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Should I leave ATT and switch to tmo?
- Thread starter audirs5
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I have att now but had t-mobile before that. Att coverage is superior to t-mobile. They cover a whole lot more area. I would keep att if I were you unless service where you live is bad.
I switched from at&t to T-Mobile 9 months a go and I am very happy, where I live and work T-Mobile has a superior service than at&t and it cost half as much. So, the bottom line is if you get good service for less switch.
This is exactly the question I'm considering right now.
For me, the wi-fi calling is key. Getting 0-2 bars of AT&T, and I know I'm missing calls.
The T-Mobile test drive was fine, except that I couldn't test out wi-fi calling b/c they set the test drive devices up as prepaid phones and that doesn't allow for wi-fi calling to be used. I returned it after 3 days.
My options were:
* Get a Google Voice or some other VoIP number and route that to my phone. Ugh.
* Get a femtocell from AT&T. Additional monthly charge? Double ugh.
* Switch to T-Mobile and use wi-fi calling at home, save ~$15/mo, and hope they upgrade the Philadelphia/south NJ market's 2G towers to lower-band LTE in 2015. Meh, I can live with that.
What am I missing?
For me, the wi-fi calling is key. Getting 0-2 bars of AT&T, and I know I'm missing calls.
The T-Mobile test drive was fine, except that I couldn't test out wi-fi calling b/c they set the test drive devices up as prepaid phones and that doesn't allow for wi-fi calling to be used. I returned it after 3 days.
My options were:
* Get a Google Voice or some other VoIP number and route that to my phone. Ugh.
* Get a femtocell from AT&T. Additional monthly charge? Double ugh.
* Switch to T-Mobile and use wi-fi calling at home, save ~$15/mo, and hope they upgrade the Philadelphia/south NJ market's 2G towers to lower-band LTE in 2015. Meh, I can live with that.
What am I missing?
If you are happy with AT&T's current service why switch? Saving a few bucks for degraded service isn't the best move here. I'd stay pat versus dealing with the hassle and trying to switch back.
At a minimal, the test drive program for T-Mobile would be something to try out.
At a minimal, the test drive program for T-Mobile would be something to try out.
2 things to consider:
1. wifi calling is great. Nothing special to do but toggle a button to turn on.
2. TMo LTE is fassssst!
So if you have good coverage, go ahead and switch.
1. wifi calling is great. Nothing special to do but toggle a button to turn on.
2. TMo LTE is fassssst!
So if you have good coverage, go ahead and switch.
I believe wifi calling is on the horizon for AT&T, "sometime in 2015" but no telling when.
Is AT&T really charging for a femtocell? A discussion with retentions would hopefully make that charge go away.
Right. Maybe I'm a little too cynical with AT&T, but "sometime in 2015" is very soft even for them. At least Verizon was saying "first half of 2015" IIRC.
Yeah, it's $100 and there's no current rebate on the website. Even if I got the femtocell, after a walk around the apartment and balcony, I flitted between 1 bar LTE and 2 bars 4G. It's just the area we live in. Cell signals are crap in this wooded valley our development's located. Is dealing with Retentions worth the hassle?
Try their testing program.
just checked the coverage and its seems like its excellent coverage
I have never found Retentions to be a hassle. They have always been pleasant, polite and helpful. Their job is to try to make you happy and keep you as a customer. Since your thinking of switching, retentions is the department you would want to talk to.
I can be the referree for anyone new to Tmo. You'll get true unlimited data with no throttling for a year!
First, sign up for Tmo and then sign in to Tmo's Refer-A-Friend program..
it's a great Tmo promotion.
then PM me for my email and I'll refer you...
First, sign up for Tmo and then sign in to Tmo's Refer-A-Friend program..
it's a great Tmo promotion.
then PM me for my email and I'll refer you...
Are you sure? I currently have a test drive phone with WiFi calling enabled. Works just fine. You do have to follow the provided directions to enable it, though.
I'm sick of AT&T, but it looks like T-Mobile has terrible reception at my home, at work, and in a couple places I frequent. Other places? Blazing fast speeds. It's a shame, really. Maybe next year when Band 12 rolls out more widely?
I always figure it's worth a call, particularly if you can multitask. If you call there's a chance, even if small. Not calling means a zero chance.
I'll do those sorts of calls when I'm washing up dishes, sorting laundry, walking the dogs, etc. Bluetooth headset and phone in my pocket, pencil & paper in another just in case it's needed.
FWIW, Wifi calling is excellent and the audio is crystal clear. Obviously the reliability and quality depends on your broadband connection. If it's slow speed DSL or of poor reliability, you're going to have issues. But if you can consistently pull a few megabits downstream, and have a decent upstream speed, you should be fine.
Only other problem (which you may or may not care about) is that handoff of phone calls to Macs and other iOS devices gets turned off when WiFi calling is enabled.
