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mp3 file throttling/shaping by tmo

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.
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My data connection was pretty crappy last week. Back to normal this week.

This has been going on for almost two months for me
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I haven't been able to dl car talk via npr podcast apps on 3g as of late, this would explain why
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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.
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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.
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Well I really hope this is not true because this will heavily sway my current somewhat positive view of them.
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SeanFloyd said:
Yeah, **** tmobile. Never realized how ****ty the network was till my gf got a Samsung Epic on Sprint. ****s all over tmobile.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

Nexus 6P with Project Fi !

Hey Guys/Gals
How many of are you thinking switch to Project Fi, once you have the Nexus 6p. For me I ordered nexus 6p from play store then order Fi from Fi lol but most likely they will come same time. I am on TMO unlimited, but most of the time I am on wifi so I will be saving good amount of money I guess. lets share your thoughts on Fi
#graphitebros :cyclops:

Am already using Fi as my secondary account: have ordered my 6P and my Fi sim and it looks like the Fi sim will be here first. Am traveling to Puerto Rico tomorrow so will test out Fi there as I hear it is working well there.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

markwebb said:
Am already using Fi as my secondary account: have ordered my 6P and my Fi sim and it looks like the Fi sim will be here first. Am traveling to Puerto Rico tomorrow so will test out Fi there as I hear it is working well there.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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How is the service, is there any drop call or sometimes ?

Honestly I have been using sporadically so I can't make a definitive judgement but haven't had any issues yet. I will know more starting tomorrow when I begin heavier usage or at least hope to. I was in PR a few months ago and VZW was god awful: only 3g at best when there was a signal.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Debating switching from T-mobile. Currently on a 1gb individual plan for $60/mo including taxes. I'm sure I would save money switching to Fi, but I don't think I can give up music freedom, which is what allows me to stay within 1gb of data per month.

I've been on Fi for a couple of months now with my N6 daily driver. You must remember that any carrier's service is highly subjective, varying greatly due to location, the layout and construction of any enclosure (building, car, etc.), a specific device's reception capabilities, and about a thousand other things. So, it may be fantastic for one person, and absolutely horrid for another.
Having said that, I'm generally happy with the service. It's still an "Early Access" (beta) service right now, so yes, there have been some issues, and the switching from carrier to carrier (or wi-fi) isn't perfectly seamless, but it works most of the time. In my area, AT&T, my former carrier, was absolutely horrid. By that, I mean... things like, my in-laws' house is about 3 blocks away from the AT&T tower, yet I get zero signal there. Not even kidding. While my N6 shows that my average "bars" aren't really that different than what AT&T showed, I've yet to have a dropped call, or any lack of service. The only hiccup I've ever had is the inability to answer a call from time to time, which is admittedly hella annoying, but it's been rare, and at least I can always call right back. Of course, the N6 isn't the most stable phone on the planet, so I can't conclusively point the finger at Fi for the few issues I've had. (By the way, at my in-laws' house, I have a perfect signal, via their wi-fi -- including cellular voice. Yea, Fi.)
Right now, Fi switches between T-Mo and Sprint, using come super-duper complicated algorithm... which seems to essentially be: If signal from one is lost, try the other. It's not yet very good at actually picking the strongest signal, or (as others have reported -- I haven't really seen it) even selecting a 4G signal over a 3G one. However, this is improving, and I've no doubt that it will continue to do so. Oh, and I should point out that in many places, such as several restaurants in my area, it doesn't matter, because it will happily use a strong open wi-fi signal instaead. When it does, you'll automatically get hooked up with a VPN tunnel for security, and any data usage won't count against your data pool. I've made and received calls over such connections with no issues, and excellent clarity.
My point with all of this is to tell you whether or not you'll like Fi... and my answer would be: Maybe. It has it's pros and cons, most of which are widely known. The rest are pretty much identical to any other carrier. Is it worth a try? Sure. Can it save you money? If you're a light data user, sure. If not, then probably not. I can only tell you that I'm still using Fi as my daily driver. My wife just got her invite, and will be using Fi as her daily driver when her Nexus 5X arrives. By January, we could both be very happy Fi customers, or we could both be somewhere else. The very best thing about Fi is: We are under no obligation to stay, and if it ever stops working for us, we can leave with no ETF.

