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T-Mobile buyout question - How does AT&T have so many customers?

N

nexterone

Lurker
Like most T-Mobile customers, I have my fair share of questions regarding the buyout. My biggest concern/question though is how is it that AT&T has so many customers. When I heard about the buyout I went on numerous online provider rating services, asked friends, etc and everyone seems to be in agreement that AT&T is by far the worst provider. They seem to be last in customer service and coverage area and the pricing is almost last with only Verizon costing more. For every positive review of AT&T, I must have read a dozen negative ones. Do they only have a large customer base because of the iPhone? This is an honest question and I would appreciate quality answers which means no "yur juzt jealuz lulz" or "dey sux so baddd". I realize that this deal won't directly affect me for over a year, I am just trying to do my homework so that I can make an educated decision about a possible switch.
 
People tend to complain more than praise. Network quality is purely regional, make sure you filter your search results based on location.
 
Well I expect a certain amount of bias and even whining in any review. It's just that there was such a negative slant regionally and nationally. Maybe I am just interpreting things incorrectly or there is just an overall negative view in relation to the other major carriers. Maybe I will stick with them when they switch and I'll love AT&T. Like I said though, it isn't a pressing matter and I am not going to make any major decisions in the near future.
 
fangorious said:
People tend to complain more than praise. Network quality is purely regional, make sure you filter your search results based on location.
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x2

...and the phone used may play a part in customer experience as well. I have both AT&T and T-Mo, and different phones have different reception capabilities, on both carriers. Right now, in the Mid-Atlantic region (well, Norther VA to Philly at least) I get decent coverage with both carriers, with AT&T having greater 3G/UMTS coverage for the more "rural" areas. T-Mo tends to drop to Edge in the countryside a bit.

However AT&T is much more expensive on a per/month basis, comparing like plans to T-Mo's EMP plans. I dread the thought of giving up my $59/mo. for unlimited voice (all calls, landline and cellular) and data...especially when that data is a 7Mbs+. What sux is that AT&T has no lower pricing tier for "non-contract" customers. The only thing that kept me with them is the building busting 850 band, as my phones lived on full bars, everywhere I go. T-Mo, while I get full bars most everywhere, at least while "outside", I tend to get reduced, or no signal, inside some buildings.

Worst case for me is that I'll use my T-Mobile Defy on AT&T, and keep my grandfathered unlimited $10/mo. MediaNet plan, as the Defy works on AT&T's 3G band (850...not sure about 1900).
 
colnago said:
x2

...and the phone used may play a part in customer experience as well. I have both AT&T and T-Mo, and different phones have different reception capabilities, on both carriers. Right now, in the Mid-Atlantic region (well, Norther VA to Philly at least) I get decent coverage with both carriers, with AT&T having greater 3G/UMTS coverage for the more "rural" areas. T-Mo tends to drop to Edge in the countryside a bit.

However AT&T is much more expensive on a per/month basis, comparing like plans to T-Mo's EMP plans. I dread the thought of giving up my $59/mo. for unlimited voice (all calls, landline and cellular) and data...especially when that data is a 7Mbs+. What sux is that AT&T has no lower pricing tier for "non-contract" customers. The only thing that kept me with them is the building busting 850 band, as my phones lived on full bars, everywhere I go. T-Mo, while I get full bars most everywhere, at least while "outside", I tend to get reduced, or no signal, inside some buildings.

Worst case for me is that I'll use my T-Mobile Defy on AT&T, and keep my grandfathered unlimited $10/mo. MediaNet plan, as the Defy works on AT&T's 3G band (850...not sure about 1900).
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You couldn't have said it any better, coverage is purely regional. I've been with At&t for years but switched to T-mobile when the Behold 2 came out. I stayed with them for about a year and a half and it was some of the worst coverage I ever had and mind you I live in a major city that's touted as having excellent t-mobile coverage. Yea that's a lie. In Houston you drive in & out of coverage all the time, a lot of dropped calls and their building penetration is just horrid. I've maybe dropped 2 calls all year with At&t and always had full bars inside a building. I think the reason you have so many negative remarks about At&t is because of the sheer volume of customers. Every company has its detractors and you'll never be able to please everybody. Its just voiced more with At&t due to their size.
 
shawn1224 said:
You couldn't have said it any better, coverage is purely regional. I've been with At&t for years but switched to T-mobile when the Behold 2 came out. I stayed with them for about a year and a half and it was some of the worst coverage I ever had and mind you I live in a major city that's touted as having excellent t-mobile coverage. Yea that's a lie. In Houston you drive in & out of coverage all the time, a lot of dropped calls and their building penetration is just horrid. I've maybe dropped 2 calls all year with At&t and always had full bars inside a building. I think the reason you have so many negative remarks about At&t is because of the sheer volume of customers. Every company has its detractors and you'll never be able to please everybody. Its just voiced more with At&t due to their size.
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Dont forget the bias started by verizon, and the media
 
shawn1224 said:
Yea that's a lie. In Houston you drive in & out of coverage all the time, a lot of dropped calls and their building penetration is just horrid. .
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See that's funny, I'm in Houston too and the only place I have bad reception with T-Mobile is up on the higher floors of my office building (20 floor building, starts to degrade around 11th floor).
 
