[scaevola]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8300/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

So recently(about 3 hour ago) I found out that att requies you to activate
internatonal data for a year, as it is no longer pro-rated!!! Before you
could activate it and de-activate it on.a month by month basis. Sufficed to
say I and still am pissed. I was planning on taking a trip to europe in the
next year and was going to forgo a phone(or give skype a try) and use only
data and enail there. which I did previously when I was abroad for them last
fall for 2 months in germany, and ir worked out increibly well.
And I have the unlimited bis plan for 35.99 (no voice). And I've recently
been experience a lot of drop outs in connection. Anyway I'm hoping some
other in the dc/metro can provide some insight.
Also, I live in the dc/metro area. I think it's a complete rip to require a
year contract for the 69.99 price for unlimited data only! and the ETF is
$175. I'm so annoyed I'm tempted to return my curve today and wait 3
months+ for tmobile to roll out their version.
I've had similar trouble with my at&T (old) cell phone and I constantly
recieve droped calls like everynight after 7pm. (not during the in theory "
busy times."

How is tmobile nationwide reception ? Decent? How is it in the dc/metro
area? I'm currently having to scan constantly for a signal both on my cell
and on the 8300. I'm curious if tmobile users are having the same problem
in either departement.



I guess this is a multipart question. I'm tempted to stay with att as they
will eventually have the first 3g blackberry(the sooner the better). And
tmobile was suppose to roll out theirs this year in the us ..but I'm still
waiting to see that happen.


The international plans on tmobile are much more umm how shall I say
it...respectable; a fair price...(is there some con that I'm missing in
those international rate).


However I travel a decent amount in the us( and occasionally abroad). And
cing/att on my cell gets pretty decent reception all over. Dropouts occur
though in some spots. Never tried another carrier was on the family plan
w/folks and now using an unlocked razer to as mirgrating is now way more
$$$.


Tmobile seems to have a much better deal all around but maybe I'm
mis-understanding is the tmobile international pro-rated and does it only
relate to email and not data(heavy surfer at times). If so could that
conceivable come out to same price as 69.99 x12?


Additionally I'm hearing att is supplementing their edge networks to deal
with the additional demand the iphone will bring to that network. Yet I
hear that tmobile use cingular's lines when it has no towers in that area.
But also will the edge crap out once the iphone

Are there any tmobile bb users here in this archive/anyone with recent
experience of the tmobile experience that can comment on it. Is there
anyway to find out how strong the tmobile signal and reliability is here in
the east coast in the metro dc (dc,n. va, maryland) is. Especially their
data network. Are they any hole in the international data plan, as the
price seems to good to be true.

I'm trying to broadcast urgency as I signed a 2 yr agreement w/ att but the
international unlimited data 1 year sign up, is a breaker for me. But if
tmobile offers consideribly less performance/reliablity in the dc area or
they have some loop hole in their international unlimited dataplan, I guess
I could stick with att ...I just hate getting reamed with a $70 data plan
for 12 months because I went on vacation for one 1 month.

I still love the curve and I might be wrapped into buying a returning this
one and buying one outright and then going over to the tmobile store. I'm
just worried I'll get tied to one or the other and losing out because I
wasn't more informed. No one I know is on tmobile(and located locally)
otherwise I'd reach out to them and ask. ANY help is appreciated as now I
have 15 days to decide or get stuck w/ a ETF which I really in truth can't
afford.

One last question for BIS ...what version is tmobile on 1.8, 2.0, or 2.3?

big thanks if anyone can(specifically huge thanks respond from the dc/metro
area about the network)

[Marco2007]

Dude, You just wrote a book and I don't have time to read it all... But based on the title of your post, go with T-mobile.

[rsnadel]

As to your last question: all US carriers are now on BIS 2.3.

[flash24]

Originally Posted by Marco2007

Dude, You just wrote a book and I don't have time to read it all... But based on the title of your post, go with T-mobile.

