AT&T Versus T-Mobile

By Daveed Mandell, 17 April, 2015

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<p>Hello! I&#39;m seriously thinking about switching from AT&amp;T to T-Mobile, because the latter carrier&#39;s data plan sounds somewhat attractive. As most of you know, AT&amp;T no longer offers unlimited data, and its data plans are rather expensive.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I&#39;d like to know what folks think about T-Mobile&#39;s accessibility, customer service and coverage.&nbsp; I realize that AT&amp;T is larger and covers more territory and that T-Mobile&#39;s coverage can be spotty.&nbsp; However, I have heard that T-Mobile&#39;s coverage has significantly ikmproved during the ppast few years.&nbsp; Your comments and advice are very much welcome.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Regards,</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Daveed Mandell</p>

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By MarkSarch on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 13:43

Hi Daveed Mandell
I can't say which is better but one good way to know by yourself is visiting your local T Mobile store
personally I been several times with some friends at local store and the customer service are very nice however talking about accessibility you know how to use voiceOver on iOS devices cause heard and read on access world
the company who offer poor service of all mayor US carriers is T Mobile, you can read on the previous publications on the app
Access world
Coverage and Maps
all depend where are you going to use the service consider house, school, work or just places where you spend most of your time
but don't Believe on maps cause you could get some surprise
my advice about TMobile
most of the people doesn't know about this service who offer but before to switch you can try the network freethe service is call test drive T Mobile will send to you a iPhone 5S for 7 days you couldn't pick color or capacity storage but see on the link below by yourself all the information.
T-Mobile Test Drive | Try our 4G LTE Network for Free
http://explore.t-mobile.com/test-drive-free-trial

By Daveed Mandell on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 13:43

Marco:

I'm much obliged for your detailed advice and information. Iw give it serious consideration regarding my decision to switch carriers. By the way, I have contcted both the ATANDT and the T-Mobile stores in my area, and the personnel there new nothing about accessibility or VoiceOver!

Best,

Daveed

By Just Another B… on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 13:43

It really does depend on where you are planning to use the phone. I have had T-Mobile for five years or so and have been very happy. I spend almost all of my time in major U.S. metropolitan areas and coverage is good. Here are a couple of things to consider. You can get free calls when on wi-fi and I think that might even include international calls. When travelling overseas, you get free 2-G data and text messaging. Phone calls are highly discounted overseas as well. T-Mobile has free music streaming so if you use one of the twenty or so music services, the data does not count against your cap. If you choose a plan that is not unlimited, you do not get charged if you go over, you only get slower data until your plan reaches the end of the cycle.

As far as accessibility, I have an unlocked iPhone so I did not have to worry about any T-Mobile software on my phone. Their web site is accessible and you can check your bill, etc with little trouble. I don’t think their iPhone app works too well with VoiceOver but I can live with that. Everything can be done on a desktop browser. I have never tried to go onto the T-Mobile web site with Safari on the phone.

One last thing, T-Mobile has basically removed all of the cost of the phone from the service. Therefore, if you don’t come with your own phone, you don’t get to upgrade every two years or so for $200 like with AT&T. That being said, you can purchase unlocked iPhones almost everywhere.

Good luck

By Santiago on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 13:43

Hello,
I currently have T-Mobile, and I can confirm that coverage has been improving within the last few months or so, especially around rural areas. I do miss the coverage I had with Verizon, but I really don't want to switch back. T-Mobile has way better plans, not to mention, they also have a feature called Wi-fi calling. Basically, your iPhone will use it's wi-fi connection to make calls and send text messages. This also works even if there is no T-Mobile signal at all what so ever. As long as you have Wi-fi, you have service. The only two major carriers which offer unlimited data are Sprint and T-Mobile, and in my opinion, T-Mobile is obviously the best choice. Not to mention, T-Mobile runs on a GSM network, meaning that you can easily use an unlocked iPhone with it. From what I heard, Sprint really likes to lock down it's devices down to it's network, so using a Sprint iPhone which claims to be unlocked may be a bit of a challenge. As for the T-Mobile account app, it is accessible, but it's user interface could be more VoiceOver friendly. It gets the job done though, and that's really what matters in the end.

