T-Mobile USA: Our new unlimited data plan is actually unlimited

I was on T-Mobile for years, and loved it. However, a few months ago, I decided I wanted more and more performance than I was getting, and I wanted a new phone, too. I went to Verizon due to the snappy and awesome LTE network they have. Already, I've been disappointed a bit with Verizon as a company, but pleased to hell by the network performance. If T-Mobile can field an LTE network that compares with Verizons, I will be back with T-Mobile in minutes.

What they aren't saying

"$20 per month when added to a bring-your-own-device plan"

Sure the plan sounds nice but where do you get such a device if not from T-Mob? Here in the US they are the only carrier on the 1700 MHz frequency that I know of, so if you don't have a compatible device you're looking at EDGE all the time. That's a treat, free adware at speeds on the EDGE aren't worth the price. I've been looking for a while but finding a handset that fits the works isn't easy unless you have plenty of cash for the high end or are willing to settle for a piss poor handset. It's the reason why don't they have the iPhone and the same reason they didn't carry the Palm WebOS phones and I really wanted a Veer or Pre. I may very well wind up building my own phone.

T Mobile USA is good for roaming

Or rather not roaming. When I went on holiday to the USA I bought a PAYG T Mob SIM, for $3/day you get unlimited domestic calls, text and data (was 200MB/day at 4G speeds when I went in June).

If you are somewhere with good coverage (I was in Manhattan) this is hard to beat for a foreigner. £20 for the whole holiday (SIM was free, just buy credit), Skype worked fine everywhere and no worries about getting raped by O2 on my return. I used my phone as I would at home because the data wasn't an issue, and having Google maps etc on hand is great in an unfamiliar setting.

Thumbs up to T Mobile USA from me!

Bet this means they're finally getting iPhone

Neither AT&T nor Verizon have true unlimited - AT&T's grandfathered plans are 3G only, Verizon cancels your unlimited if you take a subsidized upgrade so you have to buy a full cost phone to keep it.

Yes, yes, I know Android owners like unlimited too, I think T-mobile is just timing this with getting iPhone on their network to make sure as many people as possible hear about it for when they find out the fine print from AT&T and Verizon and are pissed enough to consider switching.

Vodafone should pay attention

I got forced into changing my contract when my phone was stolen, they helpfully cut my data allowance from 1GB to a paltry 500MB and all for the same monthly price! Contrast this tightfistedness with this offer and it puts our operators in a rather poor light.

...

"All four carriers say such measures are only an issue for the greediest of data gobblers and that ordinary users will never hit their data ceilings"

I call bull. My WiMAX ISP currently has a 4GB cap. Between windows updates (the second worst offender, especially on Patch Tuesdays), antivirus updates, driver updates, Steam game updates (the worst offender, hitting at least 100-200MB every other day, due to the multitude of updates for Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2 and Garry's Mod), iPad app updates, a few youtube videos and a bunch of my usual sites, I hit the cap in 3 weeks flat.