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T-Mobile was actually pretty rockin', the best of the bunch, in my town in Colorado. The cheapest, too! However service in rural areas and along the interstate

T-Mobile was actually pretty rockin', the best of the bunch, in my town in Colorado. The cheapest, too! However service in rural areas and along the interstate system was awful. I was either roaming on 1X or without service entirely for very nearly the entire stretch of Cheyenne to Tahoe. I had to switch, but I think it's the right strategy for the capital-limited underdog. You only need a few towers to cover a city compared to the Great Plains or the interstates, and many people spend nearly all their time in town.

SwellJoe 11y ago
This will change, somewhat, as the new bands come online (particularly band 12, which is at 700MHz, and so it can travel farther and through obstacles more easily than higher bands at the same power). I noticed in a tiny Texas town that my T-Mobile hotspot (which has bands 2 and 12) had very strong 4G service, while my phone and tablet (which don't) had literally no service. The drive from that town to Austin or Round Rock was also devoid of service for miles at a time on the phone and tablet, but the hotspot had it pretty much all the way. As I understand it, Verizon has historically had the strongest presence in the low frequency range, which is part of their reputation for the strongest network. Fewer towers can cover more ground more effectively at lower frequencies.
- someguydave 11y ago
  >As I understand it, Verizon has historically had the strongest presence in the low frequency range, Yes this is correct, and the reason they have this 'monopoly' on the low frequency range is because Verizon has been the most shrewd at getting the government to grant them licenses for this spectrum.