Need Help on Deciding to Switch to T-Mobile

[eriley1987]

Hi all,

I currently live in metro Arkansas and have AT&T. My contract is up in October and I am tired of being tied to a contract and paying so much per month. I currently have the iPhone 4S 16 GB White. I have 450 minutes per month with roll over,1000 text messages/month, unlimited nights/weekends and mobile to mobile calling, and 3 GB of data. I never hit my data cap... but need more than the next tier of 300 MB (I think they do this on purpose). I'm also worried that renewing my contract will force me to change my current plan set-up. It looks right now, everything is the same except you must choose between unlimited $20/month text messaging or pay per use. I don't want either of those options. They might possibly let me grandfather my current messaging in... not sure. My boyfriend has an LG Optimus V on Virgin Mobile USA network and complains about the data speed a lot. It looks like it is 3G here... but I'm wondering if his phone being older is a problem.

Currently, we pay $119.65/month. I'm looking at T-Mobile's new Simple Choice plans and it looks like a decent deal, but I'm slightly weary, as with any type of change. It looks like we could get a Family Plan of $80/month ~$95 (after tax) for Unlimited Calling, Texting, and Data (first 500 MB are 4G then throttled after that). We have Wifi at home and work. Non-wifi data is mainly used streaming MOG in the car or looking something up at the store. I feel like if we use more than 500 MB of data each, then maybe we need to reassess our hobbies and take the opportunity to go do something away from the tech stuff. It's nice that they don't charge extra, only throttle. Last year, I was in the hospital with my Dad and used 4G while there and went over my data cap... I ended up with an insane phone bill of over $100 for that month.

I looked on the coverage map and it appears that our area ranges anywhere from Excellent to Good with 4G available. I don't know a lot of people here that use T-Mobile, so that's part of why it makes me a little nervous. I do have one coworker who has it with a Droid and she gets 4G and doesn't drop calls or have any complaints. I can't use my iPhone 4S because it is not 4G capable with T-Mobile's network, but T-Mobile will let me trade it in for money towards a new phone for up to $227. I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) a few months ago and find that I really love the Android OS. So onto my next issue... do we really need the Samsung Galaxy 4 or would the Galaxy 2 be sufficient for us? My parent's town (which I visit every 3-4 months) only gets 2G coverage... but they have Wifi at their house, so I don't really foresee that being an issue. Opinions on the whole issue? I am really paranoid with change, as you can tell.

I feel like I've written quite a bit... so short answer:
1) T-Mobile in Metro Arkansas... good, bad, ugly?
2) 4G on T-Mobile in Metro Arkansas... yes or no?
3) Must have Samsung 4... or is the Samsung 2 okay for the 4G data (T-mobile's website says it's 4G capable)

I did some math on the price of the plan, phones, and trading in my current iPhone:
~$116/month for family plan and 2 Samsung Galaxy 2's vs.
~$126/month for family plan and 2 Google Nexus vs.
~$138/month for family plan and 2 Google Galaxy 4's

*Also, phone bill would go down after 24 months of phones being paid off or if we decided we wanted to pay them off some time... like maybe after income taxes or lots of overtime.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Hi all,

I currently live in metro Arkansas and have AT&T. My contract is up in October and I am tired of being tied to a contract and paying so much per month. I currently have the iPhone 4S 16 GB White. I have 450 minutes per month with roll over,1000 text messages/month, unlimited nights/weekends and mobile to mobile calling, and 3 GB of data. I never hit my data cap... but need more than the next tier of 300 MB (I think they do this on purpose). I'm also worried that renewing my contract will force me to change my current plan set-up. It looks right now, everything is the same except you must choose between unlimited $20/month text messaging or pay per use. I don't want either of those options. They might possibly let me grandfather my current messaging in... not sure. My boyfriend has an LG Optimus V on Virgin Mobile USA network and complains about the data speed a lot. It looks like it is 3G here... but I'm wondering if his phone being older is a problem.

