Tag: T-Mobile

Ookla, the company behind Speedtest, has released a report on the health of mobile networks here in the United States.  In that report, T-Mobile was deemed to have the best performing mobile network in the country, outscoring Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.

Speedtest, for those who don’t know, is a service that allows you to test the download and upload speed of your data connection (or Wi-Fi) from a website or their mobile app.

The report bases the information on a new Speed Score model that the company uses to measure the performance of mobile networks.

This year Ookla also introduced Speed Score to more accurately reflect the full breadth of networking experience on a given network. Speed Score incorporates low-end, median and top-end performance for both download and upload speed. It’s a comprehensive metric that combines all factors that matter to a good network experience into a single score.

Using this methodology, the test results should more accurately reflect what users can expect from a particular mobile network.

T-Mobile has rolled out another BOGO plan and this one is on a phone that’s not even available yet.  The carrier famous for these types of deals, is bringing customers the ability to get a free Galaxy Note8 when they purchase one through their payment program.  It is a pretty sweet deal and if you and a significant other are looking to get the new Note8, this could be the way to go.

Here is how it works.  First, you need to pre-order a Galaxy Note8 on the T-Mobile site.  You must select the monthly payment plan (paying in full won’t get you the 2nd one free) which means you will be on a 2-year plan with T-Mobile.  The free Note8 is done through billing credits that are applied to your account and that can take a couple of months to appear.  Also, you will need to pay the taxes on the 2nd device.  This is virtually the same program T-Mobile ran earlier on the Galaxy S8 and they have run it on other phones too.  Even with the caveats, its a great deal.

T-Mobile has announced that they have turned up their first 600MHz LTE areas here in the United States.  The company rolled out the new spectrum, which they acquired at auction from the FCC earlier this year, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  The new low-spectrum will give T-Mobile a greater reach, particularly in rural areas and where they have not rolled out 700MHz yet.

The company is leveraging Nokia equipment for the rollout in Cheyenne and if you are curious as to why they started in Cheyenne, it’s a pretty straightforward reason.  600MHz, in some parts of the country, are occupied by television broadcasters.  That’s not the case apparently in Cheyenne so rolling out could happen immediately.  T-Mobile will continue to roll out the spectrum as it is cleared in other areas of the country.

If you are a T-Mobile subscriber and have a Samsung Galaxy Note 5, there is a minor update rolling out that should hit your phone this week.  The update is build N920TUVS4EQG1 for those keeping score and weighs in at only 25MB.  The hint of the type of update is in the size of the install package.  At 25MB, this is addressing minor bugs and issues with the phone and isn’t going to be uplifting big changes.

This is also backed up by the vague release notes from T-Mobile on the update.  They only list “various system improvements” in those notes.

Good news this morning for those of you who have a Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge on T-Mobile.  The carrier is now rolling out the July Android Security Update to these devices and it should be hitting yours sometime this week.  The updates are small, just over 50MB for each of the devices, and mostly focus on brining the July 2017 update to the devices.  There are a few minor fixes and improvements too but the security patch is the big news.

For those with a Galaxy S6, you are looking for version G920TUVS5FQG1 while the S6 Edge will be getting version G925TUVS5FQG1.  Both of these devices received the Android Nougat 7.0 update from the carrier last month.

For readers who have the Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge on the T-Mobile network, be on the look out for a sizable update coming your way.  The update brings a host of improvements to both devices as well as the June Android security update.  For those with a S7, you are looking for firmware build G930TUVS4BQE1 while those of you with a S7 Edge, you are getting build G935TUVU4BQF6.  Both updates coming in at just over 350MB in size.

With that size, there are clearly other tweaks and improvements that have been made to the firmware beyond the June security updates.  Those updates themselves are only about 25MB so the rest is more-or-less other improvements.