I'm joining the T-Mobile 5G Revolution...

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skriefal

Golden Member
Apr 10, 2000
1,424
3
81
^^Mint is T-Mobile
Yep. They're a third-party company that contracts with T-Mobile to provide service through T-Mobile's network. But they're being purchased by T-Mobile, so will soon actually be T-Mobile (like Metro) unless the government blocks the purchase.

And Cricket is AT&T (as in, owned by).

US Mobile can be a good choice if you have decent Verizon coverage. They're not owned by anyone else... yet.
 
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MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
25,873
24,213
136
T-Mobile is probably the best in New York City and parts of Northern New Jersey too. Verizon has really fallen around here. They wasted so much money on MM Wave which was stupid for anything but large events such as at stadiums and the like.

My sister lives about 30 mi west of New York City and T-Mobile is the only carrier that works well throughout her house. But if you go out a little further into more x urban and rural areas it tends to be AT&t and Verizon on non-5G networks that work the best. Such as this weekend when I was in upstate New York.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
I should rephrase that. I get data, even 5G data. I'm just firewalled off from any data usage that's not "whitelisted".

I can do google searches, but I can't look up the results pages. I can send/recieve MMS.
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
3,825
1,343
106
I should rephrase that. I get data, even 5G data. I'm just firewalled off from any data usage that's not "whitelisted".

I can do google searches, but I can't look up the results pages. I can send/recieve MMS.
Ok, so only TMO content? Could be the DNS not working correctly.
 
Feb 4, 2009
35,789
17,323
136
T-Mobile is still pretty good, I just don’t like:
They seem to be converting 4G spectrum to 5G extremely rapidly which is great if you have a 5G device. Sucky if you have a 4G device like me. My data speed has significantly dropped and overall coverage is noticeably smaller.
New CEO is an accountant shithead. I am confident his goal is to increase revenue at all costs and he appears to be making shithead policies like I saw at the end of my ATT days. Dumb sales ratio’s bizzaro sales compensation/metrics and so on.
 

Hans Gruber

Platinum Member
Dec 23, 2006
2,496
1,341
136
I should rephrase that. I get data, even 5G data. I'm just firewalled off from any data usage that's not "whitelisted".

I can do google searches, but I can't look up the results pages. I can send/recieve MMS.
I think your phone is a dud, Larry. If that's the phone you bought off Ebay. T-mobile doesn't whitelist anything. They want customers.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
I think your phone is a dud, Larry. If that's the phone you bought off Ebay. T-mobile doesn't whitelist anything. They want customers.
Bull. T-Mobile "zero-rates" a lot of stuff on the internet. It shows up on your data usage as "whitelisted", literally.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
That's just for data billing.

Have you tried a different sim to see if it works/follows?
It WAS working, after my plan upgrade. With this phone, this sim, and even 5G. A day later, they pushed a line change, and now I'm back into some "Please login to network" walled-garden hell.

Look, this is obviously a discriminatory policy from the top, they don't want me as a customer, they're just waiting for me to port out or cancel my line.

Mint Mobile did the same thing to me.

Edit: Oh, and it goes without saying, "Unlimited Talk & Text" is a LIE.
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
3,825
1,343
106
"Please login to network"
Sounds like a glitch in the backend that provisions things. I would tell them to replace the sim since it's not working as this should clear the issue on the backend. If that doesn't fix things then it might just be the phone. I don't recall a WG setup on any provider in recent time though. Usually something you'll see on a cable modem unless you pre-activate the account.

The whole idea of a SIM is that's your tie to the billing system and not the IMEI of the handset. As long as the SIM ICCID is in the system and provisioned for active service they tend to work in any device they're inserted into and provisioned with the correct APN for internet/MMS access.


Code:
Name: T-Mobile
APN: Fast.t-mobile.com (for LTE devices) or epc.tmobile.com (for non-LTE devices)
Proxy: <Not set>
Port: <Not set>
Username: <Not set>
Password: <Not set>
Server: <Not set>
MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc
MMS proxy: <Not set>
MMS port: <Not set>
MMS protocol: WAP 2.0
MCC: 310
MNC: 260
Authentication Type: <Not set>
APN Type: default,supl,mms OR Internet+MMS
Default Android provides a text field to enter default,supl,mms.
Samsung provides an Internet+MMS radio button to select.
APN Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
APN roaming protocol: IPv4/IPv6 or IPv4 only when roaming internationally
Turn APN on/off: Grayed out unless there are multiple APNs
Bearer: Unspecified
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
Tried those apn settings, nothing better than the phone's default settings for "T-Mobile LTE" (fast.t-mobile.com).

Still, trying Anandtech.com, page cannot load.

I get the 5G/5G+ little icon in the upper right though, but I got that with the phone's default APN too.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
Sounds like a glitch in the backend that provisions things. I would tell them to replace the sim since it's not working as this should clear the issue on the backend.
I agree that it does sound like a "glitch in the back-end". It's probably debatable whether it's intentional. But it doesn't work. I'm going to look for a lawyer this week. T-Mobile customer support has been absolutely useless in this matter the last few years. Been though countless phones, sim cards with another line of service have data, just my line doesn't. Unless I buy a "data block", then mysteriously, I HAVE DATA for a week at best. With the existing phone and sim. Just no data with my monthly plan. And T-Mobile can't seem to "make it work".
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
3,825
1,343
106
Hmm... in the cable world suggesting "roll the account" would purge the billing system / provisioning and setup the service again and it tended to work n resolving the issues. I'm not 100% on the billing system with TMO though but, having worked on the network side of the house and knowing the flow of the backend processes there's a disconnect somewhere in the binding between the SIM and metering system. The fact that things work when you add on data in the form of a pass seems to indicate the sim was provisioned for voice only for some reason.

This is why I suggested swapping the sim if all else failed w/o having to deal with support / store to resolve things. Sometimes it's out of our hands though to avoid dealing with a company to resolve issues. 99% of the time things just work but, there's always that seldom issue that happens to foul things up. If the sim swap doesn't fix it then have them cancel the line and redo it in the billing system.

It's oddities like this that made me port my number to google vs risking it not working or being lost due to a system issue. There are other online places to stash a number though. If you port the number out it will effectively cancel the line and allow for a new line to be setup. The new line shouldn't have issues and if it does then maybe pursue the legal option. It might cost you more than it's worth though but, I get the point of holding them accountable if there's not some clause that prevents you from pursuing things.

I'm about to switch to an esim in the next day or so though. My original plan was to switch to Tello but, Mint is rolling a $15 promo for all plans right now including the unlimited option. Of course with an OP11 not being on their supported esim list it's going to be interesting to see how it does/n't work. Odd thing is the QR from Target triggers esim to work for Mint sign up but, the app doesn't w/o out. Tello on the other hand gives the green light without any fuss. TMO app doesn't like the IMEI but, the website allows for esim as an option. Overall it's a mess unless you have Apple / Samsung / Google $1K+ devices it seems.
 

Hans Gruber

Platinum Member
Dec 23, 2006
2,496
1,341
136
I've asked for them to re-provision the line, but they refuse.
My mistake earlier. You should have setup the tmobile connect $15 plan separately instead of wasting time with unlimited data all in the same account/plan. I have learned in life the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
Sep. 13th, 2023.

The power goes out, AND I HAVE DATA!

I don't know if this is a feature for when the power goes out or what, but it's working, for now.
 

A///

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2017
4,351
3,160
136
I'm with att and never had many issues. customer support is terrible but whose customer support is good in the mobile space?