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Review by sk1939 
member for 2.6 years, 1067 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 19 days ago
 Laurel,Prince Georges,MD
 $102 per month- (24 month contract)
 "Cheap, decent 4G speeds, good coverage area." "Does not work in tunnels, some rural areas, metro/train stations." "Decent cost/benefit for Voice and Data"
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I first got T Mobile way back before Cingular merged with AT&T to form AT&T Wireless. At the time I was using AT&T prepaid, but somehow during the transition with Cingular (around 2005), I not only lost service, but lost my entire account as well. Still needing a cell phone I signed up with T-Mobile which included 300 minutes for what was a relatively reasonable $25 a month (never used all of them). A few years later, around 2007, I moved to a family plan that I have been happy with, and added data and text to a single line for a few dollars more a month. All in all, 3 lines with text ($5 for 500 messages) and 200MB ($15) on one line for $100 a month is doing pretty well I would say, and using unlocked phones exclusively has lead to the benefit of not being locked into a contract as well (once the initial two years were up).
Update 1/10/12: T Mobile updated my SIM card to a "4G" sim (I had the original EDGE SIM), but I still get a 2G signal in northern PA while AT&T has at least 3G. That being said, signal in the DC area is 4G HSPA and speedy on the Galaxy Nexus. I also get a signal in oddball places, for example I get a strong signal in Romeoville, Illinois, and along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio, but not up toward Corning, NY.
Monthly Charges: $84.97
Use Charges: $0.80
Other Charges: $4.87
Taxes and Fees: $11.30
Update 10/15/12: Coverage varies wildly depending on geographic location. I get 4G speeds in the DC and Bay Area, but once you get out towards Rochester, NY or the Philidelpia/Allentown area you are lucky if you get 3G speeds, for the most part it's 2G if you get a signal at all. However the signal issue is only a problem if your inside of a building.
Update 5/31/13: I have found that a year later I still have the same service quality in most all areas. This means that I get 3G or HSPA/4G in major metropolitan areas like Washington, DC, Syracuse, NY, and Naperville, Ill, but 2G or no coverage in Ithaca, NY, Williamsport, PA, and most anywhere that isn't a major population center.
Monthly Charges: $84.97
Use Charges: $0.60
Other Charges: $4.83
Taxes and Fees: $11.15
Total New Charges: 101.55
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Review by brightico
member for 4.5 years, 2 visits, last login: 117 days ago
lodged 118 days ago
- Hickory,Catawba,NC
- $86 per month
- (24 month contract)
- "Faster speed than my home DSL"
- "Spotty coverage in some areas. Don't like paying to tether."
- "Best bang for the buck"
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Speed at home is about 6Mbps for T-Mobile which is also the fastest speed available from any provider at my home. They even sent me a $500 Micro Cell Tower for free.
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Review by cb14
member for 135 days, 139 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 120 days ago
- Miami Beach,Miami-Dade,FL
- $49 per month
- "price, GSM carrier"
- "rural coverage, decreased quality of 2G voice services"
- "recommended"
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I have service with TMO US for over 6 years I have a legacy 1500 minute voice plan for 39.95 plus abot $ 9.80 in taxes and junk fees and an unlocked Nokia C3-01.
I cannot comment much on data, because I use data on the phone only via wi-fi.
TMO used to have an exceptional customer service, unfortunately it got significantly worse lately . Also the signal and connection quality decreased over the last 18 months. The problems are most pronounced with 2G services- there are rumors that TMO moved away a part of their 1900 Mh PCS spectrum.The formerly excellent coverage maps were replaced with optimistic, unreliable propaganda maps( like the other carriers). Some rough business practices popped up lately, like the lightning fast disconnecting of service once the account is past due.
Rural coverage is not great in many areas. I use a Verizon prepaid as a back up.Calls get forwarded to once I am out of coverage- a great feature.
Choice of phones is not great, but an advantage of a GSM carrier is the availability of vast selection of unlocked GSM phones on Amazon.
