

T-Mobile Announces Truly Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data - Suraj-Sun
http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/articles/t-mobile-unlimited-nationwide-4g-data

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MatthewPhillips
I'm currently on a very limited "unlimited" data plan with T-Mobile. I find it
rather insulting that they would announce a new plan that makes the same
claim. "For reals this time". That's all well and good, but they need to honor
the deal they made with previous customers as well. Why would I pay an extra
$20 when you lied last time?

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seltzered_
Sorry, T-Mobile, Is it still truly unlimited if you have to pay extra to
tether?

Worse, is it truly good to your 2+ year customers if you suddenly cut them off
from tethering while they're traveling?

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logn
I still feel that $89 is way too high. With taxes and BS you're looking at
~$100/mo for a fricking phone.

I'm seriously considering Cricket at $55/mo (no contract) or the similar Metro
PCS. But these are capped at ~2gigs. Of course, since I don't use much
bandwidth and 2 gigs sounds good to me, that's probably why $100/mo sounds
high.

I'm waiting until someone can bundle my life and provide TV, music, phone,
home internet, mobile internet, etc for $300/mo.

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Goronmon
I think that if you are bringing your own phone, the price is pretty solid.
I'm paying $60 a month for my old plan with is 500 min, Unlimited Text and 5GB
cap. If prices stay the same for plans I can switch to a comparable Value plan
that has unlimited data instead of a 5GB cap.

Sounds like a solid deal to me.

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Corrado
I was hoping that this would be a data-only plan and that you could get it
without a voice line. Unfortunately, this "unlimited" plan is just an add-on
to a voice plan. I really want someone to offer $30-50 : 10GB / month service
so that I can completely avoid the issues of minutes and SMS counts. :/

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yellowbkpk
This just about covers you (search for "Great for video chat, streaming
music/movies/TV, playing online games, and more"):

<http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans>

You still get 100 minutes of talk, but you get unlimited texts and "unlimited"
4G data (first 5GB at 4G speeds, then you get throttled). All this for
$30/month pre-paid.

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tocomment
Can you use that with the iPhone?

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yellowbkpk
Yes, but when you first activate you have to go to the store and convince them
to activate a SIM card (or just buy the cheapest phone if they won't budge).
Since T-Mo hasn't spun up their 800MHz spectrum yet you won't get 3G on your
iPhone, but you'll get some data at least until they roll that out.

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ANH
I share doubts about whether their "unlimited" truly means unlimited, but I am
also dubious of the "nationwide" claim. Don't zoom in too close on their
coverage map or those vast swaths of comforting green (strong signal, yeah!)
dissolve into pale yellows and whites (hm, maybe 2G, maybe nothing?).

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kpozin
I was on T-Mobile for a few months this year. There are large swaths of metro
Boston and Cambridge where they have _no_ coverage -- most of the Esplanade,
Harvard Square, every MIT building I've been in, Route 2 from Alewife through
most of Arlington. All of these places are fully green on their coverage map.
So I don't even want to know what they mean by yellow and white.

~~~
mikexstudios
Yes... T-Mobile coverage at MIT is almost non-existant. Once I walk outside of
the main campus, I magically get reception again.

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athompson
Hopefully this announcement is in preparation of the iPhone coming to T-Mobile
next month.

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oliwarner
Unlimited? There are limits all over the place:

\- Signal quality.

\- Phone performance.

\- Network throughput.

A "truly unlimited" connection would have you downloading at ∞bps so I suggest
both words in "truly unlimited" are slightly incorrect.

I think they mean unmetered.

\---

I'm getting hammered for "snark" but I'm being serious. If you let impossible
phrases like "unlimited" stand in marketing, people get the wrong idea,
products are wrongfully sold.

I'm only _this_ angry with T-Mobile because they've had the audacity to stick
"truly" in front of it.

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Karunamon
There's no need for snark, I'm pretty sure everyone knows what they mean by
this.

Unlimited as in, yes, unmetered. Not "unlimited", with a 2.5pt footnote
somewhere that says "Actually 5 gigs/mo"

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nodata
There is a need for snark. Claiming unlimited when it's not is ridiculous
doublespeak. It's lying.

They need to stop doing this, it confuses non-technical people. Advertise the
limit clearly. Make it a big number if they need to grab attention.

~~~
Karunamon
..but in this case, there isn't one. FTA:

 _No data caps, speed limits, or bill shock_

It's pretty explicit to there being no artificially imposed limits of any
kind.

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nodata
It's often this way. Once they have the customers, they introduce the limit,
as the GP pointed out: the infrastructure has limits. Once they hit them,
unlimited will disappear just as always.

~~~
Karunamon
Which they are free to do, as long as they let the people who bought unlimited
keep it. Even freaking _Verizon_ understands this (though they are making it
slightly more painful).

If you buy the unlimited plan, you have every expectation to continue using
it. It's still a net positive.

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tocomment
Could I replace my Comcast internet with this? Is there a way to buy a "modem"
that will plug into my existing router via ethernet? Does anyone know?

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unwind
Most cellular modems are USB devices, intended to be plugged into (laptop)
computers.

You should be able to use something like the awesome ASUS WL-330N3G credit-
card sized 3G router
(<http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/WL330N3G/>), once 4G-capable
versions become available. Which I really hope they will.

Of course, you could also replace your router with a 4G USB-capable one.

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tocomment
Could you point me to an example of a 4G USB-capable router with ethernet
ports?

For some reason my searches are failing.

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_fn
I use this one: [http://www.tp-
link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=218&#...</a><p>It has to be restarted
every couple of days and the wireless signal is not very strong, but I found
is acceptable for my usage.

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nodata
Stop with the unlimited please. Give us a high limit.

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eli
They offer plans with 10gb limit too. Which seems like a pretty large amount
of data to be using without tethering.

