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Who is switching to T-Mobile for the new iPhone

M

MacR5

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 30, 2007
31
0
I've been running the numbers, did the T-mobile test drive in LA and I am planning on making the switch to T-mobile after the iPhone 6 is released.

A 5 person family plan on T-mobile is $110 a month, or $22 a line. My Verizon plan is $60 a month per line with 2gb of data a month - if you split out the phone subsidies, around $20 a month per line, that's $40 a month per line. Technically the T-mobile plan only includes 1gb of data at LTE speeds (2.5gb through 2015) but I can increase to 3gb for an extra $10 a month. I rarely go over 1gb anyways as I have wifi access at home and work.

If I can get more family to switch, at 8 lines it is $140 total or $17.50 per line. This seems like a fantastic deal. I also tried the T-mobile test drive in the LA area and, at least for me, I had better data speeds and good call strength. Verizon' network out here seems congested and slow, T-mobile was much stronger with faster data speeds nearly everywhere I tested.

Who else is taking advantage of the T-mobile family plan come iPhone 6 launch?
 
Certainly a good deal for those who would have good coverage with them, not so much for those who don't (and/or don't have some sort of a good deal with the carrier they are with already).
 
T-Mobile's network is still weak in too many places and their building penetration is too poor for me at the present time.
 
Interesting, my experience with Verizon has been that their LTE is weak/congested in cities but better out in the sticks. Their customer service has been good and their 'loyalty plan $60' is a decent deal but when I called to find out my etf fees the rep on the phone straight-up lied to me about T-mobile's pricing, I don't like those kind of sales tactics.
 
jimmytaroh said:
Interesting, my experience with Verizon has been that their LTE is weak/congested in cities but better out in the sticks. Their customer service has been good and their 'loyalty plan $60' is a decent deal but when I called to find out my etf fees the rep on the phone straight-up lied to me about T-mobile's pricing, I don't like those kind of sales tactics.
Click to expand...
Pretty much what almost any business does in similar situations.
 
I'm debating it. Assuming there is preorder, how would one preorder an iphone 6 for tmobile without a phone number ported already?
 
BlueGoldAce said:
I'm debating it. Assuming there is preorder, how would one preorder an iphone 6 for tmobile without a phone number ported already?
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Buy an unlocked or T-Mobile phone from apple.com at full price then slip in your sim card when you get it.
 
satchow said:
Buy an unlocked or T-Mobile phone from apple.com at full price then slip in your sim card when you get it.
Click to expand...

Right.

My question is this: Unlocked iphones typically are not available right away. Are tmobile iphones, like the other 3 carriers?
 
BlueGoldAce said:
Right.

My question is this: Unlocked iphones typically are not available right away. Are tmobile iphones, like the other 3 carriers?
Click to expand...

I bought an unlocked T-Mobile phone for $650 right off of apple.com last year during the launch. I assume it will be the same this year.
 
satchow said:
I bought an unlocked T-Mobile phone for $650 right off of apple.com last year during the launch. I assume it will be the same this year.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That is actually what I wanted to know.

I guess i do have another question. The mobile phone comes unlocked, correct? So, if I were to buy the phone outright, and a month or two later decide I wanted to switch back to AT&T, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

I switched from verizon to att, since verizon iphones are factory unlocked. I am assuming it is the same situation here, and that tmobile phones are sold unlocked?

Currently test driving tmobile right now.
 
BlueGoldAce said:
Thanks. That is actually what I wanted to know.

I guess i do have another question. The mobile phone comes unlocked, correct? So, if I were to buy the phone outright, and a month or two later decide I wanted to switch back to AT&T, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

I switched from verizon to att, since verizon iphones are factory unlocked. I am assuming it is the same situation here, and that tmobile phones are sold unlocked?

Currently test driving tmobile right now.
Click to expand...

Will be fine. I have AT&T and I bought the T-Mobile phone and just put my sim card from my old phone into the new one.
 
Does anyone have any experience with a Verizon iPhone 5 on T-mobile's network, by chance?
 
BlueGoldAce said:
Verizon iphones are factory unlocked. Assuming the 5 is the same as the 5s, it should work fine on tmobile.
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Actually... the Verizon iPhone 5 (not 5S) will not be able to get LTE on T-Mobile. The iPhone 5 wasn't the same as the 5S when it comes to supported LTE bands on certain carriers.

The iPhone 5 on Verizon uses bands 1,3,5,13 & 25. Verizon used band 13 on LTE. Recently Verizon added band 4 for "XLTE", but the iPhone 5 sold for Verizon doesn't support that band... so no XLTE on iPhone 5.

AT&T uses bands 4 and 17 on their iPhone which supports bands 2,4,5 & 17.

T-Mobile only uses band 4 for LTE. That is why AT&T/T-Mobile use the same iPhone when it comes to iPhone 5.

Sprint uses the same iPhone 5 as Verizon. They use Band 25 for their LTE.
 
