u/Hot-Bat-5813

As only real option for internet service, Starlink and recently Verizon started offering a very limited lite version of their FWA. T-Mobile became available first vs Starlink, Starlink wasn't available to these lower latitudes until later.

Depending on definition, yes ruraI I guess. 3 miles from the same serving cells the entire time, the same "tower". Only things that changed were bands, auction releases of bandwidth, backhaul improvements, SA being enabled on gateways and yes newer gateways.

Commented on an earlier post that is a user in US Cellular's market before being acquired by T-Mobile. Change can take time, when my area just had B66/n41/n25 added to the existing T-Mobile network it took close to three months for everything to settle. The results after each upgrade seem worth the wait.

Yes there are more factors then the network, that is where it starts though, the capacity of the network.

A single POV of this service, YMMV.

Clearer images from imgur:

https://imgur.com/a/hgmS0jD

Over a period of seven months since receiving the G5AR.

This has been an often asked about subject when it comes to the various gateways. I have come to the conclusion that more than likely they are (G5AR at least), feel free to come to your own conclusions. There is no definitive way though to say yes the G5AR does or doesn't do aggregation. No way to send AT commands or similar to the modem and get a response back. Even if the G5AR is doing aggregation on both up and down, no way to tell what combination of bands it might be using.

The set-up:

Galaxy S26u, does 5CC/CA on down and 2CC/CA on up. Qualcomm sdx85 modem.

Galaxy TAB s10+, does 4CC/CA on down and 1CC/CA on up. MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ SoC, possibly T830 modem.

G5AR, the unknown. MediaTek M80 modem. That particular modem is capable of 4CC/CA on down and 2CC/CA on up. Does T-Mobile have the full capabilities enabled, also an unknown.

Bands available at my location: n41 100mhz+90mhz, n25 20mhz+5mhz, n71 20mhz ( The sixth band of n71 5mhz for some reason doesn't reach my home location ). 5G Advanced is operational in the market as determined by the S26u, 2CC/CA on up channel was one of the featured abilities of the 5G Advanced. All devices are a little over 3 miles from the serving cells with a clean LoS and all devices get a strong connection to those serving cells. All devices are using the same "tower", but more importantly the same cells as far as we can tell from the information the G5AR provides. My address is a verified for service address, is this important, unknown. Mobile devices are on MM Military and the gateway is the original plan from 5 years ago. Congestion nor QCI level really don't seem to play a factor as this area has more than enough capacity and very few users. Mainly the differences I see on speed tests from day to day and hour to hour I believe are just the network AI adjusting the delivery, also a feature of 5G Advanced. The mobile devices were placed right next to the G5AR for testing, so same environmental factors.

The G5AR almost always equaled or surpassed the S26u on the up channel ( Not every, but majority ), but fell behind slightly on the down. The G5AR almost always equaled the S10+ TAB on the down, but the S10+ always lagged behind the G5AR on the up by almost half the speed. When there was a downturn or uptick in overall results all devices matched accordingly for speeds obtained.

The Observations:

S26u bands in use (combination can change from test to test), https://imgur.com/a/s26u-5cc-ca-down-2cc-ca-up-eAweSur

TAB s10+ bands in use (combination of bands change from test to test), https://imgur.com/a/NywoHsU

G5AR band in use as shown by HINT Control (100mhz n41 for PCC), https://imgur.com/a/csAB4uY

All tests via WiFi are direct to the G5AR on the 6ghz frequency with a reasonable distance to the gateway (same room). S26u is WiFi7 and TAB S10+ is WiFi6e, verified by WiFiman as to connection frequency.

S10+ comparison: https://imgur.com/a/mIThkSf

S26u comparison: https://imgur.com/a/7hEJZZi

Single samples for clarity:

S26u - https://imgur.com/a/monWihV EDIT, wrong image.

TAB S10+ - https://imgur.com/a/MBjxsj4

This is for my location, YMMV. Just an interesting set of observations, no way to definitely say yes or no to the carrier aggregation.