Is it time to go to 5G

[lappir]

I was having a few issues with my Samsung Note 9 and posted about replacing. Maybe here and maybe on the Full Time forum. 

Since leaving my work location the issues have diminished (probably reception inside the Hospital) but am wondering if I need to do an upgrade to get in on the 5 G stuff.  I've resisted so far and am not sure if it will be that much better, but a newer device maybe helpful. I'll still need to buy it and activate it on my Verizon account to maintain my old unlimited plan. 

Rod

[GlennWest]

I have a 5g phone but since coming to Huntsville TX where my property is it is nonexistent. While working close to Houston I would get 5g but it was no faster than a solid 4g and sometimes slower. So from my take not worth upgrading for 5g. Now if time for a phone yes.

[Jaydrvr]

Why not just get a new Note 9? Is there functionality that's missing in your current phone? I'm on my second Note 9 and am very happy with it. I purchase both on eBay from a seller I trust. I don't consider 5g to be a currently viable or useful option. Maybe sometime in the future. Jay

Edited March 8, 2023 by Jaydrvr

[lappir]

35 minutes ago, Jaydrvr said:

Why not just get a new Note 9? Is there functionality that's missing in your current phone? I'm on my second Note 9 and am very happy with it. I purchase both on eBay from a seller I trust. I don't consider 5g to be a currently viable or useful option. Maybe sometime in the future. Jay

I liked it when I got it, but I think I liked my regular Samsung 7 better, except I to like the USB C for sure. 

Having lots of trouble with Android Auto,  some trouble with my Pda Net and am wondering if it's the phone. Have also had missed calls and phone messages on occasion. Mostly in Cape Girardeau at the "Hospital". 

Thanks for the suggestion and confirmation that 5 G isn't ready yet. 

 

Rod

[D&J]

Down here in Yuma 5G there is night and day difference between 5and4G.

Denny

[Jaydrvr]

2 hours ago, lappir said:

I liked it when I got it, but I think I liked my regular Samsung 7 better, except I to like the USB C for sure. 

Having lots of trouble with Android Auto,  some trouble with my Pda Net and am wondering if it's the phone. Have also had missed calls and phone messages on occasion. Mostly in Cape Girardeau at the "Hospital". 

Thanks for the suggestion and confirmation that 5 G isn't ready yet. 

 

Rod

I'm guessing your missed calls and messages have more to do with your particular carrier than your phone. If you don't have a nearby tower for your carrier, you may have weak spots with low signal. Jay

[fpmtngal]

5G can make a big difference as far as internet speeds, but it depends on both location and carrier.  My phone has always been on a T-Mobile and a few years ago I added a cellular iPad that’s on a Verizon plan.

If I had a phone that was showing some issues, then I would definitely buy one that was 5G capable.  Even if your carrier doesn’t have 5G where you are currently, you’ve done a bit of future-proofing and if you travel much, it can be very cool to have that extra speed.

When my older phone started to show problems with the battery, I replaced it with a 5G capable phone and was very happy with the difference.  T-Mobile has surprisingly good 5G coverage - more often than not if I had T-Mobile service, I had 5G.  I liked it so much better that I bought a new iPad that was 5G capable even though there really was nothing wrong with my old one.  It didn’t take long to discover that (as of last summer) I had far less 5G coverage with Verizon than I did with T-Mobile, and regretted buying it when I did, I probably should have waited to replace the iPad until there was a more compelling reason to.

I often had a good Verizon signal but not 5G last summer.  I found myself using T-Mobile more for my internet needs, simply because it was faster and where I was traveling (eastern Oregon & Washington, western Idaho, northern Nevada, northern Arizona and parts of California), I had pretty good T-Mobile service, all 5G.  There were some spots (like the middle of Kaibab National Forest) where I didn’t have any T-Mobile service but did have Verizon (not 5G).

I wonder what I will find this summer when I start traveling.  Cell companies are constantly improving/expanding/updating their service so perhaps I’ll find Verizon has more 5G coverage this year and I’ll be happier that I upgraded the iPad sooner than I needed to.

[Chalkie]

1 hour ago, fpmtngal said:

5G can make a big difference as far as internet speeds, but it depends on both location and carrier.  My phone has always been on a T-Mobile and a few years ago I added a cellular iPad that’s on a Verizon plan.

