New T-Mobile Monthly 4G plans?

[fuzzybabybunny]

If you go with ANY prepaid carrier you need to port your number to Google Voice first. Never port a number you care about to a prepaid carrier.

In response to the frustration comment, I've been using the $30 T-Mobile plan for a few months ago and it's been perfect for my needs. The only frustration I've experienced has been at how crappy Sipdroid and its alternatives are. So far Sipdroid has been the least crappy, but it's still crap.

What's the difference between SIP and VOIP? SIPDroid vs. GrooveIP?

Just a point of technical accuracy: T-Mobile never kicks your phone to the EDGE network. You remain connected to the 3G/"4G" HSPA network, but they throttle your speed to 120 kbps.

Also, T-Mobile does have 3G. They use an advanced form of 3G called HSPA. What they do not have is true 4G, which uses the LTE standard. Their updated 3G is so advanced that it approximates the speed of early 4G networks, so T-Mobile's marketing department simply started calling it "4G."

I see. What real world speeds does their "4G" network get? I just ran a speedtest on my Sprint (downtown Honolulu) and I've getting 356kbps down and 451 kbps up.

This frustrates me. Isn't there a way on Speedtest to upload your results? Basically tell it what your service level is, where you're located, and then share it with other people in a filter-able database?

And the thing about Sprint 4G that I hate is that it basically doesn't exist. Didn't exist when I was living and working in the suburbs of Silicon Valley. Not in downtown Honolulu. And when I did get it it's so fleeting. I get kicked off, it has to find 4G again, it needs to switch to 3G, and current loading of whatever I have (browsers, streaming) has to pause and disconnect all the time, etc. So I basically have 4G shut off all the time since it's not worth all the data interruptions and battery draining.

 

[soccerballtux]

12-15mbits/second in 4G areas. IE very fast. Same tech as AT&T's 4G, but with fewer users on the towers, so faster for all.

SIP is the HOW in how you do VOIP.

 

[Bateluer]

12-15mbits/second in 4G areas. IE very fast. Same tech as AT&T's 4G, but with fewer users on the towers, so faster for all.

TMO's HSPA+ towers are all using the 42mbps standard now. AT&Ts are using 14.4, I believe. So, if you're in range of a TMO tower, you're going to get some very nice speeds out of it.

 

[soccerballtux]

TMO's HSPA+ towers are all using the 42mbps standard now. AT&Ts are using 14.4, I believe. So, if you're in range of a TMO tower, you're going to get some very nice speeds out of it.

they're both the same tech. T-Mo just has more QAMs...

 

[lothar]

Ive been on tmo since they were omnipoint and have never had any issues with building penetration or calling from out of country. In fact my job at the time insisted on tmobile because I had to travel all the time to europe and tmo was by far the most reliable and cheapest. That said I did cancel my old plan and jumped on their new family plan. 1000 shared mins, unlimited texting and unlimited data (5gb highspeed then throttled) per phone. I have 2 lines and it costs me $109 a month. My jobs supplied razr is around the same cost and its only 1 line the VRWs 4glte is pathetically slow. So so I dont even use the phone as I should. I only use it for calls to and from work.

You're the only person I know that calls Verizon's 4G LTE slow.

 

[lothar]

I don't even know my Straight Talk number nor do I care. I ported my number to Google Voice since it's also my business number. I have two Google Voice numbers now, one business, one personal. One time $20 fee to have permanent second Google Voice number is a deal.

What he said.

 

[wirednuts]

about gv... any way to delete all of your history on your account faster then 10 at a time? this is really the only thing i cant stand about gv. i dont want a permanent history of all my cellphone usage.

 

[Bateluer]

they're both the same tech. T-Mo just has more QAMs...

AT&T and TMO are both using HSPA+ and calling it 4G, but TMO has implemented the faster standard. AT&T has not, and probably will not since they've deployed LTE.

 

[Headcase_Fargone]

What's the difference between SIP and VOIP? SIPDroid vs. GrooveIP?

Same thing. SIP is a protocol used in Voice Over IP. GrooveIP is a very simplified form of VOIP. Not really any options as far as codec, etc goes. I couldn't get it to work all that well. Lots of complaints of echo, some jitter, etc. Sipdroid sounds great... when you can get it to work. I've had lots of problems with it failing to register, incoming calls have stopped working, outgoing calls can be spotty. To be fair I don't know if that's Sipdroid's fault or PBXES.org whom you set up an account with through Sipdroid.

I see. What real world speeds does their "4G" network get? I just ran a speedtest on my Sprint (downtown Honolulu) and I've getting 356kbps down and 451 kbps up.

