Forum Discussion
Upgrade from Internet Lite to Unlimited
I'm in a rural area of NC and have had the "200GB Internet Lite" for about 5 months now (this plan costs $100 per month). I was able to switch to the "Unlimited" plan for $50 per month and wanted to relay my experiences in doing that so as to maybe help others.
Even though I requested thru the TM web site that I be notified when "5G" became available in my area, I never received any notification. Still, I would occasionally go to this website:
Verifica la elegibilidad para Internet 5G | Internet 5G residencial de T-Mobile
and see if 5G had become available "just in case" TM wasn't telling me. I do speed-checks of my service pretty regularly and noticed about 3 weeks ago that they seemed to improve significantly, and my router was occasionally connecting to the N41 band…..so I knew I was often receiving 5G service despite what the above link said and being > 5miles from my tower (I do have line-of-sight to it though). Then one day the link above said "Good news...5G is available at you address". Well, I didn't around to calling them immediately (and no e-mail from them either) and a few days later...the website goes back to saying "unavailable at my address". So I call TM services and explained what had happened, and they checked the site above and said "it is showing as unavailable at your address". I pressed a little harder saying I was getting the N41 band and it showed as "available" a few days ago (and didn't call then because I was busy) and the rep checked the tower and told me it did support 5G and would change my plan over. Today is the first day of my new billing cycle and I can confirm that the switch was made and I now have 5G Unlimited. I'm a happy camper. I'm the only one of my neighbors that has internet this good.
In any case, my advice to those with "Internet Lite" plans is to check the above link regularly and don't rely on a TM e-mail notification. I would also check the TM app and see if you are ever connecting to the N41 band. Be persistent and maybe you can save a bunch of $ and remove that pesky data-cap.
I'll try but she is not too knowledgeable about these things, more so than me LOL. I had a map of towers in the area and am pretty sure it would be the same one. There is another one closer to me, but evidently does not have anything to do with wifi or streaming.
In the TM internet App, you can see the ID of the cell tower you are connected to. Might want to double-check that your friends tower ID is the same.
Very true, but we are having Fiber Optics being installed in areas just north of us, so all must change with the coming development. The good and bad of living in a rural area. I know someone just a ½ mile closer to tower is getting unlimited while I am on the Lite plan. Gotta be using the same tower.
It could be that your tower hasn't been upgraded to 5G yet. So maybe keep an eye on the app to see if you ever starts getting a 5G signal.
Thanks, I found it. Unfortunately, I am in the poor range on LTE bar the "Reference signal received quality" which is excellent. All 5G show "Unable to retrieve data".
The BAND shows the same while the LTE shows a b71
Guess I am still out of luck. Still not too bad. The only time I have seen buffering has been when watching life broadcast.
Thanks for you help.Thanks, I found it. Unfortunately, I am in the poor range on LTE bar the "Reference signal received quality" which is excellent. All 5G show "Unable to retrieve data".
The BAND shows the same while the LTE shows a b71
Guess I am still out of luck. Still not too bad. The only time I have seen buffering has been when watching life broadcast.
Thanks for you help.Rockyhammock wrote:
I have gone to the app but where do I find the info on what Band I am connecting with?
From the main page, you go into "more" at the bottom. From there go into "advanced cellular metrics". That brings you to a page that has 2 tabs in it ….LTE and 5G. Go into the 5G tab and at the bottom it will show what band you are connected with (usually N71 or N41). If you aren't connected at all , it will show a bunch of blanks lines. The connection stats can change throughout the day, so you might want to check several times throughout the day.
I have gone to the app but where do I find the info on what Band I am connecting with?
Thanks, never really messed much with the App except to follow usage.
Rockyhammock wrote:
Interesting. I am on a 100 gig plan and have been with TM for 15 months now. It still shows me unavailable for Unlimited plan although a neighbor ½ mile closer to the tower does get unlimited. I was thinking of calling them to see if they would let to trial run and if it did not work, move it back. Just don't know how involved that is?
I'd check to see what band you are connecting to (via the TM Internet app). If you have 5G service (N41, N71), I would call customer service and tell them you are connected to 5G and your neighbor has it and you'd like to switch. They may tell you no (apparently, they only allocate so many users per tower), but it can't hurt to ask.
