Why is there mysteriously no longer signal in my house after T-Moblile/Sprint Merger?

I was told by customer service that they're "upgrading the towers to 5G." I had 5G with Sprint, what are they upgrading?? On and off with tech support for the last week and a half. Talked to them two days ago and they assured me the "work" would be completed in about 24 hours. 36 hours later and no improvement. I'm calling one last time and then switching to Verizon.

I read somewhere that T-Mobile decommissioned a lot of the Sprint towers, presumably in areas where they thought they had double coverage.  But turning off a tower is always going to cause issues for some.

I consider myself lucky,.I switched to T-Mobile+Sprint because Verizon is total poop in this area and for whatever reason T-Mobile kept the sprint towers -and- the new T-Mobile towers running.

MarioandTiff wrote:

My husband and I have been Sprint customers for years.  We had fairly decent cellular service in our home, maybe losing service twice in 4 years due to major storms messing with the towers.  However, for some unknown reason that makes no sense to me (I'd assume service would improve), we now often entirely lose cell service completely at our home and within a 1 mile radius ever since we were instructed to change our SIM cards upon the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.  Not only is this frustrating, but my business and sanity are suffering.  I did not choose to work with T-Mobile.  We had a contract with Sprint.  Sometimes service is fine, but then for sometimes several weeks at a time, service is completely gone.  We have tried recalibrating our phones, etc.  My husband uses a Samsung Note and I have an iPhone 12 as well as a business cell that is also iPhone.  All 3 phones stop working for calls and texts for weeks at a time.  It is so unreliable and I am ready to find another option at this point unless this can be fixed.  We have tried working with technical support who work with us a bit but then try to tell us service is just sort of weak where we live - which may be true, but why did it work consistently for several years when we had Sprint?  Why all of a sudden do I rarely have signal in my home?  Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?  

I am experiencing the same exact issue. My wife and I have been with Sprint for years and now with Tmobile in charge service is worse. I used to  get service up at the local ski resort when I was with Sprint. Now…… "SOS only". Even at my house I only have 1 bar when I used to have 3-4. They said reception would improve because of combined towers. Yeah not the case.

Davb001 wrote:

MarioandTiff wrote:

My husband and I have been Sprint customers for years.  We had fairly decent cellular service in our home, maybe losing service twice in 4 years due to major storms messing with the towers.  However, for some unknown reason that makes no sense to me (I'd assume service would improve), we now often entirely lose cell service completely at our home and within a 1 mile radius ever since we were instructed to change our SIM cards upon the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.  Not only is this frustrating, but my business and sanity are suffering.  I did not choose to work with T-Mobile.  We had a contract with Sprint.  Sometimes service is fine, but then for sometimes several weeks at a time, service is completely gone.  We have tried recalibrating our phones, etc.  My husband uses a Samsung Note and I have an iPhone 12 as well as a business cell that is also iPhone.  All 3 phones stop working for calls and texts for weeks at a time.  It is so unreliable and I am ready to find another option at this point unless this can be fixed.  We have tried working with technical support who work with us a bit but then try to tell us service is just sort of weak where we live - which may be true, but why did it work consistently for several years when we had Sprint?  Why all of a sudden do I rarely have signal in my home?  Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?  

I am experiencing the same exact issue. My wife and I have been with Sprint for years and now with Tmobile in charge service is worse. I used to  get service up at the local ski resort when I was with Sprint. Now…… "SOS only". Even at my house I only have 1 bar when I used to have 3-4. They said reception would improve because of combined towers. Yeah not the case.

What they're telling you is a generic response.   "Reception would improve because of combined towers" may help in _some_ locations where T-Mobile/Sprint overlapped.  Service doesn't improve where T-Mobile decommissioned Sprint towers, and left users to use T-Mobile towers further away.  Fortunately in my area … it appears that most, if not all were 'added'.  During the tower rebuild (esp a Sprint rebuild), you may be without service for ~1 month while the site is gutted and rebuilt (from my local experience). 

Same here… Service has been bad since I switched from Sprint to T-Mobile. I have a cell spot in my home which doesn't help much. I've tried every troubleshooting step and nothing works. 

