RealGM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/ts_afp/usge ... panymerger




Why the f*ck do you think I switched from AT&T gaddammit?!?! I had to pay a ridiculous penalty just to get out of their damn contract and I blazed like a runaway slave...so how the flying f*ck did I end up back at the plantation?!?!? This is like a really cruel joke! I want to f*cking cry!

I've never had a problem with AT and T.

Hated AT&T. Switched to Verizon. I'd be pissed if I ended back there, too.

I don't like Sprint. Think I should have gone Mobi month-to-month, just for the flexibility.

I may jump ship to Metro PCS. This is just annoying.

I hear you JWiz, AT&T in much of NYC is unusable.

San Francisco AT&T is also awful. Seems like their infrastructure simply can't handle dense urban areas. That being said it should improve now, they basically bought out the US operations of T-Mobile to increase capacity overnight.

mods- sticky this thread.

AT&T is worthless anywhere there are people -- in the ass middle of nowhere, it works great. FANTASTIC. My folks went to Cambodia last month and gave me a call from some mud hut in the middle of some jungle, and it sounded better than when I get a call from someone else inside Manhattan while I'm at work on 42nd st. RIDICULOUS.

daSwami wrote: mods- sticky this thread.

LOL - we could change this to a "complain about your wireless carrier" thread and it would be on fire.

.
Posting this just to show JWiz that I care.

AT&T: T-Mobile 3G phones will eventually need to be replaced

The ink is barely dry on AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition plan for T-Mobile, but T-Mobile customers are already clamoring for information on what’s going to happen with their service and their phones. Details are still emerging, but one thing seems clear: phones that tap into T-Mobile’s 3G services will eventually need to be replaced, and AT&T worked the cost of replacing all those handsets into the price of the acquisition.

One of the main reasons AT&T wants to acquire T-Mobile is to get T-Mobile’s cell towers and use them to expand coverage and the availability of 4G LTE mobile broadband services. However, rolling out AT&T’s 4G services on T-Mobile towers will mean switching off T-Mobile’s existing 3G services: AT&T will need the spectrum for 4G. In a call with investors this morning, AT&T executives indicated that the company plans to make some cellular sites dual-mode so they support both companies’ 3G frequencies, significantly increased 3G capacities in some areas. However, once the T-Mobile acquisition is complete, AT&T will be looking to utilize T-Mobile’s existing 1700MHz AWS spectrum in conjunction with AT&T’s 700 MHz spectrum to support LTE services. According to AT&T, that will eventually mean AT&T 4G services will be able to cover 95 percent of the U.S. population.

However, the downside is that when AT&T turns off T-Mobile’s 3G services, customers will T-Mobile 3G devices will lose data services. For many customers, this will be a non-issue: the switchoff is still in the very far future (at least in mobile technology terms), and many customers will have replaced and/or upgraded their phones by then. But folks sticking with T-Mobile 3G services will need to replace their handsets with devices that operate on AT&T’s 3G frequencies…and, of course, AT&T would be very happy if those customers upgraded to LTE-capable devices and service plans.

Link

LOL

I switched from AT&T to T-mobile exactly 8 days ago. Have an unlocked phone, went with their ridiculously cheap Even More Plus plan. I had a whole scheme to cut my phone bill in half. If they eliminate the plan I'm on, I won't be happy.

I should probably have moved to credomobile. They're a sprint network reseller that supports liberal causes. They aren't able to subsidize decent phones, though, and the unlocked options are limited. Should there be any shenanigans, I'll just figure something else out.

Rafael122 wrote:I've never had a problem with AT and T.

Me either, although I never really "chose" them over other carriers. I was with MCI, then Cingular, and now AT&T. Looking back, I've been satisfied with all 3. The main place I don't get service is in my office building, which is fine since I don't take cell calls at work anyway.

I've thought about switching to Verizon, but I don't really see a reason to at the moment.

AT&T is the biggest piece of crap service provider.

Haven't had any problems with Verizon so far. Has AT&T become accessible in underground metro stations yet?

Wizards2Lottery wrote:AT&T is the biggest piece of crap service provider.

Haven't had any problems with Verizon so far. Has AT&T become accessible in underground metro stations yet?

I get a signal in most underground stations, like Gallery Place, where I get a signal if I'm on the platform, but as for tunnel service...no. But then I ask myself, would would I want to be on the phone, on a train, in a tunnel with tons of noise around me??

I've been with Cingular/AT & T since 2004 and never had a problem. In fact, I just renewed my contract when I got the Atrix a few weeks back.

I've had no problems with Verizon. Switched to them from T-Mobile last summer, although their service was ok too.

Regarding signal on a tunnel or metro station.

I actually use my mobile phone for data more than voice. As I understand it, signals from AT&T and VZW only support voice calls in metro. That means that I may as well have no signals down there. Ultimately, data drives my decision on mobile carriers.

I'm locked into my Sprint contract till May. I've been with them 10+ years. I'll stay if they continue to have (the only?) unlimited data plan. Also, wouldn't mind the HP/Palm Pre 3 this summer coupled with the new HP touchpad. Not sure, though, if Sprint will support HP/Palm hardware and the WebOS operating system.

My cell service with AT&T was never actually the problem, it was the customer service. I don't like paying bills; as soon as I signed up for AT&T, i enrolled in auto pay so that I wouldn't have to think about it. Probably three times a year, the intersection of AT&T and Bank of America would erupt in nonsense, with the auto-pay being denied as fraudulent, AT&T sending me a paper statement, me mailing a check, auto-pay working a week later, and me with a credit of several hundred dollars on my phone bill. I'd call and talk, and nothing would ever get resolved. It was just nonsense.

I had an original iphone, not even a 3g. The data plans were cheaper back then, but it was obviously slow (I probably couldn't have downloaded 5gb if I'd had the phone downloading at max speed all month). I liked the phone's build quality, and it served me well, so I kept it for over three years. I began looking at new phones in January, and decided that the new iphone plans just weren't enough bang for the buck. I also use linux almost exclusively, and hated having to boot into windows just to sync my phone.

I decided to be cheap, so bought an unlocked Nokia N8 for $330. T-mobile has a no-contract plan for unlocked phones that gives 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited data (5GB throttle) and unlimited text for $69.95. Enrolling in auto-pay knocks $5 off the price. With tax and fees, I'm paying around $72 a month. I was paying $110 for my old phone plan, and a new plan would have been ~$120.

The N8 is awesome hardware, terrible software. It's a dead OS, symbian 3 -- of course, I bought the phone a few days before the Nokia-Microsoft partnership was announced, so I didn't realize quite how dead it was. Some aspects of the user interface are just jaw droppingly dumb.

But it has fantastic battery life, an unbelievable camera, a decent email app, a couple of decent browser options, a good looking screen (if low res compared to the top android/iphone screens), a real GPS system, and a sturdy build quality. I like the solidness of the metal.

The plan was to save a few hundred dollars my first year, and ~$1000 over the life of the phone. I'm not exactly a talker, so the 1000 minutes should be plenty. I installed skype for conference calls, about the only thing that I do which actually consumes anytime minutes.

If t-mobile drops the plan, I'll probably use the N8 as a PMP/GPS/camera, and get an android something or other. I am wary of giving google too much control over my life. I seriously considered just getting a dumb phone and tablet rather than smart phone, but I don't generally think tablets are smart purchases for now.