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Should I switch to T-mobile?

T

telemike

Well-Known Member
I have AT&T until Dec 20th. Afraid of losing coverage, you know the orange ribbons covering the planet :)

Thinking of T-mobile since thier familyplan can save me $20/month and I can get a Moto Defy or Mytouch 3G Slide with a better data plan. I do live in a 4G city (Greensboro, NC) and may be able to get the G2 or myTouch 4G if lucky.

I guess coverage out in the countryside and remote areas is not as good as I have now?

Who does T-mobile roam with and are there any charges?
 
If they have any roaming agreements, it would be with AT&T...but I don't believe they charge. I get decent coverage along I-95 from Philly to northern VA, but if I go off the beaten path by a few miles, I lose 3G and go to Edge. That was earlier this summer however...new towers are supposedly still going up. From what I understand with their upgrade plans, all coverage areas are supposed to be 3G/3.5G, if I read their statement correctly.

My only problem with T-Mo, using a Nokia N900, having also AT&T/Spring currently, and Verizon for a brief stint with the Droid 1, is that I don't get reception inside certain buildings in my town (supermarkets) yet get full bars 3G out in the parking lot...along with 3Mbs - 8Mbs download speeds. This is "never" a problem with AT&T and my Motorola Q. I have even tried the T-Mo SIM card in my Q, and still have the poor reception in the same areas...YMMV.

Aside from the great DL speeds with T-Mo, the non-contract prices are really good. I have the individual 500 minutes plan for $29 and added the $10/mo. web2go plan, for use on the unlocked N900. I added the unlimited SkypeOut for $3/mo, effectively having unlimited voice/data for $43/mo total.
 
The only gripe I have with tmobile is that they're slow upgrading OS's. We're all (not so) patiently waiting for the Froyo update on mytouch and mytouch slide. My coverage is amazing, no roaming charges, no surprise charges on my bill, unlimited calls, texts and data for $80 a month. Plus I've had amazing luck with customer service on the rare occasion that I've needed to contact them. I travel all over the country, and coverage has been awesome in and around all major metropolitan areas. Living in Colorado, I do occasionally have service interruptions in the mountains, but that'll be true with any carrier. I've never even briefly considered changing providers since I signed on with tmobile.
 
telemike said:
My AT&T never works in stores and buildings much......
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That sux...could be the phone, could be coverage. I get full bars inside elevators, in "reinforced" buildings. However co-workers with iPhones complain about service in the same locations.
 
Still can't decide between Sprint and T-Mobile. If Spring had a better midrange phone it would be a no-brainer with thier everything data plan.
 
Well, it looks like T-mobiles new pricing structure has lost me. Now if I want to get a family plan (1500 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited 4G data) for three lines I have to pay $30 for data on the Nokia Nuron instead of the older $10 plan and I can't seem to make the cart change to the 200 MB plan, seems you have to have the same data rate plan for all three lines. I wanted one Android data plan, and two feature phone data plans.........Sprint here I come.
 
telemike said:
Well, it looks like T-mobiles new pricing structure has lost me. Now if I want to get a family plan (1500 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited 4G data) for three lines I have to pay $30 for data on the Nokia Nuron instead of the older $10 plan and I can't seem to make the cart change to the 200 MB plan, seems you have to have the same data rate plan for all three lines. I wanted one Android data plan, and two feature phone data plans.........Sprint here I come.
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Umm... No you don't but I'm guessing by now that you already had switched..
 
Still going to go with Sprint, T-mo just can't match price and coverage even though I can get 4G in my city. Though Letstalk.com I can get two lines on the 200MB plan and one $30 data plan but I'm still more than Sprint
 
I'm thinking of switching to TMobile from Sprint as Sprint wants me to double my monthly cost to get an Android phone and keep an unlimited plan. TMobile has better family rates for me. My question, or concern, is if TMobile has good coverage. Can any current TMobile users share with me any service coverage problems they experience in he US? I do a lot of motorcycle rides around the country and would like to have good coverage.
 
telemike said:
Still going to go with Sprint, T-mo just can't match price and coverage even though I can get 4G in my city. Though Letstalk.com I can get two lines on the 200MB plan and one $30 data plan but I'm still more than Sprint
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What are you talking about? T-mobile is cheaper than sprint but as far as coverage goes it depends on where you live just as any other carrier. If you live in a city though you will get great 4G service that is definitely faster than sprints. T-Mobile is the largest 4G network thus far so if you travel to another city or something you are gonna have 4G.
 
Patches O'Houlihan said:
I'm thinking of switching to TMobile from Sprint as Sprint wants me to double my monthly cost to get an Android phone and keep an unlimited plan. TMobile has better family rates for me. My question, or concern, is if TMobile has good coverage. Can any current TMobile users share with me any service coverage problems they experience in he US? I do a lot of motorcycle rides around the country and would like to have good coverage.
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It all depends on where you are. I get great coverage in the DC/Baltimore corridor, all the way up to Philly. T-Mo is still building out/upgrading the network, so YMMV. I was able to stream an internet radio feed on 3.5G, without dropping signal once, from Balt. to Philly. Now, it may be a different story once you start going off the beaten path, and out into the country side.

There was a T-Mobile announcement (should be online somewhere) that stated that they were upgrading all their coverage areas to 3G (if I understand it correctly). My only problem with T-Mo is that I get little to no signal inside some buildings, despite getting full bars 3G in the respective parking lots. I'm still debating whether an unlimited voice/data package for $59/mo (no-contract price) outweighs that issue, along with consistent 3-8Mbs data speeds.
 
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