TMOBILE - thoughts, suggestions, concerns?

[JustSomeDude]

Getting a little tired of the weak hardware lineup with VZW and considering the switch to TMobs for the HTC One.

Can anyone speak to the quality of service?

How about coverage here in Colorado; the west in general?

I'll be losing my grandfathered unlimited plan, but the 5GB cap from TMob is more than I ever use; but do they throttle for heavy bandwidth users?

Any other input before I switch?

Thanks in advance!

[Grim2.0]

PM Incoming

[DiddysR6]

Tmobile is the #4 carrier in the US for a reason, spotty coverage in the south metro area, also their 4g.. is HSPA+ caps around 7mb up.. which should be enough for the normal user.. however if you have been on VZW 4glte you are probably used to 15-20mb up so its a big change. I do like the new BYOD plan that Tmob offers. But if you are looking at a new device, unless you can pay outright for it, its the same price as anywhere else. A decent option to VZW is Sprint. I never had any issues with them

[bulldog]

I hated Tmobile....but for some reason I could not get a signal in my house when I had them. Granted it is a old brick house, but was pretty annoyed when I called them and they said they can only guarantee coverage outside and would not let me out of the contract. Was a fun two years leaving my cellphone on a windowsill to get calls.

That was about 5 years ago though, so maybe they have improved. They are usually the cheapest service and I always feel you get what you pay for.

[dapper]

Never exceeded the limit on data. The retention department has the power to keep business flowing...

HTC One performs well. (I have one, love the slide/spell text bit)
Pic quality better than iPhone 5. (Could be photographer)
HD video impressive.
Battery lasts all day, most days.

Verizon leads in some areas over T-Mobile...

[asp_125]

I left TMO last year to go to AT&T because they could give me a better deal on a Galaxy S3. TMO coverage < ATT < VZW, at least in the metro fringe areas. ATT 4GLTE has been nice. I lost my unlimited data plan in favor of a 5Gb but haven't had any problems with throttling.

[DiddysR6]

Never exceed the limit on data. The retention department has the power to keep business flowing...

HTC One performs well. (I have one, love the slide/spell text bit)
Pic quality better than iPhone 5. (Could be photographer)
HD video impressive.
Battery lasts all day, most days.

Verizon leads in some areas over T-Mobile...


What do you think about the One vs Galaxy S4

[dapper]

I do not know anything about the S4.
The S3 has a high SARS level...

[DFab]

I read HTC will be selling the one direct and unlocked and it will work on both att and tmobile. You'll save at least $500 in the long run buying the phone in one payment instead of over a two year contract.

[TFOGGuys]

Been with TMO for about 8 years now. Coverage is greatly improved. Currently on a S3, love the phone. Kind of ambivalent about their customer service, but their equipment has been seriously upgraded. They're rolling out 4G LTE nationwide in the next 2 years, until then the 3.25G HSPA+ works ok for most stuff, but streaming video is a little spotty during periods of high network congestion. I like the ability to use wifi calling at home and at the shop. Data roaming sucks (like 200 mb limit per billing period), which was a problem when we went to NM last November and were using the phones for navigation and information. They charge extra if you want to tether a laptop.

[FZ1Guy]

If you live in an area (like i do) that has poor cellular coverage... there is a solution. Just call your cell provider and they will check to see if you are in a bad or fringe area.

Just explain that you cant really get a signal from your home.

ATT and others have a device called a "Microcell" or other providers call them a "Femtocell".

Here is how it works, you need to have internet at your location in order for this to work. The device has GPS to determine its location, for 911 service, etcs.

So, for FREE most companies will send you a microcell which you can just put on a shelf or somewhere near a window. Then you have your own PERSONAL cell tower... works FANTASTIC!!! & you get 4G (not LTE though)

See pic below of the ATT model (on the right):
http://scottfillmer.me/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/DSC_8547-att-micro-cell.jpg

[Penadam]

Get service all around Denver, 4g most places. Only had trouble getting service one place in South Dakota when I was traveling a bunch. I consistently get 21 mbit/s download on 4g, it's unlimited and $20 cheaper a month than att or Verizon.

