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AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

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Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#11
I'm a (happy) T-Mobile customer and my favorite thing about them is that in 5+ years I've never had to go into a store.

Their website was functional but not super intuitive a few years ago, but it keeps getting better, and upgrading my iPhone 11 to a 13 last week, and also my plan at the same time, was seamless.

And now that I have 5G for the first time ever I'm shocked to be getting upwards of 400M down.

I don't think any other network can give me no bandwidth cap, tethering, and free international roaming data for $70/month.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#12

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

The fact you haven’t switched lines yet speaks volumes for where they have you. Right where they want you.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#13
post #2

Yeah, T-Mo may fighting a better fight, but their security issues dog them. Maybe the average consumer doesn’t care, but I find it hard to champion a brand that gives such a half effort to protecting their customers’ information.

The problem with that position is that you know nothing about the other 2 players.

Security breaches are always a matter of when, not if. If you think that AT&T, Verizon or any of the 20 MVNOs that interface with their systems don’t have similar vulnerabilities, I have a beautiful bridge in Brooklyn with your name on it.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#14
AT&T would be in danger of bankruptcy if it were not for the fact that they are surviving off government welfare through the Firstnet contract[1]. It was only buildout requirements mandated by that contract that they even have a modestly functioning network. Their business plan has been to acquire some crappy Mexican carriers[2], DirecTV, as well as the new DISH contract. There's minimal investment otherwise, poor spectrum planning, and rent seeking (domestic roaming gouging using spectrum they were given for free in the 90's) in regions where T-Mobile and USCC don't have buildout.[3]

[1] https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/technology/342398-whe...

[2] https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/at-t-to-buy-mexican-carrier...

[3]https://ruralwireless.org/industrys-wholesale-roaming-rates-...

In short, fuck AT&T.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#15

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

Too bad their coverage in smaller cities and rural areas is still pretty bad.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#16
post #7

AT&T's (corporate) store service is absolutely terrible. I have money, a working phone (or the SIM from a broken phone), and want to upgrade. Why can't I hand you the money and get a new phone without 20 minutes of tapping around on an iPad? And god forbid you have a business account, then it'll take thirty or forty minutes because they have to look through your account to see if there's anything to fix, and then som…

You could skip the corporate store and go to an independent reseller. They'll give you fast service and more money for your device.

Then you'll get your first bill and find they pulled three different tricks on you and you'll spend the next two weeks trying to get it l straightened out.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#17

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

Too bad their coverage in smaller cities and rural areas is still pretty bad.

This is less and less true. TMobile has rolled out 600mhz 5g on the old Nextel push to talk frequencies it acquired in the Sprint merger. Rural coverage is vastly improved, like far far exceeding the other two.

At least in areas where Nextel had a serious presence.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#18

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

Convert to a business account. I have a dedicated person at VZW I can email or call any time and get whatever I need done. I get an email with a click to authorize this order button. That's it. I haven't been in a physical store for years.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#19

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

Too bad their coverage in smaller cities and rural areas is still pretty bad.

Out in the sticks of Arkansas, my iPhone 12 popped up a 5G signal a few days ago. Have no idea where that tower could possibly be. Going to be sending the drone to scout it soon. Were on Verizon, but have switched to Ting, which does use Verizon towers. Could they be showing 4G services as 5G?

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#20

I'm a (happy) T-Mobile customer and my favorite thing about them is that in 5+ years I've never had to go into a store. Their website was functional but not super intuitive a few years ago, but it keeps getting better, and upgrading my iPhone 11 to a 13 last week, and also my plan at the same time, was seamless. And now that I have 5G for the first time ever I'm shocked to be getting upwards of 400M down. I don't thi…

Just a note I actually took my new phone into a brick and mortar and apparently my sim was so old it didn’t have all the new frequencies on it! So especially switching to 5G I’d recommend anyone else to go in once a few years
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