Join ATT or T-Mobile?

[aznboi91]

Join ATT or T-Mobile?

Who has the better family package? I'm considering to get 3 iPhone5 16GB. My plan would cost around 220$ per month before tax. Do you think it is a better deal to get unlocked versions and go with T-Mobile? While My currently plan with T-Mobile is 5 lines no text, no data and costs around 150 per month with tax. If I get unlocked iPhone5 would it be a better deal?

Anybody wanna let me in on their billing details with ATT?

Anybody in the same situation as me or has been through this situations?

Thanks everybody.

 

[MassiveAttack]

Go whoever has the best coverage in your area.

 

[WMuntean]

You're paying too much for that plan on T-mobile. Call them and let them know you're considering iPhones. For that price you should have data on all phones (possibly 2 lines with unlimited data) and unlimited messaging. How long have you been with Tmobile? Use that as leverage.

Edit: I should add that you can really, really talk down prices with Tmobile.

 

[aznboi91]

You're paying too much for that plan on T-mobile. Call them and let them know you're considering iPhones. For that price you should have data on all phones (possibly 2 lines with unlimited data) and unlimited messaging. How long have you been with Tmobile? Use that as leverage.

I've always used T-Mobile.
But the thing is if I switch I should be able to get 3 iPhones right? 1 unlocked one can get me 3. Wouldn't that be better?

 

[osofast240sx]

Join ATT or T-Mobile?

Who has the better family package? I'm considering to get 3 iPhone5 16GB. My plan would cost around 220$ per month before tax. Do you think it is a better deal to get unlocked versions and go with T-Mobile? While My currently plan with T-Mobile is 5 lines no text, no data and costs around 150 per month with tax. If I get unlocked iPhone5 would it be a better deal?

Anybody wanna let me in on their billing details with ATT?

Anybody in the same situation as me or has been through this situations?

Thanks everybody.

5 lines on 1000 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited 4G data would be $174.98 + tax

 

[alphaod]

Well T-Mobile doesn't work with the 3G on the iPhone 5, so for me that's a deal breaker.

 

[WMuntean]

In my opinion, you'll have a better experience with ATT if you use a lot of data. Tmobile's 3G is very limited in coverage. As far as the overall price, slightly cheaper for Tmobile in the long run:

Tmobile: ATT:
Plan: 150 * 24 = 3600 Plan: 240 * 24 = 5760
iPhone: 700 * 3 = 2100 iPhone: 200 * 3 = 600
Total: = 5700 Total: = 6360


Again, you'll probably have a better overall experience with ATT. Which could be worth the extra $660.

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Well T-Mobile doesn't work with the 3G on the iPhone 5, so for me that's a deal breaker.

The refarmed 3G does. However, not in all cities yet.

 

[Kashsystems]

Unless T-mobile upgraded your area to be iPhone friendly, I would choose ATT.

T-mobile in most cases will give you very slow (Edge) speeds on your iPhones. If you do not care about data speeds, then stick with T-Mobile. I know many who got their iPhones on Sprint because it is cheaper than ATT and do not mind the long delays on downloading attachments or viewing webpages.

If it was not for the fact I had so many bad personal experiences with Verizon, I would be with them instead because of their LTE service speeds.

 

[Applejuiced]

I've always used T-Mobile.
But the thing is if I switch I should be able to get 3 iPhones right? 1 unlocked one can get me 3. Wouldn't that be better?

Yes, you wont have to pay $650 plus tax per iphone full price. Just $199 each on AT&T with a contract.
But you will have to have mandatory iphone data plans in all of them on AT&T and offcourse your bill will be higher than tmobiles.
its your choice and depends on how you use the service.
If you dont need or use data at all then stick with a voice and text plan with tmobile.
If you want fast LTE data speeds and more reliable service go with AT&T.

 

[Prime85]

Well T-Mobile doesn't work with the 3G on the iPhone 5, so for me that's a deal breaker.

It depends where you are, I have 3G in Miami on my iPhone and they tell me I will have hspa+ up by January and LTE hopefully by the summer.

 

[aznboi91]

Unless T-mobile upgraded your area to be iPhone friendly, I would choose ATT.

T-mobile in most cases will give you very slow (Edge) speeds on your iPhones. If you do not care about data speeds, then stick with T-Mobile. I know many who got their iPhones on Sprint because it is cheaper than ATT and do not mind the long delays on downloading attachments or viewing webpages.

