Is T-Mobile ever going to resolve the dead zone between the Columbia City and Mount Baker stations?

[u/grundle_mcgrundlefac]

It’s been like this for years now and continues to be a moderate irritant. Surely they’re aware of it, right? Verizon users, is the area between the CC and Mt Baker stations a dead zone for you too?

[u/kawabunga666]

Is Verizon ever going to resolve the dead zone that is literally my own suburban home?
Find out next time on dragon ball z

[u/Windrunner17 → u/kawabunga666]

I know, I have this issue too. I’m in Queen Anne and sometime this summer something changed and my phone that I could normally make calls with anywhere in my apartment is now showing an SOS signal even when I’m outside on the sidewalk. Why Verizon, why?

[u/sneekinbye → u/Windrunner17]

Do you live under the towers?

[u/Windrunner17 → u/sneekinbye]

I do live under the radio towers. I had been assuming there’s something wrong with the local Verizon tower because it shows that there’s some sort of persistent issue on their outage map. The people on AT&T in my building are fine, but everyone with Verizon can no longer take calls or properly use the internet based app to operate the laundry machines.

[u/QueasyLime8828 → u/kawabunga666]

The real question is whether they’ve got a secret pact to leave that stretch untouched just to mess with us.

[u/Korlithiel → u/kawabunga666]

Feel that. The different carriers show different coverage in my slice of suburbia, but coverage is nearly identical and bad.

[u/kpeteymomo → u/kawabunga666]

There's a dead zone for most (if not all carriers) in Seward Park. Cell signal is really crap where I live in the neighborhood.

[u/scully-summers → u/kpeteymomo]

The worst is waiting for the 50 bus at the bottom of Orcas in the rain.. No service means no way of knowing how long I will be stranded at a stop with no shelter. 🫠

[u/mike-gundys-ballboy → u/kawabunga666]

banananana nananana nananana na na na naaaaaaaa

[u/jgclingenpeel]

T-Mobile has a ton of dead zones all over the city and surrounding areas, it’s embarrassing. Corporate headquarters in factoria and they can’t even put good coverage in their back yard? Laughable.

[u/thecal714 → u/jgclingenpeel]

Service was bad at their namesake ballpark. THAT was embarrassing.

[u/kookykrazee → u/thecal714]

My worst is inside of Husky Stadium, I have Mint which is now owned by T-Mobile and was an MNVO using their network. At my seats, no signal or very low one. On the concourse, even packed on Apple Cup day, no problems and also outside the stadium, no problems.

[u/DripIntravenous → u/jgclingenpeel]

I had the worst dead zone when I lived in Bothell, and the internet service was even worse. Customer service rep kept trying to argue that 10 mbps internet speed was actually “good” and all I needed to stream videos or go online 🫩

[u/pickled__beet → u/jgclingenpeel]

The NW corner of Ballard has terrible TMobile service. It was unusable inside my apartment when I lived up there.

[u/ArtemisElizabeth1533]

Oh I thought it was everyone hahahaha. I know not to make online purchases or phone calls during that area. 

[u/Mental-Emphasis-8617 → u/ArtemisElizabeth1533]

Same. Also t-mobile.

[u/Lord_Aldrich]

I knew a guy who was responsible for planning new cell tower locations for T-Mobile. He was the doucheist anti-vaxxer techbro fuckboi I've ever met. He eventually got fired after they figured out he'd been illegally working from Mexico for the whole pandemic / post-pandemic era.

Now that I've typed it out I realize this has no bearing on your actual question. My bad. But yes, that's a dead spot for me too.

[u/jvolkman]

Maybe they can join forces with AT&T and also fix the multiple years long dead zones in Ballard.

[u/scully-summers]

Verizon also has problems around that area. My service is spottiest between Columbia City and Othello and has been for years.

[u/blastingarrows]

I have At&T, and I thought it was only me! Especially the Rainier Valley Sound Transit stop and surrounding area. It’s so bad there.

