Support NeoGAF

[RevenantKioku]

I'm looking into getting my own cellphone plan finally (been riding on the family's plan for years) and looking at what I want pointed me to t-mobile. Granted most people I know in my area use verizon, but the big appeal is the instant messaging on the phone for $10 a month. I've been searching around trying to find any hooks or catches to the deal, but no findings yet.
So any of you have t-mobile? Have the messaging? Issues, complaints, praise?
How about phones to use with it? The Nokia 6800 looks nice, but I'm not one to drop $200 on a phone.

 

[Phoenix]

According to recent JD Power rankings its #1-3 in just about all regions (unlike Cingular which is last everywhere). I personally have zero complaints about the service.

Be cautious, however, as many people call service for their provider bad when in actually its because they have a phone with poor RF characteristics.

 

[Willco]

They're pretty good in the DC Metro area, but the farther you get out of the city, the spottier the coverage becomes. Also, you can't use it on the actual Metro (our subway), so for that reason alone, I probably won't ever switch from Verizon.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Fair enough for your reasons, but I'm up in Rochester, NY and public transportation is a bit non existent, so I drive.
I guess I'm pretty vague on what I'm asking about, so lets switch focus.
Particularly, I'm looking at a Nokia 6010 to be my phone of choice. Anyone use that phone?

 

[Vlad]

We live a little bit to the south of Baltimore, and had absolutely horrible reception with T-mobile. We simply couldn't use the phones while in our house, as we couldn't even get even a tiny little bit of signal strength. We switched to Cingular about six months ago, and while the signal strength around the house isn't that great, it's still a lot more reliable than T-Mobile's overall.

 

[Willco]

We live a little bit to the south of Baltimore, and had absolutely horrible reception with T-mobile. We simply couldn't use the phones while in our house, as we couldn't even get even a tiny little bit of signal strength. We switched to Cingular about six months ago, and while the signal strength around the house isn't that great, it's still a lot more reliable than T-Mobile's overall.

I think T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T have better designed networks than Verizon or Sprint, but Verizon and CDMA just seem to be a hell of a lot more reliable. If you look at all the phones, all the best phones are GSM, it's just that the coverage isn't quite there.

I feel in a couple of years, unless Verizon or Sprint do something truly radical, we won't have this debate. Both T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T continue to expand and T-Mobile is doing so at an exponential rate.

 

[bionic77]

I think T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T have better designed networks than Verizon or Sprint, but Verizon and CDMA just seem to be a hell of a lot more reliable. If you look at all the phones, all the best phones are GSM, it's just that the coverage isn't quite there.

I feel in a couple of years, unless Verizon or Sprint do something truly radical, we won't have this debate. Both T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T continue to expand and T-Mobile is doing so at an exponential rate.

I use AT&T GSM and I get great coverage 99% of the time. The only place it doesn't work is the metro and I drive everywhere so I could care less. Once you go to GSM you can't go back.

 

[Lil' Dice]

I swiched from Sprint to T-Mibile, and will never go back to that ghetto provider ever again(Sprint). My reception with T-Mobile is great, i can even get reception in Italy when i travel there, Sprint does not, which leads me to believe that it's a provider designed for lower income/younger subscribers.

I just bought two Siemens CF63

phones for $60 each, and am an all arond happy camper.

 

[EarthStormFire]

I had ATT GSM, T-Mobile, and Sprint. I have sprint now, and I have to say it is by far the best out of the three I have used. T-Mobile was the worst. Terrible, they make cingular look great.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is GSM?

 

[Minotauro]

I have no complaints about mine. Then again, due to my dad's job, I only have to pay $5 a month so that might have something to do with it.

 

[element]

ive had tmobile for a couple years now. their service is pretty great. only problem is they just cut phone upgrades, so if you want to get a new phone you have to pay the full price as if you never had an account with timobile.

also their phone selection is a little limited right now.

 

[lachesis]

service itself is good, but I have tough time connecting with T-mobile where I just moved to. (NJ, Edgewater area). I get almost zero signal from inside of my condo, and have to walk outside to get some signal...

lachesis

 

[Phoenix]

Here's the thing to note....


CDMA is old school tech. Its all over the United States and there is a crap load of it. CDMA providers (a dying breed) have been extending the technology with some pretty cool stuff so CDMA will probably stay around for a while. CDMA users tend to always have signal because there are just that many more CDMA 'plexed' towers out there.

GSM is the standard for pretty much the rest of the world. Its really just coming here. When you travel over seas or whatever there's a reason why you get good coverage - you're likely sitting on a GSM network already. GSM is growing very fast, and spreading off the 'beaten paths' of major metros and interstates and getting more and more into rural areas. However if you're in a rural location - GSM ain't for you yet.

