Dome Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 My dad works in a remote area with no cell service until recently US Cellular set up a tower basically behind his office. He has Verizon and they cap his roaming speed to something that’s almost unusable, though he can text and make calls. I have T-Mobile and have full bars of 4G speed there and can stream movies and whatnot no problem. My question is, rather than my dad switching carriers and phones and going through all that, could I add a T-Mobile hotspot to my plan so he could connect his Verizon phone to that (it works just like a WiFi connection, right?)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDrew Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 21 minutes ago, Dome said: My dad works in a remote area with no cell service until recently US Cellular set up a tower basically behind his office. He has Verizon and they cap his roaming speed to something that’s almost unusable, though he can text and make calls. I have T-Mobile and have full bars of 4G speed there and can stream movies and whatnot no problem. My question is, rather than my dad switching carriers and phones and going through all that, could I add a T-Mobile hotspot to my plan so he could connect his Verizon phone to that (it works just like a WiFi connection, right?)? You can do what you're thinking. VZW has WiFi calling, and you can get texts. The only question is why? If you go that route, you're both paying a bill, VZW is way more expensive for a product that isn't as good, he'd have to worry about setting up the hotspot daily. It's easy to switch, Dad can keep his number, it will save him money, and he'll be able to use the phone at work. The 1.5hrs it would take to switch carriers seems like it would be much easier than it would be to deal with a hotspot daily. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDrew Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 On 4/5/2019 at 8:07 PM, Elky said: Has anyone had issues where their BIOS will only let you boot from the SSD/HDD? I have a Linux distro on a thumb drive that I want to test and the BIOS simply refuses to have any other boot options. I've tried turning off secure boot and I can't get it to use legacy BIOS. I have a Lenovo Yoga 81B5. Just read something that you might need to turn off Safe Boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 6 minutes ago, MrDrew said: You can do what you're thinking. VZW has WiFi calling, and you can get texts. The only question is why? If you go that route, you're both paying a bill, VZW is way more expensive for a product that isn't as good, he'd have to worry about setting up the hotspot daily. It's easy to switch, Dad can keep his number, it will save him money, and he'll be able to use the phone at work. The 1.5hrs it would take to switch carriers seems like it would be much easier than it would be to deal with a hotspot daily. He’s only gonna be on the job out there 6-8 months. I thought this would be easier than switching, then switching back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDrew Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 26 minutes ago, Dome said: He’s only gonna be on the job out there 6-8 months. I thought this would be easier than switching, then switching back. Why switch back though? The only place I didn't have service on T-Mobile was spots on the drive through Kansas, but I had the same issue on my VZW work phone. Side by side speed tests with those same phones went to T-Mobile too. Even in the odd chance that he doesn't have T-Mobile service at his house, everything can be done over Wi-Fi. If there's more than 1 phone on the plan, it's going to save a lot of money too. Unless he works for Verizon, it's a much better move to switch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 (edited) 37 minutes ago, MrDrew said: Why switch back though? The only place I didn't have service on T-Mobile was spots on the drive through Kansas, but I had the same issue on my VZW work phone. Side by side speed tests with those same phones went to T-Mobile too. Even in the odd chance that he doesn't have T-Mobile service at his house, everything can be done over Wi-Fi. If there's more than 1 phone on the plan, it's going to save a lot of money too. Unless he works for Verizon, it's a much better move to switch. Both parents have jobs that they need to be available at all times for weather emergencies (at least these are predictable) but my mom specifically has to be available 24/7 for all kinds of work stuff. (Yes. These jobs should provide phones if this is the case. Dads job provides like iPhone 4/5 or some BS that is on Verizon, but not what he’s looking for for entertainment out there for the next 6-8 months so he said he’ll provide his own phone lol. Mom is admin at broke school district, I can only assume since her phone isn’t provided given her duties, that nobody in the district has a “work phone”) Relying on WiFi calling especially during the winter (frequent weather “emergencies” that have the potential to take out power, thus WiFi), or relying on TMobile coverage during the summer (when the towns population swells cause of tourism/festivals/vacation homes), or relying on TMobile period if they're out of the house for work just doesn’t work with either of their jobs. It’s way too hit and miss. Verizon is much more reliable over the whole region.... except specifically the spot where my dad works, cause they put in a US Cellular tower .25 miles away. Lol You can drive 4 miles away and be completely without service, just cause of the geography out there. The town is nestled into a river canyon deep inside another much larger river canyon that runs through the cascade mountains. The next town over is built down into another different river canyon. And the next one too. You get the idea. The signals are bouncing all over the place in there and TMobile just isn’t good enough. Edited April 9, 2019 by Dome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 So Im glad to know it should work. Though I might just be better off getting him his own line and phone for the time he’s out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDrew Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 52 minutes ago, Dome said: Both parents have jobs that they need to be available at all times for weather emergencies (at least these are predictable) but my mom specifically has to be available 24/7 for all kinds of work stuff. (Yes. These jobs should provide phones if this is the case. Dads job provides like