LOL, T-Mobile is more affordable. They don't have the largest coverage, but for what your paying for, it's definitely worth every penny. Customer service I give it an A+

At&t a little more expensive compare to T-Mobile, larger coverage than T-Mobile and their a bigger company. Customer Service B-, when I ordered my Curve the rep lied to me by saying he can hook me up with unlimited data and sms for $19.99 but then when I double checked my account he put the wrong plan for $29.99

I personally prefer T-Mobile, because of their great customer service, very affordable plans (specially for Blackberry devices), good coverage (for the most part)

[scaevola]

Hmm let me try for the cliff notes version.

The tmobile service ..if you live in the washington dc metro area -how is the edge serviced?

does tmobile still offer 1 yr contracts?

does their international plan cover data (both surfing and email) and it can it be de-activated and activated at will?

Is the rollout of 3g still due to take place this year in the us?

[Dubdub]

Well first of all, you should base your choice on carrier with the one which provides the best coverage where you use the phone - where you live, work, travel and play, not on who is the cheapest. IMHO, T-Mo is less expensive because their coverage area isn't up to that of ATT, Verizon or Sprint. So that is the trade off here.

The $29.99 unlimited BB dataplan is the right one for you since you are not on a BES. MediaNet (the $19.99 plan) will not work with a BB.

I would assume that in the DC area, all of the "Big 4" provide good coverage, but all also have their holes.

Don't look any great leaps and bounds in speed if and when BB goes 3G. I doubt if it will make much difference in anything other than perhaps tethering. Email will be delivered as it always is and a speed increase most likely will not even be noticed. Surfing might produce a bit of an increase, however the processor, memory, websites themselves and the limited screen real estate probably won't make for anything of notice. Speed is really contingent on the connection, distance to the tower, tower congestion, processor and memory, and voice has priority over data.

[scaevola]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

Well first of all, you should base your choice on carrier with the one which provides the best coverage where you use the phone - where you live, work, travel and play, not on who is the cheapest. IMHO, T-Mo is less expensive because their coverage area isn't up to that of ATT, Verizon or Sprint. So that is the trade off here.

The $29.99 unlimited BB dataplan is the right one for you since you are not on a BES. MediaNet (the $19.99 plan) will not work with a BB.

I would assume that in the DC area, all of the "Big 4" provide good coverage, but all also have their holes.

Don't look any great leaps and bounds in speed if and when BB goes 3G. I doubt if it will make much difference in anything other than perhaps tethering. Email will be delivered as it always is and a speed increase most likely will not even be noticed. Surfing might produce a bit of an increase, however the processor, memory, websites themselves and the limited screen real estate probably won't make for anything of notice. Speed is really contingent on the connection, distance to the tower, tower congestion, processor and memory, and voice has priority over data.

two words. Thank you. I never thought about it like that. You bring up some really quality points there.

I hate to ask, but does anyone know if international coverage for tmobile covers email and internet ...it seems like it reads email but I'm not to good at legalesese

Unsupported Browser

[takeshi]

Yup -- you've got to determine which carrier offers you the best coverage. Every carrier I know of offers a trial period and despite what coverage maps and others might claim you won't know if a given carrier's coverage is truly suitable until you just try it out.

As for the TMO international plan -- you'll get mixed responses. Try searching as it has been discussed over and over and over. In a nutshell, some get billed when they browse and others don't.

[jungleland]

Tmobile is garbage....and ATT is more like light waste...but for the GSM carriers, ATT is the best...If you can go with CDMA, go with verizon as it's the best hands down

[takeshi]

Please ignore carrier fanboy comments like that. Generalizations like that are completely meaningless. Again, base your decision primarily on how suitable a given carrier's coverage is for you.

[JGBerry]

Originally Posted by jungleland

Tmobile is garbage....and ATT is more like light waste...but for the GSM carriers, ATT is the best...If you can go with CDMA, go with verizon as it's the best hands down

honestly, if you go with CDMA, Verizon is most likely your online choice anyway. as far as GSM...the best players are T-Mobile and Cingular/ATT

[JGBerry]

Originally Posted by jungleland

Tmobile is garbage....and ATT is more like light waste...but for the GSM carriers, ATT is the best...If you can go with CDMA, go with verizon as it's the best hands down

honestly, if you go with CDMA, Verizon is most likely your only choice anyway (for the majority of the people in the USA)
as far as GSM...the best players are T-Mobile and Cingular/ATT

[iceman027]

better coverage with Cingular but cheaper if you go with T-Mobile

[sdetweil]

On my premier account I can still do pro-rated monthly add and remove.. just did that..