If it was not for the fact I had so many bad personal experiences with Verizon, I would be with them instead because of their LTE service speeds.

The reason for me investing into T-Mobile is because by 2013, they will have refarmed most of the cities...All because LTE advanced would be much faster than what ATT has currently.

My friend said that he saw 3g in our area already on his iphone 4s... so idk... I'm usually in wifi areas anyways... I'd rarely use data when I'm driving... I can't think of any reason to, to be honest...

 

[Applejuiced]

The reason for me investing into T-Mobile is because by 2013, they will have refarmed most of the cities...All because LTE advanced would be much faster than what ATT has currently.

My friend said that he saw 3g in our area already on his iphone 4s... so idk... I'm usually in wifi areas anyways... I'd rarely use data when I'm driving... I can't think of any reason to, to be honest...

Then you answered you question.
Stick with Tmobile.
If you dont care much about data you will be fine and your bill will be cheaper but you will have to buy your iphone devices full price.

 

[aznboi91]

Then you answered you question.
Stick with Tmobile.
If you dont care much about data you will be fine and your bill will be cheaper but you will have to buy your iphone devices full price.

Maybe you're right. But, do we know if iphone 5 will work with T-mobile's refarmed LTE? That is also my concern as well...

 

[Applejuiced]

Maybe you're right. But, do we know if iphone 5 will work with T-mobile's refarmed LTE? That is also my concern as well...

I believe so.
I know 3G HSPA+ works now in some places in the US.

 

[Kashsystems]

The reason for me investing into T-Mobile is because by 2013, they will have refarmed most of the cities...All because LTE advanced would be much faster than what ATT has currently.

My friend said that he saw 3g in our area already on his iphone 4s... so idk... I'm usually in wifi areas anyways... I'd rarely use data when I'm driving... I can't think of any reason to, to be honest...

I would have your friend do a speedtest with his wifi off to confirm this. On the 2013 date, I would take that with a grain of salt. Some of what they plan to do, can not start after the merger is completed. I honestly would not expect any sort of completion in major markets until 2014, which will give you plenty of time to cancel out of contracts etc.

 

[aznboi91]

I would have your friend do a speedtest with his wifi off to confirm this. On the 2013 date, I would take that with a grain of salt. Some of what they plan to do, can not start after the merger is completed. I honestly would not expect any sort of completion in major markets until 2014, which will give you plenty of time to cancel out of contracts etc.

Well one of my professor that sits on the FCC said that they have to push out LTE+ by next year because right after that they will be doing dynamic sharing of the spectrum. FCC is making this happen because the spectrum is becoming more and more scarce.

 

[2298754]

It's pretty simple. You're spending so much money on these phones and you should have a good network to run them on. T-Mobile isn't that. Sprint isn't the answer either, which their pathetic excuse of a 3G network.

T-Mobile has had a (good) presence in major cities and unless they have refarmed 1900 HSPA+ in your area, it's a complete waste of your time. No, you shouldn't be waiting for it either. One of my closest friends has an iPhone 4 here in Boston on TMo. He can walk down the street and keep bouncing between 3G and E, which is ridiculous.

Just go with AT&T. There is no reason, why, in 2012, the majority of your data speeds should be EDGE most of the time (as with Tmobile). AT&T is HSPA+ and LTE.

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The reason for me investing into T-Mobile is because by 2013, they will have refarmed most of the cities...All because LTE advanced would be much faster than what ATT has currently.

T-Mobile still has plenty of EDGE-only areas and their 3G buildout is barely complete. AT&T and VZW will be done with LTE in '13/'14 and then they have both committed to LTE-A. (They both have gotten on record to say so).

Which network would you trust more? T-mobile (who still hasn't finished their 3G rollout and says LTE is around the corner) or AT&T (who has been aggressively pushing LTE in major areas and has said LTE-A is coming in 2013)

 

[alphaod]

The refarmed 3G does. However, not in all cities yet.

Yeah I heard about that.

I travel all the time, so I can't just have 3G in some cities and not others.

Anyways, that's why I didn't choose T-Mobile.

 

[scottw324]

Neither, Verizon. Had AT&T for 4 years. The day I left and switched to Verizon was the day I thoroughly enjoyed my iPhone when I was away from home and wifi. I love my LTE in my little town. LTE for AT&T probably won't arrive here for another 2 years.

