News from T-Mobile:
"BELLEVUE, Wash. — October 28, 2020 — Largest 5G network? Check. Blazing fast speeds customers can actually find? Check. T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) today announced it has nearly doubled the number of cities and towns that get supercharged mid-band 5G, adding even more capacity and superfast speeds to America’s largest nationwide 5G network. Mid-band 2.5 GHz 5G delivers both broad coverage and fast speeds at the same time -- and it can even go through walls (looking at you, mmWave!). In places it’s deployed, average download speeds are already around 300 Mbps — that’s 7.5x faster than today’s average LTE speeds — with peak download speeds up to 1 Gbps. With today’s announcement, T-Mobile mid-band 5G reaches nearly 410 cities and towns across the country. The Un-carrier is rolling out mid-band 5G at a furious pace, with plans to cover 100 million people by the end of the year.
121 More Cities & Towns Just Got T‑Mobile’s Supercharged 5G and Blazing Fast Speeds | T‑Mobile Newsroom (t-mobile.com) (Note that Oak Ridge TN is listed!)
"The Un-carrier’s mid-band (2.5 GHz) 5G is the very best kind of 5G, delivering both broad coverage and super-fast speeds averaging around 300 Mbps — that’s 7.5x faster than LTE today — with peaks of up to 1 gigabit-per-second. With today’s announcement, this supercharged 5G experience is live in a total of 210 cities and towns across the country with thousands more on the way by end of year."
Wall Street Webcasting - T-Mobile US (wsw.com)
Neville claims that low-band 5G averages about 100 Mbps
"Our 2.5 gig layer, as we roll that out, today has been delivering 200, 300 megabit per second speeds on average. So you can do gig peaks, right.
But on average, kind of around that 300 megabits and as we can commit more spectrum to that as we go through customer migration with the Sprint base, that number gets to about 400 megabits per second, based on our engineering and what we are testing now as we close out the end of the year. So now you have something that is an order of magnitude better than the average LTE experience."
My experience
I have been a loyal T-Mobile (T-M) customer for about six years, anxiously awaiting the really excellent 5G rollout. I got a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra phone to take advantage of 5G.
I live in Oak Ridge TN. The low band 5G was not at all faster than 4G, so I anxiously awaited the mid-band rollout. T-M just installed a new tower less than a mile from my home (cell ID 7057932, LAC 44286). Note the 5-bar signal strength.
But, I get MUCH lower performance than T-M advertises.
The download speed never tops 100 Mbps, and the download speed starts out at 40–50 Mbps, but then often drops to a few hundred kbps!
So I walked outside to get closer to my cell tower
and the results were pathetic:
I can only conclude that T-M provides different levels of mid-band service at different locations!
My interactions with T-Mobile
Thank you for that, Jim, and in some areas we absolutely are seeing the 300+ mbps speeds. Looking at the area you're in, I am seeing that average speeds are around 35-40mbps right now, but there is a tower 2 miles to your northeast that is still being worked on for mid and low band LTE and 5G. This is set to be completed around late October, and once this is done you'd likely see some great improvement in coverage. Additionally, the tower in you screen shot appears to be a smaller cite, which could be part of why we're not seeing a huge improvement for you just yet. I know that waiting on improvements to happen isn't fun, but we're working to get our 5G everywhere it's needed!
Sep 30, 2020, 7:06 PM
You had another tower SE from the one I have now, but it is gone!. Where are the sprint towers?
You are false advertising. I see no improvement over 4g
Make my tower bigger then!
I have 5 bars. It should be better
Sep 30, 2020, 7:09 PM
Hi Jim, thank you so much for staying engaged with us today. Having reliable signal is a huge deal, and we want to make sure you can use your phone to stay connected to the world around you. Your data speeds are looking great, and as Kyle explained, they will also continue to improve as our engineering teams complete the modernization in your area. We appreciate your feedback, and we're here for you if you have any other questions.
Dec 10, 2020, 11:10 AM
I'm back and happy to pick things up where we left off. I look forward to hearing back to confirm that we're on the same page before we work to get you some answers. ^MariahSelig
Dec 10, 2020, 12:15 PM
I'm personally heading out of the office, but want to make sure that you are set up for success, Jim. I do want to talk a little bit about the type of data speed experience you may see. We do anticipate that customers may at times see a download speed boost of 20% compared to 4G but wanted to make sure you knew that this can vary by location. In the beginning, you may see data speeds similar to 4G, this will absolutely improve as our 5G journey continues throughout the following years. We truly always want you to have a great connection. Coverage and speeds can vary depending on many factors. Check out a ton of 5G information here: https://t-mobile.com/5g. If there is something specific that you're unable to do with those speeds, kindly reach out and let us know. Otherwise, we appreciate the time you shared with us and hope you have a wonderful Holiday season with your family! ^MariahSelig
Dec 10, 2020, 4:17 PM
I am an electrical engineer and know all about 5G. Yes, I want to drop comcast and use my phone. I could do that at 300mbps and up. All your ads and pronouncements say average of 350! With 5 bars, I have plenty of signal. So your pronouncements must be false. So either goose up your speeds, or change your false advertising! And please forward this to Neville
Dec 10, 2020, 4:33 PM
I Finally got the real skinny from T-Mobile:
"Thank you so much for circling back with me this morning James, I appreciate you and I apologize if my information was not clear. With 5G speeds, our typical download speeds range between 38-111 Mbps, and our Upload speeds typically range between 10-34 Mbps. I appreciate you allowing me to provide you with this information"
See Internet Services | T-Mobile’s Broadband Internet Access Services
Definitely not what is touted by Neville Ray. Neville does not publish any unfavorable tweets or comments!
It has gotten worse! (May 12, 2021)
Something has been wrong with my tower for 5 weeks now. Download speed has dropped to ~25 Mbps. Sometimes just 12 Mbps. T-M support is no help.
I filed a complaint with the FCC (May 14, 2021)
Hi James,
Thank you for your submission. Based on our review, your Ticket No. 4775183 was served on your provider on May 13.
Here's what you can expect from the FCC's informal complaint process:
- Your provider should contact you directly in an effort to resolve your issue.
- The FCC's role in this process is to facilitate a conversation between you and your provider.
- Your provider is required to submit to the FCC a written response regarding your issue no later than 30 days from today.
- The FCC will not contact you until we receive a response from your provider.
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