I'm considering switching to T-Mobile as I can get their simple choice family plan for $66/mo with my corporate discount. How's the coverage in Houston? Any other points or complaints about T-Mobile?
I've used them before, as recently as December. Pretty good coverage in Houston, but it can be pretty bad if you go out to rural areas. Not as far as calls/texting, but you can drive out an hour away and go from LTE or HSPA+ to being on EDGE. I personally think they are better than Sprint.
It's a little hit and miss in places, especially around the beltway areas, but I've never had too much trouble. And the good prices on plans make it easily worth it regardless, assuming you're not in an absolute dead spot. Never really had a problem with customer service either, except when we were trying to move my wife's acount to mine; that was a hassle.
I have it and it is definitely the worst of Att, Verizon and Tmobile. (in terms of coverage) I live out in the Katy area and I get ZERO service in my home. Luckily I use a phone with WIFI calling so it doesn't matter. If my wifi died however and it was time for Katy to evacuate, I wouldn't know about it! Pricing is good though. Service is good. Coverage is good in most of the city within the beltway and particularly good inside the loop.
Coverage sucks outside of cities but unlimited data and a great price (with no contract to boot) makes it a winner in my book. Plus wifi calling generally makes up for a lot of the coverage deficiencies. Also, the bundled mobile hotspot is helpful when you really need it.
If you want a cheap bill? I'd recommend T-Mobile. It also depends on what kind of phone you get. As far as coverage goes, T-Mobile is the absolute worst. Signal also varies from phone-to-phone, but I've tested out lots of good phones and the coverage is pretty crappy all around. The data coverage is inconsistent, as most of my phones jump from LTE to 2G in the matter of seconds, which definitely affects my internet usage. This happens all around from Sugar Land to the Galleria area, not sure if anyone else has this problem. Once you go out of range towards the out skirts of Katy, or even in Katy, the reception starts going down the drain. Unlimited data plan and my phone's internet is still as slow as 56k at times. I would definitely not recommend it in Austin, since they have like no towers there for T-Mobile. Can't get signal whatsoever.
Good info! I'm on the i45 south corridor, between Clear Lake and Galveston a lot for work. Anyone live out that way? I have two iPhone 4s to bring to the table. I have a 5, but I'm going to get it unlocked and sell it to cover my ATT cancellation charges.
Is there a particular reason why you're leaving AT&T? How much data usage would you say those two iPhones use on a daily basis? I ask because AT&T recently launched a pre-paid provider in Houston and Tampa called AIO. It might be cheaper than what you're currently paying, and I believe you get the same post-paid coverage, which will certainly get you better reception in certain places that T-Mobile can't offer http://www.aiowireless.com/shop/plans.html
It's simple: Price. $66/mo for two lines vs $155/mo with ATT. Both are with a corporate discount. My commute is minuscule and I'm by wifi 95% of the time. So to answer that question, not much data at all that I can't use over wifi. Unfortunately, from what I see, AIO's plans can't stand up to what I would potentially get with T-Mobile. They start slowing down the speeds at 250mb vs 500mb for the low-end plan with T-Mobile. $66 vs $80. I don't care either way with payment. Thanks for the link. I'm glad to see the competition. If there's a better deal than T-Mobile, I'd love to see it.
Oh, I thought you meant $66 per line. $66 for both? Yeah, just go T-Mobile all the way man. That's incredible savings, and hey, at least you're not on Sprint's joke of a network
I live in Austin, where T-Mobile's coverage is ****ing excellent, but I went out to Houston a couple weeks ago to catch an Astros game and then on to Galveston to stay the weekend...and there was solid HSPA+ the whole way down 45 and all around Galveston. Those iPhone 4s's don't get LTE so it doesn't really matter, but there was decent LTE coverage down that corridor too FWIW.
Couple of dead areas that are inconvenient (Nasa Rd 1 on 45) but for the most part it is solid. LTE isnt everywhere yet. I live in a 4g area but 5 miles up the road is LTE. Overall you get what you pay for. It's good value
I've had tmobile for 10 years now and service is good. I've rarely been dropped fron 3g and now most of the time i get 4g "HSPA+" speeds. My daily commute is around the downtown area, and i live close to eldridge/energy corridor and the service in these areas is good. The only gripe i have is the service not penetrating many buildings in downtown. I used to intern for a law office and i got ZERO service there on Louisiana Street. (but this was a year ago so they may have changed) But for that price your decision is close to a no brainer.
$66 a month? I think you can live with a few dead areas, also Tmobile has been getting better coverage each year so for the price it's a great deal.
Yeah, no brainier really. Plus I'm going to split the referral with a friend. I'll have to sell my iPhone 5 to recoup the $440 in cancellation fees, but it shouldn't be an issue. Anyone want to buy an unlocked ATT iPhone 5?
Regardless of coverage, 1. wifi calling makes coverage often irrelevant at home/work. 2. unlimited data is awesome (costs extra on ATT or Verizon) 3. hotspot sharing is awesome (costs extra on ATT or Verizon) I've been Tmobile for 10+ years. Many people say Tmobile customer service is horrible. I've had the opposite experience. ATT or Sprint customer service is why I switched to tmobile and never looked back.
