Anyone jumping ship from AT&T to T-Mobile?

[Aaron M]

I had been planning on jumping from AT&T to StraightTalk when our contract ends this November. $45 for unlimited everything and it uses AT&T's network anyway. But now I'm pondering taking our two Lumia 920's and jumping to T-Mobile. Their new "Un-carrier" plans are really good. For the un-informed here is a quick summary.

No contract. No phone subsidy. Unlimited calls/texts. 500MB of unthrottled data, unlimited 2G data after that (so no overage fees!!!).
1st line $50. 2nd line $30. Lines 3-5 are $10 each. So if you had 5 lines that would be $110, or $22 per line!

You can up to 2GB for $10 extra per line, or Unlimited for $20 extra per line.

So I just wanted to have a conversation with other AT&T or T-Mobile users. How feasible is it to use my AT&T Lumia 920 on T-Mobiles network? I know the 920 lacks the 1700Mhz band, but I do live near DC where I hear they are deploying 3G for the 1900 band. So especially if there is someone in the Northern VA area that is running an AT&T WP8 on T-Mobile, I would love to hear from you.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Moving to Carrier Discussion Lounge.

 

[Pal2006]

I have a Lumia 810 ( which I love.) on t-mobile USA, and I have the truly unlimited plan. All I can say is that I'm really happy with them.

 

[evilrobot]

I switched from AT&T to Straight talk this January when my contract expired, everything has been pretty good until I needed to forward my number to a landline to take a telephone interview - turns out that StraightTalk doesn't support call forwarding. So I, like you, am now looking into switching (again) to the new T-Mobile plans with my AT&T Lumia 920s. I get '4G' right now on straighttalk, but I too would like to find out if I can get 3G on T-mobile as that is fast enough for my needs - how did you find out that they are deploying 3G to the 1900 band in DC? I somehow doubt they are doing that where I live (Stillwater, OK).

 

[Aaron M]

Thanks. Sorry, I didn't know where exactly to place the thread.

 

[Aaron M]

I have a Lumia 810 ( which I love.) on t-mobile USA, and I have the truly unlimited plan. All I can say is that I'm really happy with them.

Where in the US do you live? Basically, the last anecdotal evidence I have about T-Mobile was that it had bad coverage, but the person left them back in 2007, so its outdated.

 

[Aaron M]

I switched from AT&T to Straight talk this January when my contract expired, everything has been pretty good until I needed to forward my number to a landline to take a telephone interview - turns out that StraightTalk doesn't support call forwarding. So I, like you, am now looking into switching (again) to the new T-Mobile plans with my AT&T Lumia 920s. I get '4G' right now on straighttalk, but I too would like to find out if I can get 3G on T-mobile as that is fast enough for my needs - how did you find out that they are deploying 3G to the 1900 band in DC? I somehow doubt they are doing that where I live (Stillwater, OK).

There is actually a website where people can report sightings of 3G on TMobile with their 1900 band AT&T phones. But I can't find it right now!

Anyways, the most sure fire method is to just call your local T-Mobile store and ask them. I called one here and they knew right away what I was talking about and actually told me the expansion plans for the near future. T-Mobile is trying to win over AT&T customers, so I can see them expanding their 1900 band in more areas.

Edit: By the way, I didn't realize you could get "4G" with straight talk. is it the HSPA+ or LTE?

 

[eric12341]

The website is Sightings of T-Mobile 3G/4G/HSPA+ coverage on 1900MHz (PCS/UMTS band II) , I've been with T-mobile since November 2011 and have been quite pleased with the services and speeds I'm getting, especially for the price. But I live near Chicago so that doesn't help you out as far as service but check the coverage maps wherever you'll be and if there's coverage you should be fine.

 

[HeyCori]

I switched from AT&T to Straight talk this January when my contract expired, everything has been pretty good until I needed to forward my number to a landline to take a telephone interview - turns out that StraightTalk doesn't support call forwarding. So I, like you, am now looking into switching (again) to the new T-Mobile plans with my AT&T Lumia 920s. I get '4G' right now on straighttalk, but I too would like to find out if I can get 3G on T-mobile as that is fast enough for my needs - how did you find out that they are deploying 3G to the 1900 band in DC? I somehow doubt they are doing that where I live (Stillwater, OK).

Be aware that the AT&T branded Lumia 920 does not support T-Mobile's 1700 band for 4G. You will only get 2G speeds until T-Mobile refarms their towers to work on the 1900 frequency (currently a work in progress)

http://www.nokia.com/us-en/phones/phone/lumia920/specifications/

 

[blackhorse6]

We have been waiting for tmobile to get the Iphone (well my wife has). Now I have to try to sale my white 920, I just wish I didn't buy the extra square trade warranty for it haha.

 

[anon(5335877)]

Be aware that the AT&T branded Lumia 920 does not support T-Mobile's 1700 band for 4G. You will only get 2G speeds until T-Mobile refarms their towers to work on the 1900 frequency (currently a work in progress)

Nokia Lumia 920 Specifications - Nokia - USA

To be clear, it doesn't support HSPA+ on AWS (1700/2100), but it should support LTE on AWS.

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

This should ease tour concern, but maybe not for regional issues.

I have a backup Samsung Focus Flash that is an ATT phone and use it on a line on my Tmobile contract. I now receive 3G signals on an ATT phone. The fastest its been was 5 down and 3 up

 

[palandri]

Currently Straight Talk doesn't have AT&T SIM cards, only T-Mobile. They may come back in the future.

If you are in a refarmed T-Mobile area, you should be fine and will get 3G on T-Mobile.

 

[St_Deborah]

Thinking of it , but not sute how T-Mobile's service is in my area (I moved). Also if I go with T-Mobile, I wouldn't do it through Steaight Talk. They are okay, but CS combined with some of their "limitations" can be horrid...

 

[Hengst2KSE]

I am pretty sure this is the route I am going. I am just waiting for At&T to unlock my phone, a Nokia Lumia 920. I live in the DC area and will therefore get decent coverage, but more to the point, I paid for my phone in cash, so jumping to 50 dollars a month is the way to go with me. I have access to wifi at work and home, so I should be in a great position.

 

[palandri]

I am pretty sure this is the route I am going. I am just waiting for At&T to unlock my phone, a Nokia Lumia 920. I live in the DC area and will therefore get decent coverage, but more to the point, I paid for my phone in cash, so jumping to 50 dollars a month is the way to go with me. I have access to wifi at work and home, so I should be in a great position.

My neighbor's son works at T-Mobile. T-Mobile has been re-farmed in Chicago to cover AT&T 3G data. He told me he has signed up quite a few AT&T customers that brought their own AT&T phones. He told me they get 5.0 Mbps down and 0.750 Mbps up.

 

[blackhorse6]

My neighbor's son tonight works at T-Mobile. T-Mobile has been re-farmed in Chicago to cover AT&T 3G data. He told me he has signed up quite a few AT&T customers that brought their own AT&T phones. He told me they get 5.0 Mbps down and 0.750 Mbps up.

I hope this spreads to the rest of Illinois.

 

[theefman]

One question comes to mind, now that Tmo has the "almighty" iphone will they continue to refarm their network since that was the reason for it in the first place?

 

[HeyCori]

One question comes to mind, now that Tmo has the "almighty" iphone will they continue to refarm their network since that was the reason for it in the first place?

That's an interesting question. T-Mobile's spectrum deal with AT&T only lasts 7 years, then who knows after that. T-Mobile has made significant progress in several key areas. You can see from the map where the refarming has taken place.

Sightings of T-Mobile 3G/4G/HSPA+ coverage on 1900MHz (PCS/UMTS band II)

The deal happened at the end of 2011, so they still have another 6 years or so to refarm their towers. But again, what's going to happen when the deal expires? Presumably, AT&T doesn't want T-Mobile bumming their network and that 4G phone could drop down to Edge once the deal expires. Plus, the deal isn't nationwide. There are limits.

T-Mobile gets 7-year roaming deal, AWS spectrum as part of AT&T/T-Mobile breakup fee - FierceWireless

AT&T will give T-Mobile a seven-year UMTS roaming agreement that will allow T-Mobile to expand its coverage to 280 million POPs from 230 million today. T-Mobile will also get AWS spectrum from AT&T in 128 market areas, including in 12 of the top 20 markets in the United States: Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

It just seems like if you don't live in a key area then you're screwed and after seven years you're screwed regardless.

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

I'm on mobile and fot an 8x and already had a focus flash. I live in Indiana and my ATT phone gets 3G speeds. I always preferred mobile over att for simple reasons. Tmobiles 3G on newer phones are just as fast if not slightly slower than LTE from other companies.

I've always managed around 15 down and about 5-6 up using mobile.

ATT speeds are ridiculously slow in this area and its god send that mobile has coverage here.