XPost: misc.phone.mobile.iphone, comp.mobile.android   
   From: spam@nospam.com   
      
   badgolferman wrote:   
      
   > Yes, this has been my experience as well. Better reception and speed   
   > results wherever I go. I also read an article yesterday where Verizon and   
   > AT&T are raising their rates significantly. So far my T-Mobile bill has   
   > held steady.   
      
   Good to know that your experience mirrors mine, where I'm sure your speeds   
   are higher than mine, but even my speeds have just been getting better.   
     *125Mbps*   
     *181Mbps*   
     *125Mbps* to *181Mbps*   
     *82Mbps* & -88dBM   
     *254Mbps*   
     *255Mbps*   
     *255Mbps*   
     *255Mbps*   
     *130Mbps*   
     *81Mbps*   
     *79Mbps* to *81Mbps*   
     *96Mbps* to *109Mbps*   
     *109Mbps*   
     *88Mbps* to *102Mbps*   
     *130Mbps* to *255Mbps*   
     *125Mbps* to *181Mbps*   
     *54Mbps*   
     *60Mbps* & -85dBm   
     Ookla test log results   
     Meteor test log results   
     T-Mobile 377 to 443 Mbps   
     T-mo 377, 414, 443 Mbps   
     T-mo 419 & 390 Mbps 5G UC   
     T-mo RSRP -91 to -96 dBm   
     Verizon femtocell setup   
     WISP AC PRISM uses GPS   
      
   And as you noted above, our bills didn't go up, and, we could say in some   
   ways they went down in so much as they granted everyone postpaid in the USA   
   last April 2021 unlimited data if they had any data (which I was a   
   beneficiary of), at no extra cost.   
      
   They also granted everyone a free 5G phone if they wanted it, and, I got my   
   iPhone for less than half price at the time, while the service has remained   
   consistently decent.   
      
   What was so _different_ and the same about the Verizon experience I had,   
   side by side, at my friend's house was...   
   a. His customer support was fine - but it took far longer to get a human.   
   b. They tried to extort $250 and then $125 for the free cellular femtocell.   
   c. His Verizon signal strength was about -110 decibels (T-Mo was about 100)   
   d. His Verizon Internet speeds were unusable at 2Mbps down but 0.01Mbps up!   
   e. Mine weren't great at about 5 to 10 down and about half that up   
      
   But what was interesting is this guy's wife insists on Verizon claiming   
   they don't get good T-mobile signal, and yet, a quantitative look at their   
   signal and speeds show that, while T-mobile isn't great, Verizon is dismal.   
      
   Of course, I'm not doing what Steve does which is I'm not using this one   
   example as a proof for all examples; but I did find it interesting to see   
   how entrenched they were in a belief system that, as far as I could tell,   
   had no sound basis in actual facts.   
      
   The husband has a smartphone so I had him put all the tools that I use to   
   test signal while the wife has a flip phone which will stop working in   
   December.   
      
   My main point was to let folks know that in San Jose (where I wasn't in the   
   city proper but only in the outskirts of the sprawling town), the 5G   
   T-Mobile signal was consistently in the 350 to 450 Mbps range, which is   
   fantastic.   
      
   Even in the boonies, I sometimes get 200Mbps, where the funny thing about   
   our Verizon call is that they told this customer his nearest cell tower was   
   over 20 miles away (which I don't believe given that I know where the   
   towers are and I'd estimate them to be less than 3 miles as the crow   
   flies), which are the same towers for T-Mobile & AT&T as far as I know).   
      
   Useful data tidbits for Verizon customers that I found out on the call:   
   1. Verizon said that after 5 miles they give people femtocells   
   2. Verizon eventually gave us the femtocell for free but tried to charge us   
   3. Verizon said it can only work with "broadband" (we're on WISP)   
      
   The Verizon setup is easy but it still hasn't been set up yet:   
   a. You plug it into the router & into the power outlet   
   b. You string the 30-foot long GPS cable somehow to the outside   
   c. You wait, and wait (T-Mobile was the same way) and wait (like an hour)   
      
   Then you're supposed to dial #48 (as I recall); but we had to call Verizon   
   and they still weren't able to set it up. They claimed it was the broadband   
   but I don't believe that as others have Verizon femtocells on the same   
   service (which is about 40Mbps using brand new AC GPS enabled stuff below)   
     WISP AC PRISM uses GPS   
      
   BTW, note that this new AC WISP equipment has a GPS built inside of it!   
      
   In summary, I'm _not_ saying Verizon is better or worse than T-Mobile in   
   the Santa Cruz mountains as it depends on a lot of factors, but I am saying   
   that in this one case Verizon is far worse than T-Mobile to the point that   
   T-mobile is usable and Verizon is unusable in terms of both cellular signal   
   strength and Internet speeds (although with Wi-Fi calling & when the   
   femtocell starts working, that won't matter except when the power or the   
   WISP goes out - where out here - the power goes out rather frequently).   
   --   
   Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)