By Daveed Mandell on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 13:43

I very much appreciate the advice and help given in the above comments. T-Mobile apsears to be a much better carrier that many people think.

By Chessie the Ra… on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 13:43

We had T-Mobile from 2009 to 2010, and the prices were certainly attractive then...and are probably more so now.

However, the big issue we had with T-Mobile...and indeed the reason we eventually switched back to AT&T...was that phone reception in our house was non-existent. T-Mobile was unwilling to acknowledge the problem, and...if memory serves me correctly...they tried to give us some nonsense about how the terms of the service agreement never technically included phone reception in the house. Of course, when T-Mobile's "Engineer's" "investigated" the problem, they found no issues with reception whatsoever.

So, if you're still reading this and interested in my advice...be darn sure you will have phone reception in your house, place of business, etc. before signing any contract or, at the very least, before the return period expires.

As far as the accessibility of phone offerings...if you stick with an iPhone, you should have the same user experience, regardless of which carrier you use. That's the beauty of iOS...crapware not included! ;-)

By Brooke on Sunday, May 10, 2015 - 13:43

I have a friend who just switched from T-Mobile to AT&T a few weeks ago because of her issues with reception. She had no problems in larger cities, but she just moved to the outskirts of a city, and her reception was virtually nonexistent. There were times she'd be at my place, and while I had no problems with signal through AT&T, her phone never worked here. I know the prices and plans are appealing, but they don't do much good if there's no signal to go along with them. However, if you have an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus and will have access to a Wifi network most of the time, you'd have the advantage of Wifi calling. For me personally, I decided to stick with AT&T, because I tend to do a lot of traveling to rural areas, and I use the BlindSquare app often. I want to try and avoid losing signal as much as possible, because with no signal, there's no GPS.

By Siobhan on Sunday, May 10, 2015 - 13:43

Hi David. I had t-mobile years back, when it was voice stream. driving down a highway, I lost calls constantly. A highway, come on. I went to AT&T and was pretty happy. However they do throttle your data after a gig I think it is and don't tell you they are doing it. A friend absoultely ripped them a new one saying, hey I have unlimitted data, I'm grandfathered in, you will not throttle my data. They apparently said they wouldn't anymore, I haven't asked since he did that to them. I will say ATT's customer service was top notch when I had it. I switched from them, just because they were to high a rpice. I had no reception in parts of my house, so I have Verizon. It's better inplaces with trees, tough there will always be dead spots. Whatever you decide, just remember T-mobile wasn't built, it was bought.

By Carlos Alonso on Sunday, May 10, 2015 - 13:43

I switched from AT&T a year and a half ago, live in southern California and have at least as good reception as I had with AT&T - of course this may be dependent on what locations you move around in as many others here have noted. All the free music streaming apps that don't count towards your data plan is a big draw for me, plus I don't get the frequent rate increases that I had with AT&T. In my experience customer service is again at least as good with T-Mobile. I don't see going back to AT&T or switching to any other carriers in the forseeable future.

By Herbie Allen on Sunday, May 10, 2015 - 13:43

I have had experience with both companies and find there customer service equal. I've had the iPhone with ATNT since 2010 and I've been very happy with there service. Last year, I came across the offer to try out T-Mobile's network for free but declined when they couldn't just give me the phone in the store, and the phone was activated when it shipped, not when you got it which would take away from the trile, meanwhile your stuck with them having your credit card on file. the Credit card part I understand, but I think they should go by when the phone's activated to start the trial and not when it's shipped. I'm going to look at the link that was provided to see if any of that has changed. Also, I like how ATNT handles the voicemail through the iPhone and I'm told T-Mobile doesn't download the voicemails to your phone.