I have T-Mobile prepaid. I am in Big Sur, CA where TMobile shows its area with a partner coverage. However I have not really noticed any behavior from native. The indicator indicates I am on "T-Mobile LTE" as if I were in native coverage area. The phone I used was Pixel 6a and even had 5G in parts of Big Sur.
Therefore am I roaming or does TMobile have now native coverage there and has not updated its coverage map yet?
Best answer by formercanuck
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+15
Coverage maps aren't always the most accurate things. Especially with the integration of the Sprint Network into the T-Mobile Network. When I roam on to US Cellular in a couple of areas in southern West Virginia. It says US Cellular when I am connected to them under domestic roaming. I am using an S23 Ultra but the same also happened when I was using a OnePlus 8T and OnePlus 7 Pro.
Unless something has recently changed, you should be roaming on AT&T in Big Sur.
The roaming map shows ‘Partner 3G/2G’, but I’m suspect on that, as 2G was decommed a long time back for AT&T, and 3g was last year.
Just as a side note… this past June, I did roam on AT&T (Emergency SoS) on 3G where T-Mobile has no service. I also have a work device that used 3G AT&T in the area.
I did go through that area +1 year ago, and roamed, but it was ~2G performance, and tethering to my work AT&T iPhone gave better performance.
Unless something has recently changed, you should be roaming on AT&T in Big Sur.
[…]
I did go through that area +1 year ago, and roamed, but it was ~2G performance, and tethering to my work AT&T iPhone gave better performance.
Interesting. Do you remember what network it said it was on? Did you get alert about domestic roaming like a text message?
I did not try to stream video but music streaming and page load on LTE over there was OK. Definietly big improvement over last time I was there on Xfinity Mobile, Google Fi or AT&T. In Nepenthe not long time ago you wouldn’t get reception and now you can! ;)
I typically don’t get any notifications. I typically have cellmapper or Signal Check Pro running, and it will show the carrier at the top. This was similar passing through Gaviota State beach on US-101, and get 2G GPRS.. oddly enough,it also ends up on Verizon SoS often near there.
Unless something has recently changed, you should be roaming on AT&T in Big Sur.
[…]
I did go through that area +1 year ago, and roamed, but it was ~2G performance, and tethering to my work AT&T iPhone gave better performance.
Interesting. Do you remember what network it said it was on? Did you get alert about domestic roaming like a text message?
I did not try to stream video but music streaming and page load on LTE over there was OK. Definietly big improvement over last time I was there on Xfinity Mobile, Google Fi or AT&T. In Nepenthe not long time ago you wouldn’t get reception and now you can! ;)
Nenpenthe is basically getting service from the one tower in Big Sur … at Post House, for both AT&T and Verizon. AT&T also has a site at Point Sur, and a 3G only site at Ragged Point.
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