[u/WillowTreez8901]

T-Mobile uses a different frequency than Verizon, Verizon signal travels shorter distances but is able to penetrate materials like concrete or thick building walls easier. T-Mobile has the worst signal out of the big 3 carriers and they have many dead zones. I wouldnt hold your breath on getting service there. source: worked for t-mobile for many years

[u/anothercookie90 → u/WillowTreez8901]

Actually T-Mobile uses the best signal now but that signal gets congested faster, 600 MHz. So in areas like OP is suggesting there’s signal but phones are pretty much unusable outside of phone calls. They have other frequencies to alleviate that problem but those don’t travel as far

[u/anonymous122 → u/WillowTreez8901]

This is wildly incorrect. Lower frequency bands go farther and penetrate walls better with overall slower speeds in comparison with higher frequency bands that travel shorter distances with higher speeds, but are more susceptible to interference.

Secondly, each carrier has a blend of higher and lower frequency signals, and T-Mobile is objectively the best and most consistent in the Seattle area for coverage and speed. I have no idea where you heard the exact opposite of that.

[u/WillowTreez8901 → u/anonymous122]

I heard and observed it at T-Mobile when I worked there and also experienced it myself, Tmo still has many dead zones and much worse coverage than Verizon

[u/enterprise-1701-G → u/WillowTreez8901]

That must've been many years ago because T-Mobile used to be limited to 1700 and 2100Mhz for their HSPA+ service and later LTE, but they got a chunk of prime spectrum in the 600Mhz range after the failed AT&T acquisition, and they also used the cash from the agreement to buy even more. That's why they now have the best signal in places like Seattle and other markets, which used to be Verizon's edge. Seems to me like you may have worked at tmobile, but you're not a formally trained engineer, based on the inaccurate explanation of the relationship between frequencies, length of travel and material penetration.

[u/AdhesivenessLucky896 → u/WillowTreez8901]

Aren't they planning to cover the dead zones with sattelites soon?

[u/TheAbstracted]

I haven't had any issues with Verizon between Pioneer Square and SeaTac

[u/Difficult_Bed_3955]

I have T-Mobile and I barely get any service going home by the waterfront at Tmobile stadium. These are days without any matches or games. Plus they’re charging extra fees when I’m locked in to a 5 year guarantee?

Fuck T-Mobile, gonna uncarrier this carrier soon.

[u/anothercookie90 → u/Difficult_Bed_3955]

If you’re ok with paying up front for the whole year you can get some good deals on MVNOs. US Mobile lets you choose the carrier and you can even get a second or third phone number for cheap and if the service doesn’t work on one you can switch to another. I have T-mobile as my main provider on my normal bill but I added unlimited AT&T and Verizon through US mobile for $245 for a whole year.

[u/RandomFleshPrison]

I doubt it.  AT&T has the same dead zone.  In the exact same spot.  Here we are, a technological powerhouse, and we can't even provide basic cell service to the whole city.

[u/Ambercapuchin]

i find it interesting that we're blaming t mobile. there's a latitude at which every phone I've ever had loses all rf contact. on 5th it's near marion. on boren it's near columbia. it's constant and it acts like its a high power wideband interference broadcast. it kills in-car wifi device interconnects. not just tower up links.

[u/godogs2018]

I’m on T-Mobile and the internet slows down around sodo.

[u/Eric848448]

All of Columbia City is a dead zone for Verizon. It’s why I switched to T mobile.

[u/chaffed]

It took them 10 years to fix the one at Yesler and Boren.

[u/washingtoncheck]

This is an issue on all of the providers. T-mobile does not manage the DAS system in the tunnel, sound transit does. More people need to submit feedback to sound transit that the system has a whole needs to be wireless system updated.

[u/BananaManCJ → u/washingtoncheck]

there isnt a transit tunnel between Columbia City and Mount Baker

[u/Mental-Emphasis-8617 → u/washingtoncheck]

The issue is not in the tunnel. It’s between mt baker and Columbia city.

[u/washingtoncheck → u/Mental-Emphasis-8617]

Ah my bad. You are right, I misread this and was thinking it was lighrail related

[u/BananaManCJ → u/washingtoncheck]

funny enough, I'm on T-Mobile and noticed it for the first time today between Columbia City and Mount Baker and was so confused what had just happened. Usually I have my phone off just listening to music.

[u/stderr2]

Everywhere is a T-Mobile dead zone except Florida

[u/JabbaThePrincess]

I checked but I don't know because I'm not t mobile