T Mobile 55+ Plan

[sum escape]

Looking at the mobile plan above. Unlimited text, talk and data plan for 2 phones, $60 a month all in. Does anyone have any experience with coverage, data speeds, and general observations about this service versus Verizon coverage, data speeds, etc? I do realize they advertise 128mbps in other countries for data. Any experience how T Mobile works in Canada or the Bahamas. Please share the good, bad and ugly of each service within and outside the US. Thanks.

 

[tiltrider1]

My understanding is that they trottle down the data coverage at some point. I'm not a cell plan expert so don't take this as gospel but ask the question.


My experience is that in urban areas there is know difference between providers but when you get to the more remote areas Sprint and T-Mobile disapear first.

 

[Gmarr]

What kind of phone?

 

[sum escape]

What kind of phone?

Samsung S7 and S8+

 

[dhmeissner]

Thanks for posting that. We are downsizing and will consider the 55+ plan. We have t-mobile now with 4 lines and generally we are happy with the coverage, but we live in a big city. I like the unlimited data, free Netflix and pandora. But, the coverage is not so good in rural places.

 

[dhays]

I use Verizon for my phone plans now, but certainly could make a change. My concern, like others is that I use my phone extensively as a data hot-spot while on the boat. Verizon has pretty good coverage over most of the Salish Sea in both WA and BC. Not sure that T-Mobile would do as well.

 

[BandB]

First, a disclosure, we own phone stores which sell T-Mobile. They do throttle sometimes if you've used over 50 GB during the billing cycle. Look carefully at coverage maps. In most heavily populated areas, the service will equal all the others and in some ways will be superior. However, they have areas without coverage and with weak signals and can't match Verizon's nationwide coverage. Coverage looks solid where you are but there are a few areas of Michigan where it's weak. If you travel to Wisconsin, north of Green Bay, then you'll encounter awful coverage.

 

[ghost]

Last two summers we have used my wife's t-mobile in bc. Now t-mo does not have a system there, they roam on the bc networks. That said, the service has been amazing. Better than Verizon in years past, plus we still got to use the t-mobile unlimited. The speeds were fast and we streamed Netflix a lot. I'm a believer now. We were not in SAN Juans as much, but I got coverage in places I did not expect. Where I would not have even considered it previously, now my 1st choice for BC.

 

[OldDan1943]

First, in the interest of full discourser: I am dumber than a rock.
That being said, I have had AT&T for over 20 years. I use it for a hot spot when WiFi is down in the marina or in places without WiFi
Traveling on the AICW, I have yet to find a spot I could not use the phone.
I use my iPhone exclusively. I do not have a land line at my home in Atlanta. I use it exclusively in the marina. They gave up maintaining the land line which is fine with me. Others are accepting it. I suspect land lines will go the way of a 300 baud modem and the dinosaurs.

 

[psneeld]

TMobile has been very spotty from NJ to the Keys. Pretty good in densely populated areas, less so in rural areas and would lose signal in larger sounds quicker than the Verizon phone.

The TMobile was a kate model I ohone where the Verizon was a late model Samsung

My ATT plan was pretty bad in the rural parts of North Carolina ICW and Georgia....similar to TMobile but not as bad...that was on an older IPhone and from 3 to 6 years ago so that might be out dated already.

 

[OldDan1943]

I am told, AT&T's plan was to saturate the major cities and then up and down the interstate. So long as the ICW is within range, you should have good service.
15+ years ago, I brought a boat down from Long Island and never lost the signal.
We spent most of the time outside.

 

[Seevee]

I've had Tmobile and Verizon over the years. The Tmobile was a back up phone and used it very little, but for a few years was primary.

We used to fly extensively all over the US and Alaska. Still do a bit, but not so much. The Verizon clearly is the winner, but not overwhelmingly. The Tmobile would still get service in places like rural TN, WI where we traveled a lot. Any reasonably large city, both are about the same.