Everyone plans to 'eventually' move over to GSM - some just sooner than others. AT&T Wireless just made the big move as has Cingular (though they are still dual net CDMA/GSM in a lot of places while they get capacity to phase out the CDMA). TMobile USA is actually a branch of a European company - so it should not be surprising that they've been GSM heavy.

If you REALLY want to compare providers you need to take the smart chip out of your phone for one provider and put in the one for another provider. Since 99.9% of CDMA phones don't have these, its not quite possible to compare the phones in an apples/apples manner.

When you're looking at networks you also need to take a look at the phone models for those networks. Most phones are coming out of GSM countries so many phones will not work with a CDMA provider since many times the company doesn't make a CDMA version of that phone. This is becoming more common as phone prices start to decrease and the carriers start picking up more of the load on the phone price. Companies like (the most hated) Sprint tend to be able to work deals to get CDMA versions of certain phones and through this remain competitive. Lord knows their service is horrible.

 

[Phoenix]

ive had tmobile for a couple years now. their service is pretty great. only problem is they just cut phone upgrades, so if you want to get a new phone you have to pay the full price as if you never had an account with timobile.

also their phone selection is a little limited right now.

You can get any GSM phone from anywhere and pop the smart chip from your phone and slap it into the new phone. Unless the phone your purchased is 'locked' (which simply requires you to get the unlock code from your seller), the phone will work without issue.

 

[EarthStormFire]

Here's the thing to note....


CDMA is old school tech. Its all over the United States and there is a crap load of it. CDMA providers (a dying breed) have been extending the technology with some pretty cool stuff so CDMA will probably stay around for a while. CDMA users tend to always have signal because there are just that many more CDMA 'plexed' towers out there.

GSM is the standard for pretty much the rest of the world. Its really just coming here. When you travel over seas or whatever there's a reason why you get good coverage - you're likely sitting on a GSM network already. GSM is growing very fast, and spreading off the 'beaten paths' of major metros and interstates and getting more and more into rural areas. However if you're in a rural location - GSM ain't for you yet.

Everyone plans to 'eventually' move over to GSM - some just sooner than others. AT&T Wireless just made the big move as has Cingular (though they are still dual net CDMA/GSM in a lot of places while they get capacity to phase out the CDMA). TMobile USA is actually a branch of a European company - so it should not be surprising that they've been GSM heavy.

If you REALLY want to compare providers you need to take the smart chip out of your phone for one provider and put in the one for another provider. Since 99.9% of CDMA phones don't have these, its not quite possible to compare the phones in an apples/apples manner.

When you're looking at networks you also need to take a look at the phone models for those networks. Most phones are coming out of GSM countries so many phones will not work with a CDMA provider since many times the company doesn't make a CDMA version of that phone. This is becoming more common as phone prices start to decrease and the carriers start picking up more of the load on the phone price. Companies like (the most hated) Sprint tend to be able to work deals to get CDMA versions of certain phones and through this remain competitive. Lord knows their service is horrible.

Wrong on many accounts. Everyone is not going GSM. Infact the biggest gain has been in CDMA not GSM over the last year, expecially for 3G, where CDMA2000 ( upgraded CDMA) is winning the battle against W-CDMA ( upgraded GSM). Also all CDMA phones are compatable on different networks, the only thing is the company has to be willing to activate the phone, which is something sprint and verizon rarely will do. Most people with 3G in the world are on CDMA2000 even though WCDMA came out first. Also cingular and ATT where TDMA not CDMA, a big difference.

 

[Lil' Dice]

ive had tmobile for a couple years now. their service is pretty great. only problem is they just cut phone upgrades, so if you want to get a new phone you have to pay the full price as if you never had an account with timobile.

also their phone selection is a little limited right now.

What? I JUST got my phone through the upgrade program last week.
Someone lied to you.....The only caveat is that you have to have had an account for more than 12 months.

 

[DarienA]

I've lived in Baltimore for the last few years and then recently moved to Montgomery County.

Great customer service, great signal strength, I've never had a trouble getting to customer service, easy to change your plan, etc....

I've never, ever, ever had a problem with my phone, or the service.

I was just pissed that I didn't have coverage when I went to Nassau in July.

 

[Willco]

Wait, you live near me?

... spooky.

 

[DarienA]

Wait, you live near me?

... spooky.

I live in Germantown, work in DC...there's a good group of us in the MD, DC, VA area IIRC. I'd invite you guys up to the cookout we're having on Sunday... but I don't know you...