 

[aznboi91]

Neither, Verizon. Had AT&T for 4 years. The day I left and switched to Verizon was the day I thoroughly enjoyed my iPhone when I was away from home and wifi. I love my LTE in my little town. LTE for AT&T probably won't arrive here for another 2 years.

I know verizon has a definite advantage over att lte service. It's super fast. But besides LTE service...Why do I keep hearing very good things and very bad things about att? I don't get it... I never see that with T-Mo nor Verizon...

 

[Kashsystems]

I know verizon has a definite advantage over att lte service. It's super fast. But besides LTE service...Why do I keep hearing very good things and very bad things about att? I don't get it... I never see that with T-Mo nor Verizon...

ATT was the first carrier to get the iPhone (and had it exclusively for about 4 plus years) and their network was not ready for it. As it helped it's growth, it also caused ATT problems and complaints in major metro areas. Drop calls being the most common.

I remember listening to an Aaron Rodgers interview on the Jim Rome show about 3 years ago. He kept dropping the call and he had the iPhone on att.

Now me, I live in an area of California that I have had zero problems with ATT and drop calls, but when I would drive through Los Angeles and was talking to somebody my phone call would drop occasionally. One day I was having a conversation with a person while on the freeway and I had 4 drop calls in about 5 minutes so I told the person I would call them later when I get out of the area. That can be frustrating especially when you have a very important phone call.

The other main positive for ATT was until iPhone 5, ATT had the fastest data with regards to the iPhone. When the iPhone 4 finally went to Verizon, the main issue was Verizon's 3g data network. Voice wise I heard very little complaints to drop calls on Verizon. ATT really did at the time have the fastest 3g/3.5g network and it worked very well. In many locations I would run speed tests and consistently get around 7mbps on iPhone. Now with LTE Verizon is king and probably be king for a long time.

Now things are better but ATT still leaves a bad taste in people's mouths over these kind of issues. Since most of the time I have had very little problems with ATT and still sticking with them.

If ATT did not have a fast 3g network I would have probably switched over to Verizon. I do not care about voice, I care about emails, attachments, and how fast I can get to my data.

When you get an iPhone and you realize how gimped it seems(and I have seen people return their iPhone 4s back to Sprint because of their bad data network), it makes a night and day difference.

 

[2298754]

Now me, I live in an area of California that I have had zero problems with ATT and drop calls, but when I would drive through Los Angeles and was talking to somebody my phone call would drop occasionally. One day I was having a conversation with a person while on the freeway and I had 4 drop calls in about 5 minutes so I told the person I would call them later when I get out of the area. That can be frustrating especially when you have a very important phone call.

We're also forgetting that all iPhones, until maybe the 4S had pretty poor antennas. The 2G, 3G, 3GS, and let's not forget the 4. All had poor antennas that could never rival other phone makers. I could see why there were dropped calls everywhere.

The 4S improved on the 4 and seemed fine. But the iPhone 5? It seems to have very good RF performance, matching Motorola, HTC, etc. For example, I have a stronger signal on my 5 than on my S3.

Of course, the phone isn't all too blame. AT&T's 3G network got hammered by the iPhone and they've fixed these issues now. VZW's 3G network also got owned when the iPhone 4 came out. Sprint? Well, they've always been poor in general. Having the iPhone on their 3G network just made it even worse

 

[aznboi91]

We're also forgetting that all iPhones, until maybe the 4S had pretty poor antennas. The 2G, 3G, 3GS, and let's not forget the 4. All had poor antennas that could never rival other phone makers. I could see why there were dropped calls everywhere.

The 4S improved on the 4 and seemed fine. But the iPhone 5? It seems to have very good RF performance, matching Motorola, HTC, etc. For example, I have a stronger signal on my 5 than on my S3.

Of course, the phone isn't all too blame. AT&T's 3G network got hammered by the iPhone and they've fixed these issues now. VZW's 3G network also got owned when the iPhone 4 came out. Sprint? Well, they've always been poor in general. Having the iPhone on their 3G network just made it even worse

Very true. But the make it or break it is really the 'now' and future perspective... Will T-Mobile catch up and provide LTE advance along with ATT at a cheaper price? I want to invest in the long term, you know? I shouldn't say I'm speaking for myself but for a vast majority of people... I think we all want to know the current status of ATT and T-Mobile and even Verizon. Which one provides the cheapest and best overall coverage family package...

