8 ms·
I think you should avoid T-Mobile if you can. Not just as a matter of principle, but also pragmatism. They have an extremely crude SMS censorship/anti-spam syst
by finite_jest 5y ago
I think you should avoid T-Mobile if you can. Not just as a matter of principle, but also pragmatism. They have an extremely crude SMS censorship/anti-spam system [1] which even blocks links to lichess.org, the popular online chess website.
They have poor security practices like storing passwords in plaintext [2], and they had a large data breach (probably about 100M customers affected) last year. [3]
A̶n̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶,̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶w̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶t̶o̶c̶o̶l̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶.̶
PS: This isn't protocol blocking at the packet/port level, so I may have used "protocol blocking" a bit inappropriately. Apparently Apple allows the carriers to prevent people from enabling iCloud Private Relay, and T-Mobile is doing that. Apple is probably doing so due to the pressure by the carriers. In August, four carriers (Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange and T-Mobile ) signed a letter urging the European Commission to stop Apple from providing Private Relay. (According to a report by The Telegraph: https://archive.fo/BRUS4#selection-915.74-925.194 https://archive.fo/BRUS4#selection-915.74-925.194) This, of course, still quite preposterous.
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29744347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29744347
[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16776347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16776347
[3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28192423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28192423 (The first comment by @jonathanmayer has a list of other recent T-Mobile security incidents)
- dbmnt 5y agoI'd like to switch, but after testing Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint (prior to the merger) with SIMs in my unlocked iPhone, none of them had reliable coverage at my house. T-Mobile was the only provider that gave me a good signal. I'm in city limits, so it's not what I expected, but I guess the problem is very localized.
- perfectstorm 5y agoavoid T-Mobile and join AT&T or Verizon? i'm sure they have their fair share of shady/borderline illegal things they do.
- manuelabeledo 5y ago> i'm sure they have their fair share of shady/borderline illegal things they do. That might be true, but at least AT&T doesn't block private VPNs, nor has plans to do so.
- thrwn_frthr_awy 5y agoHow do you know what AT&T is planning? Are you involved in their internal discussion of how they handle VPN traffic? If so, maybe you shouldn't be saying you/att have no plans to. And if not, maybe you shouldn't be saying they have no plans to
- cptskippy 5y agoI have T-Mobile, they don't block my VPN traffic. Cox however... My VPN does not work on any Cox network.
- manuelabeledo 5y ago> How do you know what AT&T is planning? Are you involved in their internal discussion of how they handle VPN traffic? I'm part of AT&T Cybersecurity.
- thrwn_frthr_awy 5y agoAre there public statements from ATT describing their intent to not block private vpns for the foreseeable future?
- manuelabeledo 5y agoThere’s no VPN blocking in place, and there are no plans to do so. But if you want proof of what AT&T isn’t going to do, it’s going to take a while to compile.
- thrwn_frthr_awy 5y ago
- jc_811 5y agoI would love to leave T-Mobile, but they are the only carrier in the US who offers such a core piece of functionality for me: International service included out-of-the-box. I love to travel, and nothing beats being able to land in (pretty much) any country in the world, turn on your phone and have working service just like that. No SIM cards, no different numbers, no local pre-paid cards, and no crazy international fees. As someone who enjoys work/travel for weeks to months at a time, every other major carrier is not feasible for this (think 10$/day, which becomes unreasonable when you're out of the country for 3+ weeks). Unless somebody else could recommend another option it seems I'm stuck with T-Mobile for now.
- mtoner23 5y agoGoogle fi? service probably isnt as good as t mobile though
- lancesells 5y agoI have AT&T and it's a toggle to turn it on but you're right about the $10/day. I've felt the sting many times.
- vageli 5y agoGoogle Fi does everything you ask for (and works with more phones that just those that Google manufactures).
- reidjs 5y ago
- k4ch0w 5y agoAnd go where? I've had bad experiences with service with AT&T and Verizon in my area, Washington State. It's shockingly spotty.