Currently, we pay $119.65/month. I'm looking at T-Mobile's new Simple Choice plans and it looks like a decent deal, but I'm slightly weary, as with any type of change. It looks like we could get a Family Plan of $80/month ~$95 (after tax) for Unlimited Calling, Texting, and Data (first 500 MB are 4G then throttled after that). We have Wifi at home and work. Non-wifi data is mainly used streaming MOG in the car or looking something up at the store. I feel like if we use more than 500 MB of data each, then maybe we need to reassess our hobbies and take the opportunity to go do something away from the tech stuff. It's nice that they don't charge extra, only throttle. Last year, I was in the hospital with my Dad and used 4G while there and went over my data cap... I ended up with an insane phone bill of over $100 for that month.

I looked on the coverage map and it appears that our area ranges anywhere from Excellent to Good with 4G available. I don't know a lot of people here that use T-Mobile, so that's part of why it makes me a little nervous. I do have one coworker who has it with a Droid and she gets 4G and doesn't drop calls or have any complaints. I can't use my iPhone 4S because it is not 4G capable with T-Mobile's network, but T-Mobile will let me trade it in for money towards a new phone for up to $227. I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) a few months ago and find that I really love the Android OS. So onto my next issue... do we really need the Samsung Galaxy 4 or would the Galaxy 2 be sufficient for us? My parent's town (which I visit every 3-4 months) only gets 2G coverage... but they have Wifi at their house, so I don't really foresee that being an issue. Opinions on the whole issue? I am really paranoid with change, as you can tell.

I feel like I've written quite a bit... so short answer:
1) T-Mobile in Metro Arkansas... good, bad, ugly?
2) 4G on T-Mobile in Metro Arkansas... yes or no?
3) Must have Samsung 4... or is the Samsung 2 okay for the 4G data (T-mobile's website says it's 4G capable)

I did some math on the price of the plan, phones, and trading in my current iPhone:
~$116/month for family plan and 2 Samsung Galaxy 2's vs.
~$126/month for family plan and 2 Google Nexus vs.
~$138/month for family plan and 2 Google Galaxy 4's

*Also, phone bill would go down after 24 months of phones being paid off or if we decided we wanted to pay them off some time... like maybe after income taxes or lots of overtime.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome to the forums!

I am not to thrilled about TMo's new plan setup. You are still going to have to make a down payment on the phone. Yes your bill will get cheaper after the phone is paid of (let's assume in about 20 months) but at that time, aren't you going to get a new device? I have heard a lot of people saying coverage for TMo is sketchy outside a metro area. If you never leave, ok, no big deal. If you leave TMo, there is no ETF for the contract (allegedly), but you would then be expected to pay the phone in full.

In an nutshell, I would say ask your friends what carrier they have and any like/dislikes. They will be a better coverage map than the carrier.

 

[eriley1987]

Thanks for the reply!

You aren't required to make a down payment on the Samsung Galaxy S II, but I would use my iPhone trade-in as a down payment anyways. I'm not sure when I would get a new device... with AT&T I always got a new device with the 2 year contract (but that's mainly because my old iPhone 3G started to work really slow after an iOS update and it's a rip off if you don't upgrade since they overcharge for the plans and give you the phone for free). My iPhone 4S is in excellent working condition at this point... not slow or laggy at all. Maybe I would get a new phone, but at the same time I feel like you get to a certain point where you don't need more on a phone... quad core on a phone sounds quite extreme to me, but I probably don't use my phone in the way that some people do.

An AT&T ETF before your first month's service has been completed would cost $325. If you made no down payment on the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy II, and changed your mind in the first month, it would be $336 to pay phone off. For me, however (assuming they gave me $200 for my iPhone 4S), it would cost me $165.57 if I changed my mind and wanted to pay the phone off and change to a different service. Even if they only gave me $50 for my iPhone (worst case scenario), it would still be cheaper ($286) than the AT&T ETF. The other big carrier here besides AT&T, is Verizon and their plans are basically the same as AT&T.

