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blairh

macrumors 603
Dec 11, 2007
5,824
4,080
I can't believe their "support" is that arrogant, even on social media. Good lord.

"Should you need to stream videos and audios, please connect to WiFi." I wouldn't even consider these clowns.



Michael

+1. What nonsense.
 

TouchMint.com

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2012
1,625
318
Phoenix
T-mobile doesn't come close to the coverage provided by AT&T. That is reality.

Michael

Very very true I was just speaking about 4g tho (which att doesnt offer no matter what on the plan). As for reg service you are right looks like you found a good point.


btw I have att and have had it for about 5 years so im not trying to hate.
 

mossme89

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2009
596
131
for those trying to compare the two plans, would help a lot if you add totals and factor in the taxes and fees for the T-mobile service (AIO does not charge extras). you will quickly see that it's about the same price for both. now for the service, att's network is far superior to t-mobile and there is no question about that and here is why:
T-mobile operates a 1900 MHZ network where as att operates an 850 MHZ
for those of you knowledgble enough about the subject, an 850 wireless signal travels much better than 1900 (indoor penetration) and assuming the same number of cell site for both companies (att has far more cell towers) att would have a better coverage.

Isn't 850 GSM (EDGE) only?
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
att's network is far superior to t-mobile and there is no question about that and here is why:
T-mobile operates a 1900 MHZ network where as att operates an 850 MHZ
FWIW, there are only two carriers in a region that can operate at 850 MHZ -- the rest use 1900 and the other various frequencies.

Down here in the Mid-Atlantic (VA/NC/SC), AT&T has little to none 850 MHZ coverage. They operate at 1900 just like T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.

Where I live (in VA), it used to be Verizon and Alltel that had the two 850 blocks. But then Verizon bought Alltel, so as far as I can tell, Verizon has both 850 blocks here.

If anyone is curious, here is a link where you can type in your ZIP CODE and it will tell you which frequencies are being used by which carriers in your area:

http://www.wirelessadvisor.com/zipcode-search/4t8a8cdNen
 

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Tinmania

macrumors 68040
Aug 8, 2011
3,528
1,016
Aridzona
Very very true I was just speaking about 4g tho (which att doesnt offer no matter what on the plan). As for reg service you are right looks like you found a good point.


btw I have att and have had it for about 5 years so im not trying to hate.
I'm not either--and I have had at&t since the first iphone came out. I really want to be able to use tmob as it would save me a lot each month.... but can't do it because of the coverage. Dang.



Michael
 

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
$55/month for 2GB data??? For once I'm glad to live in the UK -- I pay about $20/month for unlimited data, 600 mins, 2000 texts, and got about $100 cashback for signing up for 12 months

When someone says something like you do I just realize how much you are paying for gas in the UK. :p
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
When someone says something like you do I just realize how much you are paying for gas in the UK. :p

Sure but in such a little country like that, they don't need as much gas as we do here in the massive land called America. ;)

(or does that big country argument only work one way?)

More seriously, good for them, to live in a place where real competition drives their prices down and they can much more easily hop carrier to carrier to get the best deal (without having to buy new phones). Instead of finding fault with them, we should wish for similar shows of the positive power of capitalism in the good old U.S.A. How it's working in places like that is how it should work here. We've just allowed it to get increasingly broken by allowing too few to have too much.

It reminds me of "too big to fail" banks requiring massive bailouts a few years ago. So of course the banks that required those bailouts were all broken up, right? Of course not. They're bigger today than they were then. The "too big to fail" was the justification to take from the masses and give to the few. But there were no real consequences for those that required the bailouts. Instead, later that same year, they paid themselves the biggest bonuses in the history of Wall Street. It's just another very tangible illustration of broken capitalism.

Good for those in other countries getting the version of capitalism that benefits consumers. Hopefully, we'll get back to that here someday.
 
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Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
Sure but in such a little country like that, they don't need as much gas as we do here in the massive land called America. ;)

(or does that big country argument only work one way?)

