While telecom providers have made major strides in terms of their coverage, it still isn’t perfect and you might come across some blind spots from time to time where you won’t get any signals. Such spots can hinder calls and drop your mobile data speeds.
In this article, we’re talking about T-Mobile Edge, what it is, why it happens and what you can do to fix the problem.
Also read: What’s the difference between 5G, 5G Plus, 5G UW and 5G UC?
T-Mobile EDGE explained
Edge (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) is more popularly known as 2G and is an old mobile data technology. We’re three generations ahead in terms of mobile data internet speeds at the moment with 5G actively being rolled out around the world, but when the signal strength isn’t as strong, carriers often drop back to older technologies going as far back as Edge or 2G.
And that’s exactly what you’re experiencing here. In the lack of any 5G, 4G or even 3G signals, the carrier reception automatically drops to 2G. It doesn’t quite mean you have no connectivity but at 135kbps it’s quite slow for modern-day internet and can feel like you have no access to the internet.
Keep in mind that this should only happen when you’re not getting full signals or are in a relatively remote area with poor cellular connectivity.
Getting stuck on using EDGE
Carriers automatically put you on the fastest network possible, so if you’re stuck on 2G despite being in a relatively well-connected area, chances are something is wrong with your phone.
You can try out the following five fixes.
Restart your phone
The first step of troubleshooting any device is restarting, and it stands for our smartphones as well. If something is acting up, chances are rebooting your phone can fix that.
Get to an area with better connectivity
Getting to an area with better connectivity or near a cell tower can help you get better signals on your device and hence, better internet speeds. As mentioned before, carriers fall back to older technologies when you’re in a secluded area so as to keep your device on the network. Better signals will get you bumped back to 4G or higher based on your plan.
Reset your phone’s network settings
Incorrect network settings can cause all sorts of problems, including SIM cards not being detected or malfunctioning. Doing this resets your WiFi networks, Bluetooth connections, cellular and even VPN settings.
Check out our detailed guide on how to reset network settings what doing so can do here
Automate the network selection
Selecting the wrong network in your phone can also often cause this problem. Check to make sure that network selection is set to automatic.
- Head over to your phone settings and tap on Network & Internet.
- Tap on your SIM card.
- Tap Advanced.
- Make sure the Automatically select network option is enabled.
Restart your phone and it should work fine now.
Contact T-Mobile support
If nothing else works, reach out to T-Mobile support to help resolve the issue or know what’s going on with your network. Mobile carriers often downgrade network connectivity for a short period of time when they’re working on infrastructure or pushing an upgrade so it might just be a temporary glitch.
Also read: What is 611 phone number?
