I had ATT GSM service, but have had a multitude of problems, ranging from "random phone deactivations" (ATT killed my phone for being "inactive"), being charged $1000 on accident, buying a phone online and having it shipped to the previous owner of my phone number (you'd think after having the phone for 3 years, they'd ship it to the right address). Coupled with awful customer service (the salesguy miscounted my money when I went to pick up accessories and pocketed $20 - so I went back to the store, he reached into his pocket and pulled out my $20), I just couldn't do it anymore.

I think that T-Mobile offers a better product with cheaper international roaming, cheaper data rates and better customer service. And they unlock phones and offer better equipment.

1) Simlocks?
2) Better assortment of phones?
3) Time for a new phone?
4) Cheap phone when activiating new service?

Plenty of reasons to get a new phone...

I think the point I was trying to make as well as validate is that you don't have to change your physical phone when switching from AT&T GSM to T-Mobile. T-Mobile or some other agency should be able to unlock it, right?

I may make this change someday, and I like my phone. My only problem with AT&T is poor coverage in the Los Angeles metro area. But I don't think T-Mobile is any better. I'd love to hear more about how your switch goes, Goat!

I have seen a fee may be charged for switching. Any idea how much this fee is?

MisterNice

I'm not aware of any fee whatsoever. Where did you hear about this?

Had a friend who ported a Cingular So. Calif number to T-Mobile.. .Process took 2 hours to port. His phone now rings correctly onto his new T-Mobile phone (and SIM)...

I just got back from a Sprint store, where I attempted to port my number. It didn't go so smooth...here's what happened.

I work for a major company, and we get a 20% monthly discount off of any plan at Sprint. I went to the store to switch both mine and my wife's phone. It was their first switch of the day, so they weren't exactly sure how to do it. The manager worked with the sales person to do it. While they were working on it, we wandered around the store looking at the various phones. After about 20 minutes, the sales person told me that we might as well go to lunch because it would take up to 45 minutes to port the number. It was 12:30, and we were hungry, so we did. We came back at 1:15, and the store was quite busy. We waited for the person we talked to earlier to get done. When she finished with a customer, she saw us and immediately went to the manager to say something. The two of them approached us and told us that there had been a problem with porting the number. Apparently they forgot to add the corporate discount when they put the port request in. But instead of just adding my discount to the account, they cancelled the port so they could redo it. But they didn't know that cancelling the port would take several hours. So they told me they'd call me once they were able to do it successfully, and that it might be as late as 5 or 6 until they're able to do so. Luckily it's not a bid deal for me. The store is only a few miles away, and I can just swing by after work. But if I had gone out of my way, I'd be pissed.

They were waiving the activation fee, and we got a free phone. There was no out of pocket fee for us. We're switching to a plan that gives us more minues and nationwide long distance (didn't have before). And it's about 10% less per month than we were paying before. Assuming the re-porting goes smoothly and I'm all set up by tonight, I'll be very happy. If not, I'll be a little peeved and will definitely post my experience here.

T-mobile will not unlock a phone locked on a different network. They will only unlock phones bought on their network, and will only do that after 3 months of being a customer. ATT have a very bad reputation when it comes to unlocking a phone, quite simply they will not...

But it's silly to take out a contract with T-mobile and NOT pick a phone, they have several free phones and if you don't pick a phone when you signup you can't pick one afterwards unless you add a year or more to your contract.

Note that Amazon already has added keep your old number capability to its online ordering for T-Mobile, Nextel and Sprint. Basically it involves ordering the normal way then calling your new carrier when the phone arrives. (For some reason they haven't yet established a process for AT&T.) So if you want to take advantage of Amazons really good free after rebate offers to switch to T-Mobile or Sprint, you certainly can do so. I recently got a free T-Mobile Nokia 3650 this way. Took several weeks for the rebates to turn up, but they went fairly smoothly.

Been 10 hours to no avail.

That's the next bit of information I'm very curious about. I now have my Sprint phone (see my experience above). I've had it for a few hours, but it still doesn't work. Anyone switched and it's now working? If so, how long dit it take?

quote: (T-mobile unlock) will only do that after 3 months of being a customer.

This is not a true statement. If there is a pressing need, they will unlock it immediately which in their terminology means approximately 2 weeks. Based on personal experience, do not expect the unlock procedure to go smoothly. There is way too much bureaucracy and lack of knowledge within the T-Mobile system.

BUT: Once you get the phone unlocked, putting in and activating prepaid SIMs is painless and easy.

My saga continues....

I was originally told it would take a few hours to up to 10 hours to port the number. As of this morning, it still hadn't done so. I called Sprint customer service, and they said it wouldn't be ported until 11/29...5 days after I initiated the transaction! I gave the poor customer service person a hard time, but I knew there was nothing she could do. I decided to call the store where I did the transaction (and where they told me it would take 3-10 hours). I spoke to a manager there, who was quite nice. He said that the amount of time it would take to port numbers was underestimated, and all of the cell phone companies are saying it will take 4-5 business days. The change, according to him, is due to the reluctance and slow-down of the cell phone companies in releasing the numbers so they can be ported. He said that all the companies, his included, were doing things to slow down the process as much as possible. His honesty was refreshing, but it still doesn't make the number change go any faster. At least my old phone is still working, so it's not that bad. Could be worse, I could be without a cell phone right now (and I don't have a landline).

Word from our IT folks is that Sprint is having problems porting out or in numbers...

It's been 32 hours since I called T-Mobile, and still no go. I called this morning, and they said it was queued up but told me to call back later tonight or tomorrow morning.