Switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. The only dead space I've found so far was ten miles inside a national park, itself already miles from civilization. Verizon still had minimal coverage, but T-Mobile was extremely spotty.
However, normally I just sit in the city, where I have no coverage issues.
Funny, I switched from T-Mobile to Sprint (Ting, actually) and had the complete opposite experience. But in Chicago it's unanimously known T-Mobile is complete garbage...I just finally got fed up with it, and at the time, Sprints LTE and WiMax networks were far superior to T-mobile's 3G HSPA+ network. As far as cost, I'm spending roughly the same amount of money for 4 lines on Ting as I did with T-Mobile, without a contract and including the cost of new phones over two years.
The only problem is when I travel...Sprint is known to be crap in San Francisco, and boy is it true. EDGE 1x everywhere.
I switched from Sprint to Tmobile in Spring 2014 and am MUCH happier, also live near Chicago. Obviously coverage in the city is amazing, but that's true on every network. The UP of Michigan though? Sprint had NO coverage at all, Tmo does. Wifi calling is included for free. I'm in Germany right now and have free data and texting included with my plan. Music doesn't use up data and now my data rolls over? Sprint can't compete at all.
Also, Tmobile plans start at $30/month, check the prepaid site. It's not easy to spot, but it's about 3/4 down the page, and you have to activate the phone over a phone call, but then you're good.
Technically, Sprint has had free wifi calling longer than T-Mobile. Sprint integrated Google Voice some years back - your Sprint number is also your Google Voice number. The problem before was that there was no obvious way to use Google Voice to make calls (over wifi) without third party VoIP apps and a lot of setup.
That changed a few months ago when Google integrated Google Voice into Hangouts. You can now make VoIP calls using your Sprint number via Hangouts. I've used it over wifi, LTE, and the occasional 3G service area which has decent speeds. It's very handy when I need to make service calls to 800 numbers and expect to be on hold a long time - it doesn't eat up my minutes anymore (Sprint has unlimited mobile to mobile calling, but 800 numbers are always landlines). The only problem I've encountered is receiving VoIP calls - both Hangouts and the phone's regular dialer respond to an incoming call, but the regular dialer overlays Hangouts and I'm unable to actually answer the call with VoIP. I have to answer it using the regular dialer. This can be a problem if you're in a poor Sprint service area that has wifi.
My coverage is worse. However, I switched 5 lines over from Verizon and I'm saving $100+ a month. I also have 2.5GB per line instead of 4GB shared for all 5 lines (which was terrible). Unlimited music streaming is a nice bonus, too. It's been more than worth it for me. Plus Verizon just increased their ETF's.
Reminds me of when AT&T did rollover minutes. Didn't take long after that till TRUE unlimited minutes arrived. Hopefully that's where we're headed with data.
From what I remember, AT&T sold their cellular division to Cingular and then a short while later bought Cingular. They then ditched the Cingular name.
Does this matter today? Nah.
I don't have T-Mobile, but I am glad they're doing what they're doing. I hope they get some success off this because the cellular market needs shaking up.
I think cell phone costs need to be changed. I find it hard to believe that an iPhone costs the same or more as an iPad. 16GB iPad Air 2 with cellular is $629 and the 16GB iPhone 6 off contract costs $650. Something is not right. Apple is not losing money on that iPad.
I find the moderate amount of price differences between devices to be less offensive then the cost of service between having a "phone" and a "tablet", it's far more insulting to pay (as an individual, just grabbing T-Mobile's plans here) $50 for 1GB of LTE Data (unlimited slow speed) + Unlimited text/minutes on a phone when it costs $20 for the same amount of data (plus 200MB free) for a tablet.
The cost of the phone is something the phone maker sets, and has no (direct) bearing on cell carrier pricing, at least not any more. The only exception to that is with phone subsidies. Miniaturization doesn't always mean cheaper products. Smaller components are harder to manufacture then larger ones. Its also market forces that dictate prices.
We were already there for the first few years of the iphone and budding android. Then smartphones really took off ushering in the "limited" data plans.
T-Mobile (and Sprint) already offer TRUE unlimited data, so we aren't really headed anywhere, we're already there... You do pay a slight premium for it, but it's still less than what'd you pay for the largest data allotments on AT&T/VZW.
I've been using 10-20GB for months on Sprint while paying $60/month... I'm moving, haven't been using the crappy DSL at my old house and haven't installed cable on the new one. Those 10GB+ I've used are like 90% browsing too (Chrome alone usually accounts for like 7GB on my phone).
I honestly don't know how anyone streams anything on tiered data plans... Streaming just one network show usually gobbles up anywhere between half a gig to over a gig depending on how many times you restart the stream cause of pauses, commercials, etc.
