switching from AT&T to T-Mobile

mentaluproar · Jul 1, 2013

I love coverage with AT&T, but the call quality is generally pretty bad and I hate their pricing. If I just pay the ETF and unlock my iPhone 4S, I can go to T-mobile and spend half of what I am with AT&T. In this area, I know a few people with the iPhone 5 that get great coverage. My concern is while I know data will be slower on my 4S than the 5 when I switch to T-mobile, how will voice coverage be? Will it be identical?

JoshGlzBrk · Jul 1, 2013

mentaluproar said:
I love coverage with AT&T, but the call quality is generally pretty bad and I hate their pricing. If I just pay the ETF and unlock my iPhone 4S, I can go to T-mobile and spend half of what I am with AT&T. In this area, I know a few people with the iPhone 5 that get great coverage. My concern is while I know data will be slower on my 4S than the 5 when I switch to T-mobile, how will voice coverage be? Will it be identical?

T-Mobile has the fastest 3G/"4G" network of all the carriers in most areas, but their overall coverage (including voice coverage) is severely lacking in rural areas.

I would look at the coverage maps to see if the area you live in and the areas you frequent have coverage before switching.

Also this app is pretty handy for comparing all 4 carriers in your area:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coverage/id388815949?mt=8

mentaluproar · Jul 1, 2013

I understand, but assuming the area I want coverage in has good reception on an iphone 5, would I still get that with my old 4S?

JoshGlzBrk · Jul 1, 2013

mentaluproar said:
I understand, but assuming the area I want coverage in has good reception on an iphone 5, would I still get that with my old 4S?

Your iPhone 4S will have the same voice capabilities as an iPhone 5.

Menel · Jul 2, 2013

mentaluproar said:
I love coverage with AT&T, but the call quality is generally pretty bad and I hate their pricing. If I just pay the ETF and unlock my iPhone 4S, I can go to T-mobile and spend half of what I am with AT&T. In this area, I know a few people with the iPhone 5 that get great coverage. My concern is while I know data will be slower on my 4S than the 5 when I switch to T-mobile, how will voice coverage be? Will it be identical?

You'll have Voice/Edge everywhere an iPhone 5 does.

You won't have LTE.

You won't have 4G where TMo is using 1700 MHz spectrum.
4S only supports TMo refarmed 1900MHz 4G areas.

osofast240sx · Jul 2, 2013

JoshGlzBrk said:
Your iPhone 4S will have the same voice capabilities as an iPhone 5.

You will have the same voice capabilities as the 5. But the get the full experience you will need a T-Mobile iPhone 5 or a unlocked version with the AWS band.

2298754 · Jul 2, 2013

OP, if you value coverage and a usable phone everywhere then AT&T and VZW are your only choices. Too many switch to TMo and Sprint thinking cheaper is better, but the reality is that TMo can't even remotely provide as reliable of service as the big two.

djransom · Jul 2, 2013

AutoUnion39 said:
OP, if you value coverage and a usable phone everywhere then AT&T and VZW are your only choices. Too many switch to TMo and Sprint thinking cheaper is better, but the reality is that TMo can't even remotely provide as reliable of service as the big two.

This is true. I made the switch and sometimes I regret it, but I refuse to go back to paying what I was.

2298754 · Jul 2, 2013

djransom said:
This is true. I made the switch and sometimes I regret it, but I refuse to go back to paying what I was.

Valid point. If you can get away with it, its alright, but if you travel a lot, etc, you have to pay the upcharge because all that EDGE is ridiculous

Anyone who claims that they have never seen EDGE on TMobile is either full of it or they don't leave their house.

djransom · Jul 2, 2013

AutoUnion39 said:
Valid point. If you can get away with it, its alright, but if you travel a lot, etc, you have to pay the upcharge because all that EDGE is ridiculous

Anyone who claims that they have never seen EDGE on TMobile is either full of it or they don't leave their house.

I've definitely seen it and the speed is very frustrating when I've seen it like to the point where I say forget it and put my phone down.

Satnam1989 · Jul 2, 2013

mentaluproar said:
I love coverage with AT&T, but the call quality is generally pretty bad and I hate their pricing. If I just pay the ETF and unlock my iPhone 4S, I can go to T-mobile and spend half of what I am with AT&T. In this area, I know a few people with the iPhone 5 that get great coverage. My concern is while I know data will be slower on my 4S than the 5 when I switch to T-mobile, how will voice coverage be? Will it be identical?

