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T-Mobile Named 'Best' U.S. Mobile Network in 2022 Carrier Showdown

LogicalApex said:
I’d suggest trying their free test drive since we are iPhones here. Then you can dual sim with your curre carrier and T-Mobile and see where they stand for you individually.
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I did try it out, back in September. It was virtually unusable, at home and work. Props to them for making it easy to do so, though. As far as build out goes since then, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, a coworker hasn‘t seen any improvement. Nobody at work asks for the Wi-Fi password unless they are on T-Mobile or AT&T. I think it just comes down to T-Mobile knows where they can best compete and unfortunately it’s not where I live and work. Maybe that will change.
 
B1FAD5D7-3C91-4570-B2F6-A3FC35C013EA.jpeg30B494C3-6970-4236-9D0A-3C40B6BFF16E.jpegBeen on TMobile for several years. Been relatively reliable and speeds have increased by huge margin. Except where I live. Rural city I get single digit speeds to maybe teens or 20mbps. But soon as get to Sac area where I work it jumps exponentially.
 
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jntdroid said:
T-Mobile has definitely improved, but I can still drive through my region (south central U.S.) and have multiple completely dead spots. That simply doesn't happen on Verizon or even AT&T, who almost always hold on to the lowest level of service (rather than none at all), even off the beaten path.

Yes, T-Mobile is likely faster in general, but I still prefer to have the most comprehensive coverage. I try them once every couple of years and keep coming to the same conclusion (as recently as 4 months ago with a 5G phone). I'm glad they're improving for competition's sake, though.
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If you’d prefer T-Mobile but are concerned about being stranded somewhere with no service you could always pick up a “glove box phone”. $30 bucks a year for 200 minutes/1000 texts/200MB a month on AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile. Plenty to call someone or pull up directions if you get stranded. Add it as a second line on your phone, or use an old phone or cheap phone and keep it in your glove box.
 
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In central PA it has to be AT&T or Verizon. T-Mobile only works in the big towns. I wanted to see about getting home 5G from any of the big three for Olympia, WA. No dice.
 
The article doesn’t measure or even mention it, but the seamless international coverage of T-Mobile is what tipped me over and dump AT&T. The overcharges and ridiculous arcane AT&T rules drove me bonkers. So I tried T-Mobile, landed in Milan, and presto!!! Instant coverage no-charge and throughout Italy as if I was home. Have the same experience when I trek up to Canada as well (which AT&T used to rob me blind for!). If you travel to other countries - check out the plans - saves me a fortune and convenienc.
 
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Studies like this are nice, but in the end when it comes to coverage (as opposed to perks) it comes down to where you live, period.

Anyone can find an area where a particular carrier has good or even great coverage and the others have little to none. The important info is which is the good one where you live and/or spend your time.

In my rural town, TMobile happens to have a shiny new UB-5G tower near my house and I can get speeds in the hundreds of Mbit/s range. The other two don’t even have 5G here. TMo is nearly as fast as my 400Mbit Suddenlink cable, and it’s so much more reliable that I’ll often turn wifi off if a video conference is flakey.

The next town over also has a new TMo tower and I have a decent signal while people who live there and have Verizon or AT&T can’t even get a signal half the time.

On the other hand, 5 miles up into the hills TMo has no coverage at all and Verizon works fine, so if I lived there (or needed to spend a lot of time there) I’d make a completely different choice.

That said, I actually switched to T-Mobile because they offer free data roaming in Japan where I spend a few weeks a year and my significant other spends a couple months. That feature has nothing to do with their network and simply isn’t available from the other carriers, and is an expensive hassle to do any other way.
 
Makosuke said:
Studies like this are nice, but in the end when it comes to coverage (as opposed to perks) it comes down to where you live, period.

Anyone can find an area where a particular carrier has good or even great coverage and the others have little to none. The important info is which is the good one where you live and/or spend your time.

In my rural town, TMobile happens to have a shiny new UB-5G tower near my house and I can get speeds in the hundreds of Mbit/s range. The other two don’t even have 5G here. TMo is nearly as fast as my 400Mbit Suddenlink cable, and it’s so much more reliable that I’ll often turn wifi off if a video conference is flakey.

The next town over also has a new TMo tower and I have a decent signal while people who live there and have Verizon or AT&T can’t even get a signal half the time.

On the other hand, 5 miles up into the hills TMo has no coverage at all and Verizon works fine, so if I lived there (or needed to spend a lot of time there) I’d make a completely different choice.

That said, I actually switched to T-Mobile because they offer free data roaming in Japan where I spend a few weeks a year and my significant other spends a couple months. That feature has nothing to do with their network and simply isn’t available from the other carriers, and is an expensive hassle to do any other way.
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Exactly. Coverage, network capability and fiber connections are important points.
 
