T-Mobile - Anyone Have Experience

[nexesnex]

Hi All,

I know Macrumors isn't really a cell provider suggestion site. But, I'm thinking of changing carriers- I currently have Sprint. Can anyone tell me their experiences with T-Mobile and reception. I know the've been doing a lot of upgrading recently. Primarily, I plan to use the device in New Mexico. I'll be bringing over my iPhone 6 and also buying a new iPhone when the new one's are available.

Thanks so much

 

[Andres Cantu]

T-Mobile's coverage is overall better than Sprint's, I'll say that much (of course, it still depends on your area).

Once the new iPhones are released, keep an eye out for special offers, you might be able to trade-in your iPhone 6 for a 7s if they do the "free" if you stay for two years type-of-offer.

 

[eyoungren]

I was with Sprint for 16 years (1999-2015). 15 of those years were in Phoenix, Arizona.

I will just say that T-Mobile gives me service and coverage everywhere Sprint did not. Unlike Sprint's useless 3G, if T-Mobile drops to 4G it's very usable.

I have eight lines, double what I had with Sprint and I am only paying slightly more than I was on Sprint. I have tethering included and my two iPad Air 2's replaced LG G-Pads.

I have WiFi in two cars because of SyncUP Drive, something Sprint does not offer.

Customer service-wise you'll appreciate T-Mobile.

 

[timeconsumer]

Hi All,

I know Macrumors isn't really a cell provider suggestion site. But, I'm thinking of changing carriers- I currently have Sprint. Can anyone tell me their experiences with T-Mobile and reception. I know the've been doing a lot of upgrading recently. Primarily, I plan to use the device in New Mexico. I'll be bringing over my iPhone 6 and also buying a new iPhone when the new one's are available.

Thanks so much

I actually switched from Verizon to T-Mobile today. I can echo what @eyoungren said about customer service-wise, they have excellent customer service from what I have experienced first hand. I was talking to them on twitter before going into the store to switch so it went incredibly smooth as I was prepared. Took me about 30 minutes and everything was completely setup and ready to go.

The big things signal wise to note with T-Mobile are 700mhz (band 12) which your iPhone 6 doesn't support. I believe T-Mobile uses this for improved building penetration; the iPhone 6s and up support this. Next is 600mhz (band 71) which no current phone supports. Hopefully the iPhone 8 and 7s will support it. But this will be used for more rural areas to help with better coverage.

T-Mobile is definitely impressing me and I'm happy to have made the switch. I also live in a good T-Mobile area. I would recommend checking out websites such as rootmetrics and/or sensorly to determine what T-Mobile would be like in your area.

 

[Reno Raines]

I have been with t Mobile since 1997 when they were called powertel in my area. I live in the metro Atlanta area. I find that in most urban and suburban areas they are fantastic. Great experience with them even in congested areas. They do not have quite the rural footprint as say Verizon or att but they are improving that daily. They have acquired 600mhz spectrum which is low end and has a further reach. Plus they have also made their building penetration better. I also love their price. I have 4 lines, unlimited talk, text and 10gb of high speed data for $120 a month. They upgraded me for free until February 2019 to unlimited high speed data. I also get 10gb a line of tethering. I can't complain. Now they basically have one plan called t Mobile one. I also love how in many other countries you get unlimited free texts, 2g data and calls at .20 cents a minute. My parents are in Europe right now and they also have t Mobile and use their phones there without worry. Plus Mexico and Canada are treated like you are in the US.

 

[nexesnex]

Thank you to everyone for the feedback. It's really helpful to hear various experiences! I think I'll make the switch next week.

Thanks again for all the feedback, it's really helpful!

 

[kevjen888]

I just switch our entire family to tmobile last week as well. We came from att and Verizon before that. We're playing exactly the same as our att bill, but we ended up with 2 new iPhone 7 plus, unlimited data. Tmobile' s free international data and text really attracted to us since my parents go to china every year. I'm hoping they will have some kind of trade in prommotion for old iPhones when iPhone 8 arrives. We just traded in my iPhone 5 for a cool $300 when we signed up last week.

 

[Billburns]

Sprint is without a doubt the worst from every aspect. Join t-mobile and don't look back

 

[eyoungren]

I'm hoping they will have some kind of trade in prommotion for old iPhones when iPhone 8 arrives.

I wouldn't worry too much about that.

They had a trade in deal when the 6s/6s+ launched and they had a trade in deal for the iPhone 7 (free iPhone 7 via bill credits). They will do something.

Then the other carriers, will do something. And then T-Mobile will top it again. That's usually how they play the game.

Keep in mind that if T-Mob adds or changes any plans around that time though to get the deal you may have to upgrade your plan.

That's what they did with the free 7 deal and T-Mobile One. If you were on Simple Choice you had to upgrade to TM1 to get the free 7.

