[NYMETSFAN86]

T-Mobile has a deal this weekend where you can Buy one device and get one free. I am not sure that the 9900 is part of the deal. Check their website starting tomorrow. I have friends that travel all over and are very happy with TMO, as am I. Their UMA (wifi calling) is great, especially if you travel overseas since any calls made using UMA while there are billed as if you were sitting at home. Also, Verizon doesn't give you free calling when in a place like the USVI. They will rip you off with roaming. ATT not only has horrible customer service but their call quality is horrible and, if you ask an iPhone user with them, they drop close to 50% of their calls. T-Mobile gives you great service and value for your money. Their customer service has never been an issue with me and i'm sure it'll get back to where it was soon enough.

The best thing to do is just ask someone at a local TMO Corporate owned store as well as people that you know. Also, you may want to pickup a cheap prepaid TMO phone and test out your voice signal where you go.

Lastly, in addition to their lower rates, TMO also has corporate discounts that not only apply to voice but messaging and data as well (others only discount the voice portion).

[Solidus433]

I switched from Cingar to T-Mobile when ATT bought them, and was a huge T-Mobile fan until about a year ago. I live in southern California and never had reception issues uess I was in Northern Ventura County. The only complaints I hold against them is the drastic decline in customer service in the last 8-10 months. Pricing was great though. I'm on sprint now for the last 4 months and am contemplating a jump to ATT.

[iN8ter]

I could just be biased, but I wouldn't go with T-Mo. I recently just switched away from them after 7 years. The costs of their plans are very reasonable, however their customer service has REALLY taken a nosedive and is only bound to get worse. They recently closed down 7 (IIRC) call centers in North America, and I've gotten subpar service at retailers over the past year or so. I had difficulty keeping a signal while on road trips, however I was travelling to rural Kansas and Missouri, so you might have better luck in Mass. All in all I'm glad I switched, but I'm not thrilled with paying a fortune on Verizon. I'm now thinking I should've gone with Sprint.

Verizon and AT&T are expensive, but TBH if you require decent wide coverage for data and voice there isn't really a choice.

T-Mobile has terrible coverage.

I've had a T-Mobile rep change my rate plan to reset my contract when I changed a data plan, just cause it was the same price for more minutes. I didn't ask about it. I didn't find out until I called months later to check my contract dates (cause ETFs go down at certain break points). I was LIVID. First woman told me to SNAIL MAIL some place to challenge it. Lol. I almost went off the deep end, hung up and called back to speak to a manager in retentions. They fixed it, but it took like 30 minutes on the phone to get that done.

Already ETF'd one line. Other two go off contract in < 2 months so I'll prolly get them in the next few weeks and go to AT&T. I don't think I can wait 2 months. I need better data speeds.

150-250k on full 3G signal is not acceptable, their roaming coverage is decent and free but often you're on 1-2 bars of GSM and that makes for such bad calls that you're better off just trying to text (if they go through at all with that kind of signal).

They do have good prices, and if you live in an area where their network can back it up they are very good value. Unfortunately there are lots of areas that simply don't meet that benchmark, so you're often better off just paying more for better service.

I don't believe in Carriers that make me piggy back off my home internet for Data/Voice coverage. Not unless they're giving me some type of discount.

Also, UMA is different - and way superior - to WiFi calling. You're basically tethered to a wireless hotspot while you're on the phone with that. Tried it and a bit and having to turn off WiFi and recall someone when you have to leave, etc. is just a deal breaker. Happens a lot for me since some days I'm on the move a lot. It also depends on a fairly strong signal for decent call quality, so many public hotspots (like when you're in a Hotel in a low coverage area, and roomed far from the Access Point) just won't cut it.

[Jason Cockerham]

I currently have the Bold 9900 on T-Mobile. I love it. I get 4G speeds and excellent call quality. When I don't have service (which is rare) the wifi calling works great.