They tried to tell me yearly, but I had them check our premier account terms.

Sam

[bchaplin]

I had the same choice myself. The way I see it:

T-Mobile:
Better call quality WHERE THERE IS COVERAGE.
Much better customer service.
Cheaper plans.
Easier to sign a 1 yr vs. 2 yr contract.
Pro-rated international service for BB (at the consumer level).
But: More dead spots in the US.

AT&T:
Broader coverage in the US.
Customer service can be difficult to deal with sometimes (YMMV).
If you are not a premier customer (re sdetweil's post), you need to sign on for one year for int'l BB service.

May I suggest that you ask around in your area to find out if you can live with T-Mobile's coverage. I do know, for instance, that when I go to rural areas of Virginia, there are places where T-Mobile has no coverage but AT&T does. However, I personally can live with that and have stuck with T-Mobile. You can also consider abandoning the idea of using a BB when you go abroad, if it is too expensive, and instead purchase an unlocked quad band phone that can use local SIM cards, and use cybercafes for your internet needs. I can't comment on Europe but (for a data point), there are parts of Africa where T-Mobile's BB service works fine but AT&T's doesn't.

[TheRFGuy]

1) International coverage are about the same unless you go to some remote island. When you travel internationally to locations where your coverage is not good, you can always manually select the network to roam on (eg. in Germany, I would roam on T-Mobile Germany).

2) Domestic US coverage - unless you need your bb in rural areas, both AT&T and T-Mobile have comparable coverage because a lot of their sites are actually co-located. AT&T's 850Mhz have better indoor penetration in general but not by much when you are behind concrete walls. All carriers have roaming agreements with one another in areas where they don't have coverage so yes AT&T has a larger footprint but other smaller carriers roam on AT&T's network in areas where they don't have a native network.

3) Data plan - T-Mobile's international bb plan do include emails and surfing from my experience (based on my last trip two Europe a month ago). I didn't use my Cingular BB because it is more expensive.

Hope this helps....

[guruleenyc]

Wirelessly posted (NXTL7520: BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

At the end of the day, I pay for coverage!

[rposeidon]

I have had T-Mobile as well as Cingular (before it became AT&T). Wherever there was a Cingular signal, if there was no T-Mobile signal, I would roam for free. I would also roam in SunCom and any other GSM carrier that was in the area with no issue. The only problem was that if T-Mobile or Cingular was not in the area, there would be no EDGE coverage. Data would work, just very slowly. So really, T-Mobile or AT&T will be fine no matter what.

[secrecyguy]

I don't have to time to read everything here but I will give you some key points you need to know.

I personally have T-mobile because of the best prices.

If you tether to your laptop (using the Blackberry as a modem for your laptop), T-mobile is the way to go since AT&T charge you extra for it. It's not worth.

You better off going to Verizon and Sprint for high speed BUT since you say you going to use it in other countries, it won't work.

Something to keep in mind while you decide who you should go to.

[blackberrryAMNH]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

Don't look any great leaps and bounds in speed if and when BB goes 3G. I doubt if it will make much difference in anything other than perhaps tethering. Email will be delivered as it always is and a speed increase most likely will not even be noticed. Surfing might produce a bit of an increase, however the processor, memory, websites themselves and the limited screen real estate probably won't make for anything of notice. Speed is really contingent on the connection, distance to the tower, tower congestion, processor and memory, and voice has priority over data.

To the contrary - BB will be releasing a HSDPA device soon (07,Q4 estinmate) thus if GSM and speed are important to you AT&T is your only choice. T-Mobile still uses GPRS and EDGE they have no HSDPA coverage in place and are only now working on UMTS. A quick comparision of HSDPA and EDGE:

approx time to download 1MB - Edge: 1minute, 15 sec. HSDPA: 15 sec.
upload speeds - Edge: 70kbps HSDPA: 300kbps

something to think about when you are making your decsion.