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Does San Francisco have 4G by Sprint?

T-mobile 4G signal booster - repeater - How well do they work in San Francisco?

  • I've got bad signal on T-Mobile in San Francisco, despite living in a neighborhood where according to T-Mobile's coverage map, I live in an area coded "dark green" which is supposed to be excellent signal.  Called Customer Support, they opened a trouble ticket, tech supposedly went to check if all towers in my area were properly functioning. Results were they show me "within 1 mile" of 3 different LTE 4G towers operated by T-Mobile. There is a 4th tower a bit closer, but they said it only broadcasts 2G and 3G. ... So they had me switch my Mobile Network options on my Galaxy S3 to select "WDCMA only" instead of "GSM + WDCMA", saying this would prevent my phone connecting to the slightly closer 2G-3G only tower. They told me LTE cell towers are supposed to deliver signal up to 7 miles.  Yet, even after selecting WDCMA only, I still get 1 bar, maybe 2 bars occasionally, and 0 bars frequently. Text messages take forever to send. So they say "the only thing you can do now is get a signal booster". They said they tend to work with Cel-fi brand signal boosters. They cost $500+ ... On Amazon I saw some alternates at under $200, but if I'm going to do this, I want to hear a success story from someone who's used one of these devices, and it for sure strengthened their 4G signal. Thank you.

  • Answer:

    I work for Cel-Fi - we can help you with your question - just contact us. I am also in San Francisco and am using a Cel-Fi for T-Mobile. Ah, one important note: Cel-Fi will boost 3G and 4G HSPA+ but not (yet) LTE.

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Well, selecting WDCMA only will still connect to WCDMA on 2G-3G. You would need to select LTE only to avoid that, and I don't know if you can. Is the signal OK outside / worse indoors? If it is bad outside the repeater will not help: they only boost what is their. But if it is good outside and poor indoors (your house is screening it) then booster might help. But be sure you get one that boosts TMO LTE band. A femtocell will work a bit better but: - I do not think TMO does them - They are not available for LTE in USA (they are in Japan)

Rupert Baines

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