Question: TMobile

[tinymoose]

I saw a similar thread on Alpine Zone, but there weren't any replies yet, so I thought I'd ask here (and no I'm not the Alpine Zone poster). Anyone have TMobile? If so, how is your reception on mountain at most mountains in the east? We currently have ATT and are looking at switching to TMobile.

 

[VickiK]

I switched to T-Mobile once and switched away as soon as the contract expired. Ilive in a big city, and experienced dropped calls on a regular basis. I don't remember what my reception was like in Mammoth or other mt environments, but overall I wouldn't go with them again.

 

[Christy]

Tinymoose, have you seen the coverage maps on their website? That should help.
The other thing you can try is going to a T Mobile store and asking about these areas. They don’t want you as a customer if they can’t provide coverage for you (seriously--they really don't want to set someone up for unhappiness) and I've found the store people really helpful in general. It might depend specifically on what mountains, and it also does depend also on what phone you have. All phones have to meet a minimum standard set by their carrier but many phones exceed this standard and will have better connectivity. I have T Mobile and a Galaxy and I can’t remember when I’ve had a dropped call—that to me is a thing of the flip phone days of yore. (This even includes when I travel internationally--we use our phones lot in Canada when we ski, but also in Europe--and around the US). It's pretty unusual for me not to have 4G, unless I'm deep in the mountains here. But of course this doesn’t mean that at the mountains you ski, it will be as good. My relatives in rural eastern Iowa, for example, don’t use any of the big carriers because they don’t serve their area well.

 

[tinymoose]

We have looked at the maps and it seems to be hit and miss with east coast ski areas. Stowe and most of the Vermont ski areas I've looked at seem to get 2G. Whiteface gets 2G. Gore gets nada and is apparently a TMobile dead zone. The Catskills (Hunter and Windham) get 4G. All of the PA ski areas I looked at get 2G, except Bear Creek which is 4G. Sunday River in Maine is 2G (through a service partner), as are most of the NH mountains I looked up. A lot of NH looked kinda sketchy for TMobile, but we've never skied there either.

 

[Christy]

The other thing to think about is how common free wifi is. If it's everywhere where you stay and in the day lodges (assuming you want it there), maybe the 2G doesn't matter so much. If wifi isn't ubiquitous, all that 2G would be an issue for me--I would not want that to be my only internet access.

 

[altagirl]

As a general rule, I'd say Verizon and AT&T have better coverage, but there are exceptions and if you're frequenting specific places, it'd be worth checking them out individually. Hah, I work in the industry and occasionally it boils down to where someone important lives or vacations. Or how often people complain in certain areas.... The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so to speak.

 

[tinymoose]

We really have no complaints with ATT's coverage, other than the price and the fact that our grandfathered "unlimited" plans aren't truly unlimited. They slow your speeds after 3gb anyhow, which is pretty much what TMobile does (unless you pay for their truly unlimited plan). From what I understand TMobile is great in the Philly area, it's just more rural areas that are making me a tad nervous. I know their network is improving, but it's obviously still nowhere near ATT or Verizon as far as coverage. But I like how they don't subsidize the phone costs in the monthly rates.