theRZA001 said:
Debating switching from T-mobile. Currently on a 1gb individual plan for $60/mo including taxes. I'm sure I would save money switching to Fi, but I don't think I can give up music freedom, which is what allows me to stay within 1gb of data per month.
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I am paying $66 for unlimited talk, text, and data and the mostly data I use streaming music. But I am getting 64GB so I will download the music using wifi every now and then so I will be fine. You can download the music to your device and try

Red Wolf said:
I am paying $66 for unlimited talk, text, and data and the mostly data I use streaming music. But I am getting 64GB so I will download the music using wifi every now and then so I will be fine. You can download the music to your device and try
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Were you grandfathered into that price point? I don't know how you can leave that deal...

jt3 said:
I've been on Fi for a couple of months now with my N6 daily driver. You must remember that any carrier's service is highly subjective, varying greatly due to location, the layout and construction of any enclosure (building, car, etc.), a specific device's reception capabilities, and about a thousand other things. So, it may be fantastic for one person, and absolutely horrid for another.
Having said that, I'm generally happy with the service. It's still an "Early Access" (beta) service right now, so yes, there have been some issues, and the switching from carrier to carrier (or wi-fi) isn't perfectly seamless, but it works most of the time. In my area, AT&T, my former carrier, was absolutely horrid. By that, I mean... things like, my in-laws' house is about 3 blocks away from the AT&T tower, yet I get zero signal there. Not even kidding. While my N6 shows that my average "bars" aren't really that different than what AT&T showed, I've yet to have a dropped call, or any lack of service. The only hiccup I've ever had is the inability to answer a call from time to time, which is admittedly hella annoying, but it's been rare, and at least I can always call right back. Of course, the N6 isn't the most stable phone on the planet, so I can't conclusively point the finger at Fi for the few issues I've had. (By the way, at my in-laws' house, I have a perfect signal, via their wi-fi -- including cellular voice. Yea, Fi.)
Right now, Fi switches between T-Mo and Sprint, using come super-duper complicated algorithm... which seems to essentially be: If signal from one is lost, try the other. It's not yet very good at actually picking the strongest signal, or (as others have reported -- I haven't really seen it) even selecting a 4G signal over a 3G one. However, this is improving, and I've no doubt that it will continue to do so. Oh, and I should point out that in many places, such as several restaurants in my area, it doesn't matter, because it will happily use a strong open wi-fi signal instaead. When it does, you'll automatically get hooked up with a VPN tunnel for security, and any data usage won't count against your data pool. I've made and received calls over such connections with no issues, and excellent clarity.
My point with all of this is to tell you whether or not you'll like Fi... and my answer would be: Maybe. It has it's pros and cons, most of which are widely known. The rest are pretty much identical to any other carrier. Is it worth a try? Sure. Can it save you money? If you're a light data user, sure. If not, then probably not. I can only tell you that I'm still using Fi as my daily driver. My wife just got her invite, and will be using Fi as her daily driver when her Nexus 5X arrives. By January, we could both be very happy Fi customers, or we could both be somewhere else. The very best thing about Fi is: We are under no obligation to stay, and if it ever stops working for us, we can leave with no ETF.
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thanks for your awesome word yes if I don't like I can always go back. Will try next month hopefully

I'm gonna order it on project fi today. If project fi's signal selection is really bad I might switch to ting, but if you use more than 2 gb of data a month plus some calls and text fi is cheaper than ting. Neither are contract locked so I can switch at any time and go back and forth, but at the end of the day with ting I'll only have t-mobile towers (sprint sucks in my area) and it'll cost more, so if fi works I'll be sticking with it for a long time.

