I know Las Vegas happens to be one of the first seven cities with the LTE roll-out, but the question at hand is: When will DC-HSDPA and LTE be more prevalent in our city?
I purchased a pre-paid nano-SIM from T-Mobile for use over the weekend to test T-Mobile's service on my unlocked iPhone 5. Before anyone asks, my iPhone 5 supports the AWS band (NE490LL/A). I had the RootMetrics application on the front page of my iPhone ready to be loaded at all times.
From what I noticed compared to AT&T:
- I had no LTE service anywhere on Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip). I tried service at Town Square, MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, and Fashion Show Mall. I had AT&T LTE coverage in all four of these locations despite it not being as fast as compared to the rest of the valley.
- In the case of the four locations above, with the exception of Fashion Show Mall, my "4G" coverage was spotty at best.
- I had no LTE service in some portions of Southwest Las Vegas (one particular area being anywhere on Warm Springs between Buffalo and Durango).
- In most residential neighborhoods, my service on LTE ranked as "Poor" (2 bars). This included portions of Southwest Las Vegas such as Hacienda & Torrey Pines alongside 215-S & Jones.
- Even when LTE service ranked as "Good" (3 bars) or "Better" (4 bars), it always lacked compared to AT&T's. For example, I had 8.6Mbps down/4.8Mbps up at Flamingo and Grand Canyon. AT&T provided me with 25.0Mbps down/6.4MBps up in the same area.
- I never had LTE service ranked as "Best" (5 bars).
On the flip side compared to AT&T:
- T-Mobile's "4G" was always significantly faster than AT&T's "4G" with the exceptions of what I mentioned above.
- T-Mobile's LTE service always provided a faster upload speed and better ping with the exception of when I was at Flamingo and Grand Canyon.
I know the service just launched barely a month ago, but I want to know when I can start flying on what could be America's fastest 4G & LTE networks? If I could get a confirmed date or time frame, I might make the jump sooner rather than later.