AT&T vs. T-Mobile (3G, Verizon, iPhone, towers)

[elchevere]

just curious why AT&T (my current carrier for the past 15 years) is not competitive vs. T-Mobile.

Looking at trading in an older iphone 7 for a new iphone 12.

AT&T will run $85/month for service plus cost of a new phone amortized over 30 months.

T-Mobile will run $65/month for service plus a new phone for a similar time frame AND includes international text and data.

Not a big difference and money is not a factor to me....curious as to why there would be a rather noticeable difference for same exact phone--does AT&T have dramatically better service/ coverage??....both are 5G...I'm a loyal, creature of habit that gets lazy when it comes to change...curious if any of you have noticed a difference in service levels between the 2 carriers...thanks

[turf3]

A pox on both their houses. Have AT&T for one cell phone and a land line; have T Mobile for the other cell phone.


AT&T land line service sucks; bunch of idiots in their customer service call center; T Mobile coverage sucks.

[davebarnes]

We are happy with T-Mobile, but why did we choose it?
1. Works well in 97.23% of the locations that we visit in greater Denver.
2. We love how it works in Europe. You get off the plane and it just works. No SIM card. No extra cost.
3. The cost for old farts is good. 55+ plan.
4. I like the magenta color.

Coverage/performance comes first.
All else follows.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

We are happy with T-Mobile, but why did we choose it?
1. Works well in 97.23% of the locations that we visit in greater Denver.
2. We love how it works in Europe. You get off the plane and it just works. No SIM card. No extra cost.
3. The cost for old farts is good. 55+ plan.
4. I like the magenta color.

Coverage/performance comes first.
All else follows.

If coverage and performance comes first go with Verizon. T-Mobile has limited coverage in my area. If I am spending $5000 for a trip to Europe, what is another $100 for phone/data service?

[dontaskwhy]

Originally Posted by turf3

A pox on both their houses.....

........bunch of idiots in their customer service call center

Easy to say if you have never did their job yourself. I have previously for several years. Not an easy job. These particular call centers don't hire/keep people for their cell phone knowledge, they hire/keep folks who act like trained animals and don't think for themselves. That's why I don't work there anymore.

[TexasLawyer2000]

When it come to cell phone providers, it's good to look at which have the best coverage in your area. For a long time Verizon used to have the best nationwide coverage with their 3g/4g service and T-Mobile used to have the worst.

Times have changed, however and it really matters where you are. I've tried different providers and found that T-Mobile has the best coverage near my homes in TX, Mendocino-CA, Naples-FL. In places like NYC and LA, all the carriers are good.

Verizon really took a hit when they started reallocating frequencies to 4g and 5g. I'm sure this is temporary and will be resolved in the next 3-5 years.

I don't have much recent experience with AT&T.

[f5fstop]

Agree. T-mobile appears to be catching up with Verizon out here in the Northwest. Not quite there yet, but getting there. In cities it is a draw, but Verizon does reach into areas T-mobile has no service; but have noted those areas are reducing all the time.
However, most places I camp only a sat phone works.

[Peregrine]

I don't understand this question. You would rather everything just be the same price...
It's called competition and thank god we still have it in some areas.
5 years ago, T-Mobile was a much smaller competitor. They started acquiring more bandwidth, more towers, keeping prices cheaper then the big guys. 5 years ago ATT had 20 million most customers. TMobile aggressively chased customers offering free perks like Netflix for a year, while still keeping prices lower then BOTH ATT and VZW. Guess what happened? TMobile grew and I think today has more subscribers then ATT and the big 2 actually started lowering prices.
I don't have TMobile but damn thankful they are around. We get more data today cheaper then we ever did before.

[markjames68]

I tried T-Mobile around 6 years ago, and dropped it quickly as coverage was lacking.

I then tried it again 2 years later in the same location, and kept it as they dramatically improved coverage in the area.

Where I am now I'd rate it a B+, in that it drops to single bars in some places during my typical drive, but it doesn't drop calls. I'm doing all CarPlay streaming via T-Mobile and have no real issues.

I agree with Peregrine - the "Uncarrier" really kept prices down and introduced competition where previously it was largely limited to whether AT&T or Verizon would charge the most.

I haven't been doing much international travel over the past couple of years, but it is a benefit to have free (low speed) data, free texting and .20 a minute for calls. I got by with this all across Asia and Europe without having to bother with a separate SIM.

T-Mobile Tuesdays is another perk I use - 10 cents off of Shell diesel is free money. And free Netflix (not just for a year, ongoing) plus I've grandfathered in T-Mobile One Plus so more data tethering and higher quality video streaming.

No complaints from me.

[Peregrine]

Also another example, Verizon USED to charge crazy fees outside the US.
But DIRECTLY because of competition from TMobile prices dropped and dropped and dropped. Now Canada and Mexico is no charge and it's a flat fee (as opposed to a per minute charge) to use your phone in many other countries.