Global GSM Service- AT&T or T-Mobile?
Specific coverage question for business travelers or wireless company reps. Any
help would be very appreciated.
I'm a Consultant, and travel internationally 50% of my time. I've had T-Mobile for 10-years because of their GSM roaming agreements, but in the US the coverage is just terrible.
I was in Dallas-FW last week, and couldn't get a signal a couple miles from DFW Airport. Pretty ridiculous. I'm ready to switch to AT&T. I'm going to take a $400 hit on early term charges so don't want to make a big mistake.
How is AT&T's GSM coverage in Europe & Latin America? T-Mobile's was good if I initiated the call, but bad if someone was trying to reach me. (Mexico City & Santiago, Chile for example) Does AT&T have roaming aggrements wit...
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help would be very appreciated.
I'm a Consultant, and travel internationally 50% of my time. I've had T-Mobile for 10-years because of their GSM roaming agreements, but in the US the coverage is just terrible.
I was in Dallas-FW last week, and couldn't get a signal a couple miles from DFW Airport. Pretty ridiculous. I'm ready to switch to AT&T. I'm going to take a $400 hit on early term charges so don't want to make a big mistake.
How is AT&T's GSM coverage in Europe & Latin America? T-Mobile's was good if I initiated the call, but bad if someone was trying to reach me. (Mexico City & Santiago, Chile for example) Does AT&T have roaming aggrements wit...
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i do think att could unlock their phones, temporarily, upon request if you want to go overseas, that way you could use a local gsm carrier and be saved from expensive roaming charges.
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I used att when i traveled through Hungary, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia and I found that I had excellent service. If don't plan on using a sim from a different carrier be sure you sign up for the world traveler plans that att offers.
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Coverage shouldn't change internationally although your rates could be higher. Check www.wireless.att.com/world for specific rates per country. You coverage should be better here.
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I'm about to find out myself as I leave for Europe tomorow. From what I can tell already, ATT is much more expensive than TMobile.
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It is likely you will pay more for international service under at&t. However, it sounds like $$$ is no object given your willingness to terminate with T-mobile to the tune of about 400 bucks. If so, go with at&t.
Personally, if I had my way, I'd get one of those satellite phones. I hear you can call from anywhere, anytime. I hope some day satellites or some equivalent technology comes along and crushes the entire land based wireless industry. How can we live in a truly global world when our phones work 50%, or in my case 80% of the time?
Personally, if I had my way, I'd get one of those satellite phones. I hear you can call from anywhere, anytime. I hope some day satellites or some equivalent technology comes along and crushes the entire land based wireless industry. How can we live in a truly global world when our phones work 50%, or in my case 80% of the time?
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DO not get a satilite phone unless it is your only option. Like no GSM or CDMA service. It is more expensive and the latancy is horrible. I hate when people bring up satlite phones as a alternitive. They are only good for areas that have no coverage. Same as satalite internet is only good when it is your only option!
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if you are in the UK, Scotland etc you will have lousy service unless you have t-mobile or get a prepaid sim from vodafone while you are there. add that to the fact that you will want to get your phone unlocked form someone other than at&t because half of the time we don't get the code to you in a timely manner, and you will save alot of money and frustration by keeping a tmobile phone for over there if that is your main coverage area concern.
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cingularslave said:
if you are in the UK, Scotland etc you will have lousy service unless you have t-mobile or get a prepaid sim from vodafone while you are there.
um, Vodaphone has coverage in just about the entire UK and both T-mob and ATT have a roaming agreement with them. With ATT, your roaming experience in the UK would be no different than TMob.
Just make sure you get a quad band phone for obvious reasons.
a good source of internatioanl info is gsmworld.com
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um, Vodaphone has coverage in just about the entire UK and both T-mob and ATT have a roaming agreement with them. With ATT, your roaming experience in the UK would be no different than TMob.
Just make sure you get a quad band phone for obvious reasons.
a good source of internatioanl info is gsmworld.com
um, yes they have a roaming agreement however not all Vodafone towers allow a Cingular/At&t phone to roam on it, therefore making at&t service inferior to that of T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom) which has full roaming agreements with Vodafone throughout Europe. I just got back from Yorkshire, Manchester and Edinburgh and I can tell you with complete accuracy that you will have service on your At&t device no more than 40% of...
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Just make sure you get a quad band phone for obvious reasons.
a good source of internatioanl info is gsmworld.com
um, yes they have a roaming agreement however not all Vodafone towers allow a Cingular/At&t phone to roam on it, therefore making at&t service inferior to that of T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom) which has full roaming agreements with Vodafone throughout Europe. I just got back from Yorkshire, Manchester and Edinburgh and I can tell you with complete accuracy that you will have service on your At&t device no more than 40% of...
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everything does you can have great reception minis the horrible delay in one spot move 2 feet (no lie) and nothing!!!
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T-Mobile has Great service in TX. Even better than AT&T. I have traveled all over the dallas area..even way out in the country, T-Mobile has always worked great.
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with the many roaming agreements t-mobile has their coverage will be similar to that of at&t, since the agreements are primarily with them on 850., it will be mostly a rural area that att only has 1900 coverage and tmobile doesnt that you will notice a major difference
this is also the same the other way around, where tmobile is better covered than att
this is also the same the other way around, where tmobile is better covered than att
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You obviously do not live here (TX) and travel here regularly b/c that is just bs!
You obviously do not live here (TX) and travel here regularly b/c that is just bs!
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Thank so much for the replies. All the info/expertise was really helpful.
I'm going with AT&T and will get the BB-8800 or Curve. Wish I could wait on the Wi-Fi enabled BB coming out later this summer.
Thanks again to all, except for this last clown in TX. I lived in Houston (Smith Street-Midtown) for 2 years, and commute between home and DFW for work. I think I can figure out where my phone works.
You must've been the guy driving the pickup (F-150) listening to the Dixie Chicks. You were all over the place.
I'm going with AT&T and will get the BB-8800 or Curve. Wish I could wait on the Wi-Fi enabled BB coming out later this summer.
Thanks again to all, except for this last clown in TX. I lived in Houston (Smith Street-Midtown) for 2 years, and commute between home and DFW for work. I think I can figure out where my phone works.
You must've been the guy driving the pickup (F-150) listening to the Dixie Chicks. You were all over the place.
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Why not give Verizon a try? you'd get the undisputed best stateside coverage, CDMA roaming in Latin America, and if you get one of the GSM/CDMA hybrid phones (BlackBerry 8830 would be the best) you'd get excellent European coverage, primarily on Vodaphones network (Vodaphone is one of Verizon Wireless' parent companies).
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