I dont know what your paying now but AT&T has the $60 GoPhone Prepaid plan...you can get refills from callingmart.com for as low as $54/month...with their 10% off coupons.

it gives you:
- Unlimited Talk + Texting (Incl International)
- Unlimited MMS
- 2GB Data (HSPA+ LTE - if you had iPhone 5)
- Visual Voicemail

doesnt get better then that...

deeddawg · Jul 2, 2013

AutoUnion39 said:
Anyone who claims that they have never seen EDGE on TMobile is either full of it or they don't leave their house.

Heck, I even see EDGE on AT&T sometimes right here in Cingular's home town.

----------

Satnam1989 said:
doesnt get better then that...

That's fine if you're single...

Price differences are a lot more substantial when you get into five line family plan and don't upgrade every line to a brand new phone every two years.

mentaluproar · Jul 2, 2013

I don't travel much. I live in akron, parents in massillon, and college in north canton ohio. T-mobile should be adequate for me, but I figured my phone would fall back to 3G, not edge.

djransom · Jul 2, 2013

mentaluproar said:
I don't travel much. I live in akron, parents in massillon, and college in north canton ohio. T-mobile should be adequate for me, but I figured my phone would fall back to 3G, not edge.

Nope it can fall back to Edge. It's happen to me a few times, but I deal with it because it's a trade off. Cheaper service that gets me by vs paying a premium for service.

parseckadet · Jul 2, 2013

AutoUnion39 said:
Valid point. If you can get away with it, its alright, but if you travel a lot, etc, you have to pay the upcharge because all that EDGE is ridiculous

Anyone who claims that they have never seen EDGE on TMobile is either full of it or they don't leave their house.

Show me one place in this thread where someone made that claim. BTW, I constantly see my 4S drop to EDGE on AT&T in my house and elsewhere. And I live in the 5th largest metropolitan area in the country. AT&T is no panacea of wonderful coverage as you constantly claim it to be.

2298754 · Jul 2, 2013

parseckadet said:
Show me one place in this thread where someone made that claim. BTW, I constantly see my 4S drop to EDGE on AT&T in my house and elsewhere. And I live in the 5th largest metropolitan area in the country. AT&T is no panacea of wonderful coverage as you constantly claim it to be.

There's a difference between getting edge in low signal situations like a building and being stuck on EDGE outside top metro areas. Plus major highways and such, where AT&T and VZW have no problem putting up LTE. But I'm sure you don't understand the difference anyways. Why bother even trying to argue.

CEmajr · Jul 2, 2013

Having 3G while driving through West Virginia isn't worth the handicapped data plans that AT&T offers. I'm fine with Tmobile.

Caesars · Jul 2, 2013

mentaluproar said:
I don't travel much. I live in akron, parents in massillon, and college in north canton ohio. T-mobile should be adequate for me, but I figured my phone would fall back to 3G, not edge.

I work in Akron, perfect lte everywhere I go. As for canton... I'll find out this weekend.

Beelzbub · Jul 2, 2013

AutoUnion39 said:
OP, if you value coverage and a usable phone everywhere then AT&T and VZW are your only choices. Too many switch to TMo and Sprint thinking cheaper is better, but the reality is that TMo can't even remotely provide as reliable of service as the big two.

Agreed, I switched to T-Mobile for the cheaper price and had decent coverage around where I lived and thought it was awesome. Then I spent a weekend traveling and half the time I had zero coverage and many missed calls. As soon as I got back home I ported back to AT&T. I'll gladly pay the extra $20 a month for much better service.

mentaluproar · Jul 2, 2013

Caesars said:
I work in Akron, perfect lte everywhere I go. As for canton... I'll find out this weekend.

According to the coverage app, I should be fine, but I know that's not always the case. Keep me posted.

bursthead · Jul 2, 2013

mentaluproar said:
According to the coverage app, I should be fine, but I know that's not always the case. Keep me posted.

Never rely on the coverage map, you can only rely on your cancellation policy.

switching from AT&T to T-Mobile

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