Verizon Raises Smartphone Upgrade Fee to $30

[campyguy]

The part about T-Mobile that has me wary is that we do like to drive to Chicago to see family, and Iowa is full of dead spots along I-35, and service even in Chi-town can get spotty (granted the last time we were there my fiancé was using a ported over AT&T 4S). Although Verizon went completely dead in the Ozarks when we drove through last summer while T-Mobile roamed onto AT&T.

T-Mo's connectivity should get better along that drive and in your area, and pretty soon. I don't recall exactly when (I think it was May or June last year), TDS announced an interop agreement with a few carriers, including T-Mo. TDS (Telephone & Data Systems) owns/operates U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom, and a few other rural providers; I heard about it last year when a friend in my region passed it on - she gets service from BendBroadband, they're owned by TDS. My point here is that the TDS LTE Band 12 interop with T-Mo and a few other cell providers is set to start Q1 2017. I'm pretty sure that the ATTWS roaming agreement has kicked in as two of my employees are on T-Mo and their phones started working a couple of months ago in areas in Oregon where there was no prior service but I know that ATTWS was working there (I carry one ATTWS and one VZW iPhone).

With ATTWS turning off 2G a couple of weeks ago some of my mom's friends with ATTWS in Skamokawa (literally on the edge of cell reception) who had no service inside a month ago are getting excellent reception now. One of them, a B&B owner was telling me over lunch last week that he doesn't need to go outside to make a call. I might just snag a T-Mo test drive phone or SIM to put in a 6S+ and see what's what…

I'm still locked into my VZW contract with UL data, but it's working well for me so far. Still happily beating up VZW's network, since 2011! Cheers!

 

[KUguardgrl13]

T-Mo's connectivity should get better along that drive and in your area, and pretty soon. I don't recall exactly when (I think it was May or June last year), TDS announced an interop agreement with a few carriers, including T-Mo. TDS (Telephone & Data Systems) owns/operates U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom, and a few other rural providers; I heard about it last year when a friend in my region passed it on - she gets service from BendBroadband, they're owned by TDS. My point here is that the TDS LTE Band 12 interop with T-Mo and a few other cell providers is set to start Q1 2017. I'm pretty sure that the ATTWS roaming agreement has kicked in as two of my employees are on T-Mo and their phones started working a couple of months ago in areas in Oregon where there was no prior service but I know that ATTWS was working there (I carry one ATTWS and one VZW iPhone).

With ATTWS turning off 2G a couple of weeks ago some of my mom's friends with ATTWS in Skamokawa (literally on the edge of cell reception) who had no service inside a month ago are getting excellent reception now. One of them, a B&B owner was telling me over lunch last week that he doesn't need to go outside to make a call. I might just snag a T-Mo test drive phone or SIM to put in a 6S+ and see what's what…

I'm still locked into my VZW contract with UL data, but it's working well for me so far. Still happily beating up VZW's network, since 2011! Cheers!

Good to know! I'm still on my parents' VSW plan for the moment, but I know they would love for me to start paying for my own. My fiancé is on T-Mo, and according to CSRs in the store, adding me would basically add the cost of my phone to his bill (because switching plans obviously requires a phone upgrade ). So sharing between the two of us would save him some money. He also pays for unlimited data, so that's an attractive option compared to the 6gb I have to share on Verizon.

 

[campyguy]

Good to know! I'm still on my parents' VSW plan for the moment, but I know they would love for me to start paying for my own. My fiancé is on T-Mo, and according to CSRs in the store, adding me would basically add the cost of my phone to his bill (because switching plans obviously requires a phone upgrade ). So sharing between the two of us would save him some money. He also pays for unlimited data, so that's an attractive option compared to the 6gb I have to share on Verizon.

IMHO the key to you porting over to your SO's plan would be to look for a LTE Band 12-compatible handset - in iOS terms, a 6S/S+ or newer; Band 12 is a subset of ATTWS's Band 17. In your region, ATTWS and T-Mo and USCC have worked out a roaming agreement, and I'm already seeing a couple of my employees on T-Mo getting calls where they didn't just a few weeks ago so I know that they're roaming on ATTWS's Band 12. ATTWS shut down their EDGE network about 5-6 weeks ago and repurposed that bandwidth to LTE, a key contributor to that roaming agreement. I also carry an ATTWS iPhone 6S but am in USCC territory on a short-term project - since the ATTWS EDGE shut down and roaming agreement kicking in, I've seen 3 "bars" of LTE now instead of strong 3G in this USCC area. I wouldn't be surprised if I could get a T-Mo iPhone 6S working well here now, and the same could be expected on your end with a newer iPhone, that is!

If you're looking for a newer iPhone on the used market and you want to use it on T-Mo's network, IMO avoid the locked ATTWS iPhone - ATTWS has a nasty habit of locking out Band 12/17 in firmware, even if the handset in firmware (no matter the OS platform) is "unlocked". I'd go for a VZW or T-Mo or unlocked handset. Keep in mind that you could get quite the deal at Best Buy - they always best the carriers by offering a $200 GC and you could also get a bonus by porting your number as well. Cheers, and all the best to you to your SO's voyage together!

 

[vwmafia13]

I know it may be late for some of you folks, i am currently chatting with a rep online and she stated my employer discount has waivers for upgrade fees so I am getting a $20 fee and $30 taken off my account so I would definately have you guys check on that

 

[KUguardgrl13]

IMHO the key to you porting over to your SO's plan would be to look for a LTE Band 12-compatible handset - in iOS terms, a 6S/S+ or newer; Band 12 is a subset of ATTWS's Band 17. In your region, ATTWS and T-Mo and USCC have worked out a roaming agreement, and I'm already seeing a couple of my employees on T-Mo getting calls where they didn't just a few weeks ago so I know that they're roaming on ATTWS's Band 12. ATTWS shut down their EDGE network about 5-6 weeks ago and repurposed that bandwidth to LTE, a key contributor to that roaming agreement. I also carry an ATTWS iPhone 6S but am in USCC territory on a short-term project - since the ATTWS EDGE shut down and roaming agreement kicking in, I've seen 3 "bars" of LTE now instead of strong 3G in this USCC area. I wouldn't be surprised if I could get a T-Mo iPhone 6S working well here now, and the same could be expected on your end with a newer iPhone, that is!

If you're looking for a newer iPhone on the used market and you want to use it on T-Mo's network, IMO avoid the locked ATTWS iPhone - ATTWS has a nasty habit of locking out Band 12/17 in firmware, even if the handset in firmware (no matter the OS platform) is "unlocked". I'd go for a VZW or T-Mo or unlocked handset. Keep in mind that you could get quite the deal at Best Buy - they always best the carriers by offering a $200 GC and you could also get a bonus by porting your number as well. Cheers, and all the best to you to your SO's voyage together!

Thanks for the advice! Band 12 has already improved service for my fiancé where we live (west of KC). He upgraded from a 5 to a 6s specifically for it. Whatever we do though, I think we will both spring for 7's or whatever the next version is if we wait until September. I have a 5 still, so I will definitely be upgrading whether I stay on VZW or switch to T-Mobile. My fiancé will do the same so we have the same phone.