Forum Discussion
does domestic roaming show partner carrier
I have T-Mobile prepaid. I am in Big Sur, CA where TMobile shows its area with a partner coverage. However I have not really noticed any behavior from native. The indicator indicates I am on "T-Mobile LTE" as if I were in native coverage area. The phone I used was Pixel 6a and even had 5G in parts of Big Sur.
Therefore am I roaming or does TMobile have now native coverage there and has not updated its coverage map yet?
I typically don't get any notifications. I typically have cellmapper or Signal Check Pro running, and it will show the carrier at the top. This was similar passing through Gaviota State beach on US-101, and get 2G GPRS.. oddly enough,it also ends up on Verizon SoS often near there.
Coverage maps aren't always the most accurate things. Especially with the integration of the Sprint Network into the T-Mobile Network. When I roam on to US Cellular in a couple of areas in southern West Virginia. It says US Cellular when I am connected to them under domestic roaming. I am using an S23 Ultra but the same also happened when I was using a OnePlus 8T and OnePlus 7 Pro.
Unless something has recently changed, you should be roaming on AT&T in Big Sur.
The roaming map shows ‘Partner 3G/2G’, but I’m suspect on that, as 2G was decommed a long time back for AT&T, and 3g was last year.
Just as a side note… this past June, I did roam on AT&T (Emergency SoS) on 3G where T-Mobile has no service. I also have a work device that used 3G AT&T in the area.
I did go through that area +1 year ago, and roamed, but it was ~2G performance, and tethering to my work AT&T iPhone gave better performance.
formercanuck wrote:
Unless something has recently changed, you should be roaming on AT&T in Big Sur.
[…]
I did go through that area +1 year ago, and roamed, but it was ~2G performance, and tethering to my work AT&T iPhone gave better performance.
Interesting. Do you remember what network it said it was on? Did you get alert about domestic roaming like a text message?
I did not try to stream video but music streaming and page load on LTE over there was OK. Definietly big improvement over last time I was there on Xfinity Mobile, Google Fi or AT&T. In Nepenthe not long time ago you wouldn't get reception and now you can! ;)
I typically don't get any notifications. I typically have cellmapper or Signal Check Pro running, and it will show the carrier at the top. This was similar passing through Gaviota State beach on US-101, and get 2G GPRS.. oddly enough,it also ends up on Verizon SoS often near there.
wilczek22 wrote:
formercanuck wrote:
Unless something has recently changed, you should be roaming on AT&T in Big Sur.
[…]
I did go through that area +1 year ago, and roamed, but it was ~2G performance, and tethering to my work AT&T iPhone gave better performance.
Interesting. Do you remember what network it said it was on? Did you get alert about domestic roaming like a text message?
I did not try to stream video but music streaming and page load on LTE over there was OK. Definietly big improvement over last time I was there on Xfinity Mobile, Google Fi or AT&T. In Nepenthe not long time ago you wouldn't get reception and now you can! ;)
Nenpenthe is basically getting service from the one tower in Big Sur … at Post House, for both AT&T and Verizon. AT&T also has a site at Point Sur, and a 3G only site at Ragged Point.
