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  • Wardrop - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    I thought this was going to be some kind of teaming up of T-Mobile and OnePlus.
  • bigboxes - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    Tell us more, Chuckles.
  • DanNeely - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    I don't need to test port my phone to TMobile to know I'd never settle for a carrier that only offers 2g speeds where I live.
  • Drumsticks - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    Obviously there are a lot of customers that this wouldn't work for. For all its faults as a company, verizon has great coverage. But there's also probably thousands to millions in overlapping service areas who could save a lot of money.
  • Reflex - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    My brother switched his family from VZ to TMo last November to save money. It did save him money, but last night he was begging me to let him on my VZ plan as soon as their obligations with TMo are up. He says the drop off in coverage, speeds and customer service were enormous, and the phone selection is weak unless you are on iOS. He hates dropping calls every time he goes down I5 from Seattle to Portland where there is a massive cell hole pretty much from Olympia to Kelso.

    Basically after having service that just worked, everywhere, with top end phones for iOS/WP/Android available it was just too big a downgrade to be worth the savings, which did not turn out to be as substantial as their online tool made them out to be.

    He'll be back. I kind of suspect there are a lot more like him out there realizing that you get what you pay for. Unless TMo takes some of the money they are making off switchers and invests in their network and handsets I have a feeling their recent rise will be temporary.
  • Smudgeous - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    Interestingly enough, I had pretty much the opposite experience when switching from Verizon to T-Mobile. Substantially faster/more reliable LTE, wireless coverage in some previous deadzones at work, better phone selection, and higher data limits. To top it all off, I seem to get emails every few months with a notification of something new they decided to roll out at no cost (streaming music not counting toward monthly limits, data rollover, etc). In reference to "you get what you pay for", I wasn't getting anything but a thinner wallet from Verizon despite having been a long-standing loyal customer.
  • Reflex - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    To some degree its regional, I'm certain there are some areas where TMo has better and faster coverage. Generally speaking, however, VZ has a much larger coverage area than TMo. I have driven across the country multiple times from Seattle to Michigan and DC, I have found exactly one town in the northern Rockies where I had no VZ coverage (according to someone in that city no major carriers served them). By comparison non-VZ traveling companions have had frequent cell holes that often last for hundreds of miles.

    I'm sorry VZ didn't work out for you, I'm sure there are a number of edge cases like that. Hopefully at some point that changes as competition is a good thing. I know I certainly wish TMo was competitive here in the northwest, I'd like to have better options.
  • A5 - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    I would never, ever buy a non-iOS device on Verizon. They're always last to approve Android updates.
  • Reflex - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    They have been pretty good with Windows Phone, however, which is what I use. Furthermore, MS has a developer program that lets me skip the waiting so even though the Icon update was delayed way longer than it should have been, I didn't have to wait for 8.1. My previous WP devices were all updated within 3 months of a release however.
  • sprockkets - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link

    The dev program is in no way a proper substitute for proper lumia updates, as others can attest too.
  • Reflex - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link

    Perhaps, but it is superior to the situation on Android. Its a middle ground between the iOS and Android situations, and in WP10 it gets even better with a preview track, much of the OS being updatable universal apps (even things like settings), plus developer unlock simply being a setting in the control panel (and side loading of apps).

    My point though was in response to the idea that only iOS is good on Verizon. I agree that unless you are running a Nexus device, Android sucks on VZ (although its only marginally better on others). But WP is also pretty good on VZ, and until the Icon updates were always timely. And in the case of the Icon, the dev preview resolved most of the issues.
  • Samus - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link

    Verizon is also the ONLY carrier to sell every iOS devices "unlocked" even if its on contract. This has been their policy since the beginning.

    You get what you pay for with Verizon. Customer service and coverage are top notch but they're twice as expensive as T-Mobile and Sprint, who both work well for many people.

    I have Ting, and MVNO of Sprint AND T-Mobile. My wife's phone is on T-Mobile and my phone is on Sprint, so although we have the same "service" it's fun to compare who has better coverage when we're on trips (we have the same phone so the only equation is the coverage!)

    Overall, the only place we've traveled where service reception was a joke is San Francisco. Everyone seems to have Verizon or AT&T there and we know why...
  • Reflex - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link

    The unlocked part is very important for me. My Icon has gone on two trips with me, China and Thailand. Every location I landed in a plane, my phone connected to a local carrier automatically and I got a text offering service. In Beijing I got a local SIM and it was no problem to just use my phone as is. No need to call for an unlock or anything else, it just worked.
  • SantaAna12 - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link

    Dropped calls on Tmobile?

    Here in Monterey Ca: None on the last three years.
  • kaidenshi - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    Unless the Verizon customer has just started service with Verizon and is already looking for an alternative, or else doesn't mind starting a new contract if they don't like T-Mobile, this is not a very smart thing to do. By porting out your number and paying the ETF (even if T-Mobile pays that ETF), you are ending your contract early and closing your account. To rejoin Verizon, you'd have to start a new account and a new contract, and be beholden to them for another two years.

    I don't like Verizon and I hate cellphone contracts, so I'd never have been with them to start with. But this "T-Mobile trial" just doesn't make sense for anyone involved except Verizon, as they will be the ones to profit no matter what (ETF gets paid by T-Mobile which hurts T-Mobile's bottom line, and customer possibly comes back and starts a new contract after the ETF is paid).
  • mem8 - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    just looking forward to new advertisement by Verizon:
    go check out new offer by T-Mobile, we will gladly get you back with better offer*
    *after your ETF is paid
  • menting - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    doubt you'll have to close your account with verizon and start a new one..and even if you do, since T-mobile will be covering any associated fees (which will include the ETF), you get a new phone when you resign with Verizon, which you can resell, so factoring that in, a new 2 year contract doesn't sound too bad
  • kaidenshi - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    Have you ever ported your number? I've ported to and from various services over the past several years, and unless you have multiple lines on an account, porting out closes that account. That's true across all the major carriers and every MVNO I've tried.
  • bznotins - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    Coverage issues are obviously going to be user-specific, but I love that T-Mobile has free international data roaming (albeit slow). Features like that are meaningful to me, so I've been happy with TMO. Obviously it helps that I don't have any coverage issues with them, but that's a "sample size of one" argument that only applies to me.
  • Ammaross - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    I believe you're looking for "anecdotal fallacy."

    If you're in a highly populated area, chances are you won't have coverage issues. However, I know of a handful of "dead zones" in the city I'm in and have had T-Mobile in the past, therefore I'll not be taking them up on their offer for that same "sample size of one" reason. :)

    Fallacies are fun:
    https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/assets/FallaciesP...
  • Chaser - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link

    I used to travel often and T-Mobile simply wasn't suitable to the variety or urban and rural areas I would be randomly "living" in. But that all ended a year ago. Here in the Salt Lake city metro area T-Mobile is very trenched in. Their service here is one of the best. Yes if I go out into the fringe I am reminded of the differences but that's rare for me and usually very temporary like a quick ride out to the country-side and back. But T-Mobile's costs saving are worth it. Its LTE service is the best. I'm rocking an S6 Edge so I'm not sure about "phone selection". If you are a mostly city/burb dweller T-Mobile is a tough act to follow.

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