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The irony of this is that I've found I have a more reliable data connection abroad than I do in many parts of the US. But still, I've enjoyed being a T-mobile c

The irony of this is that I've found I have a more reliable data connection abroad than I do in many parts of the US. But still, I've enjoyed being a T-mobile customer, and really appreciate what they've done to shake up the industry. People think I'm wielding magical powers when I'm on trips abroad and accessing the internet like it's nothing.

Alex3917 11y ago
The data and cell reception really is now as good or better than AT&T and Verizon, for significantly less money. The problem is that their computer systems and tech support process are completely fucked, so if you want to save $20 bucks a month then be prepared to spend five hours a month on the phone with them. There is a comment below from a former employee on this, but really you don't even need to have worked there to know that they outsourced all of IT systems. Literally every single thing that could be broken is broken, e.g. - If the sales reps leave a note in your account, the tech support teams can't see that because they're on different computer systems. And the in-store computer systems are completely different than the ones that phone support uses, so same issue. - Want to merge two accounts into a family plan? They tell you can do that, but what they don't tell you is that you can't do that if you bought a phone from them. (WTF?) - Similarly, if got one of those cell extenders for your house and then you move, you need to mail it back to them rather than changing the address. - Phone support will tell you to go into their stores to take care of certain issues, but then the folks in the stores will tell you that they can't do it for whatever reason. I've actually just started recording all my calls with them. The incompetence is truly stunning. Even at their worst, AT&T and Verizon were never even close to this bad.
- ceras 11y ago
  > The data and cell reception really is now as good or better than AT&T and Verizon This varies tremendously by area. Have you seen a source that shows this to be true overall, or is this just in your area? IME as a happy T-Mobile user, T-Mobile is great in urban areas, but weak in suburban and rural areas--where most Americans live. It's only anecdotal, but it lines up with the anecdotes of other T-Mobile users I know.
  - cwyers 11y ago
    I'm on AT&T, my girlfriend on Verizon, and the amount of areas where she can get coverage and I can't are large -- we had an hour and a half car ride recently where she had signal the whole way and I had no signal at all. Meanwhile, T-Mobile won't even let me activate a device with my phone number because they don't support this area.
  - Alex3917 11y ago
    > Have you seen a source that shows this to be true overall If you look at their coverage map, they're lighting up 600 - 700 mhz spectrum all over the country. This is only within the last year though, and it only works if you have a phone that can take advantage of it. E.g. the iPhone 6s is the only iPhone that works with the new t-mobile spectrum. So yeah historically you're right, but I think that has changed within the last six months. And similarly it's going to change even more this spring after the next round of spectrum auctions.
    - feld 11y ago
      Nobody is doing cellular in 600mhz yet. The auction is this year (2016) and TMobile is expected to buy a lot because they couldn't get 700mhz nationwide
      - scurvy 11y ago
        FYI for those that don't know. Tmo can't do 700 mhz nationwide unless they start buying TV stations and shutting them down. That band overlaps with UHF channel 51. This removes most of California and New York (among a few other states).
        feld 11y ago
        Dish Network also has some nationwide, and US Cellular has gobs of it in the midwest preventing T-Mobile from getting better coverage. Which sucks, because US Cellular is a terrible carrier. They have good coverage, but no features (still no VoLTE) plus being really expensive with small data caps. And you get no data when you travel because they don't have roaming agreements and aren't in most major metro areas. I'd be happy if T-Mobile just bought US Cellular to make them go away. The best site for spectrum maps that I know of is this: http://specmap.sequence-omega.net http://specmap.sequence-omega.net

Alex3917 11y ago

The data and cell reception really is now as good or better than AT&T and Verizon, for significantly less money. The problem is that their computer systems and tech support process are completely fucked, so if you want to save $20 bucks a month then be prepared to spend five hours a month on the phone with them. There is a comment below from a former employee on this, but really you don't even need to have worked there to know that they outsourced all of IT systems. Literally every single thing that could be broken is broken, e.g. - If the sales reps leave a note in your account, the tech support teams can't see that because they're on different computer systems. And the in-store computer systems are completely different than the ones that phone support uses, so same issue. - Want to merge two accounts into a family plan? They tell you can do that, but what they don't tell you is that you can't do that if you bought a phone from them. (WTF?) - Similarly, if got one of those cell extenders for your house and then you move, you need to mail it back to them rather than changing the address. - Phone support will tell you to go into their stores to take care of certain issues, but then the folks in the stores will tell you that they can't do it for whatever reason. I've actually just started recording all my calls with them. The incompetence is truly stunning. Even at their worst, AT&T and Verizon were never even close to this bad.

ceras 11y ago
> The data and cell reception really is now as good or better than AT&T and Verizon This varies tremendously by area. Have you seen a source that shows this to be true overall, or is this just in your area? IME as a happy T-Mobile user, T-Mobile is great in urban areas, but weak in suburban and rural areas--where most Americans live. It's only anecdotal, but it lines up with the anecdotes of other T-Mobile users I know.
- cwyers 11y ago
  I'm on AT&T, my girlfriend on Verizon, and the amount of areas where she can get coverage and I can't are large -- we had an hour and a half car ride recently where she had signal the whole way and I had no signal at all. Meanwhile, T-Mobile won't even let me activate a device with my phone number because they don't support this area.
- Alex3917 11y ago
  > Have you seen a source that shows this to be true overall If you look at their coverage map, they're lighting up 600 - 700 mhz spectrum all over the country. This is only within the last year though, and it only works if you have a phone that can take advantage of it. E.g. the iPhone 6s is the only iPhone that works with the new t-mobile spectrum. So yeah historically you're right, but I think that has changed within the last six months. And similarly it's going to change even more this spring after the next round of spectrum auctions.
  - feld 11y ago
    Nobody is doing cellular in 600mhz yet. The auction is this year (2016) and TMobile is expected to buy a lot because they couldn't get 700mhz nationwide
    - scurvy 11y ago
      FYI for those that don't know. Tmo can't do 700 mhz nationwide unless they start buying TV stations and shutting them down. That band overlaps with UHF channel 51. This removes most of California and New York (among a few other states).
      - feld 11y ago
        Dish Network also has some nationwide, and US Cellular has gobs of it in the midwest preventing T-Mobile from getting better coverage. Which sucks, because US Cellular is a terrible carrier. They have good coverage, but no features (still no VoLTE) plus being really expensive with small data caps. And you get no data when you travel because they don't have roaming agreements and aren't in most major metro areas. I'd be happy if T-Mobile just bought US Cellular to make them go away. The best site for spectrum maps that I know of is this: http://specmap.sequence-omega.net http://specmap.sequence-omega.net