Help! Before I open the box, is it true this T home internet will replace my Spectrum service or should I return it.? I'm hearing negative reviews!

Personally I wouldn't change , too many limitations. I pay $14 a month more for Cox internet without these restrictions. The bold term is the big one for me. 

TMHI terms. 

Durante períodos de congestión, los clientes de Internet residencial pueden notar velocidades reducidas en comparación con otros clientes debido a la priorización de datos. No disponible en todas las áreas; los clientes que no son elegibles para Internet 5G residencial podrían ser elegibles para Internet 4G LTE residencial u otras opciones de conexión móvil fija. Más impuestos y cargos para cuentas que estén pagando actualmente por una línea móvil de T-Mobile con impuestos y cargos adicionales: se aplica un cargo mensual de Programas Reguladores (RPF) y Recuperación de los Costos de Compañía de Telecomunicaciones (TRF) por un total de $1.40 por línea solo de datos ($0.12 por RPF y $1.28 por TRF); los impuestos/cargos representan aproximadamente el 3-12% de la factura. Requiere aprobación de crédito. Para utilizar solamente con el gateway T-Mobile para uso en el hogar en la ubicación provista al momento de la activación. Si cancelas el servicio, deberás devolver el gateway o pagar hasta $370. La resolución para streaming de videos depende de las velocidades disponibles. Para obtener el mejor rendimiento, deja las apps de streaming de video en su configuración de resolución predeterminada. Not compatible with some live TV streaming services. AutoPay Pricing for lines 1-8 on account. Sin AutoPago, $5 más. Es posible que no esté reflejado en la 1.ª factura. La cobertura no está disponible en algunas áreas. Control de la red: el servicio puede ponerse lento, suspenderse, cancelarse o restringirse por mal uso, uso anormal, interferencia con nuestra red o nuestra capacidad de brindar un servicio de calidad a otros usuarios. See T-Mobile.com/OpenInternet for details. See Terms and Conditions (including arbitration provision) at www.T-Mobile.com para obtener más información.

i love mine, i had problems of rebooting but removed other RF devices and seemed to solve any problems. i am on this board so i read all the negative but tbh i love mine.

whall003 wrote:

i love mine, i had problems of rebooting but removed other RF devices and seemed to solve any problems. i am on this board so i read all the negative but tbh i love mine.

I've read too many issues with hooking up to Ring , Chamberlain garage door opener and Eufy which I use flawlessly on Cox for $14 a month more. I love TMobile but not enough to use this service. I'd rather have a hardwired connection than rely on WiFi.

Overall, you'll need to ask what your needs are and if TMobile may be the right fit for those needs.  It should have a trial period and you may be eligible for some extra $ for converting, so what is the concern?  Potentially, yes, this may allow you to replace Spectrum, you must have reasons for even considering it.  There are always people that have negative reviews, and people that have very positive reviews.  My advice would not to let fear rule you, but at least approach change with an open mind.

The wording for "congstion" situations exist in all of the service providers, so this is normal. I have a few streaming services for entertainment, but do not stream TV regularly, so that may be a question to ask a rep or see if anyone actually knows of a services that this would fall under (if you care)… I had the rep on the phone for a while, and the persone was great in answering all of my questions about all sorts of things, but I did not ask about streaming live tv.  I have had issues with Xfinity-who likes to raise the rates, and I know people that have even more issues with Century-Link, and no other viable options until now.  I would save $8/month, but at the moment, it looks like I would be more than tripling my speeds, not that I actually need it but I am tired of Xfinity's tactics or telling me there are no outages, when I am clearly having an outage.  From my understanding, TMobile gameplan is not to oversaturate an area, but there are always risks.  True 4/5G data maximums rated for extremely high data, but what any cell provider gives you for your phone is no-where near what is actually possible or even these speeds that they are offering for home.  If they do this right, it should be very good… of course, you can always go back if you had to.  The one main point to remember with bandwith/speed or "slow" internet, more often it is actually the website you are trying to go to.  I have had evening where Netflix would have slow/loss of the connection, but my internet is still fine and I just move over to something else.

As for my actual experience, I've only had the gateway for a week.  Finding placement was easy enough and it was painless to set it up initially.  I hooked up my Ring doorbell without issues, integrated my mesh APs into this with minimal effort. Granted, I do work with computers, but the instructions were very simple, and there are videos online to help you out for just about everything else.  I've been getting consistent numbers, and just got this speed test while streaming 3 different videos,one from Disney+ and no hick-ups or apparent loss in speeds.  I am still going to test for a little while, but I haven't come across any negative issues yet that makes me want to send it back.

Like with all devices and internet services, there are good reviews and bad ones, and opinions change, too.  I don't know about Spectrum, but I replaced Cox with T-Mobile and currently have no regrets after less than a month of usage.  My internet speeds went from 181 download to speeds like 250-350. The upload speed went from always 5 to 22. 

I have had no outages, like Cox had all summer, and have streamed Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu and YouTube with no problems on my Sony TV.  I did have to go to my Wi-Fi settings on the Sony at first, however, and sign in twice with my network password.  (I don't watch "live" TV, so can't comment on that. Plus, I don't game.)  My Panasonic Home-Hawk devices all work as usual, as does all my Echo dots. 

My eero 6 + mesh system had no problem going from the Cox modem to the T-Mobile gateway, either. The only negative things so far is it looks like the first T-Mobile internet bill is going to be a double one, which I never saw mentioned anywhere until I got the email about the matter; and I have had location detection problems with one website.  I was able to resolve that with the Edge browser by changing various location settings, but have not been able to resolve it with the Chrome browser. With Firefox, I just had to click in "allow" in a pop-up location box.

Since you have the T-Mobile gateway, I would just go ahead and try it out.  If it doesn't work for you, you can send it back to T-Mobile and go back to Spectrum.  I will go back to Cox, if T-Mobile starts to fail me and I can't quickly resolve the matter, because Cox was on the street doing repair work this week, which made the landline/internet modem cease continuously failing.  The price of Cox and T-Mobile are about the same, too. I do much prefer a totally wireless internet connection, like T-Mobile, however.