[Terchie]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but here goes...

I have an iPhone 3G that I successfully unlocked with T-Mobile in the U.S. I'm on the Total Internet data plan it's working well.
From my list below, I should choose AT&T. However, I hear a lot of people wanting out of AT&T, but I've never really known why.

So, which provider should I choose and why? I would have loved the $5.99 T-Zones, but I couldn't get it.

Let me provide the pros vs cons.
Voice
AT&T = $40
T-Mobile = $40
Both are about equivalent, I won't go over the minutes on either plan.

Data
AT&T = $30 3G/Edge
T-Mobile = $20 Edge (stupid 3G incompatibility)
I imagine 3G will be significantly faster, I live in an area with good coverage from both providers.

Text
None, I don't text often. If I did need it, I'd just get the $5 plan.

Activation/Contract
AT&T = $36, but read about bonus below. I'll be stuck with a 2 year contract.
T-Mobile = None and I can leave whenever.

Total
AT&T = $70, BUT I get a 15% FAN discount, so $59.50 + taxes.
Also, I'll get some bonus cash (~$150) by signing a 2 year contract. (Nice to have a bunch of Asian shops around!)
T-Mobile = $60 + taxes.
No discounts. No bonus since I'm already with them.

[brett k]

I chose ATT because most of my friends were on it, also as you say, you cant get 3g on tmobile (the iphone is VERY slow on edge) so I guess I would go with AT, don't know how the service is in your area though...

[gbadude]

Can't you just use the tzone hack with Tmo and get the 5.99 plan? And how could you get cash back without signing a contract with Tmo?

[Terchie]

Originally Posted by gbadude

Can't you just use the tzone hack with Tmo and get the 5.99 plan? And how could you get cash back without signing a contract with Tmo?

I couldn't add $5.99 T-Zones after multiple tries, otherwise I'd definitely go with that plan.

I can't get cashback with T-Mobile, because I'm already a customer with them. (Generally, the cash incentives are for new customers, not existing ones.)
I can get cashback with AT&T because I would be a new customer.

[smuth]

i have T-Mo, and the EDGE wasn't bad at all, but def not as fast as 3G.
But for the price, $5.99 for data can't be beat IMO. You gotta be able to add that service, go to a T-Mo store and they should add it for you.

As far as service itself goes, I'm not the happiest with T-Mo's coverage (I'm in the Denver area) but I don't have any experience with AT&T either, so I dunno.

I would go with T-Mo since you won't have a contract, but if you REALLY need 3G, go with ATT

[sn0ws]

I have at&t and I love it, I just upgraded to the 3g phone this week and I live with a few friends no of which want to pay for internet so we are without. I teather my iphone almost 24/7 for basic internet use and now with dtunes I also use it to download torrents so I can catch the latest entourage or weeds speaking from someone who had to struggle with edge speeds for months averageing about 10 to 15 kbs and now working with 3g speeds averaging around 75 to 125 kbs.. I would def. not over look it's value. It does depend on usage though no contract always feels nice. I am a state employee and thus get a nice discount from at&t too.

[Terchie]

Thanks everyone, I'll try a friend's AT&T iPhone 3G to compare the speed. Voice coverage has always been about the same in my area.

I tried desperately to get the $5.99 T-Zones - using the info posted in the t-mobile sub-forum - but I had no luck. I haven't tried going in-store though.

[alek]

get att because any update to the iphone (on tmobile) will leave you stranded, and for u the price is the same except canceling your conract so if your planing to stick with the iphone for two years then get att

PS Dont you have a conract on the iphone from the time you bought it at the store?

PSS remeber if u go with tmobile any update or crash will kill you. Also it will void your warrenty even for hardware stuff.

ya also edge is slow as hell

[ebl4287]

At&t

[Terchie]

I purchased the phone through a friend at a great price. He didn't like it and switched to the BB Bold . Plus the phone is beat up - had no cover/screen protector.
My original intent of using T-Zones didn't pan out, so I'll probably end up using AT&T. It's still cheaper than $199+Activation, but I won't have a new phone.

[phung717]

I'm on the ATT network, and i must say it's far better than T-Mobile. T-Mobile never gets any service anywhere.

Only upside to T-mobile is that their service plan is far cheaper, but what's the point of having T-mobile service when you lose reception everywhere you go? And what about that great t-mobile service failure after the new years for a couple of days.

[reznor9]

I had AT&T for a month... voice service was fine. SMS was all screwed up. Was always getting quadrplets of my sms messages, both incoming and outgoing and they were always out of order. The plan for 1 line on AT&T was almost as much as I am paying for 2 lines using the iPhone on tmobile... the main reason I switched back to tmobile is that just about everyone I know is a tmobile customer... and since ATT doesnt have any kind of myFAVES, my minutes were gone way too soon as I talk alot and take advantage of my mobile to mobile.

Pros:
AT&T: 3G network/ no problems updating firmware/ visual voicemail
Tmobile: 5.99tzones/ able to use swirlyMMS for picture messaging

Cons:
ATT: no MMS(unless you use email)/ expensive(in my opinion though)
Tmobile: have to wait for dev team to crack every new firmware/ no 3G support

I think it all comes down to the voice plan... are you going to take advantage of the ATT mobile to mobile? Are your friends and family on ATT or Tmobile. Thats what it came down to in my case.. I only know 1 person in my contact list that uses ATT... and I never talk to him. We text alot but thats it.