[PLUG-TALK] T-Mobile experiences?

John Jason Jordan johnxj at comcast.net
Wed Jul 3 00:55:16 UTC 2013


On Tue, 2 Jul 2013 17:17:55 -0700
Michael Rasmussen <michael at jamhome.us> dijo:

>My Verizon contract expires in a few weeks and I'm considering a
>change to T-Mobile. If you have history with them I'd like your
>insights.

I've been very pleased with T-Mobile over the past several years
since switching from AT&T.  Their rates are the lowest of the big four,
but you must pay attention to what phone you get. 

T-Mobile currently offers HSPA+42 in Portland. I have tested my Samsung
Galaxy S2 with HSPA+42 against Verizon LTE users and I beat them every
time. HSPA+42 is theoretically not quite as fast as Verizon and AT&T's 
LTE, but there are fewer people using the bandwidth, so in practice it
is actually faster. 

But having said that, HSPA+42 is going to be a dodo eventually.
T-Mobile is beginning to deploy LTE+ (Advanced LTE) which will be even
faster than the LTE offered by Verizon, AT&T, and soon to be offered by
Sprint. This is the "next generation LTE." However, no one can say when
it will come to Portland (although we have usually been one of the
first cities to get the latest from T-Mobile), and more importantly,
there are only a couple of phones currently for sale that can take
advantage of it, when and if it finally appears in Portland. 

By comparison AT&T is still deploying standard LTE, although it has
been available in Portland for some time, and Verizon also has a few
markets where it hasn't been deployed. Sprint is just starting to offer
LTE. And that is standard LTE. T-Mobile's LTE+ will be much faster, so
in a couple of years they will be the game to beat.

T-Mobile also has a reputation for excellent customer service, far
ahead of any of the others. That having been said, I have always had
excellent service at the two Lloyd Center stores, but horrible service
from the downtown store and the store at MLK and Broadway. Locally, the
quality of service seems to be spotty.

If you travel you also want to consider that T-Mobile's coverage in the
rest of the country is not always as good as it is here.

And, of course, everything I have talked about is just with regard to
data. I ignore voice because there is never a problem with that.

Assuming you want an Android phone, I recommend phandroid.com, which
offers extensive forums and news, including specifics about the various
carriers.



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