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Sprint or Tmobile?


Wfmets45

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One thing people don't seem to understand is that the $30 T-Mobile plan is NATIVE COVERAGE ONLY. I've had two friends get mad at having ZERO service (as in no voice OR data) when leaving a metro area because of this. I can't say I am shocked as they are both pretty dimwitted but for my own personal use I could never consider how the $30 plan due to how often I leave normal metro areas here in Texas. I tried out T-Mobile here and while the speeds were great I simply can't deal with edge when I am barely on the city limits here.

 

 

I can see how people who don't leave town would love it though.

 

Yes, it is a common sight to see "Emergency Calls Only" on my Nexus 4 lock screen. :)

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

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Yes, it is a common sight to see "Emergency Calls Only" on my Nexus 4 lock screen. :)

 

As a five year old about 30 years ago, that probably would have delighted me because "Emergency!" was my favorite TV show.

 

 

AJ

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  • 1 month later...

If you haven't made your decision yet, I'd like to weigh in as I am equally shopping for a new phone. I am in no way biased towards either company. It seems like there are some sprint loyalists on this forum.

 

Here is my story -

 

I have been with Sprint for about 12 years and I have remained a loyal customer. No real complaints that I can think of that other carriers don't have. I have come to realize that Sprint charges too much money. I don't have my bill in front of me right now, but I can easily tell you why I am going to be leaving Sprint and settling for the Tmobile $70/month plan till I see if their coverage is subpar.

 

Here is an idea of my last bill from Sprint.

 

Simply everything plan - $99/month. (I use my phone for work  and I don't care to differentiate between land lines and cell phones. Actually I call a lot of toll free numbers, receive international calls from mobile phones and those are not covered under the "cell to cell unlimited" plan.)

 

Premium Data Add on Charge - $10/month. There is no way around this if you need a data plan on your smartphone. I mean, which phone isn't "smart" these days.

 

Sprint Mobile Hotspot plan 2GB - $19.99/month. I was out of town a few months and had no wifi coverage so I decided to add that item to my plan so I could use the hotspot to work on my laptop.

 

Surcharges, Fees & Govt Taxes - $20. I'm not crying about that.

 

My total bill with Sprint is running over $150 a month and I could get the same for $70/month with Tmobile. I have no idea how their coverage is, but at this point since I have no contracts with Sprint, I think I'd take my chances.

 

Here's my conservative math if I end up with Sprint for the Samsung Galaxy 4, which I am looking into. $249 + taxes on full amount of phone (roughly $300 or slightly more to walk out of the store with the phone). Add a conservative 150 x 12 = $1800 + 300 = $2100 total per year (with contract)

 

With tmobile I can get the same thing for $649 (phone cost) + $840 (70 x 12) = $1489

 

I love Sprint, but they are hurting my pockets. I live in Los Angeles and the data on my phone is slower than dialup at times when surfing the web.

 

I will come back to comment on if the switch is worth it after trying out Tmobile for a week. Stay tuned.

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I will come back to comment on if the switch is worth it after trying out Tmobile for a week. Stay tuned.

 

For a fair comparison, you need to detail what base plan and add ons you will receive from T-Mobile.  Plus, you need to factor in surcharges, fees, and taxes, just as you did with Sprint.

 

The other issue is device subsidy.  Will you be content to use the same smartphone on T-Mobile for 4-5 years, even long after it is terribly outdated?  That is about what it will take to come out way ahead with T-Mobile's less expensive plans but no devices subsidies.

 

As for coverage, well, that affects each person a bit differently.  But the monetary points are more or less universal.

 

AJ

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The amount of people who use more than 1500 minutes of non mobile to mobile is very uncommon these days. You'd almost have to have business usage to do that. And then you should be looking for a business account.

 

I would like to see an apples to apples comparison myself, and then see the cost difference. And then, people would have to realize that your usage patterns is anomaly. 95% of personal mobile users would never need more than 1500 minutes of anytime voice every month with unlimited mobile to mobile. I'd shoot myself if I spent that much time on a phone in a month. But that's the introvert in me.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

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I would rather use an MVNO or prepaid once my contract is up.  AT&T is launching new Go Phone plans starting 6/21 with unlimited talk and text with 2gb of data, so that's enough for me because I've been averaging 1-1.5gb with Sprint the last few years.  For heavy data users it would still make sense to stick with Sprint or TMobile since they offer unlimited data.

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I think T-Mobile will work fine for most people who don't travel as much and are in the limits of cities. I will most likely try out T-mobile as well once I am out of contract with Sprint. Hopefully, my second year with Sprint will be better with NYC almost complete with NV.

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Basing your usage off of 3g usage the last few years is crazy. I averaged about 1 to 1.5 fir years but with lte it's gone up to 6 to 10gb. It's so nice to stream Pandora or Netflix when I'm going around town or at work with no Wi-Fi.plus I find myself instantly downloading a song I hear or a new app on the go instead of waiting til I get home because before it would of taken forever to download.

