Activating T Mobile Cell Service on a New iPhone 6 for New Customers to T Mobile

I received my new unlocked iPhone 6+ from Apple’s Online Store a few weeks ago.

I’d researched getting the SIM activated for new cell service could be tricky, so rather than calling T Mobile directly, as other people had reported doing, I called Apple Support instead.

I think the phone number I called was 1(800)694-7466 for iPhone Tech Support.

It was somewhat confusing because they wanted me to enter my cell phone number, which I did the first few times, but was routed to automated responses telling me:

1. My cell phone number wasn’t covered under any Apple Care Plan and I would be charged for a tech person’s help (when I used my existing AT&T Number).

2. There was no record of that number in their system when I tried the IMEI number from the iPhone 6’s settings display.

In both cases I was calling from a land line. But I finally managed to get through to a live tech person. Who, after hearing what I needed, put me on hold while he called T Mobile himself, and then routing my call to a tech person at T Mobile who was able to activate the SIM for me by phone.

Someone Wrote in a Blog That They Ended Up Having to Pay T Mobile $10 for a new SIM Card

That person was frustrated because the iPhone 6 comes with a SIM card, and he had to go to a retail store after many long phone calls to T Mobile, where he was told that was his only option.

I saved myself $10 by calling Apple instead.

Unfortunately I Made One Other Mistake In Selecting a Prepaid Plan

I selected Prepaid because I’m just trying T Mobile out for the Handoff Continuity functions. I didn’t want to get locked into a contract.

For people who are located in areas where T Mobile has great coverage, this would probably have been fine. But I’m not. Coverage was mediocre in my locale and almost nonexistent indoors after I got it working.

After Discussing My Options With T Mobile I Was Told Should Have Gotten a Postpaid Plan

They said this would deliver a more consistent signal due to roaming. There are no T a Mobile towers close to me. But there are other cell towers that T Mobile piggyback’s off of. Apparently they only offer the roaming feature for Postpaid customers.

So in the end, I did have to switch to a Postpaid account and a different plan, which did require another SIM card to execute. The sales person I talked to was able to give me a deal on the new SIM of 99 cents. I also asked them to send me a Signal Booster, because I knew at this point the signal indoors would be low.

He apparently placed an order for Cell Spot Signal Booster, not the kind I needed, which does not go through your WiFi (enabling WiFi calls disables Continuity and Handoff) features on the iPhone 6.). So after confirming that Continuity and Handoff do not work with WiFi Calling, I’m currently waiting for the other type of Signal Booster to be sent out to me.

FYI, the one that I received us made by ASUS and is the WiFi CellSpot Router TM-AC1900 Dual Band Router, and it looks like a nice piece of hardware. But I’m sending it back.

One there FYI, these CellSpot Routers are intended to replace your current WiFi router, and not recommended to be used alongside a hardware type of firewall. Although I could probably get that part working, if WiFi Calling didn’t disable Handoff Continuity Features.