Having said all of that, I still consider T-Mobile USA the best choice out of the 'big four'
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 Review by DJRank1
member for 7.8 years, 189 visits, last login: 92 days ago
updated 139 days ago
- Pittsburg,Contra Costa,CA
- $250 per month
- (24 month contract)
 about 1 days- "Good prices, Good 4G network, Good call quality"
- "Minimal coverage sometimes in remote areas"
- "T-Mobile is really good depending on your location"
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We've had T-Mobile for the past 8 years and overall have not had any major problems with them. We have the family plan for 5 phones with unlimited talk and text. 1 phone has the 5 GB data plan with tethering, 3 with 2 GB data, and 1 phone with no data plan. It's good to know that T-Mobile is making a big effort to expand their coverage and with all their options for phones and plans it will get even better.
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 Review by jbgroup1
member for 13.1 years, 5236 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 156 days ago
- Dayton,Howard,MD
- $127 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 3 days
- "Works well great call quality."
- "Not real 4G"
- "Geat speeds, great calling and an overall good experience"
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Got two phones with two different plans. My main phone which is a Galaxy S III has 500 anytime minutes and unlimited text and web (5GB at "4G" speeds). This plan also allows tethering. My other phone is a CM10 modded Galaxy S II and has the monthly US$30 unlimited text and 5GB data and 100 min. talk. This phone I use to tether my tablet for data while on the bus/train. Both plans have worked out so far and I have used the $30 plan for my data needs. It's good to have 10GB available per month. Overall I would say this is a great value.
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Review by djcrazy
member for 3.8 years, 414 visits, last login: 3 days ago
lodged 169 days ago
- Minneapolis,Hennepin,MN
- $86 per month
- (24 month contract)
- "Very reliable, Unlimited 4G high speed data, unlimites talk, text. Great signal"
- "Phone selection a bit limited but improving"
- "Truly the best bang for the buck"
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Paid for my Samsung Galaxy S 3 outright so I get a reduced rate on service of about $15 a month. Services are the Value plan with unlimited talk, text and web for $49.99, $20 more for UNLIMITED 4G high speed data, and $7.99 for handset protection per moth plus taxes, fees, etc.
The call quality and clarity are second to none. I have not had any dropped calls on my end since I started the service in August of 2112. The 4G data is fast and reliable. ALL much better than Verizon ever was for me. I use it to stream music from the web both in my car and at work hooked up to a stereo and never have a problem with it.
Highly recommended!
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Review by badpatrick
member for 2.3 years, 13 visits, last login: 140 days ago
updated 171 days ago
- Mesa,Maricopa,AZ
- $50 per month
- about 30 days
- "Fast 4g. No Contracts. Easy Activation. Hotspot"
- "Updating drivers can break USB mode"
- "It works. You get what you pay for."
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Last month I purchased the T-Mobile Hotspot. It's 4G service. 5gb monthly cap for 50 dollars and no contract. When the package arrived I was happy to see they had put in a gift card for 15 dollars to apply towards a service.
They also offer:
300MB week pass $15
1.5GB month pass $25
3.5GB month pass $35
Average speeds are 5-8mb down and 2mb up and latency is in the 80's. Typical speed test. »speedtest.net/result/2345588410.png
The device is a hotspot that can handle up to 4 wireless connections at once. However, I use it connected in USB mode as my desktop does not have a wireless adapter. The service has been very reliable other than a driver update called "ZTE Communication - Network - T-Mobile Wireless Ethernet Adapter". This updated breaks the USB ability. It's a known issue on different forums. After a driver rollback it was working again.
The hotspot has an internal router page. You can visit "mobile.hotspot" on your web browser and access different settings such as passwords, DNS and more. They make it easy for you to track current data usage. It seems to update every 5 minutes. And they will also send the device a text when you are within 1gb of your cap.
When you go over your cap or reach the end of the month it threatens to charge you 20 cents a MB until you apply another pre-paid card to the account. I'm not sure how they implement this as they don't have a credit card number. Maybe they send a postal bill? If you are on a contract plan then they will lower your speed to "around edge like speeds". I've read 50-200kbps while throttled is to be expected but the plan will remain Unlimited.
Tech-Support received an average vote because I don't have enough information to vote either way.
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Review by tkdslr
member for 9.1 years, 1189 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 181 days ago
- Pompano Beach,Broward,FL
- $30 per month
- about 1 days
- "5GB data, unlimited text.. 100 minutes of airtime, extra airtime $0.10min"
- "Exhibit II 4g, 4G service likes to hang."
- "Best Purchase I've made in a decade.."
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It's been 10 months since purchasing my Samsung Exhibit II 4G ($200+sales tax from Walmart) and things are getting better.. Voice service always solid and clear..
4G data service seams to hangs up, (in upload mode), a couple of times a day. Jumping into airplane mode and back out again restores 4G service. Average usage 4 to 5GB of data a month.
Initially I had to call t-mobile to change phone settings in order to get data service working. (Check mark Packet data & Roaming under Settings->Wireless and Networks->Mobile networks"). That call lasted 15 minutes or so.
Took several months to figure out how to purchase additional airtime while still on the $30 Walmart plan. (T-mobile doesn't document this very well, neither do CS reps know about it.) Solution, just keep extra money in prepaid account, each minute you go over deducts $0.10min from the account.
Speeds up to 9Mb(D)/2Mbit(U) so far.. I've gotten higher speeds on my TM ZTE hotspot, but that has a better radio(21Mbps verses 14Mbps).
But, I just forced my II 4G (hidden menu setting) to use T-mobiles new HSPDA+ 1900Mhz WCDMA service.. wow.. instead of 2, maybe 3 bars.. I now get a full 4 bars.. Very nice..
I'll update this review with the outcome of that experiment..
Note: That particular experiment failed a couple of months ago..I.E. no data, but that was then, and this is now.. Yeah..
Rooted, removed or disabled a couple of t-mobile's apps & spyware.
One thing I've learned is to disable all updates. Very selectively do I allow any update. Allowed Andriod OS to update to 2.3.5.. but not 2.3.6(yet)..
It seams that app vendors have a propensity to ruin a once useful app with an update. So no more updates. if an app works, it going stay working, just like I found it.
Favorite FREE apps so far..
older "My tracks" v1.1.16 in widget mode, Very handy for Bicyclists.
"Titanium backup" v5.5.1
"Flashlight" v4.9.2 in widget mode..
"Compass" v1.2.1
"Anti sms spam" v1.42
RF hazard like all cell phones, I rarely put my Andriod phone in my pocket. Instead it goes in a nap stack pocket with at least a few inches of separation from my body.. (also better view of the sky for the GPS app "my tracks")..
At home, I use a Siemens Gigaset one bluetooth gateway to route all TM calls to my cordless phones(with talking caller id). Bluetooth connection seams to fail to sync up a couple of times a month. But, forcing a bluetooth unpairing then reconnect on TM phone fixes this.
That's all for now.. This is one of the best deals I've gotten in long time..
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 Review by a333
member for 6 years, 1576 visits, last login: 11 days ago
updated 202 days ago
- Rego Park,Queens,NY
- $57 per month
- "3.5 / 3.75G service in vast majority of NYC and suburbs, high quality network, low pings"
- "Needs more 3G coverage along the I-95 / intercity corridors"
- "Very good provider for those looking for 4G-like speeds without the commitments/horrible pricing"
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Walked into a T-mobile store, and initially bought a data-only (mobile broadband) prepaid SIM card. Bought a 300 MB week pass for $15 to see if their network was up to snuff around various parts of NYC. Put the SIM inside my unlocked Nokia 700 (it has pentaband 3G radios, so I can test AT&T and T-mobile's 3G networks on the same device as a reference. First impressions: pings are DEFINITELY a lot lower on T-mobile (all that backhaul investment and radio upgrades to HSPA 42 seem to be making quite the difference). The connection was a LOT zippier and stable than my AT&T 3G service, and speeds varied typically between around 3 and 5 Mbps downstream, and about 1.5 - 1.75 Mbps upstream (tested in Downtown Brooklyn / Metrotech in the revening hours on a weekday.. downstream speeds tend to reach around 7 - 8 Mbps during nights and on weekends due to less loading). On a bus ride that took me from Metrotech, along the BQE, into Queens, I was able to continuously stream a HQ (615 Kbps) Youtube stream with minimal buffering. Latencies during off-peak hours are as low as 30 - 50 ms, increasing to around 80 - 100 ms when in and around Midtown Manhattan (circa 42nd - 59 St.) during peak hours. (Note: These speeds and latencies were on a 14.4 Dl/ 5.76 Up HSPA radio.. I'd imagine the Rocket sticks T-mobile offers would be able to hop on the faster carriers, especially in a deployed area like NYC.)
