T-Mobile internet

Glad to see this. I’m moving further out into the sticks in a little bit. ATT DSL is all that’s available at 5mbs for $50. The TMobile site said I qualify. Just need to call them in the morning. Thanks for the heads up.
 
Anyone know if you must be an existing TMobile customer to get this? We’ve had a Sprint number for 10+ years. Sprint of course was just bought by TMobile. I sat on the phone for 40 min trying to talk to them about this internet thing and they immediately say “your number is a pre-paid account.” I’ve never owned/used a pre-paid line in the my life. So I get bounced to the main account line. They insist that it’s a pre-paid. Their best guess is the number is “still a Sprint number, so it shows as a pre-paid on our end.” They bounce me to pre-paid customer service to straighten it out...”we’re sorry, our office is now closed.”

Not cool.
 
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9outof10mms said:
Anyone know if you must be an existing TMobile customer to get this? We’ve had a Sprint number for 10+ years. Sprint of course was just bought by TMobile. I sat on the phone for 40 min trying to talk to them about this internet thing and they immediately say “your number is a pre-paid account.” I’ve never owned/used a pre-paid line in the my life. So I get bounced to the main account line. They insist that it’s a pre-paid. Their best guess is the number is “still a Sprint number, so it shows as a pre-paid on our end.” They bounce me to pre-paid customer service to straighten it out...”we’re sorry, our office is now closed.”

Not cool.
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You do NOT need to be a T Mobile customer (I wasn't). Just follow the steps I posted previously and you should be able to get signed up.
 
No dice for me. The guy I got was having a hard time getting past his system.
 
JimB said:
Obviously I agree that transmission through vacuum is faster than through a medium, but isn’t comparing the speed of RF transport to the speed of optical transport apples and oranges? Light through vacuum is faster than light through glass, but light through glass is faster than RF through vacuum, right?
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You aren't aware of how Starlink works then. The satellite to satellite connections are lasers. No RF except for the ground links.

And I think the net difference in speed to half way around the world is about 30% - like NY to Shanghai for instance. That is HUGE, and will put the undersea cables out of business (the ones being built explicitly to be the shortest/fastest path for financial transaction purposes).
 
JimP42 said:
You aren't aware of how Starlink works then. The satellite to satellite connections are lasers. No RF except for the ground links.

And I think the net difference in speed to half way around the world is about 30% - like NY to Shanghai for instance. That is HUGE, and will put the undersea cables out of business (the ones being built explicitly to be the shortest/fastest path for financial transaction purposes).
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True, I haven’t paid attention to the sat to sat transmission, I’ve only been concerned about the ground links. If they really can deliver latency that’s 70% less than fiber over distance then they do have something. They tried to convince the FCC that they would have latency below 10ms and failed, I think the FCC told them they’d believe 100ms, but the constellation is still tiny and if they can eventually deliver say London to Tokyo with round trip latency of say 50ms at volume then they’ll have something because subsea is running 145ms to 210ms for that trip. The US government would be their anchor customer, drones would work so much better with less network latency.

Thanks for the info, I’m going to go back through their industry info and get better informed.
 
RFMan said:
Like I said, details matter. Depends on the standard, the hardware, and the requirements of what those endpoints are. I've seen fast and slow in both fiber and satcom (I used to design fiber optic transceivers at 2.4 and 10 Gbps). Light through glass is SLOWER than RF through vacuum. Apologies to quantum mechanics, but we'll operate in the wave domain for a moment: light and RF both propagate at c in a vacuum. Satcom is RF through air/vacuum (essentially the same); fiber optic is light through glass (take fused silica, maybe doped a bit, dielectric constant about 3.8). Therefore an optical link (through fiber) is about half the speed of a satcom RF link (through space/air). Apples and oranges related by square root of dielectric constant :D
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Thanks for the education, I’ve been in this business for decades but never had to worry about relative propagation speeds. It makes sense that they are both at the speed of light in vac, I just never thought of how it degrades over fiber other than knowing that generally the latency goes up over distance by much more than is explained by the distance.

I’m rethinking the LEO business model.
 
JimB said:
True, I haven’t paid attention to the sat to sat transmission, I’ve only been concerned about the ground links. If they really can deliver latency that’s 70% less than fiber over distance then they do have something. They tried to convince the FCC that they would have latency below 10ms and failed, I think the FCC told them they’d believe 100ms, but the constellation is still tiny and if they can eventually deliver say London to Tokyo with round trip latency of say 50ms at volume then they’ll have something because subsea is running 145ms to 210ms for that trip. The US government would be their anchor customer, drones would work so much better with less network latency.

Thanks for the info, I’m going to go back through their industry info and get better informed.
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I think the net _difference_ is 30%. 1/3 less, not 2/3 less. Even 1/3 is a lot. In terms of latency it is evidently playable for video games. I’m sure not for really good players that need every possible edge, at least not yet, but SO much better than HughesNet and the like. More satellites will scale up the bandwidth and reduce latency somewhat. And they are still building and tuning the system. It is already good enough to replace my cable modem. I am trying to find a place in the (relative) sticks and lots of places I look at have very poor broadband. Some have decent cell data available but not all.
 
JimP42 said:
I think the net _difference_ is 30%. 1/3 less, not 2/3 less. Even 1/3 is a lot. In terms of latency it is evidently playable for video games. I’m sure not for really good players that need every possible edge, at least not yet, but SO much better than HughesNet and the like. More satellites will scale up the bandwidth and reduce latency somewhat. And they are still building and tuning the system. It is already good enough to replace my cable modem. I am trying to find a place in the (relative) sticks and lots of places I look at have very poor broadband. Some have decent cell data available but not all.
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We’ll have to wait a while to know, it sounds like they are just starting the work with the sat-to-sat “space lasers” and that the current private beta results of “up to 100mbps” doesn’t include that functionality. Obviously this will change the existing satellite model, gotta think more about what it does to wireless and fiber providers in rural areas that currently depend on state and federal subsidies. I don’t blame starlink for chasing some federal subsidies, but I hope that they don’t need them or win them.
 
amnesia said:
No dice for me. The guy I got was having a hard time getting past his system.
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A couple of friends had to call back twice to get it set up. Did you get to the screen that said "Congratulations you qualify" followed by the next one that says something like "Hold on. We're working on things from out end and will contact you"? If you did I would call back.
 
Dummies should make it easier to sign up. Hacking your IMEI or having to lie on signup page isn’t exactly a user friendly way to do things. Lol.

CHRIS
 
easternnc4me said:
Those who currently have it can continue it as long as it is not abused. From reports people using around 700GB or more a month.
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700 Gb/month? That's like 175 full length movies?

I suspect these folks may have been running a hotspot for other "customers".
 
"Not available in your location"

(in a busy part of JoCo)
 
JohnFreeman said:
"Not available in your location"

(in a busy part of JoCo)
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Did you follow the steps? 2 more friends just got signed up yesterday and I literally just got off the phone walking another friend through it. Pay attention to the steps regarding telephone number entry. I think that is where those of you who are getting not available are messing up.
 
CHRIS_WNC said:
Dummies should make it easier to sign up. Hacking your IMEI or having to lie on signup page isn’t exactly a user friendly way to do things. Lol.

CHRIS
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Regarding T Mobile Home internet the only thing that is different is that on the first page you are entering 999-999-9999 as the phone number. All other info is correct. On the next page you enter your correct phone number and info. At that point all info is correct. No hacking. Just a workaround to be able to get to the next page saying you qualify.
 
easternnc4me said:
Did you follow the steps? 2 more friends just got signed up yesterday and I literally just got off the phone walking another friend through it. Pay attention to the steps regarding telephone number entry. I think that is where those of you who are getting not available are messing up.
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I did. Got a congrats you qualify and then they will call me. Called them immediately and the guy said my phone number wasnt pulling up anything.
 
amnesia said:
I did. Got a congrats you qualify and then they will call me. Called them immediately and the guy said my phone number wasnt pulling up anything.
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I would call back. A couple of friends had to call back to finally get it set up
 
I got a call back early today. Started going through the process only to hit another wall. My name/SSN is on the wife’s Sprint account, so I technically have a T-Mobile account. No problem...except I have to go to a physical store location to port over to a T-Mobile number. Ok...I’ll risk my life and go to a cell phone store in the hood (nearest T-Mobile store). She starts the process only to get road locked AGAIN because we have an open order waiting for the iPhone 12Pro. I call to cancel that order, go back to the store, BANG, another wall. We’ve got two months left of an 18 month lease to pay off. The lease is $40/month but the buy out is $333.

At this point I must have looked like the demon beast guy from Tenacious D, as the girl went into full apology mode. I considered my options:
A. Make for some good security cam footage that would ultimately go viral on YouTube as i bull on a china shop the place.
B. Calmly walk out and thank her anyway, demonstrating that there are people in the world that don’t wreck other people’s stuff just because they didn’t get their way.