Yes! And when people try to tell me how horrible the T-Mobile coverage is, I just smile and move along as there is no point in arguing about it. When T-Mobile claims they have the largest 5G network, they do, although some would argue that part of that is not true 5G. T-Mobile is using Band n71 (600 MHz) for what they call Extended Range 5G and as any who know about radio propagation the lower frequencies have greater range. Our phones rarely ever show 4G LTE service as any where we go it is 5G or 5GUC. The UC stands for ultra capacity.The plan we are one includes unlimited hot spotting data usage and it is more than adequate for streaming. 

[GlennWest]

Be aware I know of no phone that will let you choice between 4g and 5g. This has been a problem for me. Have been in the fringe area and 5g was still there. It was poor service. Guys with 4g phones playing videos no problem. I couldn't. Now that is with Verizon service. Have never had T-Mobile. Always head bad for full timers

[RV_]

23 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

Be aware I know of no phone that will let you choice between 4g and 5g. This has been a problem for me. Have been in the fringe area and 5g was still there. It was poor service. Guys with 4g phones playing videos no problem. I couldn't. Now that is with Verizon service. Have never had T-Mobile. Always head bad for full timers

How to set 4G Only mode on your Android Smartphone

One solution: https://techpointmag.com/set-4g-only-on-android/#:~:text=How to use the 4G Switcher App 1,Your Phone will Switch to 4G Only mode

OR a video:

I saw some for iPhone settings too but here we are talking what I know, Android.

[docj]

4 hours ago, Chalkie said:

Yes! And when people try to tell me how horrible the T-Mobile coverage is, I just smile and move along as there is no point in arguing about it. When T-Mobile claims they have the largest 5G network, they do, although some would argue that part of that is not true 5G. T-Mobile is using Band n71 (600 MHz) for what they call Extended Range 5G and as any who know about radio propagation the lower frequencies have greater range. Our phones rarely ever show 4G LTE service as any where we go it is 5G or 5GUC. The UC stands for ultra capacity.The plan we are one includes unlimited hot spotting data usage and it is more than adequate for streaming. 

The problem is that 5G isn't a single thing using a single frequency band.  It actually an encoding and transmission protocol that can use any of several bands each of which has its own performance characteristics.  What Chalkie is describing is called "DSS 5G" which stands for Distributed Shared Spectrum where 5G transmission shares some of a  4G/LTE frequency band. In those cases, most of the time, the download speed isn't significantly different from standard 4G speeds.

OTOH yesterday I read that Verizon is claiming that ~200 million people in the US have access to "ultrawideband 5G" which it is defining to including both "mm wave" and "C-band" 5G and it is supposed to be a lot faster.

I guess Corpus Christi and its metro area don't count for much.  I've only encountered one small area where I could see a 5G signal but the 4G/LTE speed at my house was >75 Mbps when I checked it yesterday.

[Chalkie]

2 hours ago, docj said:

OTOH yesterday I read that Verizon is claiming that ~200 million people in the US have access to "ultrawideband 5G" which it is defining to including both "mm wave" and "C-band" 5G and it is supposed to be a lot faster.

I don't doubt that but for an RVer that is a deceptive number. In looking at their coverage map the only places they show 5G Ultra Wideband is in population centers of around 500,000 or more. 

[pjstough]

23 hours ago, D&J said:

Down here in Yuma 5G there is night and day difference between 5and4G.

Denny

Where are you in Yuma that has good 5G? We were there from the middle of December until a few days ago. In December during the day Verizon was useless, as was T-Mobile. In the last few days there, it did improve.

[D&J]

14 hours ago, pjstough said:

Where are you in Yuma that has good 5G? We were there from the middle of December until a few days ago. In December during the day Verizon was useless, as was T-Mobile. In the last few days there, it did improve.

We are close to Fortuna and I-8, sometimes we have problems streaming but not all that often.

Denny

[kb0zke]

We switched to T-Moblie and upgraded to new 5G iPhones in December, 2021. Until June, 2022 we were in a house, but then moved back into the Foretravel (still in the same town) for a month, then off to the adventures. There was one park that had poor cell service for everyone, so we bought a cell booster. That helped a great deal.

We don't have a booser (yet) in the Reflection, but I suspect that we'll be adding one soon.

[lappir]

7 hours ago, kb0zke said:

We switched to T-Moblie and upgraded to new 5G iPhones in December, 2021. Until June, 2022 we were in a house, but then moved back into the Foretravel (still in the same town) for a month, then off to the adventures. There was one park that had poor cell service for everyone, so we bought a cell booster. That helped a great deal.

We don't have a booser (yet) in the Reflection, but I suspect that we'll be adding one soon.