The only major issue I encountered on the data-only SIM was that the phone sometimes had issues handing off between towers / maintaining the 3G login (the 3,5G icon still showed up, but the data link stayed inactive). Finally, I bit the bullet and bought a voice prepaid SIM, and activated the $30 monthly4G plan T-mobile is offering online (5 GB of uncapped HSPA speeds, unlimited texts, and 100 minutes cellular voice). Pro tip: do NOT let the store activate your new SIM card. Go to the nearest computer with internet access and activate it yourself! That way, the $30 5 GB plan will be presented to you as an option, and you can select it when activating the SIM card online (the plan is ONLY for folks buying a kit from Walmart, or NEW activations done ONLINE on T-mobile... I managed to convince activations reps on the phone to let me have the plan, since I can "activated" my SIM barely 30 minutes ago...). Signed up for voip.ms SIP service, and set it up on the SIP client built into my Nokia, so now I have seamless access to VoIP calls from my phone app (it also stays logged in as a background process, so I can receive incoming calls). I also set up my voip.ms account to forward calls to my T-mobile # in case I am disconnected from 3G, so it's fairly reliable. The new SIM card seems to maintain connection MUCH better (might be some issue specific to my phone, though), and VoIP works quite well over T-mobile's 3.5G system (I'm using G.729a, though I tried G.711 u-law, and it works perfectly well in off-peak network conditions).
Long story short: Coverage seems pretty strong (though in-building and basement penetration might be iffy, since T-mobile only uses AWS bands for 3G, while AT&T has spectrum in the 850 MHz band, though that might be changing thanks to the 3G/4G roaming agreements T-mobile will be getting as a condition of the failed merger deal. Coverage on highway corridors is there, but will frequently drop down to EDGE, since T-mobile intends to remain a major-city carrier when it comes to deploying the latest/greatest network gear (looking forward to that LTE-advanced deployment this summer!).
[UPDATE, 07/20/2012]:
Just received my Nokia N9 and stopped by my local T-mobile store for a micro-SIM today.... at first, the salesperson attempted to dupe me into paying $20 for the new SIM, but after persistently explaining the fact that the initial ACTIVATION kit itself (SIM included) only had cost ~ $8 - $10 or so, he offered to "reduce" the total to $10, before finally "realizing" that as a customer, I got 1 free replacement SIM card, after which he just fetched the new SIM card and activated my account on it. Moral of the story: know your rights... replacement SIM cards are generally either cheap or free (T-mobile's own web site actually lists a $0.00 price for Micro-SIM's last time I checked), so beware of sales reps trying to make a quick buck.
Now, on to the new assessment of performance: one thing is clear... the phone itself also makes all the difference in performance... the Meego default browser loads pages at blistering speed, and DSLR's iPhone browser speedtest showed that latency directly to the browser was = 80 ms at pretty much all times, with download speeds consistently staying at around 2.5 - 3 mbps even during peak hours, and increasing to around 4.2 mbps during evening hours. Signal strength was around the same as my Nokia 700 under easy conditions, but a trip down to the basement revealed signal levels between 2 and 4 bars in spots that are dead/0 - 1 bar/roam-onto-AT&T spots for other phones on T-mobile. Downloads still managed to stay in the 2 mbps range down in the basement, with similar latencies... I was actually able to successfully place a Google Talk video call from my phone over 3G, to my laptop which was logged in on a dummy Gmail account. SIP is loud and clear as usual, with only occasional drops during peak hours when latency is a bit more variable, and might momentarily spike due to some other user doing a large file transfer on the same transmitter as me.
UPDATE (11/30/2012):
After some time on the $30/5GB prepaid plan, I decided that 100 minutes wasn't quite cutting it, and the next-best prepaid plan with a reasonable amount of data was $60. Since I passed T-mobile's credit check, I instead opted to go onto a contract value plan, getting the 500 minute+unlimited messaging plan, with 2 GB un-throttled data, Yes, 500 minutes is less than the unlimited minutes on prepaid $60, but I get nights and weekends unlimited anyway, so it's not so big a deal. Also, with taxes and junk fees, and a 10% student discount, the total should come out to around $57/month as opposed to the $65 or so for the prepaid plan, and I get the option of later upgrading my data plan to full unlimited for $10 more.