 

[Phoenix]

Wrong on many accounts. Everyone is not going GSM. Infact the biggest gain has been in CDMA not GSM over the last year, expecially for 3G, where CDMA2000 ( upgraded CDMA) is winning the battle against W-CDMA ( upgraded GSM). Also all CDMA phones are compatable on different networks, the only thing is the company has to be willing to activate the phone, which is something sprint and verizon rarely will do. Most people with 3G in the world are on CDMA2000 even though WCDMA came out first.

GSM leading in south america

GSM Gaming Ground in North America

EDGE gaining converts among cellular carriers

GSM Still King of the Hill

GSM To overtake CDMA in USA

Sprint fail to understand 3G and EDGE

The future for GSM/EDGE

No stopping GSM Growth in Americas, nine in ten new customers choose GSM

Also cingular and ATT where TDMA not CDMA, a big difference.[

On this you are correct - I sit corrected.

 

[Phoenix]

What? I JUST got my phone through the upgrade program last week.
Someone lied to you.....The only caveat is that you have to have had an account for more than 12 months.

Indeed, I'm in the process of upgrading my phone right now as my 3650 died on me and was out of warranty. When my wife's T610 died on her a quick call to TMobile and they sent out a replacement at no cost.

 

[Willco]

I live in Germantown, work in DC...there's a good group of us in the MD, DC, VA area IIRC. I'd invite you guys up to the cookout we're having on Sunday... but I don't know you...

No fucking way. I lived in Germantown, just moved about two minutes away in Montgomery Village. Too fucking weird. Remind me to invite you over the next time I throw a party.

 

[Phoenix]

Cellular Growth Rate by Technology

World cellular subscribers by technology

Lemme know if you want some more. I think that's enough.

 

[EarthStormFire]

I was talking about 3G. For 3G CDMA evolution is dominating GSM upgrade.

Over 90 million people in the world have CDMA2000, vs only 4 million for WCDMA.

Now yes for 2G GSM dominates, but now the world is going to 3G.

Verizon as already done a small scale launch of its CDMA 1XEVDO, and sprint is expected to make the upgrade to 1XEVDV by the end of next year, both which have speeds of over 10X that of WCDMA-EDGE on ATT. It will be years before ATT has those speeds.

 

[RobotChant]

My sister just got a T-mobile account a couple of days ago and so far, no complaints about the service. But stay away from the Sony Ericsson T610. That thing hangs at the most inopportune times. Try to take a picture (camera isn't that great to begin with), it freezes and there is no way to cancel or reboot. Try to make a phone call, while it's connecting, it just freezes and again no way to cancel or reboot. You just have to wait 10-15 minutes until it goes back to the desktop and then you have to reboot by turning the phone off and on again or else the problems will just continue. It’s a nice phone but the software sucks.

 

[Dilbert]

Yes, the rest of the world is on GSM. But in the U.S., how much of the GSM market growth is being driven by price? All of the cheap carriers (Cingular, T-Mobile) are GSM. By most accounts that I've read, Verizon is the hands-down winner in terms of nationwide coverage and quality of service...but is more expensive.

Also, since I have a 1X phone, can I just say that it frickin' ROCKS? It provides amazingly fast download speeds for data -- now, mobile web browsing WITH GRAPHICS is not only possible, but pleasurable.

 

[MrAngryFace]

They've been good. Every once in a while my coverage is weird. Like today a friend called, and right when she called my signal dropped to nothing, I got disconnected, then it shot back up to 5 bars, so I called her back and it was fine again. wtf t-mobile.

 

[DarienA]

Yes, the rest of the world is on GSM. But in the U.S., how much of the GSM market growth is being driven by price? All of the cheap carriers (Cingular, T-Mobile) are GSM. By most accounts that I've read, Verizon is the hands-down winner in terms of nationwide coverage and quality of service...but is more expensive.

It's also harder to get a Verizon phone for less credit-worthy customers as well.

 

[Phoenix]

I was talking about 3G. For 3G CDMA evolution is dominating GSM upgrade.

Over 90 million people in the world have CDMA2000, vs only 4 million for WCDMA.

Now yes for 2G GSM dominates, but now the world is going to 3G.

Verizon as already done a small scale launch of its CDMA 1XEVDO, and sprint is expected to make the upgrade to 1XEVDV by the end of next year, both which have speeds of over 10X that of WCDMA-EDGE on ATT. It will be years before ATT has those speeds.

First up if you're going to compare the technologies of GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) you need to take into account the entire family of technologies - not just WCDMA. These technologies for 3G on GSM are GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and 3GSM. Its a large family of which WCDMA-EDGE bridge is a very small family member.

