[mryan55]

I'm actually an AT&T customer, but T-Mobile coverage has improved in a lot of the rural Midwest (at least it appears on the coverage map) but from what I can tell most of the improvements have been on Band 12. It seems like some phones aren't green-lighted for Band 12 service, so I'm just curious: if you had T-Mobile and pop your SIM in, does the DTEK60 appear to have T-Mobile US Band 12 support out of the box? If so, I may switch over once my new phone arrives and I get it all set up.

The area immediately around my home still doesn't have great T-Mobile coverage, but it seems like a lot of rural areas have been filled in.

[RickTrout]

I am ready to buy the DTEK 60 and would have ordered it yesterday but....... I am on T-Mobile USA and want a definitive band 12 answer before I buy any new phone. As you correctly stated OP, the overwhelming majority of the T-Mobile network expansion was via band 12.

It is stated on Shop BlackBerry that the DTEK 60 is compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile. Will it work on the T-Mobile network? Of course it will, but no better than my Z30 and certainly not as good as it would with band 12 active.

IMHO buying a new phone for use on T-MO without band 12 would be crazy. If the un-carrier wants to be BYOD friendly as they claim, they should white list both BlackBerry DTEK models for band 12.

I am ready to accept reality and give up my Z30 and BB10 but I still want to stay with BlackBerry. And no, I don't want a Priv.

Can someone who has the right contacts at BlackBerry and T-Mobile please address this issue so I can buy a new BlackBerry?

Posted with my Z30 on CrackBerry 10

[tickerguy]

TMobile has been turning OFF a lot of their old GSM towers. If you don't have Band 12 and are on T-Mobile you're going to be basically screwed and tattoed outside of major metro areas -- you'll have NOTHING instead of the formerly slow (but working) service.

[mryan55]

TMobile has been turning OFF a lot of their old GSM towers. If you don't have Band 12 and are on T-Mobile you're going to be basically screwed and tattoed outside of major metro areas -- you'll have NOTHING instead of the formerly slow (but working) service.

I noticed this when poking around on their coverage maps. Assuming that the DTEK60 does not have access to the Band 12 LTE/VoLTE It means that it's a tough call whether or not T-Mobile is the right carrier for someone who spends a lot of time in rural Indiana and Michigan.

Has anyone with T-Mobile gotten their hands on a DTK60 yet, FWIW?

[tickerguy]

I have a T-Mobile MVNO SIM that I leave active (it's cheap) for testing and backup purposes and will stick it in my DTEK60 over the next day or two and see what I can find out. I'm unsure what the current state of Band12 is in this area; it was blocked for a while due to TV station interference (there are places where T-Mobile cannot use Band12 for a period of time due to legacy TV channels) but it may have been cleared.

[RickTrout]

I have a T-Mobile MVNO SIM that I leave active (it's cheap) for testing and backup purposes and will stick it in my DTEK60 over the next day or two and see what I can find out. I'm unsure what the current state of Band12 is in this area; it was blocked for a while due to TV station interference (there are places where T-Mobile cannot use Band12 for a period of time due to legacy TV channels) but it may have been cleared.

Thanks. Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Posted with my Z30 on CrackBerry 10

[TommyBB]

Subscribed.

What about Wi-Fi calling? Am I asking for too much?

[tickerguy]

Just checked it here; I have Band 4 (not 12) at the house, and while it allows me to turn on IMS/VoLTE there's no support for it on Band 4 POPs around here (never has been; I cannot connect to it on my Priv either) so it doesn't connect.

I'll see if I can find Band 12 coverage later.

[mryan55]

Awesome, thanks for any input you can provide. I did speak with someone at TMUS earlier today and they made it sound as if Band 12 isn't happening for this device, but perhaps there's a chance it works, just without the VoLTE, HD calling, etc...

[TommyBB]

Just checked it here; I have Band 4 (not 12) at the house, and while it allows me to turn on IMS/VoLTE there's no support for it on Band 4 POPs around here so it doesn't connect.

I'll see if I can find Band 12 coverage later.

Awesome, thanks for any input you can provide. I did speak with someone at TMUS earlier today and they made it sound as if Band 12 isn't happening for this device, but perhaps there's a chance it works, just without the VoLTE, HD calling, etc...

You would have thought they would have learned from the DTEK50 launch failure that Band 12, WFC etc. should be mandatory coverage and working for the DTEK60...I am facing the harsh reality that my Priv is the last BlackBerry phone I will ever own. This is not right and someone should be held accountable. I blame TMO and BlackBerry for this, equally. They should have been on the same page for this.

[tickerguy]

Oh I suspect it works as the phone has Band 12 in it, but whether it will connect IMS is another question. The phone itself SAYS it has VoLTE capability and the toggle is present for it in the settings with a T-Mobile SIM in the device, but until I can find Band12 coverage I cannot verify if it will connect on IMS services or not.

Unfortunately looking at this site it appears there's no active Band12 service near me, and thus I may not be able to verify this for a month or so -- I do intend to be in an area with Band12 around that time, but that's a long time from now!

