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T-Mobile Test Drive opinions
- Thread starter falkedup
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You could also look at the crowdsourced coverage maps from RootMetrics or Ookla. T-Mobile whitelists the data for both of those speed testing apps, so the maps are fairly well populated. Those might give you a more granular picture of the data speeds in your area.
I tried T-Mobile last month and unfortunately, the coverage isn't good where I am.
I'm glad for the opportunity to try it out though. It would have been a huge hassle if I switched the family over blindly.
I'd love to switch to T-Mo to save the $$, but coverage comes first.
I'm glad for the opportunity to try it out though. It would have been a huge hassle if I switched the family over blindly.
I'd love to switch to T-Mo to save the $$, but coverage comes first.
Just be careful and return if it does not work out. My office and residence were shown as having excellent coverage but could not get dependable reception unless I went outside.
If it covers your area, you could save some money.
I'm in a great T-Mobile network and I love the unlimited plans. Not having to watch my data is great. I'm driving down from Minneapolis to Tennessee next weekend and I'm sure I'll have a lot of no coverage areas but for someone like me who rarely travels by car into rural areas it won't bother me.
Choice is good!
Enjoy those mountain views in Tenn! I lived in Atlanta and enjoyed driving into the "hills" on the weekend!
I gave it a try last week. I didn't have high hopes after viewing the coverage map. Even ATT and Verizon don't have great signal here. It took 3 days before I got service and the "welcome to tmobile" text message.
Regardless, I was happy they provided the test drive program. No real loss for either side. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out in my case.
Regardless, I was happy they provided the test drive program. No real loss for either side. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out in my case.
Awesome! Will do! It'll be my first time in the Smokies and my kids first time seeing any mountains at all! Looking forward to some serious R&R!
T-Mobile's problem isn't outdoor coverage. I had wonderful LTE coverage outside; the problem was indoor coverage. The signal almost always dropped down to H+, then to EDGE which was unacceptable.
My phone was scheduled to be delivered tuesday but it showed up today. Took T-Mobile phone and my Verizon phone around the neighborhood and into the store. So far T-Mobile is faster at web browsing. Everywhere I went (granted this in a 1.5 mile radius so not a huge area) I had LTE. Went into the store and had LTE while my Verizon phone was at 1x.
I only have one bar of service on my block. Everywhere else I drove was two to four bars. I'm thinking that wifi calling with iOS 8 will negate any problems here but I don't know. Called my parents long distance and call quality was acceptable but not as good as Verizon. So far it looks like T-mobile might get my business in November.
I only have one bar of service on my block. Everywhere else I drove was two to four bars. I'm thinking that wifi calling with iOS 8 will negate any problems here but I don't know. Called my parents long distance and call quality was acceptable but not as good as Verizon. So far it looks like T-mobile might get my business in November.
I just signed up for the test drive myself and expect to have the phone Monday (given the tracking info and timing). I am very excited to see how T-mobile performs around town. I am always in urban areas, so I am thinking this is going to be a good experience. I am currently on Sprint, so I am expecting a big difference (I pulled a whopping 200kbps on 2 bars of Sprint 4g today ) Will update with impressions and results soon!
) Will update with impressions and results soon!My parents tried T-Mobile via Test Drive in Tampa, FL. While they liked to idea of cutting their phone bill, they eventually declined to switch for this very reason. They recently cut the cord on their wired phone at their house. With T-Mobile, they would have to go outside to make/receive calls. Wasn't a workable solution for them.
While wireless phones are great for mobility, it is funny how we've gone from wired phones offering crystal clear clarity for even international calls to tolerating low quality cellular calls, not being able to make/receive calls indoors, or dead zones outside major metro areas. I guess this, plus a much larger phone bill, is the price for convenience.
My father tried it out at home, and sent it back the next day. Their map shows us with 4G LTE coverage but we get no service to 1 bar of edge.
I have Verizon and I get 2-3 bars of LTE at his house, so he's going to be choosing Verizon instead.
Same here. The coverage map says I'm suppose to be in excellent LTE coverage. I could barely 1 bar of LTE and it's not stable at all. Always switching to E with 1-2 bars. I didn't take the test drive, I just put a Tmobile sim inside my iPhone 5S. I was kind of hoping to switch from Verizon, but it doesn't look like that will be the case. Tmobile says my area is getting upgraded within 6 months. I guess I'll check back after the year.
Don't forget about WiFi calling coming in iOS8... For those situations where at home it is bad and everywhere else is good it is a lifesaver... I'm actually surprised it wasn't good for them in Tampa... I've been all over Tampa, Lakeland and Wesley chapel and get LTE pretty much everywhere.
I've been trying tmobile for a few days now and while it is very fast, the coverage isn't very good where I'm at. I can make a clear call on 2 bars of verizon 3G or 1X but not on tmobile edge. Also, I stream music on the way to work. With verizon it's flawless but tmobile cuts out multiple times. Keep in mind I am in the backwoods of Jackson NJ.
I'm still on the unlimited lte data plan on verizon and once I give it up, there's no turning back. I still have some more testing to do.
I'm still on the unlimited lte data plan on verizon and once I give it up, there's no turning back. I still have some more testing to do.
I'm in the same boat as you are. I'm waiting to see if tmobile can get it together by the end of the year. If not I'm sticking with Verizon. Would switch to att if I could still get unlimited data. Not to happy with how verizon is going to do their data throttling.
Just to clarify, T-Mobile's coverage maps do not distinguish between "4G"/HSPA+ and LTE. Also, the bars on your phone correspond to the voice network, not the data network (LTE is currently data-only).
If you want to see what's really going on at a more detailed level, you should look at RootMetrics or Ookla's crowdsourced maps. Since T-Mobile does not count the speed testing data against my data cap, I'm running speed tests anytime I go into a new area. Lots of variation out there, and in many cases, the newer speed tests I'm running come out a lot faster than the existing averages.
Might want to check and make sure that your phone has the latest carrier update (16.1 or 16.1.1). For whatever, after installing iOS 7.1.2 my 5s reverted to a prior carrier version, and that made my LTE signal a lot less stable. Once the carrier update popped up and installed again, the signal was a lot better.
I have checked those other sites. They don't provide too much information in my area. If the bars indicate voice coverage, I guess I'll get pretty poor coverage then. I get 1 bar, maybe 2 at best. But lately I've been seeing a lot of no service. As for career update, I have version 16.1. Not sure how to force an update to rewrite over it.
That's all that needs to be said, really. If you're encountering a lot of EDGE, then it's not a good idea at all to stick with T-Mobile in your case. Now, this MIGHT change in time, as T-Mobile has said they are working to convert all their EDGE footprint to LTE. But, why stick around and wait for that to happen? It could take a long while.
My suggestion would be to check out AT&T. They might cover you better than Verizon, and definitely will be better than T-Mobile.
Disclosure: I left AT&T for T-Mobile. For me, T-Mobile coverage has been good enough, bu that's not the case for everyone.
Thanks for the information on the sites, I didn't know about them and they work very well.
T-mobile worked well in my house but it was wifi calling. I couldn't figure out how to turn it off on my Windows phone. Traveling around the area showed I had pretty good coverage.
I see a lot of posts saying service was as bad or worse than expected. Very few, if any, that state they were pleasantly surprised. I wonder if this promo might be hurting T-Mobile more than helping.
I like the idea of cutting my phone bill almost in half but there's a reason why AT&T and Verizon costs more.
I like the idea of cutting my phone bill almost in half but there's a reason why AT&T and Verizon costs more.