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gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

I switched to a T-Mobile plan for a family member's international trip.

My parents are visiting Italy and T-Mobile's unlimited international data/texting intrigued me. I signed them up a few days before they were leaving. I tested out the service in our area (a city of about 90,000) and wasn't impressed with the coverage. I am currently an ATT subscriber and while I would love to switch to T-Mobile because I really do like what they're doing, their coverage in my area just doesn't suit my needs.

There are far too many dead spots and as someone who relies on good coverage I just can't see making the switch to T-Mobile from AT&T.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

1 recommendation

openbox9

Premium Member

That's T-mobile's Achilles heel. Until coverage improves, the company has to rely on marketing gimmicks for any customers outside of major metro areas.
itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Carlisle, PA

itguy05

Member

It all depends on your location. Here in Central PA coverage on T-Mobile is decent. Not as ubiquitous as AT&T or Verizon but good enough in the cities and smaller towns.

If anyone is thinking of switching, best bet is to get a cheap prepaid phone and try it out for a while. If it works, perfect. If not, return it and you are out the cost of service.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

2 recommendations

ArrayList to gigahurtz

Premium Member

to gigahurtz
They have plans to fill those gaps by 2016
mist668
join:2011-02-15
Middleburg, PA

mist668 to itguy05

Member

to itguy05
My friend you are not in central PA. Checking a map with their coverage its terrible up here. Works mainly in town and larger town but anything outside of a major road is nothing for miles.
itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Carlisle, PA

itguy05

Member

quote:
My friend you are not in central PA. Checking a map with their coverage its terrible up here. Works mainly in town and larger town but anything outside of a major road is nothing for miles.
They call us Central PA down here. Then they are not for you. From T-mobile's coverage map it does look spotty up there and Sensorly has no data for them.

But you would know best so we all need to use what works for us. Whenever I've been up that way it's been up 11/15 and that looks good on all carriers.
mist668
join:2011-02-15
Middleburg, PA

1 edit

mist668

Member

Well I could personally make them work for myself but not having 3g coverage in this area and the fact that if I travel 10 minutes out of town there is no coverage what so ever. Having Verizon is expensive but its either them or ATT that works well in these areas. Sprint is terrible in this area but thats the general thing I read from anyone that has sprint and does not live in a major area.

Would save about $40 a month with tmobile over my verizon account and thats figuring me paying for phones monthly on tmobile. Not having 3g or 4g with tmobile does not justify the savings at this point. More or less to say that they are a great option to have in some areas.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory to openbox9

Member

to openbox9
You've got a good point here openbox9. For me, coverage has been great in the Inland Empire of Southern California, in Downtown Los Angeles & L.A. County, and in Orange County. The ride from SoCal to Las Vegas is a bit less in the quality department compared to Verizon and it really shouldn't take T-Mobile much effort to address, but they haven't done it in a year. So, that's my only complaint for them so far... Actually, coverage was excellent driving from Washington D.C. to Southern California last year; the only place where it was noticeably worse than Verizon was when I was driving in Western Texas. Coverage is not as good in Central Maine either, but it is out in the country...
jjeffeory

jjeffeory to itguy05

Member

to itguy05
Problem is that not all phones are created equal. We have found that even two phones that are the same model get a different level of bars in the same location. Otherwise, I agree, it does depend on your location.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to jjeffeory

Premium Member

to jjeffeory
I routinely all but lost T-mobile service in a few places driving down I95 from DC to southern VA. DC itself has a few spotty areas, granted coverage appears better now than it was a year ago. My only TX experience with T-mobile was around San Antonio, which showed decent coverage as long as I was in the city. Service proved good around LAX while I've waited for several flights. If T-mobile truly wants to compete, it needs to improve coverage, IMO. Marketing and halfhearted plays on pricing only go so far.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Ah, I agree with you. My experience in the DC/NoVa area going down to Richmond has been the same as you, but I know they have improved their coverage there. I know that Verizon works best on the Metro. My experience in TX was about the same too, but T-mobile was HORRIBLE in West Texas from Abilene West on I-20. That horrible part of Texas. Likewise, I've had excellent coverage in LA. T-Mobile has been improving though, so there is hope that they're doing more than just marketing and such. I used to not ever think about going with them, but the pricing was so compelling that I could no longer ignore it. ...and T-Mobile has been decent in Maine of all places, which was a surprise!

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

When my parents return from Italy I will do some additional testing with T-Mobile service here in my city. I've been with AT&T for over 15 years and have seen their service improve tremendously in this area. I rarely have no signal with AT&T in all of my travels around town and around the country. They've really stepped up their coverage in the last 7 years.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to itguy05

Member

to itguy05
If you have an ATT phone, get a TMO prepaid SIM. Try it for a month and determine if you should stay with ATT or switch to TMO. If you switch, you'll may have to buy another SIM to transfer your ATT number. I don't know if you can transfer your number to a SIM that already has a number.

switchbackd
@174.28.110.x

switchbackd to ArrayList

Anon

to ArrayList
I switched back to Tmo, after trying out Virgin for a year. My virgin phone wasn't so good, and it was their supposed best offering(motorola triumph). Coming back to tmo, I got a Nexus 4, and it's been good, although it was expensive last year. Overall, I am happy to be back to Tmo, as Virgin coverage/service was almost never full signal/quality, and I commonly get full signal and good quality voice and net connections from Tmo. Over all, I think I pay 15 bucks a month more now with tmobile, but it's nice to have a phone that works more times than not.
HiDesert
join:2008-08-17

HiDesert

Member

said by switchbackd :

I switched back to Tmo, after trying out Virgin for a year.

Virgin uses Sprints microwaves. That's why its lame.