T-Mobile Rolls Out 4x4 MIMO for Faster LTE Speeds

Tuesday September 6, 2016 8:55 AM PDT by Joe Rossignol
T-Mobile announced today it has recently implemented 4x4 MIMO in 319 cities across the United States, effectively doubling the number of data paths between the network's cell towers and compatible smartphones.

4x4-MIMO
The carrier has also launched 256 QAM for downloads and 64 QAM for uploads across half of its network, with a nationwide rollout to be completed by the end of October. These new quadrature amplitude modulation technologies increase the number of bits delivered per transmission for even faster LTE speeds. Combined with 4x4 MIMO, 256 QAM delivers theoretical download speeds up to 400 Mbps.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile said it now covers nearly 312 million customers in the United States, bringing it to within 99.7% of Verizon's coverage.

Qualcomm's X12 modem, an appropriate candidate for iPhone 7, supports 4x4 MIMO, so it is possible that some models could benefit from the technology. However, Apple is expected to use Intel's XMM 7360 LTE modem for a portion of iPhone 7 models, including AT&T models, and 4x4 MIMO is not an advertised feature of that chipset. iPhone 6s and older models do not support 4x4 MIMO.

T-Mobile customers with Samsung's Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge will be covered by 4x4 MIMO following a software update later this month.

Tags: T-Mobile, LTE
63 comments

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oneMadRssn
42 months ago
400 Mbps seems like overkill for streaming 480p video...
Rating: 8 Votes
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MrXiro
42 months ago

Switched to T-Mobile 3 months ago. Am back on Verizon. While in town in the metro area, the coverage was good (though it often dropped to 3G inside buildings, but whatever I could deal with that). When I got out of town and into the suburbs and, God forbid, the rural areas, the coverage failed horrifically.

All this said, I hope they can get it together. They seem to be trying to do the right things. I just wish they could get their coverage area increased. And yeah their customer service was abysmal. I was told by the in-store reps that if I called with a "no-coverage report" that I'd get some kind of concern or something. Instead I got, "Oh that zip code shows as covered. You should be good." Wrong answer. At least with Verizon I can get on the network when I go visit my parents.


Or you can just stop visiting your parents like I have. :D
Rating: 7 Votes
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SuperCachetes
42 months ago

T-Mobile is covering 312million customers in the US but there are 324million people in the US??? Can someone explain this to me? How much are the other carriers covering then?


"Covered" means able to access T-Mobile's signal, not subscribing to their service.
Rating: 6 Votes
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infiniteentropy
42 months ago
Switched to T-Mobile 3 months ago. Am back on Verizon. While in town in the metro area, the coverage was good (though it often dropped to 3G inside buildings, but whatever I could deal with that). When I got out of town and into the suburbs and, God forbid, the rural areas, the coverage failed horrifically.

All this said, I hope they can get it together. They seem to be trying to do the right things. I just wish they could get their coverage area increased. And yeah their customer service was abysmal. I was told by the in-store reps that if I called with a "no-coverage report" that I'd get some kind of concern or something. Instead I got, "Oh that zip code shows as covered. You should be good." Wrong answer. At least with Verizon I can get on the network when I go visit my parents.
Rating: 4 Votes
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britboyj
42 months ago
I have T-Mobile in Dallas, and switched after Verizon said "No, we won't let you buy an iPhone 6 because you're one week shy of some ********." I even did the T-Mobile test drive and periodically did tests with my Verizon iPhone 5S and the T-Mobile 5S.

Without exception, T-Mobile had a faster SpeedTest score and general "real life" perception of speed, EVEN IF it had less bars. Hell, T-Mobile's 4G was faster than Verizon's LTE a number of times I tested it. Their customer service has been exceptional, but I will caveat and say that their reception inside large buildings is... Less good. Good thing I rarely make any actual phone calls.

Not to mention T-Mobile let me use data while on a call... (Not sure if Verizon has joined the 21st Century yet)
Rating: 4 Votes
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Terrinb
42 months ago

This.

Sprint, T-Mobile, and all the other non-Verizon / ATT carriers in the US keep making these outrageous "within 1%" claims, but they do not let you know that the coverage is 1 bar of minimal cell service with no data in places where verizon will get you decent data speeds and perfect reception. T-Mobile is not an option for a much larger portion of people than they will have you believe.



Maybe you are right, but I've had T-Mobile for over ten years and travel a lot. In the few instances T-Mobile didn't have coverage (far into the country), I just rode on another network. No roaming cost, what's the big deal?

To each their own, but in Michigan where I live T-Mobile works great.
Rating: 4 Votes
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lampwins
42 months ago
I hope T-Mobile isn't running their network on Ubiquity technology...
Rating: 3 Votes
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RadioGaGa1984
42 months ago
If you don't like T-Mobile don't use them. I moved from ATT 3 years ago after being with them through all the changes from about 1997. Couldn't be happier. Faster and better coverage for me at half the cost. And today lunch is on T-Mobile. Couldn't be happier.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Return Zero
42 months ago
I had T-mobile service on my iPad for a while. I experienced great speed, bad coverage, and worse customer service. I hear their customer service has gotten better, but I can't consider switching back until they get better coverage, specifically in rural areas. I travel the hills a lot for work and it's either Verizon or AT&T most of the time out there.
Rating: 2 Votes
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barkomatic
42 months ago
I think T-Mobile is being liberal with the word "covered". There is full coverage indicated in the area where my mother lives, yet you can only get a very weak signal to make calls and send texts if you are outside. Data coverage is almost nonexistent.
Rating: 2 Votes
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