Customer ServiceeRegister
The Gadgetress ~ TV, mobile and Internet: Covering technology's monthly bill

Archive for the 'T-Mobile' Tag

« Previous Entries

Who will offer fastest wireless Internet?

March 23rd, 2010, 4:32 pm by

It’s a big week for mobile Internet, as nearly every wireless company is at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas and unveiling plans for cell phone customers in the U.S. But is there anything we should really care about?

More people are moving to smartphones and rely on cellular-based wireless for Internet. The mobile Web needs to speed up, big time.

Currently 3rd-generation (3G) Internet speeds are around 1 megabit per second. The coming 4G technology promises much faster service.  Sprint and T-Mobile announced their upgrades today. Verizon’s is coming tomorrow.

If you’re trying to sort out what mobile service is in your future, here’s what it comes down to:

► T-Mobile: Announced “Rollout the Nation’s Fastest 3G Wireless Network.”
Speeds: Using a technology called HSPA+, T-Mobile  says its mobile Internet will jump to speeds of 21 megabits per second. The announcement Tuesday included a “coming soon” for Los Angeles (and Orange County) users.
Reality: 21 mbps is a theoretical speed. As with every wireless Internet, speed will vary based on “location, device, and overall traffic on the local wireless network,” which T-Mobile does note. How slow? One reviewer seemed impressed when he squeezed 3 mbps out of T-Mobile’s service. Users also must upgrade to a HSPA device (here’s a list) and, ultimately, this is 3G and not 4G technology. However, it’s one of the fastest wireless technologies available today and should be everywhere by end of year.

► Sprint: Expanded its limited 4G wireless Internet to more areas, including North Orange County later this year.
Speeds: Using 4G Wimax technology, Sprint says its mobile Internet is 3 to 6 mbps, which is “up to 10 times faster” than today’s existing 3G speeds of around 600 kilobits per second, says Sprint.
Reality: The same reviewer who tested T-Mobile’s HSPA+ discovered Sprint’s 4G speed was slower, at 2.25 mbps. Other 4G user forums mention how it’s slower than 3G. But there are no caps on usage, and it’s the only 4G service publicly available.

► Verizon: Still waiting to hear Verizon’s update, which is coming Wednesday.
Speeds: Its mobile Internet service using Long Term Evolution technology (LTE) is on track for this year. Peak download of 40 to 50 mbps; upload speed of 20 to 25 mbps.
Reality: Since speed is reliant on environment and other users, Verizon says the average download speed is more like 5 to 12 mbps, while upload speed is 2 to 5 mbps.

► AT&T: Appears to be concentrating on other news this week and announced connected digital photo frames and GPS-enabled dog collars. The company, which is sticking with HSPA for now until it moves to LTE, did express disbelief as to whether LTE is ready for prime time.

More CTIA news:

  • Verizon Wireless smartphone customers can add Skype beginning Thursday. Calls to other Skype users won’t affect available minutes. Read details
  • First Android phone with 4G and 3G service coming from Sprint this summer. The HTC Evo even has its own site: www.sprint.com/evo.  Read details
  • T-Mobile announces first netbook. Read details

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

T-Mobile ‘hoping’ to offer iPhone this year, says report

March 18th, 2010, 5:20 pm by

Spotted: Add another iPhone rumor to the list. The Financial Times is reporting that T-Mobile may end AT&T’s lock on the Apple iPhone later this year.

René Obermann, chief executive of T-Mobile USA’s German parent Deutsche Telekom, told the publication that the company is focusing on mobile Internet. And then there’s this sentence buried at the bottom:

The iPhone has provided AT&T with strong revenue growth, and T-Mobile USA is hoping to start selling the popular smartphone later this year or next year.

But are the two connected? Did Obermann really say during the FT interview that T-Mobile will offer the iPhone this year? It would seem that way based on how the story was written. But why bury this juicy nugget?

It could be that it’s because in Germany, T-Mobile sells the iPhone. So perhaps the German-based reporter didn’t think a direct quote from Obermann was crucial.

However, this isn’t the first time T-Mobile has appeared as a possible iPhone vendor. In December, Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid said he believed T-Mobile would be next and not Verizon Wireless, as others have long theorized.  Why T-Mobile?  ”Apple wants to move away from exclusivity; T-Mobile achieves this for Apple in the U.S.,” Reid wrote.

T-Mobile also uses the same wireless technology as AT&T so an iPhone doesn’t need a complete hardware overhaul to join the T-Mobile network.

I guess we’ll find out this fall whether there’s any truth to the story.

From the web:

Posted in: Apple mania • Cell phones • iPhone • • • | 13 Comments »

T-Mobile preps for 21 Mbps Internet with new gadget

March 11th, 2010, 5:17 pm by

Faster wireless Internet — up to 21 Mbps — from T-Mobile is around the corner and expected to be available nationwide by the end of the year. It could launch even sooner here in Orange County. We’ll find out in two weeks when T-Mobile offers an update during the upcoming CTIA mobile show.

To get ready for the speed jump, T-Mobile announced today that it now offers an HSPA+ USB Laptop stick, the webConnect Rocket. The company says that it’s also the nation’s first HSPA+ device, but that’s because the only other company going this speedy route is AT&T. Verizon Wireless and Sprint are working on faster 4G wireless technology like LTE (Long Term Evolution) and Wimax.

HSPA, short for High Speed Packet Access, is sometimes called Turbo 3G and offers wireless Internet speeds of up to 7.2 mbps. But add a plus sign and the speed jumps to 21 Mbps. T-Mobile is upgrading its 3G cell towers nationwide to add the faster technology.

I’m sure T-Mobile smartphone users everywhere are ready for the speed jump because the existing 3G Internet is more like 1 Mbps or slower. But if you feel 3G Internet is still slow, here’s some bad news: T-Mobile has already enabled HSPA 7.2 across its entire 3G network nationwide. The company, however, says it is still working to put the “necessary backhaul in place to support these faster speeds.” (AT&T, by the way, has also upgraded all of its network to HSPA and is working on upgrading to 4G technology.)

Nevertheless, many of T-Mobile’s newer smartphone users will reap the benefits of HSPA+ when it does become available because the phones and devices are backward compatible.  Here are T-Mobile’s existing 3G phones and devices that are HSPA capable:

  1. T-Mobile G1
  2. T-Mobile myTouch 3G
  3. T-Mobile myTouch 3G LE
  4. Motorola CLIQ
  5. HTC TouchPro 2
  6. T-Mobile Dash 3G
  7. Samsung Behold II
  8. T-Mobile webConnect USB Laptop Stick
  9. T-Mobile webConnect Jet
  10. HTC HD2

The Rocket goes on sale Sunday, March 14, for $99.99 with a 2-year contract. New Internet plans will be available beginning this weekend. Here are the new “Even More” plans and prices: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • Gadgets • • • • | 6 Comments »

T-Mobile’s faster Internet coming to California, says report

February 10th, 2010, 3:50 pm by

T-Mobile logoNoted: T-Mobile is giving existing customers another reason to stay on with the company: 21 mbps download speeds, according to GigaOm’s Stacey Higginbotham.

While Higginbotham’s interview with T-Mobile’s vice president of engineering Dave Mayo didn’t confirm that California would be first to get the faster High Speed Packet Access technology, or HSPA+, Mayo said that T-Mobile is upgrading its HSPA software  ”major cities” along the California Coast, says the report.

Higginbotham theorizes that this could come as soon as the middle end of 2010 since T-Mobile is waiting for more devices that can handle the speeds. Currently, it has 10.

This isn’t quite 4G mobile wireless. It’s more of an advanced 3G network. AT&T has been upgrading its 3G network to HSPA software, which offers up to 7.2 Mbps. T-Mobile, meanwhile, has also been testing HSPA+ in Philadelphia.

More on faster mobile networks:

Posted in: Cell phones • Internet • • • • | 2 Comments »

Free calls to Haiti, where to watch benefit concert

January 22nd, 2010, 5:13 pm by

Hope for Haiti NowWith all the rain in Orange County this week, it’s hard to believe that the devastating earthquake in Haiti was just last week.  Donations continued to pour in this week via text messages, plus there’s tonight’s “Hope for Haiti Now” benefit concert for the country.

Here’s a round up of what local TV and wireless services are doing:

Cox Communications: Waiving fees on international long-distance calls to Haiti (country code 509) through Feb. 28. This is retroactive to Jan. 12. The Cox Foundation also donated $250,000 to relief efforts. See press release.

Time Warner Cable: Waiving fees on international long-distance calls to Haiti through end of February, retroactive to Jan. 12. This applies only to direct-dial calls and not calls made through an operator. See press release.

AT&T: Waived fees on calls to Haiti numbers. Also letting customers watch  tonight’s “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon on their phones, U-verse TV or web. To watch on a phone, go to AT&T Mobile TV on MTV’s MediaFlo channel. U-verse subscribers can tune in to the major networks and MTV for the performance. Online, the event will be streamed at entertainment.att.net. Wireless customers can also donate $10 to Red Cross International Relief Fund by texting the word “HAITI” to 90999.

Sprint: Waiving texting fees to Haiti through Jan. 31. Customers donated $3.1 million to the effort, as of Jan. 19, by texting “HAITI” to 90999.

T-Mobile: Waiving international long-distance fees through Jan. 31 and dropping fee to text “HAITI” at 90999 to donate $10. Customers donated $3 million, as of Jan. 19. T-Mobile and its parent company have  also donated $250,000 to the effort.

Verizon: Waiving international long-distance calling fees plus offering a live broadcast of the relief concert to mobile users who have access to VCAST Video on their phones. See press release. Verizon users can also text the word “HAITI” to 90999. So far, the company has collected $4.84 million in text donations. Verizon also has a page dedicated to the Haiti relief effort with information on several organizations accepting donations. Click HERE.

Tonight’s benefit concert includes singers Madonna, Jay-Z, George Clooney and Haiti native Wyclef Jean. It airs at 8 p.m. tonight on the following channels:

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, CENTRIC, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, EPIX, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green, CNN en Español, HBO Latino and Canadian networks, including CBC Television, CTV, Global Television and MuchMusic.

Posted in: news • • • • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Latest trend in mobile phone service: Unlimited plans

January 18th, 2010, 8:59 am by

mobilephoneNew unlimited wireless plans begin today from the nation’s largest mobile providers: Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Instead of the usual “unlimited” calling to people on the same network, these two companies will now offer unlimited calls to any phone number nationwide.

Rivals T-Mobile and Sprint already offer something similar. Sprint began offering “Any Mobile Anytime” in September allowing subscribers to the plan to call any number outside the Sprint network, as long as it was a mobile phone. T-Mobile unveiled a more complete version of unlimited plans last year.

Mobile phone services have evolved greatly in the past few years. From T-Mobile launching its “Fave 5″ — allowing users to call any five numbers as much as they want — to allowing customers to call any number any time. The mobile carriers are being forced to evolve due to competition from prepaid companies like MetroPCS and Boost Mobile and upcoming competition from cable TV companies like Cox.

It looks like consumers can look forward to the end of overage fees and minute counting.

But how much are they? And what’s the catch? Most still require a two-year contract and, of course, the price is much higher than it used to be. I’ve compiled a chart of the big four mobile services so it’s easier to see how much everything costs.

Unlimited plans Verizon AT&T T-Mobile Sprint
Talk $69.99 $69.99 $59.99
Talk/Text $89.99 $89.99 $69.99
Family Talk (2 lines) $119.99 $119.99 $99.99
Family Talk/Text (2 lines) $149.99 $149.99 $119.99
3G smartphone voice/data $99.99 $99.99 $89.99
3G smartphone voice/data/text $119.99 $119.99 $99.99 $99.99*
Family smartphone voice/data (2 lines) $179.99 $159.99
Family smartphone voice/data/text (2 lines) $209.99 $179.99 $189.99*

*Sprint’s plan includes unlimited calls to mobile numbers only, not all numbers.

I’ll review the prepaid companies unlimited offerings in a later post.

Previously on unlimited plans:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • | 27 Comments »

AT&T service ranks lowest; iPhone users don’t mind

December 1st, 2009, 3:44 pm by

Consumer Reports rates cell phone services for 2009.Who’s got the best cell phone service in the U.S.? Hands down, it’s Verizon, according to readers of Consumer Reports.

The publication just issued its annual update on mobile service and once again ranked Verizon at the top nationwide for overall service, scoring 75 points out of 100. Second place T-Mobile scored 70.

But just because both companies did better than the others doesn’t mean everyone is happy with service. According to its survey of 50,000 readers, Consumer Reports said that only 54 percent were “completely or very satisfied” with service.

While still a majority, those aren’t very good numbers for any consumer-oriented business.

“Despite ‘smarter phones,’ more flexible plans, and faster wireless networks, cell service continues to be among the lower-rated of all the services that Consumer Reports evaluates,” the organization concluded in its January 2010 issue.

Ouch! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • • • • | 28 Comments »

T-Mobile says all services restored

November 4th, 2009, 6:21 am by

T-Mobile logoUPDATE: T-Mobile says if you continue to experience difficulty making/receiving calls or accessing data services, please power your phone off then back on. This will update your connection to the network and should restore your access to these services.

UDPATE: 7:19 a.m.: I’m still hearing that service is spotty in south Orange County. Anyone out there feeling that too? Please leave a comment and I’ll check it out.

——————-

It was a rough night for many T-Mobile customers Tuesday as the mobile-service provider acknowledged that there was a widespread outage of its data and voice services affecting at least 5 percent of its 33.5 million customers. That’s approximately 1.7 million customers.

Around 10:30 last night, the company said everything was fixed. In a statement, T-Mobile said that service was fully restored and the company is now investigating what happened. Here’s the statement:

“T-Mobile confirms it has fully restored voice and text/picture messaging services for customers affected by intermittent service disruptions on Tuesday. About five percent of our customers across various geographies were affected for much of Tuesday evening, and by late Tuesday PST their service was restored. Our sole focus has been restoring full services for all customers; we are now investigating the root cause of the incident. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.”

The five-hour outage affected not just Orange County, but the whole nation. Readers from Arizona, Minnesota, Dallas, Chicago and other cities left comments saying that their T-Mobile service was out, too.

Other news sites reported that the outage happened just as T-Mobile was trying to fix a data outage that some SideKick users have experienced for nearly one month. T-Mobile said it had restored all services by Halloween.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “Microsoft Corp. accidentally lost personal SideKick data stored in its servers. The company and its SideKick unit, Danger, later restored some of the data, but took a lot of public criticism for the slip-up.”

Are you still experiencing an outage or spotty data/voice service? Comment below and I’ll look into it.

Earlier: T-Mobile says phone service not working

Recent Gadgetress stories:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • | 27 Comments »

« Previous Entries
SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline