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

[Ludatyk]

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.

Well, of course. It's common sense to do research to check to see if the carrier someone plan to switch to has sufficient coverage in that person area.

But some not many customers look at the budget friendly prices that T-Mobile offers and jump ship.

 

[willcapellaro]

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

Mind = blown.

That seriously made my day, and I don't even have a cellular ipad. This gets me one step closer to that glorious day.

 

[lyunmac]

Great deal

I've been looking into buying an ipad mini wifi + cellular to add to my tablet collection and this offer just may have convinced me to try iOS. I have T-Mobile for phone but service can be spotty in some areas in NY so I was looking into buying a Verizon ipad from the Apple Store. Anyone know if I can buy a T-Mobile iPad mini and then just insert a verizon sim when I need coverage? I've read people buy Verizon iPads and then pop in a T-Mobile sim for the free 200mb.

 

[Romey-Rome]

I have cell on GSM(ATT) and my iPad is on CDMA(Verizon). That way, I'm always covered one way or another out in the boonies. Unfortunately, this deal wouldn't make sense to me.

 

[thelookingglass]

Tremendous deal. I never saw the need to get LTE on an iPad since I have an iPhone on me all the time. But this is just a great offering.

 

[Truefan31]

I have tmobile for my phones but I have att unlimited data on my iPad. I can get others the att plan as well if people are interested. Pm me for details. 30 a month for unlimited data

 

[MacTea]

Does anyone know if the iPad TMob will sell be restricted (locked) to only their service? Can I buy iPad Mini WiFi + Cellular for $299 outright and then down the road use it on AT&T or an international provider while traveling ? Can (are) these be unlocked?

Thanks. First post, but longtime lurker

 

[SeaFox]

What if I wanted a new iPad Mini? Their website is quite confusing on this and other issues.

If only there was someone you could call and ask these questions to...

 

[thehustleman]

I love what t mobile is doing, I just wish they had decent coverage and a reliable network here in Atlanta

 

[Four oF NINE]

If only there was someone you could call and ask these questions to...

There's always someone you can call. The point is that I shouldn't have to. It should be clearly described and defined at the website. Not so much with this particular example.

Just saying.

 

[merik]

I would take this deal...if I had the money .-.

Some of you are saying you only get EDGE in your locations. Well, T-Mobile is repurposing their 2G/Edge networks and upgrading them to 4G LTE. Yes, all T-Mobile towers will be upgraded. 50% should be completed by this year and the rest by the middle of next year. So coverage shouldn't be too much to worry about. -- source.

Now already being on T-Mobile, getting 1.2GB of data for the iPad, for free is pretty sweet. And that's just high speed LTE, after that you'll just be reduced to 2G. Don't worry, your email should be just fine at 2G speeds. Also, don't forget the additional data you can tether from your phone that is already included, see here. For example, if you are currently a voice customer with unlimited data on your phone, in total with your tethering, you'd be getting 6.2GB for your iPad, which is still free. And I believe if you still want more data, you can always purchase more straight from the iPad.

The following links should help you guys if you are still lost. Overall, this is a better deal for voice customers, but hey it's also heck of a deal for non-T-Mobile customers.

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1917639& - Tmobile Press Release


http://www.tmonews.com/2014/04/operation-tablet-freedom-explained/ -TmoNews – Operation Tablet Freedom explained

 

[66318]

I really wish tmobile was ready for prime time with their cell service. Every few months I'll activate a sim to try out on my spare 5s since it's comes unlocked on Verizon and LTE drops to 4g to edge still a lot through LA still. No comparison to Verizon whatsoever which is always a constant LTE. I wonder if they're doing all of this knowing their actually service is not up to par.

It depends on your area of course, just like any provider. I switched last year with my iPhone 4s, and upgraded to a 5s later in the year. Overall happy with them.

Don't discount T-Mobile's 4g (really 3g tech) speeds. I've done a speediest where I hit 24mbit down. A little over 40mbit has been the fastest LTE speediest with them on my 5s.

Edge, yeah, I see it at times too. However there, they have plans to swap out most of their old 2G footprint with LTE by the end of this year, with 100% switchover by early next year. They also recently acquired 700mhz spectrum from Verizon, which will help with signal quality indoors and larger rural coverage.

