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How is T-Mobile reception and data in Houston?

J

JohnJSal

Android Expert
I'm getting very frustrated with my Sprint connection, so I'm considering just switching to T-Mobile. It would be $30 cheaper each month anyway, but of course I want to make sure I actually get good reception and data connection.

I'll probably try out T-Mobile for a month to test it myself, but the thought of paying full price for a phone just to test the service is a little daunting.

So first I just wanted to ask those of you with experience with T-Mobile in the Houston area (mainly north Houston, north of downtown up to Spring-Cypress and thereabouts) how is the data connection/speed?

Is 4G fully implemented, or will it (like my Sprint connection) constantly jump around between 3G and 4G searching for a signal? How are the 3G and 4G speeds?

And still importantly, I don't want to neglect voice quality/reception. I'd hate to have to switch services and find that my calls sound terrible and are getting dropped (which actually doesn't happen with Sprint for me). So is reception pretty much city-wide, and quality is good and solid?

Thanks!
 
I don't live in Houston but since it's a big city it should have a good signal. You can check the coverage maps and the sensorly app. The carrier coverage app also shows the carrier with best signal.
 
I've had good luck in Houston with the T-Mobile, also in North Houston. My speeds (my phone is HSPA+ 21):
Screenshot_2013-04-06-18-29-54.png


If you get the right phone, my understanding is that T-Mobile has LTE working in Houston. Reports have LTE speeds from 20-30 Mbps in Houston, though I don't know what the coverage looks like.
 
SuperAfnan said:
I don't live in Houston but since it's a big city it should have a good signal. You can check the coverage maps and the sensorly app. The carrier coverage app also shows the carrier with best signal.
Click to expand...

Well that's the problem. You're reasoning would also suggest that Sprint has a good signal here as well, but it's absolutely horrible for me. I know I'll probably need to test T-Mobile myself, but the only other good option is to ask about people's experiences. Those coverage maps seem meaningless, especially since Sprint shows city-wide coverage and I often don't get it.
 
mogelijk said:
I've had good luck in Houston with the T-Mobile, also in North Houston. My speeds (my phone is HSPA+ 21) typically run from 3 Mbps to 9 Mbps, with 5 Mbps being what I'll typically get in most areas during business hours. If your phone supports HSPA+ 42, those speeds should be somewhat faster.

If you get the right phone, my understanding is that T-Mobile has LTE working in Houston. Reports have LTE speeds here from 20-30 Mbps in Houston, though I don't know what the coverage looks like.
Click to expand...

Being on a CDMA carrier, I'm not familiar with HSPA terminology. Is the first thing you're talking about basically 3G speeds? If so, that's pretty good I'd say. My Sprint 4G usually isn't even 3-9 Mbps.

I do plan to get either the HTC One or the Galaxy S4, so I'd be using LTE, assuming the coverage is good enough, which is part of what I'm asking about. With Sprint, I'm constantly jumping between 3G and 4G because my phone just won't hold onto a 4G signal for long.
 
JohnJSal said:
Being on a CDMA carrier, I'm not familiar with HSPA terminology. Is the first thing you're talking about basically 3G speeds? If so, that's pretty good I'd say. My Sprint 4G usually isn't even 3-9 Mbps.

I do plan to get either the HTC One or the Galaxy S4, so I'd be using LTE, assuming the coverage is good enough, which is part of what I'm asking about. With Sprint, I'm constantly jumping between 3G and 4G because my phone just won't hold onto a 4G signal for long.
Click to expand...

I have edited my previous post to include a screen shot of my speed tests.

HSPA+ is what T-Mobile has been calling "4G", though it is an extension of the 3G standard. As such, it has some of the limitations of 3G, such as slower upload speeds, and higher latency. The newest "3G" standard is HSPA+42, which often will run as much as 50% faster than the speeds I am getting.

T-Mobile only rolled out LTE about a month ago, and Houston is one of the first cities. Also, there are only a few phones that can take advantage of LTE. Because of this, there isn't a lot of data about LTE coverage in Houston.

Though, even if you have areas where LTE doesn't work, either phone will have HSPA+ (and likely HSPA+ 42) if they need to drop down to "3G".
 
mogelijk said:
I have edited my previous post to include a screen shot of my speed tests.

HSPA+ is what T-Mobile has been calling "4G", though it is an extension of the 3G standard. As such, it has some of the limitations of 3G, such as slower upload speeds, and higher latency. The newest "3G" standard is HSPA+42, which often will run as much as 50% faster than the speeds I am getting.

T-Mobile only rolled out LTE about a month ago, and Houston is one of the first cities. Also, there are only a few phones that can take advantage of LTE. Because of this, there isn't a lot of data about LTE coverage in Houston.

Though, even if you have areas where LTE doesn't work, either phone will have HSPA+ (and likely HSPA+ 42) if they need to drop down to "3G".
Click to expand...
I would like to add to this, with a phone that can handle the HSPA+ 42 your looking at speeds of up to 25mbs download, and i think 3 or 4 upload. Now that depends on signal and other factors, I have a nexus 4 and have seen 16mbs down and 2.4 up in an area that gets very good coverage. I dont know how far from a tower I was though.
here is the only screenshot I have, its from a 14mb down 2 up.
Screenshot%2014mb%20download%20speed.png
 
yes, but it is what t mobile has been calling 4G(before they rolled out lte) as mentioned HSPA+ is 3g improvements but not true 4G technology.
 
Ok, well if I actually do get speeds around 3-10 Mbps on 3G, I'll be amazed, because I've had years of dealing with <1 Mbps speeds on Sprint.
 
JohnJSal said:
Ok, well if I actually do get speeds around 3-10 Mbps on 3G, I'll be amazed, because I've had years of dealing with <1 Mbps speeds on Sprint.
Click to expand...
yes that was my reaction as well, coming from boost mobile(sprint prepaid)
The best I seen with boost was 2.2mbs down and 500-800kbs up.
 
I am frustrated with Sprint coverage in Manvel. There is none. It was on roaming and my phone didnt even ring on roaming.


My brother said Verizon is the best. He lives in League City.
 
I visit family there quite a bit, usually near the Hobby/Pearland area so way south of your target area. But I've never had any problems with reception with signal or data.

According to some of my family, recently they're working on the networks and offered credits for any outages that was experienced during the process. But I'm sure that's just a temporary thing.
 
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