T-Mobile Offers Personal Coverage Check

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://coverage.t-mobile.com/Compass2/' target='_blank'>http://coverage.t-mobile.com/Compass2/</a><br /><br /></div>T-Mobile USA in an attempt to attract future customers, is offering a new tool on its website. This tool called the Personal Coverage Check lets you punch in a street address and view the street level signal strength. 8) I have never been impressed with the national coverage maps or the per-zone coverage maps found in the carrier service brochures. Most of the time they offer outdated information. This online tool offers more realistic coverage information, and enables you to get an idea of the actual coverage in the area where you spend most of your time. <br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-Apr2005-TMobileCoverage.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />It will definitely help the new customers make up their minds. But I am sure existing T-Mobile customers will find it handy too. I learnt that the signal strength in the area where my future home is located is the same as my current apartment. :-( Wish it would have gone from the current good to great. Check out <a href="http://coverage.t-mobile.com/Compass2/">the coverage</a> in your area. And let us know what you think about this tool.

[jimfee]

This is quite a positive approach and I think in the information age that pushing this type of data to the customers is better than trying to play the pixel/resolution game with images and print size.

However the science (or Black art) of wireless coverage is a double sided sword, I work in the industry and can detail even very small coverage gaps using the standard tools to measure and map network performance. There are however, a thousand variables that play into a good signal, on a recent cell to cell with my wife the call was loosing voice quality, I asked her where she was standing in the house? She said "the living room", I told her "get in the kitchen" and she was amazed at the better signal.

:wink:

[brntcrsp]

I wonder how far behind it is. We're a large customer of t-mobile's, and they recently installed a tower on our campus to improve reception because we were between too many towers causing massive amounts of dropped calls. Between the new tower and replacing old SIMs the mobile service has drastically improved yet the strength is not reflected on the map.

While it can be a double edged sword, customers tend to reward companies who they believe are frank and up front about their services. In some regards the more open a company is, the more the customer believes they are getting the truth and adequate service..

[possmann]

This is way frickin' cool! - or to put it another way - sweet....

I wish/hope all carriers would move forward with something like this. It's too bad that T-Mo doesn't have any smartphones for the US yet - I wish they would pull their collective heads out of the A** and get on the ball with that program! :bad-words:

Sigh - anyone have any rumors that T-mo (USA) will be rolling anything out like that soon?

[Mike Temporale]

Sigh - anyone have any rumors that T-mo (USA) will be rolling anything out like that soon?

I could make one up if you like. ;) :lol:

[possmann]

yeah... sigh - what is it with T-Mo? They have great rates, good coverage - sigh... It seems like they are obsessed with Blackberrys here in the USA and have totally forgotten the smartphone OS - yet in Europe they have 2 of the hottest selling smartphone OS styles.

I think the Music SDA II would clean up over here in the US - but nooooo... They are going to let Samsung and most likely some other carrier (I'll start the speculation off with Sprint) take the lead on that. Whay are they playing so conservitely?

[Mike Temporale]

I think the Music SDA II would clean up over here in the US - but nooooo... They are going to let Samsung and most likely some other carrier (I'll start the speculation off with Sprint) take the lead on that.

Actually, that Samsung phone - the i300 - doesn't look like it will make it to North America. :(

[possmann]

it figures...

[Sven Johannsen]

Well I'm sitting here in my office with 0 bars on my T-Mobile phone in an area that shows me smack in the middle of good or better, so as is often posted, YMMV.

Still, I like the thought that I can get more detail than the state has some coverage some places.

[brntcrsp]

Well I'm sitting here in my office with 0 bars on my T-Mobile phone in an area that shows me smack in the middle of good or better, so as is often posted, YMMV.

Well, GSM is notorious for poor building penetration, espcially the upper band that T-Mobile uses. The 800(850) band supposedly eases some of that burden, but t-mobile doesn't seem to interested in improving their US infrastructure for the future of wireless. :roll:

[Kris Kumar]

There are however, a thousand variables that play into a good signal, on a recent cell to cell with my wife the call was loosing voice quality, I asked her where she was standing in the house? She said "the living room", I told her "get in the kitchen" and she was amazed at the better signal.

Hopefully in the next few years we will get home-level signal strength tool, instead of the current street-level. ;-)

[Sven Johannsen]

Well I'm sitting here in my office with 0 bars on my T-Mobile phone in an area that shows me smack in the middle of good or better, so as is often posted, YMMV.

Well, GSM is notorious for poor building penetration, espcially the upper band that T-Mobile uses. The 800(850) band supposedly eases some of that burden, but t-mobile doesn't seem to interested in improving their US infrastructure for the future of wireless. :roll:

Yea, but here I am in the corner of the building with floor to ceiling windows within three feet of my desk. One story building BTW. A few weeks ago I was in California in a location that shows minimal if any coverage, in interior rooms in a building with no windows what so ever, and had a bar or two and made and received calls. Might have been roaming though. Don't recall.

I am a EE BTW so do understand some of the realities. RF propagation in real environments does tend to take on some characteristics of a Black Art. Mostly because you can't determine all the variables.

[Sfielder]

This has been around for quite a few years in the UK, but I guess compared to the US we are quite a small country!

see orange site below, it lists 3G as well as 2.5G coverage

http://coverage.orange.co.uk/uk/UKCoverageSearch.htm

Simon

[Kris Kumar]

see orange site below, it lists 3G as well as 2.5G coverage

Wow..just when I thought that US carriers had made progress by providing street level coverage info, I find that our European brothers not only have it, but also one for 3G. :-(

[aristoBrat]

I wonder how far behind it is. We're a large customer of t-mobile's, and they recently installed a tower on our campus to improve reception because we were between too many towers causing massive amounts of dropped calls. Between the new tower and replacing old SIMs the mobile service has drastically improved yet the strength is not reflected on the map.
FWIW, the UI and coverage maps seem to be newer at:
http://compass.t-mobile.com

(at least in my area) :)

[aristoBrat]

t-mobile doesn't seem to interested in improving their US infrastructure for the future of wireless. :roll:
Regarding T-Mobile's US infrastructure:

29,401 = towers on-air at the end of 2004
26,898 = towers on-air at the end of 2003
--------
2,503 = new towers in 2004

That's almost 10 new towers brought on-air every weekday last year. If that's not working on improving, I'm not sure what is. :roll: :D

[Sven Johannsen]

t-mobile doesn't seem to interested in improving their US infrastructure for the future of wireless. :roll:
Regarding T-Mobile's US infrastructure:

29,401 = towers on-air at the end of 2004
26,898 = towers on-air at the end of 2003
--------
2,503 = new towers in 2004

That's almost 10 new towers brought on-air every weekday last year. If that's not working on improving, I'm not sure what is. :roll: :D

Or you can look at that as 10% increase in coverage. Maybe that's good, maybe not. From my point of view it depends on if you benefited from that 10% :wink: