different coverage for monthly4G?

**notalemon** · 07-26-2012, 08:30 PM

I'm considering a t-mobile monthly4g no-contract plan (probably $30/month with 100min). While at the t-mobile store, the sales rep I spoke with tried to convince me to go for a contract plan, stating that month-to-month plans don't have access to the full tower (her words) and implied that month-to-month coverage was a lesser version than that of the contract-based plan.

Is there any truth to that, or was she misleading me to up-sell to a contract based plan?

Thanks,

notalemon

**digi7al ph0enix** · 07-26-2012, 08:48 PM

Its somewhat of a half truth bordering on a lie. The real issue is roaming. The prepaid side of Tmobile has very limited roaming across the US, while the post paid side has roaming agreements in most areas that don't have native coverage. As far as "access to the full tower" if she is talking about data speeds or something that's a flat out lie. You'll see the same speeds and signal quality on both post paid and prepaid. Check the Tmobile coverage maps for the area you plan to use the phone is most and as long as its native coverage you'll be totally fine on prepaid.

Sales reps get paid to sell you plans and contracts. It does nothing for them for you to be on prepaid because they don't ever see the money and in many/most cases it makes far more sense to go prepaid even if you factor in the subsidized cost of the phone.

**hooked** · 07-26-2012, 08:58 PM

What digi said. I'm surprised the sales rep even acknowledged the $30 Walmart plan. When I went into a T-Mobile store, the guy said there was no such plan and wanted to sign me up for some other expensive monthly plan.

**notalemon** · 07-26-2012, 10:13 PM

digi - Thanks for the explanation. I suspected as much but thought I'd check.

hooked - I didn't bother mentioning the $30 plan to the sales rep. I plan to order online but happened to be near a store, so stopped to check out the phones.

**luther349** · 07-26-2012, 10:46 PM

t-mobile prepaid can roam both sprint and at@t. so really you have plenty of coverage. maybe she was talking bought data not roaming.

**Joplin T-Mobile** · 07-26-2012, 11:33 PM

Was the store an independent reseller? Resellers are especially bad in giving out "misinformation" to make higher commissions. Many of them cater to customers who have no idea what they're buying... so they sign them up for the most expensive plans acting like those are their only options. The last words they want to hear from a customer are "Walmart" or "Amazon".

Many resellers won't even sell a prepaid phone without plan activation saying they can't take the loss... yet you can go to any Walmart or Best Buy and buy one off the shelf without issue.

I don't frequent TMO stores or resellers. There's plenty of good info here to steer folks in the right direction in taking care of issues without having to go that route. They are no better than used car salespeople IMO.

**gate115** · 07-27-2012, 01:34 AM

Originally Posted by luther349

t-mobile prepaid can roam both sprint and at@t. so really you have plenty of coverage. maybe she was talking bought data not roaming.

TMobile cannot roam on Sprint as they are CDMA. It is possible to roam onto AT&T however.

**Mr. D.** · 07-27-2012, 01:05 PM

T-Mo prepaid has 90%+ footprint of postpaid for voice roaming. As previously noted, no data roaming on prepaid. Check the coverage maps; they are very accurate in my part of the country.

**mustang123** · 08-01-2012, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by Mr. D.

T-Mo prepaid has 90%+ footprint of postpaid for voice roaming. As previously noted, no data roaming on prepaid. Check the coverage maps; they are very accurate in my part of the country.

what Mr. D said is true. You have voice roaming but not data roaming. and thats the main difference.

**money69** · 08-01-2012, 02:32 PM

So just to clarify, there is no data roaming at all on the Monthly 4G plans? Is everyone positive?

**d3adbroke** · 08-01-2012, 03:03 PM

Yes I have att most were I live and I roam and can make calls and text but no data on roaming

Sent from my HTC Vision using HowardForums

**Copa360** · 08-03-2012, 03:30 PM

Their website is confusing. If you look at the coverage maps for Monthly 4G, it shows "partner roaming" for "2G/Voice", which would seem to imply that there is. But if you look at the fine print at the bottom, you see "Data available on the T-Mobile network only (data roaming not available)."

**8_8** · 08-03-2012, 03:57 PM

A little off topic, but can people on T-mobile post-paid call t-mobile pre-paid as an in network mobile to mobile call?

**Big Blue 023** · 08-03-2012, 04:09 PM

It is true that postpaid coverage is greater then prepaid/non contract , but it is also true that the margin is really small (three percent). Tmobile has excellent prepaid roaming compared to say Sprint prepaid (Boost/Virgin) though on a sidenote, its mvnos vary widely (Simple Mobile has no roaming while other Tmobile mvnos like Spot mobile do).

If you have coverage with prepaid in your area, I don't see any reason to go with (slave/indentured servitude) contract at this point. The only edge contract has are they get the cool stuff first (phones and LTE) but they also pay the price...