Carrier Is there any reason for an individual to go with T-mobile over AIO wireless?

[2298754]

Even if the AIO bandwidth is throttled, I wonder how this will affect the end user experience. If there's not much perceptible difference between AT&T and AIO, consumers might not care.

Over on HoFo, the current AIO users have noticed that the AIO's data is being routed through a proxy to throttle down speeds. This might also mean a lower priority on the network. Not 100% sure though.

I checked AIO's website, and although their rollout hasn't gone national yet, they are very clear on the reason for their existence: to steal customers form T-Mobile.

Yup, it's a very clear assault on TMobile. These prices combined with a superior network, AIO is a no-brainer.

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- AIO employees are a bunch of liars or ignorant: they deny (I have spoken to 5 of them) having anything to do with ATT beside using their towers, they will tell you their speed is not capped, although it is, etc... typical ATT and disgusting

If you really want to talk about liars, TMobile is the biggest liar in the industry. Legere is a grade-A dbag.

- Nationwide 4G is a joke. They have less HSPA than AT&T/VZW have LTE.
- Refarmed PCS and LTE markets are spotty and barely complete. Major parts of Boston still have ZERO LTE and ZERO PCS.

 

[user-name-here]

That solution doesnt work when you are in a bad data coverage area.

Exactly.

You could tell they were bending the truth by the way they talked about it in generalities.

"Or you get T-Mobile prepaid with GV and get unlimited everything for $30? "

really means...

"In order to get this workaround to work I had to do a good bit of research that the average consumer won't understand or know where to look. Even when I got it working there are still sound quality issues. Plus if I'm outside on cellular data then it probably won't work."

No chance in hell VOIP over 3G (especially T-mobiles network) can be a quality replacement for unlimited minutes.

 

[mr.lavender]

Interesting perspective on what is important...

Well yeah, I mean name is everything. That's why I would never sign up with Verizon. Like what kind of name is that. Verizon.

 

[yeah]

Over on HoFo, the current AIO users have noticed that the AIO's data is being routed through a proxy to throttle down speeds. This might also mean a lower priority on the network. Not 100% sure though.



Yup, it's a very clear assault on TMobile. These prices combined with a superior network, AIO is a no-brainer.

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If you really want to talk about liars, TMobile is the biggest liar in the industry. Legere is a grade-A dbag.

- Nationwide 4G is a joke. They have less HSPA than AT&T/VZW have LTE.
- Refarmed PCS and LTE markets are spotty and barely complete. Major parts of Boston still have ZERO LTE and ZERO PCS.

"NATIONWIDE" means there is coverage in many parts across the nation. Even your AT&T and Verizon do not cover THE WHOLE NATION with 4G/LTE.

You really should get off T-Mobile focused threads, AutoUnion.

Oh and by the way, you can not judge the refarmed/LTE markets because I know you haven't been to all 116 LTE cities.

 

[2298754]

"NATIONWIDE" means there is coverage in many parts across the nation. Even your AT&T and Verizon do not cover THE WHOLE NATION with 4G/LTE.

Sounds like an excuse. They advertise coast-to-coast HSPA and NATIONWIDE 4G. They should advertise "COAST TO COAST EDGE/GPRS with sprinkles of HSPA/LTE"

On the other hand, VZW sure as hell does. They have covered 99% of their EVDO network with LTE at this point. AT&T will be done by mid-2014. They have announced it. VZW is over 500 markets. AT&T is around 390 as of this week.

Oh and by the way, you can not judge the refarmed/LTE markets because I know you haven't been to all 116 LTE cities.

There have been reports all over here, on HoFo, on tmonews of refarmed markets NOT BEING even remotely complete, yet Tmobile calls them complete.

I have direct experience in NYC, Boston, Hartford, New Haven, DC, Baltimore, Providence, and Northern NJ. All have spotty, at best, LTE and PCS HSPA. They have decent AWS networks, even though you still drop down to EDGE way too often.

week.

You really should get off T-Mobile focused threads, AutoUnion.

Why? Because I didn't drink the magenta koolaid and say it like it is?

Sorry if I don't sugar coat everything to make it sound like TMobile is amazing.

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I'd pick t Mobile because the carrier AIO is written as "aio" in the status bar which doesn't look legit.

I've never heard something more stupid on MR.

 

[Retired Cat]

Is there any reason for an individual to go with T-mobile over AIO wireless?

Because I didn't drink the magenta koolaid and say it like it is?

Sorry if I don't sugar coat everything to make it sound like TMobile is amazing.

I don't think most people here are "kool aid" drinkers where Tmo is concerned.

Yes, they have less coverage and bandwidth outside of major metropolitan areas, but that's why they can't charge as much as AT&T or VZW. Besides, Tmo's advertising will backfire on its own if consumers feel the company has stretched it's claims.

The enthusiasm here for the new AIO plans is some evidence that consumers are aware of Tmo's present limitations. Competition always shakes things out in the end.

 

[paulbennett95]

That's what I've been using for the past six months on my Nexus 4. Works great.

I've been using it for 4 months on my iPhone 4S and it works great, even with the lack of 1700/2100mhz support, it'd work even better with that.
Although if you have poor coverage you'd obviously not use the method, but the same could be said about AT&T and other carriers, it's all dependent on your coverage.

 

[osofast240sx]

"NATIONWIDE" means there is coverage in many parts across the nation. Even your AT&T and Verizon do not cover THE WHOLE NATION with 4G/LTE.

You really should get off T-Mobile focused threads, AutoUnion.

Oh and by the way, you can not judge the refarmed/LTE markets because I know you haven't been to all 116 LTE cities.

This guy just has major personal issues, just a matter of time before he gets banned.

 

[617aircav]

Exactly.

You could tell they were bending the truth by the way they talked about it in generalities.

"Or you get T-Mobile prepaid with GV and get unlimited everything for $30? "

really means...

"In order to get this workaround to work I had to do a good bit of research that the average consumer won't understand or know where to look. Even when I got it working there are still sound quality issues. Plus if I'm outside on cellular data then it probably won't work."

No chance in hell VOIP over 3G (especially T-mobiles network) can be a quality replacement for unlimited minutes.

I used to rely on Google voice for text but finally had to get a texting plan. When data was weak the texts people sent me, and texts in send would not go through. Using Voip for minutes could work for casual unimportant calls, but not for work calls.

 

[EbookReader]

It seems like the biggest advantage T-mobile had over ATT was cheaper prices to try and make up for their lack of coverage (check out the photo's attached to see).

Now that ATT is launching prepaid service AIO wireless though, it seems like that price advantage is being taken away as well.

t-mobile ---------------------- vs -------------------- aio wireless
$50/mo w/ taxes & fees ----- vs -------------------- $55/mo (tax free)
unlim call --------------------- vs -------------------- unlim call
unlim txt ---------------------- vs -------------------- unlim txt
500mb ------------------------- vs -------------------- 2gb

Seems like a no brainer right?

how about metro pcs to aio wireless?

Metro PCS
http://www.metropcs.com/metro/simpleplans

$40 a month (tax free): unlimited talk, unlimited text, 500MB of 4G LTE speed, unlimited 2G after
$50 a month (tax free): unlimited talk, unlimited text, 2.5GB of 4G LTE speed, unlimited 2G after
$60 a month (tax free): unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited 4G LTE speed,



As for T-Mobile, its biggest advantage is the cheap Family Plan.

4 lines with AOI Wireless = $55 x 4 = $220.
4 lines with T-Mobile = 4 x $25 = $100

1 line: $50 per line
2 lines: $40 per line
3 lines: $30 per line
4 lines: $25 per line
5 lines: $22 per line

each line come with unlimited talk, unlimited text, 500MB of 4G LTE speed, unlimited 2G data after

 

[CEmajr]

Looks like T-Mobile forced the "too big to care about T-Mobile" AT&T directly react to them like AutoUnion claimed they wouldn't. Those 1.1 million adds last quarter were not to be taken lightly. AIO appears to be a good deal and is a direct result of increased competition in the market. This is what I like to see and is good for consumers.

Looks like T-Mobile's advantages are the phone financing, family plans, higher data speeds, and unlimited data.

AiO's advantages are the use of AT&T's network with better overall coverage.

Customer service quality of Aio remains to be seen. Usually MVNOs and smaller companies like these have abysmal customer service compared to the Big 4 carriers so we will see.

 

[JackieInCo]

I have noticed that T-Mobile is doing something I do not like lately. It seems like they are forcing phones in some areas to prefer edge over HSPA+. I have noticed this too many times over the past month on my Nexus 4 and iPhone 4S and Nexus 7. I'll do a speedtest after downloading an app that takes ten minutes to download and find that I am getting about 42Kbps.

I can fix this by turning on airplane mode for a few seconds and then turning it off. The phones are back on HSPA+ until the next time which can be a few minutes later, to later that day or the next day but it will happen again.

The only device that it is not happening with is on my iPad Mini which stays on LTE.

Not sure what my plans are but I have till the 12th to decide.

I was using T-Mobile for my Nexus 7 as well but renewed my AT&T data plan for it yesterday because of this forced edge thing and didn't renew T-Mobile on my iPad, I'm using AT&T on it as well now.

I just wish AT&T could give me reliable data at home. Now with T-Mobile messing with the way non LTE devices use the network by forcing edge, I am stuck with ZERO carriers who can give me data at my house. The only exception is on my iPad with T-Mobile and that is only because the iPad has LTE.

 

[Satnam1989]

I went with TMO over AIO because:
- AIO is an ATT company, I had been with ATT since the first iPhone, and I am with ATT for TV and internet, and I am just disgusted to have given them so much money in exchange of such a poor service.
- AIO employees are a bunch of liars or ignorant: they deny (I have spoken to 5 of them) having anything to do with ATT beside using their towers, they will tell you their speed is not capped, although it is, etc... typical ATT and disgusting
- "4G speed" is not full LTE, they cap it, as stated somewhere in their terms and conditions

btw, you mention the TMO options with tax and fees, you might also consider the prepaid option, which has the most of the same characteristics, but without the fees...

Actually all SUB/MVNO carriers employees will tell you they have nothing to do with their Parent Service provider (ex AT&T) and how they are a standalone company....Its not just AIO, This happens in Canada as well...Rogers (Owns Fido & Chatr Wireless), the Sub Carrier (Chatr & Fido) Employees always say "We are not affiliated with Rogers, We are a independent company" and occasionally will say "We use their towers through our service agreement".

Its a natural way, no brand name wants to give credit to other brand news except Net10 and Straight Talk who jus throw it out there but then again the CS is terrible and they actually don't have any physical kiosks or stores.

As always I recommend people use callingmart.com to load up AT&T $60 GoPhone Plan because they have 10% off coupons every month = $54 Total - Beats T-Mobile and AIO plan as it offers Unlimited International Texting + Full Speed 4G + LTE - I have gotten 15-30Mbps+ on regular basis

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I have noticed that T-Mobile is doing something I do not like lately. It seems like they are forcing phones in some areas to prefer edge over HSPA+. I have noticed this too many times over the past month on my Nexus 4 and iPhone 4S and Nexus 7. I'll do a speedtest after downloading an app that takes ten minutes to download and find that I am getting about 42Kbps.

I can fix this by turning on airplane mode for a few seconds and then turning it off. The phones are back on HSPA+ until the next time which can be a few minutes later, to later that day or the next day but it will happen again.

The only device that it is not happening with is on my iPad Mini which stays on LTE.

Not sure what my plans are but I have till the 12th to decide.

I was using T-Mobile for my Nexus 7 as well but renewed my AT&T data plan for it yesterday because of this forced edge thing and didn't renew T-Mobile on my iPad, I'm using AT&T on it as well now.

I just wish AT&T could give me reliable data at home. Now with T-Mobile messing with the way non LTE devices use the network by forcing edge, I am stuck with ZERO carriers who can give me data at my house. The only exception is on my iPad with T-Mobile and that is only because the iPad has LTE.

I highly doubt they are physically forcing EDGE upon you, realistically the issue is that your area must have low HSPA+ 1700MHz (Nexus 4 and 7) and 1900MHz (iPhone 4S) coverage or bandwidth...remember just because a tower is present doesn't mean its going to give you the service you need if it doesn't have the capacity required (capacity will decrease based on # of users in the towers radius) - So your smartphones will drop the next best signal available which in your case = EDGE....Also signal bars aren't always true representation of what the actual signal strength may be.

Also do keep in mind that T-Mobile's 1900MHz HSPA+21Mbps & 1700MHz HSPA+42Mbps 4G Frequencies have lower building penetration vs AT&T's 850MHz HSPA+21Mbps 3G/4G Frequency (AT&T Also has 1900MHz which phones automatically switch when inside phones use 850MHz)

 

[user-name-here]

As always I recommend people use callingmart.com to load up AT&T $60 GoPhone Plan because they have 10% off coupons every month = $54 Total - Beats T-Mobile and AIO plan as it offers Unlimited International Texting + Full Speed 4G + LTE - I have gotten 15-30Mbps+ on regular basis

Great advice thanks

Now that I think about it, I wonder if there is any benefit at all of AIO wireless over the $54 GoPhone plan option?

 

[EstaVidaLoca]

If nothing else is certain on this forum and Howard Forums I know that you can find AutoUnion39 in every single T-mobile thread trying to derail it as if he works for the competition. We all know that you hate T-mobile and by now you should know that we don't care.

 

[Satnam1989]

Great advice thanks

Now that I think about it, I wonder if there is any benefit at all of AIO wireless over the $54 GoPhone plan option?

AIO $55 vs AT&T $60 ($54 via Callingmart 10% coupon)

AIO $55 Plan Pro's
AIO = Unlimited 2G/EDGE Internet Once 2GB Data Bucket used

AIO $55 Plan Con's:
- No International Texting
- Limited Speed 4G + LTE
- $1 More than AT&T GoPhone Plan

AT&T $60 [$54] Plan Pro's:
- Unlimited International Texting
- Full Speed 4G + LTE
- $1 Cheaper than AIO

AT&T $60 [$54] Plan Con's:
- No 2G/EDGE Unlimited Data - Must Purchase $10/1GB If you use more than 2GB/Month.

Please keep in mind that AIO may not throttle your data right now and that can be purely due to the carrier being new/fresh so AT&T/AIO would/will want to keep the small portion of customers under AIO brand Happy to lure more customers on board, but Straight Talk was like that as well until people starting doing the Nokia E63 SIM Swap trick on iPhones and later with the BYOP program which only led to accounts being disabled for people who went over the "Soft - never made clear cap" StraightTalk had in place....mind you not all customers got burnt but there was quiet a buzz...

 

[Akack]

I use at anywhere from 5-20 GB of data each month since I'm on the truly unlimited with no throttling of data on T Mobile. I am fortunate enough to live in a metro area that has great T Mobile coverage, and most places I go to as decent coverage as well. We were in Denver and Vail Colorado last week and had great 4G coverage there as well.

The other carriers can't even touch TMobiles pricing with the amount of data I use a month. Plus I have a family plan with 3 lines on it AND a 10% corp discount!!!

 

[mlody]

Actually all SUB/MVNO carriers employees will tell you they have nothing to do with their Parent Service provider (ex AT&T) and how they are a standalone company....Its not just AIO, This happens in Canada as well...Rogers (Owns Fido & Chatr Wireless), the Sub Carrier (Chatr & Fido) Employees always say "We are not affiliated with Rogers, We are a independent company" and occasionally will say "We use their towers through our service agreement".

Its a natural way, no brand name wants to give credit to other brand news except Net10 and Straight Talk who jus throw it out there but then again the CS is terrible and they actually don't have any physical kiosks or stores.

As always I recommend people use callingmart.com to load up AT&T $60 GoPhone Plan because they have 10% off coupons every month = $54 Total - Beats T-Mobile and AIO plan as it offers Unlimited International Texting + Full Speed 4G + LTE - I have gotten 15-30Mbps+ on regular basis

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I highly doubt they are physically forcing EDGE upon you, realistically the issue is that your area must have low HSPA+ 1700MHz (Nexus 4 and 7) and 1900MHz (iPhone 4S) coverage or bandwidth...remember just because a tower is present doesn't mean its going to give you the service you need if it doesn't have the capacity required (capacity will decrease based on # of users in the towers radius) - So your smartphones will drop the next best signal available which in your case = EDGE....Also signal bars aren't always true representation of what the actual signal strength may be.

Also do keep in mind that T-Mobile's 1900MHz HSPA+21Mbps & 1700MHz HSPA+42Mbps 4G Frequencies have lower building penetration vs AT&T's 850MHz HSPA+21Mbps 3G/4G Frequency (AT&T Also has 1900MHz which phones automatically switch when inside phones use 850MHz)

I have experienced the same thing with iPhone 4S in Chicago. It was my transitional phone (got iPhone 5s now), so I only had to deal with this crap for less then a month, but it was very painful.
The indicator would still typically say 4G but the speeds most of the time were Edge like and either reboot or airplain mode could temporarily fix it - in many cases Edge speeds would return in under few minutes.
The iPhone 5S works a bit better, but still crap compared to Verizon which I had for few years. I am in the middle of several towers - the closest one is not LTE yet, but when I leave my apartment and drive half mile I get LTE signal; however, the speeds are about the same or even worse as the 4G. The thing I am disappointed the most are the upload speeds - under 1.0 Mb even on the LTE - have seen 2-3 Mb uploads in the different parts of city, so I am not too convinced that things will change any time soon - especially that most of the areas already show LTE - my guess is that T-Mobile is done there and I shouldn't expect any changes any time soon.