T-Mobile sunset of LTE has begun

[MTS2000des]

T-Mobile is apparently beginning the sunset of their LTE/4G network in favor of 5G Standalone. This means no new LTE activation starting Jan 2026, with a gradual sunset of LTE down to one 5MHz channel. This means older devices such as anything older than an iPhone 12/13, Galaxy S21, etc will most likely start experiencing poor performance and eventually won't work at all on T-Mobile or a T-Mobile MVNO.

So, time to retire "ancient" hardware (in the cellular world that basically means anything more than 5 years) and upgrade, upgrade, upgrade. My guess is much like all the US carriers did with 3G/UMTS, they will keep a "nightlight" channel on for iOT devices until agreements with iOT carriers expire then shut it down. It's clear they are refarming spectrum for the future as a leader in 5G-SA.

 

[n3obl]

Darn, I have an elcheapo data prepaid sim for my ipad that I use. The ipad is an older model only supports 4g.

 

[MTS2000des]

From the memo, it doesn't mean your relic iPad will die, what it does mean:
After Jan 2026, no more new LTE activations
Over the next year or so, they will be consolidating spectrum and refarming, so LTE will be orphaned to a single 5MHz channel, so your speeds will be dismal depending on density and local site capacity.

But yes, you'll soon have to put the 10 year old iPad out to pasture in a year or so depending on how much you rely on T-Mo LTE. So far, no word from AT&T and Verizon on their LTE sunset, I imagine it's coming next year or in 2027.

 

[K9KLC]

From the memo, it doesn't mean your relic iPad will die, what it does mean:
After Jan 2026, no more new LTE activations
Over the next year or so, they will be consolidating spectrum and refarming, so LTE will be orphaned to a single 5MHz channel, so your speeds will be dismal depending on density and local site capacity.

But yes, you'll soon have to put the 10 year old iPad out to pasture in a year or so depending on how much you rely on T-Mo LTE. So far, no word from AT&T and Verizon on their LTE sunset, I imagine it's coming next year or in 2027.

I still use a pretty old one but the phone plan long expired on it. I tether it to my iPhone 15 and it works pretty well. Due for an upgrade soon I hope due to storage reasons but I'll get the WIFI only one and still use the phone. I also tether my MacBook Pro to the phone and honestly in some locations it really flys doing things on it.