T-Mobile will shut down its 2G network in the United States on April 2, 2024. If your devices are dependent on 2G connectivity, they will no longer be able to connect to T-Mobile after this shutdown.
We expect that between now and April 2, 2024, we expect T-Mobile US to reduce the 2G network’s capacity and coverage.
Particle recommends that all customers plan to continue development on LTE-enabled SKUs. Below is a summary of what we think should be considered in formulating your unique plan.
A list of impacted skus can be found here. For migration path details, please refer to this documentation.
Situation
The situation in the United States is most urgent, as both major GSM operators (AT&T and T-Mobile) either have already sunsetted, or have near-term plans to sunset, 2G and 3G networks.
- 2G
- AT&T has already sunset 2G service
- T-Mobile will sunset 2G network on April 2, 2024
- 3G
- AT&T has already sunset 3G service
- T-Mobile has already sunset 3G service
In Canada, all major carriers (Rogers, Telus, Bell) have active plans to sunset 2G, while 3G is planned to be supported until ~2025.
- 2G
- Bell has already sunset 2G service
- Telus has already sunset 2G service
- 3G
- Bell, Telus, and Rogers have plans to keep 3G networks active through 2025
All 2G/3G devices deployed in the United States are at risk of degraded or disrupted connectivity that will prevent these devices from connecting to the Particle Cloud, sending and receiving messages, and otherwise behaving normally.
What should I do to prevent and minimize disruption to my Particle fleet?
We highly recommend that all customers plan to migrate to LTE-based products. This means that you might need to swap out any devices already deployed in the field or migrate ongoing development projects to LTE-based products. There are LTE-compatible paths for all Particle products in the North American market.
Customers should procure, test, and plan to migrate all 2G/3G products to LTE products.
Following is a list of LTE compatible products, in general availability in North America. You can find additional product details in Particle’s documentation, here.
| SKU | Description | Lifecycle |
|---|---|---|
| ONE404MEA | Tracker One LTE M1 (NorAm), [x1] | GA |
| ONE404MTY | Tracker One LTE M1 (NorAm), Bulk [x40] | GA |
| T404MEA | Tracker SoM LTE M1 (NorAm), [x1] | GA |
| T404MKIT | Tracker SoM LTE M1 (NorAm) Evaluation Kit, [x1] | GA |
| T404MTY | Tracker SoM LTE M1 (NorAm), Tray [x50] | GA |
| B404XMEA | B Series LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm), [x1] | GA |
| B404XMTY | B Series LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm), Tray [x50] | GA |
| BRN404X | Boron LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm), [x1] | GA |
| BRN404XKIT | Boron LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm) Starter Kit, [x1] | GA |
| BRN404XTRAY50 | Boron LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm), Tray [x50] | GA |
| E404KIT | E Series LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm) Evaluation Kit, [x1] | GA |
| E404MOD1 | E Series LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm), [x1] | GA |
| E404XTRAY50 | E Series LTE CAT-M1 (NorAm), Tray [x50] | GA |
FAQs
- What is happening with T-Mobile 2G network?
- T-Mobile has announced a plan to shutdown its 2G network in the US. The 2G shutdown will be completed by April of 2024. Devices that connect to only 2G network should plan to upgrade to LTE based products.
- Why is T-Mobile shutting down its 2G network?
- Carriers need to be able to re-use spectrum to grow new networks and provide faster, more responsive technology for their customers. Old 2G/3G infrastructure must make way for new networks, and this means older cellular devices will no longer be viable and must be retired.
- Will my 2G Electron/Boron stop working?
- Devices are expected to lose T-Mobile cellular connectivity. Your device may still be able to work until April 2, 2024 if it has access to T-Mobile’s 2G network, however, network connectivity and features like OTA updates could be severely degraded.
- Will my devices connect to T-Mobile’s network?
- If T-Mobile coverage is available in your area, your devices should connect to it through March 2024. You can use cloud debug tool 7, to do a tower scan 11 and check if T-Mobile network is available in your area.
- Which LTE products are suitable for United States?
- Please refer Particle’s documentation here.
- Where do I purchase LTE devices from?
- What about 3G sunset in rest of the world?
- Please refer to our documentation for detailed information.