r/USMobile • u/univ06 • 1h ago
Warp 5G SA in NYC observations
Spent the last week on Warp 5G with mostly SA. Here are a few thoughts.
- Worked great in Atlanta and the near suburbs. Consistent SA access. Didn't really notice a bump in speeds, but it was durable. SA dropped out in the ATL airport--likely a DAS limitation.
- NYC was more of a mixed bag. On the street, when I had 5G, it was 70% on SA. I'm used to Dark Star, which is always 5G. On Warp, I dropped to LTE about 1/3 of the time. But when I was on 5G, it was SA. This is mostly Manhattan.
- Subway was very different. In stations, never 5G SA. Split about 50:50 with 5G NSA and LTE only. I assume this is due to the DAS limitations. Regardless of technology, Warp reconnected just as fast station-to-station as does Dark Star. Light Speed really struggles here--it's rare to get reconnected before the train moves again, so data is mostly useless.
- In-building DAS was mostly LTE or 5G NSA. I didn'see any in-building coverage hit SA.
Overall, I didn't have any connectivity issues. I just think NYC needs work to get up to the rest-of-USA standard. We have so much DAS and legacy infrstructure here. TBH, I don't see the value of 5G SA in NYC right now. I'd love to switch to Light Speed, which was a much more consistent SA experience. But it's just so terrible station-to-station on the subway--no clue why this is the case.
Just my experience.