T-Mobile Woes

[TXZach]

I jumped off the big red ship two months ago to T-mobile and it has been an utterly miserable experience!

No signal in my apartment, so I use wi-fi calling. I can hear callers 100% clear, but they can only hear me clearly 20% of the time. 80% of the time my voice is broken or not-understandable.

I was unable to receive phone calls for about 8 hours straight. Voice outgoing, data, texts all worked fine. Tmobile could not find a fix. Offered me a $7 credit. I am still having people tell me they called and I never get it...I don't know how many I am still missing.

I was just in Carlsbad NM for the weekend and had extremely spotty service, I would show 4g and get NO data and if it wasn't that I bounced between "E" and 4G and No service. I live in Austin and 4g is good, but overall this service isn't reliable enough for me.

I have no contract but am stuck on this payment plan with t-mobile? Best option for me? Sell on craigslist? Can I use this phone on another network?

 

[MrJBot]

Call T-Mobile.

Posted via my Samsung Galaxy S5 (Sprint)

 

[teristark]

I realize you've already talked to tmo but maybe you need to ask for the next service tier. Have you checked your detailed call list on your bill/online? That may help you determine how many calls you are missing (provided they show up!). I know AT&T and tmo can use the same phones if they are unlocked however, I don't know if it is true for the S5.

I live in DFW area and have had tmo for at least 12 yrs with no issues at all. I visited north Austin many times from Dec to May without issues. Sounds like your apartment is situated in one of the dead zones.

 

[Three7s]

UMA is why I have been a T-Mobile customer for many, many years. All kinds of things can interfere with your UMA, so assuming you have a strong WiFi signal and no spurious emitters or neighboring WiFi on the same or overlapping channel:

#1 - What is your ISP and WiFi bandwidth and what else are you doing? If you have 5mbs ISP and "b" or "g" WiFi, it is time to upgrade anyway, especially if streaming Netflix... Regardless, you can improve the QOS by setting a static IP and prioritizing it. Also enable "Wi-Fi MultiMedia", if there is such a setting on your router. (edit - forgot "short preamble" if you don't have any legacy wifi).

#2 - T-Mobile focuses on high-density areas. Get a Wilson Sleek 4g for your car (or even your house!) if you know you will be in weak areas. It will boost the signal by at least 2 bars, but if the cell only has EDGE, that is all you are going to get and in the middle of nowhere, that's probably all you will get even if you are 10' from the cell tower. T-Mobile publishes its coverage map like everyone else.

Hopefully you can make some tweaks and have it work as well for you as it has for me.

 

[Greg C]

I would call T-Mobile and explain to them everything you just stated here. Furthermore... I would demand that they give you a credit on your next bill. Give that a try.

 

[techiecappydog]

I got to attention when I posted to them on twitter. I got great results . Give it try. They don't like bad post on twitter they do resolve things

Give your furry friend a hug today!

 

[Almeuit]

#1 - What is your ISP and WiFi bandwidth and what else are you doing? If you have 5mbs ISP and "b" or "g" WiFi, it is time to upgrade anyway, especially if streaming Netflix... Regardless, you can improve the QOS by setting a static IP and prioritizing it. Also enable "Wi-Fi MultiMedia", if there is such a setting on your router. (edit - forgot "short preamble" if you don't have any legacy wifi).

Just FYI a wifi calling call only uses 10 KB/sec up and 10 KB/sec down at the same time... Most connections can handle it.


OP the only thing to do is call T-Mobile and see if they'll work with you. If not you'd have to pay the phone off and sell it or go somewhere else after unlocking it (like AT&T).

Take this as a lesson. Always... I mean always test a network before jumping! You don't want to just switch blindly as it could just turn into a big headache for you.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[DudeThatsErin]

Just FYI a wifi calling call only uses 10 KB/sec up and 10 KB/sec down at the same time... Most connections can handle it.


OP the only thing to do is call T-Mobile and see if they'll work with you. If not you'd have to pay the phone off and sell it or go somewhere else after unlocking it (like AT&T).

Take this as a lesson. Always... I mean always test a network before jumping! You don't want to just switch blindly as it could just turn into a big headache for you.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

I've been with T-Mobile for YEARS & currently live in an area where I get 4GLTE with big red but Edge (rarely G) in my neighborhood. I have to actually visit the denser areas (around Wal-Mart and where all of the stores are) in order to actually get 4G LTE. So what these people are telling you about T-Mobile only really working in denser populations is true.

You can get a signal booster. I think T-Mobile sends those out for free so you definitely want to call them and talk to them about it. See what your options are.

@Almeuit is correct, you'd have to pay the phone off in order to move to another network. Once you do though you can call T-Mobile and unlock the device and use it on AT&T's network and there are several others that you can use it on as well. I work for AT&T (which is ironic) so I know a lot about their stuff.

As far as the Wi-Fi calling goes, my sister has the same problem in her dorms. She can't use the Wi-Fi calling because of it and sometimes has to sit outside. (When she is outside of the dorm room she has 4G LTE). The dorms are made of bricks and stuff that keep out cell signal... unfortunately.
Your apartment is either in a dead zone (like someone else said) or built to keep out cell signal. If that is the case, I'd keep my phone by a window at night to make sure I was getting as good of cell signal I could get.

If you are really mad ask for the person's supervisor. They always have one. If they say they don't ask them if they run the company. It is a good way to **** them off though so I'd be careful when using this. Something that I actually learned from my previous manager. Lol It works. You'll definitely end up getting someone who can do something more than what has already been done.

