Utah /Phone Reception (Question)Salt Lake County Utah

[baron]

Hi. I have been getting horrible reception at home in Cottonwood Heights

Using T mobile /4g flip phone.

I have heard Murray and surrounding area may be a dead spot for T mobile?

So; how true is this, and if so what works around here???

I am hesitant to drop my plan...its ancient w/unlimited text under 38$ a month. But, for about a year my reception at home has gotten horrible...pretty much can't use the phone at home anymore. I don't think it's the phone itself. It works pretty good some places... at home it wobbles from 4 bars to 1 bar and no service, like crazy. Seems to work decently at work in S Jordan and w valley... and O K at Snowbird communicating with skier types to meet up.

Of course t mobile wants me to buy a 5g ..offering 24 months free plan and free phone. But what's the point if their coverage sucks???

Looking for input and suggestions, specifically from cottonwood heights and salt lake county phone users.

[whyturn]

Hey 1990 called and they want their flip phone back.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[RShea]

Even some of the cheap prepaid plans will offer unlimited text and talking. It is the data limits that are lower. $38 for a flip phone plan sounds pretty expensive to me (considering that it can't do 3rd party apps like Netflix or other streaming services that can lead to heavy data needs.

Could consider going over to Visible on Verizon towers if you have 4G and 5G towers and coverage in your area on Verizon (which is what Visible uses for their offering). It would run you $40 without the party pay, sign up for and get a Party rate and it drops down to $25 per month. Other Verizon MVNO companies including Red Pocket (which has Verizon, AT&T and I believe also T-Mobile offerings). Also could do Boost, Metro (which is T-Mobile) and even StraightTalk (from Walmart) for about that same $40.... Most all the prepaid include taxes and fees also.

[Bandit Man]

So many things incorrect with your understanding of how mobile/RF works, but there is this angle...my guess is that they want you on a 5G capable device because they have 5G coverage in your area (I would confirm this). I mean, if you didn't get 5G for free with your second COVID shot, why not get it now for free with T-Mo?

[baron]

So many things incorrect with your understanding of how mobile/RF works, but there is this angle...my guess is that they want you on a 5G capable device because they have 5G coverage in your area (I would confirm this). I mean, if you didn't get 5G for free with your second COVID shot, why not get it now for free with T-Mo?

I am 20 yrs behind in phone knowledge , as others pointed out

>Yea, the free upgrade is tempting...i was just more curious about reception in my area.

>Anyone actually use t mobile 5g in my area? I have a friend who loves it in Sandy...but I have chatted with people on the chair lift who say Murray(right next to me is a dead zone)
....and I am right between Murray and Sandy.
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derail moment
>LMAO,I just upgraded to that 4g phone because they are eliminating 3g...I really don't want to join the legions of ''phonies'' who just look at videos on their smartphone all day(hehe,I am sure I can resist temptation !) It is pretty cheesy how tech roped everyone into cell phones than every year puts out more expensive phones as they make old ones obsolete. LOL i remember using rotary dial phones ,but no- I don't still have one
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Thanks for replies so far ya'll - I am sure I 'll figure out what to do with Maggot info!

[cstefanic]

You can also play around on https://www.cellmapper.net and see if there's been recording/reporting of your particular cell provider in your area to see if others are having connection issues as well.


https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=3...apType=roadmap

[muted reborn]

I live north of Baron and always have had issues at home getting reception with Verizon - I check out that site to see if I could learn anything but that website is a mess.

[Bandit Man]

I am 20 yrs behind in phone knowledge , as others pointed out

>Yea, the free upgrade is tempting...i was just more curious about reception in my area.

>Anyone actually use t mobile 5g in my area? I have a friend who loves it in Sandy...but I have chatted with people on the chair lift who say Murray(right next to me is a dead zone)
....and I am right between Murray and Sandy.
.................................................. .................................................. ........................
derail moment
>LMAO,I just upgraded to that 4g phone because they are eliminating 3g...I really don't want to join the legions of ''phonies'' who just look at videos on their smartphone all day(hehe,I am sure I can resist temptation !) It is pretty cheesy how tech roped everyone into cell phones than every year puts out more expensive phones as they make old ones obsolete. LOL i remember using rotary dial phones ,but no- I don't still have one
.................................................. .................................................. ........................
Thanks for replies so far ya'll - I am sure I 'll figure out what to do with Maggot info!

5G is backwards compatible, meaning they work on legacy networks (in most cases). For T-Mo, you would have access to their 4G and 5G footprint. 5G has a smaller hardware footprint and is easier to deploy in dense urban/suburban areas. That's why I was asking about it. There may be better 5G coverage in your area than 4G coverage but you can only access it with a newer 5G compatible device. I'm on an iPhone 11 and it isn't 5G compatible.

The other issue that T-Mo has is over saturated in some areas, which essentially makes the phone feel like there is poor coverage since the capacity is tied up. In that case, the suggestion to look at other carriers and do the comparison of their coverage is a good one.

[PeachesNCream]

Even some of the cheap prepaid plans will offer unlimited text and talking. It is the data limits that are lower. $38 for a flip phone plan sounds pretty expensive to me (considering that it can't do 3rd party apps like Netflix or other streaming services that can lead to heavy data needs.