Just teasing him that is why used ":p" at the end. I have no idea how much gas someone needs to use in the UK and for all I know the OP does not drive a vehicle.
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,728
701
for those trying to compare the two plans, would help a lot if you add totals and factor in the taxes and fees for the T-mobile service (AIO does not charge extras). you will quickly see that it's about the same price for both.

There are no extra charges for T-mobile Prepaid. I am charged exactly $30 per month for the 5GB 4G, Unlimited Text, 100 minute plan. In fact I can buy the recharge cards for 10-20% discount on eBay, so my actual cost is $24-$27 per month.

If you buy the recharge cards at a local retailer or recharge through the T-mobile web-site, you may pay your state's sales tax depending on tax laws in your state.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Just teasing him that is why used ":p" at the end. I have no idea how much gas someone needs to use in the UK and for all I know the OP does not drive a vehicle.

Oh, I was just teasing through your message at the rest in this thread trying to argue that because America is a bigger place, we naturally must pay a lot more for cell phone service. While I'll agree there may be a little to that argument, several make it sound like it's up to entirely responsible for why we pay so much.
 

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,447
1,224
Charlotte, NC
Well folks here is competition at work. T-Mobile's new plans have only been available for a little over a month now and AT&T has already responded with decent prepaid plans for the first time ever. I personally couldn't live with being permanently throttled to 4mbps but it works out just fine for some. It's a step in the right direction.

I like this move from AT&T but what I really want to see is them restructure their postpaid plans to something similar to T-Mobile's uncarrier. I know theirs would be a little more expensive because they have an overall better network. Maybe by the end of this year T-Mobile will be successful enough for AT&T to adopt the same model and end the ridiculous subsidy model here in the US.
 

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
Oh, I was just teasing through your message at the rest in this thread trying to argue that because America is a bigger place, we naturally must pay a lot more for cell phone service. While I'll agree there may be a little to that argument, several make it sound like it's up to entirely responsible for why we pay so much.

I think what T-Mobile is attempting to do is a good start. I think that what the wireless carriers are charging is ridiculous for what you get. There is no real incentive for the wireless carriers, in the US, to lower the price for cell service to reasonable prices.
 

xkmxkmxlmx

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2011
885
113
For a single non-family user, this is a good deal. Why is no one doing the 2 year math?

To have a comprable plan in contract on AT&T you would pay $90-$100 a month (for the low end).

24x100+200(price of subsidized phone)=$2600

24x55+650=$1970

Saving $630 over 2 years.
 

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
Well folks here is competition at work. T-Mobile's new plans have only been available for a little over a month now and AT&T has already responded with decent prepaid plans for the first time ever. I personally couldn't live with being permanently throttled to 4mbps but it works out just fine for some. It's a step in the right direction.

I like this move from AT&T but what I really want to see is them restructure their postpaid plans to something similar to T-Mobile's uncarrier. I know theirs would be a little more expensive because they have an overall better network. Maybe by the end of this year T-Mobile will be successful enough for AT&T to adopt the same model and end the ridiculous subsidy model here in the US.

I agree. The subsidy model needs to go away. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint don't even lower their rates once the subsidy period is over. You just continue to pay the same as if the subsidy was still active. Yes, the ETF does go away at the end of the subsidy.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
I think what T-Mobile is attempting to do is a good start. I think that what the wireless carriers are charging is ridiculous for what you get. There is no real incentive for the wireless carriers, in the US, to lower the price for cell service to reasonable prices.

Correct. I even wonder if TMobile's move might have led to Aio. It doesn't seem like much of an AT&T tactic to roll out apparent savings for consumers. Maybe TMobile's move made them a little nervous.

Yesterday, people were beating down 500K Tmobile sales. But 500K paying monthly fees for potentially years is nothing to put down... even for the monster that is AT&T. I'd like to have 5K or 50K people sending me $50/month.
 
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Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
Correct. I even wonder if TMobiles move might have led to Aio. It doesn't seem like much of an AT&T tactic to roll out apparent savings for consumers. Maybe TMobiles move made them a little nervous.

