This is great. Sometimes I travel out of the US and am pretty much phoneless unless I purchase a temp sim card or something.
T-Mobile is doing pretty disrupting things in the mobile service market and I hope it pays off for them.
T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
161–170 of 177 posts
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
T-Mobile sounds great on paper but it's like selling sports cars for 1000$ and you don't know you just bought a Lada until you take it for a spin. I drove from the Canadian east coast to California with a T-Mobile unlimited plan. For 90% of the trip, I was actually roaming on other carriers' networks. I derived zero value from my payment to T-Mobile since I can't actually use my phone except for 911. Now I'm in San F…
I can only speak for San Francisco, but that sounds like an issue with your phone, not t-mobile. Make sure your phone supports LTE and HSPA+ on the right spectrums. My experience with T-mobile in SF has been nothing short of superb, on an unlocked iPhone 5. Super-fast low-latency everywhere I go.
It's comforting to know there's hope :)
Forgot to mention I tried it on half a dozen latest gen phones and even a couple of SIM cards from T-Mobile just to make sure. Even my phone plan was refreshed in the backend to make sure it wasn't some accounting/admin related issue. The radio frequencies probably isn't the problem but it might not be a general issue that appears to 100% of their user base. Just gotta figure out why the hate me :D
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
I switched with the iPhone 5S. Off-contract too. I rarely leave the city, so the lack of coverage in rural areas doesn't bother me. In NYC I have to say I've noticed a small improvement in reception over AT&T - buildings where I've been dead in the water before now have some connectivity. So far so good, this new announcement is just icing on the cake, especially as a Canadian expat. It used to be that when visiting…
Awesome. How's the HSPA/LTE network in the city? Can you do a quick speedtest and post results?
2 bars of reception, in a brick building - 8.5 own, 3.6 up, ~35ms ping.
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
So how exactly does getting subsidized by a mother company to offer a compelling package not equal good competition?
think of this as microsoft and sony taking a hit for every console they sell. It's anti-competitive because other console manufacturers can't do that. in the end, you end up with a result like in politics. Whoever has more money wins the whole market. The market pretty much exchanged short term benefits (cheaper console, better phone plans) for worse longer term problems (lame games because you have no choice, more e…
Ah, it was always my understanding that Microsoft and Sony did take a hit selling their console, and made the money back in things like controllers and games. Do they make a profit on the console itself now?
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like that failed takeover bid was the 2nd best thing that AT&T did for US mobile customers in recent history (the iPhone deal with their Cingular subsidiary being the most impactful).
AT&T Wireless is literally Cingular, rebranded (announced at the iPhone keynote, no less).
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#166T-Mobile's policies over the past couple of years have really made me want to become a customer. Plans that are actually reasonably priced, explicitly calling out handset subsidies and making them optional, and now this. I just wish their network was a little better!
As much as I love T Mobile's policies, I hate their coverage. I get 0 bars inside non-wood buildings, but when I step outside, I get a few bars. I live in a somewhat hilly area, so I get spotty reception in certain parts of town. I really wish they would spend more money trying to improve their coverage instead of telling everyone how they are so different. Because even if they are different, if they have poor covera…
If you don't mind me asking, where are you located? I get good T-Mobile reception inside all types of buildings in and around the Kansas City metro. The only place I've ever lost coverage is in the basement floors of my doctor's office away from windows.
Their rural coverage is pretty awful though.
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#167This is a logical offer for them to make. Many of their customers will have unlocked phones, so they aren't in a position to force those customers to use overpriced international data plans (e.g. AT&T's $120 for 800MB/mo). The competition is the cheap nano-SIM card in the airport vending machine.
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#168Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
Awesome. How's the HSPA/LTE network in the city? Can you do a quick speedtest and post results?
Outside in Greeley Square a week or 2 ago: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/646728668 . I just did one at work inside a tall building (9:15AM ET) with 2 dots of LTE coverage and got 32 ms ping, 5 down/5 up.
thanks!
Re: T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
T-Mobile sounds great on paper but it's like selling sports cars for 1000$ and you don't know you just bought a Lada until you take it for a spin. I drove from the Canadian east coast to California with a T-Mobile unlimited plan. For 90% of the trip, I was actually roaming on other carriers' networks. I derived zero value from my payment to T-Mobile since I can't actually use my phone except for 911. Now I'm in San F…
I have the same experience on a daily basis. I get no service to a maximum of 1 bar standing next to a window at home and the same sitting at my desk at work (which happens to be next to a nice, big window). Couple that with dead zones on the commute to work, and I spend almost 100% of my day with little to no service. And no, I do not live in the middle of nowhere; I live a tad bit north of Chicago. AT&T, Verizon, a…
I live in Schaumburg and work in the west loop in Chicago. I have no problems whatsoever with T-Mobile reception or data speed wise anywhere in the Chicago area, and I'm on a Galaxy Nexus.