I get a 17% discount through my work with AT&T, so the family plan 550 minutes would be ~$49.79. The only texting options are unlimited for $30 or pay per use, that's another $30. 300 MB data is $20 per line, so even if we both got the cheapest data plan, it would be another $40. So, $119.79... after estimated tax we're looking at about ~$140... and that price will never decrease. The Mobile Share Plan is about the same... ~$33.20/month (after discount) for unlimited talk and text and then $40/phone for 1 GB data... ~$132 after estimated tax. With T-Mobile even with 2 new Galaxy 4's, we're looking at $138/month and ~$93/month if we decided we wanted to pay the phones off early. I would like the Galaxy S II just because I'm tired of paying so much for a phone and also feel that it would meet my needs just as well, it has a dual core processor... I never even used all of the 8GB of space on my old 3G iPhone, and like the Android OS.

Of course, all of this depends on the T-Mobile coverage in my area... which the map is showing excellent where I live and Excellent-Good in the whole city (Little Rock) with 4G. But, I'm still a little un-trusting of cell phone companies in general

Is there something I am missing here?

 

[eriley1987]

I just had, what I think is, a good idea. Instead of going all in with 2 phones, we could just do one and see how we like it before I trade in my iPhone and jump in with both feet. I would think that this is possible... but what about changing your plan from the individual to a family later on down the road? I would think it would be bad business to not allow that.

 

[GadgetGator]

I just had, what I think is, a good idea. Instead of going all in with 2 phones, we could just do one and see how we like it before I trade in my iPhone and jump in with both feet. I would think that this is possible... but what about changing your plan from the individual to a family later on down the road? I would think it would be bad business to not allow that.

To answer one of your earlier questions, yes your BF's Optimus V is slow because it's not a 4G phone, although it's possible Sprint/Virgin has no 4G service in your area anyway...it's still pretty patchy and they seem to be very behind Tmobile even though they started sooner. I think trying things out with one phone is a great idea. You could even bring your phone (if it's unlocked or AT&T will unlock it) and do a prepaid plan for a month and see what coverage is like just to make sure. Something to also keep in mind is that Tmobile has this great little wifi calling feature, so even if coverage was poor, say at home, you could just use your wifi at home or somewhere else, to make your calls. I think it's limited to certain phones though, so you'll want to talk to Tmobile and make sure the phone you want to use works with it.

 

[eriley1987]

I thought so about his Optimus. I looked it up and it uses EVDO or something like that. Also, Virgin Mobile is only 3G in this area, anyways. I thought 3G was not that bad, but he gets frustrated when trying to stream MOG in the car or look something up in the browser. We both really want Samsung Galaxy S4s... he's never really had a "nice" phone and I've always had the latest iPhone for the last 4 years. I am wondering though... if we try the T-Mobile experiment and it turns out that the coverage is not right for our area... can we use a T-Mobile phone (unlocked) with the AT&T network or Net10? Net10 kind of scares me with messing with the APN settings and the possibility of not having 4G. So I might have to break down and do what I really, really don't want to do... get another AT&T contract. I guess I could just not have a smartphone or deal with 3G speed... I've just been spoiled for so long, but am tired of paying so much... especially now that I am realizing that these big cell carriers are kind of ripping people off.

 

[GadgetGator]

Well, if you don't want to pay as much, another provider to consider is Solavei (a Tmobile MNVO). Their bill starts at $49 each, but for every three people you rope in, they pay you $20 bucks every month. So if you know a lot of people, you could reduce your bill down to free, or even turn a small profit. Though you'd lose a few things: Tmobile's wifi calling app, LTE (at least for now) and shortcodes for texting. Something to consider. As for AT&T, they use the 1900 band for HSPA so you'd be good for that, .not sure about LTE though or net10 which I know absolutely nothing about. But as I mentiond earlier, should you find Tmobile,s coverage in your area less then perfect, don't let spotty coverage be the deal breaker if the places you find spotty, are places where you have wifi access. The wifi calling works out well in such cases. Now, if you are traveling down the highway and coverage is horrible, that's a different story entirely. However, in some areas, Tmobile does have roaming agreements with AT&T, so you may find coverage acceptable. The only way to know for sure is to try it with the realization that all carriers have gaps in their coverage. Although you can get an idea from other people's comments online. Have you looked at Coverage Maps | Sensorly yet? Might get some idea there.

