Should I switch from AT&T to T-Mobile?
September 4, 2022 2:32 PM Subscribe
I'm in the market for a new iPhone (will likely be getting the iPhone 14 when it drops) and I'm trying to decide whether to change carriers. I figured this was a good question for the hive mind.
So I've been with AT&T and its predecessor entities for 20-plus years, since it was...Cingular Wireless, I think? One of those. I know people complain endlessly about AT&T, but I've never had any trouble with it except that it's way overpriced, and that's even with a 20 percent discount I get through my employer. T-Mobile has a very good rate for people 55 and over (that's me) and I've heard decent things about the customer service.
However, as I said, I've never had any trouble at all with AT&T, and their coverage really is excellent in the areas I travel to, so I'm hesitant about switching. I was literally smack in the middle of Otisco Lake up in the Finger Lakes last week and I got perfect service in the boat; same with the middle of a hiking trail at Green Lakes. I've heard that T-Mobile service can be spotty in some rural areas, and certain parts of Onondaga County, where I spend a fair amount of time, probably qualify.
I know they're both pretty bad as corporate citizens by donating to the GOP and so on, but I think it's hard to find a major US corporation that isn't, at this point. (I'm not going to be switching to a small carrier right now, so please don't suggest that -- I'm just trying to figure out whether it's worth it to switch from AT&T to T-Mobile.)
Does anyone have any experience with switching from one to the other, or any really good or bad experiences with T-Mobile, particularly with the coverage? The most important consideration to me right now is the coverage, although I'd obviously rather not put up with deeply shitty customer service.
So I've been with AT&T and its predecessor entities for 20-plus years, since it was...Cingular Wireless, I think? One of those. I know people complain endlessly about AT&T, but I've never had any trouble with it except that it's way overpriced, and that's even with a 20 percent discount I get through my employer. T-Mobile has a very good rate for people 55 and over (that's me) and I've heard decent things about the customer service.
However, as I said, I've never had any trouble at all with AT&T, and their coverage really is excellent in the areas I travel to, so I'm hesitant about switching. I was literally smack in the middle of Otisco Lake up in the Finger Lakes last week and I got perfect service in the boat; same with the middle of a hiking trail at Green Lakes. I've heard that T-Mobile service can be spotty in some rural areas, and certain parts of Onondaga County, where I spend a fair amount of time, probably qualify.
I know they're both pretty bad as corporate citizens by donating to the GOP and so on, but I think it's hard to find a major US corporation that isn't, at this point. (I'm not going to be switching to a small carrier right now, so please don't suggest that -- I'm just trying to figure out whether it's worth it to switch from AT&T to T-Mobile.)
Does anyone have any experience with switching from one to the other, or any really good or bad experiences with T-Mobile, particularly with the coverage? The most important consideration to me right now is the coverage, although I'd obviously rather not put up with deeply shitty customer service.
T-mobile recently announced a partnership with SpaceX to provide "near complete coverage" to the US via SpaceX's Starlink satellites. First coverage for texting only, followed by voice and data.
So that could help you decide, depending on how you feel about Musk and SpaceX.
My housemates and I have been on T-mobile's family plan for about 10 years now and haven't had any negative experiences with customer service or coverage. We mainly move around in the Boston area and NYC, though, which have pretty good coverage under any plan.
posted by invincible summer at 2:50 PM on September 4, 2022
So that could help you decide, depending on how you feel about Musk and SpaceX.
My housemates and I have been on T-mobile's family plan for about 10 years now and haven't had any negative experiences with customer service or coverage. We mainly move around in the Boston area and NYC, though, which have pretty good coverage under any plan.
posted by invincible summer at 2:50 PM on September 4, 2022
I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile about 5 years ago. I ain't never going back. I have a house in the Adirondacks and I get better coverage with TMUS than with T, but still spotty in the mountains. Good coverage all the way up the Thruway/Northway though.
The over 55 all you can eat rate is terrific. It is all in. Taxes and bs fees included. I also get Netflix for free, MLB for free, I think Discovery+ for 6 months free and other small freebies that add up.
I am actually on the Magenta plan bc I have kep my kids on the plan even though they are now married (one), Living with SO (one), and 25 with a real job (one). I have up to 50gb of data before they say they may throttle. My kids have hit it and did not get throttled. I hit it one month bc I was testing it. Do you know how hard it is to hit 50gb a month? Lots of streaming and lots of streaming stock data.
If I were you, the only reason I would hesitate is coverage. If you cannot get coverage on a lake you frequent, that is not good. I get T-Mobile coverage on Lake George, Brant Lake, Friends Lake, Blue Mountain Lake. Some Raquette Lake, definitely in Old Forge.The Finger Lakes are not the Adirondacks though. My point is that TMUS is constantly improving their coverage area with the 5 g rollout and they do appreciate needing a signal in the middle of a lake.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:06 PM on September 4, 2022
The over 55 all you can eat rate is terrific. It is all in. Taxes and bs fees included. I also get Netflix for free, MLB for free, I think Discovery+ for 6 months free and other small freebies that add up.
I am actually on the Magenta plan bc I have kep my kids on the plan even though they are now married (one), Living with SO (one), and 25 with a real job (one). I have up to 50gb of data before they say they may throttle. My kids have hit it and did not get throttled. I hit it one month bc I was testing it. Do you know how hard it is to hit 50gb a month? Lots of streaming and lots of streaming stock data.
If I were you, the only reason I would hesitate is coverage. If you cannot get coverage on a lake you frequent, that is not good. I get T-Mobile coverage on Lake George, Brant Lake, Friends Lake, Blue Mountain Lake. Some Raquette Lake, definitely in Old Forge.The Finger Lakes are not the Adirondacks though. My point is that TMUS is constantly improving their coverage area with the 5 g rollout and they do appreciate needing a signal in the middle of a lake.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:06 PM on September 4, 2022
Best answer: If your current phone is paid off and supports eSIM, you can get your phone unlocked and try T-Mobile alongside at&t for a month without changing anything about your at&t service. They have some pretty cheap prepaid plans.
AT&T's postpaid pricing for an individual line is pretty terrible these days, though it's not too bad if you have 3+ lines and a work discount, which brings it down to $50 a month or less per line for Unlimited Premium. Not as good as some retired plans were, but you get more data and free roaming in most of the western hemisphere. Plus at&t has some excellent deals on Android phones, not that that would matter to you.
posted by wierdo at 4:18 PM on September 4, 2022
AT&T's postpaid pricing for an individual line is pretty terrible these days, though it's not too bad if you have 3+ lines and a work discount, which brings it down to $50 a month or less per line for Unlimited Premium. Not as good as some retired plans were, but you get more data and free roaming in most of the western hemisphere. Plus at&t has some excellent deals on Android phones, not that that would matter to you.
posted by wierdo at 4:18 PM on September 4, 2022
I have T-Mobile and was just in the Finger Lakes a few weeks ago. It was fine in towns but I lost service at times even on relatively major roads, e.g. on Route 79 between Ithaca and Watkins Glen.
The big benefit of T-Mobile is international service. I have a very inexpensive plan and it gives me 5G service in Canada and slow-but-usable Internet pretty much everywhere in the world. So, Dubai, you're good, but central NY, you might be out of luck.
posted by goingonit at 5:01 PM on September 4, 2022
The big benefit of T-Mobile is international service. I have a very inexpensive plan and it gives me 5G service in Canada and slow-but-usable Internet pretty much everywhere in the world. So, Dubai, you're good, but central NY, you might be out of luck.
posted by goingonit at 5:01 PM on September 4, 2022
I really like TMobile, I don't do business with AT&T. Nope. $50 per month for everything. Yup.
posted by Oyéah at 5:37 PM on September 4, 2022
posted by Oyéah at 5:37 PM on September 4, 2022
I have T-Mobile and I love it in urban areas. The moment you leave a city service is gone. In a city it’s fast and I almost never have problems. International is great and I’m pretty sure I don’t take advantage of all the weird deals but I also have cheap Netflix through them so it’s not too bad.
posted by Uncle at 8:54 PM on September 4, 2022
posted by Uncle at 8:54 PM on September 4, 2022
Echoing what you’ve heard and what everyone else here has said: great customer service, spotty in rural areas. I’ve been w T-Mobile my entire adult life, and their customer service has always been fantastic (though I haven’t had to call them for anything recently). I have noticed that the coverage in rural areas has gotten progressively better over the years.
One other perk I’ve actually used a lot: You get a free hour of Wifi on Delta and American Airlines flights.
posted by a.steele at 9:52 PM on September 4, 2022
One other perk I’ve actually used a lot: You get a free hour of Wifi on Delta and American Airlines flights.
posted by a.steele at 9:52 PM on September 4, 2022
I guess it depends on the network coverage at your location, but if you get good coverage with AT&T, and maybe just want to save money, consider Cricket Wireless. They are a subsidiary of AT&T, but their rates are sooooo much cheaper. We switched about 8 years ago and are very happy. They keep upping our data allowance with no extra charges, and it is easy to use the app to up/downgrade account services. For example, we can up our service level when we go to Canada to get coverage there and then downgrade it once we return, and we end up paying like $5 for our cellular needs for a weekend in Montreal.
With our automatic payment set up we get $5 off per month and I think we pay $60 a month for TWO lines each with 5GB of data.
posted by terrapin at 5:36 AM on September 5, 2022
With our automatic payment set up we get $5 off per month and I think we pay $60 a month for TWO lines each with 5GB of data.
posted by terrapin at 5:36 AM on September 5, 2022
I have considered this as well, and there are only two things holding me to AT&T -- I've got a pretty good rate plan that's grandfathered in from years and years ago, and I have AT&T gigabit fiber internet (which is faaaantastic and would become more expensive if I dropped AT&T mobile).
...if those sorts of considerations don't apply to you, I'd switch.
posted by aramaic at 9:22 AM on September 5, 2022
...if those sorts of considerations don't apply to you, I'd switch.
posted by aramaic at 9:22 AM on September 5, 2022
AT&T to T-Mobile switcher here. The coverage maps are pretty danged accurate, check your usual haunts. We have been way happier with T-Mobile reliability, though some of that may have just been in improvements in cell phones since the days of the iPhone 3.
And aside from one attempted phone number hijacking, which we caught quickly and managed to solve, service has been great.
posted by straw at 10:56 AM on September 5, 2022
And aside from one attempted phone number hijacking, which we caught quickly and managed to solve, service has been great.
posted by straw at 10:56 AM on September 5, 2022
Best answer: One reason I've stayed with AT&T is because they employ CWA union members. I'm sure AT&T also tries, but T-Mobile have definitely been union-busters in the past.
posted by homesickness at 11:56 AM on September 7, 2022
posted by homesickness at 11:56 AM on September 7, 2022
Response by poster: So I signed up for the eSIM trial with T-Mobile. Result: the service in the NYC subway system is nowhere near as good as AT&T’s. I’m going up to Onondaga County this weekend and I’ll see how it is up there and on Amtrak, but the subway service alone is probably a deal breaker, so between that and the union issue, I’m likely going to stick with AT&T, at least for the next two years. Many thanks to everyone who responded!
posted by holborne at 8:34 AM on September 12, 2022
posted by holborne at 8:34 AM on September 12, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
But the coverage is spotty from what I can tell. T-Mobile seems to not work in many rural areas, at least in the Northeast.
posted by Liquidwolf at 2:42 PM on September 4, 2022 [3 favorites]