I think it's highly useful for that. I use about 500 MB / mo, but when I went on vacation with family and hotspotted for the long weekend, those four days consumed about 6 GB. Just enough rollover to not worry about it is all I'm after.
Honestly, rollover being good for a year is a lot more than I expected from data rollover. I was thinking there'd be an amount cap of double your monthly allotment, not a timing cap, especially one that long.
Pretty nice. I am almost convinced to jump ship from ATT and move over to T-Mo. They minute they put up a few more towers in my area and my T-Mo friends stop whining about coverage then I will be all over it.
This is FANTASTIC. I really hope it forces Verizon to follow suit.
Unfortunately two factors stop me from switching.
1. The T-Mobile network in my area (Daytona Beach Florida) is pretty spotty and it gets worse in surrounding smaller towns. I don't even have 4g at my house which is one of the largest subdivisions in town.
2. Verizon is actually cheaper! I get 2gb data, unlim talk/text for $60/mo WITH subsidized phones. I could get a slightly cheaper plan with T-Mobile I think... but I'd have to pay for the phone myself. The only problem is I'm stuck with only 2GB data and I'd like 3-4. But I only pay $10-15 per gig I go over... so it's still pretty cheap if I need more some months.
$10-15/GB is cheap? I think it's outrageous, personally, and I wish that our government would've allocated spectrum for affordable technologies instead of assisting Verizon in lining their pockets.
When you're paying $60/month already, if you can't afford an extra $15 for the occasional overage you should probably evaluate your finances and try to stop living paycheck to paycheck.
I'm not saying I agree with their cost structure, I think it's ridiculous too, but shadarlo's reasoning seems sound given the cards he's been dealt.
Oh course if he's paying an extra $10-15 every other month he should consider how much that phone would really cost over two years... Still seems like he's coming out ahead tho.
Biggest problem with the wireless industry is few people actually study their use and pick a plan/carrier that really fits their needs, so you have a massive amount of people overpaying and giving the larger carriers more inertia.
What Brandon Chester didn't mention in this article is that T-Mobile wasn't the first to introduce the concept of rollover data. That honor goes to tier 2 carrier, C Spire who introduced Rolling Data last month. Apparently T-Mobile took notice and adopted their model to take on ATT & Verizon. I think it's important to note that T-Mobile isn't the big revolutionary carrier they try to be. Especially when they just copy what others in the marketplace are doing already. http://cspire.com/rollingdata
It doesn't actually, at least one AT&T MVNO (Pure Talk) had rollover data last year (which I believe it has since done away with). Tricky thing when you're talking about "firsts."
Who cares? It's not like it's a novel idea, I've seen people suggesting it for years and we've already had rollover minutes... Who debuted it first or who copied who has just about zero significance, specially when you weigh those two carrier's subscriber base.
I'm surprised nobody is talking about T-Mobile partnering with Ting (a Sprint MVNO) to create the first cell phone provider to have GSM and CDMA compatibility under one roof.
There are definitely parts of Raleigh where I don't have service on T-Mobile, along some highways in Virginia, in some parts of New York/southwestern CT where I definitely think I should have it...so as to say I'm not trying to be an apologist for T-Mobile, though I do like that they're not Verizon...
But I live in Chicago and haven't had any issues for the past 1.5 years on T-Mobile. I don't think it's just the part of the city I live in (northeast near Irving Park Rd.) but I travel to literally most neighborhoods and a lot of suburbs and nearby cities (i.e. Rockford) and almost always have good service on T-Mobile. This includes good signal strength and LTE. I generally think of them as good in cities and not so much elsewhere (yet).
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anandreader106 - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
T-Mobile, you simply rock!JeffFlanagan - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
This reassures me that ditching AT&T and subscribing to T-mobile was a good choice.headbox - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
I went from AT&T to T-Mobile and the coverage is a lot worse :(makerofthegames - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. The only dead space I've found so far was ten miles inside a national park, itself already miles from civilization. Verizon still had minimal coverage, but T-Mobile was extremely spotty.However, normally I just sit in the city, where I have no coverage issues.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
We switched from Sprint 2 years ago and have never looked back. It's so much better AND cheaper.Samus - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Funny, I switched from T-Mobile to Sprint (Ting, actually) and had the complete opposite experience. But in Chicago it's unanimously known T-Mobile is complete garbage...I just finally got fed up with it, and at the time, Sprints LTE and WiMax networks were far superior to T-mobile's 3G HSPA+ network. As far as cost, I'm spending roughly the same amount of money for 4 lines on Ting as I did with T-Mobile, without a contract and including the cost of new phones over two years.The only problem is when I travel...Sprint is known to be crap in San Francisco, and boy is it true. EDGE 1x everywhere.