Yesterday, people were beating down 500K Tmobile sales. But 500K paying monthly fees is nothing to put down... even for the monster that is AT&T.

The 500K sales is in the span of about 3 weeks. The AT&T plan still is a shared data plan. With the T-Mobile plan each user gets seperate data usage.

I am still not sure why T-Mobile is discounting the iPhone 5 by $70. Don't get me wrong I am certainly glad to be able to take advantage of it.
 

RLRabb

macrumors regular
Jan 26, 2011
129
138
Can someone provide a link to the Net10 web page that actually sells AT&T compatible sims?
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
this sounds like a more expensive Straight Talk / NET 10 ATT SIM
ST / NET10 has HSPA+ So I imagine it's the same here..

No LTE on any US prepaid yet, so that's a given.

FWIW I usually have 3mbps down 1mbps up on my iPhone 4 on ST. Plenty for me. Especially when its ~$38 /mo if you buy time on eBay/ read HowardForums for Deals.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5

manu chao

macrumors 604
Jul 30, 2003
7,219
3,031
I take it you haven't read all the posts where people complain about poor coverage outside of metro areas in the USA, and want more. Your point has some merit that a simple land-area measurement doesn't make a full comparison of the 4th largest country to a tiny island only twice as big as our largest city, but it is more important than you are allowing.
Comparing a cost per customer with a cost per country has close to zero merit.
Why would you expect that cellphone service would cost 2200 times more in Germany than in Lichtenstein just because Germany is about 2200 times larger (and has 2200 times more inhabitants)?
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
this sounds like a more expensive Straight Talk / NET 10 ATT SIM

No LTE on any US prepaid yet, so that's a given.

Unless you have a situation where you really need LTE speeds, I see LTE as mostly marketing spin. It makes little sense to have the roar of LTE speed and hard data caps on how much data you can burn (except for AT&T, Verizon, etc who love it when people burn through their data faster than ever).

Those that find data fast enough at 3G for their needs can save about 50% or more on the monthly toll. Over the usual 2 years time, that's about $1200 for dealing with the 3G speed limit instead of burning data faster.

I think the real winner with LTE is AT&T, Verizon, etc who have found a way to get us to swallow the concept of tight data caps and entice us to burn our way through those caps faster than ever. We even pay up to do that and pay again when we run through that ceiling. P.T. Barnum was soooo right.

Personally, we've got NET10 going on iPhone 5 models and don't feel like we're missing anything (except cell service bills at about two times as much). 3G seems plenty fast for business and personal use. We use wifi when available so we never feel the threat of the cap. We use the exact same AT&T network on the exact same iPhone 5. There is no sense of personal sacrifice or some great disadvantage. However, the fuller wallet can sometimes make us sit a little angled depending on which back pocket it's tucked into.

That said, $45 per month is too much too relative to same kinds of service offered overseas. What we'd love to see if Republic Wirless-type plan on an iPhone 5. That's THE way (IMO).
 
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gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
Unless you have a situation where you really need LTE speeds, I see LTE as mostly marketing spin. It makes little sense to have the roar of LTE speed and hard data caps on how much data you can burn (except for AT&T, Verizon, etc who love it when people burn through their data faster than ever).

Those that find data fast enough at 3G for their needs can save about 50% or more on the monthly toll. Over the usual 2 years time, that's about $1200 for dealing with the 3G speed limit instead of burning data faster.

I think the real winner with LTE is AT&T, Verizon, etc who have found a way to get us to swallow the concept of tight data caps and entice us to burn our way through those caps faster than ever. We even pay up to do that and pay again when we run through that ceiling. P.T. Barnum was soooo right.

Yea I totally hear you, I'd rather have unlimited hspa+ than choked LTE. Can't have either so I'll take cheap hspa, the nicest part about LTE is the lower latency.. the bandwidth is mostly unnecessary.
 

RLRabb

macrumors regular
Jan 26, 2011
129
138
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