Few days following Black Friday, I was looking for deals on wireless phone plans for families. I stopped by AT&T to inquire about their unlimited data plans which costs $214 before taxes and other fees unless you sign up for 2-year contract with Direct TV. Despite the fact that AT&T was running a promotion of paying off any remaining balance on each phone line up to $650. In return, you would need to purchase new phones from them while they keep your old phones.
However, in my case, most of my phones were paid off so that defeats the purpose of switching to AT&T and buying new phones.
While walking in the mall, I noticed a very attractive family plan offered by Sprint. I must say no other wireless carrier among the top four US wireless service providers can beat the unlimited Freedom plan offered by Sprint!
The plan states:
Get Unlimited data, talk and text starting for $20 per month/line
Switch to Sprint and choose Unlimited Freedom. Plans start for $20 per month/line for a family of five.
For a limited-time, when you get 2 lines, you can get 3 more lines free! That’s just $100/mo. for 5 lines.
Enjoy unlimited mobile optimized streaming videos, gaming and music. And, unlimited 4G LTE data for most everything else.
It didn’t stop there! In addition, Sprint offered iPhone 6s and/or Samsung Galaxy 7, buy one get one FREE.
It was a perfect offer especially that it was about time for me to upgrade at least two of my phones but why not upgrade all!
So, what is the catch?
I was told by Sprint employee that I can reuse my T-Mobile phones with Sprint service once I pay off the balance. All I really needed to do is contact T-Mobile to request unlock code. Unfortunately, that is not true because T-Mobile & AT&T use GSM networks while Sprint & Verizon use CDMA networks. What that means is phones supporting GSM networks use SIM cards, making them easily reusable especially when travelling abroad. However, CDMA phones are network specific. Basically, switching from T-Mobile to Sprint service requires buying new phones.
By the time I decided to switch to Sprint service, the promotion for Samsung Galaxy 7 was over. The only available promotion on phones was for the iPhone 6s. Despite the fact that I’m not big fan of Apple products, I thought why not try out the iPhone. So I purchased two iPhone 6s, got two FREE iPhones and got FREE Samsung J3 (worth $192) for the 5th line.
You are probably thinking that’s such an awesome deal! So what is the problem?
The problem is the coverage. Theoretically, based on the service coverage map on Sprint website, I should have LTE coverage. However, I noticed huge difference between T-Mobile coverage and Sprint. Yes, the price of Sprint unlimited Freedom plan is great but what is the point of signing up for such a service with such a bad coverage. Unfortunately, I was unable to make calls from office nor have access to high speed data.
How bad was Sprint coverage?
Let’s just say I switched back to T-Mobile within 24-hour.
While I was able to retain same account number with T-Mobile, I ended up paying $20 re-activation fee per line. In addition, Sprint charges $35 restocking fee for each phone. Basically, the cost of switching to Sprint and back to T-Mobile will be over $200.
The point is, before considering switching your wireless service to a different carrier, it is a good idea to ask someone who’s using that service to help you make an informed decision before making the same mistake I made.
Despite the fact I’m unhappy with T-Mobile coverage lately but it is still way better than Sprint network. That does not mean you should not take advantage of Sprint unlimited Freedom plan provided that you have decent service coverage in your area.
