Verizon and T-Mobile in a Virtual Tie for Best US Network

Megalith

Megalith

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Are you a Verizon or T-Mobile customer? You, apparently, have made the right choice—if speed is your utmost concern, anyway. Based on data gathered from Open Signal, the two giants are pretty much neck and neck in terms of performance. T-Mobile is also coming up on Verizon when it comes to finding an LTE signal. On the flipside, AT&T and Sprint look like losers, having garnered no awards.

Open Signal has released their State of Mobile Networks: USA report and they say Verizon has now tied T-Mobile for the fastest carrier in the United States, and the results are so close between the two that they are virtually tied for the "best." Using data collected from 169,683 users, 4,599,231,167 data points were used to measure network speeds on both 4G and 3G, network availability and latency. The data is collected by users installing the Open Signal app from Google Play or the App Store and going about their daily routine. In their analysis of the collected data, they say that Verizon has improved their 4G network speeds to pull even with T-Mobile who has traditionally done well in this category. They also mention that the average overall network speeds in the U.S. have risen slightly, and over 81% of U.S. residents have access to LTE networks.
 
I find these comparisons kind of silly.

Peak 4G speeds under ideal conditions are great and all, but if you are outside a 4G area, have fewer bars, or are in a congested area that isn't worth a damn.

Verizon is still the undisputed king of network coverage and high quality network infrastructure, and it isn't even close.

They have other problems though, like being obsessive and anal about which devices they allow on their network, and costing way too goddamned much, which is why I don't use them, but from a network perspective nothing else compares.
 
Been a TMobile customer for ages, but I will say when I went on a roadtrip, there were areas where I had no signal (in the middle of nowhere) and my family that was on AT&T had coverage still. However, in cities, TMobile was way faster than AT&T. There is still work to be done.
 
T-mobile in Baltimore is absolutely trash, slow as hell and unreliable. When I had it, I had rare moments of "good" speed with full bars of 4g, but usually it was trash speed at 3g. Having swapped to Verizon (reluctantly), its night and day. I actually feel like I have 4g service now and when I don't have service (bowels of the building I work in, for example) it is noticeable. I also had Sprint in between those two (and years past), they went from a good provider to a spotty one as well.
 
lilbabycat said:
T-mobile in Baltimore is absolutely trash, slow as hell and unreliable. When I had it, I had rare moments of "good" speed with full bars of 4g, but usually it was trash speed at 3g. Having swapped to Verizon (reluctantly), its night and day. I actually feel like I have 4g service now and when I don't have service (bowels of the building I work in, for example) it is noticeable. I also had Sprint in between those two (and years past), they went from a good provider to a spotty one as well.
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Eh... that's because Baltimore is trash. Just a little bit south in DC and the surrounding areas, i get good speed and a good signal strength.
I never had a problem with tmobile in big cities or the outlying areas. I've had a lot less service than Verizon specifically in rural areas though.
I'm almost getting unlimited 4g with tmobile for about 30$ a month. Can't match that on verizon.
 
lilbabycat said:
T-mobile in Baltimore is absolutely trash, slow as hell and unreliable. When I had it, I had rare moments of "good" speed with full bars of 4g, but usually it was trash speed at 3g. Having swapped to Verizon (reluctantly), its night and day. I actually feel like I have 4g service now and when I don't have service (bowels of the building I work in, for example) it is noticeable. I also had Sprint in between those two (and years past), they went from a good provider to a spotty one as well.
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Something wrong with your phone. No one in my family has issued with signal and spend around Baltimore. From the city to Bel Air no issues. I stream YouTube and Netflix w/o any buffering. Using various phones from Samsung and Apple.
 
lilbabycat said:
T-mobile in Baltimore is absolutely trash, slow as hell and unreliable. When I had it, I had rare moments of "good" speed with full bars of 4g, but usually it was trash speed at 3g. Having swapped to Verizon (reluctantly), its night and day. I actually feel like I have 4g service now and when I don't have service (bowels of the building I work in, for example) it is noticeable. I also had Sprint in between those two (and years past), they went from a good provider to a spotty one as well.
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I'm more surprised AT&T isn't up there. Don't they charge as much as Verizon? They must be really @#$@# their customer over for profits if they aren't investing in their networks.

