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T-Mobile phones with good reception

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nitrous9200

Senior member
I'm using the $30 prepaid 5GB plan with a BlackBerry 9700, and I'm liking it except that I can't get a signal in my house...I blame the phone because in my store today, I was sitting down at my desk with full signal strength, put the phone down on my knee & the phone said "searching for network...". This BB seems to be lackluster in the reception department, according to what I've experienced & quick google searches.

I'm looking for an HSPA+ compatible phone that's at least a bit more powerful than the Motorola Droid I've been using for two years & preferably under $200. Does such a phone exist?
 
you could probably get an htc sensation for ~200 used. never had reception problems with mine. it's also a dual core and has ICS
 
nitrous9200 said:
I'm looking for an HSPA+ compatible phone that's at least a bit more powerful than the Motorola Droid I've been using for two years & preferably under $200. Does such a phone exist?
Click to expand...

Pretty much any modern smartphone in TMO's line up will boast more powerful hardware than the ancient Droid 1. Whether you can get them for 200 or less is another question.

http://swappa.com/devices/t-mobile

Swappa has several under 200. I'd also check eBay and CL.
 
The D1 is far gone fyi. I'd choose something recent. Anything from an iPhone 4(don't know if its overkill) or an android device.
 
I have no issues on the same plan with my samsung vibrant. Got the phone for $60 on craigslist.
I've seen the g2x, sensation my touch 4g all under $200 on craigslist. Even with my 3g phone I've pulled 5mbps download with it. I had a my touch 4g and got over 10mbps all the time with it. Only thing I don't like about t mobile is my signal is shit at my work in the basement where my buddies verizon lte phone pulls 15mbps plus right next to me.
 
yup, tmo sux at building penetration which is why you'll usually only get edge deep inside a big building.


then again, i'm in a basement with no windows and getting 7mbps on hspa+...so who knows.
 
I find my tmo sgs2 get better reception/penetration than my verizon razr. I have a warehouse in jersey city and when I am in there the razr either get no signal or goes to G speeds and my sgs2 gets at least 2 bars on 4g. Granted, the razr has never connected at 4glte with full bars, never ever.
 
The variance in receptoin signal strength is more of a function of the provider's tower locations and propagation patterns. Signal strength can actually move or "float" in fringe areas. I have to laugh at folks not getting good 4G - hell, I can't even get good, steady 3G in my house, inside or outside. 1XRTT is sometimes a struggle. One block North and I get 5 bars! That is with Verizon, Sprint, or ATT.
 
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Thanks for all of the input...I guess it's kind of a difficult question, since everyone has a different experience (some people say Samsung is better, others say HTC...) And my reception issue at home still seems bizarre, but whatever. I just realized that I've forgotten about UMA/WiFi calling this whole time - I just tried it and it's a good solution.

I decided I can spend a bit more (~$250) and get a much better phone, probably the Sensation or maybe the Galaxy S II if the prices come down.
 
I have tried several phone/carrier combos over the years, the comination of the plan price and terrible service in my area always made me return and cancel within the trial period.

Att, Verizon, Sprint, all left me with no service inside my home.

Then a couple months ago I got the TMO/walmart plan and a Samsung Exhibit II (Now called Galaxy Exhibit) and I always have at least 4 bars on 3g and sometimes an HSPA signal inside my house.

Great plan, and the phone has been amazing, tons of custom roms, including a very good CM9/ICS rom that I have been using since shortly after getting this phone.

You can find this phone ranging from around $175.00 to $225.00

Another phone to keep in mind is the Galaxy Nexus straight from Google on the Play Store.(doesnt meet the cost criteria, but a helluva phone)
 
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I hate to make this complicated, but theres more to reception than the phone. The radio (or modem) in the phone plays a big part too. For example, on my Galaxy S2, with one radio I get 0-1 bar at home, with another radio I get 3-4. Most phones have more than one radio available, but you have to root and flash to change it.
 
After much contemplation, I bought an Exhibit II off of eBay; it arrived yesterday and it's been working great.
The signal strength is not dramatically better than the POS BlackBerry but it is definitely an improvement. Thankfully the phone is easy to root in order to remove all of the bloatware, after which it's very responsive and snappy. The camera's a bit slow to focus and there's no notification LED, but otherwise highly recommended.
 
nitrous9200 said:
After much contemplation, I bought an Exhibit II off of eBay; it arrived yesterday and it's been working great.
The signal strength is not dramatically better than the POS BlackBerry but it is definitely an improvement. Thankfully the phone is easy to root in order to remove all of the bloatware, after which it's very responsive and snappy. The camera's a bit slow to focus and there's no notification LED, but otherwise highly recommended.
Click to expand...

Did you just debloat or install one of the 6 roms available for it?

I used XquiziT for a month or two after I got the phone then switched to the cm9 beta and never looked back.

our phone has a very helpful wiki, here... http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Samsung_Exhibit_II_4G

the roms are near the bottom.
 
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