TheUnladenSwallow said:
I'm gonna order it on project fi today. If project fi's signal selection is really bad I might switch to ting, but if you use more than 2 gb of data a month plus some calls and text fi is cheaper than ting. Neither are contract locked so I can switch at any time and go back and forth, but at the end of the day with ting I'll only have t-mobile towers (sprint sucks in my area) and it'll cost more, so if fi works I'll be sticking with it for a long time.
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Using dialer codes, you can lock your Fi signal to a single carrier (Sprint or T-Mo), which is essentially the same as choosing GSM (T-Mo) or CDMA (Sprint) from Ting, plus you have the added benefit of Wi-Fi usage where available. So, you *can* avoid the carrier switching issues, while maintaining more flexibility than Ting offers. Thus, there's very little reason to choose Ting over Fi, once you have the Fi invite.

jt3 said:
Using dialer codes, you can lock your Fi signal to a single carrier (Sprint or T-Mo), which is essentially the same as choosing GSM (T-Mo) or CDMA (Sprint) from Ting, plus you have the added benefit of Wi-Fi usage where available. So, you *can* avoid the carrier switching issues, while maintaining more flexibility than Ting offers. Thus, there's very little reason to choose Ting over Fi, once you have the Fi invite.
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Actually ting supports wifi calling too (it's very poorly documented and advertised) but thanks for this! Makes me sure that fi is the right choice unless wifi at my school and home gets drastically better.

I've been using my N6 on Fi for over a month now and just ordered the N6P to replace it. I started with my N6 on Sprint who I have been with for over 10 years and I am glad I finally made a change. Granted I was even grandfathered into a Sero 500 plan and Fi is still better. I am on WiFi most of the time so out of the 3gb plan I chose I got paid back over 25 bucks and zero call or message issues like while on just Sprint.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Red Wolf said:
Hey Guys/Gals
How many of are you thinking switch to Project Fi, once you have the Nexus 6p. For me I ordered nexus 6p from play store then order Fi from Fi lol but most likely they will come same time. I am on TMO unlimited, but most of the time I am on wifi so I will be saving good amount of money I guess. lets share your thoughts on Fi
#graphitebros :cyclops:
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I thought about it, but not sure if it would be worth it at $10/gb. I'm currently paying just under $60 after taxes for unlimited (I have a $10/mo refer-a-friend discount and a 15% corporate discount). Maybe once my discounts expire, I might give it a try. Haven't seen Band 12 on my Note 4, so having access to Sprint's EVDO network and open WiFi networks when I'm inside buildings would be great. I typically get either no reception or Edge (which is virtually no reception) inside certain buildings or when I'm inside and I have my Note 4 in my pocket.
FYI, I requested an invite a couple of days ago and got an instant invite, so they might be giving those out now to expand their customer base a bit faster.

I'm waiting for my wife to get an invite and for a one dead weight family member to get the hell off my family plan before I make the move to FI.

I ordered Fi yesterday, and I'm switching from Sprint. I hope the SIM comes before the phone!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

I actually wasn't going to order a Nexus for a while (still have a few months on my Verizon contract), but decided to request an invite to Fi in the meantime. To my surprise, I got an instant invite, so I bought a Nexus. Worst case is if Fi doesn't work well for me, then I just throw the Verizon SIM in the Nexus. Best case is that my wife and I will be able to pay ~1/3 of what we are currently paying.
Sent from my LG-V410 using XDA Free mobile app

Landed in San Juan and Fi connected to Sprint lte. Wife is on VZW with a weak 3g signal.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

theRZA001 said:
Were you grandfathered into that price point? I don't know how you can leave that deal...
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Its a business plan I got more than 2 years ago i guess yeah its hard to leave it though but in the end of the day I don't use much data.

Cheater912 said:
I ordered Fi yesterday, and I'm switching from Sprint. I hope the SIM comes before the phone!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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Did you order the phone through Fi? If so the SIM will be in the phone already.

Planning to switch Carriers, Verizon or AT&T.

