[SparkBerryBold]

Hi,

So I noticed Sprint recently deployed B25 LTE (1900mhz) at the tower near(ish) my house (located in Northern Virginia). I'm picking up B25 intermittently on the top level and outside. Even without B25, I am satisfied with the quality of service in my area.

The one thing I wish Sprint could do is stay more up to date with the new BlackBerry phones. I like my Q10 but am bummed they never released the Z10 or Z30. There has been a tweet or two from Mr. Claure hinting there may be a new Sprint-BlackBerry release coming. This could be referring to the Classic or upcoming Leap, but it's anyone's guess at this point. Sprint has been pretty cautious in recent years about releasing BlackBerry phones. I'm not sure if that is going to continue now and into the future.

T-Mobile is in talks with BlackBerry about selling their phones again. Even without this, there is the ability to bring an unlocked phone to TMO because they are a GSM carrier.

So, I bought a used Z10 off of eBay last night. I'm going to purchase a prepaid plan and try the service for a month. But, I'm expecting TMO's service to be satisfactory as well.. I have a tablet that can connect to TMO's network and the service is pretty good overall.

What should I do? In your opinion, is there advantage to one carrier or the other?

Thanks,

Mark

[dbq10]

T-mobile is good for prepaid plans and has deals for tablet owners. I've been using my phone as a hotspot but they now limit that to 100 MB unless you pay an extra 15 dollars. Not too bad because you get unlimited throttled data on the monthly passes.

[scrannel]

Since you got a Z10, and if it's (and should be to work best on T-mo) a 100-3, check the OS before you do an OTA update, see if what came on the phone (like 10.2.1.3442) works with T-Mo's wifi-calling.

[SparkBerryBold]

T-mobile is good for prepaid plans and has deals for tablet owners. I've been using my phone as a hotspot but they now limit that to 100 MB unless you pay an extra 15 dollars. Not too bad because you get unlimited throttled data on the monthly passes.

Yeah I'm going to get a monthly prepaid pass and do my own "Test Drive" of their network. And yes, I believe it is a 100-3. It has T-Mobile branding. Do only certain versions of BB10 work with the Wi-Fi calling?

[preacher2b]

I've found that only TMO branded phones work with WiFi calling. Also BB10 os release from TMO is what is needed for WiFi calling. I've heard of some getting 10.3.1.xxx to work but I've tried on my Q10 and they all failed. Search around you may find a good thread on it?

I've since switched from TMO to Cricket after about 18 months. The signal in NW FL doesn't penetrate buildings, not even for voice alone. I found I was riding on AT&T network for emergency calls, so Cricket costs less and uses the same towers and tech, but I'm throttled at 8MB/s speeds.

[SparkBerryBold]

Awesome, thanks for the input. T-Mobile service in my area, Northern Virginia, is able to go through buildings. I have a tablet that picks up their network and it works well.

[scrannel]

I've found that only TMO branded phones work with WiFi calling. Also BB10 os release from TMO is what is needed for WiFi calling. .

You do NOT need a branded t-mo Blackberry 10 series to run wifi-calling. I have two Z10s, one branded, one from Shopbberry -- both handle wifi-calling no sweat. What you DO need, however, is a model of the phone that T-Mo did sell: Z10: 100-3; Q10 100-5. As you pointed out, you also need a compatible OS. .2228 was the last official OS released by T-Mo; my branded phone got that. .3442 was an OTA that my unbranded phone received, and it also handles wifi-calling. Most other OS releases will not.

[dbq10]

If you prefer more data than talk time, their prepaid $30 - 5GB "Walmart plan" is good. You have to order the sim from their website because it has a special activation code and it's not available in T-mo stores.

[SparkBerryBold]

If you prefer more data than talk time, their prepaid $30 - 5GB "Walmart plan" is good. You have to order the sim from their website because it has a special activation code and it's not available in T-mo stores.

Yeah, that's what I'm going with. They also have a promotion now that brings the SIM card down from $15 to 99 cents. So I got that.

[p1800nut]

Yeah, that's what I'm going with. They also have a promotion now that brings the SIM card down from $15 to 99 cents. So I got that.

Where did you find that promo? I can't find it on the Walmart site.

[dbq10]

I see the 99 cent deal on t-mobile.com when you click on "shop deals." You'll then see a web only offer that says "use promo code sim99 when you check out."

[SparkBerryBold]

Where did you find that promo? I can't find it on the Walmart site.

Where did you find that promo? I can't find it on the Walmart site.

It was on the T-Mobile site. Go to their prepaid site. They have somewhat of a separate site for prepaid stuff. It's still under T-Mobile.com. Here I'll give the link:

Prepaid Phone Plans | Best Prepaid Cell Phone Plans | T-Mobile

Scroll about 2/3 down the page and there's bold text that says, "Other monthly plans". I assume it gives you the option to choose that plan when you activate on T-Mobile's website. Not sure how you'd do it if you're getting the phone through Wal-Mart. Not sure how T-mo/Walmart get their phones activated.

[dbq10]

The Wal-mart side of things never really worked out for them. I haven't found a single store employee who knew what I was referring to. T-mo tends to bury their prepaid options within their website; it's a real hunt trying to get to their prepaid mobile broadband passes.

[SparkBerryBold]

The Wal-mart side of things never really worked out for them. I haven't found a single store employee who knew what I was referring to...

Yeah, it's easier to call a T-Mobile store and ask them about the Walmart plan. I had a question about it and called the store and they were helpful.

Posted via CB10

[audiosupernova]

The prepaid options are pretty easy, but you need to already have an unactivated T-Mobile SIM to really see them. I bought a nano-SIM from them for prepaid off the T-Mobile website, and then activated it online. Only then can you actually see the details of their prepaid offerings. I'm on their $30 plan, 100 minutes, unlimited messaging and data(5GB LTE). The stores won't help you at all with those prepaid options. When I have talked to store reps, they claim that T-Mobile doesn't even support BIS for legacy BB's, but when activating my Classic, I noticed they certainly do offer BIS as a $10 add-on. They're not the brightest bunch in store.

Posted via CB10

[lift]

T-mobile is far better than Sprint for BlackBerry users in my opinion. More phone options and in my area T-mobile has better coverage than Sprint.

[RJB55]

I recently moved from Sprint to T-Mobile when I bought my Passport (unlocked) and have zero regrets. My guess is Sprint may well never offer BlackBerry phones beyond the couple they offer now. Just my opinion.

[lift]

The only BB10 phone Sprint offered WAS the Q10. Which they no longer offer.

[leojzueg]

T MOBILE is the Best



Posted via CB10

[eyesopen1111]

T-Mo is better by far! It sold me my first Z10 and has excellent LTE speeds.

[Septembersrain]

I'm very happy that it appears BlackBerry and T-Mobile have buried the hatchet. I really do like T-Mobile and am most likely going to get the Classic now that they'll offer it!


T-Mobile to sell BlackBerry Classic to woo businesses

http://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-to...ess-customers/

Shared via the CNET Application
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id383989837?at=10l3Vy

[SparkBerryBold]

I switched to T-Mobile earlier this summer and haven't looked back. I decided to get the Classic and have been really pleased with it. The tool belt really adds a lot of functionality. Comes in handy a lot when using websites not intended for touchscreens. The trackpad allows me to have a cursor that I can hover over items with.

I got tired of Sprint dragging its feet and jerking BlackBerry customers around. They have more Android phones than I can shake a stick at. But, they can't be bothered answer basic questions such as:

- Why they dropped the Q10
- Why they don't have the Classic
- Why they haven't released OS 10.3.x
- If they are ever going to have a BB phone again

I went to their newsroom like all their forum reps suggest, searched "blackberry".. Almost everything that came up was relating to Android.. really had to dig to find actual BlackBerry news.. from two years ago.

Is Sprint really #gettingbettereveryday? Maybe if you're a DirecTV customer. Or a member of the Apple/Google duopoly.

[mzceetee]

Wow I drop sprint years ago,I couldn't justified being stuck with a CDMA provider with pathetic service and too many excuses. I am with Tmo now ,like the freedom dropping in a sim and go..

Via BlackBerry 10  Z30

[jcraig]

I have to give the nod to T-Mobile if only because unlocked BB's usually always work on T-Mobile's GSM network where Sprint's CDMA won't work at all.

[lift]

No comparison at all. Sprint is junk and has a very limited selection of phones. You can not buy an unlocked phone and use it on Sprint.