Tmobile LTE is live in Houston. I get a bad LTE signal from where I work, but what it's worth I avg about 6Mbs down and 3Mbs up on 1 or less bars. One time I got 3 bars while driving, and got 8Mbs down and 12Mbs up. The faster ping time is what makes the difference.
Is it that much faster? yes. Is it really worth it? Not really. When your cap is a couple gigs a month, getting your data a couple seconds faster is not that big of a deal. Of course, that is providing you're were not previously on a network that was already bogged down. LTE is simply more efficient. The latency is decreased and it can handle more data.
Anyone know how LTE coverage for t-mobile is near the reliant? I know HSPA+ is horrid around the reliant area. I'm not sure why though.
Never go to a carrier "promising" a roll out of something you want. Did that with Sprint and it ended horribly. T-Mobile drops calls like crazy, Sprint drops internet signal like crazy, AT&T is the fastest but spottiest, Verizon is the most reliable, fast, and never drops calls. You get what you pay for with cell phone plans.
The main problems with Verizon are 1. No GSM so you can't use your phone overseas 2. They exercise draconian control over most of their phones and are by far the slowest to provide Android updates.
None of this is the case with the iPhone 5 on Verizon. In my experience, my only legitimate gripe is the price, but I signed up for that.
Note 2 on Tmobile. I live in League City, the cut off for LTE is Bay Area Blvd. I live on 518 (2 exits down) So I rarely See the LTE. When I travel downtown I've speed tested like 15 down and 10 up. I am sure it is nicer in the main areas like galleria, midtown, etc. Until they extend their LTE down to where I live, I am stuck with 4G.
C'mon now, T-Mobile doesn't drop calls "like crazy" in the Houston area. I've been with them for 10+ years and those days are long gone. If you want to argue their coverage isn't as good as a competitor, fine. I don't have AT&T but a lot of people say you don't get what you pay for with them. The clear consensus is Verizon is best. I'm curious how much of a gap there will be in a couple of years. Will they be able to continue charging more and get away with it?
Verizon will be the best for many years to come. They heavily invest in their networks. Additionally, Verizon is a better ran company over all. They really aren't into gimmicky moves to try and woo customers over.
Why do you consider T-Mobile's new pricing gimmicky? It very well may be the norm eventually. The current two-year lock-in scheme is a gimmick in favor of the carriers IMO. T-Mobile's plan transparently reveals exactly what you are paying for. If you look at profitability and network, Verizon has been king for quite some time. No doubt they are well run. The question is how long can they continue charging more than the others.
I was more so referring to AT&T. Verizon and ATT are the clear powerhouses in the wireless industry. The rest of the carriers, for the most part, sacrifice quality for the budget minded customers. Being that I spend most of my time in rural areas, I appreciate the quality coverage that Verizon offers. That said, I use page plus cellular. I see no need to pay $100 to facebook/youtube/pintrest/ect... all day long. $30 gives me plenty enough min, text and data to take care of business.
I'm thinking of switching from ATT to T-Mobile for price reasons. Can't justify my $100/mo on a low usage plan. But, I do drive a lot in CO and TX, so having coverage for Google Maps is very helpful. Would I expect to lose a lot of that without Verizon or ATT?
Depends on the route you take but in general its gotten a lot better than it used to be. You're obviously not going to get the exact same level of coverage but again depending on the route you take, it could be good enough for you. Also have you thought about switching to Cricket from ATT? Cricket is ATT's budget brand. They throttle your speed at 8 mb/s but you're still on AT&T at a much lower price so you wont lose any coverage.
T-mobile is absolutely the best carrier: the best run carrier, the cheapest. They are called the un-carrier for a reason. I switched to them 3 months ago, and I will never look back. One call to tmobile will prove how customer friendly they actually are. Tmobile is also gaining customers every quarter by the thousands, while ATT and Verizon are losing customers by the thousands. John Legere is a great CEO, also. Mobile freedom, no overages ever all great features of tmobile.
Their coverage is pretty trash outside of major cities, although that doesn't really matter as much anymore considering the prevalence of private and public wifi.
