[xplorer]

Hi,

I am considering switching from AT&T to T-Mobile as my contract is almost up, I live in SF Bay Area and have to drive around fifty miles each directions. I bought a curve 8320 to try out and seem to be very happy with it. I had Razr from AT&T, which did not work, in my home or at work but it worked on road. With this 8320, it works in my home and at work using UMA.

I will appreciate any suggestions.

[ezrunner]

Most important here is will the phone in this case Blackberry, work when and where you need it. If TMO works for you go with them, might want to try an ATT BB as well they tend to get better reception than the razr particularly if it is the first generation of razr

[xplorer]

Thanks for reply ezrunner. I forgot to mention that I did try Curve from AT&T bought as upgrade phone and returned it. Although it had much better reception then Razr but it still was dropping calls in my home as well as at my work. Since, these are two places where I am most of the times I need a phone that works.

My sister has used T-Mobile from 2003 to 2005 and she did not have a good experience with it. Her calls would drop all the time even on common freeways. This is what concerns me but for me this T-Mobile phone works fine at work and at home using UMA. I have not experienced any drop calls even on road so far but again I have not driven everywhere. Only had it five days.

[ezrunner]

Just remember common highways also equate to many drivers who are also using their phones.

each tower has a limited call capacity so as you are driving your phone jumps from one tower to the next, if there is no room on the next tower for your phone to jump to you get dropped call!! keep that in mind to especially if you are driving during rush hour

I use ATT for work, I sell their wireless
I have TMO for my personal ...... used to sell TMO and still have dealer plan which is dirt cheap! so i keep it

[flash24]

I say go for it, with UMA/WiFi, the reception is great. This is one of the reason why I've been wanting the 8320, mainly for the WiFi because I have a terrible reception at home.

[hchai]

I am also in the Bay area, more specifically in Palo Alto and Mtn View. Currently using T-mo and found the reception is not good at home and in the office. However, everywhere else has great reception with T-mo.

If it matters, I am switching between a Blackberry 8700g and an unlocked 8525. Went to the store last night and played with the new curve for a while And all I can say is wow. Waiting for another month till I will be eligible for an upgrade.

[0rland0]

Xplorer I live in San Francisco and am very happy and satisfied with TMo. I used to be with att->cingular->att a looong time ago then switched to TMo and never looked back. I've used a bunch of Nokia's, a Pearl and now an 8320 Curve with TMo. TMo also has the cheapest BBPlan I know of. So, yes I say go for it! Have fun!

[wirelessforever]

Originally Posted by xplorer

My sister has used T-Mobile from 2003 to 2005 and she did not have a good experience with it. Her calls would drop all the time even on common freeways.

Problem clearly wasn't T-Mobile. In 2003 to 2005, Cingular and T-Mobile basically shared the same network and towers in California. If your sister had problems with T-Mobile, she would have had the exact same problems with Cingular (assuming she used the same phone). A large percentage of the time, the problem with wireless connectivity in cases like this is the phone.

After the merger of Cingular and the old AT&T Wireless, the FCC required that Cingular divest themselves of their ownership interests in the common network that they shared with T-Mobile. Today T-Mobile owns that network completely and AT&T rents space on it.

T-Mobile continues to be the best GSM carrier in California with the lowest costs. If you are using AT&T, you are paying more and getting less.

[greggebhardt]

Coverage where you will be using your device is everything.

Without coverage even the best of devices suck.

[nrivas]

I've been with Tmobile since 2001. Have been very happy with them. Their coverage isn't as good as Sprint though (which I have a work supplied cellphone for). Tmo has good coverage if you're fairly near the major highways.

However, with the new Curve and UMA I now have reception where I usually did not. I used to have to plop open my laptop to make VOIP calls via the Net/Wifi. Now I can do it all from my new Curve. This thing rocks!

[xplorer]

Thank you everyone, this is a very nice community, and I obtained various individual viewpoints and lot of information, which would have not been possible if had I not posted here. I am now even more leaning towards T-Mobile. I will let you know once I make the switch. I still have my contract until December with AT&T unless they let me get out of it without early termination fee.

[cowzrul]

I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile. Much happier with the clarity of calls and ability to get service in my home. AT&T let me out of my contract early with no fees because I had virtually no service in my home. To date I only have one complaint with T-Mobile and it is pretty annoying. I can't access my tmobile because the number I was issued is still linked to the closed account from the prior customer. Very lame! I have been on the phone daily with T-Mobile and they say it is a glitch that will eventually correct itself. This is day 13 and still isn't fixed. arggh!

Anyway, overall for my location I am happier with T-Mobile. GL

[xplorer]

Cowzrul how did you get out of AT&T contract early? I am also in same situation as you and I do not have any signals at home or at work. I used have signals at my old office. My office shifted a month ago and since then all, I listen to is, voice mail left by people. I want to get out of the contract ASAP. I have only two months left anyway.

[cowzrul]

I almost two hours on the phone with tech support while they attempted to send updates to my phone, manually route me to certain towers, etc. No dice...no service in my house. I was 4 months into a new Family Plan and had been complaining since day one.

[VickyPaz]

Back in 2004 I switched from AT&T to TMobile too. My service with AT&T in my area sucked. After several calls to them about the problem, I finally got to a high level teir customer rep who worked with me and had me trying out all these phones to see if the problem could be solved. It couldn't, so they lowered my early termination fee from about $200 to about $80. I know some people who got out of it completely, but I wasn't that lucky. Anyway, have had TM and haven't looked back since.

[Stinsonddog]

If you travel, note that TM has only of two GSM spectrums in the US. Otherwise you roam but TM will try to hold its signal so it suffers. TM may be better at home but if you travel, just note. The missing spectrum, 850, is the one that goes into buildings.

[xplorer]

Thank you Stinsonddog. Yes, I do have to drive about 50 mile every directions. In my travel route, T-Mobile has been fine during trial. I want to switch is because I do not get signals at my home or even at my work. I used to get signals in my previous office but a month ago we moved to new office and since then I only check voice mails most of the time as the phone does not ring. The phone from AT&T is pretty much useless unless I am on road.

[harveyjc_2001]

Originally Posted by xplorer

Thank you Stinsonddog. Yes, I do have to drive about 50 mile every directions. In my travel route, T-Mobile has been fine during trial. I want to switch is because I do not get signals at my home or even at my work. I used to get signals in my previous office but a month ago we moved to new office and since then I only check voice mails most of the time as the phone does not ring. The phone from AT&T is pretty much useless unless I am on road.

No signal at home is a great reason to switch to T-Mobile. If you add the Hotspot@Home service you will have a rock-solid WiFi connection with the 8320, and you can make as many calls as you want.

To me that's the great thing about WiFi -- it's about the connection, not the speed. I went from zero bars in my house to 100% with UMA.

[xplorer]

Yes now only if I can get out of contract, which ends in two months anyway. I called them this morning and explained to them my problem but they are not willing to waive early termination fee. I also suggested to them that I am willing to pay whatever I have paid in past two bills for next two bills right now as early termination if you let me get out but they refused. They said only full termination fee applies even if I am terminating one day before contract end date.

Now, that gives me all the reasons not to go back to them if I can, once I get out of their grip.

[Radio Flyer]

For two months, don't worry about the early termination.

Get the new phone through TMO. It will come with a new phone number. Put your old phone on unconditional forwarding to the new phone. For two months you'll pay for both services, but you may even ba able to downgrade your ATT plan (still costs less than an ET fee). Once the ATT contract is up, port the number to TMO.