PC Magazine Tests LTE Coverage Nationwide; VZW Wins, but T-Mobile in Close 2nd & More

[gadgetrants]

You mean sprint tmo right?

AGGHHHGHGHGHHHHHH...what have I been SMOKING????

Sorry. You're right. I suck. :blink: Is it Friday yet?

-Matt

 

[tommyz]

If it's the Verizon Network it is LTE...

What is amazing about the Verizon network is they may have converted most if not all their towers to LTE. I was in the middle of nowhere WI and MO and had LTE service. The MO time was even last year in July. While others were struggling to get any sort of signal along the Katy Trail in MO. I had LTE in most cases.

2 weeks ago I was in a pretty isolated area of WI and those of us with Verizon and pretty amazing service and most of the time it was LTE. While the poor guy with Sprint was at a loss for a signal.

This is the reason I stick with Verizon. If someone else can touch them in the remote areas I may consider a switch if the price is right.

 

[KaChow]

What I happen to really enjoy about this article and truly find informative over everything else is how well T-Mobile has positioned themselves from a marketing standpoint. They are showing themselves as the 'Uncarrier" that is agressively taking over. We've heard countless times from Verizon that they are not concerned, their action is rather to act after as a last resort. AT&T is at least taking a stronger approach to stay competitive to what the market changes are.

For those that are interested in talking about coverage, as it has been brought up a few times in this discussion already. Take a look at the combined T-Mobile and Sprint network map. This is pretty impressive... This shows that T-Mobile (which the latest agreement is that T-Mobile will be the Official name after the merger) there is some tremendous growth taking place, and that T-Mobile is going to be leading the direction for the US Mobile Industry...

 

[TOMMYBOT]

i jumped to t-mobile two months ago.

love it.

my biggest down side is in down town sandiego the signal strenght doesnt penetrate really thick concrete walls like verizon did.
at my house (just south of San diego, still in the us) i have better coverage with t mobile.
and i pay $100 less a month, and if i do go to mexico, its free (data and texting) and the same applies to the country i am being deployed to next month.

so for me, love the switch, LOVE the t mobile customer service/ customer relations.

not looking back at verizon ever.

wife n i are running moto x's
the kids are on the sgs4 mini

 

[bkdodger]

Good to hear some good results

M8 tap'd

 

[AECRADIO]

Here's my Speed Test screen shot.
I am on VZW in rural Arizona.

 

[AECRADIO]

I can attest to something similar, mountainbikermark. Before moving to Austin in 2012, I lived for about 10 years in Alamogordo, NM. It's a very small town and very rural (although it does have a nearby military base so it has decent infrastructure). My Sprint service was better and more reliable than my friends and family who had Verizon. They had more dropped calls, more strange text anomalies, and more technical glitches than I ever had. It was obvious because I never had any issues, but they were sometimes complaining or needing to go down to the local VZW store to get help. My calls where clearer for the most part too, although that could have been attributed to the devices we were using and not the service itself.

It just goes to show that perception and reality don't always match up. (Of course, mine was obviously only one small example, so it definitely doesn't make for a large testing sample.)

As additional evidence though, here in Austin, my GF, several of my friends and I have Sprint. I have clear reliable calls. The only time I have experienced issues was due to flaws in my device, not my service. (Although there was one time I lost service for a day because a tower was hit by lightning.) I am not neccessarily advocating for Sprint, just sharing my non-Verizon/AT&T experience.

A few years ago, I suffered a short stint with T-Mobile while in Globe, AZ. The call quality was awful, dropped calls ruled, and service in and around town was terrible.
Even driving in the town itself was a pain to maintain a call.
I had issues in Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Apache Junction. T-Mobile was the WORST service I ever had, and I was all too happy to drop them when I returned to VZW.
But to be fair, I know T-Mobile did upgrade their service in all the areas I mentioned, but regardless, I am wary of any carrier that sacrifices service quality for the sake of sheer profit.
If you can't deliver the service, close your doors.