I'm keeping my Verizon and probably upping the coverage to unlimited data for the loop trip at about $100 a month. And considering a second phone with Tmobile. Both degrade the signal once you've used enough, so with two different providers I can double the higher speeds.

 

[psneeld]

As far as downgrading the signal, my crew has TMobile and streams 6 hrs a day or more occasionally for tv shows and movies.....while the slowdown warning pops up, there is nothing noticed while streaming.

Luck or what?... just passing on a tidbit.....

 

[Larry M]

We looked at T-Mobile for the Bahamas. After going to one of their primary stores and talking to their “experts”, we decided not to. They were saying we would have better speeds and coverage than BTC who owns the towers they would be using. We opted to use BTC’s prepaid data plans. Right now you can get 15 gigs of data for $35/month.

 

[timb]

we have our boat in Oriental NC Pamlico county only has one cell tower it is Verizon . in the ICW from the Neuse river end at Adams creek to Hobucken if you are on the phone there is a good chance it's that tower .I almost didn't use a siren marine monitoring system because there web page said they used. AT@T. I called there tech support and they said the new system use Verizon towers so I bought it.

 

[BandB]

As far as downgrading the signal, my crew has TMobile and streams 6 hrs a day or more occasionally for tv shows and movies.....while the slowdown warning pops up, there is nothing noticed while streaming.

Luck or what?... just passing on a tidbit.....

T-Mobile waits far longer to degrade plus only does so in periods of high traffic.

 

[Capecodder]

20+ years with ATT went to the T-Mobile 55+ much better reception with T-Mobile at home Marina. I have not noticed any negatives to ATT. I hot spot to iPad and TV haven’t noticed a slowdown. No service interruptions on the interstate and better speed where I noticed. Data speed can be vastly different due to location, a few places faster than cable WiFi

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

I use Verizon for my phone plans now, but certainly could make a change. My concern, like others is that I use my phone extensively as a data hot-spot while on the boat. Verizon has pretty good coverage over most of the Salish Sea in both WA and BC. Not sure that T-Mobile would do as well.

Verizon for two years in a row for ASD. Why they have the best Canadian plan (Western B.C.). There are times when we turn our phones off as there is no signal, aka wilderness.

The only places we had issues were Wrangell and Petersburg. The carrier there is AT&T. We could make calls and text but AT&T blocked non customers from data. We had to go up to the library.

I had heard T-Mobile was pretty good too as far as reception. no idea on plans.

 

[drb1025]

I live in Bellevue, WA, the headquarters for T Mobile, and they don’t have coverage at my house. I use Verizon, but would consider T Mobile if I could get a signal.

 

[BandB]

I live in Bellevue, WA, the headquarters for T Mobile, and they don’t have coverage at my house. I use Verizon, but would consider T Mobile if I could get a signal.

It's long been good comedy to watch cell phone companies not have coverage in their home location. Sprint for years. Been interesting watching cable companies too where until they traded some areas a couple of them were not providers in their home areas.

 

[bligh]

I have a galaxy s8++ . It has 2 sims in it -an att and tmobile, each with unlimited plans. The ATT is not very good, at least here in Santa Cruz, but seems to work well in some other areas. The tmobile seems to have good service in many of the areas I travel. The tmobile definitely has better service than the ATT (at least in the areas I use it- I'm not trying to start a fight with anyone). From my experience with this phone for over a year,I could likely get by with only the Tmobile service ,, where as I could not get by with just the ATT service
I also have a verizon phone . its a galaxy note 5 or something. It has good service as well, but I believe im capped for hotspot data. The Verizon phone is my backup so i while I usually have it with , I dont use it regularly and it may not be on..

 

[caltexflanc]

That's wierd, what part of Santa Cruz do you live in? I stay with friends on the westside several days a year and have zero issues with AT&T.

In metro areas, T Mobile and (ugh) Sprint have very good coverage and data speeds. It's out in the boonies where Verizon and AT&T separate themselves from the pack. They both over the years have been more active buying up regional networks. The math works out better given their high number of subscribers vs paying roaming fees, among other considerations.

As for the OP, who it appears won't be boating in either the PNW or Santa Cruz anytime soon, find out what Canadian roaming is now being offered by T-Mob for your plan, which is under their ONE program . https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-36619

On At&T, for instance, you can use your US rate plan allocation, for $10 on any given day you use it. I forget at the moment who the roaming partners are, but we got good results throughout the Maritimes. Another option of course is to get an unlocked, preferably dual SIM phone and buy a sim with prepaid service from a carrier up there.

 

[Benthic2]

..... and (ugh) Sprint.......

Can I ask why you don't like Sprint ? I'm planning on moving 3 lines to Sprint in a few months and so far have not heard many complaints about it.

 

[BandB]

Can I ask why you don't like Sprint ? I'm planning on moving 3 lines to Sprint in a few months and so far have not heard many complaints about it.

Disclosure again. We do sell Sprint services. I think it's all about where and when. I've personally been on Sprint for many many years with no issues. Boost provides an excellent service for most who don't travel. However, there are locations that any of the phone providers have problems.

Only time I ever had issues in business with Sprint reception was Kansas City area, their headquarters, around 17 or 18 years ago. But cruising, I've found areas not covered by them just as I have for every carrier. Fewest with Verizon.

 

[Benthic2]

I don't travel much at the moment, so as long as it works in my area, I'm fine. I'm currently with Virgin, and while the reception is fine for me, I am increasingly less satisfied with the service provided by them. I used to sing their praises to anyone who would listen, but they continue to disappoint as of late. I've looked at the 2 coverage maps, and there are differences, although Virgin runs on the Sprint network, which seems odd.

 

[caltexflanc]

Sprint still has sketchy customer service, as well as boondocks coverage. The lock they use on their phones coupled with a few other technological issues make Sprint phones loose their value on the secondary market rather dramatically compared to the other carriers. Plus I don't like the CEO, Marcelo Claure (didn't like Dan Hesse eithe). So all that leads me to not-so-involuntary "ughs". With T Mobile as good as it is now (and I don't like their CEO either, but have to give him credit along with his Deutch Telekom benefactors), if you are shopping for a bargain carrier, why screw with Sprint? Plus the phone you use on T Mobile will work almost anywhere in the world in a user friendly fashion.

 

[goboatnow]

Any experience how T Mobile works in Canada or the Bahamas. Please share the good, bad and ugly of each service within and outside the US. Thanks.

Our experience:
T Mobile is awesome in Canada. Because they have no cell towers in CDN they allow you to choose what carrier to use. So, if carrier ‘A’ is better in an area then use that. If carrier ‘B’ is better, switch to that. ATT only has one partner so you get what you get.

No Bahamas experience.

T Mobile is a NO GO in Alaska. They have no partner carriers. We had to switch to ATT when we got to SE AK last year which worked well.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

T Mobile is a NO GO in Alaska. They have no partner carriers. We had to switch to ATT when we got to SE AK last year which worked well.

In Juneau, Ketch and Angoon (of all places) Verizon works very well as AT&T too.

 

[T4Liberty]

I've been considering trying Project Fi from Google. What I like about the idea is fixed data costs no matter where and claimed coverage throughout the Caribbean. What I question is the T-Mobile and Sprint networks that the system relies on. Still researching.

https://fi.google.com/about/plan/?gclid=CjwKCAiAnabTBRA6EiwAemvBdysarX9NcieVN2Vx53SE7Pp9bVfb5HkzTFCJnvI-cdv41ZkYaWdh8hoCVzQQAvD_BwE&dclid=CMCxp_v69NgCFRw9TwodlacClw

 

[Bay Pelican]

T-Mobile is 2nd rate in the US, but is used by most cruisers in the Eastern Caribbean because of the unlimited data and text, and the 20 cents a minute calls from outside of the US.