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Anyone able to get 5G connections in San Francisco?

  • 31 January 2021
  • 17 replies
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JNavas
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I'm not able to get 5G connections in (or around) San Francisco with my Pixel 4a (5G) despite the T-Mobile coverage map claiming 5G coverage.

My Team of Experts told me to get an R15 SIM, so I did, but it did not help.

My Team of Experts then told me the nearest 5G tower wasn't actually close, so I drove to the tower, but still no 5G.

Has anyone been able to get a 5G connection in San Francisco?

 

 

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Best answer by JNavas 3 February 2021, 21:54

@xiaoyuan

Alas, Band 2 is 4G LTE, not 5G
See https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/t-mobile-network

UPDATE:

T-Mobile called me in response my FCC Complaint, and promised to get back to me with accurate 5G information for San Francisco. :fingers_crossed:

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Hope that helps!

17 replies

F
Userlevel 4
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T-Mobile support typically does some ‘easy’ script reading, but rarely has the ability to tell you what you need/want to know.  I’d recommend visiting one of the T-Mobile stores in the area.  You’ll be able to get a better local response than someone from another state/country.

JNavas
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@formercanuck 

Thank you. I did go to a T-Mobile Store, and asked what I needed to do to get a 5G connection. The answer was to “drive to Santa Clara” (over 40 miles), because “there is no 5G service in San Francisco currently.” In other words, the 5G display on the coverage maps is false (both colors).

Hope that helps!
X
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My device is Mi 10, which supports 5G network in San Francisco, but it does not have 5G speed~~~

X
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@JNavas 

 

JNavas
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@xiaoyuan

Alas, Band 2 is 4G LTE, not 5G
See https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/t-mobile-network

UPDATE:

T-Mobile called me in response my FCC Complaint, and promised to get back to me with accurate 5G information for San Francisco. :fingers_crossed:

Hope that helps!
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@JNavas 

2-FDD is shared with 5G (NAS 5G), the theoretical peak can reach 50MB per second

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G_NR_frequency_bands

X
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5G (SA) may have to wait a long time in San Francisco. In China, only Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have 5G (SA), and the rest of the cities are 5G (NSA).

X
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https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/5G-Implementation-Guideline-v2.0-July-2019.pdf

F
Userlevel 4
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T-Mobile so far has deployed n71 (SA/NSA) and n41 (NSA) in many parts of America, with a few locations on mmWave 5G.

B2 LTE in many areas is capable of well +100Mbps.  Here in SoCal, B2 15x15 I’ve had +120Mbps on B2 LTE.  Similarly B4 LTE 20x20 is capable of +200Mbps.   If you can band select (eg. One Plus 8) B41, you should be able to pick up B41, with possible 2CA 20MHz as well (good for +200Mbps)  and maybe even 3xCA 20MHz (+300Mbps).

San Francisco is a densely populated area.  It’s been a couple years since I’ve been there, and LTE was decent in most places.  I can’t tell you the deployment schedule for n71/n41, in San Francisco, however, it appears to be one of the last cities (welcome to California/San Francisco regulations and politics).

D
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Thank you, formercanuck, for your constantly letting us know what you are experiencing. 

We could only hope California and t-mo could get their act together and be more transparent and more straightforward.

just my two cents, not woth much
F
Userlevel 4
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California in general is a mess.  San Francisco area was late to the 5g game, as the local stations were slow to relocate from 600MHz.  That's more of a federal issue, actually.  Deployment of anything in places like San Francisco are difficult with a lot of local regulations, which don't help.

D
Userlevel 1
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Thank you, I have read a little about that fact.  One of my kids is a reporter there and as some say, the ‘ left' coast seems a little polarized politically...lots of regs and lots of disagreements between various factions..it's a shame...I spent some happy days there a while ago.

Maybe some things will get ironed out over the next couple of years. From the little I know, it will take quite a while for 5G to really roll out. The urban areas will probably get served first, and my only hope is that t-mo will follow through on it's plan to serve a lot of the rural areas with it's low band 5G.
Thx for your response.

 

just my two cents, not woth much
D
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I have heard the 2nd quarter of 2021 will see continued upgrades and roll-outs of 5G.  It would seem that T-mo could steal a march on the other 2 if it is successful.  I really hope they do.

just my two cents, not woth much
E
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@JNavas

2-FDD is shared with 5G (NAS 5G), the theoretical peak can reach 50MB per second

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G_NR_frequency_bands

Csn you explain this more?   I think this explains what's going on with my pixel 5 I posted about in another thread. My phone says 5G and I have a R15 sim but when I use a connection checker app I'm on band 2. So I assume that even though my pixel 5 can do NR SA that my area isn't set up for it so it's doing NR NSA using LTE band 2?

JNavas
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T-Mobile has finally enabled 5G in San Francisco. I was on a phone call this morning when it happened, and my Pixel 4a (5G) phone dropped the call when it switched to 5G.

This far I've only done a limited amount of data speed testing, and not in a terribly good signal location. It's better than LTE, but only modestly; e.g., 6.48 Mbps down on 5G vs 4.35 Mbps down on LTE. That's probably because the current T-Mobile 5G deployment here is NSA/DSS (non-standalone, dynamic spectrum sharing with LTE). It should be a lot faster when T-Mobile enables SA (standalone) with the acquired Sprint spectrum.

 

Hope that helps!
JNavas
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Hope that helps!
F
Userlevel 4
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yeah in most areas they still have quite a bit to go upgrade wise..i have 5G in my area but regular 4G out performs it..i did however take a trip down to a larger city compared to mine and snapped out a decent 486 down and 47.7 up while on 5G..so the potential is there..they just have a ways to go still..

 

heck SF has always been a bit of a nightmare when it comes to signal for me while out there..especially down at the pier while getting my crab sandwich fix on lol.

I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own.

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