- bradly 5y agoOn Lopez Island T-Mobile is pretty much the only thing I been able to use. This is in the village area too, not just south end. And T-Mobile gets service on most of the ferry ride to Anacortes. When you are waiting in line for 90 minutes for a ferry ride in your car, cell service is really appreciated.
- jen20 5y agoCounterpoint to the anecdata: I carry both TMobile (work) and AT&T (personal) phones most of the time. Often the only way to get any data response in a major metro is to tether the TMobile one to the AT&T phone - this is in a major metro area, and largely the reason I switched away from Google Fi (though it turns out Apple Watch cellular is so useful that Google Fi isn’t an option at all anymore).
- bradly 5y agoYes, at our place in Southern California my ATT service is much better then my T-Mobile service.
- pedanticmouse 5y agoIt looks like T-Mobile isn't actually preventing or blocking Private Relay, but that it doesn't function while T-Mo's Content Filtering is enabled. Here's more information on that. https://tmo.report/2022/01/t-mobile-blocking-icloud-private-relay-for-some-but-its-not-what-you-think/ https://tmo.report/2022/01/t-mobile-blocking-icloud-private-... tl;dr - disable T-Mo Content Filtering on your account and PR will work just fine
- finite_jest 5y agoGood point. I upvoted your comment, and I wish I could edit my comment to add this. It seems that I can't edit the comment anymore though. PS: The 9to5mac article has an update which indicates that the blocking is _not_ exclusive to users who have "filtering and blocking features enabled".
- stjohnswarts 5y agoThis is the way... (until they fix it)
- r00fus 5y agoDude, t-Mobile is leagues better than AT&T or Verizon. AT&T essentially bankrolled OANN, Trump's propaganda network. Verizon has done tons of shady stuff in the past as well. Plus my bill for TMO has been constant (like the same) for years straight - no overages or surprise bills. Not going back to ATT/VZ for a long time if ever.
- abawany 5y agoI've come to really regret my recent switch to Verizon Prepaid. They are very over-provisioned, which means anyone not on post-paid (i.e. MVNOs and to my disappointment, vzw prepaid) will get deprioritized to practically zero even with plenty of data available in the plan. I am unable to load even the simplest of web pages when this happens, which is a terrible state to be in when one is trying to check-in to a store to pickup an order, for example. I feel I would have gotten more enjoyment out of the money I am paying them if I had set it on fire. I am frantically looking for a less nasty alternative.
- gnicholas 5y agoWhere is this happening? We've had no problem using xfinity mobile, which is a verizon MVNO, in the Bay Area.
- cptskippy 5y agoAT&T and Verizon have very checkered pasts, advocating to switch to them is ridiculous. That's not to say T-Mobile is perfect or even great, but at least for me they are the significantly lesser evil. That might just be down to the fact that they've only been around for 2 years. I also can't complain that I get 8 lines of unlimited everything for $150.
- jen20 5y ago> That might just be down to the fact that they've only been around for 2 years. What? I was using T-Mobile in 2018 in the US.
- kingcharles 5y agoUnless someone can spare me $70,000 so I can pay the install fee for a Comcast Internet connection to my home in downtown Chicago, I have to stick with T-Mobile for my main Net connection.
- DesiLurker 5y agoStarlink (if/when available)?
- kingcharles 5y agoWhen I was shopping around there was a huge backorder on the receivers because of the chip shortage. In the end, for a wireless connection, the 5G T-Mobile one works out better in bandwidth and latency.
- Kon-Peki 5y agoAre you new to the area? Because there is no reason to get internet from any of the big boys if you're in downtown Chicago. All you need is fiber to the big brick building next to McCormick Place, and there is fiber under every El track, in the old freight tunnels, along the Metra tracks, and just plain old every street. https://silverip.com https://silverip.com This is probably the best of the dozen choices you have. When I lived downtown, I got gigabit internet for $15 a month. You've got to be kidding me if you think you want Comcast.
- kingcharles 5y agoHuh. Thank you. I'd never heard of these guys before. I'll give them a call.
- Kon-Peki 5y agoGood luck, I've had great experiences in two different condo towers.