[mas90guru]

I am in Connecticut. I find that in the New England area that the following seems to have the best overall signal:

AT&T
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile

Different regions of the country will vary.

I do find that the T-Mobile voice quality of my phones seems to be the best.

We vacation in the Lake George NY area and it seems the only service that works semi-reliably there is Verizon.

To reach some of the more remote areas I think I'd go Verizon.

[Matr00]

I'm considering switching from at&t to t-mobile (difference of 40-50% in my monthly bill).
Before i do switch I want to know if t-mob compares favorably to at&t as far as voice & 3G reception (i'm in boston & travel throughout central Massachusetts).

Thanks

Why just try them? Get a prepaid card from them or from a mvno that uses their network and spend some time and money with that sim in your phone
Easy to do, and you will have no hidden surprises after you switch or even get a 2yr contract

[xiaohuaxing]

OP, I was from Boston and went to school at UMass.

As others have said, there is no problem at all in metropolitan areas, I had full bars within 25 miles of Boston and no problems in Amherst/Springfield. However while driving between the two places there was a 30 min stretch of no service when going on Rt 2. I think it was slightly better on the Mass Pike but still had low/no service for a bit west of Worcester. Again no problems from Worcester -> Boston since there is more population there.

Oh, I forgot to mention at that time I was using a Curve 8700 then a Bold 9780 so they were older devices. Maybe your 9900 would be better but I wouldn't bank on that.

[Jaredius]

I've had AT&T and now T-mobile and I see no difference in coverage (voice or data) when in the Detroit, NYC and Rochester, NY metro areas. I also had good coverage in South FL while visiting a month ago.

The UMA (WiFi) calling is great as previous posts mentioned. This IMHO gives T-mobile the advantage over any carrier.

[elderberryman]

I am in Connecticut and have been with T-Mobile for many, many years. I have always had good service and reception - until I replaced my 8320 with a 9900. I have to now have a booster unit in my house to get 4G and in my neighborhood I now have SOS until I get near New Haven. However I have always been very happy with T-Mobile for international use. I take my 9900 to France next week and we will see how that goes.

[doxa sub750T]

I am in Connecticut and have been with T-Mobile for many, many years. I have always had good service and reception - until I replaced my 8320 with a 9900. I have to now have a booster unit in my house to get 4G and in my neighborhood I now have SOS until I get near New Haven. However I have always been very happy with T-Mobile for international use. I take my 9900 to France next week and we will see how that goes.

Beside turning on BB international data roaming, make sure you tell your friends to not call you. Even if you don't pick it up, you will get charged for the international rate! Worse is that even if you shut off your phone if someone leave a message, you will get charged too!

[chiro1]

I just upgraded to 9900 tmobile, and your get 4G with 9900, and it is super fast, I am from South Florida, which is a tough place for tmobile reception, but the 9900 there are no problem

[Rootbrian]

Windmobile is basically the same as tmobile. Cheap, good reception, fast speeds downtown (out of the downtown area is slow, but I won't be bothered by that he he he), excellent voice quality (depends on phone and audio codec used). I haven't needed to contact customer support at all, but soon will due to a cell tower in my building, which got damaged by high winds, causing the signal to SOS frequently regardless if I'm up stairs or downstairs. I did manage to make 2G work once, but it ended up saying "GSM". Heh, no data, just sms and voice, that was on the lakeshore trail. I wasn't frustraited either, as I KNOW how to make it lock on.

Steller and better than RoBelUs (or the VerizSprinAT&T) in pricing and similar to Fido (a b!tch to rogers) with their cityzones.

[tcamshafter]

been with tmo for 10 plus years i guess the worst about tmo has been getting a signal in buildings. customer service did drop but every time i have called for the past year has been awesome! WIFI calling is kind of cool and works well and on my second blackberry UMA calling blows always dropping calls BUT the plans on tmobile rock i spend 60.00 a month for unlimited everything!!!! but the one thing that worried me was the new data roaming limits but im good as i dont roam much..hope this helps
peace

[kurtla]

I just checked the coverage map for boston and it looks pretty green there. I am in LA and have had tmo for over a decade and I never drop a single call, used to maybe 4-5 years ago but they have upgraded all over the place. I have only used UMA devices and its a good party trick, I use it in tall bldgs all the time. would imagine wifi works the same way except there is no hand-off. rarely use customer service but its much better imo than before as they kept a lot of the crew they hired for the att merger. plans are cheap, so if it works in your area and where you travel you will like that. n/c transfers to RIM, that is nice. nobody beats verizon customer service so if that is what you want then look elsewhere, but for cheap decent service and an OK selection of devices I recommend them. the sales people in the stores are very nice at least here in LA.

[blackberry-unlocking710]

If you want to unlock a Blackberry bold 9900 from At&t and use it with T-mobile then you will only get 2G speed connection... devices from carriers such as WIND and Mobilicity will work fine with 3G speeds with a T-mobile sim card.

[simunlockblackberry]

i suggest you to unlock blackberry bold 9900and switch to any network whenever you want, also on tmobile 3g will work absolutely fine.

[MVSGeek]

I have a BB9900 on TMO. I *HATE* the phone! I would LOVE the phone if I were able to disable the touch screen. The touch screen on every 9900 I have had (I am on my 4th one) has been hyper-sensitive. The phone is constantly performing unintended functions due to the touch screen. I have tried locking it. It doesn't help. I have tried holstering it. It doesn't help. I have tried locking AND holstering it. It doesn't help.

Now my online account at tmobile.com is screwed up. I opened my first trouble ticket on that two months ago and they still have not been able to fix it.

The early termination penalty for my account is $200. I am seriously considering paying the fee and going to another carrier.

I am so frustrated with this phone/service I could scream!

[Rootbrian]

@MVSGeek Go into the options and change the touch screen sensitivity and also, make sure the selection bar is not on any icons. I too, also have some issues with the touch screen, but I have found ways to solve them. Moving the row of icons to the bottom, like completely collapsing the panel, and touching the wallpaper area, will keep it from causing the touchscreen from launching commands or apps. Trust me, once you get used to it, you'll love the device.

[xandermac]

Its probably the trackpad. Its sensitive to light & can behave unpredictably (unintended cursor movement which affects typing etc). I learned very early (my 1st trackpad device was the 8520 which was the 1st available) to use a grey scotchpad to scuff up the trackpad to prevent this from happening. You can test this theory by temporarily sticking a square of clear tape over the trackpad (not the perfectly clear stuff, the type that is grey/matte) to see if it resolves the problem before using the scotchpad.

I have a BB9900 on TMO. I *HATE* the phone! I would LOVE the phone if I were able to disable the touch screen. The touch screen on every 9900 I have had (I am on my 4th one) has been hyper-sensitive. The phone is constantly performing unintended functions due to the touch screen. I have tried locking it. It doesn't help. I have tried holstering it. It doesn't help. I have tried locking AND holstering it. It doesn't help.



Now my online account at tmobile.com is screwed up. I opened my first trouble ticket on that two months ago and they still have not been able to fix it.



The early termination penalty for my account is $200. I am seriously considering paying the fee and going to another carrier.



I am so frustrated with this phone/service I could scream!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

[jcv822]

Consistent voice/data service is my biggest concern right now. I travel to several rural areas in Massachusetts, I would hate to be without cell service. I feel at&t definitely price gouges (i pay $103.00-unlimited data,text, & 450 mins plus tax) but that may be the going rate for peace of mind.

Lived in DC for the last 2 yrs. Never did use the customer service after I signed up. We have a monthly plan for 2 blackberries: unlimited text, data, blackberry service and 750 mins talk time=128 with taxes included and I can leave anytime. Don't think they are offering this plan anymore.