T-Mobile Home Internet

[AdolfOliverBush]

For many years I used Verizon for cell service, and Cox for internet. Their services were fine, but I recently looked into T-Mobile and switched everything over to them.

Their comparable phone plan is 50% lower than Verizon, and that price is guaranteed to never increase. They also offer home internet service in my area, and since I was a new customer I qualified for a discount. I now pay $30 a month for internet service with no data cap, and about 150 Mb/s download speed. It performs every bit a well as the Cox service, and I got a $50 rebate for signing up.

They also pay for my basic Netflix for life, same with Apple TV.

I'm not trying to be a spokesperson for T-Mobile, but if you live anywhere near one of their towers, you might be able to save a significant amount of money, depending on your current setup.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Well, it took most of the week, but back to the same old shit.... it's been terrible all day. Phone data has been faster off wifi (and probably using the same damn tower) and switched to the slightly less shitty internet option for work.

The TMobile internet display has been teetering between "very good" and "good" most of the day. Haven't really had the time to troubleshoot besides confirming the signal is still coming from the same place, just seeing the shitty latency and a 20th of the speed.

Do you have a more advanced test, like maybe within the router UI that can show you packet loss? It could be the delays are re-transmits. I see this occasionally with 5G UWB in fringe areas, it will try to fall back to 5G and then hop back and forth, which creates packet loss because they are two different radios, even though they're on the same tower.

[Mecca]

Stuff like this is why I'm stuck with xfinity.

[Nixhex]

I really wanted to try this as the price is hard to beat. However, I work from home 3 days a week and the inconsistent speed/connection issues I have read about makes it a no go for me. Hoping it gets improved and stays around the same price in the near future.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Nixhex

I really wanted to try this as the price is hard to beat. However, I work from home 3 days a week and the inconsistent speed/connection issues I have read about makes it a no go for me. Hoping it gets improved and stays around the same price in the near future.

It's all about coverage. We started camping for the summer two years ago - I actually work with my PC tethered to my iPhone for connectivity and it works great. But I also have excellent coverage where we are at.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Do you have a more advanced test, like maybe within the router UI that can show you packet loss? It could be the delays are re-transmits. I see this occasionally with 5G UWB in fringe areas, it will try to fall back to 5G and then hop back and forth, which creates packet loss because they are two different radios, even though they're on the same tower.

They have advanced metrics (RSPR or one of them has been pretty terrible at times), but the UI and app are really lacking beyond that.

I've read some people plug in their own router to fix DNS issues (it's always DNS), but haven't tried that yet. I do see random errors like that sometimes, but not sure I want to spend money on a router when I might just get rid of TMHI at the end of May anyway.

It came back to life late last weekend and was fine for work most of the week... it was on the struggle bus last night trying to stream hockey, but then it's fine again today.

It's been rolling out for like 2 years and it was a year between my first attempt in AZ and now... I'd think they would have learned a lot by now in terms of capacity requirements and so forth, and stop rolling it out so damn quickly if it's not reliable, or just tell people they're beta partners and set that expectation.

[BWillie]

Just got it. Compared to Spectrum it appears no difference. I really just want no internet interruptions, thats it. Which one is better? Did 3 random speedtests. It does have a 6 next to the TMobile wifi when I connect but the signal strength is one bar less on the TMobile even though the routers are in the same place.

T-Mobile
96.8 mbps down
35.2 mbps up
32 ping
15 ms jitter

477 mbps down
93 mbps up
50 ping
10 ms jitter

368 mbps down
90 mbps up
67 ping
36 ms jitter

Spectrum
97.9 mbps down
20.6 mbps up
45 ping
4 ms jitter

92.7 mbps down
20.1 mbps up
51 ping
24 ms jitter

84 mbps down
20.8 mbps up
49 ping
8 ms jitter

[Bearcat]

[BigRichard]

I would think people would be looking at Starlink at this point... it is just finally getting to my area.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

I would think people would be looking at Starlink at this point... it is just finally getting to my area.

Last I researched, it was something like a $600 equipment charge and then taxes and what not, and $150/month... and IIRC, you had 30 days to return the equipment for a full refund.

At that time, it was a steep price to hope it was better than both my ISP at ~$60/month or TMHI at $40/month.

Currently on the east coast and there's a lot of "not available"/"coming in 2023" for their service, so will probably wait until I'm back in Arizona... but, might try it out eventually.

[crayzkirk]

I'm thinking of cutting the cord with Spectrum; $250 per month just is way too much for internet and 95% of channels I never watch. I also have a second property in a rural area.

Could I get a single T-Mobile device and move it from one location to another or get a second device? It's like owning two cars, not sure why I have to pay for insurance on both when I can only drive one at a time.

I know people who would do this with satellite dish TV; get a second receiver and dish for their second location.

Or do I keep Spectrum for Internet, get their unlimited mobile data and just use my phone as a hot spot?

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by crayzkirk

I'm thinking of cutting the cord with Spectrum; $250 per month just is way too much for internet and 95% of channels I never watch. I also have a second property in a rural area.

Could I get a single T-Mobile device and move it from one location to another or get a second device? It's like owning two cars, not sure why I have to pay for insurance on both when I can only drive one at a time.

I know people who would do this with satellite dish TV; get a second receiver and dish for their second location.

Or do I keep Spectrum for Internet, get their unlimited mobile data and just use my phone as a hot spot?

It says on the box or instructions you cant move it locations but I wonder how they would enforce it.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by crayzkirk

I'm thinking of cutting the cord with Spectrum; $250 per month just is way too much for internet and 95% of channels I never watch. I also have a second property in a rural area.

Could I get a single T-Mobile device and move it from one location to another or get a second device? It's like owning two cars, not sure why I have to pay for insurance on both when I can only drive one at a time.

I know people who would do this with satellite dish TV; get a second receiver and dish for their second location.

Or do I keep Spectrum for Internet, get their unlimited mobile data and just use my phone as a hot spot?

You can move its location (they don't care), but they don't guarantee it'll work elsewhere. In other words, the only reason they say it has to stay in one place is because they confirmed it works in your original location and they want you to tell them you're moving so they can do the same for the new location.

A buddy got it in one state and retired to another... it apparently sucks where he's at now, but they're just dealing with it for now and will use it when camping and so forth. It'll still connect and everything fine, it's not tied to a tower's location or anything. I've also talked to multiple TMO reps who have said the same thing.

I'd personally keep Spectrum for a few months and try out TMHI... use it as a backup and see how it goes (and not just for like a week). I asked TMo the other day about hotspot vs internet and they said it's all the same basically. They didn't allude to being throttled/de-prioritized, so not sure how true/false.


...and as a sidenote, I'm always mind-boggled when peopel say they pay $200+ for internet and cable. I think the highest mine has ever gotten was ~$120 with TWC in KC and then ~$140 with Dish and internet. I'm sure the "your contract expired and we're going to charge you a lot more now" price might have reached $200..... but, I was always 100% successful at bringing it back down within $5/10 of what it was.

[crayzkirk]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

...and as a sidenote, I'm always mind-boggled when people say they pay $200+ for internet and cable. I think the highest mine has ever gotten was ~$120 with TWC in KC and then ~$140 with Dish and internet. I'm sure the "your contract expired and we're going to charge you a lot more now" price might have reached $200..... but, I was always 100% successful at bringing it back down within $5/10 of what it was.

They do what all companies do, rely on the laziness of their customers. Insurance companies, cable companies, etc. all give nice promotional rates for new customers yet show their true form by sticking it to their long term ones.

$70 for internet, $20 for phone, $10 equipment rental, 2nd tier cable package $100, taxes, fees, etc. and it's $250. And that's not counting Amazon Prime & Netflix.

That doesn't even include what I pay for phone from Verizon, another $40. This is why I would like to try the Spectrum phone + internet. Convert the home phone to a mobile line and get the 2nd one free.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Last I researched, it was something like a $600 equipment charge and then taxes and what not, and $150/month... and IIRC, you had 30 days to return the equipment for a full refund.

At that time, it was a steep price to hope it was better than both my ISP at ~$60/month or TMHI at $40/month.

Currently on the east coast and there's a lot of "not available"/"coming in 2023" for their service, so will probably wait until I'm back in Arizona... but, might try it out eventually.

There’s also a little thing called physics. Satellite won’t work for certain types of applications because the latency is so high.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by crayzkirk

They do what all companies do, rely on the laziness of their customers. Insurance companies, cable companies, etc. all give nice promotional rates for new customers yet show their true form by sticking it to their long term ones.

$70 for internet, $20 for phone, $10 equipment rental, 2nd tier cable package $100, taxes, fees, etc. and it's $250. And that's not counting Amazon Prime & Netflix.

That doesn't even include what I pay for phone from Verizon, another $40. This is why I would like to try the Spectrum phone + internet. Convert the home phone to a mobile line and get the 2nd one free.

Yeah, buy your own modem, that's just a waste of $10/month.