Another customer to T-mobile? (from VZW)

lkct01234

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After a ridiculous, pain in the behind experience with Verizon, I am ready to look elsewhere.

I am worried that I will be disappointed with the signal...I am doing the "test drive" iPhone and it should arrive today. (According to T-mobile's service maps we are in "Very Good" coverage area...)

Current contract ends in March and am thinking about different options...assuming test drive goes ok:
1) Switch now and do post-paid; have T-mobile pay off Early Term. Fees. If we waited we'd both have phones available...but...I'm pretty sure they can't be used on the GSM/T-mobile.
2) Wait until March and do pre-paid with $30 unlimited data. Hubby and I really don't use very many talk minutes and if we go over by even by 50-100, it's only another $5-$10 and still cheaper.

It seems like there are mixed reviews. Some people are happy they switched and are fine with service, etc. Some people are "OK" with service but will to pay less for a little less. Some people hate it.

I've been with Verizon since 2002...pretty much my only carrier. They do have good signal but they are just getting to pricey!!

Thoughts??
 

B. Diddy

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It really depends on where you live. If you're in a major metropolitan area and don't often go to more rural or remote areas, T-Mobile should work pretty well. It can be weak within large buildings or structures like parking lots, but apparently they're working on fixing that by phasing in some wireless bands that penetrate buildings better.

I live in the Silicon Valley, and have found the signal generally as good as Verizon's, and the data speeds to be far superior. The customer service has also been a very pleasant surprise--when I go in a store, I never have to wait, while when I had VZW, it was customary to wait at least 15-20 minutes at a store before I could talk to someone.
 

HelloNNNewman

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I moved from Sprint to T-Mobile, so you will have to remember that (as B.Diddy mentioned above) there is a difference in CDMA vs GSM services when it comes to non-urban settings. I'm in Chicago and have no issues with urban and suburban areas as far as reception goes. But CDMA services (like Verizon and Sprint) will work much better on interstates and more rural areas as those frequencies travel farther than GSM. I have a ton of dead spots when I'm driving up into Wisconsin on the Interstate - which I never had issues with when I was on Sprint. If the majority of your usage is in an urban or suburban area, you will be fine. But if you are in a more rural area, you will probably find more reception issues (dead spots or dropped calls while driving).
 

npaladin-2000

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I moved from Sprint to T-Mobile, so you will have to remember that (as B.Diddy mentioned above) there is a difference in CDMA vs GSM services when it comes to non-urban settings. I'm in Chicago and have no issues with urban and suburban areas as far as reception goes. But CDMA services (like Verizon and Sprint) will work much better on interstates and more rural areas as those frequencies travel farther than GSM. I have a ton of dead spots when I'm driving up into Wisconsin on the Interstate - which I never had issues with when I was on Sprint. If the majority of your usage is in an urban or suburban area, you will be fine. But if you are in a more rural area, you will probably find more reception issues (dead spots or dropped calls while driving).

Sorry but this is incorrect, frequency and network protocol have little to do with each other. Lower frequencies have greater range versus higher frequencies, and lower frequencies penetrate buildings, foliage, and terrain better than higher frequencies as well. T-Mobile until recently has only owned mid- to high-frequencies (they just got some lower frequencies this year). AT&T and Verizon deploy primarily on lower frequencies, and supplement those with higher frequencies in more populated areas. Sprint was very similar to T-Mobile in frequency selection until they converted the old Nextel network to be their lower frequencies, but it's not completely built out yet.

AT&T is GSM/LTE (like T-Mobile), Verizon is CDMA/LTE (like Sprint), both have wider coverage footprints than the (primarily higher frequency) Sprint and T-Mobile. It's about frequency and penetration, not GSM vs CDMA.
 

HelloNNNewman

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Hmm.... I probably have my jargon all wrong on it :) But I do know that CDMA has a much better signal (penetration?) in the outlying areas (non-urban). I do a ton of work in non urban areas and my CDMA phones hold signal FAR beyond GSM providers. I can't use my T-mo phone in a lot of areas that work on CDMA providers. I'm sure there is better tech speak for the reasons. ;) lol
 

npaladin-2000

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Hmm.... I probably have my jargon all wrong on it :) But I do know that CDMA has a much better signal (penetration?) in the outlying areas (non-urban). I do a ton of work in non urban areas and my CDMA phones hold signal FAR beyond GSM providers. I can't use my T-mo phone in a lot of areas that work on CDMA providers. I'm sure there is better tech speak for the reasons. ;) lol

Has nothing to do with CDMA vs GSM. It has to do with the fact that your CDMA provider of choice is using a lower frequency than your GSM provider of choice, and thereby getting better range. And possibly because one has a closer tower than the other. Probably a combination of both though. There's so many variables it's never as simple as it being just one thing anyway. But lower frequencies get better range, that's just a fact of physics. The air interface has to do with quite a bit, but not range.

By the way, both of them are using the Code Division Multiple Access air interface anyway, GSM switched to WCDMA with 3G (legacy GSM is TDMA), while "CDMA" providers use the closely related CDMA2000 spec. In fact they're very similar specs, and were almost merged, but WCDMA came about because the industry wanted a spec that wouldn't make them as beholden(licensing-wise) to Qualcomm as CDMA2000.
 

atrain2324

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Like everyone above has said, it depends. I won't really know how well T-Mobile is until September when I have to be in Evansville for business, but so far T-Mobile has given me the kind of service in the Chicago area I haven't had since I was on my parents' family plan on AT&T (of which everyone but me is still on).

I used to be Virgin Mobile and then the mothership (Sprint) and where I work at both performed horrendously. VM was bad even on 3G and Sprint, I had to switch my Galaxy to CDMA only mode to keep a signal going. Now, on T-Mobile, I can pull 25 down, 8 up and suffer less battery drains (on VM/Sprint, I had to carry extra batteries since I wasn't always around my desk all the time), no dropped calls, no data drops and calls are crystal clear.

FYI, I'm on the $30 plan. Music Freedom is a GODSEND. I stream a lot on Spotify and without Freedom, I might be close to my soft cap right now. But with it, I've only consumed 2.1 gigs with 7 days to go before my new month begins.
 
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I'm headed back to Verizon. Was with them for years upon years without any issues what so ever.
Switched to T-Mobile and have had nothing but issues with data/voice signal. And a little text message issue.

As long as I'm outside with a clear view of the sky I'm, for the most part, OK. The minute I go into a building the service goes to hell. On top of the one time I've travel with T-Mobile service, I didn't have service for most of the traveled road and after I get to Sanibel Island I had zero service.

T-Mobile just isn't working out for me.
 

4ringsa6

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Depends on what phone you have.. Most of Verizon newer LTE phone are unlocked for GSM. But of you do the ETF thing, TMobile requires you give your old phone to them. So that is the catch. Then you have to buy a phone from them.
 

dylanrod24

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I recently left VZW for T-Mobile. I don't regret it at all. Great service and coverage. Check out rootmetrics.com

Sent from my SM-G900T using AC Forums mobile app
 

Jaramie10

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My wife and I switched from Verizon to T Mobile a few months back. I miss LTE everywhere outside the city and on our trips but everything is getting better. I love my unlimited data and the call quality is incredible.

Posted via Android Central App
 

Old Stoneface

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T-Mobile just isn't working out for me.
It was working out "okay," for us, at first, but now...? Got a spot on my commute that used to be marginal, now I'll lose a call, going through it, every time. And at home? That, too, has gone from "marginal but fairly reliable" to the point that, were it not for WiFi calling, which does not work well, for us, the phones would be almost useless.

Yesterday my suspicion was confirmed by a CSR: At home we're getting bumped off a tower that gives us a "strong" signal, to one way more marginal, due to connection volume on the nearby tower.

After suffering similar issues with Sprint, which was one reason we switched, I'm ready to call it quits and go with Big Red... but the cost. Moving to VZW would double our wireless bill, and we'd lose tethering, free international roaming, and TMO's terrific international long-distance plan.

So I'm inclined to try to stick it out, and hope TMO comes through with a solution that works for us.

Jim
 

B. Diddy

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Yesterday my suspicion was confirmed by a CSR: At home we're getting bumped off a tower that gives us a "strong" signal, to one way more marginal, due to connection volume on the nearby tower.