 

[Andres Cantu]

I wouldn't worry too much about that.

They had a trade in deal when the 6s/6s+ launched and they had a trade in deal for the iPhone 7 (free iPhone 7 via bill credits). They will do something.

Then the other carriers, will do something. And then T-Mobile will top it again. That's usually how they play the game.

Keep in mind that if T-Mob adds or changes any plans around that time though to get the deal you may have to upgrade your plan.

That's what they did with the free 7 deal and T-Mobile One. If you were on Simply Choice you had to upgrade to TM1 to get the free 7.

I remember that. Luckily I did it before they started requiring the switch

 

[eyoungren]

Sprint is without a doubt the worst from every aspect. Join t-mobile and don't look back

It depends on your area.

In the areas I didn't frequent a lot in Phoenix, Sprint is pretty strong. Those areas may be the places other people are at a lot.

So, for the price, if Sprint is good in your area I'd say it's worth it.

Sprint's customer service though…yeah I agree with you there.
[doublepost=1503761989][/doublepost]

I can echo what @eyoungren said about customer service-wise, they have excellent customer service from what I have experienced first hand. I was talking to them on twitter before going into the store to switch so it went incredibly smooth as I was prepared. Took me about 30 minutes and everything was completely setup and ready to go.

You will find as well that unlike Sprint, once you go from being a NEW customer to being a CURRENT customer, how they treat you does NOT change.

Once Sprint has you they don't care about you as a customer anymore. T-Mobile does care and I think this is a big deal having been with Sprint for as long as I was.

 

[upnorth85]

I have been with T-mobile for 15 years now. I also have a Verizon Mi-Fi for use when I go to rural areas. These days T-mobile coverage is so good and in the cities, their speed is faster than Verizon's. I am thus thinking of saving the $45 per month Mi-Fi that I pay. Another thing I like about T-mobile is they have North American plans that allow for treating all of North America like the US for no roaming for data or voice. Plus in some 140 countries, I get unlimited 3G for free when I travel international. Now with whats App, I can use the 3G data to make calls to anywhere for free. Unfortunately Sprint is in talks to merge with T-mobile and I expect it to go down after a merger. I might then move to AT&T.

 

[nexesnex]

I have been with T-mobile for 15 years now. I also have a Verizon Mi-Fi for use when I go to rural areas. These days T-mobile coverage is so good and in the cities, their speed is faster than Verizon's. I am thus thinking of saving the $45 per month Mi-Fi that I pay. Another thing I like about T-mobile is they have North American plans that allow for treating all of North America like the US for no roaming for data or voice. Plus in some 140 countries, I get unlimited 3G for free when I travel international. Now with whats App, I can use the 3G data to make calls to anywhere for free. Unfortunately Sprint is in talks to merge with T-mobile and I expect it to go down after a merger. I might then move to AT&T.

Here's an interesting article about the merger talks (before you mentioned it, I wasn't aware they started talking again). Either way, it sounds as if T-mobile customer will be on a winning side... hopefully.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...o-resume-preliminary-talks-on-t-mobile-merger

 

[Applejuiced]

Actually I upgraded 2 of my lines that way and Im still on Simple Choice family plan
I think they did it with all plans for a few weeks and then they changed to so you had to switch to the Tmobile One plan to get the deal
You gotta be quick with those deals, they change and go away fast.

Keep in mind that if T-Mob adds or changes any plans around that time though to get the deal you may have to upgrade your plan.

That's what they did with the free 7 deal and T-Mobile One. If you were on Simple Choice you had to upgrade to TM1 to get the free 7.

 

[bslow1]

It really depends on your location, and the difference between GREAT service and no service at all can come down to a few city blocks. So look closely at coverage maps and see where you are and where you need coverage.

For me, even though Sprint's overall coverage map is more sparse than T-Mo, my coverage as a member of T-Mobile has been hot garbage. It will not work in my house at all, or on my street. If I go around the block, I get full bars. Similarly, I just went on a trip to east Tennessee, and the phone with T-Mo was completely useless. Contrarily, inside my local mall, my T-Mo service works great, but AT&T doesn't.

 

[timeconsumer]

Just finished my first weekend with T-Mobile and I have to say I'm impressed; wish I had switched sooner. The only time I didn't have service was when I was inside of a mall at an Apple Store actually. On Verizon I did have service there but it wasn't very good if I recall correctly.

Also took a Speedtest earlier in the day as I was curious. It's not as fast as I've seen others post but this is definitely good enough for me!



T-Mobile gives you a lot of nice perks in their "One Plus" plan that enticed me. Plus the cost savings for me over Verizon helped my decision. I think for the OP if it's between Sprint and T-Mobile I would go with T-Mobile for plan perks, and T-Mobile customer service.

 

[eric3312]

I switched last weekend from Verizon to T mobile. The cellular service is great. Not as good as Verizon for me, but respectably close.

As a side rant, since you only asked about cellular service...

The online account management is an absolute disaster compared to Verizon's.

Ex.

1. Devices show up as unknown in the portal, even after setting them manually to match the type of phone you have.

2. Line "nick names" just revert back even after you change them..so if I set my wife's line to show as "Wife" it still just reverts back to Eric.

3. All 3 lines I have should be identical. We have iPhones. All the features should be the same. However, when I look at my list of features for each line, there's all kinds of different options. No consistency. My wife has visual voicemail checked. My line doesn't even show visual voicemail as available. My wife doesn't have voice to text enabled, but still has been getting voicemail to texts. I can't turn it off because it's not even in the list of features on her line.

4. The mobile app shows all different information too.

There's so consistency anywhere and literally nothing makes sense.

Verizon's self management tools were light years ahead of this crap. It's an utter nightmare to manage my account. I feel like some intern kids getting 8 bucks an hour are in charge of the website, it's that bad.

I love the price and unlimited data on a great network, but not sure it's worth the pain in the ass of the account portals I use pretty regularly (call forwarding, changing line features, etc)

 

[Applejuiced]

I switched last weekend from Verizon to T mobile. The cellular service is great. Not as good as Verizon for me, but respectably close.

As a side rant, since you only asked about cellular service...

The online account management is an absolute disaster compared to Verizon's.

Ex.

1. Devices show up as unknown in the portal, even after setting them manually to match the type of phone you have.

2. Line "nick names" just revert back even after you change them..so if I set my wife's line to show as "Wife" it still just reverts back to Eric.

3. All 3 lines I have should be identical. We have iPhones. All the features should be the same. However, when I look at my list of features for each line, there's all kinds of different options. No consistency. My wife has visual voicemail checked. My line doesn't even show visual voicemail as available. My wife doesn't have voice to text enabled, but still has been getting voicemail to texts. I can't turn it off because it's not even in the list of features on her line.

4. The mobile app shows all different information too.

There's so consistency anywhere and literally nothing makes sense.

Verizon's self management tools were light years ahead of this crap. It's an utter nightmare to manage my account. I feel like some intern kids getting 8 bucks an hour are in charge of the website, it's that bad.

I love the price and unlimited data on a great network, but not sure it's worth the pain in the ass of the account portals I use pretty regularly (call forwarding, changing line features, etc)

Why would you need to manage or change your features regularly? You dont need to log in to use call forwarding. You can also use the Tmobile Digits app that makes everything easier when you want to use another line or device for calls and texts to another device. Very nice app to have.
I only log in to the app to see my bill and how much data I used and I have left over.
All the names on the my lines stay as I set them up and work fine and all devices display correctly. I had to set those up by using the website tmobile portal and not the iphone app to setup.
Maybe try to have a customer service rep help you out with those things but sounds more like OCD to me.
Maybe its the initial kinks that need to be setup and worked out if you just opened the account.
But personally those little things wouldn't make me switch away or go back to paying more and getting less from Verizon.
Up to you though...

 

[lordofthereef]

Honestly just pay for the cheapest month of pay as you go service and try them out. Google fi may be the cheapest way to go there. You should know within a day or two if it will work. If it doesn’t they’ll refund you the prorated amount if you call them. I did this my first “test run” almost five years ago now. My second test run had me switxh because the service was acceptable.

We have been happy overall for over two years now but we are in New England. We may end up moving or it may just be my wife; she has issues at work and has to decide if she wants to deal with two phones or just move her personal number to someone that can handle her reception needs.

 

[predation]

Can someone with ordering experience from T-Mobile for launch give me some advise on the best way to go about it? I'm not about to line up in front of the Apple Store because T-Mobile isn't part of the iup.

Is it best to order through a rep via phone? Order through their website?

 

[rui no onna]

It really depends on your location, and the difference between GREAT service and no service at all can come down to a few city blocks. So look closely at coverage maps and see where you are and where you need coverage.

For me, even though Sprint's overall coverage map is more sparse than T-Mo, my coverage as a member of T-Mobile has been hot garbage. It will not work in my house at all, or on my street. If I go around the block, I get full bars. Similarly, I just went on a trip to east Tennessee, and the phone with T-Mo was completely useless. Contrarily, inside my local mall, my T-Mo service works great, but AT&T doesn't.

Lol, with T-Mo it's not even blocks for me. It was a matter of going outside to the parking lot. Kinda unacceptable so we've stuck to ATT. We wouldn't really save a lot if we switch anyway. That said, I'm very grateful T-Mobile forced both ATT and Verizon to be more competitive. Those two were getting pretty complacent.

 

[kevjen888]

T-Mobile signal is amazing, I've never gotten any cellular signal with att and Verizon at my doctors office all these years, and today I was pleasantly surprised by the full LTE bars of the T-Mobile signal over there.