Suggestions on Wireless Carrier

[Hol]

Hi, I need advice. Currently I’m on T-mobile and this month they upped my invoice and are throttling my data usage on my laptop.

My problem is that I use my phone hot spot for internet connection to my laptop.

This month is the first since 2022 when I started with T-mobile that it’s become an issue.

Does anyone recommend Cricket or Puretalk?

 

[mattfivefour]

I would have a long talk with T-Mobile. They have a client retention department that is tasked with keeping long term customers. They doel not want to see good people leave. If you can get to the right person, you can sometimes negotiate one heck of a deal.

Also, I don't know what coverage is like in your neck of the woods or where you travel; but i do know that I've never had as good coverage as I have with the new T-Mobile. (I was with AT&T and Sprint before; my son's family was with Verizon. Now we are all with T-Mobile.)

 

[Tall Timbers]

Hi, I need advice. Currently I’m on T-mobile and this month they upped my invoice and are throttling my data usage on my laptop.

My problem is that I use my phone hot spot for internet connection to my laptop.

This month is the first since 2022 when I started with T-mobile that it’s become an issue.

Does anyone recommend Cricket or Puretalk?

All of the companies that contract with the companies that have their own cell infrastructure can be hit and miss. They are last in line if/when things get busy. In Alaska we used to use a company that only had infrastructure in Alaska and they contracted with T-Mobile for services in the CONUS. When traveling sometimes service was okay at best. At other times I might as well have shut off the cell phone for lack of service.

Thus, I would suggest sticking with one of the big companies that has their own infrastructure. T-Mobile used to be a lesser entity to Verizon or AT&T but they were well managed and now are probably quite good nationwide.

If you don't travel much then there is often the better carrier for a given area. People seem to prefer Verizon where I live now but I've stayed with AT&T because their cell service has been very good to me. Even during their national outage issues I continued to have service.

I guess if I were in your shoes I would look at the plans that the big 3 offer and see which one will offer you the most bang for the buck. You might just need to change your plan with T-Mobile to address the throttling issue. I figured that once T-Mobile had grown to a certain point they'd become more like the other two...

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

I was with AT&T (and Cinglar with which they merged) for over 20 years and generally had great service. Unfortunately, the force-fed non-smart flip phones with the 5G mandate did not allow one to be on the phone and receive and open a text at the same time, so it became impossible to resolve issues with the bank and the phone company because I couldn't authenticate my identity. AT&T wanted an insane amount of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ or a recent vintage smart phone to upgrade to a smart phone, neither of which I had. But I got a Galaxy Flip 5 from TMobile for free ($1000 "coupon" for $999.99 phone). The overall quality of service is similar, but TMobile is a little cheaper. TMobile seems to have fewer impossible-to-understand representatives, but they have fees for some customer service things, whereas AT&T customer service was always free. I would still be with AT&T, except for the phone issue, and I may go back after I won't have to pay prorated value of the phone.

TMobile is doing some wonky stuff with their internet service, as in when someone with a TMobile cell phone gets online or makes/receives a call, it slows or blocks regular TMobile internet access

Sometimes, TMobile internet doesn't like Tor or the Duck, and the phone always tries to link with/force me to use google, gmail or chrome. TMobile recently exported my phonebook into the gmail account I used to sign up for service without my knowledge or permission, and the phone linked with the memory on my Prius and removed what was there and replaced it with what was on the phone wirhout my knowledge or persmission And now TMobile doesn't allow new contacts onto esims like it used to

No idea tethering limits with any of the carriers/plans.

Here, if you have xfinity cable, you can get unlimited cellphone for $15 a line, and you can use their cable network with/and your phone for both phone and cable stuff. I didn't go this route because xfinity cable has a lot of outages and other issues here, plus the phone issue. I've been using free xfinity wifi for internet on my PC most of the time, but it's been getting noticeably less reliable and accessible lately. If their cable service is any indication, I'd stay far far away from their cell service.

 

[Hol]

I would have a long talk with T-Mobile. They have a client retention department that is tasked with keeping long term customers. They doel not want to see good people leave. If you can get to the right person, you can sometimes negotiate one heck of a deal.

Also, I don't know what coverage is like in your neck of the woods or where you travel; but i do know that I've never had as good coverage as I have with the new T-Mobile. (I was with AT&T and Sprint before; my son's family was with Verizon. Now we are all with T-Mobile.)

Thank you, I did call them.

I got

great service

and because I've been with them for a few years they agreed that something weird was going on.

They reset my usage and now I'm good to go

 

[Loudram]

I've had all the major carriers starting with Cingular/AT&T, Verizon, T Mobile, and now Xfinity.
The reason I dumped T Mobile is because I was getting a notice every year that they were hacked and my personal information was compromised. After the third time I got tired of it so we moved to Xfinity because we already had Comcast cable. I've been perfectly happy with them and service has been as good as has with anyone else. I'm using Z Flip 5 on their network.

Verizon has the best coverage in our area but they are also very expensive. Overall I haven't had to many complaints with Xfinity.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

I've had all the major carriers starting with Cingular/AT&T, Verizon, T Mobile, and now Xfinity.
The reason I dumped T Mobile is because I was getting a notice every year that they were hacked and my personal information was compromised. After the third time I got tired of it so we moved to Xfinity because we already had Comcast cable. I've been perfectly happy with them and service has been as good as has with anyone else. I'm using Z Flip 5 on their network.

Verizon has the best coverage in our area but they are also very expensive. Overall I haven't had to many complaints with Xfinity.

@Loudram how do you get your phone to let you react with something other than "like" to a post on CCF? That's the only reaction I can do with my Zflip5. I use Tor with the Duck. Firefox with the Duck if I can't get on Tor (rarely). I don't use any of the other browsers on my phone, as around here it's a guaranteed instant hack, etc.

 

[Loudram]

@Loudram how do you get your phone to let you react with something other than "like" to a post on CCF? That's the only reaction I can do with my Zflip5. I use Tor with the Duck. Firefox with the Duck if I can't get on Tor (rarely). I don't use any of the other browsers on my phone, as around here it's a guaranteed instant hack, etc.

I use Brave browser and all I do is hold the like button for a second or two and the other options pop up. It works the same on my tablet. I use Brave on everything phone, tablet, and laptop.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

I use Brave browser and all I do is hold the like button for a second or two and the other options pop up. It works the same on my tablet. I use Brave on everything phone, tablet, and laptop.

@Loudram

The same happens on Firefox with the Duck, but the likes immediately change to links to different stuff on CCF, so I can't even "like" without backing out and trying again

I most likely have something set up wrong [sigh]
Maybe the local senior center can help; at least one advertizes tech help for computers and cell phones [sigh]