problematic months, i could not stream video on my cell without wifi at home.
bob52r said:
for voice, texting and 3g in a poor coverage area Verizon offers a free or low cost mini cell tower that runs off of an ethernet connect to the internet. when synched you have your own mini cell tower in the house
my situation was odd: i had very good cell and data. then verizon re-did their antenna system and my neighborhood got horrible reception and data. after about 6 weeks of my calling a few times per week and insisting on level 2 techies,
a supervisor approved selling me a refurbed mini tower for $100. or cancelling my contract. i took the tower and that ended my problems for voice, texing and slow internet at home. i have fast interent with good wifi converage all around my house and property.
months later they fixed the antenna problem. my service is not great--like it was 18 months ago, but good. i still use the mini tower and am very pleased. $100 well spent.
you way want to make inquiries before they sign you up. customer service supervisors at verison are generally pretty good.
4g or LTE if you have any signal at all, there is a 4 lte amplifier available for about $250. zBoost SOHO DataBlast 4G Data Booster Kit for Verizon LTE
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009UNGTCQ/ref=gno_cart_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
If you are in a rural area, sometimes there are choices, none of which are great i have no idea what is available with at&t to augment their signals.
i live in a suburb very close to downtown just outside the city limits of miami. when my home area was having problems, 2 miles away at my office, i was down loading generally at over 20mgs. today my office is the same. at home my down load sppeds vary from sometimes mid-teens to 3 to 5 mgs lower end. during the few problematic months, i could not stream video on my cell without wifi at home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the Amazon link, but I don't have enough of a signal to use a booster. I'll have to go with the femtocell once I know my carrier. If not for that, I would have gone long ago to Straight Talk, but no reception aids for them that I know of (unless you piggyback on an ATT acct, but once the ATT acct is gone, so are you). The reception maps at Sensorly.com swayed my decision from ATT to VZ. It's just pretty hard to come out ahead, with any kind of savings, especially if you like to get new phones very often. I always think I love this phone so much, I will never want another, but then I do.
Please discuss in the upgrading stickies in General sections.
Thanks
FNM
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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 ?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
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
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
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
Click to expand...
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.