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shady16

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 3, 2019
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So I currently have a 12 Pro Max on Verizon and am getting tired of the dropped calls and slowish data and am wondering if moving to T-Mobile would be any better or worth it to pay off my 12 pro max and switch.
 
It really depends on how well T-Mobile coverage is in your usual traveling areas. If I am not mistaken, T-Mobile will let you trial their network to check coverage, unless they did away with that program. Contact them on Twitter.

I used to use Verizon for several years and got tired of the high price and lack of customer service. T-Mobile has done a great job with coverage and customer service for me.
 
With T-Mobile's Connect plan (https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans/connect) and an eSIM, you can trial the coverage really easily and relatively inexpensively as well.

Grab the eSIM app from the App Store: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/t-mobile-esim-app

Activate the cheapest plan ($15 for 2 GB of data) and then switch over to use their network whenever you want to run a speedtest or see what coverage looks like.

Note that with both an eSIM and physical SIM "active", you won't be able to use 5G. This is a modem/iPhone limitation. I just keep the T-Mobile eSIM deactivated when I'm not using it - it's very easy to turn back on.
 
With T-Mobile's Connect plan (https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans/connect) and an eSIM, you can trial the coverage really easily and relatively inexpensively as well.

Grab the eSIM app from the App Store: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/t-mobile-esim-app

Activate the cheapest plan ($15 for 2 GB of data) and then switch over to use their network whenever you want to run a speedtest or see what coverage looks like.

Note that with both an eSIM and physical SIM "active", you won't be able to use 5G. This is a modem/iPhone limitation. I just keep the T-Mobile eSIM deactivated when I'm not using it - it's very easy to turn back on.
thats very unfortunate to as i would like to test there 5G speeds vs Verizons
 
thats very unfortunate to as i would like to test there 5G speeds vs Verizons

I agree. At this point, however, unless you have mmWave 5G with Verizon, it is probably going to be inferior to T-Mobile's 5G (I say this as someone that is thinking about switching to Verizon for some time). T-Mobile has a big spectrum advantage in that regard, but their coverage is more spotty.

By and large my opinion is that T-Mobile is great when it works, or roughly nonexistent. Verizon has a better built out network in terms of coverage, but won't have mid-band 5G until the end of this year, and their "fake" 5G won't get you much more than LTE.
 
I use T-Mobile. Can't justify Verizon's prices. If you aren't getting great coverage with Verizon you should absolutely drop them. That's what you're paying premium for.
The pricing will depend on what plan you are on. I'm on Verizon's top-tier unlimited plan. Including tax and fees, the total comes to about $95 a month. With T-Mobile's top-tier unlimited plan, the total is $85 a month, with tax and fees included. But......you only get 20 GB hotspot data and NO Apple music. With Verizon's top-tier unlimited, you get 30 GB hotspot AND Apple Music. So if you need more hotspot data and Apple Music, the choice is clear.

When I bought my iPhone 7 Plus 4 years ago, I first went with T Mobile. The sad thing was that their signal was terrible in many spots here in a northwest suburb of Los Angeles. After a week or so, I switched to Verizon. Much better signal strength and definitely no dead spots in my roaming range.

The signal strength of these carriers definitely differs from areas to areas, so do some comparisons as some have suggested here.

I don't have a 5G phone, so I can't comment on Verizon network's 5G speed.
 
I use visible which is Verizon technically. But I pay $25 a month unlimited on a party pay and have free 5G. I am very happy with this service for the price. The internet can be a little slow sometimes but not unusable. I used to have T-Mobile and I loved them but had pretty frequent dropped calls.
 
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So I currently have a 12 Pro Max on Verizon and am getting tired of the dropped calls and slowish data and am wondering if moving to T-Mobile would be any better or worth it to pay off my 12 pro max and switch.
I have T-Mobile and the wife and I have the 12 and 12 Mini, the 5G speed is insane and have not had any dropped calls. Even when we had the iphone X we did not get dropped calls.
 
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I had T-Mobile for years, and switched to Verizon last year. I switched back to T-Mobile as the coverage is similar, if not better, and is considerably cheaper. The customer service is also fantastic.
 
Realisticly. what coverage you have by provider, depends a lot on where you live. If you are in a large metropolitan area, generally, either one would give good service. But, if you travel for business, or just do a lot of road trips out of mainstream areas, I have always found that Verizon i the better choice to ensure available connectivity. T-Mobile/Sprint does good in particular areas, but once out of that area, there are big gaps before you hit the next coverage zone. Yes, Verizon is generally the higher cost plan, but at least I can count on it being available in a lot of the out of the way places I travel to.
 
I switched to T-Mobile about 3 weeks ago and couldn't be happier. Verizon moved us to a 5G plan saying it would be the same price as what I had before (a data share LTE plan). I realized shortly afterward that it didn't include tethering and I needed to go to a more expensive plan to get it back. Then, they wouldn't allow me to move back to my original plan because it was no longer available. I moved to T-Mobile and took advantage of their military discount being a veteran. I'm saving $50 a month, have an unlimited 5G plan, have tethering and the coverage has been great so far. I've heard some folks say the coverage isn't good but most haven't gone to the newer plan that includes both the old Sprint network along with T-Mobile. Long post....sorry.
 
