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Considering switching to T-Mobile...
- Thread starter BigCanoe
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You are correct, but not you can't switch to verizon with the same phone. Verizon only activates phones sold to be used with their network.
Someone correct me if I am wrong.
I would recommend tmobile test drive. It may be a little late in the game, if you are wanting to preorder...but not much more help we can give you here.
You will have people that will say tmobile is great, and you will have people who will show up, dedicating themselves to trashing tmobile.
Personally, I switched a week ago and it is great...but your experience may vary.
Good luck.
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If you have lte, data speeds are great. Look at their coverage map, it is pretty accurate. Also, look at opensignal.com
If you share with us the area you live/work...someone here might be able to help you more.
Someone correct me if I am wrong.
I would recommend tmobile test drive. It may be a little late in the game, if you are wanting to preorder...but not much more help we can give you here.
You will have people that will say tmobile is great, and you will have people who will show up, dedicating themselves to trashing tmobile.
Personally, I switched a week ago and it is great...but your experience may vary.
Good luck.
----------
If you have lte, data speeds are great. Look at their coverage map, it is pretty accurate. Also, look at opensignal.com
If you share with us the area you live/work...someone here might be able to help you more.
Ugh...is there a good reason these phones cannot be used on different carrier's networks at this point...and NO, greed is not a good reason 
Thanks for the clarification, I was hoping to send a message to Verizon about their pricing, but I might not have service to do so hahah.
Thanks for the clarification, I was hoping to send a message to Verizon about their pricing, but I might not have service to do so hahah.
I'm also considering switching over to T-Mobile's family plan because of the discount. My brother has had T-Mobile all his life and he said that in cities or developed areas, he's fine. But, when he's driving through a rural area or just somewhere with a lot of mountains or things that could block signal, he usually gets nothing. Take a look at your areas you usually reside in and see if you know anyone who lives nearby you that has experience w/ the network.
yea I've been back and forth looking at their maps and the crowd sourced coverage maps as well. It seems like I should be good, but I'm still nervous about the switch.
I live in Stafford, VA and working in DC.
I thought about going with T-Mobile because they're the only carrier with a contract free phone on Apple site.
Their coverage around my home is excellent. However, if I travel just a short distance away, it becomes spotty. And, there are places I often visit where there's no coverage at all.
Their coverage around my home is excellent. However, if I travel just a short distance away, it becomes spotty. And, there are places I often visit where there's no coverage at all.
T-Mobile uses higher frequencies, which don't penetrate walls as well. I have no service at work while inside. They are deploying low frequency LTE on band 12, but no iPhones support that band.
Do the t-mobile test drive and try it out. That's what it was designed for.
Switched last month (after trying the test drive) and couldn't be happier. I lose signal occasionally when in parking garages or in the back of a certain store that's in the bottom of a highrise but for $30/month cheaper I'm willing to put up with it. LTE speeds and reliability have been better than AT&T for me.
Coverage at work and in my house is 2~3 bars but I still get perfect calls and battery life does not seem to be impacted at all from the lower signal strength. (In fact it might be slightly better than AT&T)
Not to mention my recent bill after visiting Japan for a nearly a month was only $25 more - 20 cent calls and free data/text while roaming internationally is amazing!
Switched last month (after trying the test drive) and couldn't be happier. I lose signal occasionally when in parking garages or in the back of a certain store that's in the bottom of a highrise but for $30/month cheaper I'm willing to put up with it. LTE speeds and reliability have been better than AT&T for me.
Coverage at work and in my house is 2~3 bars but I still get perfect calls and battery life does not seem to be impacted at all from the lower signal strength. (In fact it might be slightly better than AT&T)
Not to mention my recent bill after visiting Japan for a nearly a month was only $25 more - 20 cent calls and free data/text while roaming internationally is amazing!
+1 Still debating just buying the phone outright and switching without having to worry about ETFs or anything like that. I figure if I switch, I'll need to buy the phone outright anyway