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Oridus

macrumors 65816
Oct 8, 2012
1,286
1,629
it really depends on how many people you have on your plan, and how long you keep your phone for without upgrading.

ATT Monthly bill 1 line - for Unlimited Minutes, unlimited texts, 5gb data = 140/month With ATT


140/month * 24 Months = 3360/2years + 200 for iphone = $3560+Tax




T-Mobile Monthly bill 1 line - Unlimited Minutes, Unlimited Texts, Unlimited Highspeed data - $70 * 24 = $1680 + $650 for iPhone = $2330+Tax



So: ATT = $3560 - with only 5GB data
T-Mobile = $2330 - With unlimited data

Source - AT&T and T-Mobile Websites.

Now if you keep the phone a 3rd year the changes are even more drastic

Or mobile share 4 gig on AT&T:

1 line unlimited talk/txt/4gig data = $2640 + $200 for phone = $2840

So in reality the difference is $30 a month. Most people still use wifi so unlimited is not needed in a lot of cases. I work at AT&T and it's RARE I see people go over 4 gigs regularly... I'm talking possibly 1 out of 75
 

Mr Hill

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2012
500
1
Charlotte, NC
Hello! I am always hearing abiut those cheap plans you guys are telling us but when i go on tmobile site i can not find it , can you please point us to those cheap plans , i would like to get onto that ,whats the name of that plan specificaly so i can find it on tmobile site ? Thank you ! If you can help us with t,he info .

The cheaper Value plans are not available online. You have to go into a store to sign up for one. Online they only offer the more expensive Classic Plan. Those are the ones that come with a subsidized device.
 

-Advances

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2012
33
0
AT&T has enjoyed being the dominant GSM carrier in the US for way too long. Verizon and Sprint don't even count because of their limited technology. T-Mobile can finally bring out all the beauty in the GSM version. Once they're re farmed they will have such a better network than AT&T.

*LTE Advanced, with HSPA+ 42 to fall back on. (AT&T currently maxes their HSPA+ network out at 21mbps which is VERY congested. The iPhone 5 supports DC HSPA+. :D

*Simultaneous voice and data the RIGHT WAY. AT&T currently throttles speeds during calls with very high pings. T-Mobile DOES NOT, and one can surf the web and talk the way it was suppose to be. Research this if you don't believe me.

*TRULY unlimited data with no overages, no throttling, or metering.

*Cheaper monthly service which benefits those who like to pay full price right away.

*Visual Voicemail for T-Mobile

Yeah that's just a few. I for one can't wait to ditch AT&T and hop on T-Mobile very soon with my unlocked iPhone 5.

How can you say T-Mobile has better technology than Verizon. Lmao I have Verizon and I know I have the best provider
 
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tymaster50

Suspended
Oct 3, 2012
2,833
58
Oregon
How can you say T-Mobile has better technology than Verizon. Lmao I have Verizon and I know I have the best provider

T-Mobile technically does have better technology lol their speeds are way faster than Verizon's 3G. Their network just isn't as mature.
 
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kevink2

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2008
1,842
294
At least it should be easier to do early upgrades if a new phone comes out. Just pay off what you owe on the previous phone, and buy a new one (with new payments).

I wonder whether they will be locked or unlocked? If sold at full price, then i would hope unlocked. (Though I guess I could see them unlocking when paied off).

However, say you bought one, plan to pay off over 20 months, then 12 months later decide to trade phones with someone else. Still paying for the phone. But shouldn't the phone be unlocked then?
 

Cebuano1976

macrumors regular
Oct 11, 2012
137
0
Verrado, Buckeye, Arizona
Hello! CebuAno ,please can you tell us more about that plan ,it seems to good to be true ,whats the name of the plan? ,and how exactely can i get it , so basicaly 4 phones with internet plans for 115 $ , is that altogether ,or for a single phone ? If its for 4 phones i want to get on that plan , can you help us all get onto that plan please .Thank you ! If you can reply with the info.

