Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

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davebo
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by davebo »

I have an Iphone XR and use Xfinity Mobile. Xfinity Mobile has been ok, but I haven't been overly impressed with the speeds and I also can't add a standalone Apple Watch for one of my kids (something you can do with the major carriers). It looks like moving to T-Mobile will save me on a monthly bill due to a promo they have going on right now, plus it will allow me to access their 5G network.

The other thing that is on the table is a "free" upgrade to a 5G phone like the Iphone 12, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max. I shouldn't say it's free, but it's $850 towards the phone if you upgrade from an XR. You hand in your old phone and then get a 2 year, monthly credit. I read an article that said this is a way they are trying to get more people into 5G, by making sure have an incentive to upgrade to a compatible phone.

I usually hate taking these deals, but I think the odds are good that we'll be happy enough to stick with T-Mobile for a couple years and seems like a good deal to upgrade all at once. A couple questions:

1) Is 5G all it's cracked up to be? I'm in Chicago so I would hope it would be decent, download speeds for me on LTE probably range from 50-90 mbps on Xfinity Mobile.

2) For anyone that has upgraded to Iphone 12's, any thoughts?
Jags4186
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Re: Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by Jags4186 »

With Mint Mobile (an MVNO of T-Mobile) I am getting 500-600mbps down and 30-100mbps up on my couch. My home FIOS connection is only 100/100.

Speeds are impressively fast, but the real benefit is that if the network is congested and I get throttled, it keeps working. I mean if the network is smashed and I get throttled to just 0.5% of available bandwidth, from 600mbps to 3 mbps, everything keeps on working just fine and I don't even notice the throttle. If you're just on 4G and normally get say 30-50mbps and in a super congested area you get super heavily throttled, the network becomes unusable.This is the biggest benefit of 5G that I've seen.
Cycle
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Re: Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by Cycle »

Make sure T-Mobile works at your home and work (+ vacation spot/house), like check with friends / neighbors. I've had to switch carriers before bc despite being in the middle of a city, I didn't get good coverage.

I have t-mobile and it's been fine, but ymmv. $17/mo for 2.5gb data plus talk/text.
Never look back unless you are planning to go that way
sycamore
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Re: Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by sycamore »

davebo wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:53 am I have an Iphone XR and use Xfinity Mobile. Xfinity Mobile has been ok, but I haven't been overly impressed with the speeds...

...download speeds for me on LTE probably range from 50-90 mbps on Xfinity Mobile.
Just checking, but you're not impressed with 50-90 mbps? What application do you use that needs that bandwidth or more? Streaming video is probably the heaviest bandwidth user and 50mps is likely good enough.

Or maybe you're not impressed with latency of the network? I.e., "response time" when you interact with a web site or application server (say google docs). If this is the case, I'm not sure how much improved the response time will be with 5G. Much depends on what "version" of 4G your current carrier (XFinity) is using compared to what T-Mobile 5G is using. Some 4G deployments already have low-ish latency so the move to 5G may or may not help much. Also, 5G is still being deployed so it's possible pockets of areas may have improved latency on 5G while other pockets won't see much improvement for months/years as T-Mobile continues to roll-out 5G.

Main point to remember is that you could get even 10 times the bandwidth with a move to 5G but still be unimpressed with "speeds" because bandwidth is not always the limiting factor; quite often it's the latency that makes an app feel slow.

Is it possible for you to try some tests before making the switch? Any friend/neighbor you have willing to let you borrow a phone to do some tests? At the very least run something like speedtest.net with your current 4G phone to see what your "ping" times are, I'm guessing 15-30 milliseconds. Then compare it to what you get with 5G.
Topic Author
davebo
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Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Re: Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by davebo »

sycamore wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:01 am
davebo wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:53 am I have an Iphone XR and use Xfinity Mobile. Xfinity Mobile has been ok, but I haven't been overly impressed with the speeds...