As for activation, store reps were quite nice (I stopped by the store near Union Square), and the manager even waived the activation fee to match the online offer for free activation. One negative: I found out later on that I couldn't transfer my remaining prepaid account balance to my new postpaid account, which was a bit of a bummer, but I had the feeling that was the case, even as the reps told me something to the contrary. Also, the process of porting my number from prepaid to postpaid was a bit complicated, as a technical glitch caused the old account to be cancelled and the number voided. After ~45 minutes on the line with various T-mobile reps, and escalation to the number transfer department, I finally managed to get an expedited order put in to re-acquire the old number and transfer it to my new account. The port happened around midnight the day I called the issue in. Most of the reps I spoke to seemed to be outsourced (could tell by accent/ apparent time differences), but they were fairly competent and quick to escalate my issue when I explained it to them. So a note of warning: though prepaid and postpaid might seem part of the same company, sometimes the right hand doesn't quite know what the left hand is doing...
-- a333
[EDIT]: Whoops, forgot to post a speedtest:
»www.speedtest.net/result/2012659769.png
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 | | a333A hot cup of integrals please
join:2007-06-12
Rego Park, NY | Re: wcdma only Hmm, will try that next time.. I was driving up to Boston, so the coverage profile might have been different, but if forcing 3G does the trick, I'm happy  | |
| | |  djdanskaRudie32Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA
kudos:4
 ·Cox HSI
 ·Verizon Broadban..
·Clear Wireless
·Time Warner Cable
1 edit | Re: wcdma only my phone tends to switch to edge rather quickly, there are a few weak spots, and a dead zone maybe twice, but its literally less than a minute usually 30 seconds and your back with 4g.. that's my experience on my htc amaze 4g. your mileage may vary.
btw, on my 42Mb amaze, in NYC I get 8Mb down daytime (except near times square. 4Mb give or take) 2mb up. at night, 14- 18Mb down, 2-3 up.
--
The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult. The day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.
Alden Nowlan | |
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| | | | Re: Just Works Along The East Coast? Maybe its because these other users have CONTRACT phones like TMO has told you to get FIVE TIMES Steve | |
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| tkdslr
join:2004-04-24
Pompano Beach, FL | Just because you don't know how to fix your phone doesn't mean everyone else is having problems... I've posted several replies.. you responded to none of them..
I can only assume you are being paid by at&t or Verizon to disparage t-mobile.. | |
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NYGiants
join:2012-08-31
Bowling Green, VA | T-Mobile Look at the coverage maps on them near me (2G) versus Verizon's LTE or AT&T's HSPA. | |
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Review by cmarslett
member for 6.5 years, 70 visits, last login: 44 days ago
updated 206 days ago
- Pflugerville,Travis,TX
- $70 per month
- (month by month)
- about 3 days
- "Far faster than my previous 3G phone, coverage nearly as good."
- "wish data was as cheap as DSL or Clear, but I am happy with TXT and voice."
- "Excellent on the road, at the airport, backup for when Clear goes down."
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My Google Nexus GSM (bought direct from Google) and T-Mobile service are working out better than I expected (especially since T-Mobile doesn't provide a lot of info before you sign up). Unlimited voice/text is $60+, adding unlimited Android Web bumps it to $130. And I have been capped one month with my 3G service last year, and one of the last two months with 4G on the GNEX (I re-downloaded all the US and EU maps for my ALK CoPilot when I got the phone - about 2.5 GB over a day or two).
I settled with 700 minutes voice/unlimited TXT/unlimited Android data (2 phone family plan). That costs me half of the unlimited across the board deal and I'm quite happy with it. We have 3 phones (only two use any data, though) and it costs us about $150/mo. I don't recall running over 700 minutes in the more than 2 years we have been with T-mobile.
SpeedTest.net tells me I get 150 ms pings and 8-9 Mbit down with 1-3 Mbit up. That's plenty fast though I think the spec for HSPA+ is 21 Mbit....
I would like better coverage (central Austin seems to be a black hole!). Otherwise, service is as good as it started out being.
Netflix looks as good as it could on a 5" screen, but there are just a few things I still want on something bigger than a phone. And of course tethering to my laptop in airports is a really good deal, too. Thank you, T-Mobile.
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TMO is fine but change to their cheaper prepaid plans
