I have been using an iPhone 2G (first generation) on T-Mobile for quite a while now. In the beginning it made sense. Cheaper plan, better service, and I could still enjoy the iPhone. Now that Apple is no longer updating the iPhone 2G i’m going to have to make a choice: Get a 3G or 3GS and jailbreak it or make the move to AT&T for the iPhone 4.
Here is a small side by side comparison of the pros and cons of using the iPhone on the somewhat sister companies:
| T-Mobile | AT&T | |
|---|---|---|
| price | • | |
| call reception | • | |
| better 3G Service | • | |
| hassle (Jailbraking, etc) | • | |
| perks (Cydia, Icy) | • | |
| visual voicemail | • | |
| picture messaging | • |
As you can see by the table, AT&T gets the little perks like better 3G*, visual voicemail, and picture messaging. T-Mobile gets the service and price. Remember that call reception depends on your city/county.
Either way, I went with AT&T for a few reasons:
- I didn’t have to jailbreak my phone anymore (sometimes this got ugly)
- With rollover minutes and the A-list I could get a comparable price/plan
- Visual voicemail, picture messaging
- My whole family is on AT&T
- All of T-Mobile android based phones sucked.
- I had no idea when/if T-mobile was actually going to get the iPhone (still rumors)
- I love the iPhone and can’t live without it
The plan I went with on AT&T is:
- 900 Minutes with rollover and A-list
- 1500 text messages
- 2GB data plan (which by the way is plenty if you use WiFi)
I have had 2 weeks time to test the phone and I am experiencing just as many dropped calls on AT&T as I was on T-Mobile. The only thing that changed are the dead zones.
T-mobile was a great company to me for the last 5 years and I wish I could have stayed with them, I just wanted the high tech phone without the hassle (KISS).
Hope this helps in the decision making process.
* I am basing the better 3G on people whom I personally know that owned T-Mobile android phones with 3G and experienced many outages inside of buildings.