Could consider going over to Visible on Verizon towers if you have 4G and 5G towers and coverage in your area on Verizon (which is what Visible uses for their offering). It would run you $40 without the party pay, sign up for and get a Party rate and it drops down to $25 per month. Other Verizon MVNO companies including Red Pocket (which has Verizon, AT&T and I believe also T-Mobile offerings). Also could do Boost, Metro (which is T-Mobile) and even StraightTalk (from Walmart) for about that same $40.... Most all the prepaid include taxes and fees also.

Anyone know how visible or red rocket does in cities? I'm on a plan with my parents who only get service with Verizon towers. I'm in a small city (Spokane). We pay $160 a month for the 3 of us which seems ridiculous. The party plan on visible would bring us to $90 which seems reasonable but will I always have super slow speeds being in a city? (Since I'll have lower priority)

[NBABUCKS1]

i have visible which is verizon. it works great. especially when rural.

[TexasGortex]

I have a secondary Visible line and the service in urban areas is garbage but fair in rural areas. Worse than T-Mobile or ATT in the areas I’ve taken it (dual SIM so pretty fair comparison) but it’s much cheaper.

[baron]

Thanks all! Guessing saturated service sounds like part of the problem-I get a message sometimes ''network not available'' when I have good reception

[RShea]

Anyone know how visible or red rocket does in cities? I'm on a plan with my parents who only get service with Verizon towers. I'm in a small city (Spokane). We pay $160 a month for the 3 of us which seems ridiculous. The party plan on visible would bring us to $90 which seems reasonable but will I always have super slow speeds being in a city? (Since I'll have lower priority)

Visible and all the Prepaid plans from other companies that do bulk purchasing of the tower data and calling... You state Spokane is a small city, but it is in the top 100 cities in the nation population wise. I'd bet there is 5G in most parts of the city (no personal experience with it, have yet to visit it myself) and maybe even the 5G Ultra Wide. There is 5G in most of the top 200 some cities according to Verizon's 5G roll out plans. From Verizon web site in Dec 2019: "In April of 2019, the first two cities in the world went live with Verizon’s 5G mobility network and today that number has grown to 28. The latest cities to get Verizon 5G include Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Miami, Florida; Salt Lake City, Utah and Spokane, Washington. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband mobility service is accessible on seven devices, the most 5G devices available on any 5G network."

But yes, you will be throttled during very busy and congested times. Making a phone call in an area with a large number of others using Verizon phones and the data will slow down for all users if over the total capacity, some more than others- Verizon Post paid users and those with their "unlimited" plans get the highest priority. Biggest issue I've had though has been in some very rural areas where I live and go out on bicycle rides and occasionally visit for work and there is only 3G or even only 1X (phone calling only basically) and Visible reports no service. I've had another Verizon based towers plan for years with a company called Selectel and I can make calls and show service in those areas....

If you want to try Visible, I can provide a $5 first month code you can use, just PM me. They also have a trial I believe where they will give you I think something like 15 days to test it out or you can just return if it is not working for you (I'd recommend getting another telephone number and not port your number if just testing it out and not do the porting right away)...

Also your math does not make sense if you are going to use the party plans, maybe the months you provide a referral code, but each line with party pay is $25 so $50, $75, $100 etc. Remember the Party Pay is for 4 or more members for the maximum discount, but each person pays separately and independently. So you do not have to sign up with 2 or 3 lines with your own smaller party, just join an existing party pay that has hundreds of members and you do not risk it dropping down to lower than 4 members of the party and those 3 lines would be $75 per month with taxes and all (again message me if you want some info on the party searching and large many thousand member groups...)

[baron]

lol,I found out why my reception sucks at home

They upgraded my local cell tower, and older phones(mostly what sprint sold) do not receive the newer signal the tower uses. That's why i get reception around most the valley, but not right in my neighborhood.

lmao they will give me a free 200$ phone upgrade, but not the small flip phone they sell for 98$ that fits in my pocket.

thx 4 the responses; learned a little either way

[Dee Hubbs]

lmao they will give me a free 200$ phone upgrade, but not the small flip phone they sell for 98$ that fits in my pocket.

Maybe you can upgrade your pocket to fit modern technology?

[mc_roon]

Google Fi now works on both android & iphone and has great connectivity in UT - both in the city and in more rural areas i never have an issue. Cost can be way cheap too depending on which plan and how many lines you go for

[RShea]

lol,I found out why my reception sucks at home

They upgraded my local cell tower, and older phones(mostly what sprint sold) do not receive the newer signal the tower uses. That's why i get reception around most the valley, but not right in my neighborhood.

lmao they will give me a free 200$ phone upgrade, but not the small flip phone they sell for 98$ that fits in my pocket.

thx 4 the responses; learned a little either way

Yes, if you have an old Sprint phone that is not GSM compatible (they used CDMA for their towers and talk, etc.) So the bands and all that they are using now for 4G and 5G on T-Mobile could in fact improve your situation greatly. T-Mobile should have notified you of the changes also.

[muted reborn]

Maybe you can upgrade your pocket to fit modern technology?

He must be wearing Daisy Dukes or some yoga pants.

[jmedslc]

He must be wearing Daisy Dukes or some yoga pants.

Got to say though I do like having a smaller phone for the pocketiNess of it all.