Thinking of Switching from TMobile - Suggestions???
 

Currently I am a long time T-Mobile Customer. We've been using the family plan for 2 years. We have 5 phones, myself, wife, and three college kids. The plan has worked well. The mobile to mobile is great, and my wife only uses the phone to call me or the kids, so the minutes work.

I pay all of $100 for 5 phones. I also have hotspot which only costs $20 as I'm a T-Mobile user. I use my phone extensively in Europe and Asia.

So what's the problem?? - The problem is we (all of my family, except my wife she's happy with her Nokia it sync's to her palm) need new phones. Our devices are on their last legs.

If I have to resign up and commit for a year, who do I go to? When I started with T-Mobile they were the only phone that worked in my house, now Verizon does, but I'm not sure about the new Cingular.

We can't have roaming, as my kids are all over the country, and it has to be tri-band so it works in Europe and Asia. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

It sounds like you are happy with T-Mobile, so I'd suggest you stick with them. If you need new phones, figure out what you want and buy unlocked phones from eBay or other sources.

Switching just for phones to another carrier could be costly. As an example, Cingular (which I use and am generally happy with) will make you sign a 2 year contract to get into their new phones.

What is an unlocked phone?
 

Yes and no. Their service is lousy in some areas.

What is an unlocked phone??

I won't do a two year agreement. Technology changes too fast. Thanks

Stay with T-mobile. Either logon to your account and click the "Every 12" phone upgrade link, or call T-mobile and ask for retentions and see what they will offer you. If you have been with them that long they will most likely offer a bunch of cheap or free phones and some free months.

An unlocked phone is a GSM phone that can use anyone SIM. You could take a T-Mobile SIM or a Cingular SIM and use it in an unlocked phone. Most new phones are 'locked' to the carrier that sold the phone. The issue you have to be careful about is the frequency the provider uses.

It sounds like you'll need to look into who has coverage in the areas that you and you family frequent.

Also another catch that you might want to consider is that being a long time customer you might be on a plan that has since been grandfathered - i.e.. exists only for you - impossible to get right now. So if you think you seem to have a good deal (which from your post) seems to be true - then switching out might not be a good option.

T-Mobile definitely offers exisiting customers new phones at the same price as their website for signing a contract extension.

They also offer it "just in case" as well. I broke my phone a few months ago, my fault, but I walked into the T-Mo store and asked what they could do for me. $20 and 10 minutes later, I had a new phone, no questions asked.

See what they'll do for you.

Depending on your location you may be able to upgrade your phones using the Every 12 program without renewing your contract. I did last week.

In my case there's $60 difference between the extend and no-extend prices. I have about 6 months left in my existing contract, so perhaps the difference is greater when you're out of contract.

Also note, there's a feature on the T-Mobile website where you customize the feature set for your phone. If I login with my PocketPC phone indicated as "my phone" I don't get the phone upgrade link. If I select my V180 I do get the link. Maybe this is because I nominally upgraded to the V180 from the PocketPC last year.

My advice - be careful.

Your criteria might limit your choices.

Best of my knowledge, Verizon does not offer GSM (at least not last time I checked).

You mioght consider either upgrading the phones - a quick call to TMobile might allow you to do this for free. Granted they won't be top-end devices.

You might consider Cingular but be careful - if you are a heavy data user their plans can get real pricey.

Sprint also has good family plans but then again no GSM...

Some info
 

I would call T-Mobile and ask if you can get a new phone. I would not change your contract, since it seems as though you have a good one. I have a good ATT contract that I signed just before the merger went through, and I will not give it up. (4 phones, nights beginning at 7 for free, free incoming text, 1450 minutes a month total, for about 100 dollars including taxes). I am allowed to stay on as long as I like.

Do not sign any more than a one year contract. The companies love you to be on two year (or with VErizon, even THREE year contracts). I would sign an extension for no more than one year.

Verizon is half owned by Vodafone. Verizon does have a single model which is CDMA and GSM, allowing roaming on Vodafone's networks outside of the US. But you cannot use the GSM in the US on Verizon's plans.

One nice thing about T-mobile is that they will unlock phones for you after 90 days, allowing you to use a local SIM chip when abroad. Most of the other companies won't, so you may have to go to a third party for unlocking (unless you have a Nokia, in which case you can do it yourself for little or no cost).

Vzw
 

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Check out this site, too
 

Howardforums is a big site with lots of posts and posters, but I would check out wirelessadvisor.com.

It's a smaller site, but the posters seem to be a bit friendlier and more helpful, IMHO.

I also have a T-Mobile family plan. You can get new phones at the 11 month mark. You may have to speak to a supervisor, but the general rule is that they'll match new-customer offers (taking in to account the activation fee, of course). You do have to commit to an additional year, but you do not have to change your plan. That said, I changed my plan - same $$, same features, more minutes (now 1000 anytime). I looked around, back in January, I couldn't find a better deal from anyone else.

Actually, according to their website, Verizon now offers two models, the Samsung SCH-a790 and Motorola a840. Since I am very happy with Verizon's service in the U.S., I was thinking of trying one of these. Does anyone have any experience with either of these phones?

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/m...hone/index.jsp

If I understand fuzz's comment above correctly, I could conceivably purchase one of these phones and keep my same plan and then just pay extra for any international calls? Or is there a separate plan?