T-Mobile customers, some notable network improvements are coming your way.
T-Mobile has announced two network technologies that it’s launching starting today. First up is 4x4 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output), which doubles the number of data paths going between your phone and the site that it’s connected to for up to double the speeds.
4x4 MIMO is now available in 319 cities, but you’ll need a supported handset to take advantage of it. T-Mobile says that customers with a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge will be able to use this tech after they receive a software update later this month, with more devices to offer 4x4 MIMO soon.
To see if your city has 4x4 MIMO, check this list.
The other new feature being rolled out by T-Mobile is 256 QAM for download and 64 QAM for upload. These offer speed boosts by increasing the number of bits being deliver in each transmission. When combined with 4x4 MIMO, 256 QAM offers download speeds up to 400Mbps.
256 QAM and 64 QAM are now available on half of T-Mo’s network, with plans to expand it to all of T-Mobile’s network by the end of October. Again, you’ll need a phone that supports 256 QAM and 64 QAM to take advantage of these features. The GS7 and GS7 edge will be updated to support 256 QAM/64 QAM in October.
These are notable upgrades for T-Mobile’s network. Offering fast network speeds are important as consumers are downloading, streaming, and uploading more high-quality content than ever, and so T-Mo is responding by beefing up its network. Not everyone will get access to these features right away, and even those that do aren’t going to magically get 400Mbps downloads all the time, but these are still some good network upgrades.
T-Mobile also announced today that its LTE network now covers nearly 312 million people and that 60 percent of its calls are now made using VoLTE (Voice over LTE).