Hrel - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
I switched from Sprint to Tmobile in Spring 2014 and am MUCH happier, also live near Chicago. Obviously coverage in the city is amazing, but that's true on every network. The UP of Michigan though? Sprint had NO coverage at all, Tmo does. Wifi calling is included for free. I'm in Germany right now and have free data and texting included with my plan. Music doesn't use up data and now my data rolls over? Sprint can't compete at all.Also, Tmobile plans start at $30/month, check the prepaid site. It's not easy to spot, but it's about 3/4 down the page, and you have to activate the phone over a phone call, but then you're good.
Solandri - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
Technically, Sprint has had free wifi calling longer than T-Mobile. Sprint integrated Google Voice some years back - your Sprint number is also your Google Voice number. The problem before was that there was no obvious way to use Google Voice to make calls (over wifi) without third party VoIP apps and a lot of setup.That changed a few months ago when Google integrated Google Voice into Hangouts. You can now make VoIP calls using your Sprint number via Hangouts. I've used it over wifi, LTE, and the occasional 3G service area which has decent speeds. It's very handy when I need to make service calls to 800 numbers and expect to be on hold a long time - it doesn't eat up my minutes anymore (Sprint has unlimited mobile to mobile calling, but 800 numbers are always landlines). The only problem I've encountered is receiving VoIP calls - both Hangouts and the phone's regular dialer respond to an incoming call, but the regular dialer overlays Hangouts and I'm unable to actually answer the call with VoIP. I have to answer it using the regular dialer. This can be a problem if you're in a poor Sprint service area that has wifi.
nafhan - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
My coverage is worse. However, I switched 5 lines over from Verizon and I'm saving $100+ a month. I also have 2.5GB per line instead of 4GB shared for all 5 lines (which was terrible). Unlimited music streaming is a nice bonus, too. It's been more than worth it for me. Plus Verizon just increased their ETF's.epakrat - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Switched from AT&T to T-Mobile and the coverage has been comparable while the data speed has blow away my previous expectations.lothinator - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Reminds me of when AT&T did rollover minutes. Didn't take long after that till TRUE unlimited minutes arrived. Hopefully that's where we're headed with data.anactoraaron - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Actually IIRC, AT&T stole/absorbed the rollover minutes idea from Cingular when they bought them out. Cingular had this first.slashbinslashbash - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Cingular actually bought the smaller company that had the rights to the AT&T name, then changed their name from Cingular to AT&T.eanazag - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
From what I remember, AT&T sold their cellular division to Cingular and then a short while later bought Cingular. They then ditched the Cingular name.Does this matter today? Nah.
I don't have T-Mobile, but I am glad they're doing what they're doing. I hope they get some success off this because the cellular market needs shaking up.
I think cell phone costs need to be changed. I find it hard to believe that an iPhone costs the same or more as an iPad. 16GB iPad Air 2 with cellular is $629 and the 16GB iPhone 6 off contract costs $650. Something is not right. Apple is not losing money on that iPad.
Deelron - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
I find the moderate amount of price differences between devices to be less offensive then the cost of service between having a "phone" and a "tablet", it's far more insulting to pay (as an individual, just grabbing T-Mobile's plans here) $50 for 1GB of LTE Data (unlimited slow speed) + Unlimited text/minutes on a phone when it costs $20 for the same amount of data (plus 200MB free) for a tablet.erple2 - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
The cost of the phone is something the phone maker sets, and has no (direct) bearing on cell carrier pricing, at least not any more. The only exception to that is with phone subsidies. Miniaturization doesn't always mean cheaper products. Smaller components are harder to manufacture then larger ones. Its also market forces that dictate prices.gggplaya - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
We were already there for the first few years of the iphone and budding android. Then smartphones really took off ushering in the "limited" data plans.Impulses - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
T-Mobile (and Sprint) already offer TRUE unlimited data, so we aren't really headed anywhere, we're already there... You do pay a slight premium for it, but it's still less than what'd you pay for the largest data allotments on AT&T/VZW.I've been using 10-20GB for months on Sprint while paying $60/month... I'm moving, haven't been using the crappy DSL at my old house and haven't installed cable on the new one. Those 10GB+ I've used are like 90% browsing too (Chrome alone usually accounts for like 7GB on my phone).
