What Do You Guys Think of TMo Prepaid Coverage?

[PinkPatty]

If you received calls not often, T-mobile has less coverage than Verizon. If you're a cheapskate, please don't make phone calls very often, are frequently in wifi areas and so have no need for full time continuous coverage, the T-mobile Prepaid plan is an best one.

[adam1991]

I am ATT-free for four or five years now, and damned proud of it. You can put a gun to my head, but it won't get me back. Go ahead, pull the trigger.

As for "you get what you pay for," consider that this is for my wife--who is coming from years of dumbphone service with PagePlus. Me, my experience is a company Blackberry. I'm looking at this, and at my wife getting into the whole Google experience, and am very pleased.

And this is pretty much an experiment--I don't know if this is something we want to do. So, I get a phone I can re-sell for what I have in it and I can get onto the $30 monthly deal without any obligation. In other words, I can try this out virtually risk-free and walk away if I want to.

Now, for those who live and breathe smartphones, and whose very being is tied to the phone, and who knows which phone has one more (name your spec here) than some other phones, and who defines his place in the pecking order of other phoneaholics by what phone he currently has, I'm sure the Nexus is worth the money. But if I'm coming from riding a horse, and all I need to do is get to Cleveland without much fuss and in air-conditioned splendor, a Corolla is a thing of beauty and wonder--I don't need a Lexus or need to know why a Lexus is better than that Corolla.

Plus, I have other obligations. I've made my choices in life, and am in a position where a bazillion dollars for a phone + "plan" every month is not something I want to do. Neither my wife nor I live and die by the phone, and frankly even $30/month for a portable internet connected computer of ANY kind is very much a luxury that may or may not survive in my life. Hence my stand that the $100 phone is an incredible value, because compared to a dumbphone it's night and day--and then there's that whole resale thing.

On the other hand, should this work out well, maybe I will make the choice to make a Nexus or similar happen in my life. That's the nice thing about choices. And if I start this way, I minimize the chances of wasting money and making mistakes.

The Exhibit II is an incredible value.

[PL1]

On the other hand, should this work out well, maybe I will make the choice to make a Nexus or similar happen in my life. That's the nice thing about choices. And if I start this way, I minimize the chances of wasting money and making mistakes.

The Exhibit II is an incredible value.

I wanted to post this based on your first comment comparing the two, but I passed. Now that you've gone into the whole spiel for your comparison, I must point out that you are comparing the price of a USED phone on Craig's List (which may or may not be in good condition) for $100 with a brand new Galaxy Nexus for $400 with a full 1 year warranty.

That's all I wanted to say.

[adam1991]

Yeah. So?

I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't in good condition with everything included.

Have you checked CL? Lots of people selling these things--virtually all of them because the owner tried it for a little while and ended up going to another carrier. The guy I bought mine from realized he didn't have 4G coverage in his outlying suburb, and he had no coverage at his place of work, so he switched to Sprint.

It's not my problem they didn't do their homework. Their loss is my gain. And if I don't like it, I can turn around and get ALL my money back, not just half.

Why would you buy new *if* you could buy used and pay only half the money? I know the answer to that: it's because you want something that's the "latest and greatest" and isn't available on the used market. So, you pay a premium for that behavior. That's a CHOICE you make.

The Exhibit II for $100 is an incredible value.

[PL1]

Yeah. So?

I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't in good condition with everything included.

Have you checked CL? Lots of people selling these things--virtually all of them because the owner tried it for a little while and ended up going to another carrier. The guy I bought mine from realized he didn't have 4G coverage in his outlying suburb, and he had no coverage at his place of work, so he switched to Sprint.

It's not my problem they didn't do their homework. Their loss is my gain. And if I don't like it, I can turn around and get ALL my money back, not just half.

Why would you buy new *if* you could buy used and pay only half the money? I know the answer to that: it's because you want something that's the "latest and greatest" and isn't available on the used market. So, you pay a premium for that behavior. That's a CHOICE you make.

The Exhibit II for $100 is an incredible value.

What's with the attitude? You can not compare used with new. If you want to compare USED with USED, then I'm sure you could get any phone for 1/2 price. That's the norm. I've sold plenty of slightly used phones and I get about 1/2 price. That was never my point. You are comparing used with new, and that is misleading when you say you got an incredible value when it's used. Otherwise, you would be a sucker.

[adam1991]

Ah, but I *can* compare used with new. If a product is available used, but isn't something that gets "used up" and has some sort of finite life span, then it makes no difference if someone bought it from the factory before I did or not.

I have no burning need or desire to be the first one to open the box from the factory. That adds zero value to me--and if it costs me $100 for the privilege, then that has a very real cost to me. And again, we're not talking a car or something that gets used up. I'll take that $100 and do something else with it.

