![[IMG]](https://forums-images.oneplus.net/data/webimg/2021/02-01/6017a15f1523a.png)
What's up y'all?! It's Randy one of the US Brand Ambassadors and today I want to talk about T-mobile's 5G roll out! The initial network officially went live this week. The OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren Edition launches today (Dec 6) at T-Mobile. It's one of the first 5G phones on the T-Mobile network! (awww yeah the 7T Pro 5G is coming to the USA!!! But I digress 🤣) For today, I want to focus on the T-Mobile 5G rollout, what it is, and what we can expect from it so let's go ahead and get started!
What is T-mobile 5g?
T-Mobile's 5G is the company's next-gen Network which is an upgrade to its existing 600 megahertz LTE band and will introduce mmWave (millimeter wave) technology to the mix. 600 mHz is a low frequency band formerly used by UHF channels among other things back in the day (thanks Weird AL). It's signal travels very far with less degradation to its signal than traditional cellular signals. mmWave is the technology that is most often associated with current 5G discussions. It's the high frequency band that can handle a LOT of data but can't go through buildings and most things solid. It needs direct line of sight to function optimally. T-Mobile plans on rolling out the 600 megahertz now and the mmWave frequency gradually over the next several years.
Can't we just get mmWave now?
Most people are anticipating the extreme speeds of mmWave but for now will be getting the slower but more ubiquitous 600 mHz. I'm sure some people are wondering why we can't just get mmWave right now. mmWave has already been rolled out in limited areas of some larger cities but because of the huge number of transponders that are required it will be several years before it is ubiquitous in most cities. Most likely we will never see it in rural areas except maybe along highways. This is why you don't really need to worry about getting a phone that supports mmWave right now.
What Are the Advantages of 600 mHz?
There are a ton of advantages to the 600mHz band. 600 megahertz is better for far-reaching coverage, rural areas, and getting coverage inside of buildings. Mmwave is a high frequency radio wave that doesn't travel far, doesn't go through buildings, and requires a transponder on just about every single block. If you lived in a city that had both technologies you would lose the mmWave when you walked into a building but you would have the 600 megahertz when inside.
I'm most excited about the coverage in rural areas. I live in Texas which is a huge state so I'm often traveling from city to city covering many rural miles. Here's an area (between San Saba and Llano, Texas) where I never got coverage before.
![[IMG]](https://forums-images.oneplus.net/data/webimg/2021/02-01/6017a15f3ba20.jpg)
You can see from the map that it's pretty remote. On this section of the trip I had 5G the whole way! It was really exciting!
![[IMG]](https://forums-images.oneplus.net/data/webimg/2021/02-01/6017a15f598a2.jpg)
Obviously the speeds were nothing to write home about but it was the coverage in such a remote area that was such a win. I've read about some users getting up to around 250mbps on the 600mhz 5G. My speeds have not yet been above 35mbps. T-Mobile has a planned upgrade for 2020 that will make these speeds even faster, but they will never get as fast as the typical mmWave.
So is it worth upgrading to a new 5G phone?
Currently if you wanted to take advantage of the 5G Network on T-Mobile you would need to get the new McLaren Edition 5G phone from OnePlus which will list for about $899. If you travel in rural areas frequently or if you have trouble getting a LTE signal inside your office building then you definitely should consider this phone. The McLaren edition phones are always super-fast and stylish and turn heads when people see them. You pay extra for that level of premium equipment but it's still less expensive than the competitors 5G phone ($1200). So if you are in rural areas often or have trouble getting service in your office you should definitely consider a McLaren edition 5G phone. Check with T-Mobile's coverage maps and check out a McLaren Edition phone at a T-Mobile store before making your final decision.
What are your thoughts about the 5G technology on the T-Mobile network? Post your answer in the thread! If you're on a 5G network already, post a screenshot in this thread! In honor of launch today, we'll be giving away a 5G swag set to 5 lucky respondents!
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