 

[mountainbikermark]

i jumped to t-mobile two months ago.

love it.

my biggest down side is in down town sandiego the signal strenght doesnt penetrate really thick concrete walls like verizon did.
at my house (just south of San diego, still in the us) i have better coverage with t mobile.
and i pay $100 less a month, and if i do go to mexico, its free (data and texting) and the same applies to the country i am being deployed to next month.

so for me, love the switch, LOVE the t mobile customer service/ customer relations.

not looking back at verizon ever.

wife n i are running moto x's
the kids are on the sgs4 mini

This is why I switched to T-Mobile instead of AT&T

http://m.androidcentral.com/t-mobile-closes-deal-700mhz-spectrum-reiterates-commitment-lte-rollout
http://www.wirelessweek.com/news/2014/03/t-mobile-upgrading-2g-network-lte-renewing-map-wars
http://mobile.extremetech.com/lates...he-us-by-2015?origref=https://www.google.com/

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

 

[badtoy1986]

I switched to T-Mobile about 8 Months ago and I couln't be happier. I had Verizon and I was tired of paying so much money. With no contracts, Updgrades every 6 months and Unlimited data I figured I would give T-mo a shot. I was shocked that I started getting faster LTE speed than on Verizon here in the Las Vegas Valley. Not to mention when I dont have LTE the 3G data speeds and the HSPA+ are way faster than VZW non-LTE.

 

[Rhino94]

I like verizon. At my cottage there is only a choice of at&t and Verizon no one else gets service and even t mobile u hav to drive 20 min jus to b able to make a call if not longer...I wish verizon was cheaper but I dnt hav much of a choice considering no one else gets service in the middle of no where..

 

[Rhino94]

I switched to T-Mobile about 8 Months ago and I couln't be happier. I had Verizon and I was tired of paying so much money. With no contracts, Updgrades every 6 months and Unlimited data I figured I would give T-mo a shot. I was shocked that I started getting faster LTE speed than on Verizon here in the Las Vegas Valley. Not to mention when I dont have LTE the 3G data speeds and the HSPA+ are way faster than VZW non-LTE.

The thing is I can't even think of a time tht I don't hav LTE except at my cottage and I still get LTE most of the time but considering t-mobile who doesn't get any service out there verizon is way better in my eyes...

 

[dgstorm]

I'm not taking it personally, the results are spun heavily to favor T-Mo. VZW costs more money because they invest more, that's why they have a larger footprint and have more upgraded infrastructure.

I have no doubts T-Mo is on par or better than VZW in many spots in many large cities, but let's not pretend it can compete on a national level. That "deficit" is not disappearing any time soon, because the investment is not remotely trivial. I know everyone wants evil, greedy VZW to got knocked off its perch, but it's not happening.

My point was simply the article, or summary, was laughably dismissive of the #1 reason why VZW has been on top so long. It practically reads like T-Mo marketing propaganda.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[dgstorm]

What is amazing about the Verizon network is they may have converted most if not all their towers to LTE. I was in the middle of nowhere WI and MO and had LTE service. The MO time was even last year in July. While others were struggling to get any sort of signal along the Katy Trail in MO. I had LTE in most cases.

2 weeks ago I was in a pretty isolated area of WI and those of us with Verizon and pretty amazing service and most of the time it was LTE. While the poor guy with Sprint was at a loss for a signal.

This is the reason I stick with Verizon. If someone else can touch them in the remote areas I may consider a switch if the price is right.

That's definitely a valid point if always having LTE services is important to you. VZW has more coverage area than anyone else.

 

[Dusty]

I know everyone wants evil, greedy VZW to got knocked off its perch, but it's not happening.

I actually don't care about VZW being greedy or being evil. I just want to know if TMo is a viable alternative so I can confidently switch and use the handful of SWEET phones that will never ever be released on VZW.

That's my one major gripe with VZW that is driving my urge to leave them. I fully admit that their coverage is pretty much unmatched.

 

[akhenax]

I gotta test TMo myself. They scored it pretty high here in D.C. I might have to just pony up and buy a used TMo compatible 4G phone and see whats up.

Get yourself a $10.00 (plus tax) 200 MB/month SIM card from T-Mo, and pop it in your Verizon Moto X, to get an idea of their 4G LTE speeds.
I believe this is all possible because Android 4.4 enables AWS support, and T-Mobile uses AWS technology for their 4G.

The data is free each month. The charge is for the SIM only.