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cell providors are not putting a lot of effort ug graiding the old tech towers. I have Verizon and live in a urban area and should get good service but not. Than they put up a few 5G towers 2 or 3 blocks away and i get great cell phone signal just now.

go figure

I dont think there is one answer. Depends where you live and work.
 
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There is one thing that could pose an issue and that is my 12PM is sim locked to Verizon atm
 
There is one thing that could pose an issue and that is my 12PM is sim locked to Verizon atm

When you try out T-Mobile they send you a test drive device where you connect to it like you would a WiFi connection. The fact that you are locked to Verizon won’t matter.

Watch the video in the link.

 
When you try out T-Mobile they send you a test drive device where you connect to it like you would a WiFi connection. The fact that you are locked to Verizon won’t matter.

Watch the video in the link.

How would that test call quality? I’ve even had dropped calls with full bars on Verizon. Wouldn’t that test device only test there data speeds?
 
How would that test call quality? I’ve even had dropped calls with full bars on Verizon. Wouldn’t that test device only test there data speeds?
The test drive kit comes with a T-Mobile SIM card. Maybe give T-Mobile a call and chat with them about the test drive and your current situation.
 
get onto a local neighborhood forum like nextDoor and ask your neighbors.
 
I have t mobile prepaid. Its $50 a month and I have unlimited 5g. I like it. My husband is on ATT prepaid, they have a promo thats 8gb of LTE a month for i think $325 a year. You must pay up front. He works from home due to COVID so its a no brainier for him to keep that service. We had verizon and speeds were awful, we switched and saved money.
 
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How would that test call quality? I’ve even had dropped calls with full bars on Verizon. Wouldn’t that test device only test there data speeds?
I think, you’re out of luck testing call quality as long as your device is locked. However, you can certainly try inquiring to T-Mobile’s support.

While you’re correct that a strong signal doesn’t guarantee a flawless connection/service, nor does being able to make calls guarantee data access, 99%+ instances of a stable data connection equate to reliable call service (in my experience).
The test drive kit comes with a T-Mobile SIM card. Maybe give T-Mobile a call and chat with them about the test drive and your current situation.
FYI...
T-Mobile said:
  • Trial SIMs are locked to the Franklin T9 Mobile Hotspot; they won't work with other devices.
 
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I was on Verizon several years ago, and while it was "okay", I didn't like seeing almost every other plan out there being less money. I finally settled on TracFone, as I don't use the phone that much, and the cost was about right. As time went on, I found myself "buying" 3 GB chunks of data at a time, at $10 each, and started actually adding up the costs, and discovered that my phone was costing much more than just the basic charge. I might add that I have two phones that I was paying for.
I discoverd T-Mobile's Senior plan, where I could get two lines, unlimited data, text, and talk for like $65 a month. This was very close to what I was paying overall for TracFone, except I'd get unlimited data, could use my Apple watch, (for an extra $10) and get 5g. This was for me, a no-brainer. I might add that I also have a Samsung Galaxy S20+ that I have been looking at for an upgrade to my iPhone 11 Pro, and on the Samsung, the 5G speeds are great, averaging around 45-50GB download. Additionally, using Facebooks T-mobile page and it's "chat", I've had nothing but caring, professional, and knowledgeable people help me, even when the newest Android 11/OneUI 3.0 upgrade killed the data on my S20, T-mobile identified the problem, shipped a new no-cost sim, and insured it was set up right. You can't go wrong with T-mobile in my opinion.
 
I've had all the major carriers over the last decade. I live in northern NJ and found that leaving my home town the various carriers' service varied greatly. I currently have 4 lines on Verizon, all unlimited talk/text/data, and pay $196 per month all in. I have Verizon FiOS for TV and internet, plus Verizon service for home phones. The old "Triple Play."

Sprint: Unreasonably awful. Almost like they were not even trying. Outside of major metro areas Sprint has no footprint. My neighbor worked for Sprint helping build out their network. Sprint worked hard to improve but simply fell flat on their face. I'm shocked that T-Mobile bought them. The move to 4G LTE and 5G is the only thing that makes it possible. I recall Sprint buying Nextel and what a disaster that was. $33 Billion for the purchase, and a couple years later they simply wrote it off. One giant pile of fail and a "never mind".

T-Mobile: Good speed and prices, but if you wander outside of major cities they fall down. Lots of dropped calls and slow data speeds.

AT&T: Great speed, middle of the road prices, good network footprint, but their customer service was poor and they loved to nickel and dime customers with all kinds of extra fees and charges. Still, their service was a big improvement over T-Mobile.

Verizon: Best network coverage I've found. Data speeds are good to very good. One issue I've had with Verizon is how they abandon old phones and disallow them on their network. Once they decide to pull the plug on a range of devices you're just screwed. No concessions to customers with an orphaned device. They're still the most expensive carrier but it's a lot closer than in days past.
 
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