New TMo promotion 2 lines unlimited LTE $100

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holden j caufield

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 1999
6,324
10
81
Too bad tmobile has like zero signal inside my office and home. They're fine in general in my area. Just the two most important areas are dead spots.

I can get 20mb down and 10mb up outside my house. If I go inside I can get LTE in some parts of the kitchen, edge or no signal inside. It's pretty much universal in every residential place I go. Go inside and your reception really drops off.

Also a verizon LTE phone is pretty much plug and play sim card. Used an LG G2 verizon, just plug in the sim card, you may need to edit the APN but that's 1 min of time
 
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rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
Signed up for TMo yesterday so I could get a Note Edge. They said it wasn't back-ordered but couldn't promise any kind of date. We'll see...

rant:

It's absurd that no T-Mobile store has the Note Edge on display. It's not a matter of it being sold out, they just don't care enough to display (or stock) all of their phones. I understand it wouldn't be a top-seller, especially at TMo, but how can it sell if nobody knows about it. But their displays all of their are awful. You can't ever turn half of them on. It's embarrassing.
 
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Midwayman

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2000
5,723
325
126
I can get 20mb down and 10mb up outside my house. If I go inside I can get LTE in some parts of the kitchen, edge or no signal inside. It's pretty much universal in every residential place I go. Go inside and your reception really drops off.

Also a verizon LTE phone is pretty much plug and play sim card. Used an LG G2 verizon, just plug in the sim card, you may need to edit the APN but that's 1 min of time

All depends on where you are. I got a tmobile sim on their pre-paid just to test the service for a month and by the end of week 1 I knew it wouldn't work.

That's the thing about wireless. It only matters where *you* are. Not how well it works for other people. I'd switch from the death star in a minute if I could get okay signal.
 

paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
1,848
2
76
Do they pay ETF's?

they still do refund ETFs (with this new $100 2-line unlimited plan).

(2-year) contracts count as ETFs, AT&T Next (device financing) DO NOT COUNT

You still need to
  1. Pay ETF first, get reimbursed by t-mobile later
  2. Trade-in a phone (can be any phone from craigslist/ebay/...), get $0-$? based on the value of that phone
  3. Buy a phone from T-mobile (can buy their cheapest $30-$70 phone)
  4. Wait and get the visa gift card by mail
 
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Phaetos

Senior member
Jan 27, 2005
391
27
91
I just wanted to reiterate that WiFi calling currently only works with THEIR phones, ie - tmo branded phones. It will hopefully eventually be baked into android so that you can still bring your own device and have it work.

So If I'm on a T-Mobile iPhone 6 at home on my wifi, I can only make calls to other T-Mobile phones, or can I call my parents who would be on Verizon or ATT landline?
 

Phaetos

Senior member
Jan 27, 2005
391
27
91
they still do refund ETFs (with this new $100 2-line unlimited plan).

(2-year) contracts count as ETFs, AT&T Next (device financing) DO NOT COUNT

You still need to
  1. Pay ETF first, get reimbursed by t-mobile later
  2. Trade-in a phone (can be any phone from craigslist/ebay/...), get $0-$? based on the value of that phone
  3. Buy a phone from T-mobile (can buy their cheapest $30-$70 phone)
  4. Wait and get the visa gift card by mail

I thought I read on the website today that :

1) transfer number and activate it
2) cancel service with current provider
3) wait for final bill to come in with ETF on it
4) send them a copy and they send you a pre-paid VISA for the amount
 

cpacini

Senior member
Oct 22, 2005
712
0
76
So If I'm on a T-Mobile iPhone 6 at home on my wifi, I can only make calls to other T-Mobile phones, or can I call my parents who would be on Verizon or ATT landline?
No calls over Wi-Fi can be made to anyone. What he is saying is only phones purchased through T-Mobile support Wi-Fi calling, an unlocked phone from another carrier will not support Wi-Fi calling.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
Jeez. I think I'm going to have to try their network for a week after I return from the holidays.

Why don't they have a trial program where they let you take a tester phone around for a day with collateral/deposit or something? Either they get a new customer or not and have nothing to lose.
 

Phaetos

Senior member
Jan 27, 2005
391
27
91
No calls over Wi-Fi can be made to anyone. What he is saying is only phones purchased through T-Mobile support Wi-Fi calling, an unlocked phone from another carrier will not support Wi-Fi calling.

I got that no other carrier's phones supports WiFi calling now. I was asking about the technical details of who can be CALLED if you are making calls while on WiFi.
 

cpacini

Senior member
Oct 22, 2005
712
0
76
I got that no other carrier's phones supports WiFi calling now. I was asking about the technical details of who can be CALLED if you are making calls while on WiFi.
Calls can be made to anyone, it works exactly like calls over cellular
 

paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
1,848
2
76
I thought I read on the website today that :

1) transfer number and activate it
2) cancel service with current provider
3) wait for final bill to come in with ETF on it
4) send them a copy and they send you a pre-paid VISA for the amount
Oh yeah,vforgot step 1( you have to port you number, as well as trading in a phone and buying a new phone from T-Mobile)

Your steps 2-4 are just actions you have to perform while doing the etf reimbursements. The important parts (need to trade in& buy new phone) are additional requirements that people may overlook
 
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rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
Does anyone know how to disable the persistent notification for WiFi calling (Android)? I'd like to use it, but I refuse to allow a persistent notification...
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
126
Apparently they are getting more customers. I am not getting LTE where I used to get, and HSPA+, which was never fast, is slower than ever..
 

Phaetos

Senior member
Jan 27, 2005
391
27
91
Here's another technical question. Can you use data and voice at the same time on TMob devices?
 

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
8,691
1
81
Here's another technical question. Can you use data and voice at the same time on TMob devices?
Yes. My Nexus 5 drops from LTE to to 3g during a call, but will stay on 4g if I place the call using hangouts dialer.
 

Bman123

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2008
3,221
1
81
My signal at home is utter shit on tmobile, outside the house is great. Bad thing is I have a Verizon note 2 so I can't use WiFi calling at all.
 

paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
1,848
2
76
Here's another technical question. Can you use data and voice at the same time on TMob devices?

If phone has VoLTE, you can talk (on volte) and surf on LTE. When LTE signal drops, phone is supposed to handoff to 3G(you can talk and data on 3G)

On WiFi calling, you get voice and data over WiFi. Its supposed to handoff to the cellular network (3G, volte works for certain phones)

These handoffs may be buggy at times, so you might want to disable volte/WiFi calling

If phone doesn't have volte(eg nexus 5), the device will drop to 3g when calling. You will get talk and data on 3g
 
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Phaetos

Senior member
Jan 27, 2005
391
27
91
If phone has VoLTE, you can talk (on volte) and surf on LTE. When LTE signal drops, phone is supposed to handoff to 3G(you can talk and data on 3G)

On WiFi calling, you get voice and data over WiFi. Its supposed to handoff to the cellular network (3G, volte works for certain phones)

These handoffs may be buggy at times, so you might want to disable volte/WiFi calling

If phone doesn't have volte(eg nexus 5), the device will drop to 3g when calling. You will get talk and data on 3g

Got it.

ETA: Does WiFi calling work over any wireless router or do you have to have their branded router?
 
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paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
1,848
2
76
Got it.

ETA: Does WiFi calling work over any wireless router or do you have to have their branded router?

It works over any WiFi (if ports/ips aren't blocked, which might happen for corporate wifis)

Their branded router gives you a better experience than your typical belkin/netgear crap wifi... It has AC (2.4&5ghz), prioritization /qos for the WiFi calling stuff etc....

That's why T-Mobile is willing to rent it to you for free -you'll get a better calling experience at home and better WiFi, while they attempt to deploy 700mhz and LTE in more areaa
 

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
My signal at home is utter shit on tmobile, outside the house is great. Bad thing is I have a Verizon note 2 so I can't use WiFi calling at all.
Yeah, so far I'm incredibly pleased with TMo's coverage...as long as you're outside. Penetration seems to be fine at our house and my work, but the fiance has been complaining that she can hardly get a signal at her work. Disappointing.
 

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
8,691
1
81
I just wanted to reiterate that WiFi calling currently only works with THEIR phones, ie - tmo branded phones. It will hopefully eventually be baked into android so that you can still bring your own device and have it work.
If you have an android phone, all you have to do is download "Hangouts Dialer" from Play Store.