I drove by a T-Mobile Store on Friday, almost stopped and might when I get to my summer spot. I'll do a dual phone thing for a while and see how it goes, just need to get 4 friends or family to get the best price EH? 

How many others have switched from Verizon (or another) to T-Mobile? 

 

Rod

[Second Chance]

We have VZW phones and a grandfathered unlimited 4G/LTE hotspot. Last fall T-Mobile offered a special on their new 5G hotspot with 100GB of data so I decided to try it. We have spent this winter at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, MD. This is a moderately populated area - not like the density 25 miles down the road in Baltimore - but not out in the boonies, either. We are .52 miles from the VZW tower and about .7 miles from a tower with the other carriers' antennas on it. The T-Mobile hotspot would only get the "nationwide" 5G bands - the "ultra" bands are only available on certain streets in central Baltimore. Using Ookla SpeedTest, the speeds on the T-Mobile 5G hotspot were no better than the VZW 4G/LTE hotspot in this location. I returned the T-Mobile hotspot and considered it a $50 experiment (1 month's service fee).

Rob

[Hill_Country]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:35 AM, Second Chance said:

We have VZW phones and a grandfathered unlimited 4G/LTE hotspot. Last fall T-Mobile offered a special on their new 5G hotspot with 100GB of data so I decided to try it. We have spent this winter at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, MD. This is a moderately populated area - not like the density 25 miles down the road in Baltimore - but not out in the boonies, either. We are .52 miles from the VZW tower and about .7 miles from a tower with the other carriers' antennas on it. The T-Mobile hotspot would only get the "nationwide" 5G bands - the "ultra" bands are only available on certain streets in central Baltimore. Using Ookla SpeedTest, the speeds on the T-Mobile 5G hotspot were no better than the VZW 4G/LTE hotspot in this location. I returned the T-Mobile hotspot and considered it a $50 experiment (1 month's service fee).

Rob

Don't give up on Tmo, but consider trying the Home Internet service.  

For the last couple of years I've used the same unlimited VZW hotspot and a 100GB Tmo hotspot.  (Our phones are Project Fi, which use the Tmo network, but I generally don't use them for data.)  We stream TV almost all day and are heavy internet users.  In general, the Tmo hotspot was generally faster than the VZN hotspot and it was rare that neither of them worked acceptably.  I tried the Tmo Home Internet box when it first came out and it seemed to work pretty well or not all.  I returned the box and just used the hotspots for a couple of years until Tmo came out with a new and improved internet box and it has become our primary internet connection.  I downgraded the Tmo hotspot account because the Home Internet account was so very much superior.

A couple of weeks ago, we were at White Sands Missile Range, NM - which is about the end of the internet world - mountains on 3 sides and a million miles of nothing on the other side.  Bottom line is I got (probably 1G) VZN in the evening and just enough VZN data to text in the morning.  Other than this extreme location, the Tmo Home Internet has served us well and actually competes with our 300meg home cable connection.  Just like real estate, its location, location, location.  Our experience has been that the Tmo Home Internet box wins hands down over the garden variety VZN and Tmo hotspots.

*****************

Edited March 14, 2023 by Hill_Country

[lappir]

Well, last Friday I did it. 

Stopped at T-Mobile and got an iPhone 14. Just the lowest cost model and regretted not getting the big one almost right away. 

I was planning on doing a lot over the weekend to check it out. That didn't happen. Had Emergency Surgery on Saturday night and spent the day Sunday in the hospital away from home. 

Monday was getting back home and trying to do some things, yesterday I made it to the shop for the afternoon and think I'm finally starting to feel better. Have a Dr. visit this afternoon. 

Decided to use the "Hot Spot" today and am less than pleased. Actually worse than my Verizon in the exact same spot. Multiple pauses watching a TV show on a site that rarely ever gave issues on the Samsung and Verizon. My friends who were ecstatic I finally got "Unlimited texting" and an iPhone will be disappointed for a bit when I return the T-Mobile device on Friday.

I was willing to take the chance their service would come close to their advertisement, but it has not. The area I'm in is one of the best covered areas according to the map if that's the case I may not have any coverage in some of the other areas I may visit. 

Fulltime RV life is different. Some of the recent happenings have caused me to think about how I want to continue. Expensive Dr. Bills are on the way for sure. An expensive truck repair and the rise in monthly rates  to stay in an RV park. I thought last summer I'd have a better handle on getting Solar and being able to "park anywhere", but there are multiple hassles with that too I'm finding. I also thought I'd have to work till I couldn't anymore, but am finding I might be able to not "Have Too" work, but might have to stay in one spot if I could only find that good spot. 

