The official VM Defectors thread

[billm261]

Question, fellow defectors, that I wasn't able to find anywhere else yet... AT&T Coverage where I live is nonexistent by a long shot, T-Mobile is roaming. I'm not sure if I would even get 3G speeds if I was roaming. Or data.

What do?

If T-Mobile roams on that small regional carrier in your area your out, you can't use anything blue and are left with a big RED option.

Or, go Sprint postpaid where you will get the unlimited data without the throttle. Just do the referral plan @ 69.99 + taxes.
It's still cheaper than Verizon prepaid using voice, data and web.

[primetechv2]

If T-Mobile roams on that small regional carrier in your area your out, you can't use anything blue and are left with a big RED option.

Or, go Sprint postpaid where you will get the unlimited data without the throttle. Just do the referral plan @ 69.99 + taxes.
It's still cheaper than Verizon prepaid using voice, data and web.

I was guessing the same, no company is ever particularly clear on roaming services. Referral? I'd almost take that except it's definitely $79.99 unless ESNs are swapped out.

The $50.00 Verizon plan looks tasty if I could ESN swap anyway, and saying it would work in this area. A small company owns what could have been Verizon towers if Verizon had bought it ALL of Alltel when it collapsed...


Beggers can't be choosers though. I'll probably disregard all your (excellent) advice and go with Boost once all my VM cash runs out. Maybe.

[Sfboy10]

Question, fellow defectors, that I wasn't able to find anywhere else yet... AT&T Coverage where I live is nonexistent by a long shot, T-Mobile is roaming. I'm not sure if I would even get 3G speeds if I was roaming. Or data

@primetechv2: just out of curiosity, in what area do you live?

[billm261]

I was guessing the same, no company is ever particularly clear on roaming services. Referral? I'd almost take that except it's definitely $79.99 unless ESNs are swapped out.

The referral plan is 59.99 + the 10.00 smartphone fee (+taxes) so you could be @ 80.00. Still way cheaper than Verizon Impulse head on.

I see the day Boost gets throttled officially also.



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2

[mch]

If you can live with 1GB of data, there is always PagePlus.

I was guessing the same, no company is ever particularly clear on roaming services. Referral? I'd almost take that except it's definitely $79.99 unless ESNs are swapped out.

The $50.00 Verizon plan looks tasty if I could ESN swap anyway, and saying it would work in this area. A small company owns what could have been Verizon towers if Verizon had bought it ALL of Alltel when it collapsed...


Beggers can't be choosers though. I'll probably disregard all your (excellent) advice and go with Boost once all my VM cash runs out. Maybe.

[primetechv2]

If you can live with 1GB of data, there is always PagePlus.

Sadly no, I can't live with 1GB of data. That was the big selling point of Virgin Mobile (or it is now).... it got me data-addicted. And I somehow doubt Boost will ever throttle below 5GB, which is a number I am much more comfortable with.

[idbl_fanatic]

I am with T-mo, and I barley used just over 1 G last month

[wolfboyz]

I'm topped up until August but I'm 90% sure I'm switching to T-Mobile's $30 monthly 4G plan when it runs out.

It doesn't look like Virgin Mobile is going to get any better, neither with better future phones or faster network speeds. At least with T-Mobile, I can buy an unlocked Galaxy Nexus or any other good GSM phone and get fast speeds.

[cookedgoose]

I'm topped up until August but I'm 90% sure I'm switching to T-Mobile's $30 monthly 4G plan when it runs out.

It doesn't look like Virgin Mobile is going to get any better, neither with better future phones or faster network speeds. At least with T-Mobile, I can buy an unlocked Galaxy Nexus or any other good GSM phone and get fast speeds.

They're getting the One V, but I expect the speeds to remain at their current lows until Sprint gets their act together sooner rather than later.

[cookedgoose]

Just checked the cell tower upgrade progress. The number of upgrades to the network Sprint is shown as having finished in the past 6 months has dropped along with the number planned. Looks like it's tapering off. Wonder whether VM users will notice the difference.

[wolfboyz]

They're getting the One V, but I expect the speeds to remain at their current lows until Sprint gets their act together sooner rather than later.

The One V is very midrange by today's standards, the only thing it has going for it is ICS.

I think I'm at the point where I no longer fit VM's target demographic. I'm a user thats willing to pay a little more for a high end phone/low monthly plan with fast speed, which is where T-Mobile is right now.

VM looks to be moving into more affordable low-midrange phones/low monthly plan but with super slow speeds, based on all the rehashed 600mHz phones that came out. I think they tested the waters with high end with the Triumph, but quickly backpedaled because of low sales. They brought that mess on themselves though for not properly testing it to avoid bad reviews.

[jkool]

I had to sign up for another month because it was too late to go to ST with the T Mobile sim & my Vibrant!

I just wiped my Vibrant today & going to order a ST TM sim card soon. Ill Port my VM number over in the last 2 weeks & its Bye Bye VM! I could not even get data to work in my living room tonight...I had to go to the other end of the house! $25 a month....I may be able to deal with it, but $35....NO WAY! For a little less than $15 more I will get good data & unlimited minutes with ST! I am running away from VM & NOT looking back!

[sundrop]

I deflected sort of.

I have the Triumph on TM.

I ordered the Samsung Exhibit II 4G and activated it.

The speeds on TMO are amazing however this is when it works. There is times, I try to access the web and I get "no internet connection" for long periods. (even when it shows full signal 4g)

knock on wood. VM speeds have improved to around 500/500 which I am happy with.

I have yet to decide, at this point. I am thinking of returning the TMO phone and keeping the VM account.

[jkool]

I am leaving VM too. Going from $25 to $35 for 300 minutes & lousy data speed is not a value anymore with the competition. I have a Tmobile Vibrant & was looking into other plans. Was gonna go Tmobile $50 plan but they throttle your data speed to 200k. So Straight Talk has a Bring your own ATT or Tmobile phone & buy a $15 sim card from them to get unlimited Text & talk but data is limited to 2 to 2.5 GB. But I hear the speeds are good & I get unlimited minutes. yea, its $14 bucks more a month but after having VM for a little while...I can not deal with the data speeds and 300 minutes is borderline for me too.

[AndroidFoneFan]

While I am content with the T Mobile service I currently have I recommend getting the AT&T card. Once outside of the St.Louis area my data speeds go from 4G down to Edge or slower.
With AT&T you get constant 3G speeds.
Went with TM because I have a TM phone to use but if anything happens to this phone I'm going to bit the bullet and get a good AT&T phone and buy the ST/AT&T sim.
It may not be as fast, but it is there in areas that TM is not.
In the mean time I supplement the TM data absence with a mobile wifi hotspot. Pay for it only when I need it (going out of town).