I am planing to switch carriers from Sprint to At&T or Verizon. I have three lines, big data user (~14-17Gb). I currently have unlimited data with sprint, but their data coverage is limited for me. I preordered the N6SP and wanted a know the communities opinion between the two. I know that my data will be limited and will be mindful.

goofydragon1 said:
I am planing to switch carriers from Sprint to At&T or Verizon. I have three lines, big data user (~14-17Gb). I currently have unlimited data with sprint, but their data coverage is limited for me. I preordered the N6SP and wanted a know the communities opinion between the two. I know that my data will be limited and will be mindful.
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Go with cricket
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A

I guess it depends on the coverage each one provides in your area. If they're both reliable, AT&T plans seem a bit more $ friendly for multiple device users. Your call.

T-Mobile. Keep the unlimited data and get a better signal. I think they are still offering 14 day test drives so you and your family can check out out and see how it works in your area and areas you frequent. I moved from Verizon years ago and never looked back.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

SymbioticGenius said:
T-Mobile. Keep the unlimited data and get a better signal. I think they are still offering 14 day test drives so you and your family can check out out and see how it works in your area and areas you frequent. I moved from Verizon years ago and never looked back.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
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hard to believe that tmobile gets better signal...

Verizon has the best coverage, but is the most expensive. Also look into Google's Project Fi. It uses T-Mobile and Sprint networks as well as Wi-Fi calling and you only pay for the data you use ($10/GB).
Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk

In my experience I'll rank them as follows:
Verizon (best building penetration)
T-Mobile (best combination of coverage and speed)
ATT (slightly better coverage, speed sucks)
..... Anything else prepaid/whatever
Sprint (nothing good to say) *silence*
Most recently in the top floor of my house a visitor had no signal with sprint at all whereas I was fine on T-Mobile.
In my father's office in Manhattan he has no signal from T-Mobile on the first 4 floors but fine anywhere above, but Verizon works in the basement.
In my mother's office (in the middle of a brick college building) she had no signal on T-Mobile only in her office, but as soon as she stepped out of her office anywhere else in the building she's fine. Verizon works fine in her office.
However in a recent hospital visit neither of my parents phones worked on Verizon but I was fine on T-Mobile.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

I've had all of them except for Sprint. Verizon will find a way to screw you over and charge you more for nothing. AT&T is just expensive for marginal amounts of data. T-Mobile isn't the best but I have 2 lines with unlimited everything and pay $100 a month so for me that's the best compromise between everything. I get up to 80mb/s DL where I live which is better than At&t or VZW surprisingly. On the other hand their coverage in the middle of nowhere is nonexistent whereas the other two usually have something. It just depends on what your need and how the coverage is where you live.

Pilz said:
I've had all of them except for Sprint. Verizon will find a way to screw you over and charge you more for nothing. AT&T is just expensive for marginal amounts of data. T-Mobile isn't the best but I have 2 lines with unlimited everything and pay $100 a month so for me that's the best compromise between everything. I get up to 80mb/s DL where I live which is better than At&t or VZW surprisingly. On the other hand their coverage in the middle of nowhere is nonexistent whereas the other two usually have something. It just depends on what your need and how the coverage is where you live.
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I agree.
T-Mobile is the best compromise.
Not saying they have the fastest network or signal everywhere, but their prices are pretty good and if you're in a pretty popular area - signal is actually pretty good too.

Check your coverage map?
A few years ago, I would NEVER have recommended At&t and I was about to switch to Verizon (as soon as my contract was up).....Then, in my area, At&t installed several new LTE towers and I have better reception than any of my Verizon friends. Even when camping in the middle of nowhere, I can get signal every now and again where they don't.
I also like the fact you can be on a call and use data at the same time...... Don't do it much, but sometimes it comes in handy. For example, my wife calls and asks "what time is the show tonight"? I can pull the phone away from my ear, pull up the website and find out and let her know. Verizon may have changed this in the past few years, but you couldn't do this with them last I knew? You would have had to say "I'll check and call/text you back".
But it basically comes down to checking your coverage map.... I manage a friends Verizon account that is very similar to my At&t account, and the prices are all about the same. At&t did recently have a "double your data for $0 extra" promotion that I got in on and I've seen Verizon run these from time to time as well.
So.....As I've said a few times, it just comes down to coverage.

I have Verizon now and had att at one point , they were both about the same price for me. att had better coverage at certain spots and same was true for Verizon. My verizon LTE service has been great in central NJ and i cant speak for att but a friend of mine has att and says the LTE is good. Now i can say i would stay away from sprint i have a few friends who have it and when we are all together they are always not able to use there phones cause there service is at one bar to nothing.
I think you cant go wrong with either ATT or Verizon they both have one of the best networks in the us in my experience. main thing to note is ATT isnt as locked down as verizon is. Verizon is not as easy to bring a unlocked phone into there network IE moto x pure, and nexus 6 (before they sold it) and the new 6P. they have gotten better but still a lot harder then it needs to be
just my 2 cents

I moved off AT&T to try Project Fi. Was perfectly happy with AT&T, but Fi was cheaper and seemed very interesting. Had a huge problem with their Hangouts calling feature - it kept my N6 from being able to make/receive calls. If I uninstalled Hangouts from all my devices/computers, including the N6, the phone would work fine. After 2 weeks of no Hangouts, I was about ready to put a nail into my head. So, I switched to Verizon.
Now, I have used Verizon on my work phone for years. The coverage they have helps ensure I can use the phone while on business travel. That's great for businesses, but honestly doesn't mean much for me when I'm at home and all the carriers give adequate service. Now that I think about the extra $ the Verizon plan costs me, the fact that I have to subscribe to visual voicemail for an extra $3 a month where I didn't have to before, and that it took an act of congress for them to issue me a SIM card for a "NON-VZW Device"... I'm kind of wondering why I just didn't go back to AT&T. Or even T-mobile. ... well, anyone but Sprint.

Yeah it was an act of congress to get my nano sim activated too , now they do offer a free version of the visual VM that im using now. I looked into project Fi but the cost wouldn't be much cheaper i use way too much data lol

If someone actually looked at the prices of the new plans you would see that ATT and Verizon are about the same and in some cases V$ is even cheaper...not by a lot....This is for a single phone..but I dont think its much different with multiples. Go with whoever has the best coverage..but even then its probably a wash at this point too.

Current Activated Project FI Users (your experiences so far)

I've been reading through the forum and the Project Fi waiting room thread kind of touches on my subject but there is some digging that has to be done to find post about how their experience has been so far now that they are on the Fi Network...
I've been activated for about a week now. So far the service has been pretty good. I spend most of my days on WIFI so it's a good fit for me. I've only had a few issues so far.
1. My office is really big with many APs, when on a call and walking through the building it gets confused on what it should do. As my phone switches between APs it will move the call over to cell towers and then back to wifi and the end user says that I am cutting out really bad...
2. When I don't have WIFI available and connected to the sprint network I cannot use data and talk on the phone at the same time.. I guess this is what all sprint users currently deal with and is a limitation of technology but I've been with ATT for a long time and am not used to this. I don't believe its just because they are CDMA. Verizon has been doing this for a while now, correct?
3. If I'm connected to the sprint network and on a call then move to an area where tmobile has better service, when I get off of the call my service will go unavailable for multiple seconds while it disconnects and reconnects to the tmobile network.
4. Slowness to send and receive sms/mms to other carriers. This is not recreateable and is random.. Maybe 5% of the time.
5. Reduced daily battery life. Maybe 15%ish.. I think I was able to correct a lot of this by limiting background data.
I don't think this thread is duplicated but if it is point me to the correct location.

I've been activated since May 26. The only difference I notice between Fi and my previous carrier AT&T is the $50 I'm saving every month.
There were some minor hiccups at various points along the way. I had intermittent mobile data for about 48 hours and the first week for a couple days only Hangouts would ring, not the phone. Those problems are long gone now, though. As far as I'm concerned this is the best thing Google has done since Search.

Project Fi user (4 months)
Project Fi is something I wish everybody had a chance to experience. Honestly it is one of the best cell providers in the US. Customer service is amazing, the cell service is great, maybe a few things here and there, but an overall really good experience for this being a beta. Google is doing a really good job! Keep it up

Ive had Fi for 4 months, I live in a very rural part of Illinois. Service is great. I have a lot of 3g, but I am ok with that. I would never switch back to big red. Ive heard things about T-Mobile expanding more in my area so.. that would make my service even better..

I activated Fi in June and have had only minor issues related to network switching. They seem to have been resolved over time and I can't really see any difference in service than when I had TMO or VZW. I live in Orlando and don't travel extensively any more but coverage is more than adequate. And the savings are incredible.

I've had it for a couple months, and I'm satisfied with the service. I noticed my data drops out in certain areas when I'm driving, but it works fine at places I spend most of my time at.
My signal at home is only so-so, as far as internet goes, but that doesn't matter much, as I'm on wi-fi at home, anyway. One minor annoyance I've run into, however, is that occasionally my Fi signal seems to die completely for a brief period of time, and when it does, it crashes whatever app I'm in. It's often during a game (and with my luck, it's usually when I'm doing well...). But it's not a huge deal or anything.

I've been on Fi since early August. Came from Sprint "unlimited" plan, which was not doing me much good because I can't get decent Sprint data coverage at my workplace. And of course I use WiFi at home. So the addition of T-Mobile made a much better network for me. In fact, the switching algorithm keeps me on T-Mobile most of the time as I am out and about town.
Overall, I doubt that the sum of the Sprint and TMO network footprints match the coverage of Verizon. The question is: Is it good enough for you for the price? With one big caveat (see below), for me the answer is yes.
The switching is not perfect, especially on roadtrips. I believe there is a learning algorithm baked in, which includes localized geofencing. But while this improves things over time in routine places, I don't think it works so well the first time you go elsewhere. Gratefully, at least for now, there are leaked -- and not officially supported -- dialer codes to force switching between Sprint and TMO when you must.
Coming from unlimited makes for a paradigm shift because now I pay for cell network data by the megabyte. This is very cost-effective for someone who can stay on WiFi most of the time. I do, so my bills are very low. But if you cannot do that, and you are a heavy data user, this plan is not for you.
The big caveat for me right now is that Marshmallow reportedly breaks data service on TMO Band 12, which is what reaches into my office building with Lollipop 5.1.1. That is why I am in no hurry to upgrade to 6.0 unless and until this gets fixed. B12 coverage is increasingly a big deal for TMO's network footprint. So without it, much of the benefit of a dual network would go away.

I switched from t mobile unlimited. Whenever I'm on sprint on a call, data doesn't work so I manually force the phone to be on t mobile literally all the time which kind of defeats the purpose of having another network. I honestly don't think project fi is a significant improvement over just having t mobile. Adding sprint to fi is kind of like giving a crutch for a dwarf to a normal sized person. The reason I will stay on fi is because I don't believe Google well stop at t mobile and sprint only.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

Been on fi for a few months now and overall it's been great. My bill has been a couple of bucks less than my prepaid $30/mo tmobile plan. Even though sprint has fairly good coverage in my area, I mostly connect to tmobile networks.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with just the sprint network. Even though sprint has about the same # of cell towers in my area, signal strength between sprint towers seems to drop off rapidly compared to tmobile's towers. To be competitive, sprint needs to have more than twice the cell tower density to compare to tmobile's coverage. But it's still good to know I have sprint as a backup.

darthmtb said:
Project Fi is something I wish everybody had a chance to experience. Honestly it is one of the best cell providers in the US. Customer service is amazing, the cell service is great, maybe a few things here and there, but an overall really good experience for this being a beta. Google is doing a really good job! Keep it up
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I'd love to join Fi but t-mobile gave me such a good plan (grandfather discount). It will be a big lost if I leave.

I've been on Fi for about 5 months and have used it all over the US, South America, Europe and India. When roaming outside the US, it works exactly like the T-Mobile service it replaced. When I'm home and it runs on Sprint, it sucks. Phone doesn't ring and I miss texts. My service is actually better when I put the SIM card in a T-Mobile phone that can't switch to Sprint.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

i did sign up to fi, and got invited. and i did tell them j wanted to use fi. so they sent me a sim, and the "gifts". but i have no wifi at home, and i average about 25-40gb a month in data usage(tmobile, unlimited). i did the math in my head and it just didnt make any sense to me to switch. i definitely would, but the data costs are just to high. so i wrote them explaining about my data use, and they thanked me. and i havent been bugged by them in the last 2 months at all.

I'm on Verizon unlimited old plan and with great regret decided to try out Fi since they are increasing the price. I don't think anyone can match Verizon's network and I'm paying a reasonable $55 incl taxes. I wish I used more data, I hear people use 6-10GB on average on these unlimited plans, I guess I don't travel as much.
I am sort of afraid what Fi will mean since its after all a beta service. As an MVNO it is not price competitive, $10/GB is a lot for an MVNO to charge, Cricket is much better pricing, but I dont have their signal at home.

I'm glad to see the positive experiences with Fi. I ordered my Nexus 6 and Fi SIM card at lunch today and will activate Fi in a couple weeks once I get a credit back from T-mobile and can properly close my account with them. I'm looking forward to saving about $60 a month with Fi.

I've been activated since June. I came from T-mobile, so the change was all benefit for me in terms of coverage. I came from a Nexus 5 which doesn't have band 12 support. It was nice to be able to use T-Mobiles band 12 once I was on fi with the Nexus 6.
I rarely see sprint in my area, since T-Mobile is much better, but when I get out into the country, I have been connected to sprint where I used to have nothing at all. That's a plus. Also, sprint service allows roaming on Verizon 1x towers, and I have been connected to Verizon a few times.

I got a Fi invite instantly yesterday.
My N6 is stock unrooted Lollipop LMY48T, and uses my Verizon unlimited data SIM, my T-Mobile "WalmartPlan" $30 5gig SIM, or my cricket/aio prepaid SIM, depending.
I only use Google Voice through Hangouts for all my calls, so unlimited talk is not important to me.
If I order a Fi SIM, will I still be able to switch Sims freely or does the phone get locked to Fi only ?
I have heard some rumor that if I accept a Marshmallow OTA or sideload the M images, I will lose T-Mobile band12 LTE. Hope that is not true, since T-Mobile seems to be moving from band4 to band12 everywhere now.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

trent999 said:
I have heard some rumor that if I accept a Marshmallow OTA or sideload the M images, I will lose T-Mobile band LTE. Hope that is not true, since T-Mobile seems to be moving from band4 to band12 everywhere now.
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Click to collapse
The loss of data on Band 12 has been reported by several users who flashed the Marshmallow build. Apparently the difference is in the radio module, because some of them have reported that Band 12 data service is restored by flashing back to one of the latest Lollipop radios on top of the new build.
We don't know if this is by design or a bug.
I have no personal experience myself because I remain on 5.1.1 build LYZ28M.

Seems like going to Marshmallow would be a huge problem for Fi users, then, unless Fi doesn't use band12 LTE?
For quite a while the Nexus6 was almost the only phone out that would support T-Mobile band12, except for a couple of Samsung's. Big part of why I bought mine.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

trent999 said:
Seems like going to Marshmallow would be a huge problem for Fi users, then, unless Fi doesn't use band12 LTE?
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Click to collapse
Yes, it is a big open question right now. Google and Fi management have been silent about it. The issue may or may not be related to Google's need to certify the new Nexus devices for use on the TMO network directly (using T-Mobile SIMs). We don't know how these requirements relate to the Fi-TMO MVNO agreement, if at all.
It may be that there is just a bug in the Marshmallow 6.0 radio.

trent999 said:
If I order a Fi SIM, will I still be able to switch Sims freely or does the phone get locked to Fi only ?
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Several Verizon users have reported (a thread in Q&A section) difficulty returning to VZW from Fi.