I honestly don't know how anyone streams anything on tiered data plans... Streaming just one network show usually gobbles up anywhere between half a gig to over a gig depending on how many times you restart the stream cause of pauses, commercials, etc.
coburn_c - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Good plan for vacations. Let's you binge on the data you don't use at home. Other than that pretty pointless. Was hoping for something more exciting.icrf - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
I think it's highly useful for that. I use about 500 MB / mo, but when I went on vacation with family and hotspotted for the long weekend, those four days consumed about 6 GB. Just enough rollover to not worry about it is all I'm after.Honestly, rollover being good for a year is a lot more than I expected from data rollover. I was thinking there'd be an amount cap of double your monthly allotment, not a timing cap, especially one that long.
Intervenator - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Idk what could possibly excite you if this doesn't... D:CaedenV - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Pretty nice. I am almost convinced to jump ship from ATT and move over to T-Mo. They minute they put up a few more towers in my area and my T-Mo friends stop whining about coverage then I will be all over it.shadarlo - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
This is FANTASTIC. I really hope it forces Verizon to follow suit.Unfortunately two factors stop me from switching.
1. The T-Mobile network in my area (Daytona Beach Florida) is pretty spotty and it gets worse in surrounding smaller towns. I don't even have 4g at my house which is one of the largest subdivisions in town.
2. Verizon is actually cheaper! I get 2gb data, unlim talk/text for $60/mo WITH subsidized phones. I could get a slightly cheaper plan with T-Mobile I think... but I'd have to pay for the phone myself. The only problem is I'm stuck with only 2GB data and I'd like 3-4. But I only pay $10-15 per gig I go over... so it's still pretty cheap if I need more some months.
TerdFerguson - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
$10-15/GB is cheap? I think it's outrageous, personally, and I wish that our government would've allocated spectrum for affordable technologies instead of assisting Verizon in lining their pockets.TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
I wish I was rich enough to say "oh, $15/GB is cheap." To most people, that is an asinine price, especially since it barely cost verizon anything....Impulses - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
When you're paying $60/month already, if you can't afford an extra $15 for the occasional overage you should probably evaluate your finances and try to stop living paycheck to paycheck.I'm not saying I agree with their cost structure, I think it's ridiculous too, but shadarlo's reasoning seems sound given the cards he's been dealt.
Oh course if he's paying an extra $10-15 every other month he should consider how much that phone would really cost over two years... Still seems like he's coming out ahead tho.
Impulses - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Biggest problem with the wireless industry is few people actually study their use and pick a plan/carrier that really fits their needs, so you have a massive amount of people overpaying and giving the larger carriers more inertia.wondermanpoetry - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
You are Awesome T Mobilecrockett305 - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
What Brandon Chester didn't mention in this article is that T-Mobile wasn't the first to introduce the concept of rollover data. That honor goes to tier 2 carrier, C Spire who introduced Rolling Data last month. Apparently T-Mobile took notice and adopted their model to take on ATT & Verizon. I think it's important to note that T-Mobile isn't the big revolutionary carrier they try to be. Especially when they just copy what others in the marketplace are doing already. http://cspire.com/rollingdataDeelron - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
It doesn't actually, at least one AT&T MVNO (Pure Talk) had rollover data last year (which I believe it has since done away with). Tricky thing when you're talking about "firsts."Impulses - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
Who cares? It's not like it's a novel idea, I've seen people suggesting it for years and we've already had rollover minutes... Who debuted it first or who copied who has just about zero significance, specially when you weigh those two carrier's subscriber base.Deelron - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
"Who cares?"The first guy to mention it, obviously ;).
Samus - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
I'm surprised nobody is talking about T-Mobile partnering with Ting (a Sprint MVNO) to create the first cell phone provider to have GSM and CDMA compatibility under one roof.Hrel - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
I'd bet money this doesn't apply to their $40/month or $30/month plans, only starts at the $50/month plan and up.Deelron - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
"Sign up for a postpaid Simple Choice Plan with 4G LTE data for your phone (minimum 3GB 4G LTE data) or tablet (minimum 1GB 4G LTE data)."So no on the cheapest (1GB) of phone plans, but yes on the $20 a month tablet plan (also 1GB). Interesting choice.
twofoldpath - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
There are definitely parts of Raleigh where I don't have service on T-Mobile, along some highways in Virginia, in some parts of New York/southwestern CT where I definitely think I should have it...so as to say I'm not trying to be an apologist for T-Mobile, though I do like that they're not Verizon...But I live in Chicago and haven't had any issues for the past 1.5 years on T-Mobile. I don't think it's just the part of the city I live in (northeast near Irving Park Rd.) but I travel to literally most neighborhoods and a lot of suburbs and nearby cities (i.e. Rockford) and almost always have good service on T-Mobile. This includes good signal strength and LTE. I generally think of them as good in cities and not so much elsewhere (yet).