What AT&T deployed was done to satisfy requirements for NTT Docomo before they were purchased by Cingular. Lets think about where the most active market for 3G content and technology is - the test bed for all of this... ah SE Asia, China, Japan, etc. The dominate technology of these (and the dominate player NTT) is GSM. Anyways, this is a first run technology which is currently deployed a lot moreso than EVDO. As EVDO reaches its penetration point the GSM will begin rolling out UMTS to which the CDMA folks will counter with EVDV etc etc etc.


Nevertheless, to get back on topic - TMobile rocks

 

[Phoenix]

My sister just got a T-mobile account a couple of days ago and so far, no complaints about the service. But stay away from the Sony Ericsson T610. That thing hangs at the most inopportune times. Try to take a picture (camera isn't that great to begin with), it freezes and there is no way to cancel or reboot. Try to make a phone call, while it's connecting, it just freezes and again no way to cancel or reboot. You just have to wait 10-15 minutes until it goes back to the desktop and then you have to reboot by turning the phone off and on again or else the problems will just continue. It’s a nice phone but the software sucks.

Tell your local store you need a firmware update. There have been a variety of issues with phones that get solved by having the phone uploaded to the latest firmware.

 

[RobotChant]

Tell your local store you need a firmware update. There have been a variety of issues with phones that get solved by having the phone uploaded to the latest firmware.

Thanks for the heads up. She got the phone from Circuit City but will any T-mobile affiliated contractor be able to update the firmware?

 

[RevenantKioku]

Okay, I just went out, got the service I wanted, and got the Nokia 6010.
Am I having issues or is the IM system TERRIBLE?
I've managed to get like 1 out of 5 messages I sent to my phone, sent some to friends, got one back (was chatting to them at my desk as well) and they said they sent, and ten minutes later, still nada. What the hell am I paying for?

 

[bionic77]

One cool thing about GSM is the phones seem to be universal. All I need to do is swap out my AT&T chip with a T-Mobile chip and my phone should work without a problem. I have seen people complain about T-Mobile in the DC area though, maybe that was their shitty phones though, I don't know. I have never had a problem with AT&T though.

I love my phone though regardless:

 

[The Shadow]

I've been with T-Mobile since '98 mainly because the service is excellent in my area. Very few areas where I can't get a signal.

 

[Phoenix]

Okay, I just went out, got the service I wanted, and got the Nokia 6010.
Am I having issues or is the IM system TERRIBLE?
I've managed to get like 1 out of 5 messages I sent to my phone, sent some to friends, got one back (was chatting to them at my desk as well) and they said they sent, and ten minutes later, still nada. What the hell am I paying for?

Which IM system are you using, AIM? If not then forget that WAP gateway crap and get this (assuming you have GPRS) http://www.agilemobile.com/agile_messenger.html.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Which IM system are you using, AIM? If not then forget that WAP gateway crap and get this (assuming you have GPRS) http://www.agilemobile.com/agile_messenger.html.

I am using AIM. I also wouldn't know in the slightest what GPRS is or how to get that onto my phone. Or if my phone would support it, which I'm guessing not, haha. Sigh.

 

[Phoenix]

I am using AIM. I also wouldn't know in the slightest what GPRS is or how to get that onto my phone. Or if my phone would support it, which I'm guessing not, haha. Sigh.

I'm very familiar with that series of phone. If you want I can PM you my AIM account here in the office and likely diagnose the issue. The AIM client on series 30 and 60 phones will dump packets if there is insufficient RF to deliver them.

edit: 6800 would have been your friend for IM

 

[RevenantKioku]

I'm very familiar with that series of phone. If you want I can PM you my AIM account here in the office and likely diagnose the issue. The AIM client on series 30 and 60 phones will dump packets if there is insufficient RF to deliver them.

edit: 6800 would have been your friend for IM

Ah, so its a phone issue? I have the option to change phones within some time, I'd love to get the 6800....but its a bit hefty of a cost.

 

[Phoenix]

Ah, so its a phone issue? I have the option to change phones within some time, I'd love to get the 6800....but its a bit hefty of a cost.

Probably not a phone issue - could be that you just have a weak or inconsistent signal where you are. If it persists than TMobile may not be a good provider for you. Sit with it for a night in a few of the areas where you think you will use it the most. Call tech support and let them know you're having an issues just in case they are experiencing problems. If after 2 days it doesn't work, get another phone. If your next phone choice doesn't work (there are some with better ant. than other) - swap providers to Verizon (second best choice) and check them out in your areas.

Above all else you've got to go with whomever will give you the best cellular coverage consistently in the places where you're most likely to use your phone.- technology be damned