Experience with T-Mobile

[dbledan]

I work in the industry. I carry one of each from the major carriers. I even tried Fi for a bit which uses TMO and US Cellular.

I do all of my hotspot work on sprint/TMO now. Coverage is ok but I check maps before I go. Since they have combined coverage got real unpredictable for me. I had Sprint before and coverage and speeds were great as long as you were close to a highway. TMO took away some of my speed in some locations and made it better in others. They are still working out system selection in my opnion so I speedtest the bands and force my phone to the fastest one available. Everything I pay for here is unlimited so I use what I need. They give you 25gig of hotspot though with COVID I think it is 80gig now with unlimited talk text and phone data for $35 after signing up with a credit card and paperless billing. My wife and son are on framily still @$30 unlimited. I also stream to my phone and use an HDMI cable to watch on the TV.

Att has better coverage but slower speeds where I have been in comparison to the two above. I pay $30 for 8gig on their prepaid service with paperless billing and CC. It works but is slower. I have not streamed a lot with their service at this point.

Verizon currently has the best coverage and speed but man are they proud of it. Thank god work pays for that line. If you can get unlimited it is $100 a line. I cannot use hotspot much because of low data caps and pricy data plans for work. Voice is great and speeds are typically better. I am not sure what their lower price plans are.

I found with COVID and working from anywhere I use 5GB a week for work on various video calls and email (note I use a phone for audio though) and 8-10 streaming through the phone.

Your best bet is to have 2 providers and choose your locations based on coverage and what you are willing to live with. I have found many places where 2 work and 2 don't so it really depends on where you go and what you want to live with.

Best of luck!

[ScottBrownstein]

Have had T-Mobile for a few years after switching from Verizon. Pretty happy with the service...very happy with the cost. Unlimited talk and text in Europe, mexico and canada. data service in canada when Verizon used to charge us $2.00 per Mb in canada and give us an automatic text warning message when we crossed the border. T-Mobile gives us an automatic message as well. Welcome to canada, talk, browse and text at will for no extra charge.

[formerFR]

I was recently also drawn to the idea of switching to a 'new' combined tMobile/Sprint - since there MAGENTA plan for our 4 phones would provide UNLIMITED 4g speeds all the time on the phones, and only caps the usage of the Hotspot to 3gb... different than our current AT&T plan, which caps BOTH at 3gb. The tMobile plan would save us $40 monthly, IF the service was acceptable - but that's really the million dollar question most of us have... and, you don't 'really' KNOW until you try it, which is not easy.

So, I ordered the MAGENTA plan and 4 sim cards, along with the notion that they also were going to 'pay off' all the phones, at least up to $450 each, with three exceeding that, iPhone 11's, and one older one for only an $18 balance. That would make for a 'sweet' exchange...

but, I've found that this is certainly a PROCESS, and not easy. It's also time consuming, and if you 'need' your phones to be usable during the process of changing the sim card to the new carrier AND porting your existing number to the new carrier, that can be a little unnerving. Will I miss calls, or texts? Will my contacts and information within my phone remain? What if then I don't 'like' this new service? Not very appealing, when you think about it.

I received the 4 sims cards in a few days, but none of this was going to 'happen' without AT&T giving their permission, which means I would have to 'pay off' the balance of the phone(s) BEFORE the mother ship would even consider 'unlocking' the phone to another carrier. So, I chose the obvious phone, my wife's, with only an $18 balance.
Finding the 'place' online to 'pay off' a phone's installment balance, at least with AT&T, is also not easy. They really don't want to make it convenient to find. When you do, you still can't immediately 'unlock' the phone to use with another carrier until a day later, and ONLY with AT&T's kind permission. Fortunately, at least that part was easy - they 'approved' the unlock request in a few minutes, as you would expect, at least.

Now, the question becomes, WHEN do you want to then try out this new 'sim card' for your phone... as, like us, if you've been with a carrier for years, you aren't normally into the 'trading' out of sim cards, or may not even 'know' what to expect when you do.
I was pleasantly surprised, though, when I decided that a late Friday evening, after work, would be a good time to try it, and it went smoothly, though trying to have my wife recall her 'apple ID' took some doing - that's another thing you don't 'use' every day. Finally, though, when it logged her in, everything was there just as before.

So, I also realized in this process that just because you have 'installed' a new carrier's sim card, and your phone is back to 'working', with a new 'tmobile' signal at the top, you actually are NOT using your original phone number, but a BRAND NEW phone number...

so, now you have somewhat of a dilemma - you are not the 'same' phone number, so no one you 'know' knows this, and what then happens to any phone calls or texts to the 'original' number? Hmmmmm..... more unnerving questions. My wife wasn't really happy, 'change' is not her thing, at least not when 'she' has to be the guinea pig in the process!