On T-Mobile in Houston the highest download speeds I've seen have been 10Mbps. I average probably 4 or 5Mbps down. I came from Sprint and was getting 200Kbps if I was lucky on their 3G, maybe 1Mbps on Wimax if I was standing perfectly still outside and not near any buildings or trees. Sprint's data network is a joke at the moment.

 

[Oyeve]

You're the only person I know that calls Verizon's 4G LTE slow.

In NYC VZW 4glte is really slow. The highest I have ever gotten was 13mbps and that was on a rare occasion that I had full bars on the razr. It could be the razr has a shitty anntenae.

 

[Headcase_Fargone]

In NYC VZW 4glte is really slow. The highest I have ever gotten was 13mbps and that was on a rare occasion that I had full bars on the razr. It could be the razr has a shitty anntenae.

Heh, I love that 13Mbps on a smartphone is considered slow these days.

 

[Oyeve]

Heh, I love that 13Mbps on a smartphone is considered slow these days.

Only when I compare it to the 20+mbps I get on my tmo sgs3. Once you maintain a fast speed its hard to go back to anything slower.

 

[Bateluer]

Only when I compare it to the 20+mbps I get on my tmo sgs3. Once you maintain a fast speed its hard to go back to anything slower.

You notice a difference between 13mpbs and 20mpbs?


For kicks, I picked up a Galaxy Exhibit today with a Monthly4G plan to test it out to see if its viable for me to move to as a primary carrier when the next round of Nexii arrive. So far, I've yet to hit any HSPA over 4mpbs on it, but the Exhibit 4G only has an HSPA+ 14.4 radio.

Phones not bad at all for the price though.

 

[Oyeve]

You notice a difference between 13mpbs and 20mpbs?


For kicks, I picked up a Galaxy Exhibit today with a Monthly4G plan to test it out to see if its viable for me to move to as a primary carrier when the next round of Nexii arrive. So far, I've yet to hit any HSPA over 4mpbs on it, but the Exhibit 4G only has an HSPA+ 14.4 radio.

Phones not bad at all for the price though.

I notice it all the time as the razr rarely gets over 8mbps on lte and the sgs3 is always higher than 15mbps.

 

[wirednuts]

Heh, I love that 13Mbps on a smartphone is considered slow these days.

especially when its still considered pretty fast for a coax connection:'(

 

[looper]

I switched my wife and I over to prepaid a few months back. Best thing I've ever done. We are currently using GNex's that we bought off the Play Store.
I'm currently using the $30 100minute/unlim text/5GB of HSPA data plan with T-mobile. I drop the phone into airplane mode with I'm at home and use Groove IP.
She's currently using a Straight Talk plan with an AT&T SIM for $45. But we are probably going switch her to the same setup as me once this next billing cycle ends.

Here are a few threads with great info:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1455014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646755

Thanks for the links to those 2 threads.... AWESOME... I'm a smartphone newbie trying to learn....

 

[Bateluer]

I notice it all the time as the razr rarely gets over 8mbps on lte and the sgs3 is always higher than 15mbps.

Interesting. Wonder if there's any mass collection of numbers on this, because I noticed the Gnex consistently gets slower LTE speeds than my Tbolt did.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I see. What real world speeds does their "4G" network get? I just ran a speedtest on my Sprint (downtown Honolulu) and I've getting 356kbps down and 451 kbps up.

This frustrates me. Isn't there a way on Speedtest to upload your results? Basically tell it what your service level is, where you're located, and then share it with other people in a filter-able database?

And the thing about Sprint 4G that I hate is that it basically doesn't exist. Didn't exist when I was living and working in the suburbs of Silicon Valley. Not in downtown Honolulu. And when I did get it it's so fleeting. I get kicked off, it has to find 4G again, it needs to switch to 3G, and current loading of whatever I have (browsers, streaming) has to pause and disconnect all the time, etc. So I basically have 4G shut off all the time since it's not worth all the data interruptions and battery draining.

Personal, anecdotal, nonscientific experience from an HTC One S on T-Mobile I used for a week before returning: I got 10-12 Mbps in my house. Pretty dang good, about twice as fast as Sprint WiMax.

Try using RootMetrics for speed tests. They upload your test results to a server and use them to create a map of signal strength and data speed in your area.

And yes, WiMax sucks. Drains battery even faster than LTE, not even very fast, constantly drops out, etc. The only advantage is it's actually available in a fair number of places, unlike Sprint LTE. But the other carriers still have better fast data coverage than Sprint.