Thinking about leaving VZW for T-Mobile

[Shabbypenguin]

To each his own I guess. I'm just always curious as to why everyone rags on Verizon in these forums when clearly they are no more expensive than the other carriers.

i dont like verizons policies on various things, and coming from sprint i had unlimited everything for 75 bucks a month vs something that is fine for the "average" user you pay 100 bucks for 2gb's

att and verizon pricewise are similar, verizon just has a better network. sprint and tmobile can be cheaper.

 

[jamjr74]

i dont like verizons policies on various things, and coming from sprint i had unlimited everything for 75 bucks a month vs something that is fine for the "average" user you pay 100 bucks for 2gb's

att and verizon pricewise are similar, verizon just has a better network. sprint and tmobile can be cheaper.

I do see a big price difference if u have a single line your right. Family plans are close in price. A single on T-Mobile is only $70 compared to Verizon's $90-$100.

 

[new optimus]

That was my fee for 2 lines. $50 1st line plus $20 for unlimited data. 2nd line was $30 plus $10 for data.

Was your verizon $145 with unlimited data? if not not quite a valid comparison.

 

[Rxpert83]

I do see a big price difference if u have a single line your right. Family plans are close in price. A single on T-Mobile is only $70 compared to Verizon's $90-$100.

But with T-Mobile you're unlimited and with Verizon you have a data cap

 

[jamjr74]

Nope not unlimited. That's why I said it all depends on your data use. I don't need unlimited. If you do then Verizon won't work.

 

[new optimus]

Nope not unlimited. That's why I said it all depends on your data use. I don't need unlimited. If you do then Verizon won't work.

I actually rarely go over 3gb's, I went over 5gbs when I had the $30 plan one time. But that was because my home cable, comcast was down for a week.


but my point is you could have got by with a $100 t mobile to your $145 verizon would have influenced the outcome no?

 

[jamjr74]

Well I use around 3gb and wife uses around 1gb. I could probably have gotten away with the 2.5 for my line. Maybe $100 a month. Your right might have come out a bit cheaper then Verizon but still nothing mind blowing.
I went to t-mobile so I could use the Nexus 5 which I liked a lot but the coverage didn't work for me. Wish it did. Liked the phone. Lol

 

[new optimus]

Well I use around 3gb and wife uses around 1gb. I could probably have gotten away with the 2.5 for my line. Maybe $100 a month. Your right might have come out a bit cheaper then Verizon but still nothing mind blowing.
I went to t-mobile so I could use the Nexus 5 which I liked a lot but the coverage didn't work for me. Wish it did. Liked the phone. Lol

Yes, you still have it or did you sell it?

I wish google and verizon could have come to an agreement its great that one phone could actually work on all american networks.
Not a version of the phone but the actual same phone, If I wanted I could buy a nexus 5 and put it on t mobile, dont like it move over to sprint. get tired of sprint jump to att.

 

[mogelijk]

I think thats the confusion most have. Did you see my previous 2 year breakdown. Verizon was cheaper of 2 years then Tmobile! With phone costs of course. I have this discussion with guys at work all the time, lol. If you do the math over 2 years Tmobile is no cheaper! Depending on data use of course.

Tmobile is just being creative with their marketibg thats all!!!! Another example is their new "Houdini" campaing that is coming out where they say they will pay your etf fee to join them up to $350. SOunds great right!! Well from what I have been reading it seems like it will be geared towatd family plans moving 5 lines over who get the $350. A single line might get $50-$100 to offset the etf from another carrier. Still pretty good right? But there a catch, you have to give them your old phone!!!! So in my case I would give them a phone worth $350-$400 and get $50-$100 back!!!!! All I am saying is really look at the deal!!!! Smoke and mirrors!!!!!

If you sit down and price out Verizon, T-Mobile, SPrint and At&t with phone prices they are all fairly close in price. Sure some are a bit cheaper but the savings is just not as great as people think. That is my only point.

It seems like you are playing a bit fast and loose with some of your claims, to stack things toward Verizon. For example, it appears you get some type of discount with Verizon that makes your plan $145.

From what I see, the Verizon plan you are talking about (a 4GB shared plan) costs $150 for two smartphones, and the T-Mobile plan is $100 for one line with Unlimited service and a second with 500 MB. I'm assuming the reason you are claiming $110 for T-Mobile is including tax and that your discount is taking your Verizon plan to $145 after tax -- but it doesn't change the fact the actual plan cost would be $160+ for most people -- and that type of price difference gives T-Mobile a clear advantage.

