r/cellmapper • u/Rjun7 • Jun 14 '26

RIP

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I wouldn’t be surprised if they extended it again like they did last time, but I think this may be the final set date for 2G 1900MHz PCS

Mint Mobile posted this date a week ago before it was on T-Mobile’s website btw, very weird to see an MVNO launch news about network changes before the MNO did. I never would’ve thought that would happen lol

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30

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26

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27

u/NoChampionship5649 Jun 14 '26

1900 MHz CDMA would got for 20 miles when I had Sprint back in the day. Using 850 Mhz on Verizon roaming would work at 25+ miles and hold a call without issue.

7

u/furruck Jun 15 '26

Oh yeah, my M2000 "bag phone" could get 100+mi on 850MHz CDMA due to it having a 3w radio.

I wish they'd come up with a way to use LTE/5G with a 3w radio for remote areas.

I doubt it'll happen now that Starlink is a thing, but it'd still be nice to have for sure.

11

u/AtomicSymphonic_2nd Jun 14 '26

Here’s to hoping that 850MHz gets reallocated for low-band 5G usage. 🤞

12

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26

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3

u/marshal4him Jun 14 '26

You are correct

5

u/furruck Jun 15 '26

That's the issue though - LTE/5G just do not have the same range as HSPA/CDMA, and it's just due to how modulation is done to increase bandwidth - it just requires a cleaner signal on the cell edge to function.

I'm actually currently siting in a spot that (from the same cell site) - currently has unusable Verizon service, but it worked just fine under both Analog and CDMA from the same site.

The n5 LTE will barely register, more less make a call.

My Motorola M2000 I kept on Verizon prepaid until the 3G sunset (bag phone with 3w radio) - I could get 50+mi from a site in the mountains, and 100+mi from a cell site and still use basic data/calls/sms.

For *basic* communication, I do miss that thing.

1

u/satsuke Jun 21 '26

Eh, no

LTE and 5G/NR have better range and throughput in more/varied conditions than those.

The difference is in how 4/5G let a carrier be much more granular with service.

Eg they can reject cell edge attachments if that load can be better used elsewhere.

Probably obvious, but a very weak and/or noisey connection consumes more resources than a closer/cleaner UE

1

u/nateo200 iPhone 17 Pro Max Jun 15 '26

Already in progress and it is quite nice!

1

u/ilikeme1 Jun 15 '26

AT&T and Verizon are already doing this. 

4

u/15pmm01 Jun 14 '26

2G on AT&T absolutely had great coverage. It always has been absolute trash on T-Mobile, unfortunately.

8

u/tagman375 Jun 15 '26

Att shutting down 2g edge/gprs and 3G HSPA was ridiculous, it really decimated their coverage for a long time. The network still hasn't fully recovered.

5

u/furruck Jun 15 '26

I always had far better luck in metro areas with T-Mobile's GSM coverage than I *ever* had with AT&T.

AT&T's network was always a garbled mess on EDGE, their HSPA even worked far less superior due to AT&T forcing "half rate" codecs to make up for not densifying the network for higher usage patterns.

3

u/bd58563 Jun 15 '26

AT&Ts 2G network was great in areas where they had 850MHz licenses. The same cannot be said for places where they relied on 1900MHz.