Text messaging problem

[paulpg]

I am experiencing two problems with my Google Messages app on my Moto G6 phone using prepaid T-mobile service. Some of the messages are not being transmitted despite my repeat tapping (message "not sent, tap to try again"). Also some of the text messages I receive are delayed. For example two-step notifications can at times take several minutes to arrive.
Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[puppykickr]

I have the exact same problem.

The deal is, that T-Mobile basically is the worst cellular provider that I have ever seen- and I have had cellphones since 2001.
Used to sell them at RadioShack no less.

Way back then, the worst provider that we dealt with was Sprint.

Years later, 2018 to early 2021, Sprint was great, because they had changed their entire system.

Then T-Mobile bought Sprint, and now it has regressed to a point that is actually worse than what Sprint was back in 2001.

I actually feel like I have traveled back in time as far as cellular service.

The signal strength is laughable, and data is basically non-existant.

Even if I have 4 - 5 bars, the data is poop.

My only advice is to run- don't walk- to another provider.

AT&T is excellent, with Verizon in second place.

I base this on personal obsevations (I have had an AT&T phone since 2001, now as an emergency device because T-Mobile is so unreliable) and experience (when we travel my AT&T will often have service where her Verizon will not).

AT&T use GMS technology, which is basically what the rest of the world uses.

Verizon is switching, but slowly, from the antiquated system that they use called CDMA.

5G is a crapshoot, because if you are not close enough to spit on a tower you won't have any signal.

 

[mikedt]

Yeh, it sounds like the problem with with your carrier(T-Mobile), and NOT the phone. And really the only thing you can do about that is change carrier, if they can't resolve the problem.

 

[mikedt]

5G is a crapshoot, because if you are not close enough to spit on a tower you won't have any signal.

Where I am 5G is not problem at all. If Unicom has no 5G coverage, the phone just uses the 4G network, like when I travelled to Inner Mongolia during the summer, there was only 5G in Hohhot.

 

[puppykickr]

Where I am 5G is not problem at all. If Unicom has no 5G coverage, the phone just uses the 4G network, like when I travelled to Inner Mongolia during the summer, there was only 5G in Hohhot.

I was using it in reference to how T-Mobile brags endlessly about having 'the nation's largest 5G network', when in reality even their 4G is pathetic.

Here in the states 5G is a joke.
The majority of people that actually can get and use 5G are experiencing speeds slower or barely equivalent to 4G.

It is only a marketing scam.

They never even completed 4G coverage, and now they are going to 5G?

Bollocks.

 

[paulpg]

I am experiencing two problems with my Google Messages app on my Moto G6 phone using prepaid T-mobile service. Some of the messages are not being transmitted despite my repeat tapping (message "not sent, tap to try again"). Also some of the text messages I receive are delayed.

I was should have mentioned in my post that we have a second spouse phone, a Galaxy S21 on a postpaid T-mobile service that does not experience problems with text messages. The Galaxy phone using Messages app. As mentioned the difficulty with the Moto6 phone is intermittent. So could the different message apps or the pre versus post paid T-mobile plan be a factor? I have very limited knowledge about cell phones.
Changing our carrier is not a current consideration

 

[puppykickr]

Probably not the different messaging apps.

I am using a Moto e and a different messaging app than either of the other two.

It could be a difference in signal strength.
Does one device have a case/cover that covers the back of the device?

 

[paulpg]

Does one device have a case/cover that covers the back of the device?

Both our phones have a case that covers the back. We will try messaging using the Moto G6 without its cover.

 

[puppykickr]

I mention this because I have two modern Motorola devices- a Moto e6 and a Moto e.

The e6 has no case and picks up Wi-Fi much better than the e in the same location.

The e has (because of my work) a glass screen protector (should make no difference) and a thick, rubber back with surround on the sides that could make a difference.

 

[svim]

I've ran into this same problem a few times where text messages fail to transmit, and it will occur when I'm not in a place with an adequate cellular signal, like a basement or underground garage. Gets annoying if I don't notice right away there's a little red flag icon in my text messaging app that I need to re-send.
Anyway, when this happens to you do you notice if that little cellular connection icon in the top menubar is showing you have a strong and weak signal?. Does this problem happen when you're in a particular room in your home or is this happening in random, different locations?
You might want to try installing this OpenSignal app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en_US&gl=US
It's primarily just speed test utility but it also includes a neat mapping feature (you need Location enabled too). The map show signal coverage stats, and locations of nearby cell towers, in your case T-Mobile's. That might help determine if want to kind of cellular coverage your phone is receiving based on where you're located.

Regarding your spouse's S21, there's a possibility that phone just has a better, more sensitive cellular antenna inside it. Different models all have a little to a lot of variability in their hardware configuration but that's just idle supposition. Take a look at the APN setting in your phone and compare it to the one in the S21 to see if they match exactly or if there is some difference. If there is a discrepancy that might be due to just how each phone auto-configured its APN setting when a SIM card was inserted the first time. You might want to try creating a new APN entry matching those in the Galaxy S21, or use the APN settings from T-Mobile's site:
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/not-sold-by-t-mobile/byod-t-mobile-data-and-apn-settings
(...be sure to type in everything as is, it's important not to add in your own space characters or capitalize words. And restart your phone when you change the APN so it gets loaded into memory during startup.)

 

[paulpg]

Anyway, when this happens to you do you notice if that little cellular connection icon in the top menubar is showing you have a strong and weak signal?. Does this problem happen when you're in a particular room in your home or is this happening in random, different locations?
You might want to try installing this OpenSignal app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en_US&gl=US
That might help determine if want to kind of cellular coverage your phone is receiving based on where you're located.
Take a look at the APN setting in your phone and compare it to the one in the S21. to see if they match exactly or if there is some difference. If there is a discrepancy that might be due to just how each phone auto-configured its APN setting when a SIM card was inserted the first time. You might want to try creating a new APN entry matching those in the Galaxy S21, or use the APN settings from T-Mobile's site:
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/not-sold-by-t-mobile/byod-t-mobile-data-and-apn-settings
(...be sure to type in everything as is, it's important not to add in your own space characters or capitalize words. And restart your phone when you change the APN so it gets loaded into memory during startup.)

I will check into your suggestions. Thanks.