Why Can't I stream 1080p videos with T-Mobile 4G LTE ?

T-Mobile stands out among the best cell phone providers in America. Its network doesn't have the broadest coverage, nor is its phone selection as diverse as its competitors’. The magenta carrier backs up its claims of superiority with some of the fastest 4G LTE speeds, lowest prices in the nation and a truly unlimited data plan that never throttles your download speeds.

 

T-Mobile has taken the best elements of the cell phone plans at both big carriers and prepaid phone companies and combined them. If you're looking for a new cell phone provider, check whether T-Mobile offers 4G LTE in your area. Its balance of price and performance, as long as you're covered, is tough to beat.

 

T-Mobile subscribers can  stream video from 24 popular services without burning through their data caps. Subscribers can choose among popular streaming services including Netflix, HBO Now, HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Fox Sports and Hulu.

 

T-Mobile's weakest attribute is its network coverage. The company has put a lot of effort into rolling out a new 4G LTE network across the country, but that rollout isn't finished, and the company's rural coverage is untenable. If you live in a major metropolitan area, you're probably safe, but stray too far into the suburbs and you lose connectivity.

 

If you do have coverage, you can enjoy some of the fastest download speeds of any provider. Although Verizon and AT&T have better speeds on average, those numbers take into account the entire country, much of which doesn't feature decent T-Mobile coverage. In those areas where the self-proclaimed uncarrier offers 4G LTE service, you can't beat them for sheer speed.

 

Video streaming issues are notoriously hard to diagnose and resolve. Aside from the streaming speed, there are possibly transcoding issues at the source or target device due to resolution, format, caching and video buffering, decoding video, and then sometimes problems just seem to be compatibility issues.

 

If you can't stream 1080p videos with your  T-Mobile 4G LTE, you might be sharing bandwidth with many other users on the cell.  When that cell is very busy with lots of traffic, each individual throughput is greatly reduced. 

 

Most probably your location is sufficiently far from the cell, and/or the RF path loss is too high (due to obstructions, buildings etc.) that the signal quality is just not good enough to achieve a sufficiently high throughput for your streaming video.  Your maximum throughput is limited by the quality of the signal (higher signal strength generally = higher quality), regardless of how many other users are on the system.

 

Generally, as the signal strength/quality fades away, the downlink (cell to your device) maximum capable throughput goes down, but as long as you have connectivity will not go below a particular threshold (but usually less than your needs).   However the uplink maximum capable throughput (your device to the internet) goes down continuously as the signal degrades until it reaches nearly zero, due to the low power limitation of your device.  Maximum capability (up and down) also goes down due to user traffic on nearby cells due to intercell interference (in LTE all cells are most often on the same frequency and create interference for each other).

 

To improve your throughput in almost ALL situations, you could obtain an LTE to Wifi modem that can use an external Tv Station like C9TV   Get a directional moderate to high gain antenna, and place it just outside your house, and point it at the nearest LTE cell for your daily dose provider.  This will make a huge difference at least at your home.  Even using a modem without external RF antenna, you can usually place it in a window that has better LTE signal and obtain higher throughputs.

 

With T-Mobile 4g LTE, the 1080p videos normally has 6 ~ 8 Mbps bitrate when using H.264 HEVC to encode and the downlink throughput of LTE network with good reception signal is better than that. Check with your video source website or your wireless carrier. There is no technical limitation to stream 1080p videos on any of the LTE network.

 

If you're having trouble with T-Mobile, you may be calling Customer Service for finance advice. The T-Mobile online team is quick to respond & the phone team is incredibly helpful & friendly. They truly make the customer the top priority.