Any way, I'm Republic Wireless (Sprint network). I pay $25 for unlimited data and voice. It does what I need it to and has coverage in 99% of areas I go. So I could care less.
 
DigitalGriffin said:
I'm more surprised AT&T isn't up there. Don't they charge as much as Verizon? They must be really @#$@# their customer over for profits if they aren't investing in their networks.

Any way, I'm Republic Wireless (Sprint network). I pay $25 for unlimited data and voice. It does what I need it to and has coverage in 99% of areas I go. So I could care less.
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That's my 2 takes; 1, damn T-Mobile is coming up and 2, damn AT&T is falling off!
 
In the past 2 and half years since moving from the Philadelphia area to central PA, I went from having no signal at all in the rural areas along the major roadways to full bars and great speeds.

T-Mobile is putting their money where their mouth is and definitely expanding and increasing the quality of their service. As things currently stand, the are one of the few modern examples of basic free market principals working out in favor of the customer due to competition.
 
My friends have noticed that I'm a long time T-Mobile user and decided to jump off Sprint/AT&T wagon and joined the pink T.

They're happy.
 
Although Tmobile has "coverage", the problem is it is spotty. Too many dead areas in the middle of their overall coverage areas.
 
The problem with the T-mobile signal is that the good spectrum, was bought up by AT&T and Verizon for years. T-mobile actually has more antennas than Verizon or AT&T, but their penetration and range was lacking in comparison because they spectrum they owned were not ideal. I had T-Mobile for a total of 6 years and I'm happy camper. I locked in at 75$ for unlimited everything, and I *LOVE* the fact I can take my phone anywhere in the world and have unlimited data whereever I go.
 
The Verizon plans are ridiculously cheap. $80 for 14GB?

A comparable plan in Canada would cost upwards of $170.
 
I'm on Google Fi, so basically T-Mobile plus any wi-fi I can connect through as it supports calls, texts, etc over wi-fi in addition to data. T-Mobile and Google Fi also seem to be the clear winners if you ever travel outside the US and don't want to have to get a local SIM to avoid getting gouged.
 
I recently switched to T-mobile from VZW. Around town, I actually get better coverage than I did on VZW, but I have definitely noticed there are random holes where you'll go from 5 bars to 0 bars extremely quickly. My neighborhood is actually in such a hole, but they gave me a free LTE booster for my house since my phone doesn't do wifi calling on t-mobile yet (Mate 9). Other than that, it's saving me a decent chunk of money and it's nice not having to worry about data anymore.
 
lilbabycat said:
T-mobile in Baltimore is absolutely trash, slow as hell and unreliable. When I had it, I had rare moments of "good" speed with full bars of 4g, but usually it was trash speed at 3g. Having swapped to Verizon (reluctantly), its night and day. I actually feel like I have 4g service now and when I don't have service (bowels of the building I work in, for example) it is noticeable. I also had Sprint in between those two (and years past), they went from a good provider to a spotty one as well.
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You sure that wasn't a phone issue? I had absolutely zero issues with T-Mobile in Baltimore or DC. Yes, they do have random holes if you aren't in any of the actual cities. So you could be driving along the highway and drop connection, then it picks up a mile later.

Sadly, I lost my T-Mobile plan when I left the states. I put it into inactive status, but guess they don't maintain that for a long time. I've been living overseas for 4 years now. Well, I got T-Mobile Deutschland right now, no complaints. Course they were the monopoly in Germany when it was allowed. Connection can be spotty like in the US, but that's more due to German rules/regs or something. It's like that for every single carrier, cause I don't think the government wants them setting up cellphone towers everywhere.
 
T-Mobile doesn't even work in my area. Verizon has the best signal followed closely by AT&T. Sprint has improved, and I've been with Boost Mobile (on Sprint's network) for about the past 7 years. It improved a lot last year when Sprint finally went LTE around here. T-Mobile is almost non-existent here.
 
