With my new iPhone 13 Pro I’ve been excited to try out 5G from our cellular provider, who happens to be AT&T.
The 5G service from AT&T in Tucson is not good.
For a while I’ve been contemplating moving away from AT&T. The only reason we’re on AT&T is because it was bundled with our fiber connection at home when we lived in Chicago. Cellular service in the Windy City was decent but not great, and we’ve had the same experience here in Tucson. I’m convinced there are better options.
Mike suggested T-Mobile. He uses the T-Mobile network through Mint Mobile, but Mint doesn’t provide the option to tether a cellular-wired Apple Watch to your account, which is something I rely on a bit. So while looking around on the Internet I discovered that T-Mobile offers free 30 days of data service if you have a compatible device, which I do in the iPhone 13 Pro. So I have both my normal AT&T service and the T-Mobile free plan running on my phone.
The T-Mobile of 5G, thus far, has proven to be much more reliable that’s AT&T in the greater Tucson area. I did a speed check in the downtown area and was impressed with the results. Unfortunately, according to the coverage map, T-Mobile gets a little spotty outside of the Tucson and Phoenix metro areas. And with all the exploring we do out in the desert, this could prove to be an issue with us in the future.
I’m going to test the service on our drive to Las Vegas next weekend and see how it does.
