Should TM (and att) users delay phone purchaes?

**mikethaler** · 12-22-2011, 04:59 PM

Since it appears customers of both will be able to roam on each other systems, wouldn't it make sense to delay phone purchases until they include the frequencies used by both systems?. There are a couple phones, I believe, that do so now.

...mike

**mrcamp** · 12-22-2011, 05:48 PM

Nobody knows exactly when the roaming agreement will take place. I'd say if you need a phone, just get it.

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**smitty825** · 12-22-2011, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by mrcamp

Nobody knows exactly when the roaming agreement will take place. I'd say if you need a phone, just get it.

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My contract with T-Mobile has currently expired, so I'm debating about renewing with them. My #1 gripe with them is their lack of 3G (or 4G) coverage outside of the cities. (I travel enough that seeing a "GPRS" logo on my phone now makes me angry :-) )

If I decide to stick with T-Mobile, I'm going to need a phone that takes advantage of AT&T roaming. (Barring T-Mobile executing on their plan announced last January to cover greater than 90% of the nation in HSPA by 2014). GPRS on a smart phone is totally unacceptable, and EDGE is getting close to that, IMHO.

**Kies** · 12-23-2011, 03:11 AM

Buy the Galaxy S II 4G, Exhibit 4G II or HTC Amaze 4G if you want AT&T compatibility 100%

**mrcamp** · 12-23-2011, 03:51 AM

Wow! GPRS on a phone in these day and age. A phone with 850/1900 3G will do. And there are tons of phones with those bands. Heck! All the phones that AT&T sells are 3G capable, even the $29 ones.

**ja5219** · 12-23-2011, 10:17 AM

I went ahead and bought the Exhibit II, great to hear it can be compatible with AT&T

I do agree with above, GPRS on smartphones these days is very unacceptable.
If they got the towers already set up where GPRS is in place, why not upgrade them faster?? Ah T-Mobile...

**DRNewcomb** · 12-23-2011, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by ja5219

I do agree with above, GPRS on smartphones these days is very unacceptable.
If they got the towers already set up where GPRS is in place, why not upgrade them faster?? Ah T-Mobile...

Easy answer, money. The upgrade is not free. It requires new antennas and base station hardware. It also requires a lot more backhaul capacity. Essentially, there needs to be enough usage to justify the upgrade.

**newguy78** · 12-24-2011, 04:58 AM

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

Easy answer, money. The upgrade is not free. It requires new antennas and base station hardware. It also requires a lot more backhaul capacity. Essentially, there needs to be enough usage to justify the upgrade.

Finally, someone who sees the both sides. I understand seeing gprs, or 2g is frustrating, I experience the same lack of 3g/4g where I live. Upgrading, equipment isn't cheap. I'm sure some will say, if they upgraded those towers we would get more subs. That may be true, who knows. It is well beyond my scope of support why/why not upgrade towers, I wish I did know.

**eric12341** · 12-25-2011, 06:52 PM

Edge speeds outside the cities is fine for navigation and music streaming (done separately of course). Also Tmo and At&t have equal coverage pretty much. AT&T intentionally designs their coverage maps as harder to read.

**Guest 214** · 12-25-2011, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

Easy answer, money. The upgrade is not free. It requires new antennas and base station hardware. It also requires a lot more backhaul capacity. Essentially, there needs to be enough usage to justify the upgrade.

EDGE does not require new Antenna's, it requires some additional hardware but not massive backhaul capacity. If Sprint can overlay their network with EVDO, the least T-Mobile could do would be GPRS.

**Guest 214** · 12-25-2011, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by eric12341

Edge speeds outside the cities is fine for navigation and music streaming (done separately of course). Also Tmo and At&t have equal coverage pretty much. AT&T intentionally designs their coverage maps as harder to read.

T-Mobile and AT&T do not have near equal coverage. As much as I dislike AT&T, they have substantially more GSM and 3G coverage. Their entire GSM network is overlaid with EDGE as well. T-Mobile intentionally designs their coverage maps to hide roaming unless you're zooming in. Now roaming included T-Mobile has close coverage to AT&T, and with the new 3G roaming agreement a bit more will be added, but native coverage they come nowhere close.

**eric12341** · 12-25-2011, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by LTE Fever

T-Mobile and AT&T do not have near equal coverage. As much as I dislike AT&T, they have substantially more GSM and 3G coverage. Their entire GSM network is overlaid with EDGE as well. T-Mobile intentionally designs their coverage maps to hide roaming unless you're zooming in. Now roaming included T-Mobile has close coverage to AT&T, and with the new 3G roaming agreement a bit more will be added, but native coverage they come nowhere close.

AT&T 3G coverage better than T-mobile? Not in my area, when I would commute on the train I would see peoples AT&T iDevices drop to edge while I still had 3G. Also other people I know have told me that in some places all carriers wouldn't have a signal except for T-mobile and Verizon. All carriers have their maps to not show roaming until zoomed in. At&t's color scheme is harder tho.

**mrcamp** · 12-26-2011, 02:29 PM

Not at all. It's not even close! From the suburbs all the way to downtown Chicago. When I travel by road out of Chicagoland to anywhere, tmobile pretty much ceases to exist!

Originally Posted by eric12341

Also Tmo and At&t have equal coverage pretty much. AT&T intentionally designs their coverage maps as harder to read.

**danska** · 12-28-2011, 09:47 PM

I get 4g all the way from downtown Chicago west to a but past the dekalb toll plaza. Today I lost it near I-39. Not too bad.

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