If the sole difference between "new" and "used" is that with "new" I get to open the factory box, then I let someone else pay for that privilege, someone who for whatever reason perceives some value in that. Me, I get zero value from that and incredibly more value from paying only half compared to new.

My point was, moving from a dumbphone to a smartphone is the HUGE improvement in and of itself--no need to spend an *extra* $300, because that extra $300 provides only a tiny extra fraction of the value compared to moving from the dumbphone to the smartphone in the first place.

If what you do is surf from phone to phone, always moving up to the "latest and greatest", then yes, I can see why you wouldn't want an Exhibit. You'd see that as a move downward. For others such as me, it's a move upwards.

[Telekom]

[QUOTE=adam1991;14819877 But if I'm coming from riding a horse, and all I need to do is get to Cleveland without much fuss and in air-conditioned splendor, a Corolla is a thing of beauty and wonder--I don't need a Lexus or need to know why a Lexus is better than that Corolla.[/QUOTE]

A Corolla and Lexus are made by the same company

[OneFore9]

Like many others have said, location can be the biggest factor in coverage. I would say the second biggest is the phone being used. Reception can vary greatly across different brands and even phones that are sold by the same company. I've gone from Verizon postpaid to T-Mobile prepaid and now on PagePlus prepaid. My wife is on T-Mobile prepaid and has no issues in this area with reception. I left T-Mobile because coverage at work was very spotty. Verizon's prepaid coverage (PagePlus) works much better for me. I also like the online call records that PP offers that T-Mo doesn't.

[adam1991]

Like many others have said, location can be the biggest factor in coverage. I would say the second biggest is the phone being used. Reception can vary greatly across different brands and even phones that are sold by the same company.

And even simply different phones of the same model can vary. I remember having a Blackberry that worked in a basement, where a colleague's identical model didn't.

[Loansharkie]

Better coverage on the staight talk tmo sim. How much better? Not sure; perhaps someone with better hands on Experience can chime in.

Sent from my LG-P999 using HowardForums

[nitrous9200]

I've been using my TMo prepaid sim for about a week now and it's been fine except for indoors (I can barely get a signal in my house). I blame the phone I'm using (a BlackBerry 9700) because it seems to be slow and dim-witted to pick up a signal and change from SOS mode to TMo. I'd love to try another phone that's known to have good reception but it's an expensive gamble to make...I'm used to Page Plus/VZW where I never have trouble getting a signal.

[SnowyWhite]

What kind of roof do you have?
Is there a metal awning?

My Mom has a metal awning on the front porch on the house and when she is in the living room where the awning is between her and the nearest T~Mobile tower she has some trouble getting and keeping the signal, everywhere else in the house is fine except for that one area.
This is an old wood framed house but that big metal awning over the front porch is blocking out much of the signal from that T~Mo tower.

I read a while back about one person saying they could not get a signal at all in his apartment building because they had a metal roof, when he went out to the parking lot the signal was very strong.

Verizon has a stronger signal and can penetrate further into buildings than the GSM signal T~Mo uses.

I've been using my TMo prepaid sim for about a week now and it's been fine except for indoors (I can barely get a signal in my house). I blame the phone I'm using (a BlackBerry 9700) because it seems to be slow and dim-witted to pick up a signal and change from SOS mode to TMo. I'd love to try another phone that's known to have good reception but it's an expensive gamble to make...I'm used to Page Plus/VZW where I never have trouble getting a signal.

[Telekom]

I've been using my TMo prepaid sim for about a week now and it's been fine except for indoors (I can barely get a signal in my house). I blame the phone I'm using (a BlackBerry 9700) because it seems to be slow and dim-witted to pick up a signal and change from SOS mode to TMo. I'd love to try another phone that's known to have good reception but it's an expensive gamble to make...I'm used to Page Plus/VZW where I never have trouble getting a signal.

You're never going to get the level of coverage you have with Verizon with T-Mobile. Verizon is cellular (850 Mhz) which always propagates better than PCS (1900 Mhz). Also, it makes a big difference in how your service is because of how near or far the nearest base station is. I'm within 4 blocks of the nearest base station so I have excellent service. My AT&T service is just so-so where I am and it's likely because of base station placement.

[Gumpphone]

You're never going to get the level of coverage you have with Verizon with T-Mobile.

That might be true in some general sense with respect to overall technology, but it will still depend on the specific area where you live, work, or otherwise need coverage. Verizon does have a larger network overall, but where I live, there are still areas where I can get signal with T-Mobile prepaid when Verizon folks can't.

[Mr. D.]

That might be true in some general sense with respect to overall technology, but it will still depend on the specific area where you live, work, or otherwise need coverage. Verizon does have a larger network overall, but where I live, there are still areas where I can get signal with T-Mobile prepaid when Verizon folks can't.

Second that, Gumpphone. Same is true for me.