Community Forums

Rob_M · 02-23-2022, 12:18 AM

My company provided phone is ATT. The rest of the family has Verizon because my ATT coverage is horrible even around decent size cities. Even have issues with texts not getting where they’re sent or arriving hours later (not cool for the boss to receive a text from me at 3 am).

Previously the family had Sprint, then T mobile. Customer service was not good with either. I’ve heard their coverage is much better now though.

Max Headroom · 02-23-2022, 01:09 AM

I've had Sprint for over a decade. Switched after the constant buy outs by the other guys and the garbage customer service.
Been super happy until T Mobile took over. First my route to work is littered with a half dozen new dead zones where none existed before. Then my 3G - 4G phone had to be replaced because they were killing 3G, and T Mobile could not give an explanation as to why I couldn't just keep using my phone in 4G since the 4G service was not being discontinued.
I was told the new 5G phone would perform much better than my old phone. It doesn't. Even more dead spots, and even though I have an unlimited package, my phone isn't recognized on many cell sites, and throws up a warning that I can only make 'emergency calls' because the network doesn't recognize my phone. This happens frequently on both roaming and the T mobile network. My old Sprint 3G - 4G phone roamed seamlessly.
The customer service people are nice, but don't really seem to know squat. They are robots, and stupid minimum wage robots at that. They even tried to stop me from buying a case for my new phone at their store because the case didn't specifically list my model. It's just a newer version of the exact same Samsung phone the case is for, with a newer op system. Buttons, ports, cameras all in the exact same place, phone fit perfectly, but the sales girl literally took it away from me and said she could sell it "because of the liability" since it wasn't a case for my phone. I eventually went to the mall kiosk that sells cases and bought the exact same case and have been using it ever since. They also had to go thru several sim card changes (with the associated extra trips to the store) to finally get one that worked properly.
I've spent more time dealing with T Mobile customer service in the last month, than I had in over a decade of Sprint.
I'm so underwhelmed with them, it's not even funny.
T Mobile? Be afraid, be very afraid.

wildmandmc · 02-23-2022, 03:37 AM

well i never had sprint. Had the Verizon but with 4g phone. worked out ok. Went to the Tm. on a 5g plan. V 4g so much better.

terntes · 02-23-2022, 07:17 AM

I went with T-mobile, their store was closer. For now that is a good enough reason as I am 'no contract' with my own phone purchase from Ebay. I switched to iPhone from Android for security. BTW all three carrier plans were competitive with price and plan offerings.
Thanks
terntes

Backcountry1 · 02-23-2022, 07:41 AM

I would say to pick whichever carrier has the most coverage for your “normal” travel or home area. Between ATT and Verizon it’s a horse a piece; one area can have good coverage for one service, spotty-to-none for the other carrier, and then a mile down the road, vice versa.

I have Verizon, and it works very well for most my areas. And it works in areas that ATT doesn’t. But I have friends who have ATT and can get service where I can’t. A few of my co-workers have ATT for their personal phones, use Verizon for their work phones, and it’s quite common for one to have service while the other doesn’t.

docj · 02-23-2022, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

Then my 3G - 4G phone had to be replaced because they were killing 3G, and T-Mobile could not give an explanation as to why I couldn't just keep using my phone in 4G since the 4G service was not being discontinued.

Although you may be dissatisfied with T-M, but quite a few 4G phones will have to be replaced when the 3G network is discontinued. The actual reasons are rather technical, but, suffice it to say that phones not compatible with VoLTE can no longer be used. Yours was probably one of those.

As for the problems you are currently having with T-Mobile, it sounds to me as if you may have been set up with a "5G only" plan which would explain your repeated dropouts. T-M has 5G plans that don't handle 4G well; I had one of these on my T-M hotspot and I had to have it changed to a "4G only" plan.

Crosley · 02-23-2022, 09:09 PM

In metro Phoenix AZ area: we signed up with T-mobile from Verizon in 2021.

New phones. Samsung S-20 5g for me. Samsung S-21 5g for the wife. From day 1 my S-20 Samsung worked poorly. I was back to the store 4 times in 8 days with complaints. Phone was reset, new SIM card, Reset again. It would hardly send texts, internet connection was a joke. My wife's S-21 phone worked very well. I can have 3- 5 bars of signal and this S-20 phone will hardly send a photo in a text. I downsize all photos by 60% in an attempt to speed things up.

I received a full refund on the S-20 & I upgraded to a S-21 Samsung. This phone was much better, but sometimes was slow to send text, internet use was very slow unless it was 2 - 3 am in the morning. T-Mobile system seemed over loaded?

A few friends have iPhones on T Mobile. Their service is spot on , fast, no problems. They keep telling me the Samsung phone is the problem.

I am not sure to buy an iPhone or move my Samsung phone to Verizon. T-Mobile now has the 5G UC service in the area I live right now. The UC is called Ultra Capacity.. My S-21 phone does work a bit better now. I worry about travel across the US and poor service

terntes · 02-25-2022, 08:40 AM

T-Mobile update: I went with T-Mobile and an unlocked iPhone. T-Mobile support was great in trying to help me to unlock my phone, but Apple support could not help as I am locked out for 13 days with both my Apple ID and pass code. I guess my experience is typical for a lifelong Android user; who needs Facebook anyway?