How Frustrating

[power5]

How long does your faster speed last? What is your soft cap? When do they start throttling you? Let me guess, you will claim that you do not get throttled, even though its in black and white on the T-Mobile site. Data speeds are throttled down after a certain bandwidth. I think it was as low as a few hundred mb, not even a full gb. But that may be old. I was looking into T-Mo last push they had for their unlimited $50 plans, but that sentence sticks in my mind.

 

[brmiller1976]

No soft cap -- ever.

My bandwidth averages about 14 mb/second.

Data speeds are only throttled if you choose one of the plans that includes tethering. If you go for the unlimited plan option ($20/month), there is no throttling, ever.

 

[jdevenberg]

LTE is, in many cases, overrated. I know several people with LTE AT&T and VZW phones who get lower sustained data throughput than I do.

T-Mobile's LTE rollout is also going to be LTE-Advanced, not the gen 1 stuff the other carriers are going with.

Here's an example of how T-Mobile HSPA+ is more than adequate:

4G Speed Test (LTE vs HSPA+ or AT&T vs T Mobile) on Samsung Galaxy S3 - YouTube

(As you can see, HSPA+28 on T-Mobile is over twice as fast as AT&T LTE because it has WAY more backhaul, so it can hit the top speed of the technology much more easily). That's as important -- often more important -- than the tech used.

Not to mention, the speed test will get increasingly expensive on the AT&T device as he hits the data cap...

So T-Mobile is cheaper and MUCH faster, and will have top-flight Windows Phones, but it's not a great choice for most people, because...?

Of course they are rolling out lte advanced. They waited 2-3 years after Verizon and Att to start the roll out. They are even behind Sprint. If they didn't then they would look even more ridiculous. T-Mobile is not much faster. In certain specific and rare circumstances, T-Mobile's network may have faster bursts of speed, but having used both HSPA+ 42 and lte, you get much faster sustained speeds than hspa+ with lte.

I wouldn't say a LOT of people. Only about 5% of the population lives outside of a signal area.

I just find all the T-Mo bashing strange, along with the addiction to high-priced plans with data caps. The vast majority of posters complaining about the Big Two would get better service at a lower price on T-Mo, if they'd just give it a shot.

When I was on tmobile, I had great signal at home, but on a commute along a major interstate between two major cities, with many cities along the way, I spent most of the hour drive on 2g. So if you never go anywhere, the coverage is fine. If you want to save money, the coverage is fine. The data speeds are good, not lte great, but better than 3g. I'm not hating on T-Mobile, they are cheap and have okay coverage, and that makes them a good choice for people who can't afford or don't want to pay the prices of the other carriers. What I have a problem with is people spreading misinformation. You obviously have very little first hand experience with lte. I used to say the same thing you are saying now when I was on tmo, but the simple fact is AT&T has faster data, better coverage, better phi e selection, and that you get what you pay for.