Not to defend AT&T, but back when I had a femtocell, the additional charge only applied if you wanted unlimited minutes while using the femtocell. If your plan already included unlimited talk/text, this is moot, and you could also opt out if you just wanted to use your plan minutes. This was a couple years ago though, so maybe the policy changed?
The $99 charge for a femtocell is a bummer though. Also, frankly, I found the femtocell to be finicky and unreliable. Wifi calling is a far better alternative.
Well, you can free unlimited data for a year plus $25 from T-Mobile if you get someone to refer you. If you don't have anyone, PM me and I can set you up.
If you do any travel outside major metros, I'd say stay with AT&T. I live in the DC area and T-Mo is blazing fast. But 45 minutes on the freeway in just about any direction left me with Edge data. On long road trips I could go several hours without usable data service. The biggest regret I had leaving T-Mo was losing free international data, but it just wasn't enough to make me stay.
What are you trying to accomplish by switching carriers?
I've been on T-Mobile since September of last year, and the service meets MY exact needs. For my service, I want a high data allotment, don't use a lot of voice minutes, don't want a contract, only need occasional tethering, and don't care about the rural/outlying coverage. So, I went with T-Mobile's $30 prepaid plan (100 min., 5 GB 4G/LTE data) and paid for my iPhone up front in full. Worked out great so far, given MY specific use case.
People are going to T-Mobile because of the transparency of their pricing, lack of data overage charges, international roaming, ease of transition, and rapid improvements to their service quality in the areas they already serve. They were the first carrier to completely decouple the device and service charges, and that was something that I'd been waiting for. Even now, the pricing for the competing carrier plans remains confusing by comparison.
The main issue with T-Mobile has been, and will remain for the near-future until they ramp up their 700 MHz service, their network coverage. Within major metro areas, T-Mobile's service is generally good and the LTE transition occurred very quickly. If you look at crowdsourced coverage maps, T-Mobile's network performance is now very much comparable to AT&T in these metro locations. When you go into rural and outlying areas, T-Mobile's coverage has major gaps. This is where AT&T has a clear advantage.
As others have suggested, try the T-Mobile test drive. That way you can see if the coverage and features like wi-fi calling work for you.
I've been on T-Mobile since September of last year, and the service meets MY exact needs. For my service, I want a high data allotment, don't use a lot of voice minutes, don't want a contract, only need occasional tethering, and don't care about the rural/outlying coverage. So, I went with T-Mobile's $30 prepaid plan (100 min., 5 GB 4G/LTE data) and paid for my iPhone up front in full. Worked out great so far, given MY specific use case.
People are going to T-Mobile because of the transparency of their pricing, lack of data overage charges, international roaming, ease of transition, and rapid improvements to their service quality in the areas they already serve. They were the first carrier to completely decouple the device and service charges, and that was something that I'd been waiting for. Even now, the pricing for the competing carrier plans remains confusing by comparison.
The main issue with T-Mobile has been, and will remain for the near-future until they ramp up their 700 MHz service, their network coverage. Within major metro areas, T-Mobile's service is generally good and the LTE transition occurred very quickly. If you look at crowdsourced coverage maps, T-Mobile's network performance is now very much comparable to AT&T in these metro locations. When you go into rural and outlying areas, T-Mobile's coverage has major gaps. This is where AT&T has a clear advantage.
As others have suggested, try the T-Mobile test drive. That way you can see if the coverage and features like wi-fi calling work for you.
This exactly.
AT&T provided fine service for me for 14 years, the last 7 on iPhones. I did not have either poor coverage or poor customer service as reasons to leave.
I left because they didn't provide a plan that met my exact needs (basically the same as Woochifer's) at a price that was reasonable. I ran the numbers and realized that by switching to T-Mobile's $30 prepaid plan, I'd save $40 a month over what I paid AT&T even after a FAN discount. In my area, TM's coverage is excellent, and I don't travel out of the area often enough to make that a deciding criteria for choosing a phone carrier.
It's that simple. If AT&T had been able to save me even $20 a month by switching plans, I would have stayed. They couldn't do it, and I did ask.
That said, I did my due diligence first and tried T-Mobile's service pretty thoroughly before switching. (I was rather surprised to more than triple my LTE speeds by switching...that was the icing on the cake!) I checked coverage maps for the cities I travel to once or twice a year. I asked a few friends, and read posts on here from people in my area who had switched. I looked over 18 months' worth of bills for data & voice usage to make sure I wouldn't need to significantly alter my habits to make the new plan work.
There's no sense in paying for cell service that doesn't work for your needs. There's also little reason to stay if another carrier fits better. So far, I have zero regrets on switching.
If you are a heavy data user, T-Mobile is hard to beat. Unlimited 4G LTE for $80 per month including 5GB of tethering. There is no current plan like this on ATT or Verizon. Also the LTE speeds are stupid fast in my area.
If you are out in rural farming areas, then ATT or Verizon has T-mobile beat.
If you are out in rural farming areas, then ATT or Verizon has T-mobile beat.
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