Well, I texted ME from her phone, since I know my own number, and viola!, now I had her 'new' number, at least a temporary new number. Since the text back and forth worked, she felt slightly better. But then suddenly felt like she had to text everyone 'important' in her contacts in order to let them know of her 'new number', at least for a few days.

I then decided to 'test' the signal by running a speed test. Not good. Not good at least as compared to good 'ol AT&T we were accustomed to. But, rather than throw in the towel that quickly, the next morning we traveled to do some basic shopping, and used that time to gather some data on the signal or signal strength, as well as 'speed', which is just as important. Not good. We lost the signal in places where AT&T had no issues. We were starting to realize that maybe this wasn't the best idea, at least not now.

So, after it was all said and done, rather than trying to go thru the 'porting' of her original number to this 'new' carrier, which might take hours, or even DAYS, we decided that packing these sim cards back up and asking tMobile for a cancellation was a proper move.

Yes, we'd like to save money. Yes, we'd like the new plan for our type of usage. Yes, we'd like to think that a merger of two carriers would provide a better overall base of usage, signal wise. But, alas, it's not to be.
Removing the 'new' sim card for the 'old' was a piece of cake. AT&T's back to working like a charm.

tMobile got a call from me today. I was pleasant, and explained that while we 'tried', and while we 'wanted' it to work, and while we 'liked' their plan even better than our own, the signal HAS TO BE THERE, or none of that matters, even when their own MAPS for both carrier towers say that we should have 'excellent' service. It's not to be. They are providing a full refund, and also don't require us to send the sim cards back.

After all, we may change our minds again, in the near future : )

[BehindBars]

T-mobile provided me a one week free trial with a temporary phone number and SIM card, for a $25 deposit, so I could determine if the signal was good where I needed it. T-mobile, as I understood, generally has good signal in congested areas and along Interstate highways. I live about 1 mile, as the crow flies, from an Interstate highway. The signal was so poor at my house, it was unusable. I tested the service for about 3 days, returned the SIM Card, said no thank you to their service, and got my deposit money back. Done deal, right? Two or three months later, out of the blue I get an overdue bill for 2 months of monthly services, along with threats to send me to a collection agency. That caused additional headaches, as you might expect.

The point is, they did allow me to test their service before I committed. That is, both the cell service and the customer service.

[babock]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

T-mobile provided me with a temporary phone number and SIM card, for a $25 deposit, so I could determine if the signal was good where I needed it. T-mobile, as I understood, generally has good signal in congested areas and along Interstate highways. I live about 1 mile, as the crow flies, from an Interstate highway. The signal was so poor at my house, it was unusable. I tested the service for about 3 days, returned the SIM Card, said no thank you to their service, and got my deposit money back. Done deal, right?Two or three months later, out of the blue I get an overdue bill for 2 months of monthly services, along with threats to send me to a collection agency. That caused additional headaches, as you might expect.

The point is, they did allow me to test their service before I committed. That is, both the cell service and the customer service.

I don't even worry about what service is like at my house. All calls at home can be WiFi calling with any modern phone. It's typically automatic depending on if you have your phone set correctly.

[emm-dee]

I don’t know anything about Android phones but if you use an iPhone NEVER get it from the phone company. Go directly to Apple and your phone will be unlocked from the get go. I pay $37 a month for the iPhone, including AppleCare, and get a new one every 12 months.

My -11 model is dual sim capable so one is AT&T and the other is Visible (Verizon Lite). Both allow true unlimited data on the phone but AT&T hotspot is hard capped at 35 gig with rollover. Visible is true unlimited hotspot but Verizon will slow speeds to 2-3 mbps occasionally.

I borrowed a friends TMO sim and tried it in my phone. The coverages and speeds were unacceptable.

[babock]

I have changed carriers a few times and never had any down time when porting numbers...ZERO down time. That part is easy.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by babock

I don't even worry about what service is like at my house. All calls at home can be WiFi calling with any modern phone. It's typically automatic depending on if you have your phone set correctly.

Cell service signal at our home is very important. With my only choice for home internet being satellite service, doing phone calls over my home WiFi is not a reliable option.

[babock]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Cell service signal at our home is very important. With my only choice for home internet being satellite service, doing phone calls over my home WiFi is not a reliable option.

Yep...that would be a problem if you are using satellite for home internet...too much latency.

Hopefully Elon Musk's latest venture helps you out.

[babock]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

I don’t know anything about Android phones but if you use an iPhone NEVER get it from the phone company. Go directly to Apple and your phone will be unlocked from the get go. I pay $37 a month for the iPhone, including AppleCare, and get a new one every 12 months.

Agreed...I always buy unlocked phones. You end up paying full price eventually anyway. Might as well buy them unlocked in the first place.

My Pixel 2 is now 2 1/2 years old. I would like to see if it will go another year before the battery needs to be replaced or the charge port is worn out. My next phone needs to have wireless charging. Had one before and I loved it.