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all networks have dead spots and poor-performance antennae, I think it matters where you live that helps shape if the network is beneficial to you. But I guess my problem with TMob is that in my usage, I not only get less than the average speeds reported here, but also there are plenty of dead zones between my town and LA and between LA and San Diego... in fact, if I stay on the highway I would love to hope that I'd get better than 90% coverage, but unfortunately I do not.

I don't know where TMob provides better reliability but I haven't experienced :p
 
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Switched from Verizon to T-Mobile and couldn't be happier with coverage in and around Chicago. Their customer service on the other hand . . . .
 
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I wish there was a cellular provider for data that could stream high quality 4k video easily without buffering like on a hard wire line.
 
I was with Verizon for about 18 years between 2000-2018 and it was fine until it wasn’t. A big downtown area (but not high-rise big) that I lived by would show full bars but nothing would work. When the executive office rep told me it could be “trees blocking the signal” I left for T-Mobile and haven’t looked back.

There’s a few remote areas that Verizon worked in that T-Mobile doesn’t but overall I don’t regret the switch. T-Mobile has also offered multiple free line promos over the past few years and I now have a family plan with nine lines that costs me about $110 total per month.

And as a regular international traveler I appreciate the free international data even if it’s pretty slow, and especially that I don’t need to research tourist data plans ahead of time and worry about picking up the right SIM card from the airport desk and if it’s even open when I arrive.
 
I prefer having the ability to make phone calls in more areas, especially in emergencies, and I just don't get the same coverage with T-Mobile as I do with Verizon. Switched back after a while. Wasn't worth it. That and their in-store staff were less than useless.
 
T Mobile may have the fastest service but the people that run that company are a bunch of CROOKS.

Even WORSE than ATT.

I would only sign up with this company on a month by month basis

Don't sign a 1 or 2 year contract with them.

If so you just SCREWED YOURSELF.
 
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I’ve finally realized that spending so much time and energy on portable telephones is soul sucking and pointless.

I pay VZW 25 bucks a month for a 6gb/mo 4g plan for my scratched up 3 yr old iPhone SE. I win the internet and chicks dig me.
 
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T-Mobile is bad in San Francisco. Dead zones and slow speeds aren’t uncommon - at least on their LTE network. I switched to ATT 5G and haven’t looked back.
 
7thson said:
All things being equal, sure T-Mobile came out on top. They sure aren’t leading in my neck of the woods. Not for lack of advertising, though. They’ve suckered a few co-workers into believing their “coverage” hype, but the reality is that the best network for any individual is the one that provides the best coverage for the customers usage. Sometimes there is more than one provider that can do this, usually in metro areas, but frequently there isn’t in rural communities. Do your research.
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T-mobile has the best coverage and speeds... On social media and forums.
 
Mr. Dee said:
I remember just three years ago the dead zone I got going to a local play. But it certainly has improved here in its home city. I get full bars down in the tunnel when riding light rail. I still can’t justify the added cost of 5G though. Even with Apple pushing it like it did at the iPhone 12 launch, it’s obvious the opportunities 5G was supposed to bring had faded. Besides, my 3 GBs of data plus free wifi at work and home is more than enough.
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T-Mobile charges for 5G? I have T-Mobile and it’s included.
 
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Realityck said:
What a contest it should be more about best service, coverage and service package deals.
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T-Mobile would win in 2 out of 3 of those tests, IMO.

It was all their Uncarrier initiatives started by former CEO John Legere that got AT&T and Verizon (and Sprint) to wake up and offer better deals and features for customers, and drove competition.
 
My family has been using the T-mobile for almost 20 years, it is cheaper than others and has free international roaming, the coverage and speed are nothing but a joke. My community is in a very nice area, but almost the T mobile signal can’t be worse in the area. Speed means nothing if the signal is bad.
 
mrow said:
If you’d prefer T-Mobile but are concerned about being stranded somewhere with no service you could always pick up a “glove box phone”. $30 bucks a year for 200 minutes/1000 texts/200MB a month on AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile. Plenty to call someone or pull up directions if you get stranded. Add it as a second line on your phone, or use an old phone or cheap phone and keep it in your glove box.
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That's cool, I didn't know that was a plan with Red Pocket. But I'm happy on Verizon, and only paying about $8 more per month than a similar 5 line plan on T-Mobile (actually less than T-Mobile thanks to the D+ bundle/perk that we get for free, but I know that doesn't apply to everyone so I usually don't factor that into the math when comparing for others).
 
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