ISP Swap

For years, AT&T — the Death Star — was reliable. Prices jumped with no wiggle room, so I went back — grudgingly — to Time/Warner dash Charter dash Spectrum. Bad move, but I was totally pissed at the Death Star for raising both my cell phone, tablet, internet, and TV prices.

There was an off-brand, no-name service looked like I could do the four lines, two phones, two tablets for $100 a month, that was the ad, but I never could work that out in the store, “No, the tablet is different, and costs more.” (It was just a SIM card swap, seriously.)

Wandered into the splashy T-Mobile store, just as they merged with Sprint (most dropped calls). The “magenta” special works. I’m 55 and over, so the deal is right at $110 per month. Been a year, and what a year it’s been? So the wireless wires got tested. Works. Works right. When I upgraded phones? 5G was built in, faster, stronger, better.

(See fineprint for details.)

Been a year or more with the service, for cell and tablet access, been great so far. I wished they had a better TV offering, or cable, home internet.

E-mail came through, and the deal? Fast 5G home internet from T-Mobile, available now in my neighborhood. I signed up — immediately!

“Vincit Qui Primum Gerit.”

I love me some fast internet access that costs less than cable, or DSL, and my experience with T-Mobile/Sprint, so far? Just excellent.

One hiccup, but by and large, a seamless, smooth transition with faster service that costs less. I had to dig around and redo home router settings, but this works, and the speed is like the old days when that cable franchise was doing it correctly.

Not sure if this will work over time, but the advertising, came in the box with the new router thing? “Easily handle up to 65 connected devices,” think that was it.

1. T-Mobile router/receiver (goes to)
2. Router (wired to)
3. Mac computer (wired to)
4. Printer
5. iPad (WiFi)
6. iPhone (WiFi)
7. iPad (WiFi)
8. iPhone (WiFi)
9. Old iPad (music)
10. Old Apple TV (WiFi)
11. Apple TV (WiFi)
12. iWatch (WiFi)
13. Apple Express router (wired to)
14. Router switch (wired to)
15. Utility router (wired to)
16. WiFi range extender (WiFi)
17. Security Cam (WiFi)
18. Thermostat (WiFi)
19. Doorbell (WiFi)
20. Guest router (WiFi)

The list was more for me, counting up what all went where, and I forget that I have an old Apple wireless back-up as a relay, tucked away in a kitchen cabinet. I think there’s one more old Linksys router in that mess, too. Brings it up to 21-2 connected devices that I can think of. (Might be more.)

So far? Everything is working like it should. The hiccup was the automatic settings for those routers, and the portion of the home network that requires input of line items like IP addresses, and their ilk.

ISP Swap

I tried the T-Mobile (save money) version of Cable TV, but it didn’t work — for me. The interface was too cumbersome, and frankly, Netflix, Prime, and Hulu all network into the Apple TV box with a familiar fashion. Cost less, too.

Price-wise? I pay T-Mobile for the whole kit, what I used to pay the Death Star for phones alone.

The single hassle was my preferred web writing app, Ulysses. The intricacies of the Apple branded routers, the simplified set-up for the home network, and the new — faster — internet gateway caused untold problems, and three days with customer service, only to ascertain, the problem?

“It’s on your end.”

In the end? I’ve good luck — and bad — with every service provider. The Death Star was kind and generous, up to a point. Before that? Charter was kind, and Time/Warner was super fast, if not accommodating with the billing. At one time, it was good. I’m sure that T-Mobile will inflame my ire, at some point in the future, but for now? The customer service has been nothing short of excellent, and the billing plans? Clearly less expensive with a bonus of being a faster service.

ISP Swap

Does more, costs less.

Current clear winner? T-Mobile

T-Mobile