T-Mobile is the only carrier I'd trust right now. They are making actual good moves on the buying, account, and service side all at once. Funded and fueled by the failed AT&T merger (AT&T had to pay T-Mobile a lot of money and hand over some spectrum when the deal failed), and now their rise in customers.

 

[icdb]

I have tmobile for my phones but I have att unlimited data on my iPad. I can get others the att plan as well if people are interested. Pm me for details. 30 a month for unlimited data

hey truefan,
i am way-interested in this. tried to pm you but evidently i've been away too long (joined 2007) and posts have been wiped? could you please pm me or send me email directly? i'll stay tuned to thread in case you need to answer here.

many thanks! (have always kicked myself for missing this chance back in day.)

 

[vpndev]

you do get it free

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?

You do get free data and you don't need a voice plan to get it. And you don't even need to buy your iPad from T-Mobile. I bought an AT&T iPad Air last December and called T-M and asked them to send me a nano-SIM for it. No problem. A couple of days later I had it and had signed up on-line. It's still working fine and each month I get an email from T-M telling me about the start of the new month.

The people with whom you spoke are unknowledgeable, or just wrong.

----------

Does anyone know if the iPad TMob will sell be restricted (locked) to only their service? Can I buy iPad Mini WiFi + Cellular for $299 outright and then down the road use it on AT&T or an international provider while traveling ? Can (are) these be unlocked?

I bought my T-Mobile iPhone 5s from the Apple store and it is unlocked. I have used it with an MVNO with no problem (although it's on T-M $30 plan now).

I can't give a definitive answer about devices purchased directly from T-M but I believe that they're unlocked.

 

[garya73]

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.

You can't have overages. You don't even have an account with T-Mobile. It's plug and play.

I had a T-mobile sim card here from an unactivated device. I took that sim, popped it into my iPad 3, and off I went. I always use the iPad on WiFi, but every once in a while I like to turn on the cellular and see what kind of speed test results I get. Usually it's pretty darn fast, but I'm sticking with Verizon for my phone service because I think T-Mobile's service gets really sketchy if you wander off the Interstate system too far. I am usually on 4G with Verizon, rarely does it go down to 3G.

 

[MacTea]

You do get free data and you don't need a voice plan to get it. And you don't even need to buy your iPad from T-Mobile. I bought an AT&T iPad Air last December and called T-M and asked them to send me a nano-SIM for it. No problem. A couple of days later I had it and had signed up on-line. It's still working fine and each month I get an email from T-M telling me about the start of the new month.

The people with whom you spoke are unknowledgeable, or just wrong.

----------



I bought my T-Mobile iPhone 5s from the Apple store and it is unlocked. I have used it with an MVNO with no problem (although it's on T-M $30 plan now).

I can't give a definitive answer about devices purchased directly from T-M but I believe that they're unlocked.

Fwiw, I went to the store today and was told the iPad/(any)tablet is locked to TMob network but you can request it to be unlocked on the same day if you buy it outright or after 3 months of service if device is financed/EIP.

 

[willcapellaro]

You can't have overages. You don't even have an account with T-Mobile. It's plug and play.

I had a T-mobile sim card here from an unactivated device. I took that sim, popped it into my iPad 3, and off I went. I always use the iPad on WiFi, but every once in a while I like to turn on the cellular and see what kind of speed test results I get. Usually it's pretty darn fast, but I'm sticking with Verizon for my phone service because I think T-Mobile's service gets really sketchy if you wander off the Interstate system too far. I am usually on 4G with Verizon, rarely does it go down to 3G.

Thanks. What would you recommend for me then? I am considering a iPad Mini Retina Cellular. Wife and I use Verizon.

I like the idea of T-mo but I'm okay paying $10/mo to get the iPad on our Verizon 4GB plan, once I pay the $130 extra to get the upgraded iPad.

We'd be using in Chicago and Denver, T-mo is probably good in both but Verizon excellent.

I will probably miser my usage like you do.