...download speeds for me on LTE probably range from 50-90 mbps on Xfinity Mobile.
Just checking, but you're not impressed with 50-90 mbps? What application do you use that needs that bandwidth or more? Streaming video is probably the heaviest bandwidth user and 50mps is likely good enough.

Or maybe you're not impressed with latency of the network? I.e., "response time" when you interact with a web site or application server (say google docs). If this is the case, I'm not sure how much improved the response time will be with 5G. Much depends on what "version" of 4G your current carrier (XFinity) is using compared to what T-Mobile 5G is using. Some 4G deployments already have low-ish latency so the move to 5G may or may not help much. Also, 5G is still being deployed so it's possible pockets of areas may have improved latency on 5G while other pockets won't see much improvement for months/years as T-Mobile continues to roll-out 5G.

Main point to remember is that you could get even 10 times the bandwidth with a move to 5G but still be unimpressed with "speeds" because bandwidth is not always the limiting factor; quite often it's the latency that makes an app feel slow.

Is it possible for you to try some tests before making the switch? Any friend/neighbor you have willing to let you borrow a phone to do some tests? At the very least run something like speedtest.net with your current 4G phone to see what your "ping" times are, I'm guessing 15-30 milliseconds. Then compare it to what you get with 5G.
I'll have to find someone who uses T-Mobile so I could do a test. I have friends in the area (1 mile radius) that use T-Mobile and they say that it works fine. I did check the PING on Speedtest and it came back with 36, I looked back through the history and it's always high side or over your range you listed there.

I would be fine with those speeds if they were consistent, but what I listed were the higher end of the range. When I am on vacation in another area, I feel like the speeds are much worse.
Big Dog
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Re: Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by Big Dog »

Do you really need 5G? I would submit that many (most?) folks do not as they are on wifi most of the day (at least while working from home).

And does 5G exist/actually work in your 'hood?
Jags4186
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Re: Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by Jags4186 »

Big Dog wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:53 pm Do you really need 5G? I would submit that many (most?) folks do not as they are on wifi most of the day (at least while working from home).

And does 5G exist/actually work in your 'hood?
It’s not that anyone needs to have 1gbps download speed on their phones. The fact that the only thing Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. have shown that the only thing you can really do with that type of bandwidth is stand on a street corner and download 6 seasons of Downton Abbey in a minute shows that there’s no use for that speed on the phone.

It’s about when you’re in a stadium with 80,000 other people on the same network uploading videos to Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. and you can’t even send a text message. It’s about being able to scroll through your feed when everyone else is. It’s about improving battery life as the 5G chips get increasingly better. It’s about optimizing the spectrum made available to the cell networks. It’s about the “internet of things” - expect there to be an explosion of devices connected wirelessly to the cell networks in the coming years.

I live in New Jersey and the entire state has 5G coverage with T-Mobile.
iamlucky13
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Location: Western Washington

Re: Should I upgrade to 5G? T-Mobile offering "Free" Phone

Post by iamlucky13 »

sycamore wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:01 am Is it possible for you to try some tests before making the switch? Any friend/neighbor you have willing to let you borrow a phone to do some tests? At the very least run something like speedtest.net with your current 4G phone to see what your "ping" times are, I'm guessing 15-30 milliseconds. Then compare it to what you get with 5G.
5G ping times should be faster than 4G, and should not be a major concern for most uses. I'm not a heavy mobile user, so I don't recall exactly, but I think I usually see 50-100ms on 4G, and that is fine for browsing and watching videos without a sense of lag. It's not very noticeable and is not problematic for video calls.
Big Dog wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:53 pm And does 5G exist/actually work in your 'hood?
Most of T-mobile's territory is 5G, since they simply implemented the new protocols on their existing antennas. However, because the broadest coverage is low band, there will not be a significant bitrate difference yet on T-mobile 5G in a lot of areas. In the areas with 5G implemented on mid-band frequencies, speeds could be very good, as long as they aren't congested.

So yeah, it's probably available in the OP's neighborhood, but I'm doubtful it will resolve the experience with being disappointed in the speeds when traveling.
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