T-Mobile Targets Tablets: LTE Models for Price of Wi-Fi, Bonus Free Data Through 2014

[FrozenDarkness]

this is a REALLY sweet deal considering there's no carrier tie ins.

 

[patt2k]

Wow, this is pretty good! I wouldnt mind being able to switch over and take advantage of this deal if I werent stuck in an ATT contract :[

they pay off contracts?

 

[Terrin]

Agreed. What I don't understand about T-Mobile is that they are so quick to get customers to switch to their network.

Wouldn't it be in their best interest to focus on improving their network. It's like they are going about it backwards.

Jumping to get the customers on board rather than jumping to improve their network. Maybe someone can enlighten me on this particular issue, but does it benefit having new customers jump on their network.

As in they get some type of incentive for having a certain amount of new customers jumping on their network. But the only problem with that is AT&T & Verizon has better network coverage... it's as if the only way T-Mobile can respond is to take away their customers in order to get the support to build a better network, I assume.

Network quality depends on where you live. A test did about six months ago to discover who had the best data network, placed T-Mobile at second place only slightly behind AT&T. It placed above Verizon (only slightly), and way ahead of Sprint.

T-Mobile's network gets a bad rap in part because while the AT&T proposed merger was going through the approval process for over a year, T-Mobile could not update its network. However, since the merger fell through T-Mobile acquired a lot of frequency both from AT&T, and through its purchase of Metro PC. The network has improved.

 

[Syk]

I'm not sure I'm understanding this.

So I can go in to Tmobile and buy a iPad mini retina LTE for $399. Can I just pay the $399 out right and not do the 24 month thing?

Do I have to do the 1 month 1GB post paid plan or can I do it for one month and then drop to the free 200mb free and not have to pay the $130 additional the LTE version would normally cost?

I'm trying to figure out the catch. Seems like anyone wanting a cellular iPad would go this route.

Just trying to figure out the gotcha.

 

[zachy85]

Just emailed my sales rep at T-Mobile. She said the 16 GB retina mini would be $430 + tax. The 16gb iPad Air will be $499 + tax.

I asked if its possible to pay for the whole thing or put up a large amount down and she promised to get back to me. I am expecting this won't be a problem as I was able to put $200 down on an iPhone with them recently, and they told me I could pay as much up front as I want.

One thing to note about their payment plans--they don't take the money down and lower your monthly cost. The monthly stays the same, but it gets paid off quicker.

 

[DaveNinja]

If only i actually got a usable T Mobile signal in my area...

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Of course I got my Air a month early... of course I did.

And I think my "plan" is still mucked up because it is under a business account. I need to sort that out - but the account holder is currently working 3000 miles away, 12 hours a day.

When I pop into areas with LTE on it - WOWZA, I love it!! I'm pretty rural, so we just have pockets of loveliness so far (heck, I was in and out of LTE in orlando too).

 

[kwikdeth]

damn. wish i had waited. could have used that $130.

 

[technicalFoozle]

T-Mobile has 1GB for $20 a month without a contract.

T-Mobile does have 200 free a month. It's not as much data but it is just free. I've been doing it since they started with my Verizon iPad 3. The Verizon version doesn't run LTE on Tmo's network but it is "4G"... and free.

 

[liberte1776]

T-Mobile SIM cards are FREE, online only:

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card?cmpid=WTR_AF_ALLAFFLTS_6QE0IQXZSJY209

Well, since you have Tmob for phone, the 1GB/month iPad plan is only $10 for you, which is pretty close to your $25/qtr plan, anyway. And starting Saturday, it is free for the rest of this year. You might want to change. They'll probably give you a SIM for $0-$1 if you go in and ask.

----------



Yes. You don't even have to buy it from Tmob and you can get the free 200MB.

 

[3rdiguy]

I would love to just pay full-price of my iPhone every two years and pay less per month with Verizon. If I can buy the phone outright, and pay $25 less per month, I'd jump on that in a heartbeat.

I pay full price every two years to keep my unlimited data on Verizon. But I sure would love to pay $25 less as well but I'm actually happy paying my $130 a month. 450 min unlmtd txt unlmtd data unlmtd hotspot. I feel I get what I pay for.

 

[willcapellaro]

I use Verizon for my phone service, but I wanted to purchase my iPad Air through T-Mobile to get 200mb of "free data for life". I was going to purchase a WiFi tablet, but decided this was too good a deal to pass up.

I was on the phone yesterday for an hour with a supervisor telling me that I do not get 200mb of free data. It's $10 a month, due to me not being attached to any other T-Mobile services. I wish this was a joke. They said their website is "confusing" and they will need to escalate this to change their website so it's not misleading. They told me I need to have a phone line with them to get the free data. They credited my account for a year for 200mb, but in a year I will have to call back to complain again, since they can only do things in yearly increments.