So, it looks like we are having the same issues as everyone else. T-Mobile bought Sprint and now we have 0, 1, or 2 bars in our own homes where we previously had 4 bars so service is slow and crappy. Very disappointing. Had Sprint for years and don't really want to switch but since these comments started over a year ago without being resolved it doesn't appear anyone cares? Shouldn't they have looked to see if the towers from Sprint were being used before shutting them down. Seems sad that employees are even recommending switching to Verizon. Is there an end in sight? An actual date? Please respond! 

MarioandTiff wrote:

My husband and I have been Sprint customers for years.  We had fairly decent cellular service in our home, maybe losing service twice in 4 years due to major storms messing with the towers.  However, for some unknown reason that makes no sense to me (I'd assume service would improve), we now often entirely lose cell service completely at our home and within a 1 mile radius ever since we were instructed to change our SIM cards upon the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.  Not only is this frustrating, but my business and sanity are suffering.  I did not choose to work with T-Mobile.  We had a contract with Sprint.  Sometimes service is fine, but then for sometimes several weeks at a time, service is completely gone.  We have tried recalibrating our phones, etc.  My husband uses a Samsung Note and I have an iPhone 12 as well as a business cell that is also iPhone.  All 3 phones stop working for calls and texts for weeks at a time.  It is so unreliable and I am ready to find another option at this point unless this can be fixed.  We have tried working with technical support who work with us a bit but then try to tell us service is just sort of weak where we live - which may be true, but why did it work consistently for several years when we had Sprint?  Why all of a sudden do I rarely have signal in my home?  Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?  

I have been with T-Mobile for years and they have worked very well for me! I never had a problem with them, especially when I have gone to Europe. I did not need to get an International SIM card. But since towards the beginning of 2022, I have now had connections issues, mostly internet. I can't connect to FB, FB Messenger, Email, and my browsers as well as Telegram, WhatsApp and others. I also can't use the internet while on WiFi either. When I turn off my phone and then switch it on hours later, I can not connect to the internet at all either. Sprint and T-Mobile should not have merged. And from 2020-2021 things were still okay internet-wise for me weirdly enough, it just wasn't until the beginning of 2022 when I have begun to have those problems. 

So glad I found this- at least I know I'm not alone! I had had Sprint for years with perfect service at my house and now- almost nothing. It's extremely frustrating as I work from home and dropped my house phone a decade ago. Seriously considering switching service providers because it doesn't seem like something that is going to get fixed any time soon. 

have you switched to the TMO sim card yet or are you still using the one that was in your phone already while with Sprint?

I would like to chime in on this with something I have recently discovered.  Like many or all of you, I too was a loyal Sprint customer since the early/mid 90s.  I think my first cell phone was bought and turned on in 1995 or 1996 via Sprint.  I was with Sprint to the very end and still have the same phone number.  That being said, for all of you who were previously with Sprint and are now disappointed with T-Mobile (like I am), please do the following: 
1.  Click this link to the T-Mobile Coverage Network:  https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/network 
2.  Click “Check your 5G coverage”
3.  Input your mailing address on file for T-Mobile; *not where you may be out an about.
4.  Check the map color codes.
5.  Is there a different colored “Square” around your home address as compared to the majority of your town/city?

I noticed in my area, there is 5G Ultimate Coverage (UC) in just about 95-97% of the city.  Yet, my address shows only 5G "Extended Range" available and drops into the 4G LTE Range almost all day, every day.  I have never seen 5G UC on my phone at my residence.  Step outside, walk one or two houses away, and it's a miracle, 5G UC!!  I cannot prove anything yet, but a simple check with local residents who seem to be isolated by this map may be an all-telling tale if we, old Sprint customers, are being throttled or getting different (lower coverage) service.  I cannot believe that their 5G UC is "blacked out" at single residences as a technical error but more a deliberate action.  Again, I cannot prove anything, yet.  But this does look highly suspicious.  Each residence is clearly identified by a symmetrical square.  And this looks deliberate.