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T-Mobile's iPhone 5 is a Tweaked Model A1428 Phone with AWS Support
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Tweaked A1428?
This is going to cause a nightmare ... so much hardware fragmentation.
Hopefully 5S has world-phone capabilities
I don't think that word means what you think it means...
Precisely why I've been awaiting an iPhone with a global LTE chip that has all US bands for HSPA+ available and LTE for at least both AT&T and T-Mobile in the states. It looks like Qualcomm's new chip may include just that, and if T-Mobile continues with this pricing for the 5S, it seems that getting one through them would be the best thing for many consumers. Pay $579 for one, get it unlocked, and use it on their lower-cost plans as LTE continues to rollout and on their AWS HSPA+, and if it doesn't sit well any longer, take your phone elsewhere.
I feel that those who resale their phones to subsidize their new ones, especially if their contracts are up, will actually see a nice advantage with this, too. For example, sell your 4S for $300-$350 or so unlocked and with the charger and maybe your cases too, and put all of that down on the new phone - your monthly payments will be shorter, and it would be like paying $229-279 for an unlocked iPhone. I really like that.
I feel that those who resale their phones to subsidize their new ones, especially if their contracts are up, will actually see a nice advantage with this, too. For example, sell your 4S for $300-$350 or so unlocked and with the charger and maybe your cases too, and put all of that down on the new phone - your monthly payments will be shorter, and it would be like paying $229-279 for an unlocked iPhone. I really like that.
Yup - huge bonus. Wind will always face an up hill struggle no matter how good it's plans are - it is not a national carrier - once out of a wind zone you are stung on roaming charges - Esp. data.
At this point, my man, if you could spare the months, you can go ahead and await the 5S, as current rumors are pointing to a June or July release. However, I'd say go on ahead in your local T-Mobile store and just play with it and see if it suits your needs. If the speeds are good and the feature set is right up your alley, it will be great for you. Bleeding edge is nice, but a phone within your budget that suits your needs is always the best buy.
Do not think it is just baseband, you need to add more radio/hardware to get it work.
Only big brother bad boys like ATT can do software update and magically 3G becomes 4G
As for the plans, from what I've read, the T-Mo plans only allow 500MB for full speed tethering, regardless of the data plan.
That is crazy bad.
Under the shared data AT&T plan, you get full speed up to what you've paid for whether that usage is via smartphone or tethering. I see no reason (outside of the unlimited plan...there a cap of some amount would seem logical) why T-Mo should not allow tethering to the full data limit you have purchased.
That is crazy bad.
Under the shared data AT&T plan, you get full speed up to what you've paid for whether that usage is via smartphone or tethering. I see no reason (outside of the unlimited plan...there a cap of some amount would seem logical) why T-Mo should not allow tethering to the full data limit you have purchased.
It would be great if Apple and T-Mobile would enable Wifi calling on the iphone.
Which reduces minutes used if important, but also, allows for ease of using wifi where there is bad signal.
Which reduces minutes used if important, but also, allows for ease of using wifi where there is bad signal.
That is not true at all.
T-mobile includes tethering (for no additional cost) for almost all of their plans. Every other carrier requires you to pay extra for tether.
T-mobile only allows 500mb of tethering on their "true unlimited" plan. This is because these people are paying for infinity GB of high speed data for only $70 as opposed to AT&T or Verizon who would charge hundreds for 10+GB of data.
If you want tethering in addition to unlimited high speed data you have to pay extra (I think it is like $20).
Granted I think T-mobile needs to work very hard to communicate their plan to consumers (I couldn't for example quickly figure out on their website just now exactly how much extra you need to pay to buy hotspot data for the unlimited plan).
I wonder if i shatter my iPhone in a couple months, when I get a replacement from AppleCare+, will I get one of these newfangled tmobs compatible phones? Hmmm...
1. Add this repo to Cydia: http://v.backspace.jp/repo/
2. Install CommCenter patch.
3. Get iFunBox on your PC or Mac.
4. Navigate to /System/Library/Carrier Bundles/Unknown.Bundle in iFunBox.
5. Download this ZIP - http://www.howardforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=89792&d=1361488092. Unzip it (two files in the ZIP) and copy them to the folder above.
6. Reboot the iPhone.
That'll enable the LTE option in the carrier settings. Don't forget to to set the APN in the Cellular Data Network settings to epn.tmobile.com.
After I did this, I only saw 3G (we have 1900 MHz UMTS here on T-Mobile in MD) but after a few moments it went back to "Searching..." and then jumped to their LTE network. Cooh!
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Yep - see my other posts. You need to Jailbreak right now to get it - I'm sure Apple will include the right carrier settings down the road, but it worked for me on 6.1.2 - and with a pre-paid card too
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Does anyone know why Verizon's network speeds are slower than those of AT&T or T-Mobile???
I thought Verizon has always been considered the best.
Unfortunately, it's not a straight line answer.
Verizon has better coverage, coast-to-coast than either AT&T or TMO. This is a generalization, and depending on where you are, your mileage may vary.
Verizon has the largest LTE network of any carrier in the country, by far. This is regardless of the FUD that AT&T likes to put out. This means that it's far more likely you'll get LTE speeds with a Verizon phone.
Verizon's iPhone, even the LTE model does not yet allow you to talk and use data at the same time, unless you're connected to a wifi network. This is scheduled to change next year, I believe. AT&T's network will allow simultaneous data and talk. TMO is comparable to AT&T in this regard.
AT&T's LTE network is often faster on downloads than Verizon's. This is going to depend on a lot of factors, and vary from place to place, and time to time. But they're both damn fast.
AT&T is considered to have the worst customer service of the three. This is not just my opinion. They consistently come in last in service surveys. Verizon, while not giving me the warm an fuzzies in this regard, at least generally knows their stuff, and can give accurate answers to questions. This is rarely my experience with AT&T. TMO used to have amazing customer service. But it slipped greatly during the dark days of the AT&T merger attempt, and nothing I have seen has made me think it's rebounded much.
Pricing is going to depend on what your needs are for your particular situation. I find that, given my needs Verizon provides the best price for my devices and situation. I have made comparisons that show both AT&T and TMO being cheaper in certain use situations. Of course, I don't shop on price alone.
So, all things considered, and again, this is a generalization, if you want the most reliable, saturated LTE network, with the best technical support I would recommend Verizon. One thing to keep in mind is, if you travel internationally frequently TMO is generally the best of the three. While they are the 4th largest carrier in the US, they have a huge presence in Europe, and a very strategic network of partners elsewhere.
That's exactly what I'd like to do. I'd like to keep my phone and have Apple enable the hardware that is already present in my phone.
AnandTech said:
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The big difference will be on T-Mobile's HSPA+ speeds.
Your current Unlocked iPhone 5 will only max out at 21 megs on HSPA+ whereas the new AWS iPhone 5 will max out at 42 megs on HSPA+
BOTH iPhone 5's will work the same one T-Mobile's LTE.
Just wait for LTE to deploy where you live.
Your current Unlocked iPhone 5 will only max out at 21 megs on HSPA+ whereas the new AWS iPhone 5 will max out at 42 megs on HSPA+
BOTH iPhone 5's will work the same one T-Mobile's LTE.
Just wait for LTE to deploy where you live.
This is huge news in Canada not only for Wind Mobile, but also Québecor's Vidéotron. And apparently, they were caught off guard by T-Mobile's announcement and immediately started investigating if this new compatibility would also apply to their network as well.
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