Hi. It's the T-Mobile Value Plan.

Unlimited Minutes & Text $79.99

Unlimited Data $9.99 / line

Employee Discount is included though. $15
 

jonslider

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2010
22
0
> So: ATT = $3560 - with only 5GB data
> T-Mobile = $2330 - With unlimited data

thanks for the analysis, very helpful

so, ATT costs $50 a month MORE than Tmobile.

for the extra $50, ATT provides 4G and in some areas also LTE. Meanwhile Tmobile provides unlimited EDGE data, that is so painfully slow, you won't be able to use it, and will end up on WIFI all the time.

So, IF you use WIFI all the time, Tmobile is a better deal.

IF you actually use your iPhone to connect to Data off wifi, then ATT is MUCH more useful, and as you said, that much more expensive.

Of course, 2 years from now, when Im out of contract on my subsidized iPhone 5 with ATT, I could move to Tmobile, IF they have their LTE network working in my area by then.

I agree ATT's data plan is NOT unlimited. My unlimited plan, old and grandfathered, drops to EDGE speeds when I exceed 5gigs of data..

So, would I rather have unlimited EDGE with Tmobile, and save $50, or 5gigs of 4g and LTE data speeds on ATT. I chose to go with a company that provides 4g and LTE. I am not willing to have a plan that only gives EDGE or 3G speeds..

I did some speed tests
my ATT iPhone 5 goes 14 to 33mbps on LTE, it does about 4 to 6 mbps on 4G, and it does .5mbps throttled

I used to get 1mbps on my iPhone 3GS, and my home wifi gives me about 6mbps

> T-Mobile - 3 Lines, Unlimited Voice/Text, 5GB Data + Hotspot
$199.99

> AT&T - 3 Lines, Unlimited Voice/Text, 6GB Data + Hotspot
$195.00

hmmmm, I guess were not comparing apples and apples :). I mean, the Tmobile plan, will give SUPER slow data on an iPhone. Unless you mean, use a non iPhone on Tmobile, then yes, you could get fast data.. but not on iPhone.

> Honestly unless T-Mobile has poor coverage in your area or 2G only, there's really no other reason to choose any of the other 3 carriers once they finally get the iPhone.

I agree : T-Mobile DOES have very poor coverage in my area and 2G only on iPhone. There is no reason to go with Tmobile, unless you don't plan to use data off wifi. In which case, maybe you don't need a smartphone with a data plan at all.

> I wonder whether they will be locked or unlocked? If sold at full price, then i would hope unlocked.

It is VERY easy and inexpensive to unlock an ATT iPhone. I have unlocked my ATT iPhone 5. The unlock cost $3.15 from Unlock Fusion
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unlock-Code...836?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec370795c

> Unlimited Data $9.99 / line

Unlimited EDGE or 3g is not very impressive. I will be interested when Tmobile offers unlimited LTE on iPhone.
 

scottw324

macrumors 6502
Mar 5, 2012
453
1
I switched from AT&T to Verizon and have been very happy with the change. Voice and data at the same time would be nice but it is something I can live without since I never used that option really. Would text and use data versus talk and data. Overall, very happy I left AT&T. Cheaper, more data, faster speeds and way more coverage.

As someone said earlier though, I would rather pay alittle more for usable or fast data connection than pay less for a budget plan and be stuck on EDGE a lot. AT&T's EDGE sucked a$$ so much that I barely used my data each month (unlimited plan) since it would take forever to connect to anything, or my apps would time out. With Verizon LTE I get 38 Mbps down and 25 Mbps up. And while Verizon may only get 1 Mbps down and 1 Mbps upload speeds, the data seems to work faster than AT&T where I got 3 down and 1 up. I have a 6 GB plan that's shared between my two iPhone 5s and my 2 iPads via wifi/Bluetooth tether. I rarely use more than 3 GB per month. So having an unlimited plan is great and all but if you can't use the data to it's full advantage then it is kind of useless.
 
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