[Uzi]

Oh I suspect it works as the phone has Band 12 in it, but whether it will connect IMS is another question. The phone itself SAYS it has VoLTE capability and the toggle is present for it in the settings with a T-Mobile SIM in the device, but until I can find Band12 coverage I cannot verify if it will connect on IMS services or not.

Does wifi calling work with DTEK60?

[tickerguy]

I don't know -- my T-Mobile SIM is actually on an MVNO and WiFi calling has never come up on it, even on phones I *KNOW* work for it (e.g. my Z10), so I have no idea if WiFi will function.

[Uzi]

I don't know -- my T-Mobile SIM is actually on an MVNO and WiFi calling has never come up on it, even on phones I *KNOW* work for it (e.g. my Z10), so I have no idea if WiFi will function.

Thanks, a friend of mine want to buy DTEK60 but wifi calling is important for him

[mryan55]

Yeah, it's tough -- Band 12 doesn't appear to be deployed all the widely in parts of the country. Here in the Midwest it is pretty well everywhere, and in almost all of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula Band 12 is going to be the only coverage. It looks like the bigger Metro areas are fine with Band 2 and Band 4, so in a way the unlimited data, international roaming, and unlimited hotspot use would probably be bigger positives to switching versus not having Band 12, as long as the coverage maps are accurate.

Last time I had T-Mobile I lived in an EDGE only area (this was when the 9900 launched) but was lucky to pull anything better than plain-ol GSM. Not a big deal as WiFi calling worked fine on the 9900, but could prove a bigger issue with a non-WiFi calling, non-VoLTE device...

I do think that domestic roaming allowances have actually bumped up to 200MB, so that's better than it was before at least!

Crazy to think you can have unlimited LTE roaming in Canada and Mexico, but only 200MB to use domestically.

[tickerguy]

If you live in a Band12 area for T-Mobile you may find they've SHUT OFF their older EDGE/GSM service entirely. I found that in big parts of Michigan this summer, and it's spreading. Obviously if that's the case and you have no Band12 you have.... nothing at all.

Unfortunately while T-Mobile has Band 12 licenses in this area from what I can determine they have yet to turn it on.

[mryan55]

In the Detroit-Lansing-Grand Rapids corridor and south it looks like coverage is still strong on the older network. The majority of the state north of the bigger cities never had any coverage, so Band 12 is it... or AT&T roaming.

[tickerguy]

In the Detroit-Lansing-Grand Rapids corridor and south it looks like coverage is still strong on the older network. The majority of the state north of the bigger cities never had any coverage, so Band 12 is it... or AT&T roaming.

Disagree.

There were major swaths of the central part of the state that used to have GSM coverage but no longer do. I was there this summer and my kid, who has a Z30, used to have service there -- and had zippo. I tossed her SIM into my Priv and it came up on Band12, as expected, but of course the Z30 doesn't HAVE band 12!

The year prior, in the same place, on the same road, she had GPRS/GSM. There were a number of other places along the interstate on a N-S trip from Michigan to Florida where we saw the same thing.

Since she likes the Z30 she bailed on T-Mobile and went over to AT&T/StraightTalk. Problem solved.

(Incidentally a number of years ago AT&T bought out Centennial up there in the northern part of the LP and immediately horsewhacked the bandwidth going into their HSPA towers. So while you had "service" in name, if you actually wanted to do anything more than make a call or send a text, well..... when it was Centennial and you roamed there the service used to be pretty good. AT&T's LTE up there, where it works, isn't bad however.)

[lawguyman]

BlackBerry told me that DTEK60 does not support WiFi calling or band 12 on T-Mobile.

This is using the chat feature on Shop BlackBerry's website.

[mryan55]

My time in Michigan is spent mostly on the I-94 corridor between Detroit and Battle Creek, and points south. In the past (5 to 7 years ago) T-Mobile was OK in Battle Creek, spotty in

I spend most of my time in Indiana and am in an ex-Centennial market as well. Not super familiar since I haven't had T-Mobile in a while, but I think Band 12 is not as common (or even deployed) in some of the Indianapolis area.

I may take the plunge just to try it out at some point, but we'll see...

[tickerguy]

Well, when I get into a Band12 area I'll find out, because I have an active T-Mobile MVNO SIM and according to the phone it has the IMS and VoLTE services available.

[crackberry_geek]

BlackBerry told me that DTEK60 does not support WiFi calling or band 12 on T-Mobile.

This is using the chat feature on Shop BlackBerry's website.

If that is true then it confirms yet again... BlackBerry making the same mistakes over and over and over and over again.

Anti-carrier stup1d1ty!!

[mryan55]

I also chatted with ShopBB and they said the same thing.

Looking like I may just stick with AT&T for now, but maybe I'll give TMUS a try at some point. Or just do a prepaid SIM to give it a whirl. I imagine that coverage in the Detroit and Indianapolis areas would still be fine, but not so sure about the rural areas in between where I do log quite a few miles.

[tickerguy]

Indy has Band12 online, I believe....

[mryan55]

I haven't had T-Mobile at all since well before Band 12 starting coming online. In the northeast suburbs it seems like coverage is about a wash between their regular coverage map and the extended range map.