Long story short: we’ll be putting the Internet thing in the wife’s name this evening. They better not give me crap about that. I already behaved myself once today. I’m all outta behaves.


1673968607410a5de03bb11db8ae3f32.png
 
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9outof10mms said:
I got a call back early today. Started going through the process only to hit another wall. My name/SSN is on the wife’s Sprint account, so I technically have a T-Mobile account. No problem...except I have to go to a physical store location to port over to a T-Mobile number. Ok...I’ll risk my life and go to a cell phone store in the hood (nearest T-Mobile store). She starts the process only to get road locked AGAIN because we have an open order waiting for the iPhone 12Pro. I call to cancel that order, go back to the store, BANG, another wall. We’ve got two months left of an 18 month lease to pay off. The lease is $40/month but the buy out is $333.

At this point I must have looked like the demon beast guy from Tenacious D, as the girl went into full apology mode. I considered my options:
A. Make for some good security cam footage that would ultimately go viral on YouTube as i bull on a china shop the place.
B. Calmly walk out and thank her anyway, demonstrating that there are people in the world that don’t wreck other people’s stuff just because they didn’t get their way.

Long story short: we’ll be putting the Internet thing in the wife’s name this evening. They better not give me crap about that. I already behaved myself once today. I’m all outta behaves.


1673968607410a5de03bb11db8ae3f32.png
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Just out of curiosity are you trying to get your cell phone service switched to T Mobile as well as get the T Mobile Home Internet? I'm not a T Mobile customer (and neither are my friends who got the Home Internet) and we still got the home internet service. Didn't know if you were trying to kill two birds with one stone and they were making you jump through hoops since you already technically have an account or if they were telling you you had to sign up for the phone service too in order to get home internet.
 
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easternnc4me said:
Just out of curiosity are you trying to get your cell phone service switched to T Mobile as well as get the T Mobile Home Internet? I'm not a T Mobile customer (and neither are my friends who got the Home Internet) and we still got the home internet service. Didn't know if you were trying to kill two birds with one stone and they were making you jump through hoops since you already technically have an account or if they were telling you you had to sign up for the phone service too in order to get home internet.
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I was going to keep them separate. But when they saw my SSN tied to an existing Sprint account, they said I’d have to put the home internet on that same account.

What it is, is the minutia pains of a big merger that hasn’t been fully thought out.

My simple workaround will be to put the internet in the wife’s name, who by their records has no Sprint/TM account.
 
Got it ordered. Thanks again to the OP for the heads up. Now to cancel my AT&T DSL turtle edition.
 
For those of you that do get it post what speeds you are getting (you will have to move to different windows throughout your house to find the best spot). Speeds seem to vary for different people on the Facebook group. Some are reporting greater than 50Mbps. A friend and I are getting 16-19. Another one is getting 29Mbps and another is getting 48Mbps. We all live within 6 miles of each other. A couple of people in the Facebook group reported that T Mobile customer service told them the top of the modem (with the T symbol) should be facing toward the tower.
 
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Fella on the phone was really talking it up. Saying I could get 50-100 mbps. I’ll be happy with 20-50.
 
I’m impressed with the upload speed. Most cell hotspots I’ve messed with struggle get/maintain 1mbps up.
 
JimB said:
@JimP42 you might find this interesting. Looks like one year of Starlink service to 45 locations for $300k. Seems to be a little more than $550/mo. Can’t blame them for a little suckling at the government (or in this case maybe nonprofit) teet, but wow.

https://www.telecompetitor.com/rura...test-for-spacex-starlink-satellite-broadband/
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The info on the public beta just went out. 499 for equipment and 99/mo.

SpaceX Starlink Pricing Revealed as Satellite Broadband Operator Expands Beta - Telecompetitor

SpaceX is calling its satellite broadband service "Better Than Nothing" -- an apt name considering that Starlink pricing is set at
www.telecompetitor.com www.telecompetitor.com
 
JimP42 said:
The info on the public beta just went out. 499 for equipment and 99/mo.

SpaceX Starlink Pricing Revealed as Satellite Broadband Operator Expands Beta - Telecompetitor

SpaceX is calling its satellite broadband service "Better Than Nothing" -- an apt name considering that Starlink pricing is set at
www.telecompetitor.com www.telecompetitor.com
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Yeah, just saw it at CNBC.