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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So I appreciate everyone's feedback and now I will give everyone my long story of what has happened the past 3 weeks.

 

I was with Sprint for 18 months.. Very long 18 months. I chose to sign up with them when the iPhone 4S came to Sprint and because they offered unlimited data. The first month with them was great. After the first month, everything went down hill from there. I stayed with Sprint because of this site. I never had any problems with voice coverage but when it came to data, the speeds were terribly slow. There were times when i really needed my data and it was useless.

 

After 18 long months, I decided to give Tmobile a try. I paid the ETF which only turned to be $100 since Sprint deducts $10 from the ETF for every month you're with them. I joined tmobile, gave the downpayment for the iPhone 5 and i only lasted with Tmobile for 8 days. Did not have coverage at work and in certain places where I had full bars and '4G', the data would not connect. LTE was wicked fast in certain places but I hated the fact that I didn't have coverage in my job! And it rural areas, coverage sucked. So after 8 days, I returned the phone to Tmobile, got a full refund and joined AT&T. I must admit, I am extremely satisfied with their service. Great coverage and great LTE speeds. I have no complaints so far about AT&T. Only downside is I only get 3GB of data a month. With Sprint the most I ever used was 2.86GB. I don't use much data. At work I am connected to wi-fi and at home as well so I don't worry about going over my limit. I still use my data the same way I used it with Sprint, I was never a heavy data user. I stream pandora, surf the web all with wicked fast LTE speeds. I was trying to hang on with Sprint for as long as I could but I just could not take their data speeds anymore. My contract with AT&T ends 2015 and I hope by then Sprint's service is great and will definitely switch back to them if I see improvements in their data service otherwise I wouldn't mind staying with AT&T.

 

I still check this site every single day and read up on comments and check the maps because I am a huge fan of this site and really wish Sprint the best. I am excited for their future and hopefully in 2 years, I'll be right back with them.

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So I appreciate everyone's feedback and now I will give everyone my long story of what has happened the past 3 weeks.

 

I was with Sprint for 18 months.. Very long 18 months. I chose to sign up with them when the iPhone 4S came to Sprint and because they offered unlimited data. The first month with them was great. After the first month, everything went down hill from there. I stayed with Sprint because of this site. I never had any problems with voice coverage but when it came to data, the speeds were terribly slow. There were times when i really needed my data and it was useless.

 

After 18 long months, I decided to give Tmobile a try. I paid the ETF which only turned to be $100 since Sprint deducts $10 from the ETF for every month you're with them. I joined tmobile, gave the downpayment for the iPhone 5 and i only lasted with Tmobile for 8 days. Did not have coverage at work and in certain places where I had full bars and '4G', the data would not connect. LTE was wicked fast in certain places but I hated the fact that I didn't have coverage in my job! And it rural areas, coverage sucked. So after 8 days, I returned the phone to Tmobile, got a full refund and joined AT&T. I must admit, I am extremely satisfied with their service. Great coverage and great LTE speeds. I have no complaints so far about AT&T. Only downside is I only get 3GB of data a month. With Sprint the most I ever used was 2.86GB. I don't use much data. At work I am connected to wi-fi and at home as well so I don't worry about going over my limit. I still use my data the same way I used it with Sprint, I was never a heavy data user. I stream pandora, surf the web all with wicked fast LTE speeds. I was trying to hang on with Sprint for as long as I could but I just could not take their data speeds anymore. My contract with AT&T ends 2015 and I hope by then Sprint's service is great and will definitely switch back to them if I see improvements in their data service otherwise I wouldn't mind staying with AT&T.

 

I still check this site every single day and read up on comments and check the maps because I am a huge fan of this site and really wish Sprint the best. I am excited for their future and hopefully in 2 years, I'll be right back with them.

 

I dropped sprint and signed up with AT&T almost two years ago, and the difference between the two networks is tremendous....for now anyway.

 

Other than a few dropped calls, which knock on wood only occurred during the first two months or so after signin up for their service I have been more than happy.

 

There was a 2-3 day power outage last year in my town and att was the only carrier that had service. Even verizon was out. Att was the only carrier that even bothered bringing generators to the two or three sites that were out.

 

I do plan on switching back to sprint once network vision is completed, although I'm rather disappointed in the fact that I live in the IBEZ and that sprint isn't even deploying equipment that supports the 800 service in my area. I really hope they come back after and add 800 capable panels to the sites because I want to be able to brag to everyone I know with verizon when my future sprint phone has a stronger more usable signal than them. But really from what I've heard of how great it is it just really bums me out. Oh well I better stop complaining. Lol

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So I appreciate everyone's feedback and now I will give everyone my long story of what has happened the past 3 weeks.

