T-Mobile Internet Service

Well I think T-Mobile currently has the best deal on wireless data. AT&T and Cingular offer the same technology (GPRS), and therefore the same speeds as T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint have faster technology (1xRTT) than the GSM/GRPS carriers with typical speeds about 1.5 to as much as 2 times faster rates, but all can be slowed by peak voice traffic on the network. For me, the difference in speed can't overcome the current difference in prices.

David Shier
www.BluetoothNews.com

See all your points, David!! I was debating it all weekend and make some more calls to Verizon, ATT&T, and Earthlink, even called back Tmobile again, and have come to decide that I will go ahead with T-Mobile. All the rest of the speeds are a little faster but 56k seems to be the average among all of them, but when I called T-Mobile again they said speeds can go up to 118k, but I doubt that will happen since service can be used for both data and voice. Will go ahead with Tmobile. Trying to bid on the sierra wireless aircard 750 on ebay right now..but this card seesm to be very popular and a search came up with little auctions, so a lot of people are out bidding me. Do you know anywhere else I can get a new or a lightly used aircard for a cheap price? The card retails for like $400 from Sierra, and $250 after rebates from Tmobile. Thanks for the advice. Hope everything goes well with the service.

I am considering the T-Mobile $19.99 unlimited access also.
I have posted questions on various users groups & here are some of
the responses I am getting:
The speed varies with the time of day from not too bad to unbelievably slow, but I am comparing that to cable at home.
9/10/03-The wireless service T-Mobile Internet has been unreliable in recent weeks, and T-Mobile is not saying when it will be fixed.
On August 23 a representative said the problem started in mid-August, is nationwide, and affects mobile devices using the Sierra Wireless AirCard.
Link:http://techarchitectadvisor.com/doc/12986
I was going to try this, LINK:http://www.davesipaq.com/2215converg.htm on my ipaq 2215 pda because of the good review it got, but I hate to spend $300 and not be satisfied with T-mobile's internet service.
Any other opinions on T-mobile internet?

quote:Originally posted by xscorpion
All the rest of the speeds are a little faster but 56k seems to be the average among all of them, but when I called T-Mobile again they said speeds can go up to 118k, but I doubt that will happen since service can be used for both data and voice.

Well the speed they are quoting is not "real". It's based on using their data compression servers. The way it works is that you use T-Mobile's Internet Accelerator as a proxy server. When you select a web page, it goes to the accelerator which compresses the data prior to sending over the air. In the case of the Pocket PC, the resolution of images is reduced to better match the screen size and further reduce the traffic.

All of this means that if you total up the size of the orginal web page and compare it to the amount of data actually transmitted, you can easily get a 2:1 advantage. So you might see the equivalent of 118K downloads, but the actual amount of data being sent is far less.

David Shier
www.BluetoothNews.com

Hello all,
I just purchased a T-Mobile Pocket PC/Phone a few days ago and am having a difficult time accessing the internet. It takes anywhere from 2 to more than 5 minutes to load a simple web page like google.com. Doesn't seem to matter if I use GSM dialup or GPRS. Location doesn't seem to affect the problem, even in strong signal areas. Anyone have any ideas? I have 10 days to decide if I want to keep this thing and if this is the performance I can expect it is going back. Thanks

I made the T-Mobile internet plunge also, but I am using an IPAQ 2215 with a GPRS CF card. If I use Internet Explorer menu option off the running voice (Phone) software, I experience the same problem, I would just get the windows flag loading symbol & the page would eventually crawl up on the screen. I already had the thunderhawk browser loaded on my PDA, and if I use it to log on & bypass the running voice software, then the surfing speed is very fast. I know it sounds crazy but the pages seem to load as fast as if I were using a lower end DSL broadband connection. I haven't really messed with trying to get IE to work faster since I am happy with Thunderhawk. If the T-Mobile phone allows you to put other applications on it, you might try downloading their free trial. I would also contact T-Mobile & get them working on it. You can surf with acceptable speeds on the T-Mobile unlimited plan.

quote:Originally posted by bnkrking

It takes anywhere from 2 to more than 5 minutes to load a simple web page like google.com. Doesn't seem to matter if I use GSM dialup or GPRS. Location doesn't seem to affect the problem, even in strong signal areas. Anyone have any ideas?

This doesn't sound right at all. I can understand a few seconds, but minutes means that something is wrong. I would suggest going back to T-Mobile and see if you can try your SIM card in a different Pocket PC Phone.

David Shier
Mobile Devices MVP
www.BluetoothNews.com

quote:Originally posted by Robby69

I already had the thunderhawk browser loaded on my PDA, and if I use it to log on & bypass the running voice software, then the surfing speed is very fast. I know it sounds crazy but the pages seem to load as fast as if I were using a lower end DSL broadband connection.

Well Thunderhawk sort of "cheats." [;)]They actually capture the page you are visiting and reformat it for the small screen. They make the images smaller so that less data gets sent. It works very well.

In fact, when using the Pocket PC Phone from T-Mobile, they do the same thing. You can set up your iPAQ to use the T-Mobile proxy server in order to get added speed as well.

David Shier
Mobile Devices MVP
www.BluetoothNews.com

Thanks for the advice. Spent the better part of 2 hours on the phone with T-Mobile (most of which was on hold trying to get to tier 2 support) and after monkeying around with settings the tech finally said take it back and try another unit. I'll do that tomorrow and post the results. I agree this can't be right - if this is the best GPRS could do I have to believe no one would use it. On another subject, anyone know when the new MDA II is coming out?

Here is the latest in my saga with GPRS on TMobile. As stated in my earlier post, the tier 2 tech guy told me to return the unit to the store I purchased it from and get a new one. Did this, but they didn't have another, so they directed me to another store that had one in stock. Before leaving the first store, the Tmobile person fiddled with the unit for 15 minutes and agreed that it wasn't working. Got to the second store, and the Tmobile person there inserted the SIM into the new unit, and again it still took forever to load a web page. At this point I said I just wanted to return it and get a refund. This is when the fun starts - seems they have a 20% restocking fee. I maintained that I should not be charged the fee because one of their advertised services did not work. I don't know why, and don't care - it doesn't work, give me my money back. Sorry, the clerk said - company policy. I continued to complain (meanwhile at least 4 customers overheard the conversation and left the store) and she finally said she would have her manager come in. He appeared 20 minutes later, fiddled with the phone, called customer service, and again agreed it did not work. Also stated the 20% fee is company policy, nothing can be done, I'm out of luck. It gets even better - the purchase price was $280 plus tax, for a total of $301.70. They are going to refund $224 - which is $280 minus the 20%. THEY ARE KEEPING THE SALES TAX!! (Again, company policy). After getting home I called TMobile customer service, and discovered that the store I bought the unit from "wasn't a TMobile store". Forgive my confusion, but I got the store's address from the TMobile website, there were TMobile signs on the outside, TMobile all over inside, and I signed a contract that has the TMobile logo in the right corner. Seeing as how it wasn't a TMobile store, TMobile can't help me - turns out the company is really 'Laser Communications'. Basically TMobile sympathised with me but told me to pound salt. I know I have a valid complaint about the failure to refund the sales tax, and I think any reasonable person would not expect to pay a restocking fee if the device (or the network in this case) was defective. Since returning the unit I have discovered a discussion forum at another website where several people complained about the same symptoms I experienced in the SoCal area, so I know it wasn't just isolated to my units. I would appreciate any insight anyone can provide how to protest these charges. I intend to file a complaint with my credit card company as well as the Better Business Bureau, and will investigate filing a complaint with the California Atty General. Beyond that, I just want to make as many people aware of this situation so they will at least be informed, and hopefully decide to purchase somewhere other than TMobile.
Sorry to make this so long winded, but I felt it was important to get this out in the open.

Further to my TMobile problem. Seems the company "Laser Communications" has an unsatisfactory Better Business Bureau rating. These guys are hiding behind the TMobile name, and TMobile is letting them. Bottom line - know who you are dealing with. If you think you will want any corporate help after the transaction, better buy from a corporate-owned store. And if you ever run into a company called Laser Communications, aka Lasercom, aka Laser Vision, aka Page Club (phone 909-652-8500) don't buy from them - you will be sorry.

Bnkrking - You are definitely not alone here. A friend of mine bought the T-Mobile PocketPC and he lives near Los Angeles. He has being experiencing the same exact problem with super slow web page load (>3 Min at least). Not only that, he has not been able to access certain web pages. Very strange. He is returning the unit as well.

So what are you going to try next? What do you think of SprintPCS?

jnybsn - My new Samsung i700 on the Verizon network should arrive by tommorrow. I played with one in a Verizon store (company store - I asked!) for about 15 minutes while waiting for a salesman and it didn't seem to have any trouble accessing the web. Unfortunately by the time you put together data and voice plans the monthly cost becomes bloody expensive. There is a $200 discount available in the store I visited but you have to subscribe to wireless synch and have a competitive unit to turn in. I have an old Blackberry but wireless synch is useless to me - so no discount. I've been scared off Sprint by numerous horror stories about their customer service. The Hitachi phone/pda has gotten good reviews, but I have also seen some complaints about reliability. This is all heresay - I don't have any personal experience with Sprint or the G1000 so do your own research.

Good luck - luck seems to be a factor in this new world of combined PDA's and phones.

wow...there is a lot of reponses. well i get the service from tmobile and i don't have any problems. the only thing is that speeds are kind of slow depending on the time of day but overall i like the service. i heard verizon has the best service and coverage with monthly at $80 which is way too high for me since i only use it ocassionally. but overall i am happy with tmobile. am aslo thinking of switching cell phone to them since the monthly price will drop to $19.99/month. they have the best plans but i must say they have the worst choice of cell phones among all the service providers, verizon, att, sprint, nextel. i would like to get a cool phone but i think overall the plan is more important since you might be paying more later.

I've had the i700 for a few days now and so far no disappointments. Verizon does have a problem in that their reps aren't properly trained on either the device or the data plans. I ended up signing up for the wireless synch unlimited plan for $44.99 and 400 minutes plus unlimited nights/weekend for $39.99. The plans aren't as good as T-Mobile, but the performance of the phone and especially the customer service is light years ahead of T-Mobile. I'm paying $20 a month more than T-Mobile and as far as I am concerned it is worth it. I have filed complaints against T-Mobile and Laser Communications with the California Atty General as well as the Better Business Bureau. Have also filed a complaint with my credit card company - first time I've been worked up enough to take these steps, but as far as I am concerned T-Mobile deceptively portrays their retail outlets as "company stores" then when a problem arises they tell you they can't help since you bought from an "agent". I even have a T-Mobile advertisement that specifically lists the store I bought at as a T-Mobile corporate store. Just have to see where this goes...

I haven't had any problems with my T-Mobile GPRS service except in the LA area. That's a fairly new and growing area for them. And LA has always had the worst cellular problems in the country, so I'm not shocked.

I wouldn't use Sprint for voice service if it was free, but the data card is absolutely stunning. FAST! Always works well, with great coverage. I was disapointed with the Verizon data card, though I think very highly of their voice network.

You might also look for the Novatel Wireless G100 card. Model NRM-G200. I use this with the T-Mobile GPRS and it works fine. This is the card they "used" to sell prior to the 750.

quote:Originally posted by xscorpion

See all your points, David!! I was debating it all weekend and make some more calls to Verizon, ATT&T, and Earthlink, even called back Tmobile again, and have come to decide that I will go ahead with T-Mobile. All the rest of the speeds are a little faster but 56k seems to be the average among all of them, but when I called T-Mobile again they said speeds can go up to 118k, but I doubt that will happen since service can be used for both data and voice. Will go ahead with Tmobile. Trying to bid on the sierra wireless aircard 750 on ebay right now..but this card seesm to be very popular and a search came up with little auctions, so a lot of people are out bidding me. Do you know anywhere else I can get a new or a lightly used aircard for a cheap price? The card retails for like $400 from Sierra, and $250 after rebates from Tmobile. Thanks for the advice. Hope everything goes well with the service.

Hello
I saw your message. I'm new to this site, but there are several Sierra 750 Air Cards for $149. The sellers id is closeoutdeals. Here is the link.

http://www.stores.ebay.com/id=14066204&ssPageName=L2

Good luck

I have the TMOBILE internet on my T610 phone and use the bluetooth to connect to my laptop. The speeds are anbout 33-56K download so nothing impresive but its nice to have internet service anywhere there is service in Washington. The coverage in ur state is much better then in Cali. I am a dealer for TM so I only pay $15 for the service on top of my dealer line so Its a great deal for me as I can access any internet site. That translates into a ton more freetime for me. Just a little inside advice... Use 1-877-606-4801 to get to customer srevice quick. It only took me 30 min to get everything setup betwen TM the phone and laptop so its quick and easy. I've had no issues with no service or slow loading pages. Its jsut like dial up. If you're in WA state and need TM service hit up the TM booths inside WalMart. They are mine and we can hook up some good deals on the T610, $100 with a $100 rebate. WE dont sell internet cards or the PDA phone though. Later, Shew

I have tmobile..was using sidekick but want to use that sim in asus 716 with Audiovox gprs cf card. where can i get set up instructions? the software that comes with the cf card doesnt install!

ETA: found out I can't use the sim from the sidekick because of the routing of the web content

I have had T-mobile internet for almost a year. I use the Samsung V205 phone that they were clearancing for $50 dollars after rebates. It is a full featured camera phone that I love, it was just being replaced with a newer model. I have had no problem with the service or connection speed in the chicago area. I have experienced up to 115k in bursts. It is great for chatting, email and surfing, though I wouldn't reccomend it for file downloads of any susbstantial size. I think it is by far the best service for the price. My best friend has sprintpcs and uses hers occasionally, but is limited in her use by the pricing. her service is a little faster than mine, but I think it to be a fair tradeoff in speed and pricing.

G100 cards works great...but it does not work with Windows Mobile 2003. Only 2002 or earlier.