 

[runtmms]

I have been using Solavei since January, and have been happy with them. The main reason I chose them over T-Mobile directly is the $49 a month is for 4GB of unthrottled data. One thing that might be a drawback for the OP is they don't offer a phone payment plan. They are partnered with a 3rd party phone seller but I don't have any experience with them, and don't know if they offer any sort of financing.

I got my Nexus 4 directly from Google and still love the phone.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[GadgetGator]

I think the only way to finance with them, is with your own credit card! And their prices seemed quite high for some things. If I were to go the Solavei route, I would probably bring my own unlocked device. It's not an easy choice as there are pluses and minuses no matter which way you go. But the first thing to start with, is to see if coverage is in your area to begin with.

 

[Allen Brown2]

I would suggest purchasing a $299 + tax and shipping 8 GB Nexus 4 from Google Play. Try out T-Mobile with the new phone as well as Android, and if you don't like T-Mobile service, the phone is still fully compatible with AT&T. It doesn't have LTE, but neither does you iPhone 4. If you don't like Android you can resell phone and probably only lose $50 or so. Nexus 4 is cheaper and only 7 months old compared to Galaxy S2. The major downside purchasing Nexus 4 is no WiFi calling feature like you mentioned using. There are alternative Android apps that give you the same feature: GrooveIP being one.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Mellimel22]

I'll just choose the 70$ unlimited everything plan. Why not???? It's the best deal.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape using Tapatalk 2

 

[cgardnervt]

I'll just choose the 70$ unlimited everything plan. Why not???? It's the best deal.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape using Tapatalk 2

But the tricky part is its only the best deal if you plan to use over the lowest amount of data plan available. As if if all you need IS 500megs then the 500megs plan might save them some extra cash. Same with 5gigs and so on. But if your like YOU....Then yes unlimited is the best deal going! (Damn Mell still can believe you have used so much data in 2 weeks! What are you at now?)

 

[Mellimel22]

About 48gb now bro lol.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape using Tapatalk 2

 

[yankeesusa]

I recommend buying an hspa+ tmobile phone on craigslist or swappa. Then you can get tmobile service with the $30 plan. Then for a whole month test their service and see if it works for you. I tested it in my area and tmobile was awesome. If Sprint didn't have me tied down with an etf I would have left already. Come December if Sprint is still suffering data issues I will be switching to tmobile or solevai.

Via Android Central App from a Galaxy Note 2

 

[yankeesusa]

That is a good deal, although you could do solevai for the same plan basically for only $50. You don't get roaming or lte but some people don't need that.

Via Android Central App from a Galaxy Note 2

 

[GadgetGator]

That is a good deal, although you could do solevai for the same plan basically for only $50. You don't get roaming or lte but some people don't need that.

Via Android Central App from a Galaxy Note 2

You also don't get the use of short codes. I take the bus a lot so that's important to me because the bus system uses short codes to get upcoming next bus info. And I know some people use short codes to get their bank balance text messaged back to them so that might be important to others as well. Other that that and the LTE thing Solevei isn't a bad deal. Especially if you sign others up and get in on their referral program. But the limitations may be deal breaking to some.

 

[runtmms]

You also don't get the use of short codes. I take the bus a lot so that's important to me because the bus system uses short codes to get upcoming next bus info. And I know some people use short codes to get their bank balance text messaged back to them so that might be important to others as well. Other that that and the LTE thing Solevei isn't a bad deal. Especially if you sign others up and get in on their referral program. But the limitations may be deal breaking to some.

All true. The real trick is finding the right service for your individual needs. Solavei has been great for me, but that doesn't mean it's the right service for everyone.

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei