Originally Posted by
TGarza
It is very realistic since most phones in use are missing bands. It is unrealistic to expect every user to buy a new phone every time the bands are changed.
Originally Posted by
draver
It is unrealistic to criticize carriers coverage while using equipment that is not capable of utilizing their service fully either. It sounds like you mainly use a phone that is 7 years behind the times in an industry that advances every 6-12 months, minimum.
The 5s is also missing Band 12, which has become T-Mobile's main LTE band in a lot of places. Depending on where you are, 12 is sometimes T-Mobile's only coverage, so a phone without it wouldn't work at all. That setup is common in less-populated areas; big cities will still have the 'old' band 4 as well.
Lack of 66 and 71 is unlikely to make much difference unless you're in an area where the network is really congested--their main purpose is to add capacity. In most of those areas when it's really bad you can just force HSPA for a speed boost since there aren't that many 3G phones left.
So while it's unreasonable to expect everyone to buy a new phone for every new band that rolls out, IMO it's also unreasonable to expect network build-out to be set up with seven-year-old devices in mind. Any phone intended for use on T-Mobile sold in the last five years will have band 12, and there are loads and loads of sub-$100 secondhand phones that fit the bill--including both models of the iPhone SE.