Unlock my ATT iphone 6+ and move to T-mobile?

DaveMike11 · Apr 30, 2015

Hi All,

I need some suggestions.

currently i have 2 lines with AT&T with NEXT program. One is iphone 6+ and other one is iphone 5s. I owe AT&T balance money of $550 (iphone 6+) and $325 (iphone 5s). My monthly total bills is $167.

I have some work related travel to Europe and staying in touch with data access & few calls to US is important for me. T-mobile's free international data roaming & wifi calling will work out cheaper for me compared to AT&T which is very expensive. I called AT&T about my travel plans and they would'nt unlock my device without my paying off the NEXT dues & i have no option.

I'm thinking of paying-off my AT&T dues & then move my 2 lines into T-mobile with my brother's account which would be cheapest. I would pay less than $50 for 2 lines since he already has 5 lines.

My questions:
If i unlock my phone with AT&T and will it work on T-mobile network including the 4G LTE data ?
Is there any better way to make this switch from T-mobile? I know about the ETF payment options too. Since im with AT&T Next, t mobile would require to buy an phone from them and also return my iphone 6+&5S. so hence i decided to go with T-mobile just get a SIM card & use it.

Appreciate your time. Thanks in advance

bgro · Apr 30, 2015

DaveMike11 said:
Hi All,

I need some suggestions.

currently i have 2 lines with AT&T with NEXT program. One is iphone 6+ and other one is iphone 5s. I owe AT&T balance money of $550 (iphone 6+) and $325 (iphone 5s). My monthly total bills is $167.

I have some work related travel to Europe and staying in touch with data access & few calls to US is important for me. T-mobile's free international data roaming & wifi calling will work out cheaper for me compared to AT&T which is very expensive. I called AT&T about my travel plans and they would'nt unlock my device without my paying off the NEXT dues & i have no option.

I'm thinking of paying-off my AT&T dues & then move my 2 lines into T-mobile with my brother's account which would be cheapest. I would pay less than $50 for 2 lines since he already has 5 lines.

My questions:
If i unlock my phone with AT&T and will it work on T-mobile network including the 4G LTE data ?
Is there any better way to make this switch from T-mobile? I know about the ETF payment options too. Since im with AT&T Next, t mobile would require to buy an phone from them and also return my iphone 6+&5S. so hence i decided to go with T-mobile just get a SIM card & use it.

Appreciate your time. Thanks in advance

Yes your AT&T phone will work on the T-mobile network and you will have 4G LTE Data. However, I do believe that T-Mobile uses an additional band for LTE that the iPhone does not support. This doesn't mean that you won't get 4G LTE Data, it means that you might not get it/won't be as strong in certain places where T-Mobile uses the unsupported band. Hopefully, someone with more knowledge on this can clarify because I am not 100% sure of the negatives of the iPHone not supporting the additional band. I do however have an unlocked AT&T iphone 6+ and used it for 30 days with a Tmobile sim to test out their service (south florida area). So i can confirm that it will work and you will get 4G LTE Data.

In terms of the phone, seems like since you have a 6 already, there's no reason to turn it into Tmobile to buy another one. Just keep the 6. Not sure about the 5S tho maybe it's time to have Tmobile pay off the phone and upgrade to a 6 or 6+.

DaveMike11 · Apr 30, 2015

Thanks for sharing the information & your experiences.

0970373 · Apr 30, 2015

bgro said:
Yes your AT&T phone will work on the T-mobile network and you will have 4G LTE Data. However, I do believe that T-Mobile uses an additional band for LTE that the iPhone does not support. This doesn't mean that you won't get 4G LTE Data, it means that you might not get it/won't be as strong in certain places where T-Mobile uses the unsupported band.

This isn't quite correct. TMO & AT&T are the same model 5S and 6, so they have the same bands. TMO is expanding with another band but it's not really rolled out yet so it isn't really anything to be concerned about at this time. By the time you upgrade those iPhones, they'll have the new band

What city are you in?

On December 16, 2014, T-Mobile announced during CEO John Legere's Un-carrier 8.0 interview that their 4G LTE network covers 260 million people, and their 700 MHz Band 12 LTE has been rolled out in Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C. They expect to cover 280 million with LTE by mid-2015 and 300 million by the end of 2015. They also stated that they cover 121 metro areas with their Wideband LTE.[67]

I love TMO. My service with them has been so much better than AT&T, but I live & travel in major cities. Their coverage in smaller cities is still spotty form what I hear. Do try to use the free test or buy a prepaid sim to make sure coverage works for you.