That's the update today. 

Thanks for reading and commenting. 

 

Rod

[justRich]

Wife and I both had Verizon unlimited personal cellphones during our travels.
The phones were different year models and slightly different Android versions.

One phone would get good signal while the other would not in certain areas.
It varied which phone got better signal depending on where we were located.

I hypothesize that signal reception may vary between phone models and operating systems.

Last month, in a remote area of Anza Borrego, my Motorola phone on T-mobile had no signal, while the lady next to me was chatting on her Verizon phone.   
This month, while in Tortilla Flats (campground area) my T-mobile phone had poor signal strength and my new Visible (Verizon) phone had no signal at all.  Less than a hundred yards above was a cell phone tower.
(I have two cell phones on two different carriers - wife has since passed.)

My cheapie trade-in phone from Visible service has a 5GB hotspot feature.   At "home" Visible can stream movies without any interruption or quality loss - as does the T-mobile Motorola phone.
Curiously, I have exceeded the 5GB hotspot limit on Visible (currently at 12.8 GB of usage) with no slow-down.

I will begin my northward migration from Arizona to Washington State in a couple of weeks.  The travel route, at times, will be remote and I will see how the two phones and services compare during that trip.

 

[RV_]

Rich do follow up here too. Especially since you will have a report on them actually on the road.

 

[lappir]

Well, last Friday I did it. 

Stopped at T-Mobile and got an iPhone 14. Just the lowest cost model and regretted not getting the big one almost right away. 

I was planning on doing a lot over the weekend to check it out. That didn't happen. Had Emergency Surgery on Saturday night and spent the day Sunday in the hospital away from home. 

Monday was getting back home and trying to do some things, yesterday I made it to the shop for the afternoon and think I'm finally starting to feel better. Have a Dr. visit this afternoon. 

Decided to use the "Hot Spot" today and am less than pleased. Actually worse than my Verizon in the exact same spot. Multiple pauses watching a TV show on a site that rarely ever gave issues on the Samsung and Verizon. My friends who were ecstatic I finally got "Unlimited texting" and an iPhone will be disappointed for a bit when I return the T-Mobile device on Friday.

I was willing to take the chance their service would come close to their advertisement, but it has not. The area I'm in is one of the best covered areas according to the map if that's the case I may not have any coverage in some of the other areas I may visit. 

Fulltime RV life is different. Some of the recent happenings have caused me to think about how I want to continue. Expensive Dr. Bills are on the way for sure. An expensive truck repair and the rise in monthly rates  to stay in an RV park. I thought last summer I'd have a better handle on getting Solar and being able to "park anywhere", but there are multiple hassles with that too I'm finding. I also thought I'd have to work till I couldn't anymore, but am finding I might be able to not "Have Too" work, but might have to stay in one spot if I could only find that good spot. 

That's the update today. 

Thanks for reading and commenting. 

 

Rod

[lappir]

Not sure why the above post was here today as if I had not posted. In checking above it was sure there. 

 

I've decided to give it till Monday with the T-Mobile. Stopped at the store where I got the phone and they checked everything and had no idea why my old Verizon with the Note 9 was better than the band new 5G T-Mobile. 

I did reach out and almost added a new "Service" with Verizon till I provided my SS number and they won't allow two accounts on the same SS. I don't have a spousal unit to get a new plan before I give up my 15 year Grandfathered unlimited data plan. 

From the little I have used the T-Mobile "HotSpot" it will start slowing down at about day 15 to 20 of my typical use and it's already not as fast. 

Is it still possible to Sell the old unlimited plans? 

 

 

Rod

[justRich]

lappir:

It's the phone, not the service as I experienced yesterday.
Three of us were in the car on the outskirts of town. . .me and two cousins.  Both cousins (mom and her son) shared the same Verizon plan.

Mom had a "cheepie" phone model as she described it and it had no service.  Her son had a more respectable phone and did have service.  So she used his phone.

I checked for service on my T-mobile and had LTE signal - my phone is a now older Motorola phone and it's certainly not a top "of the line" model.  So, in that instance, the phone quality made the difference.
And having witnessed that, if I were you I would ditch the new 5G T-mobile phone and keep the old unlimited Verizon plan until I could find a phone with better reception.

 

[rynosback]

I have not noticed any difference with 5g. If what you have works off of 4g, I would keep it.