Update on Tmobile's 5G bands

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BillA
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Update on Tmobile's 5G bands

Post by BillA »

Lately Tmobile has been preparing to have a pretty kick-ass 5G network especially with the Sprint merger.
At this time they let Sprint customers roam onto the Tmobile network, but not the other way around (yet!).... will keep this updated.
For starters, they have band 71 (mid-band) which on 4G-LTE might not be too exciting at only a 5Mhz bandwidth, but on 5G it will definitely boost speeds. Having recently merged with Sprint which has a nice wide band 41, coupled with the right 5G modem along with CA should provide some really great 5G speeds.
Below are the current Tmobile 5G bands ("n" = low/mid bands, "N" = mmWave bands), which is especially important when choosing a shiny new and expensive 5G modem to have the right band coverage. ATT (+n5) and Verizon also share the "N" bands, but no "n" bands.

5G sub-6Ghz bands (below 6GHz) mainly used by ATT/Tmobile/Sprint ("*" = primary bands)
n2 (1,900Mhz), n5 (850MHz), *n41 (2,500MHz), n66 (AWS-3), *n71 (600MHz)

5G mmWave bands (above 6GHz) mainly used by Verizon
N260 (39GHz), N261 (28GHz)


Here's an excerpt from a PhoneArena article:
T-Mobile is different from other carriers in the US as it has focused on first providing 5G wireless connectivity across the nation and not just in a few spots in the major cities. For this, T-Mobile is using its 600MHz low-band spectrum on LTE Band 71, which was formerly used by channels 38 to 51 on UHF-based TVs. These are low-frequency signals that easily travel far and wide, unlike mmWave.

After the Sprint merger, T-Mobile will also adopt that carrier's extensive mid-band 5G coverage in band n41.

T-Mobile is also planning to use higher-frequency bands similar to what AT&T and Verizon use. Magenta plans to use the 28GHz and 39GHz bands for high-speed mmWave 5G transmissions.
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Didneywhorl
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Re: Update on Tmobile's 5G bands

Post by Didneywhorl »

Interesting. The BIG wait is going to be on mmWave antennas, in my opinion. I haven't really searched, but I've not seen aftermarket mmWave antennas.

I ordered a WG1608 from ZBT, with 5G modem and antennas. It's gunna be fun to play with I hope. They dont yet have the modems in stock, so I sit and wait.
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BillA
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Re: Update on Tmobile's 5G bands

Post by BillA »

Didneywhorl wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 9:47 pm Interesting. The BIG wait is going to be on mmWave antennas, in my opinion. I haven't really searched, but I've not seen aftermarket mmWave antennas.

I ordered a WG1608 from ZBT, with 5G modem and antennas. It's gunna be fun to play with I hope. They dont yet have the modems in stock, so I sit and wait.

Tmobile has plenty or low and mid bands available like 71 (600Mhz), plus Sprint bands 25/26/41, so you might be able to use those without mmWave antennas till it becomes more widespread.
The biggest issue with the WG1608 is the lack of custom firmware at his time, hope it's coming soon.
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