The other thing is you appear to be basing this off of "power users" -- and we, who are on this type of forum, are the minority of most Americans. Most people don't buy a new phone when it is first released but will typically wait for it to be on "sale", not to mention they typically don't change their phones every 2 years (most people I know aren't even sure when they will be eligible to get a new phone). It also helps that you fit almost perfectly at the 4 GB cut off that Verizon has -- if you needed 4.5 GB, or 2.5 GB, suddenly that would again, even with your discount, tip the scales back to T-Mobile.

I will agree that one size does not fit all; IOW, T-Mobile is not the best choice for everyone. The fact remains though, for many Americans they do offer significant savings, particularly over AT&T and Verizon. It just all depends what type of phone user you are.

 

[new optimus]

And location. In his defense t mobile coverage was not consistent enough for his purposes.

 

[jamjr74]

Yes, you still have it or did you sell it?

I wish google and verizon could have come to an agreement its great that one phone could actually work on all american networks.
Not a version of the phone but the actual same phone, If I wanted I could buy a nexus 5 and put it on t mobile, dont like it move over to sprint. get tired of sprint jump to att.

Sorry sold it on swappa.....

 

[Shabbypenguin]

either way guys, he tried it and wasnt happy, he was just posting his experience. most wont even try to switch just because. we arent here to try and convince him to switch, i mean im not making any commission, so if new optimus does i demand half ;P but instead offer guidance on what we can

 

[new optimus]

Lol ya I wish.
I just like saving money, I like helping someone else save some too if its possible for them.
T mobile helped me save money but even more importantly they gave me the service I desired, but then I found even more savings with no compromise on the service.... just dont expect customer service lmao

 

[jamjr74]

It seems like you are playing a bit fast and loose with some of your claims, to stack things toward Verizon. For example, it appears you get some type of discount with Verizon that makes your plan $145.

From what I see, the Verizon plan you are talking about (a 4GB shared plan) costs $150 for two smartphones, and the T-Mobile plan is $100 for one line with Unlimited service and a second with 500 MB. I'm assuming the reason you are claiming $110 for T-Mobile is including tax and that your discount is taking your Verizon plan to $145 after tax -- but it doesn't change the fact the actual plan cost would be $160+ for most people -- and that type of price difference gives T-Mobile a clear advantage.

The other thing is you appear to be basing this off of "power users" -- and we, who are on this type of forum, are the minority of most Americans. Most people don't buy a new phone when it is first released but will typically wait for it to be on "sale", not to mention they typically don't change their phones every 2 years (most people I know aren't even sure when they will be eligible to get a new phone). It also helps that you fit almost perfectly at the 4 GB cut off that Verizon has -- if you needed 4.5 GB, or 2.5 GB, suddenly that would again, even with your discount, tip the scales back to T-Mobile.

I will agree that one size does not fit all; IOW, T-Mobile is not the best choice for everyone. The fact remains though, for many Americans they do offer significant savings, particularly over AT&T and Verizon. It just all depends what type of phone user you are.

I do get a discount on Verizon, I stated that. I actually pay $139 and change per month! I was just basing it off my situation as all are different. Also most I know upgrade every 2-3 years except for my parents who have the Motorola Star-Tac- lol.....

The T-Mobile plan I had was $110 per month. $50 for line 1 plus $20 for unlimited data- Line 2 was $30 plus $10 for 2.5gbs of data = $110 plus tax and fees.

Every plan and situation is different of course but just take the time and crunch the numbers to see the true cost!!!

 

[jamjr74]

either way guys, he tried it and wasnt happy, he was just posting his experience. most wont even try to switch just because. we arent here to try and convince him to switch, i mean im not making any commission, so if new optimus does i demand half ;P but instead offer guidance on what we can

Thanks Shabby. Just posting my personal findings. I switch phones constantly and always research the carriers in hopes of saving money. I just felt the need to post because i too want everyone on here to get the best deal possible and to read in between the lines of these plans! Anyway I am liking the changes being made recently by the carriers and hopefully it will turn into a heated competition so we can all reap the benefits. Thanks guys.

 

[mogelijk]

I do get a discount on Verizon, I stated that. I actually pay $139 and change per month! I was just basing it off my situation as all are different. Also most I know upgrade every 2-3 years except for my parents who have the Motorola Star-Tac- lol.....

The T-Mobile plan I had was $110 per month. $50 for line 1 plus $20 for unlimited data- Line 2 was $30 plus $10 for 2.5gbs of data = $110 plus tax and fees.

Every plan and situation is different of course but just take the time and crunch the numbers to see the true cost!!!

Fair enough, and I didn't have a problem with you stating that Verizon does work out just as cheaply for you. My only issue is when you tried to extrapolate that, because it works out for you this way, T-Mobile isn't significantly less expensive for many people.

