Mobile Phone carrier

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Dennis Kane

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Jul 1, 2022, 10:24:11 PM7/1/22
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Not a Mac question, but I figure that there are some strong and helpful opinions in the group. Considering moving away from AT&T and getting T-Mobile, Mint or whatever. Both are cheaper, but there may be more things to consider or maybe a better option. What sayest thou?


Dennis

jlla...@verizon.net

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Jul 1, 2022, 10:34:09 PM7/1/22
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I've had problems with in adequate T-mobile signal strength near the 7/11 store on Hawthorne at the top of the hill in Palos Verdes.

You might research coverage in areas you frequent.

Jim


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Allison Sheridan

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Jul 2, 2022, 10:05:50 AM7/2/22
to Dennis Kane, MacHACers
A friend of mine is considering changing to Mint Mobile, so he used the eSIM on his phone so he can have his normal number and a Mint Mobile number at the same time to compare them before committing.

Allison

> On Jul 1, 2022, at 7:23 PM, Dennis Kane <denni...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Not a Mac question, but I figure that there are some strong and helpful opinions in the group. Considering moving away from AT&T and getting T-Mobile, Mint or whatever. Both are cheaper, but there may be more things to consider or maybe a better option. What sayest thou?
>
>
> Dennis
>
> --
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pa...@mactechservices.com

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Jul 2, 2022, 3:25:01 PM7/2/22
to ashe...@mac.com, Dennis Kane, MacHACers
Hi

Have you looked at Consumer Cellular? Someone mentioned last week that the ATT affiliate using the same infrastructure.

Haven’t verified that though.

Sent from my iPhone. Some imagination required.

> On Jul 2, 2022, at 7:05 AM, 'Allison Sheridan' via MacHACers <mach...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
> A friend of mine is considering changing to Mint Mobile, so he used the eSIM on his phone so he can have his normal number and a Mint Mobile number at the same time to compare them before committing.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/machacers/96983545-7FA5-48FF-BDAC-3498463637A6%40mac.com.

R. Peter DeLong

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Jul 2, 2022, 4:16:58 PM7/2/22
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I use PureTalk, which is likewise an AT&T reseller. Been happy with it here in Minnesota.

- Pete DeLong
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/machacers/4A74BEA6-DC09-4FA4-B68E-C91E9D63FDEF%40mactechservices.com.

Jim Julian

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Jul 2, 2022, 8:09:26 PM7/2/22
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What I would NOT do is switch to T-Moblie.  Our daughter is in charge of  mobile service selection and she pays for all 3 of us.  She recently switched us from AT&T to T-Moblie.  We live on a hill in Anaheim Hills so should have very good reception.  I get poor voice quality maybe 5% of the time, the Internet drops every now and then when using Google Maps for navigation and I get an occasional alert asking if I want to use my "last line" to make this phone call ... I have no idea what it really means.  So that's a thumbs down on T-Mobile.

Jim

Dennis Kane

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Jul 3, 2022, 1:04:37 PM7/3/22
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I haven’t tried consumer cellular. I have four lines and looks like the best buy that more than meets our needs is the hundred gigabyte plan at T-Mobile $140/month Plus $10 Netflix credit.

--Dennis, Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 2, 2022, at 12:25 PM, pa...@mactechservices.com wrote:
>
> Hi

Mario Obejas

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Jul 3, 2022, 7:19:36 PM7/3/22
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I've been happy with T-Mobile and I go *all* over the place in LA and deep into the Santa Monica mountains and canyons.  We get three lines and 2GB/line for $89 after taxes.  My experience is that T-Mobile is weakest in national parks; ATT is best there.

However:
most people use their cell phone at work or at home and then they have favorite places that they go outside of those (eg, the beach, Santa Monica mountains, etc ).

Your happiness with your cell reception is extremely terrain dependent  on your location and that of the particular carrier's tower. So whether somebody else has good reception at their home or work is completely irrelevant to your home or work specifics.

If you want to get a idea of how various carriers work in the locations that are relevant to *you*, you need to go to a crowdsourced coverage map. My go-to open source coverage map used to be rootmetrics, but then ookla bought them, and they've put it behind a subscription wall now.  They have a 5G coverage map available but that seems a bit ahead of need. 

Your query prompted me to see if there are alternatives.

Opensignal shows individual cell nodes, but only along certain streets. If you're on that street, great, if not, it's not useful. They also don't let you zoom in as close as  rootmetrics did 

Attached is what it shows for Manhattan Beach T-Mobile performance green is better). ATT and Verizon have slightly different problem areas since they don't all share the same antenna locations.  These are also visible on OpenSignal. 


Netinfo also shows carrier results, but I haven't found where they hid the results map.  There's a few others. The FCC also has a coverage map, but it only shows you if there's any coverage not what the signal strength is. 
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Mar Do

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Jul 3, 2022, 8:25:20 PM7/3/22
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I'm good w T Mobil - $30 a month. - That's fine.
Marian D

matt wilbur

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Jul 3, 2022, 8:44:33 PM7/3/22
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I'm down in San Diego, historically Verizon had much better coverage than att and their resellers. So we're on spectrum mobile, bill for two lines went from $170/mo to 70/mo, I'll take it !

Matt




---- On Sun, 03 Jul 2022 17:24:41 -0700 mard...@gmail.com wrote ----

Steven & Carol Soloski

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Jul 3, 2022, 10:38:32 PM7/3/22
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We switched to T-Mobile when Sprint went DOA. Part of our reasoning was that their map showed 5G service at our house. Reality is that our service is LTE. My point is that you have to take the maps with a questioning attitude. We live in PVE which is hilly but the nearest 5G tower is more than a couple of miles away and several canyons. The maps are not accurate. 
Steve s

Sent from my iPad

On Jul 3, 2022, at 4:19 PM, 'Mario Obejas' via MacHACers <mach...@googlegroups.com> wrote:


I've been happy with T-Mobile and I go *all* over the place in LA and deep into the Santa Monica mountains and canyons.  We get three lines and 2GB/line for $89 after taxes.  My experience is that T-Mobile is weakest in national parks; ATT is best there.

However:
most people use their cell phone at work or at home and then they have favorite places that they go outside of those (eg, the beach, Santa Monica mountains, etc ).

Your happiness with your cell reception is extremely terrain dependent  on your location and that of the particular carrier's tower. So whether somebody else has good reception at their home or work is completely irrelevant to your home or work specifics.

If you want to get a idea of how various carriers work in the locations that are relevant to *you*, you need to go to a crowdsourced coverage map. My go-to open source coverage map used to be rootmetrics, but then ookla bought them, and they've put it behind a subscription wall now.  They have a 5G coverage map available but that seems a bit ahead of need. 

Your query prompted me to see if there are alternatives.

Opensignal shows individual cell nodes, but only along certain streets. If you're on that street, great, if not, it's not useful. They also don't let you zoom in as close as  rootmetrics did 

Attached is what it shows for Manhattan Beach T-Mobile performance green is better). ATT and Verizon have slightly different problem areas since they don't all share the same antenna locations.  These are also visible on OpenSignal. 
Screenshot_20220703-160759.png

Netinfo also shows carrier results, but I haven't found where they hid the results map.  There's a few others. The FCC also has a coverage map, but it only shows you if there's any coverage not what the signal strength is. 



On Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 7:24 PM, Dennis Kane
Not a Mac question, but I figure that there are some strong and helpful opinions in the group. Considering moving away from AT&T and getting T-Mobile, Mint or whatever. Both are cheaper, but there may be more things to consider or maybe a better option. What sayest thou?


Dennis

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Screenshot_20220703-160759.png

Mario Obejas

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Jul 4, 2022, 1:38:03 AM7/4/22
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Steve, I think you may have missed the point of using a crowdsourced map.

I'm not talking about the carrier's "coverage"  maps. Those are marketing and wishes.

A crowdsourced map means somebody ran an app, actually measured what they got, and it got reported. Neither the app nor the results database is owned nor influenced by the carriers' marketing departments. They are real world measured data. 

I'm sure the carrier marketing departments are touring their respective 5G rollouts - the commercials are endless. But unless the crowdsourced app results show a real 5G result, you won't see 5G on the crowdsourced coverage  map, no matter what a carrier says.

Steven & Carol Soloski

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Jul 4, 2022, 12:44:12 PM7/4/22
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Thanks Mario. I was unaware of those tools. Very instructive. I live in an LTE world. Cost wise, we’re ok with T-Mobile. $100 for 2 unlimited lines, senior. Beware of their stores. Took 6 months to correct a store created problems. Otherwise all ok. 
Steve s

Sent from my iPad

On Jul 3, 2022, at 10:38 PM, 'Mario Obejas' via MacHACers <mach...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Steve, I think you may have missed the point of using a crowdsourced map.

Mario Obejas

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Jul 4, 2022, 8:20:03 PM7/4/22
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I'll add one more crowdsourced coverage map to the mix: nperf . This one allows you to zoom in better so it's now my preferred map.
Here's the link for TMobile results but you can check the other carriers on it.
https://www.nperf.com/en/map/US/-/85.T-Mobile-inc-Sprint/signal/?ll=33.75717137988705&lg=-118.37253570556642&zoom=12

For comparison, here's the Verizon results:

Steve:
consistent with your observations, Verizon might claim they've deployed 5G on the PV peninsula, but no one has measured it yet. It's like Sasquatch: they say it's out there, but nobody has proof it exists. T-Mobile does show some 5G results, but only along Hawthorne and Crenshaw.

WRT T-Mobile stores, I've had mixed results. One day I went on a mission, two stores, no one could help with my phone's issue - but the 800 tech support number was able to resolve it quickly. Another day I walked in to check when they would be getting a Pixel 3 phone. The rep asked to check my account, which annoyed me at first because it wasn't that relevant, but I let him. He noticed I had a legacy plan, and upgraded me to a better current plan (better: more included data) that actually cost $5 less per month. 

On Monday, July 4, 2022 at 09:44:17 AM PDT, 'Steven & Carol Soloski' via MacHACers <mach...@googlegroups.com> wrote:




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