WiFi calling has been amazing. One of the other big reasons I switched was because of the free roaming. It has worked wonderfully in London, Dublin, Scotland. I'll be testing it in Brussels, Netherlands & France next month!

But to the OP, yes, if you unlock the phone, you can use it on TMO without issue. I think TMO is still offering to buy out contracts but you need to trade in your AT&T phone and get a TMO one. You should weigh those financials out and see which is better for you.

bigdaddy223 · Apr 30, 2015

I'd stay with at$t.. JMO

bookwormsy · Apr 30, 2015

DaveMike11 said:
My questions:
If i unlock my phone with AT&T and will it work on T-mobile network including the 4G LTE data ?
Is there any better way to make this switch from T-mobile? I know about the ETF payment options too. Since im with AT&T Next, t mobile would require to buy an phone from them and also return my iphone 6+&5S. so hence i decided to go with T-mobile just get a SIM card & use it.

Yes
If you want to keep the phones, just pay them off. You'd have to go and buy new phones from T-Mobile and turn in your current ones if you want them to pay your ETF, which would cost more in the long run.

What I would recommend (I know you were planning to stay on AT&T), is to try out a Test Drive. T-Mobile will send you a 5S to use for 7 days on their network for free (~400 credit hold). This would allow you to test the network for how you use it.

DaveMike11 · May 1, 2015

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I've decided to pay-off my dues with AT&T and switch.

Does anyone know if I pay-off the dues to AT&T how long will the unlock process take and be able to port my number to T-mobile? Can AT&T unlock my phone on the same day of my making the payment for the phones?

PsyOpWarlord · May 1, 2015

DaveMike11 said:
Does anyone know if I pay-off the dues to AT&T how long will the unlock process take and be able to port my number to T-mobile? Can AT&T unlock my phone on the same day of my making the payment for the phones?

You can start the unlock process once your account is cleared of any obligations by going here:
https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/

Most of mine were unlocked within 24 and one or two was in the 48-72 hours timeframe.

DaveMike11 · May 5, 2015

Thank you everyone.

I unlocked my AT&T phone and switched to T-mobile yesterday. Everything is working well so far. I only need to figure out the LTE speeds. I was told by the T-mobile rep that the i would notice differences in the LTE speeds with my AT&T iphone 6+ on T-mobile network compared to the T-mobile iphone 6+.

I did a quick speed test with my colleague's T-mobile Note 4 yesterday. The LTE speed shows in his note 4 as 61 mbps whereas my iphone 6+ shows 30 mbps.

phoneorpda · Aug 13, 2015

I just did the same switch, and kept my iPhone 6+ although i don't get an option to switch WiFi Calling on, now that i am on T Mobile. Anyone knows how to fix it? Thanks!

westgorge · Aug 13, 2015

DaveMike11 said:
Hi All,

I need some suggestions.

currently i have 2 lines with AT&T with NEXT program. One is iphone 6+ and other one is iphone 5s. I owe AT&T balance money of $550 (iphone 6+) and $325 (iphone 5s). My monthly total bills is $167.

I have some work related travel to Europe and staying in touch with data access & few calls to US is important for me. T-mobile's free international data roaming & wifi calling will work out cheaper for me compared to AT&T which is very expensive. I called AT&T about my travel plans and they would'nt unlock my device without my paying off the NEXT dues & i have no option.

I'm thinking of paying-off my AT&T dues & then move my 2 lines into T-mobile with my brother's account which would be cheapest. I would pay less than $50 for 2 lines since he already has 5 lines.

My questions:
If i unlock my phone with AT&T and will it work on T-mobile network including the 4G LTE data ?
Is there any better way to make this switch from T-mobile? I know about the ETF payment options too. Since im with AT&T Next, t mobile would require to buy an phone from them and also return my iphone 6+&5S. so hence i decided to go with T-mobile just get a SIM card & use it.

Appreciate your time. Thanks in advance

I made the move from AT&T to T-Mobile last fall. All for many of the same reasons you are considering. And, I've just switched to the North American plan.....no roaming fees anywhere. In my opinion, T-Mobile has figured out how to make their customers happy. AND do it at a very reasonable cost. I've been very happy with T-Mobile and glad to have made the move. Will be nice to go to Europe next year and not have to worry about calling or data fees. May not work for everyone. But, after 1 year, no complaints!

0970373 · Aug 15, 2015

phoneorpda said:
I just did the same switch, and kept my iPhone 6+ although i don't get an option to switch WiFi Calling on, now that i am on T Mobile. Anyone knows how to fix it? Thanks!

Settings > Phone > WiFi Calling

What iOS version are you on? Have you rebooted? Also make sure you have updated your emergency address. You can't use wifi calling if that isn't updated first.

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