Call T-Mobile and ask them about getting a signal booster. If you have a Simple Choice plan, it's free (except for around $6 shipping). I have one, and it boosts my signal from 1 bar to 5 bars while on a call.
 

Bigballer

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Call T-Mobile and ask them about getting a signal booster. If you have a Simple Choice plan, it's free (except for around $6 shipping). I have one, and it boosts my signal from 1 bar to 5 bars while on a call.

Never understood the logic behind this. Signal booster only makes sense if you run a non-nexus/gpe phone since you don't have wifi calling. Nearly every other android phone has wifi calling with iphone getting wifi calling next update.

Take the hint Google, we want wifi calling!
 

npaladin-2000

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Never understood the logic behind this. Signal booster only makes sense if you run a non-nexus/gpe phone since you don't have wifi calling. Nearly every other android phone has wifi calling with iphone getting wifi calling next update.

Take the hint Google, we want wifi calling!

That's T-Mobile's code, not Google's. I'm not even sure it's open-source.
 

Old Stoneface

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Never understood the logic behind this. Signal booster only makes sense if you run a non-nexus/gpe phone since you don't have wifi calling.
ITYM "if you run a nexus/gpe phone...?"

Nearly every other android phone has wifi calling ...
Doesn't always work... or work well.

Take the hint Google, we want wifi calling!

That's T-Mobile's code, not Google's. I'm not even sure it's open-source.
I'm certain it's not, but there's no reason on earth Google couldn't put an API into Android to enable carriers to hook a WiFi calling plug-in into the device w/o the carrier having to put their grubby little hands on the O/S.

IOW: There's no reason we couldn't have a "vanilla" Android device and still have WiFi calling. You don't think Apple's letting carriers have at it with iOS, do you?

Jim
 

npaladin-2000

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Doesn't always work... or work well.

That depends on a lot of factors, but it works amazingly well for me.

I'm certain it's not, but there's no reason on earth Google couldn't put an API into Android to enable carriers to hook a WiFi calling plug-in into the device w/o the carrier having to put their grubby little hands on the O/S.

IOW: There's no reason we couldn't have a "vanilla" Android device and still have WiFi calling. You don't think Apple's letting carriers have at it with iOS, do you?

Jim

Actually, that would be pretty hard, because it requires extremely low-level SIM access. Plus I don't think T-Mobile, Sprint, and Republic Wireless's implementations are all that compatible with each other.
 

dpham00

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It really depends on where you live. If you're in a major metropolitan area and don't often go to more rural or remote areas, T-Mobile should work pretty well. It can be weak within large buildings or structures like parking lots, but apparently they're working on fixing that by phasing in some wireless bands that penetrate buildings better.

I live in the Silicon Valley, and have found the signal generally as good as Verizon's, and the data speeds to be far superior. The customer service has also been a very pleasant surprise--when I go in a store, I never have to wait, while when I had VZW, it was customary to wait at least 15-20 minutes at a store before I could talk to someone.
Buildings in general reduce signal, even in single family homes, though lower frequencies are better. Like at my house on tmobile , I get 4glte upstairs, but downstairs drops to 4g and edge. Verizon maintains 4GLTE throughout my house.

Also, to elaborate, tmobile acquired 700MHz lower block A in 12 states from Verizon and will be deploying it for 4GLTE. Keep in mind that no current tmobile phone supports band 12,though band 12 capable phones should be coming soon

Sent from my LG G Pad 8.3
 

raptir

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Actually, that would be pretty hard, because it requires extremely low-level SIM access. Plus I don't think T-Mobile, Sprint, and Republic Wireless's implementations are all that compatible with each other.

I'm not sure about the theoretical compatibility between T-Mobile and the competitors, but the fact that Apple is able to implement WiFi calling at the OS level would imply that it shouldn't be an issue for Google to do the same.

Also, to elaborate, tmobile acquired 700MHz lower block A in 12 states from Verizon and will be deploying it for 4GLTE. Keep in mind that no current tmobile phone supports band 12,though band 12 capable phones should be coming soon

The Samsung Galaxy Avant actually just launched with Band 12 support.
 

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