Phone Rage Part 3

[PrincessFiona]

I love my Samsung Galaxy 4. The phone itself is awesome.

We switched service providers (from Verison to T-Mobile) after the little Verizon debacle. After the switch, btw, Verizon made it difficult to confirm that we paid the rest of the bill in full. It was a major pain in the behind.

Verizon is the only service provider in the area with good network service though apparently.

I can't make phone calls from my T-Mobile phone and that is with Wi-fi calling activated. I guess the wi-fi in our house is a little variable. I can only make a call from the deck. I can't check my phone from my bed after we turn the wi-fi off at night so that the kids aren't online. It drops calls constantly.

When I took Andrew to the pediatrician two weeks ago, I had to wait in the lobby for an hour. Since I didn't have the access code to their wi-fi, I had no internet access and almost no ability to send text messages. They all kept bouncing back. When I'm up at school, I have no wi-fi in the campus buildings. I like to check my phone in case the kids have texted me (during class breaks, of course ) and I can't. When I get back out to my car, the phone lights up with old messages/emails etc.

I'm so frustrated.

Thomas has wifi access in his clinic but even so it constantly drops calls. His new first words when he gets on the phone are "If the call drops, I'll call you right back."

Any ideas, or are we just screwed?

kris

ETA: Yes, I am phone cursed! LOL

[SoonerTexan]

You can get a network extender (pricy) but that will only help in your home.
I'm sorry

[OrionGrad]

DH has tmobile, and he can't get any reception at the hospital, so we downloaded the Vonage app so he can get calls/texts from me without a regular signal. (They won't go through normally, even when he's on wifi.) But that system won't help if/when you're without good reception OR a wifi signal.

[Thirteen]

DH had T-Mobile in LA, and it was the worst reception. :/ Sorry Kris!


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[Pollyanna]

You are clearly in a low service area for TMobile. We had the same issue when we moved to TN. They will let you cancel without penalty if you call and explain your issues. We have Verizon and the service is great but we only use iPhones. I think Verizon is too pricey but we never drop calls and always have reception so there is that. I don't know what to tell you other than if you have unreliable service you might as well have no service. Ask TMobile if there are plans to upgrade their service in the near future (it would have been so awesome if they could have merged with AT&T). Otherwise try to find a better carrier. Sorry

[WolfpackWife]

You are clearly in a low service area for TMobile. We had the same issue when we moved to TN. They will let you cancel without penalty if you call and explain your issues. We have Verizon and the service is great but we only use iPhones. I think Verizon is too pricey but we never drop calls and always have reception so there is that. I don't know what to tell you other than if you have unreliable service you might as well have no service. Ask TMobile if there are plans to upgrade their service in the near future (it would have been so awesome if they could have merged with AT&T). Otherwise try to find a better carrier. Sorry

I don't know how, but DH and I got lucky with our iPhone/AT&T combo. We have great service over AT&T or wi-fi. I don't know how much of that is the phone (which I think is the best their is) and how much of that is the network/wi-fi connection. My parents have a house of Apple products, but have Verizon and it's actually their wi-fi that is spotty in the house. I think that's just their Time Warner wi-fi, not the phone. DH and I also experience gaps in their wi-fi signal when visiting.

Kris - any qualms with AT&T? I know lots of people have had negative things to say about them in the past but I have literally NEVER had an issue with them or their service where I've gone/been. Maybe we're just lucky in that way, but I have zero issues with AT&T and will happily stay with them.

[poky]

Ask TMobile if there are plans to upgrade their service in the near future (it would have been so awesome if they could have merged with AT&T).

*shudder* No, no it wouldn't have been.

T-mobile is the low-price pressure that keeps the other three majors from COMPLETELY screwing everybody over for their mobile service. Without T-Mobile doing that, your cell bill would be higher than it is now.

[MrsK]

On a related note, can someone please explain data usage to me?

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[poky]

For evidence of my above assertion, see this handy little form, where you can select how many lines and how much voice/text/data you want, and it sorts by price. I don't think there's a single configuration that doesn't have t-mobile as the least expensive, for exactly the same thing, with generally better customer service, should you need it. IF you're not in a low-coverage area, it's a no-brainer to go with T-mobile. http://graphics.wsj.com/PhonePlan/

MrsK - what you want to know? "data usage" is generally how many bytes of non-voice/non-SMS (text) data your phone downloads while it's connected to the carrier's network (as opposed to when the phone is connected to the internet via wifi instead). I am a reasonably heavy user of my cell phone data, but MOST of my data use happens at home and at work, where the phone is connected via wifi, rather than using T-mobile's network. I generally use less than 1GB over T-mobile's network per month. I'm on a plan that "caps out" at 2GB...but all that means is that once I hit 2GB in a month (which I never have), any further data via T-mobile's network would come at a slower speed. My phone normally connects at "4g" speeds, assuming I'm somewhere where T-mobile has 4g coverage, which I usually am; if I were to go over 2GB of data, the remainder of that billing month would be at a reduced speed.

[HouseofWool]

On a related note, can someone please explain data usage to me?

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That is how much data you both send and receive (emails, web pages, skype or facetime, etc). It does NOT include phone calls or standard text messages. However, if you are on an iPhone, it does include iMessage.

[MrsK]

How about tapatalk? What's data that I'm charged for?

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[HouseofWool]

How about tapatalk? What's data that I'm charged for?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4

Yes, tapatalk will have a data charge associated with it. However, you would be surprised at how little you end up using. Even downloading stuff on cellular, I never go over my data usage of 2GB.

You should be able to look at your bill and see how much data you are using per billing cycle.

[WolfpackWife]

Yes, tapatalk will have a data charge associated with it. However, you would be surprised at how little you end up using. Even downloading stuff on cellular, I never go over my data usage of 2GB.

You should be able to look at your bill and see how much data you are using per billing cycle.

I was also surprised at how quickly I could accrue data usage when turning off my wifi (iPhone user). I forgot that I'd turned off WiFi and spent close to 7 hours/day at work listening to Podcasts or audiobooks - in addition to my usual email checking/texting/other app usage, and finally received a text message telling me I had used over 2.5GB (I think) of data for the month and I may experience slower service until my billing cycle started over. Luckily my line has unlimited data so I wasn't charged for the extra data usage, but it was a reminder at how much wifi helps.

[SoonerTexan]

Yes, if you are at home and using wifi, you wont use nearly as much. I use just under 2GB a month using WIFI and home and 3G at work (connecting to WIFI at work is a PITA and means I cant stream anything like Pandora, so what's the point?)

I suspect you would be a very low data user given you spend a lot of time at home. The things that suck up a lot of data are any type of streaming, like FaceTime, youtube, any videos, pandora, etc.

DH, however, uses more. He is usually under 2 GB, but has gone well over some months. He doesn't have any wifi access at school/hospital and tends to stream/play data heavy games a lot.

You should be able to check your account online and get a data usage history--it will give you a good idea of what you use.

We have Verizon and still have unlimited plans. I'm loathe to lose them because I've priced it out, and we would be paying essentially the same on Verizon for 2GB each, more on AT&T, and $40 less on TMobile, but I refuse to use their service. When our iPhone 4s kick the can, I think we are going to buy used or new iPhone 5s just to keep the unlimited data.

[OrionGrad]

I always go over my data when we go on trips, which makes me think mapping apps must use a lot of data, too.
I use an app called Onavo (I think) that runs in the background and is supposed to somehow shrink your data usage, but I don't know how well it works.