T-Mobile coverage in the Chicago area? (Detroit: apartment, condo, living)

[recasper]

Hey all
First time poster but have been reading over the boards a while. I did a search but came up short with anything in regards to this subject.

I am moving up to your amazing town next month and recently switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. Verizon prices are just getting out of hand.

Anyway, whats the network like up there. 3G, Data, drop call rate?

I am sure Verizon has a much more stable network, as they do everywhere, its just way to expensive for my taste and I am crossing my fingers that TMobile is better than it is in the southern portion of Illinois.

[surlycue]

I have T-Mobile and have no problems in buildings, on the street or in my apartment. I have never had a call dropped. You phone will not work underground though. The only cell companies that claim to have service in the subways are US Cellular and recently AT&T has begun work for underground coverage. Not sure when they will finish and have service all over the city.

Also, this goes without saying since most phones made in the last two years are quadband but quadband phones will have better reception than triband and the really old dualband phones.

[prairiestate]

I've had T mobile for almost 4 years now. I can count the number of dropped calls or being out of a service area on one hand. They have the best prices I've found, and I've been quite happy with the in store customer service. Customer service on the phone is marginal, but that's the same for any tech company.

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

They have the best prices I've found

You can't beat 1500 minutes for $39.99


Every time I am temped to leave them I can't find a company that will offer me anything close to that. I do miss the free phones though, after being with them for 7 years.

[eevee]

I've had T-moblie for years and it's fine by me. never had a dropped call here, in MA or parts in between. my plan is a basic plan, no data plan or text messaging (though I may have to get the latter since people insist on texting me constantly). it's $39.99 for 600 anytime minutes and free nights/weekends. I never come close to using even half my minutes b/c of the free nights, but the next plan down isn't all that great

[lincolnparker]

I've always had Verizon, except for one year when I had T-mobile. T-mobile has good coverage in the city, but the difference between the two is that calls on Verizon have better clarity. I cannot tell it from a landline call. But they are both good. It's like drinking coffee. You can get a cup from 7-11 or Starbucks. Both will do the trick of waking you up, but you pay more for Starbucks.

[alwaystraveling25]

I had a friend in the city who recently switched from T-Mobile to AT&T because he could only use his cell phone in the living room/balcony of his 1BR condo; it would not work in his bedroom or kitchen at all. Also, when I called him, you could definitely tell you were calling a cell phone, it was not as clear as other providers phones.

My experience (through friends) with T-Mobile in Chicago is that it is great if you stay in the city, but if you plan to travel regularly outside Chicagoland, forget it. I had a different friend who would travel regularly to Metro Detroit to see her family, and I would get so frustrated talking to her on her drives...she would continuously drop calls along I94 on her way to Detroit, so much so that I told her "dont' bother calling me back until you are in the service area".

So if you plan to stay in the city proper and the immediate suburbs, it will work great. If you plan to regularly travel downstate or through areas with sparse coverage, I might think twice.

Also, US Cellular and Verizon Wireless are the only ones that work underground in the EL - they have specific tower/roaming Agreements. AT&T and T-Mobile do not have these agreements. I suspect it is because both US Cellular and Verizon Wireless use CDMA towers and T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM, which are incompatible technologies with each other.

[recasper]

Thanks you guys for the excellent responses. This is what I was hoping. We will be located primarily in the city proper for the most part so that will not diminish my outlook on TMobile if the signal is choppy outside the city. I will also be relying on cycling for my travels, so the EL-train situation will not be to much of a a factor.

And as to the pricing of T-Mobile, this is exactly why I came to them (The G1 didn't hurt either)... Its just so reasonable as compared to the other cellular companies. I mean mind you all cell companies truly gouge pricing when it comes to your texting and the like, but all in all I cannot complain with T-Mobile at all.

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by surlycue

I have T-Mobile and have no problems in buildings, on the street or in my apartment. I have never had a call dropped. You phone will not work underground though. The only cell companies that claim to have service in the subways are US Cellular and recently AT&T has begun work for underground coverage. Not sure when they will finish and have service all over the city.

Also, this goes without saying since most phones made in the last two years are quadband but quadband phones will have better reception than triband and the really old dualband phones.

AT&T needs to figure out how to get service in East Rogers Park before it worries about the subway.

[Lovegun]

T-mobile is good. Since i changed to a 3g phone, i get more droped calls ...go figure? but its really not that bad.