iPhone 4/5 or some BS that is on Verizon, but not what he’s looking for for entertainment out there for the next 6-8 months so he said he’ll provide his own phone lol. Mom is admin at broke school district, I can only assume since her phone isn’t provided given her duties, that nobody in the district has a “work phone”) Do they live in a spot where there's no T-Mobile coverage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Just now, MrDrew said: Do they live in a spot where there's no T-Mobile coverage? Not enough that even a coverage extender helps. I tried setting one up for the holidays. Calls were garbled and texts didn't deliver half the time. When I'm out driving around in their neck of the woods, No Service isn't uncommon at all with Tmobile. Verizon always lets you get a text out at the very least, no matter what town/neighborhood you're in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Who's familiar with the EHT and their monumental information coming tomorrow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDrew Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 2 minutes ago, Dome said: Verizon always lets you get a text out at the very least, no matter what town/neighborhood you're in. As somebody who's made that switch, had a T-Mobile personal/VZW work phone, I can definitely say that's an incorrect statement. If they're in an area without service, the hotspot idea should work. If your Dad has an iPhone, he'll be good for any iMessages. If he has an Android, he might need to download a VZW app that let's you do SMS over Wi-Fi. He'd have to enable Wi-Fi calling on whichever type of phone, and possibly download an app. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 11 minutes ago, MrDrew said: As somebody who's made that switch, had a T-Mobile personal/VZW work phone, I can definitely say that's an incorrect statement. I was referring to their specific location. I had verizon when I lived there 10 years ago because T Mobile didn't work if you were someone who travelled around all the neighboring towns. Nothing has changed. People who have TMobile all live or have jobs closer to the river because it's OK down there. People up living/working/recreating often up in the woods have verizon because it's more reliable down some of the smaller river canyons and farther out in the woods. Now that US Cellular has set up a tower in this one river canyon, folks out there will be making the switch to TMobile/USC, but my parents don't live there. My dad just works there for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 19 hours ago, MrDrew said: If there's more than 1 phone on the plan, it's going to save a lot of money too. Unless he works for Verizon, it's a much better move to switch. Is it? TMobile is $40/line if you have 4 lines. I pay $33/line effectively with Verizon. Granted there's a data cap, but we never seem to get close to it. Don't want to turn this into a Tmobile/Verizon flame war. Tmobile has gotten a lot better, but i'm not sure there's really a lot to differentiate the companies anymore. EDIT: I see what you mean. I'm on an older plan. If you care about unlimited data (I don't), then Tmobile is cheaper. But to say the service is the same isn't correct. At least not according to their website. According to their website, reception is "fair" (from my house i won't get reception indoors, only outdoors). And i'm only about 8 miles from a major city. Verizon has excellent full 4G coverage according to their website (and according to my cell phone). Unless their website is just being conservative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDrew Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 2 hours ago, theJ said: Is it? TMobile is $40/line if you have 4 lines. I pay $33/line effectively with Verizon. Granted there's a data cap, but we never seem to get close to it. Don't want to turn this into a Tmobile/Verizon flame war. Tmobile has gotten a lot better, but i'm not sure there's really a lot to differentiate the companies anymore. EDIT: I see what you mean. I'm on an older plan. If you care about unlimited data (I don't), then Tmobile is cheaper. But to say the service is the same isn't correct. At least not according to their website. According to their website, reception is "fair" (from my house i won't get reception indoors, only outdoors). And i'm only about 8 miles from a major city. Verizon has excellent full 4G coverage according to their website (and according to my cell phone). Unless their website is just being conservative? It was cheaper for me to go from 4 phones with 10Gb shared (VZW), to 6 phones with unlimited. No service is the same, even in the middle of a big city. Every carrier has spots where they're better than the others. As far as total coverage, VZW and T-Mobile are pretty close, VZW does win though. Oddly, in places where there's no digital coverage, AT&T usually has some analog/2G service. Where T-Mobile wins is how fast the coverage is compared to VZW. Same model phone, both full bars, and the speed tests I've ran have been way way faster on T-Mobile. In the best areas for both, T-Mobile is still faster. They were also the first to start allowing things like VoLTE, and WiFi calling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 1 hour ago, MrDrew said: It was cheaper for me to go from 4 phones with 10Gb shared (VZW), to 6 phones with unlimited. No service is the same, even in the middle of a big city. Every carrier has spots where they're better than the others. As far as total coverage, VZW and T-Mobile are pretty close, VZW does win though. Oddly, in places where there's no digital coverage, AT&T usually has some analog/2G service. Where T-Mobile wins is how fast the coverage is compared to VZW. Same model phone, both full bars, and the speed tests I've ran have been way way faster on T-Mobile. In the best areas for both, T-Mobile is still faster. They were also the first to start allowing things like VoLTE, and WiFi calling. They both have $40/month unlimited options. Tmobiles is truly unlimited, VZW's isn't. Either way, the costs should be the same now. I think the plans have changed recently on VZW, because what they offer now isn't what i have. As for the speed, i can see that. People just need to weigh the pros and cons and decide based on their area and wants. There's usually an easy answer for each individual, but no sweeping general answer that one is better than the other. Not anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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