But you bring up very good points to take into consideration. Are other people getting any dropped calls or bad signals because of holding the iPhone5 in weird or strange ways?

----------

ATT was the first carrier to get the iPhone (and had it exclusively for about 4 plus years) and their network was not ready for it. As it helped it's growth, it also caused ATT problems and complaints in major metro areas. Drop calls being the most common.

I remember listening to an Aaron Rodgers interview on the Jim Rome show about 3 years ago. He kept dropping the call and he had the iPhone on att.

Now me, I live in an area of California that I have had zero problems with ATT and drop calls, but when I would drive through Los Angeles and was talking to somebody my phone call would drop occasionally. One day I was having a conversation with a person while on the freeway and I had 4 drop calls in about 5 minutes so I told the person I would call them later when I get out of the area. That can be frustrating especially when you have a very important phone call.

The other main positive for ATT was until iPhone 5, ATT had the fastest data with regards to the iPhone. When the iPhone 4 finally went to Verizon, the main issue was Verizon's 3g data network. Voice wise I heard very little complaints to drop calls on Verizon. ATT really did at the time have the fastest 3g/3.5g network and it worked very well. In many locations I would run speed tests and consistently get around 7mbps on iPhone. Now with LTE Verizon is king and probably be king for a long time.

Now things are better but ATT still leaves a bad taste in people's mouths over these kind of issues. Since most of the time I have had very little problems with ATT and still sticking with them.

If ATT did not have a fast 3g network I would have probably switched over to Verizon. I do not care about voice, I care about emails, attachments, and how fast I can get to my data.

When you get an iPhone and you realize how gimped it seems(and I have seen people return their iPhone 4s back to Sprint because of their bad data network), it makes a night and day difference.

Sprint is out of the question for now...but if Softbank is going to purchase the company, I would reconsider sprint. Softbank after all is a japanese company, with a very good track record.

 

[2298754]

Very true. But the make it or break it is really the 'now' and future perspective... Will T-Mobile catch up and provide LTE advance along with ATT at a cheaper price? I want to invest in the long term, you know? I shouldn't say I'm speaking for myself but for a vast majority of people... I think we all want to know the current status of ATT and T-Mobile and even Verizon. Which one provides the cheapest and best overall coverage family package...

To look into the future, we also have to look at the past. T-Mobile has a small 3G footprint and now they're trying to refarm it on 1900mhz. I'm not sure anyone would be ok with having 3G in one city and then dropping it in the next. It's ridiculous. Where I live, I can drive 2 miles out of the city and go from T-Mobile "4G" to full EDGE coverage. In my area, AT&T is at 100% LTE/HSPA+.

How can we expect them to have a good LTE rollout, if they can't even do 3G right.

If anything, AT&T LTE will just get larger next year, LTE-A is supposed to be a quick upgrade.

Of course, even if you get an iPhone 5 now, it won't support LTE-A. I'm not even sure iPhone 5 will support T-Mo's upcoming LTE network. Plus unless you're in a refarming area, you're stuck on Edge, when you could have stupid fast LTE with AT&T or VZW.

But you bring up very good points to take into consideration. Are other people getting any dropped calls or bad signals because of holding the iPhone5 in weird or strange ways?

Doesn't seem to be the case. I have most major tech blogs on my RSS feeds and nothing has come up.

Sprint is out of the question for now...but if Softbank is going to purchase the company, I would reconsider sprint. Softbank after all is a japanese company, with a very good track record.

I would say Sprint is even more poor than T-Mobile. At least in the areas with 4G HSPA+, T-Mobile is actually really fast, but Sprint is just poor everywhere.

 

[Mr Hill]

If you get T-Mobile then your monthly bill would be $170 for 5 lines (3 Unlimited Everything iPhones) and 2 500 min/line talk only dumbphones on their Value Plan. That's with true unlimited data on the iPhones too.

Not sure what the equivalent plan would be on AT&T.

Only issue with T-Mobile is that most areas still have not been upgraded to support 3G on the iPhone yet, so you might be waiting until Spring 2013 depending on your area. As for LTE you might be waiting until the end of 2013 or later.

So it's pretty much pay more for LTE right now on AT&T or wait 4-6 months for faster data on T-Mobile and pay less.

I left AT&T and went to T-Mobile since double the price didn't justify the speed for me. I'll wait.