From T-Mobile's site:

"FREE DATA FOR LIFE
Anybody who wants to use a tablet on T-Mobile's 4G LTE network gets 200MB free data for as long as you own the device, whether you pay for it up front or you choose to finance it.

You can buy a tablet from us, or bring your own device. Either way, you will get 200MB free data for the time you own the device and use it on our network."

What's confusing about this T-Mobile?

Either way I'd be terrified of having such a small cap, not linked to a main or shared plan account. It would always be in the back of my mind when I'm at home and watching netflix, etc. What happens when my Comcast goes down and I eat through a few gigs of overages? When I'm out and about, I'd be worried about high bandwidth sites and have to steer clear of certain apps or the apps store.

It would be nice if they put a cellular toggle in control center, that would be nice. I don't want to dive into settings.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

ah tricked, you have to be a voice customer

 

[trainwrecka]

Not interested in getting a contract though on an iPad.

You are contract free, but if you end, you need to pay for the iPad in full. Pretty sweet deal.

 

[Benjamins]

sweet

 

[CrzyP]

It would be nice if they put a cellular toggle in control center, that would be nice. I don't want to dive into settings.

You can enable airplane mode and then turn on Wi-Fi from control center.

 

[Infinitewisdom]

This is an incredible deal for existing TMobile customers. I honestly wonder what hit they're taking to their bottom line. All of these promotions cannot be cheap.

 

[mattwallace24]

This is an incredible deal for existing TMobile customers. I honestly wonder what hit they're taking to their bottom line. All of these promotions cannot be cheap.

We'll soon find out. They report 1st quarter results on May 1. They lost $20M last quarter on what they attributed to "higher spending on promotions". They only accelerated their promotions in 2014. Beyond the loss, the bigger hit is to their cash flow which could impact future spectrum acquisitions and network expansion.

The big question is can they turn their dollar losses to capture customers into profit quick enough to keep them from having to backtrack.

 

[MrX8503]

200MB/month for life is a great deal. You don't have to be a current customer. Just bring your own tablet and get a tmobile sim.

Got two LTE models just for this reason.

 

[CopyChief]

Either way I'd be terrified of having such a small cap, not linked to a main or shared plan account. It would always be in the back of my mind when I'm at home and watching netflix, etc. What happens when my Comcast goes down and I eat through a few gigs of overages? When I'm out and about, I'd be worried about high bandwidth sites and have to steer clear of certain apps or the apps store.

It would be nice if they put a cellular toggle in control center, that would be nice. I don't want to dive into settings.

No worries about "overages" - T-Mobile doesn't charge them on any plan. The data slows down after 200MB or 1Gig or whatever your plan is... but if you go over, they don't charge.

 

[trife]

Agreed. What I don't understand about T-Mobile is that they are so quick to get customers to switch to their network.

Wouldn't it be in their best interest to focus on improving their network. It's like they are going about it backwards.

Jumping to get the customers on board rather than jumping to improve their network. Maybe someone can enlighten me on this particular issue, but does it benefit having new customers jump on their network.

As in they get some type of incentive for having a certain amount of new customers jumping on their network. But the only problem with that is AT&T & Verizon has better network coverage... it's as if the only way T-Mobile can respond is to take away their customers in order to get the support to build a better network, I assume.

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/03/t-mobile-celebrates-1-year-of-lte-by-launching-major-2gedge-network-upgrade-and-suing-verizon/

Also, as a consumer it is on you to know what carrier works best in your area. Research is key, IMO. There's no way I'd switch carriers without knowing what I was getting into.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I bought an iPad from an Apple store - an AT&T model at that - walked into a T-mobile store, bought a SIM card with cash, never gave them any personal information, put my new SIM card into my iPad and I receive 200 MB of free T-mobile LTE each month.

Nothing confusing about that.

I did this too, only I bought the Verizon Air and kindly asked the Apple associate if I could have a T-Mobile and an AT&T SIM card which he gave me with no questions asked. I signed up for the free 200 MB right from the iPad with no information other than an email address and name.

 

[TouchMint.com]

This is a super sweet deal!

 

[divad1978]

wanted to switch but

Apparently they don't take servicing tablets seriously as they do not have an unlimited data plan along with tethering.

Data caps are still data caps. Not sure why we excuse this coming from our cell companies but Comcast is evil.

 

[goobot]

I also have ATT unlimited ipad data and I am thinking about this deal. It is $130 off the LTE iPad and I can dump tmobile after the first month and pay the balance of the ipad. Why not do it? I will have to pay full price for the next iPad so I will take the discount.

By the Way, how much data do you use in a month? In February I burned through about 24 Gb, never turned on the wi-fi once.

Depends, some months 10 gigs, other not near that due to not using it much that month. iPhone i seem to use 5gigs on my unlimited.