What I'm not understanding is this T-mo offer, and whether I could buy from them and then cancel the plan, and take to Verizon. I don't want to hassle with activating an unauthorized device (I know it's possible, but with my luck it won't work).

The $130 extra is such a bad business idea. All carriers should do like T-mo does if they want to sell service.

Anyhoo, please let me know if I missed any options. Thx.

 

[MacRazySwe]

As a non-US resident, I've tried understanding this offer. Some of you clearly state that it's a contract, while others say it isn't. I guess there has to be something in it for T-Mobile? They wouldn't just sell the iPads for 130 dollars off retail, would they?

My father will be going to Florida in May, and I'm very interested in letting him purchase a iPad Mini Retina or Air for me while there. Would it be possible to purchase a Mini Retina at T-Mobile, at the discounted price and just cancel the contract before returning to Sweden? Or could you just purchase the iPad with a prepaid data card at T-Mobile? I'd like to upgrade from my old Mini.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ziich]

Not interested in getting a contract though on an iPad.

t mobile doesnt do contracts. just buy the lte iPad for the wifi iPad price then get your free 1.2mb of data per month till the end of the year

 

[JackieInCo]

t mobile doesnt do contracts. just buy the lte iPad for the wifi iPad price then get your free 1.2mb of data per month till the end of the year

You are still making payments on the iPad. Right now the Air is 498 but you get it now for zero down and monthly payments of $20 PLUS the cost of your monthly data plan.

Just pay full price for the iPad and not be required to pay a monthly data fee plus the $20 each month for the iPad.

I would rather pay full price for my iPad then go through this.

And you only get the iPad for zero down with good credit.

 

[Plutonius]

t mobile doesnt do contracts. just buy the lte iPad for the wifi iPad price then get your free 1.2mb of data per month till the end of the year

You also need to sign up for a post paid plan. The question is, can you put all the money down on an cellular iPad (at the reduced price), sign up for a post paid plan, cancel the post paid plan after a month, and not have to pay back the money you saved at the time of the purchase ?

If they require you to keep the plan for a time period (year ?) or pay back the money you saved after you paid for the iPad, I consider that a contract.

If however, you can buy a cellular iPad, cancel the plan after one month, and not have to pay back the money you saved, it is a good deal.

What I'm not understanding is this T-mo offer, and whether I could buy from them and then cancel the plan, and take to Verizon. I don't want to hassle with activating an unauthorized device (I know it's possible, but with my luck it won't work).

Would not work. Verizon refuses to let a non-Verizon iPad on their network (they will not activate it). Your best bet is getting a Verizon iPad which would allow you to operate on the Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T networks.

 

[paul3000]

Do you have to have a T mobile voice plan to get the iPad at the wi-fi prices? I do not plan on switching, but would like a deal on an iPad.

 

[emilyrobins]

T-Mobile Targets

T Mobile will be extending its offer to pay ETFs, or early termination fees, for customers switching to T-Mobile from other carriers that take advantage of the tablet offer.

 

[Orlandoech]

I live in Utah and tried switching from AT&T to tmobile and it was terrible and switched back after 3 weeks. I could only get edge at my house and LTE would come and go in different areas and when it did work it would still be slow.

I think their networks are way overloaded. Not worth it to save a few bucks.

I am in UT as well, what part you in? Im always in the SLC Valley, Cottonwood Hghts, Riverton, WJ, downtown, Murray mostly.

 

[Yebubbleman]

God I hope T-Mobile is successful in its shakeup of the US mobile market because the current state of affairs is apalling.

Their coverage area is less than stellar, and as is the case with the other carriers, I don't really care about contracts or contract pricing on iPads (given that one of the best things about cellular iPads is that you are not incentivized nor mandated to be on a contract and you can sign up for and cancel data straight from the iPad itself), but the fact that non-contractual device pricing for Cellular iPads from T-Mo is matched to the Wi-Fi only pricing is really awesome and will hopefully be a good first step in getting the mainstream cost of all cellular devices (phone or tablet) down. Because even for $130, the additional components seem pricey.

Furthermore, since there's only one model of LTE-equipped iPad Airs and iPad minis with retina, you could buy your iPad at T-Mo and slap in a SIM card at the carrier you really want and still save $115.