Here is where I'm torn on something like this. I want off Verizon Badly. The problem is I have to give up my phone to switch networks and I really don't want any of the current phones available. But I am beyond fed up with Verizon's bullshit. It is like, I don't want to continue giving them my business, but I'm sort of stuck with no real choice.
 
This is a bad miss leading headline. Open signal does not test for coverage. All it is saying is that if you have a signal T-Mobile and Verizon provide similar speeds. Problem is, that T-Mobile does not have nearly as much coverage as Verizon.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Here is where I'm torn on something like this. I want off Verizon Badly. The problem is I have to give up my phone to switch networks and I really don't want any of the current phones available. But I am beyond fed up with Verizon's bullshit. It is like, I don't want to continue giving them my business, but I'm sort of stuck with no real choice.
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Can always just buy an old phone from wherever, so long as it supports SIM cards.
 
TroubleMagnet said:
I'm on Google Fi, so basically T-Mobile plus any wi-fi I can connect through as it supports calls, texts, etc over wi-fi in addition to data. T-Mobile and Google Fi also seem to be the clear winners if you ever travel outside the US and don't want to have to get a local SIM to avoid getting gouged.
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I just got Google Fi 5 months ago also, couldn't be happier, T-Mobil, Sprint and US Cellular plus wifi makes for a nice combination here in California...I don't use much data so $20 for unlimited calls and unlimited texts and $10 for 1 gig of data and you only get charged for what data you use (use 500Mb cost $5)...if you use lots of data then its not good of a deal!
 
krotch said:
Can always just buy an old phone from wherever, so long as it supports SIM cards.
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Yea I know, I just wish someone would produce a top tier android phone again. I want a phone with smart capabilities, not a tablet with phone capabilities. Otherwise I would have switched to Google fi a long time ago.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Yea I know, I just wish someone would produce a top tier android phone again. I want a phone with smart capabilities, not a tablet with phone capabilities. Otherwise I would have switched to Google fi a long time ago.
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I got a Nexus 6P for $400 and I like it, its a little on the big side but does everything I need in a phone (I'm on the old side and the bigger screen works for me....lol)
 
fvbounty said:
I got a Nexus 6P for $400 and I like it, its a little on the big side but does everything I need in a phone (I'm on the old side and the bigger screen works for me....lol)
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Exactly..a tablet with phone capabilities. I'm glad that works for you, it doesn't for me. I may end up having to go with the smallest pixel if nothing else comes on the market soon. I'm extremely unhappy about the sealed battery design, but I suppose the upshot is at least I actually have the tools and know how to get into it.
 
Verizon = BOSS the rest are just playing catch-up 3g 4g hell even 1x out in the boondocks is better with Verizon. You get what you pay for! I wish I had an unlimited data acct. I was a former V-cast unlimited but i let my wife talk me into switching to ATT for the big bundle with home phone data and cell what a nightmare that was needless to say non of those things are AT&T anymore.
 
been a happy T-Mobile customer for 11 years now. I get LTE in Farmerville USA and that is enough for me.
 
Unter Dog said:
How well does international data work? I'm sick of paying 10-20 bucks a day on big red for international.
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If you have an unlimited voice and data plan you automatically get unlimited/free Edge data while in other countries, free international text messaging, and free/unlimited calling to Mexico and Canada. You aren't going to be streaming Youtube with Edge, but it is enough for GPS in Google Maps, emails, checking things online, and light audio streaming. I use it frequently while in Japan. The nice part about Japan is that they got rid of Edge, so it's actually 3G as the "slowest" supported speed.

You can pay extra for LTE...but I don't know what the price/datacaps are; my assumption is it will be cheaper than Verizon.

For $15/mo you can also get free calling to landlines in other countries from the US (something like $0.02-$0.10/minute to call to mobile numbers, depending on the country), and free calling to the US while on wifi.

The ironic part is Tmobile in other countries has excellent coverage because you are using any providers' towers. In the US you have to use the Tmobile towers and frequencies, which isn't as good as Verizon or AT&T.
 
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