[Captain Obvious]

We left Tmobile 6 months ago. Had them for one contract. Too many places between Denver and COS where I would lose signal, and many in COS.

I was traveling a lot back then, service was spotty in most of the places I went. My wife found an entire city in Nebraska wher she had no signal.

I found customer service to be very good. And I called a lot due to issues. Both with the lack of coverage and having to replace the phones twice.

To date, coverage is better and besides the wait at the VZN stores, happy to be back.

[mxer]

Just check out the coverage maps between the two. I would take and inferior phone (Verzion) with kick ass coverage over a great phone with crap coverage (Tmobile)

[Clovis]

I worked for Tmobile for 4 years in my early 20s (tech support).

They've made tremendous improvements over the last 10 years but the greatest complaint then and still now is coverage.

I had Verizon for 3 years and the coverage was better but not quite "OMG this is awesome!!" What I hated about Verizon is they nickle and dime you for everything. It's just the most expensive carrier.

I've had ATT (for the iPhone) for the last 3 years. I'm quite satisfied. I've had coverage everywhere I go with the exception of the middle of no where / remote mountains. Price is reasonable, I think we pay $130/mo for two iPhone plans with unlimited text and a 2gb data plan which might as well be unlimited. I have wifi at the house and at work.

Before switching from Verizon to ATT we tried TMO again for about a week. The HTC phones were crap, the coverage was crap and this was in Colorado Springs.

Not to start a iPhone v Andriod debate but I will say I live my iphone 5, it's the perfect size and I use it for everything from business, music (via bluetooth -- I have a bluetooth stereo in my office, in my helmet.. in my cars, ect -- it just pairs up automatically when within range), calander, email. I use it for my GPS when riding (get the Garmin app, it's $50 but predownloads the 1.5GB US map so the GPS works when out of cell service), weather maps, forecast, maps, ect.

I have a ram mount for the phone right on my bike, it clicks in and plays my music, gives me directions wirelessly, ect.

I love it.

[Jmetz]

Sprint sucks IMO. If I wasn't getting it for a low cost I would've been gone a long time ago. The only thing I can depend on is that I won't have service when I need it. I drop calls constantly. I can barely pull in 3G most of the time. I can't even stream pandora sometimes. Their customer service is good but their actual sevice is slightly better then tin cans on a string.

[Keyser Soze]

They are upgrading their networks faster than any other carrier right now. In most cases with better technology. Only reason I switched to VZW is the Bechtel discount. Tmobile has the best customer service IMO.

[The Black Knight]

I hated T-Mobile. I went on a hunting trip in 2010 near Sawatch and had really crappy service the whole time. I'd get signal going through Canon City, Salida and Poncha Springs, then loose it as soon as I'd hit the highway. Up on the mountain where we were hunting, my friend had full bars + data on his Verizon phone.

As soon as I got back into town, I went over to Verizon. Opened an account with them, then went over to T-Mobile to cancel my other account. Been with Verizon ever since and love their service. I've always got the ability to call out when in the Mountains. Data I really don't care that much about, as most of the time in the hills it's 3G or 1X.

Sure Verizon is higher in price compared to T-Mobile, but I ultimately believe you get what you pay for in terms of coverage and service. T-Mobile were awesome and I'd been with since they were Voicestream. But their coverage sucked and I had enough of it. I used to lose calls in the city with T-Mobile, I've rarely dropped a call in town with Verizon.

Obviously since I've got a Droid, I have to have the Data plan so that's added price. But if I just went with phone service vs. phone service I'd only be about $25 a month more compared to T-Mobile. That's the other reason why I love Verizon more now. Everyone I know is on Verizon, so I've got the basic calling plan with minimum minutes. Everyone I talk to is free, and that wasn't the case with T-Mobile.

All said and done with my discount I get, I still only pay about $50 a month more for Verizon(but that's because $30 of it is Data plan). Stick with Verizon is you want coverage. Yeah they don't offer the most amazing phone options(though I personally love the Droid and won't even look at an IPhone or Galaxy) but they make up for it in coverage and service.