There's plenty of complaining about TM on their fora. No one company is that good.
I've seen it said that the data from the Iphone did stress the network and they do need the bandwidth.
I've also seen articles about Verizon's LTE and Lightsquared taking off. So ATT has to compete or lose it.
Can someone explain why LTE/4G will be more efficient?
Z
 
You got to remember, if the merger happens, then coverage for both consumer base will be better. So if you have crappy At&t coverage now and great T-Mobile coverage, that's not going to change. You will still have great coverage. The problem is elsewhere as you already know, prices, T-Mobile phones to be phased out, and etc.
 
DKYang said:
You got to remember, if the merger happens, then coverage for both consumer base will be better. So if you have crappy At&t coverage now and great T-Mobile coverage, that's not going to change. You will still have great coverage. The problem is elsewhere as you already know, prices, T-Mobile phones to be phased out, and etc.
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Well the G2X from tmobile has both set of bands already ;)
 
DKYang said:
You got to remember, if the merger happens, then coverage for both consumer base will be better. So if you have crappy At&t coverage now and great T-Mobile coverage, that's not going to change. You will still have great coverage. The problem is elsewhere as you already know, prices, T-Mobile phones to be phased out, and etc.
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That is not necessarily guaranteed...given that AT&T plans on using T-Mo's 1700 AWS band for the LTE rollout. I get great coverage with T-Mo at my new job site where "all" other carriers get little to no reception. If I'm forced to an AT&T 3G device before LTE is rolled out (if ever) my reception will be degraded, if 1700 will no longer be used to support 3G.
 
colnago said:
That is not necessarily guaranteed...given that AT&T plans on using T-Mo's 1700 AWS band for the LTE rollout. I get great coverage with T-Mo at my new job site where "all" other carriers get little to no reception. If I'm forced to an AT&T 3G device before LTE is rolled out (if ever) my reception will be degraded, if 1700 will no longer be used to support 3G.
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Why would you be forced to switch before the LTE rollout? Look at the tmobile G2X it has both bands and.both 3G will work for ATT and tmobile. That's how it will be until the LTE rollout is complete the phones will support both
 
AndreaCristiano said:
Why would you be forced to switch before the LTE rollout? Look at the tmobile G2X it has both bands and.both 3G will work for ATT and tmobile. That's how it will be until the LTE rollout is complete the phones will support both
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It just depends on how AT-Mobile decides to manage the rollout and changeover. Nobody knows "for sure" exactly how its going to go down. However if one's current phone breaks, between now and then they could be forced to get a new phone lacking LTE support.

The concern would be that more concerned that "if" after the LTE rollout is complete, at least for one's respective area, that HSDPA+ would no longer be supported on the 1700 band (again, in favor of deploying LTE on 1700). If that is the case, if in an area with weak 850/1900 reception (where I am now), with the 1700 band tower gone, and sans 3G/HSDPA, in that scenario one would be worse off.

As stated, my current T-Mo Moto Defy has both AT&T and T-Mo HSPA support (as well as the new Nokias), but if that 1700 3G tower near my work goes away, I'll be stuck with the weak AT&T reception I get with my other phone.
 
colnago said:
It just depends on how AT-Mobile decides to manage the rollout and changeover. Nobody knows "for sure" exactly how its going to go down. However if one's current phone breaks, between now and then they could be forced to get a new phone lacking LTE support.

The concern would be that more concerned that "if" after the LTE rollout is complete, at least for one's respective area, that HSDPA+ would no longer be supported on the 1700 band (again, in favor of deploying LTE on 1700). If that is the case, if in an area with weak 850/1900 reception (where I am now), with the 1700 band tower gone, and sans 3G/HSDPA, in that scenario one would be worse off.

As stated, my current T-Mo Moto Defy has both AT&T and T-Mo HSPA support (as well as the new Nokias), but if that 1700 3G tower near my work goes away, I'll be stuck with the weak AT&T reception I get with my other phone.
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I don't think its gonna rollout that way. From what I hear its gonna be a roaming / Pentaband phone scenario until the LTE is fully available
 
fangorious said:
See that's funny, I'm in Houston too and the only place I have bad reception with T-Mobile is up on the higher floors of my office building (20 floor building, starts to degrade around 11th floor).
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Some horrible areas I've noticed around Houston.

- Medical Center near MD Anderson & Michael Debakey VA hospital
- Westchase area (near my job)
- HWY59 around Beltway 8 (SW Houston)

I work off Westheimer on the 6th floor and I always drop to 1 Bar w/Edge connection inside the office with T-Mobile
 
shawn1224 said:
Depending on where I'm standing I get anywhere between 2-4 bars.
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Roger that. FWIW, there are a few areas in my town, where I will have "full bars" (which is pretty throughout most of my state) in the parking lot, but get little to no signal "inside" various stores (Borders, local supermarket, etc.). Most likely thanks to the 1700 band.
 
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