Project Fi on Pixel XL

I was wondering what your guys experience has been with project Fi on this phone. If any of you have this service with your phone. Mine doesn't seem to be really good. Since Everytime I'm in the middle of doing something it switches carriers and makes my entire phone either lag or crash. So much for the "seem less" switching. But it is fast and does have signal everywhere so I'm very happy about that.
Just wanted to know everyone else's experience :good:

I just switched to Project Fi from AT&T, which I had been on for ages. Over 10 years. So far I really enjoy Project Fi. I haven't had any of the problems that you describe here. When I first got the phone it was on the T-Mobile network. I did a speed test on the 4G LTE and it scored over 30 Mbs down, so I was cool with that. On day two with the phone, the first time I went across town, the network switched to Sprint and never switched back to T-Mobile, even after I got back home. I speed tested Sprint 4G LTE and the speeds are basically the same as the T-Mobile results. I live in an area with good coverage on either network. I haven't traveled with the phone yet so I can't speak to how the coverage or switching works elsewhere.
I will say that I love the simplicity of how the cell phone plan is organized. Coming from AT&T, Project Fi's bill is like a breath of fresh air. There are many times that I use less that 2GB of mobile data in a billing cycle, and I am looking forward to the savings that I will be able to rake in because of that. So for myself personally, the service has worked 100% flawlessly, and I really enjoy the way the plan works. I am satisfied with Project Fi so far.

that seems weird. Been on project fi for over a year now and got a new sim when I got the XL. Works as good as it ever did. I would try calling support and/or getting a new sim. Its free; cant hurt

What you're reporting used to be one of the most common topics on the fi forum. Some people had two devices in the same household and one would stay on the weak network and the other would switch normally. In some cases it was people changing from one to another model, in others they and their spouse had different phones, and sometimes it was 2 of the same model right next to each other.
I never saw any resolution in the threads I looked at before. But I did look today and someone said you need a new sim when changing to a Pixel. If you've already done that, then nag support. Seems like they manage to tweak the algorithms over time so that the phones do a better job at network switching.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/project-fi/BfnwynJrT3E;context-place=forum/project-fi

I am testing it against ATT right now and have been in Europe for 10 days no. Very high marks over here in Germany and Italy. Coming back to US and driving from Maine to Texas with both ATT on the 6p and Fi on the Pixel. If all is well, I am switching to Fi. US Cellular is better in Maine than ATT. I think they will be equal on the interstates driving to TX. If so, on to Fi.

My signal is better on the Pixel XL compared to my 6P.

Went from Tmobile to Fi and coverage wise its as good if not better. I havent had any connection issues. The only "issue" i have now is I actually have to be mindful of how much data I use. Thats new to me as prior to tmo i had unlimited on Sprint. I dont use a ton of data but if I use 2-3GB I might as well go back to tmobile where I dont have to worry about my usage. After 3GB per month I end up spending more on Fi also. Right now im at like 400MB with 17 days to go. However things I took for granted like streaming music and youtube are things I try and avoid now which kind of sucks.
I really hope that at some point they offer a competitive unlimited plan, otherwise I may not stay long.

I'm planning on switching from Verizon. I'll be using both devices old and new for a month side by side before I cancel my Verizon and move over. I'll save on average about $30/mo, making my Pixel purchase $0 out of pocket with financing.

I've been on Fi since i got my pixel. Honestly love it more than verizon (previous service). although i never seem to be on any other carrier other than tmobile where i live. Only time it is switched is inside the place i work and it goes to Sprint.

Switched to Fi when I got my p-hone, have had sprint, AT&T, tmo and Verizon before, all for at least a year. Had 0 problems with the service, have a long commute through some rural areas that had poor/no reception and now I can keep a call connected, Pandora on through all of the areas I wasn't able to before

Xt51 said:
I was wondering what your guys experience has been with project Fi on this phone. If any of you have this service with your phone. Mine doesn't seem to be really good. Since Everytime I'm in the middle of doing something it switches carriers and makes my entire phone either lag or crash. So much for the "seem less" switching. But it is fast and does have signal everywhere so I'm very happy about that.
Just wanted to know everyone else's experience :good:
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Click to collapse
Works great for me. I've had Fi for about 1.5 years and I've taken it everywhere, Europe and to many states in the US and it works well everywhere. It rarely loses the signal. It switches networks of course but usually that's quick. Sometimes it takes 30 seconds or so if you are on the highway but that's the longest it takes to switch. Overall Fi gets an A from me:good: