T-Mobile vs. Cingular/AT&T

[kildraik]

This is a serious question. My brother and I are going in together to get a 700 minute plan. From both carriers it's $69.99.

Now, Cingular/AT&T has a $9.99 service for unlimited media M2M, with only 200 for outside carriers. I would have to purchase 2 of these (1 per phone) giving the monthly bill to about $90, give or take a few pennies.

T-Mobile has an unlimited media to everybody, in or out of their service for $19.99, and i'd only have to buy one for the family plan because it is for up to 5 lines. Good deal.

Cingular/AT&T on the other hand has free unlimited M2M calling, while with T-Mobile unlimited M2M is $5 per line, so an extra $10, but we'd have MyFaves, so we could call our top five for an unlimited amount of time, and even switch them out every month.

So What should we do? We need serious advice.

Please refrain from just saying "Go with Cingular because of the iPhone!," because if we choose cingular we'd go for the Blackjacks due to the iPhone's price.

Thanks in advance,
Will

 

[yg17]

I see you're in KC. KS or MO? Because I've been all over MO when I had Cingular for 2 years and they SUCK (and I'd imagine it would be just as crappy on the other side of the state line). Static, dropped calls, etc. And crappy customer service. I switched to T-Mobile and they're awesome. I'd strongly recommend them.

I'm on a T-Mobile family plan and have unlimited M2M for free. But I don't have MyFaves, I think it's a one-or-the-other type deal. Look into the non-MyFaves plan if you want M2M because it definitely exists.

 

[kildraik]

I see you're in KC. KS or MO?

Missouri. I live in Harrisonville, actually, about 30 miles south of the river, or dead center downtown. My brother will be in Lee's Summit, however, because he's going to Longview CC for college.

 

[rdowns]

Not quite sure why you've come to a Mac forum for this advice. Depsite all the threads about iPhones and carriers, etc., were you to read a few, it would be painfully obvious that most on this board know very little about mobile phones and carriers.

 

[kildraik]

Not quite sure why you've come to a Mac forum for this advice. Depsite all the threads about iPhones and carriers, etc., were you to read a few, it would be painfully obvious that moist on this board know very little about mobile phones and carriers.

I guess you could say that most people on this forum have either Cingular/AT&T or T-Mobile, so they can speak from experience.

I am not asking about phones, but the carriers, and although you say that most doesn't know much about carriers, they have to have a carrier in order to have a phone, eh? =]

Now, doesn't that make a little more sense?

 

[Kermit the frog]

I've had T-Mobile, Cingular, Verzion and US Cellular. And US Cellular by far is the best bang for the buck. I get nights that start at 7. Unlimted nights and weekends, free incoming calls, free incoming text free mobile to mobile calling and texting all ontop of 1000 mins for 43.00 plus all the crappy taxes and other fees. But if US Cellular isn't avaiable in your area Verzion is the next best.

 

[Spock]

Missouri. I live in Harrisonville, actually, about 30 miles south of the river, or dead center downtown. My brother will be in Lee's Summit, however, because he's going to Longview CC for college.

Im in Warrensburg, MO and have t-mobile, I love them I had a 2 line 600min family plan with free M2M and 500 texts and unlimited t-zones on one line for $57 a month I hardly ever have a problem with them and customer service has been really good to me. I wouldnt change.

 

[mkrishnan]

Are you two younger, or do you have jobs? Might be worth it to see if you have an employee rate plan. Since you're also getting two relatively expensive plans, it may also be worth it to call and negotiate. As you know, they offer deals to their existing customers. If you pitch to T-Mo that you are interested in what you outlined for $90/mo from Cingular, for instance, perhaps you can get them to throw in a freebie like the unlimited M2M calling or more minutes.

For reference, I've used T-Mo for about 4-5 years now (on my second phone) and used Sprint for about 6 years before that. When I renewed with T-Mo, I negotiated $39.99/mo for 1000 minutes (this was before the faves thing, so I don't have that), and I pay $5/mo for 500 msgs (with taxes, this comes to $49-50/mo for me). Right now, I *blush* talk about 3500 minutes/month, predominantly with my girlfriend, but most of it is actually evening/weekend, and I don't even come that close to exceeding the 1000 minutes.

 

[windeyes6]

It is hard to say..personally I preferred T-Mobile. It really depends on the areas that you are in. T-Mobile offers way more minutes than Cingular and is flexible with contacts (you can choose 1 year or 2 years). The minutes won't be useful if T-Mobile have bad reception in your neighborhood..

I don't really care about M2M calling too much...I guess cuz I don't chat with my family memebers too often. On the other hand, the people I call often are my friends are in different carriers, which M2M doesn't really apply.

If you travel outside of the State, T-Mobile also can unlock your phone for free, no hassle at all.

I have T-mobile, my other family members have Cingular though. My dad and my brother shared unlimited 400 minutes and 5000 minutes free night & weekend...They talked a lot on the phone to their friends...even the 5000 minutes night & weekend ran out....phone bill rang up to $500......

I don't really like Sprint or Verizon because I can't take their phone to travel around the world. (No, I don't want to pay expensive roaming fee when I can just buy a cheap prepaid local sim card)

Anyway, just my opinions.

 

[windeyes6]

For reference, I've used T-Mo for about 4-5 years now (on my second phone) and used Sprint for about 6 years before that. When I renewed with T-Mo, I negotiated $39.99/mo for 1000 minutes (this was before the faves thing, so I don't have that), and I pay $5/mo for 500 msgs (with taxes, this comes to $49-50/mo for me). Right now, I *blush* talk about 3500 minutes/month, predominantly with my girlfriend, but most of it is actually evening/weekend, and I don't even come that close to exceeding the 1000 minutes.

Did you get a new phone when you renew? How much did you have to pay? How long is the contract?
I also have the $39.99/mo for 1000 minutes + free nights n weekend, they had this promotion a couple years ago. I got stuck in this plan and don't want to change. (I use around 600--800 minutes a month...) I wish they are nicer to their existing customer...I don't think they will care if I switch to another carrier though...

 

[mkrishnan]

Did you get a new phone when you renew? How much did you have to pay? How long is the contract?
I also have the $39.99/mo for 1000 minutes + free nights n weekend, they had this promotion a couple years ago. I got stuck in this plan and don't want to change. (I use around 600--800 minutes a month...) I wish they are nicer to their existing customer...I don't think they will care if I switch to another carrier though...

I think, if I remember correctly, I paid $99 for a magenta RAZR V3 (IIRC, at that moment, it was $50 for new customers because of rebates, $37 for contract initiation, and $200 otherwise, so it was a few dollars ... $12... more than if I had not been a customer), and a two year contract. Eh, it was more or less better than other options at the time. It took some discussion to get to that. You're right, but the problem is that everyone else pulls the same crap with existing customers. Sprint barely did anything to keep me (although at the time, they had no phone that I wanted). They're more than happy to give you a new phone every two years, but usually it's garbage -- nothing that's on the it list.