Looking at switching to T-Mobile - opinions?

[TJinWA]

Looking at T-mobile after +15 years with Verizon.  Verizon has been pretty good and I have been a staunch customer but the cost now is high for family with 5 phones.  T-Mobile monthly charge looks to be half of Verizon plus includes Mexico & Canada.  We now have to pay $15 to $25 per phone for, trips: 1) 4 phones Mexico, 2) 2 phones Mexico, various short trips to Canada so we do without  - any opinion yea or nay to the switch?  Thanks for any input.  TJ

[dilbertaz]

I can't vouch for T-Mobile either way but as a previous long-time Sprint customer I would recommend looking closely at coverage maps where you intend to use your phones the most as well as asking around if you know anyone that has T-Mobile as to their experience in your "home" area(s).  While you will save money it does come at a potential cost of lesser coverage.  As long as you do your research and are satisfied with their coverage where you need it most.  I came from Sprint after their upgrades to 4G LTE left me with almost no call/text coverage at both my home and work and the only data I got was when I forced my phone into 3G (partially due to their shutting down certain towers and replacing with new towers farther away).  My sister and her whole family recently moved from T-Mobile to Verizon due to lack of coverage where they needed it, but they lived outside major cities and traveled between cities frequently and T-Mobile is not know for great coverage in these areas. Be sure to check coverage from independent companies in addition to what T-Mobile claims as coverage (such as rootmetrics).

[Tidbits]

Look at your most visited areas. Look over people's shoulders and ask what they use. Pay close attention to what the people who use T-Mobile say. Also remember unless you BYOD it may not be as cheap as you think. My friend has 5 lines and pays $350 a month. The EIP is what gets him with the jump! program thing.

I pay $50 as I honestly don't use much data on T-Mobile let alone Verizon either.

[Loquat]

As it's been said here already...coverage, coverage, COVERAGE     That's pretty much what it boils down to.  If you can crunch the numbers and TMO is truly cheaper than VZW and you're getting identical or better coverage over there for the places you frequent...then do what you have to do.  Just be careful as sometimes it pays to look before you leap...

[pherson]

I have both tmobile and verizon, and I'm main areas they are identical. I've only had trouble in one spot out in the rurals mountains area, just slow Internet but calls and texts were fine. For the cost I think tmobile is great.

[smith6612]

If you decide to make a move, make sure your phones support Band 12! Without that, you'll find T-Mobile's coverage to be understated on the maps especially on LTE. Band 12 is the nice, low frequency T-Mobile has (similar to Verizon's 700Mhz LTE Spectrum) for penetrating through buildings and reaching long distances.

Also keep in mind Wi-Fi calling. Phones with Wi-Fi calling support will be a little more useful in bad coverage areas.

When in doubt, get a prepaid Verizon phone to augment T-Mobile, and use that in the event T-Mobile is unable to service an area you're in. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.

[TJinWA]

Thank you all for your input, taking under advisement.

[TJinWA]

Hi,

You've given me a couple of more questions to ask:

What is Band 12?

WiFi calling - does that mean my phone would work at home with WiFi?  I live in the boondocks - there is no coverage by anyone.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.

Terry

[Tidbits]

Band 12 is spectrum. Since it's a low band it has better building penetration.

Wifi calling allows you to place calls over wifi using your phone number. All calls are still routed through the carrier. So using it over seas will have some costs, but with the agreements they have in place it's cheaper than it used to be.  I believe 20 cents a minute in over 200 countries (more or less you have to check their list)

[smith6612]

If I'm not mistaken... unless the carrier differentiates between regions and determines how to bill based on where IP traffic originates, doesn't Wi-Fi Calling (in this case with T-Mobile) actually function as if you were in your home country? I can get if the phone connects to a regional carrier's network, that's when the roaming meter starts running.

But yes, Band 12 is the low-band spectrum that you should really take advantage of. It'll give a huge boost in reception in markets with Band 12. No different from how Verizon initially built their LTE network out using Band 13 (another low-band spectrum), and AT&T built their LTE out using Band 14, which is why their coverage was awesome from the get-go. T-Mobile only recently gained Band 12. Bands 12-14 all operate in the 700Mhz ranges.