T-Mobile Report - SF Bay Area

[DragonKnight]

Well, I made the move from SprintPCS to T-Mobile over a week ago. Went for the Amazon.com free Motorola v60g deal. The v60g is pretty nice overall. Good looking phone for those into the 'bling-bling' thang. For me, I wanted something small. The v60g was perfect for that purpose. Voice quality is pretty good while reception is pretty good as well. I'm pretty sure the P280 would've done a better job, but the v60g was more than enough for my needs.

As for T-Mobile itself, CS was pretty good so far. Amazon.com screwed up my area code. So I had to get T-Mobile to change it. CS was pretty courteous. A bit better than what I'm used to with SprintPCS. As for coverage and signal strength, it was almost the same as SprintPCS. But in my apartment, it was nice and clear. This is where SprintPCS fails big time since I get close to no signal at all in my particular area. T-Mobile otherwise was pretty strong in comparison. I also tested the phone in San Francisco, Hercules, Concord, Walnut Creek, Albany, Oakland Chinatown, Los Altos Hills, downtown San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Tully Rd in SJ, I-80, I-880, I-680, and Highway 24. All had decent reception with no dropped calls. There were times when it got spotty and it came close to losing a signal, but overall pretty satisfactory.

IMHO, T-Mobile works for me as I am currently a student and have no need for outstanding coverage. I need a plan in which I get the most bang for my buck, plus a free phone. T-Mobile satisfies these conditions. Plus, it succeeds where SprintPCS has failed. I can finally use my mobile as a landline in my apartment. Hope this helps.

-Rich

[vkom]

Yes, T-mobile is exactly what you said - A STUDENT PHONE FOR ENDLESS BANTER- NOT FOR AN EMERGENCY PHONE - OR IF YOU WANT TO STAY IN TOUCH - in BAY AREA. Horrible coverage - too many dead spots - have to run out to get any signal. I lost $400 due to the Sales guy at Mobiline Inc not telling me the cancellation stuff - and who has the time to read the small letters of the agreement.

Bottom line - if you have a phone for emergencies in bay area, go get at&t or Verizon. They have far more towers and better coverage.

[ZaphodB]

Originally posted by: vkom
Yes, T-mobile is exactly what you said - A STUDENT PHONE FOR ENDLESS BANTER- NOT FOR AN EMERGENCY PHONE - OR IF YOU WANT TO STAY IN TOUCH - in BAY AREA. Horrible coverage - too many dead spots - have to run out to get any signal. I lost $400 due to the Sales guy at Mobiline Inc not telling me the cancellation stuff - and who has the time to read the small letters of the agreement.

Bottom line - if you have a phone for emergencies in bay area, go get at&t or Verizon. They have far more towers and better coverage.

I would say that what you've said is true for any provider. You can't count on being able to make an emergency call on any provider. There are those with better coverage than others.

As for your losing $400 at an indirect reseller, that is entirely due to your not having read the contract. Always read everything all the way through, and do it twice. Never mind if they're standing there glaring at you ("hurry UP..."). Technically speaking, if you sign a contract (meaning one with the "I have read and understand bla bla bla" clause at the end) without having read it, you are committing perjury.

I have a friend who got a $600 "stupidity tax" from a satellite dish provider for exactly the same reason.