I'd also add that an advantage of the way T-Mobile is doing it is that it actually allows people to see what they are paying for the phone (and benefit from buying a less expensive phone). For people who are happy with mid or low end phones, they actually end up paying much more for phone service with subsidies, because they typically are still paying as if they own a high end phone (other than the difference in initial payment). I think there is a real consumer benefit to separating the cost of the phone and the service plan.

 

[jamjr74]

Fair enough, and I didn't have a problem with you stating that Verizon does work out just as cheaply for you. My only issue is when you tried to extrapolate that, because it works out for you this way, T-Mobile isn't significantly less expensive for many people.

I'd also add that an advantage of the way T-Mobile is doing it is that it actually allows people to see what they are paying for the phone (and benefit from buying a less expensive phone). For people who are happy with mid or low end phones, they actually end up paying much more for phone service with subsidies, because they typically are still paying as if they own a high end phone (other than the difference in initial payment). I think there is a real consumer benefit to separating the cost of the phone and the service plan.

No problem man. Yeah every scenario is different. Whatever works. Who knows if t-mobile merges with sprint like the rumors suggest it may work better for me.

 

[chong67]

Somebody had 96GB of download on his Tmobile. I can dig for that screenshot. Try that with ATT or VZW.

 

[jamjr74]

Wow that's crazy!!! That's more than I use in a year!!!! What on earth could he be doing to rack up that much???

 

[akmsr]

tethering, hi def video streaming/downloading, torrenting.
if i had a better signal i would have gotten netflix.

 

[Bodycount]

I do get a discount on Verizon, I stated that. I actually pay $139 and change per month! I was just basing it off my situation as all are different. Also most I know upgrade every 2-3 years except for my parents who have the Motorola Star-Tac- lol.....

The T-Mobile plan I had was $110 per month. $50 for line 1 plus $20 for unlimited data- Line 2 was $30 plus $10 for 2.5gbs of data = $110 plus tax and fees.

Every plan and situation is different of course but just take the time and crunch the numbers to see the true cost!!!

And just like your discount, I get a 15% work discount with T-Mobile. For one line with 2.5 GB and my $26 phone fee I'm paying $77 before tax. Got a friend who's with Verizon who is grandfathered unlimited (so he has to pay full price for new phones) and he's paying $95 a month after tax. And that's with only 250 texts a month. He can't even switch to 1000 or unlimited texts because if he did they would put him on a new contract and he'd lose unlimited data so he's screwed.

I could add a line to mine for $25 (with my discount) and add 2.5 GB data for $10 more for a total of $112. Two lines, 2.5 GB data each. Or add unlimited data to both phones (something Verizon doesn't do) for a total of right around $130 a month before tax. That's still less than your $139 a month.

And in two years, my bill drops down to $102. With Verizon you're still paying $139 a month.

 

[jamjr74]

Sounds like it's working alright for you. As long as you get coverage stick with it! You also forgot to add the price of the second phone in if you added a line, so youd be paying around $150-$155 a month.... But it's all good. You will definitly save some cash if you keep the phones 3 or 4 years. I always need the latest and greatest so I could never wait that long.

Anyone ever try straight talk? Any reviews?

 

[Bodycount]

Anyone ever try straight talk? Any reviews?

Straight Talk uses the T-Mobile network. At least it does here in Columbus. So as long as you don't mind the T-Mobile network, you're fine.

 

[new optimus]

Sounds like it's working alright for you. As long as you get coverage stick with it! You also forgot to add the price of the second phone in if you added a line, so youd be paying around $150-$155 a month.... But it's all good. You will definitly save some cash if you keep the phones 3 or 4 years. I always need the latest and greatest so I could never wait that long.

Anyone ever try straight talk? Any reviews?

hmm, nope
Actually my dad in IA is on the straight talk Att sim, he gets voice everywhere, He is a over the road truck driver, but his data is edge speeds in places. he had straight talk with verizon towers but his phone was junk so it was worthless to compare the 2.

Straight Talk uses the T-Mobile network. At least it does here in Columbus. So as long as you don't mind the T-Mobile network, you're fine.

Straight talk actually resells for all of the big 4, they have verizon/sprint/t mobile/ and att. You just pick which towers work the best for you and go. but there phone selection for cdma (sprint and verizon) are slightly crappy.
Let me rephrase that the phone selection they have for all are slightly crappy, but with gsm you can use any gsm phone that works with the towers you want to use. So any high end gsm will work.

 

[jamjr74]

Not a bad deal for $45. I've seen t-mobile and AT&T Sims but didn't know they had all 4. Nice.