STEVEN P. JOBS said:
Actually... the Verizon iPhone 5 (not 5S) will not be able to get LTE on T-Mobile. The iPhone 5 wasn't the same as the 5S when it comes to supported LTE bands on certain carriers.

The iPhone 5 on Verizon uses bands 1,3,5,13 & 25. Verizon used band 13 on LTE. Recently Verizon added band 4 for "XLTE", but the iPhone 5 sold for Verizon doesn't support that band... so no XLTE on iPhone 5.

AT&T uses bands 4 and 17 on their iPhone which supports bands 2,4,5 & 17.

T-Mobile only uses band 4 for LTE. That is why AT&T/T-Mobile use the same iPhone when it comes to iPhone 5.

Sprint uses the same iPhone 5 as Verizon. They use Band 25 for their LTE.
Click to expand...

Great info! Thanks for that. Wonder if iPhone 6 will support more bands for more cross compatibility..


AutoUnion39 said:
No thanks. I actually like having a working network.
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I've been using Verizon in some of the largest centers for the past few years and their LTE coverage has been mediocre at best. Last time I was in NYC I got poor data and call quality in pretty much every office building I visited and even outside on the street... maybe they've improved it since June..
 
jimmytaroh said:
Great info! Thanks for that. Wonder if iPhone 6 will support more bands for more cross compatibility..




I've been using Verizon in some of the largest centers for the past few years and their LTE coverage has been mediocre at best. Last time I was in NYC I got poor data and call quality in pretty much every office building I visited and even outside on the street... maybe they've improved it since June..
Click to expand...
The 5S and 5C already support more and are more or less the same across a lot of carriers, with slight model differences for some areas of the world (like China).
 
just signed up for the test drive and if that works out i will be making the switch. the difference is price is just to good to pass up.

Will just have to work out the cost of getting out of my contracts with Verizon. We have 4 lines total, 3 on contract.

A 4s with less than a year left and two 5c that we just received back in march of this year.
 
The launch of the 6 isn't enticing me to switch over - the price in general is enticing. The price is a huge upgrade, lets my ma get a smartphone with no added cost. Service area is probably crap compared to what I'm used to but I don't live in the middle of nowhere so I doubt I'll notice.
 
U

jimmytaroh said:
Interesting, my experience with Verizon has been that their LTE is weak/congested in cities but better out in the sticks. Their customer service has been good and their 'loyalty plan $60' is a decent deal but when I called to find out my etf fees the rep on the phone straight-up lied to me about T-mobile's pricing, I don't like those kind of sales tactics.
Click to expand...

With lte in NYC, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas plus others lte is good. Not 70 down, but between about 20 and 50. At least in these places LTE is good enough for me. Plus call quality is good.
 
I had a Verizon iPhone 5s that I swapped over to T-Mobile. I'm probably a pretty good sample in that I am in a different city worldwide 275 days per year.

Data Speeds
In NYC, my T-Mobile data speeds are better than they were under VZ
In Los Angeles my T-Mobile speeds are better than they were under VZ
Everywhere else seems to be similar in speeds. I've yet to have any location where I've felt like T-Mobile was worse for data (other than below)

Cell Reception
In all the major markets, my cell coverage has been fine under T-Mobile, but trails VZ a little in a few places. The only places where I noticed it with any significance was in-between Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA. I had between zero and 1 bar for an hour of the drive.

Data Roaming
This is one of the places where T-Mobile kicks everyone's butt. All data roaming is free. For someone who is international a lot of the time, this is a HUGE saving for me. Granted you don't get LTE for free, but you do get 3G, and it is good enough for what I need when international. In every market I have been internationally, the speeds have been better than I expected to receive for free (UK, China, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Germany etc)

International Calling Plan
This (like roaming above) is fantastic also. My international plan is $15 per month, and ALL of my calls from USA to pretty much everywhere are 100% FREE.
The charges for calls from International destinations back to the US are the same or cheaper than what I was getting under ATT or VZ.

Lastly, things like Spotify data etc does not count against your data usage, so despite my having the unlimited plan, if I only had the 3gb plan, it would probably be more than enough. For reference, I only have the unlimited plan because I don't want to have to think about it.

My bill under both VZ/ATT was hovering around $400 per month, now I cap out at $100.
 
AutoUnion39 said:
No thanks. I actually like having a working network.
Click to expand...


Troll? Or just unnecessary comment?

I live in a smaller city in northern Indiana. So far, on day one of my test drive, tmobile is outperforming the other three networks. I have had all three networks, with verizon and att both being in the past year.

Last year tmobile was horrible here. They have made huge progress in the last year. I'm am stunned thus far.
 
Justin33 said:
Everybody I know who has T-Mobile HATES IT.

Sticking with my ATT.
Click to expand...

Interesting, all my friends who had ATT have moved to Verizon because they hated ATT... This was 2-3 years back though.
 
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