Just something I have to live with? Am I missing something with T-Mobile coverage?

[Darrell KSR]

First, I have great coverage from every part of Birmingham, south to the beach, southwest to New Orleans, north to Lexington, east to Atlanta, and east to the Louisiana/Texas state line. That's 99% of my travel, so I'm not too torn up about this.

But spent the weekend in Union City, TN, and was flabbergasted that T-Mobile's coverage there is non-existent. Not spotty. Just...gone. I mean, in the middle of town, not out on rural roads somewhere in the middle of nowhere (actually got a little coverage by Reelfoot Lake, surprisingly).

As you can see from this map, there's a lot of poor coverage for T-Mobile in some areas of the country, but not really here. Love the 4G/LTE speed surfing, too.



But if you blow this up, and look at Union City (or Jackson), this is what you see:

Coverage map Union City TN.jpg

The white area is sans coverage.

Is there any way I could latch onto another carrier's service, for a fee, or whatever, during those times? My Dad is moving into that area, and if I go visit, I'd kinda like to have cell phone coverage. May have to buy a prepaid phone just for those occasions, I guess, if I don't want to switch carriers.

[Darrell KSR]

See, if you blow up that map, you'll see that the roads traveling across Union City, Jackson are totally without coverage.

There is a lot of "white" area (non-coverage) in other areas, but the roads are in green, where you ave good coverage elsewhere. But not in that area.

[BigBlueBrock]

Only possible way I can think of would be to unlock your phone and slap an AT&T prepaid SIM in the back. That will get you voice and text, but only 3G data (if you've paid for that with a prepaid card).

[Darrell KSR]

Only possible way I can think of would be to unlock your phone and slap an AT&T prepaid SIM in the back. That will get you voice and text, but only 3G data (if you've paid for that with a prepaid card).

Would that be with my same number, or a different number? I'm fine with 3G if phone and text work

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[BigBlueBrock]

different number, it would be whatever number AT&T assigns to the SIM. you could always forward your T-Mobile number to it, however, when you know you're going to be using it.

as far as unlocking goes, the easiest way is to call T-Mobile and explain the situation and they'll send you an unlock code and give you instructions on the process. they may give you some hassle if your device isn't paid for in full, but they should unlock it if you tell them why you need it.

[Darrell KSR]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have to do something if I go back. Crazy how dependent we are on these silly things.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 4

[BigBlueBrock]

yep. i'm old enough to remember life without it, but i somehow couldn't live without one now.

[PedroDaGr8]

Yeah this is the ONE drawback to T-Mobile. Their coverage area is limited. That being said if you live in their coverage area then they have some great plans with great speeds.

[Catonahottinroof]

AT&T is worthless in Union City too.

[Darrell KSR]

Yeah this is the ONE drawback to T-Mobile. Their coverage area is limited. That being said if you live in their coverage area then they have some great plans with great speeds.

I've been with T-Mobile, or their predecessor in my area, PowerTel, then VoiceStream, since 1996. I was one of their first customers in the Birmingham area, and literally chose my telephone numbers to match my office number, etc. Their customer service has been fantastic. I have quibbled over their coverage from time to time, but 99% of the time, it is great and fast.

On the other hand, if I am going to be going to the Union City area, T-Mobile is useless there.

[Darrell KSR]

AT&T is worthless in Union City too.

My brother has a business phone and a personal phone. His personal phone, he was telling me, is a Walmart "Straight Talk" phone that he has automatically debited out of his account each month. His coverage was excellent in Union City. The price was also great--he told me it runs just over $50 a month, including taxes, for unlimited everything.

I thought he told me that was the AT&T network, but that might have been my nephew's phone. They both had decent to excellent coverage where we were, though. Especially compared to mine.

Sigh .

[Catonahottinroof]

I work there occasionally. I have 2 phones, one personal and one for business. Verizon has 4G there with solid signal. My AT&T phone flips between 4G and Edge between Union City and Mayfield KY. The signal is a more solid 4G as you go toward Memhis.