Here is what they will try to ask when you call in-
1) Restarted the device?
2) New SIM card?
3) Cleared cache?
4) Reset to factory defaults and tried that for a few days?
5) Received a replacement device at least twice? (I hate how you have to do it two times)

I know all of this because my S4 was having MAJOR issues. I did all of those including the resetting to factory defaults like 5 times on my first and second devices and I still had the same issues. Finally with this 3rd one they have all gone away. (not sure if it was the KitKat update or the phone itself cause the previous one's were running Jellybean)
What kind of device do you have? My sister was having issues with the Wi-Fi calling on her S4. It could be the device itself and not the service with T-Mobile. You never know.

 

[Almeuit]

As far as the Wi-Fi calling goes, my sister has the same problem in her dorms. She can't use the Wi-Fi calling because of it and sometimes has to sit outside. (When she is outside of the dorm room she has 4G LTE). The dorms are made of bricks and stuff that keep out cell signal... unfortunately.

Just curious.. Is the wifi hers or the dorms? If it's the dorms it could be blocking or degrading the connection. I play pool and get HSPA in the pool hall (2/4 bars.. It works fine) but if I hop on wifi it will try and fail to connect to wifi calling since they won't allow it (I'm guessing it's a port issue).

On my home wifi it's flawless.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[DudeThatsErin]

Just curious.. Is the wifi hers or the dorms? If it's the dorms it could be blocking or degrading the connection. I play pool and get HSPA in the pool hall (2/4 bars.. It works fine) but if I hop on wifi it will try and fail to connect to wifi calling since they won't allow it (I'm guessing it's a port issue).

On my home wifi it's flawless.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

Dorm's, of course. We don't have any problems with Wi-Fi calling at home. The dorm is probably degrading the connection...

 

[Almeuit]

Dorm's, of course. We don't have any problems with Wi-Fi calling at home. The dorm is probably degrading the connection...

Yeah that's what I figured. I know dorms usually will block a lot of things since they're trying to close any ports they don't think are necessary.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[mark5019]

i had same prob here in atl ga i jumped to att love att

 

[Sentrix]

I left T-Mobile for similar reasons and love the service with AT&T.
I sold my T-Mobile S5 to make up the difference on the remaining balance... was essentially a wash.

 

[Gekko]

AT&T.

Prepaid Cell Phones with No Annual Contract - AT&T GoPhone

 

[itic]

Had the exact same experience when i switched to a t-mobile S3 and then a nexus 4. Still on t-mobile but using a moto x w/o any problems. Their rural coverage outside of any metropolis is pretty bad ill agree with that. I use roam which seems to help some with reception.

 

[Headgas86]

I jumped off the big red ship two months ago to T-mobile and it has been an utterly miserable experience!

No signal in my apartment, so I use wi-fi calling. I can hear callers 100% clear, but they can only hear me clearly 20% of the time. 80% of the time my voice is broken or not-understandable.

I was unable to receive phone calls for about 8 hours straight. Voice outgoing, data, texts all worked fine. Tmobile could not find a fix. Offered me a $7 credit. I am still having people tell me they called and I never get it...I don't know how many I am still missing.

I was just in Carlsbad NM for the weekend and had extremely spotty service, I would show 4g and get NO data and if it wasn't that I bounced between "E" and 4G and No service. I live in Austin and 4g is good, but overall this service isn't reliable enough for me.

I have no contract but am stuck on this payment plan with t-mobile? Best option for me? Sell on craigslist? Can I use this phone on another network?

I'm on an LG G2 in Riverside, Ca. And I get great service with t-mobile. I get 4g lte every where. My only problem has been that it will say I have 4g lte and I'll lose connection and I'll have to restart my phone to get it back. I've talked to tech support tried everything they have asked, and just reset my phone so hopefully I won't have that problem anymore. If I do the last thing is sending me a new phone. As far as WiFi calling I'm near the router at my house all the time and it's always telling me I'm far away from it so they told me to go to the store and get their new WiFi calling SIM card which should help a lot so I'm going to try that. Also they said Samsung has had a lot of problems with WiFi calling but not LG. So that's probably why anyone with an s3-s5 are having problem,

 

[Dizfunctions]

Call T-Mobile and don't hang up until the issue is resolved. Tell them that you're not paying for a service that doesn't work and that until the issue is resolved you won't be paying bills because the service is unusable.

 

[Almeuit]

Call T-Mobile and don't hang up until the issue is resolved. Tell them that you're not paying for a service that doesn't work and that until the issue is resolved you won't be paying bills because the service is unusable.

Not the best way to go about it. Regardless of what's happening there are better avenues such as the BBB if T-Mobile won't help. Threatening to not pay the bills isn't a good idea since you're still financially reliable for it and not paying a bill means it could go to collections.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

 

[Dizfunctions]

Not the best way to go about it. Regardless of what's happening there are better avenues such as the BBB if T-Mobile won't help. Threatening to not pay the bills isn't a good idea since you're still financially reliable for it and not paying a bill means it could go to collections.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.

All you have to do is threaten it, and if they don't comply, dispute their payments.

 

[Almeuit]

All you have to do is threaten it, and if they don't comply, dispute their payments.

I personally wouldn't go that route as I value my credit a lot more than let's say a 50-80 phone bill that I could just leave before a new cycle.

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.