Don’t think they quite get the demographics in rural america. It’ll be interesting to see who tries this, can you imagine setting this up on a tripod out back? Forget the effects of weather, the things are gonna get stolen. If the equipment is well marked with “Starlink” I bet it’ll be selling second hand on ebay in a few weeks for $1k, some stolen some not.
 
Best speed I have seen so far. Ran around 11:00. Speeds seem to be a little better than last week. Still varying but now usually in the mid to upper 20's. The tower it is running off of only has band 2. Still not bad for this area.

Screenshot_20201028-105614_Speedtest[1].jpgScreenshot_20201028-105713_Speedtest[1].jpg
 
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Booyah!!! Just hooked it up and got as good or better than my average 100mbps Spectrum service that costs $70/month.
31418A62-A1F9-4BD9-A0AB-54BA1445EDEC.jpeg
 
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@easternnc4me I owe you a beer if we ever cross paths. You saved me from the debil that is AT&T their 5mbps crap.
 
9outof10mms said:
@easternnc4me I owe you a beer if we ever cross paths. You saved me from the debil that is AT&T their 5mbps crap.
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I don't drink, but I'll take a Diet Sun-Drop if we ever cross paths. Glad it's working for you. I think that with what T-Mobile is doing other companies will have to offer something similar to compete.
 
Forgot to mention. Anyone trying to locate their local tower (or one with the most bands near them) this site helps with that.

Cellular Tower and Signal Map

CellMapper is a crowd-sourced cellular tower and coverage mapping service.
www.cellmapper.net www.cellmapper.net
 
9outof10mms said:
I got a call back early today. Started going through the process only to hit another wall. My name/SSN is on the wife’s Sprint account, so I technically have a T-Mobile account. No problem...except I have to go to a physical store location to port over to a T-Mobile number. Ok...I’ll risk my life and go to a cell phone store in the hood (nearest T-Mobile store). She starts the process only to get road locked AGAIN because we have an open order waiting for the iPhone 12Pro. I call to cancel that order, go back to the store, BANG, another wall. We’ve got two months left of an 18 month lease to pay off. The lease is $40/month but the buy out is $333.

At this point I must have looked like the demon beast guy from Tenacious D, as the girl went into full apology mode. I considered my options:
A. Make for some good security cam footage that would ultimately go viral on YouTube as i bull on a china shop the place.
B. Calmly walk out and thank her anyway, demonstrating that there are people in the world that don’t wreck other people’s stuff just because they didn’t get their way.

Long story short: we’ll be putting the Internet thing in the wife’s name this evening. They better not give me crap about that. I already behaved myself once today. I’m all outta behaves.


1673968607410a5de03bb11db8ae3f32.png
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Looks like I am in the same Boat I have a sprint account 5 lines 3 phones under lease 2 paid off my nearest Sprint store is 60 miles away I will try to do it under the wifes SSN
 
Day 3 on the TMobile thing.

Yesterday was an anomaly with the storm and losing power. Once power came on though, speed struggled to get above 1-2mbps.

This morning started strong at 40+mbps. But now it flutters around 2-3.

This is a bit frustrating. Might give them a call later.
 
9outof10mms said:
Day 3 on the TMobile thing.

Yesterday was an anomaly with the storm and losing power. Once power came on though, speed struggled to get above 1-2mbps.

This morning started strong at 40+mbps. But now it flutters around 2-3.

This is a bit frustrating. Might give them a call later.
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Some people on the Facebook group had an issue like this. Some got it resolved by rebooting the router. Others had it fixed with a call to tech support. My guess would be with the power loss once it came back up it connected to either another tower or more congested band.
 
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Yeah, they are making it difficult to sign up-idiots. I'm not a TMobile or Sprint customer, and two idgits in a row told me I had to wait until they contacted me.
Eff 'em for now....I'd sure like to kick CenturyStink to the curb...
 
I found a “reset” option in the TMobile Home Internet app. It appears to have cleared the issue for now. I tried a manual power off and on, but that didn’t work. I’m back to 20-ish plus mbps. Hopefully it holds and this isn’t a daily fight.
 
Stress tested the unit today with a kids party. Of course the adults have to be connected. I had 6-10 devices connected and Facebooking or God knows what. TMobile didn’t flinch. It’s been pull 20-40 mbps all day.

The impressive part is the upload speed. Spectrum struggles to break 5 mbps. TMobile has been pulling 10-20 mbps up even when it was giving me crap before I reset it.
 
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