I am looking to get away from Verizon because they are charging way to much and I haven't been having the greatest service with them. I inquired about the Tmobile un carrier where they can pay my ETF fees. The only thing is I had a tablet line which is $180 to cancel. I would also need to pay $190 for the first month as a down payment on the device. I would also need to trade in my 5s for $300 and then i would need to pay $90 a month un till the phone is paid. I could take the $300 and pay the ETF on the tablet line and then put the other $120 toward the phone. My total ETF's are $470 it seems to be cheaper just to cancel verizon and bring my 5s to tmobile. Will my VZW 5s work on tmobile? I am looking to see what is best here.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Carrier switching to tmobile...
- Thread starter Afbar1114
- Start date
The LTE will work, but I don't think you'll get GSM from the 5S since its CDMA, though I could be wrong.
Talk to someone who has T-Mobile where you want to use it. If you read these forums, you see the post from many people who switched to T-Mobile and then had to switch back because they were getting terrible coverage. T-Mobile is great (and cheap) if you have the coverage where you need it. Otherwise, I would probably consider switching to AT&T if Verizon is too expensive.
You're 5S will work perfectly on Tmobile. The AT&T Tmobile and Verizon models all use the same bands.
I recently switched to tmobile from Verizon. I get great lte, unlimited data, and no drop calls. I don't know how it would work if you travel because i dont travel. If I were you I would do a coverage check before switching
I think I may be doing the same soon, but coming from ATT, not Verizon. We have two T-Mobile iPads right now and the data coverage is better in our area than ATT. Between my wife and I we would save quite a bit going over to T-Mobile.
Now I am just trying to decide whether or not to go the ETF route or just wait until the ATT contracts are up in September.
Now I am just trying to decide whether or not to go the ETF route or just wait until the ATT contracts are up in September.
The verizon 5S is fully unlocked for GSM use.
HSPA+ and LTE will work fine with Tmobile and AT&T.
HSPA+ and LTE will work fine with Tmobile and AT&T.
I am trying to think what is best. I may just wait another few months until my tablet line is up and then switch and only pay about 220 in ETF's
My wife switched from Verizon to AT&T with her iPhone 5s. It works perfectly fine and it is completely unlocked.
The T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon iPhones are all identical hardware. The carriers themselves impose locks and restrict you from using other networks, but the Verizon model is completely carrier unlocked and will work on any of major carriers(except Sprint).
It was definitely worth it, for the price at least. I switched w/ a 5, and the only gripe is that the 5 doesn't support the same LTE bands (not the case w/ the 5S where all US versions support all the major US carriers), and HSPA+ is noticeably less reliable and fast =/
Just my .02 about T-Mobile. The prices are low, but you get what you pay for. I live in Atlanta, and where the LTE works it's blazing fast. Even the fallback 4G (3G) is pretty fast. The problem is when you walk into a building, or hit the road on a trip. Their frequencies are too high for any useful building penetration, and when you hit the road and get a few miles outside of a metro area you quickly go to Edge speeds or No Service.
By no means telling you what to do, but I dumped T-mobile and went with Straight Talk. The speeds are just as fast, and for $46.52 after junk fees and taxes, the price is pretty much equal to my former T-mobile plan. It uses AT&T towers and service, so the coverage and building penetration are great in comparison. I get 2.5 gigs of full throttle data (same as I had on T-mobile), and unlimited talk and text. Just food for thought.
Just remembered that a buddy who had Verizon took his 5S to Straight Talk as well.
By no means telling you what to do, but I dumped T-mobile and went with Straight Talk. The speeds are just as fast, and for $46.52 after junk fees and taxes, the price is pretty much equal to my former T-mobile plan. It uses AT&T towers and service, so the coverage and building penetration are great in comparison. I get 2.5 gigs of full throttle data (same as I had on T-mobile), and unlimited talk and text. Just food for thought.
Just remembered that a buddy who had Verizon took his 5S to Straight Talk as well.
Last edited:
