Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with tmobile

iPhone without a SIM card vs. iPod Touch

hotdiggitydog — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:58:33 -0800

I'm being offered an iPhone for the same price as an iPod Touch, which I've been planning to get; which one should I get? What's the difference? Also, I may be switching from AT&T to T-Mobile soon; if I do, will I be able to use the unlocked iPhone without incurring charges for the internet like AT&T does automatically? Part 1: What kind of differences are there between an iPhone without a SIM card in it and an iPod Touch? Is there any significant difference between the two or should I just go with the iPod Touch?

Part 2: I don't want to put my SIM card in the iPhone because I have AT&T and I hear they automatically charge you for a data plan; if I switch to T-Mobile, can I use the unlocked iPhone without incurring extra charges? What features would I not be able to use?

It wasn't me!

47triple2 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:29:46 -0800

I got a T-Mobile Shadow today and I'm concerned that the battery water indicator has already been tripped. The indicator is a pink and white checker pattern but it looks really dark to the naked eye. Are they usually this dark or has it been tripped? (For reference, I have the latest Black/Burgundy T-Mobile Shadow (II) running WinMo 6.1.) Thanks!

I Envy the EnV (Yeah, I just wrote that. sigh)

47triple2 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:10:10 -0800

I have T-Mobile. I want an Lg EnV3. Suggestions? I was messing with one of the Lg EnV3's inside a Verizon store today and I love the keyboard and interface. I cannot switch to Verizon. What is a phone comparable to the EnV3 that is available on T-Mobile's network? Is it possible to get the EnV3 on T-Mobile's network? (Yes, I realize the whole CDMA vs. GSM thing.)

Thanks!

Is there any way to access the non-SD card memory in a G1 that won't boot up?

nomisxid — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:27:38 -0800

Is there any way to access the non-SD card memory in a G1 that won't boot up? I have a G1 that died last week. The problem seems to be in the power management circuitry; it won't charge a battery, won't turn on when plugged into the wall, and won't turn on with a battery fully charged in another G1.

T-Mobile stepped up to the plate and sent me a replacement phone quickly, and everything that was on the SD card survived transplanting. Thing is, I was using the app OI Notepad, which stored documents by default in the phone memory instead of the card.

Is there any way to get to those documents?

Why did T-Mobile try to charge me $6000?

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:36:44 -0800

T-Mobile just tried to charge my checking account almost $6000 despite the fact I don't have an account with T-Mobile. WTF? So I logged into my checking account the other day and found that that there were two charges that shouldn't be on there, both for $30. The description in it said they were from t-mobile.com and the two $30s were a "fee" because there were insufficient funds in my account to pay for two charges, one for about $4000 and the other for about $1800.

I do not have an account with T-Mobile, nor have I ever signed up for service with them. I called them and they told me that no one has opened an account under my name or SSN.

I also called my credit union. They refunded the $60 and blocked all further transactions to t-mobile.com.

Am I a victim of identity theft? I don't see how it could have happened. I have not lost my checkbook, my wallet or anything in it. I'm careful with my stuff. Also, I have less than $100 in my checking account right now (I'm a college student who basically lives paycheck to paycheck). Why would someone try to take out $6000 (and in two separate transactions)?

None of my other financial accounts seem to have been compromised. Nothing else is out of place.

I've changed all my passwords/log in info for all my accounts online. I'm running a virus scan. I looked up my credit report online and everything looks legit.

So why did T-Mobile try to take $6000 from me?

My iPhone is on strike... help!

ComeUndone — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:10:51 -0800

Help! My iPhone has decided to not connect to any cell-phone network. After happily owning an unlocked iPhone on T-Mobile for the past year or so, it has suddenly decided to quit working. It comes on fine, but when it tries to connect to a cell tower, it just says "Searching." or "No Service".
I'm at home, where I've consistently had 3-4 bars for the last year. If I go to manually select a network, it will display all the networks in the area, but when I select one, it tries to connect, then tells me that network is no longer available.
I've tried restarting the phone, restarting the phone after taking out the SIM card, restoring the phone from a backup, and restoring the phone from scratch. Much to my dismay, none of these things have worked.
My question is: Has anyone else ran into this problem with an unlocked iPhone? Or is there anyone who has any other ideas? I'm running out of ideas, and the hive mind is my last-ditch effort before I call T-Mobile and order a blackberry.

Do I get the G1??

nokry56 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:21:44 -0800

Thinking of buying a T-mobile G1. Have some questions about it. Also, is this going to come back to haunt me in a year? Right now I'm with Sprint and have been for a year. So fed up with Sprint's customer service and coverage area that I am very willing to pay the $200 ETF and switch.

I know T-Mobile doesn't have full 3G coverage - the area where I'm living is still on EDGE. How is the G1 with EDGE?

Right now I'm on a WinMo 6.1 phone and I hate it. I know I like Android, what are everyone's thoughts on the long-term viability of the G1? Will Android still be a good solution 1 year from now? I don't want to get into a 2 year contract with a phone that will be extremely outdated in a year.
Obviously the rate which cell phones are developed everything will be outdated in 2 years. My problem is that my WinMo feels absolutely ancient after a year and I don't want to experience the same thing with the G1.

Thoughts?

Disclaimer: I have read this post but it was 8 months ago.

Best practices for buying an unlocked HTC Magic

Plutor — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:20:18 -0800

I want an HTC Magic, badly. T-Mobile is sitting on it for probably the rest of the summer in order to prevent cannibalizing G1 sales. But I know they're for sale by Vodafone and Rogers will be shipping them in the next couple of weeks. What are the best practices for buying an unlocked cellphone? How can I keep from paying a boatload?
Are there any well-regarded unlocked phone retailers?
How can I be sure it'll work with my SIM?
Will I miss out on any functionality either before or after T-Mobile officially releases and supports the Magic?
What am I not considering?

Help prepare me for getting an iphone with tmobile!

Elminster24 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:59:06 -0800

iPhoneFilter: My grandpa wants to buy me an iPhone and I'm on tmobile--help me figure out what I need to do to get this purchased and working correctly! My grandfather has offered to buy me an iPhone. That said, I'm a (relatively) happy tmobile customer who currently has an old promo deal of theirs that no other cell phone provider (heck, not even tmobile themselves) can match in terms of price and features so switching to AT&T is not an option.

So, I know tmobile has 3G now and that people are apparently able to use iphones on tmobile. I've talked to my brother a bit who knows a bit about jailbreaking iphones, etc.

What do I need to know about this process? Some questions I've been wondering about are...

1. How do I go about buying this iPhone if I don't want to signup for AT&T? Can I just have my brother buy a new one "for himself"?

2. My brother said I need a 3G compatible SIM card. Right now I have a Razr v3t which I don't believe is 3g compatible (I got the SIM card before 3G was even out). Where can I purchase one and is it difficult to transfer stuff over?

3. Where can I find a good guide for getting a 3G iphone working on tmobile from start to finish?

4. What restrictions or limitations should I be aware of when using this iphone on tmobile?

5. Is there any risk in the future of getting my phone bricked by a mandatory Apple update?

6. Most importantly, what is the app store situation when using the iphone on tmobile? Do I have full access?

Sorry for all the questions...I'm just paranoid about doing this as I really want an iphone but want to make sure I'm not going to get screwed when I could get a Kindle 2 instead.

Howto: G1 on ATT&T?

blackout — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:51:16 -0800

Can I get the G1 or G2 (when it comes out) and use it on ATT&T without signing a contract with T-Mobile? More Inside In the next few months I'll be taking a job that will have me working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. ATT&T bought the company that has cell phone coverage offshore, they charge an arm and a leg for talk time, but data and texts are free (within your plan anyway). I want to take advantage of this.
I want a G1 (prefer a G2 when they come out in the next few months), but want to use ATT&T for the reasons listed above.
Right now I have a 2 year contract with Verizon which expires at the end of next month.
How can I get a G1 or G2 on ATT&T without signing a contract with T-Mobile, and how would the process with ATT&T go? After I signup do I just swap SIM cards?

Cell phone trouble

amro — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:40:10 -0800

Frequently, when people call my cell phone, I hear it ring at my end but they don't at their end. There's just... nothing. This has been going on for about the last month, and I'd say it happens on about 1/3 of the calls to my phone. Is the problem with my phone or with my service provider? It's a Motorola W490 and I use T-Mobile, if that makes a difference. I think the phone is about a year old.

How can I connect to the internet on my laptop via my cell phone?

letahl — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:06:10 -0800

How can I connect to the internet on my laptop via a TMobile cell phone? I am trying to get online at my new apartment. No DSL or cable, so trying to figure out how to connect to the internet on my Powerbook G4 via a cell phone. My current cell phone won't work (no data or usb support), but it gets great signal.

I am using TMobile via Flexpay with no contract. I have spoke with numerous reps and everyone tells me something totally different. The most recent guy in the Modem Support Department has told me that if I get a new-ish Blackberry (he suggested the Pearl since I'm strapped), and a USB cable, and the appropriate drivers, I can connect to the internet on my laptop via the cell phone at home. He said it would be $25 extra a month.

However, a TMobile Sales guy told me that Blackberries can't be used in this way. **NOTE: I do NOT care about texting, email, or sending funny photos of my dog via the cell phone.** I want to be able to call people on the phone, and somehow also use it to magically do my online work at home as well. The Sales guy said I needed a USB-enabled phone with a class 10 browser. The Modem Support guy said he didn't know what the Sales guy was talking about.

Finally, a TMobile lady told me that I just need a data-enabled phone and it would be $20 a month.

Can anyone tell me how YOU are making internet via your TMobile cell phone happen? Bonus points if you can say so for an inexpensive Blackberry (i.e., the Pearl) and/or a Mac in particular. I don't want to order a Blackberry off Ebay only to have the next rep tell me that it won't work. And how much are you paying for this mysteriously priced service?

Thank you for helping me sort the wheat from the chap, Mefites.

Can I get my iPhone to work on the T-Mobile network?

junipero — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:36:59 -0800

What is involved in "unlocking" an iPhone 3G? Is this even legal? I searched this question and found some high tech answers that I don't understand...I am not very technologically inclined.

I got an iPhone 3G for Christmas, but my current cell phone plan is with T-Mobile. I am happy with my service with T-Mobile, but I was under the impression that iPhones can only get service through AT&T. I called T-Mobile to inquire about the early termination fee, and it would cost me $200 to cancel my contract and move to AT&T.

The T-Mobile guy that I spoke to said I could unlock my iPhone and run it off of the T-Mobile network. I asked if I could take the phone to a T-Mobile store and have someone do this for me. He then kind of back-peddled and said "Oh, well, we aren't really supposed to recommend that, and we can't unlock it for you," which sounded kind of sketchy to me.

My question is: a) would it be possible for a non-techie to unlock an iPhone and not have any problems with it, and b) is this legal? I'm a major goodie-two-shoes rule follower and it makes me very nervous to do something like this.

Which cell network works best in San Francisco?

jasper411 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:01:57 -0800

San Francisco MeFi-ers: Verizon? T-Mobile? Almost out of our contract period with AT&T. Should we switch or hang in there? Cool phone toys and features are not a priority for us. All we need cell phones for is to make and receive calls (ok, text messages too)! Network coverage is the one and only selling point for us.

We had Sprint for a long time, but the network coverage seemed to degrade when they were merging with Nextel, and we switched. When we first moved to AT&T, it was Cingular and we were very happy, but since being taken over by AT&T, it seems like there's been an inverse correlation between the quality of the network coverage and their advertising budget about how great their network is. As I'm driving east down Portola from Twin Peaks I drop so many calls it's ridiculous.

Out 2 year contract ends soon, and I'm considering switching. One AT&T rep I spoke to said that things will be getting better - that they're working on enhancing the 3G network and that the problem may be that our phones aren't handling the transition between the 3G and Edge networks. His perspective was that we should get newer phones and hang in there. But of course, an AT&T person *would* say that.

OTOH, we could switch to Verizon or T-Mobile. What are your experiences? I realize a lot of MeFiers have i-Phones, which are on the AT&T network - the i-Phones are totally amazing in terms of gadgetry, but what are they like as cell phones? Are you happy with cell phone network coverage these days? What about you people on other networks? Any thoughts?

Can I call a toll-free number from my international cell phone without incurring charges?

smersh — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:38:57 -0800

My international cell phone provider (Airtel in India) insists that I can get uncharged toll-free calls while roaming in the US and Canada. It sounds too good to be true. Can you shed some light on this for me? I'm a Canadian citizen with a green card to the US who's been living in India for a while. I've let go of my American and Canadian numbers because I couldn't justify spending $80/month for no reason. So, every time I come back home (US/Canada), I resort to prepaid Rogers and AT&T SIM cards.

This time, however, when I spoke to Airtel (my Indian provider), they told me I could call toll-free numbers free of charge, even when I'm roaming internationally. That means I can use a calling card while I'm here and pay just 4 cents a minute instead of paying upwards of $100 for prepaid SIM refills.

Now, I called Airtel a second time to double-check, and they said they don't charge, but the carrier I'm roaming on might!! Obviously something they should've told me the first time I asked.

If there's anyone who has any experience with this, can you illuminate me? Am I going to get charged while using my Indian SIM on an American/Canadian network to call an 800 number? I'd love to be able to not recharge my pre-paid cards, but I'd rather not get a $1000 cell phone bill.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Stuck with overseas cell contract

Witherwings — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:44:47 -0800

I moved to Germany and then moved back to the USA after three weeks. While I was there, I signed up for a two year T-Mobile iPhone contract, because at the time I thought I was staying in Germany. Now I am stuck with an expensive 2 year contract that I can't use. Now that I'm back in the states, I have an expensive paperweight that I am getting no benefit from. I've contacted T-Mobile Germany and the only option they are giving me is to pay for the entire 2 years up-front and then they'll let me cancel. That seems hardly fair, because I am not receiving service for those two years. The only benefit to me is that I get to keep the iPhone.

In my mind, a fair solution would be to pay them for one month of service, and reimburse them for their cost of the iPhone hardware, or to return the phone. It seems they are unjustly gaining from this arrangement since they don't have to provide service.

How should I proceed? Should I just suck-it-up and pay for the whole two years? Should I try to fight it? How? Should I get T-Mobile USA involved?

Mourning Suncom

konolia — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:35:34 -0800

Tmobile just bought out Suncom in North Carolina. I had Suncom. Our cell phone plan was the Unplan, which had unlimited minutes in our region. What's gonna happen to my sweet deal? My husband is in real estate and is also heavily involved in local Party politics, which being translated means he is a massive user of cell phone minutes. The Unplan was made for folks like us...having perused the Tmobile site the nearest thing they have is a plan that is nationwide BUT will cost us more money. Going back to limited minutes is NOT AN OPTION.

Please tell me there is hope! In other words, will they grandfather in our plan-and if not, can we escape their clutches and go elsewhere? And if you are a realtor or otherwise a massive user of cellphone minutes, what else is out there that we should look at?

Cheapest mobile email/IM?

aleahey — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:19:36 -0800

Fiance and I need a cheap method of keeping in touch via email and/or instant message -- mobile-ly. Were considering getting a pair of Sidekicks, but we'd be open to a better solution. We literally only want to converse with each other, so, keep that in mind.

Fiance has T-Mobile, if that makes a difference. Would prefer a full QWERTY keyboard. Prepaid a plus.

Thanks so much.

Help with IPAQ

CollectiveMind — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:25:01 -0800

I have an HP iPAQ 2750. Around the same time it was manufactured, lots of aftermarket hardware and software came out with promises to enhance the device. One of those applications was a GPRS/GSM plug in modem (via the CF Card slot) and software from a company called Enfora. The modem was bundled with software from a company called BVRP. There was other software without a modem which also installed phone tools on the PDA from another company called WebToGo. HP sells the modem from Enfora which it claims is compatible with the iPAQ. But after many tries to install it, it seems ActiveSync 4.0 (which is what the iPAQ came with) was preventing it. I upgraded to ActiveSync 4.5 but still no luck with the Enfora/BVRP software.

I assumed the modem to be generic enough to work with any phone tools software, so I found different phone tools from WebToGo. Their phone tools did load onto the iPAQ. But after lots of calls to TMobile and more onliine chats with HP, I can't get the modem to see the TMobile network - this even after getting TMobile's cell to network number (*99#) and its modem string and web address.

I also thought there might be some issues with Windows Mobile 2003. I tried to upgrade to Windows Mobile 5, but the connection kept dropping. After going through that a few times, I decided the upgrade was more trouble than it's worth. Besides, all of the hardware and software says they work with Pocket PC 2002 and Windows Mobile 2003 anyway and the latter is what the iPAQ came with. So I decided that probably wasn't the problem.

I know I could just buy a smartphone, but I really like the iPAQ. But I don't want to keep carrying an iPAQ and a cell phone around - cluttered. If there are hackers who can break open an iPhone, it seems there should be somebody who can make this work? It seems like I'm almost there. Does anybody have any advice?

Which cellphone, plan, carrier combo for international traveler?

lapsang — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:55:07 -0800

Cell phone - Unhappy with tmobile coverage in the US. Need advice on a carrier, plan and (smartish) phone that can be used in other countries with local SIM cards. Visit the US 3 times per year for business and pleasure and otherwise live in Colombia. I have a t-mobile prepaid sim from when i lived in the US. Was able to hack my palmone 600 to accept my Colombian SIM (spend 90% of my time) and an Irish SIM where i also visit occasionally.

I now need to get a new carrier (v unhappy with reception in the US). What's the best carrier and phone combo for me? Needs to be an economic plan and the phone needs to sync with my mac address book, and ideally have a qwerty keywboard.

I'm not a US citizen but do have a SSN.

Cheers - J

New phone/carrier recs.

decrescendo — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:06:55 -0800

It's come the time to buy a new cellphone. I have a RAZR V2 and it's falling apart. My Verizon contract is up in November. Should I re-up with Verizon and stay on my family plan or should I break off and/or go to another carrier? And what phone should I look into? All I know is that I do not want a huge fold out QWERTY keyboard like a 16-year-old girl with a Sidekick and probably do not want a Motorola. I'm on a family plan with two other lines and I burn between 450 and 1000 minutes per month. It's cheaper for me to stay on the family plan, share minutes, and pay my parents as opposed to paying Verizon for my own line. I've noticed that most carriers have 450 and 900 minute plans. So I would assume I would have to get the 900 minute plan.

I need to get a new phone and my contract ends in November. I dislike a majority of the Verizon phones so that brings up the issue of moving to another carrier? I would like to somehow sync my contacts from my Address Book on my Macbook Pro and download pictures from my phone through a USB or similar connection. Other than that, there really isn't a huge need for anything else. Email would be a luxury but it's not necessary (I have a Gmail account).

Which carrier do you recommend I move to if I should leave Verizon. I have not had an issue with Verizon but it simply comes down to the phone selection. I'm a single 23-year-old aerospace engineer and I would like to buy a phone I actually like, even if its a tad pricey.

I could afford an iPhone even though I would not totally enjoy paying that much upfront and monthly. However, it would play pretty well with my new Macbook Pro. I'm sure there are other fantastic and cheaper phones out there. The Blackberry Pearl and Samsung Instinct come to mind even though one is on Sprint and the other is on every carrier.

Virgin Mobile US to T-Mobile UK. Can we connect?

electriccynic — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:28:59 -0800

Virgin Mobile US to T-Mobile UK. Can we connect? My friend is on a Virgin Mobile US phone. I'm on a T-Mobile UK phone. I can SMS her, but she can't text or call me ... can you suggest reasons why this could be?

Virgin Mobile customer service claim that I need to be on a certain network, one of which given is ... the network I'm on!

Undelete a T-Mobile voicemail?

rajbot — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:11:54 -0800

Asking for a friend: Is there a way to recover a month-old voicemail message on T-Mobile? This is on a BlackBerry.

My friend hung up without actively doing anything to the voicemail while it was playing (i.e. didn't hit 7 to delete or 9 to save), and now when she calls to check her voicemail, it is no longer there. It's an important family message.

Maybe the NSA has an archive of it somewhere?

Thanks.

Help me prove T-Mobile wrong

Mo Nickels — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:22:26 -0800

Can you send an email from your Nokia phone using your T-Mobile service? After ages of frustration, I'm coming to you all to see if I'm nuts.

Some time in the last couple of months I lost a feature on my Nokia 6101, which uses T-Mobile. In short, I used to be able to go to Messages, choose Create Message, choose "Text message," compose the text of the message, and hit Send, after which I would see five items: "Recently used," "To phone number," "To e-mail address," "To many," and "Via sending profile."

Now, however, "To e-mail address" is missing. It simply isn't there. Resetting the phone to factory defaults does not restore it. No amount of fiddling with the settings restores it.

The last T-Mobile person I spoke to as good as called me a liar. She said that the phone has never had that feature, that it couldn't have had that feature, and that there's no way to enable that feature.

But I know it's had that feature because I've used it hundreds of times. I know it, no matter how much the awful, unhelpful people at T-Mobile want to insinuate that I'm making it up. I'm positive it was there—that's how I know it's missing!

In fact, you can find "To email address" in the user manual (page 39). Of course, T-Mobile, like other providers can customize their phones. But if they do delete that feature on shipping phones now, they didn't delete it when I got my phone a couple of years ago.

Now, I don't know why the menu would have disappeared, except that I recently changed my calling plan and added another phone onto the account. There may have been a SIM update push at some point, but I don't know how far back the last one was. The six reps at T-Mobile that I talked to claim that none of these things would make that menu disappear.

So, what I'm looking for here: Do you currently have that "To email address" menu on your Nokia phone (preferably a 6101)? Did you used to have it? Did you lose it? Can you explain?

I realize that the role of "outraged consumer" is a cliché by now. Sorry about that. I'm not the doormat/roll-over-me type. Unfortunately, even if you pay a company hundreds of dollars a month they still have you over the barrel a thousand different ways. The only leverage I have here is community evidence.

Also, I know there are a couple of other ways to send email with the phone, like putting the email address, subject line, and a # sign in the body of the text--but who in the world is going to do that every time? The inconvenience destroys the utility. The old way, the email addresses would show up in "Recently used" and I wouldn't have to retype them time and again. You can also send messages by choosing "Picture message" instead of "Text message," but that includes stupid framing gifs in the body of the message which are annoying to all involved and sometimes mean the messages get marked as spam.

UMA over High-Latency Link

Xoder — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:06:39 -0800

I've bought a new cell phone with UMA. Please tell me how it will behave over a satellite internet connection. I have good WiFi reception in my apartment, but my cell service can be a little weak, so I've decided to get a phone with UMA. Most of the time I'll be using the WiFi over a cable modem connection, so no problems there. However, there will be times (2-3x/year for up to a week each) where I'll want to use the phone in the boonies. At this location we have WiFi through a satellite ISP. This means ping times in the neighborhood of one second (1000ms), but the throughput is good (1Mbps/256kbps down/up). The sales rep was unsure, and this is not a necessary feature, so I didn't push, but it would be nice if others in the hive mind have had experience.