[PLUG-TALK] T-Mobile experiences?

[Michael Rasmussen]

On Tue, Jul 02, 2013 at 05:55:16PM -0700, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Jul 2013 17:17:55 -0700
> Michael Rasmussen 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.

If eventually > 2 years then it is kinda a moot point.

> 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. 
> 
> 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.

I walked into the store at Powell and César Chávez today and they seemed
to be OK folks. 

> 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.

I'm more concerned with the phone operating on frequencies used in Argentina,
Beijing, Turkey, northern Italy . . . 


-- 
            Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
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