 

I was with Sprint for 18 months.. Very long 18 months. I chose to sign up with them when the iPhone 4S came to Sprint and because they offered unlimited data. The first month with them was great. After the first month, everything went down hill from there. I stayed with Sprint because of this site. I never had any problems with voice coverage but when it came to data, the speeds were terribly slow. There were times when i really needed my data and it was useless.

 

After 18 long months, I decided to give Tmobile a try. I paid the ETF which only turned to be $100 since Sprint deducts $10 from the ETF for every month you're with them. I joined tmobile, gave the downpayment for the iPhone 5 and i only lasted with Tmobile for 8 days. Did not have coverage at work and in certain places where I had full bars and '4G', the data would not connect. LTE was wicked fast in certain places but I hated the fact that I didn't have coverage in my job! And it rural areas, coverage sucked. So after 8 days, I returned the phone to Tmobile, got a full refund and joined AT&T. I must admit, I am extremely satisfied with their service. Great coverage and great LTE speeds. I have no complaints so far about AT&T. Only downside is I only get 3GB of data a month. With Sprint the most I ever used was 2.86GB. I don't use much data. At work I am connected to wi-fi and at home as well so I don't worry about going over my limit. I still use my data the same way I used it with Sprint, I was never a heavy data user. I stream pandora, surf the web all with wicked fast LTE speeds. I was trying to hang on with Sprint for as long as I could but I just could not take their data speeds anymore. My contract with AT&T ends 2015 and I hope by then Sprint's service is great and will definitely switch back to them if I see improvements in their data service otherwise I wouldn't mind staying with AT&T.

 

I still check this site every single day and read up on comments and check the maps because I am a huge fan of this site and really wish Sprint the best. I am excited for their future and hopefully in 2 years, I'll be right back with them.

 

Where in NYC is your job located? I am looking into T-Mobile but if you say there is no coverage than that will be a problem for me. Thanks.

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I'm two months away from an eligible upgrade and 6 months away from my contract being up..I'm "Runnin on Faith" right now that this circus cluster frock going on now with Sprint Dish & Clear will be in sharper focus one way or another by Dec; I can say that thanx to the 3G NV upgrades in my area my wife & I have never had better voice coverage than we do now..what really counts for me now is if this referenced circus cf will slow down the NV rollout to the point where I am forced to decide between T-MO and ATT..if forced to vote now I'd probably go with Boost Pre paid for voice and just use a hotspot for data until sanity & clarity prevail..

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Where in NYC is your job located? I am looking into T-Mobile but if you say there is no coverage than that will be a problem for me. Thanks.

I work in Springfield Gardens, 3 miles from JFK Airport and get no service with Tmobile in my office.

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The amount of people who use more than 1500 minutes of non mobile to mobile is very uncommon these days. You'd almost have to have business usage to do that. And then you should be looking for a business account. I would like to see an apples to apples comparison myself, and then see the cost difference. And then, people would have to realize that your usage patterns is anomaly. 95% of personal mobile users would never need more than 1500 minutes of anytime voice every month with unlimited mobile to mobile. I'd shoot myself if I spent that much time on a phone in a month. But that's the introvert in me.Robert via Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I feel like a horrible person, last month I used 2700 minutes, 6500 texts, and 19gb of data, I have 4G out at the office now.

I want to cry in a corner.

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I feel like a horrible person, last month I used 2700 minutes, 6500 texts, and 19gb of data, I have 4G out at the office now.

I want to cry in a corner.

 

Yes, that is far too much usage.  It is not good for your fellow network users.  And, honestly, it is not good for your mental health.

 

AJ

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Jeez.. I think I used 30 to 40 minutes on my cell last month. I hate talking on the phone. You see all my calls on my log are 1 or 2 minutes. Talk too much on the phone at work so I have no need to talk on the phone afterwards. Plus it would cut into my S4GRU time.

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I was thinking about switching to tmobile too but I have 800mhz in my area as well as 4g LTE so I'm ok ^_^. 2014 and going forward will be great for sprint, LTE should be deployed nationwide on 800/1900/2500, voice on 800, LTE advance, and possible more acquisitions. SoftBank will turn sprint around

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How many miles away?

 

 

USA - Canada: http://www.800ta.org/_img/figures/img_canadamap.jpg

 

USA - Mexico: http://www.800ta.org/_img/figures/img_mbrmap.jpg

That sucks. Detroit-metro is totally wiped out.

Will the IBEZ areas be decreased in distance from border eventually?

 

Will they be abolished eventually?

 

This is what happens when you lose the War of 1812 and try to toss them a bone in War of 1848.

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That sucks. Detroit-metro is totally wiped out.

Will the IBEZ areas be decreased in distance from border eventually?

 

Will they be abolished eventually?

 

This is what happens when you lose the War of 1812 and try to toss them a bone in War of 1848.

 

You do realize that the reason why that zone exists is because of the signal propagation and sharing of the 800mhz range? 

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