Daily Nonsense

I had been toying with the idea of getting a Blackberry and a Data-Only plan so that I could be connected to my e-mail all day long. I could check and respond to e-mail as I walked to and from work. A fun idea in theory. I’m just still trying to decide if I really need something like this.

Regardless, I went to the T-Mobile site to do a little investigation into the whole question. They have an unlimited data only plan that is $5 less than anyone else’s that I’ve found. I know that signal strength is important so I went to the T-Mobile coverage map and entered my zip code. And then the fun began! Below find a copy of the map and the text of my e-mail to T-Mobile Customer Care.

I’m considering purchasing a Blackberry and signing up for a data only plan.

I thought it would be a good thing if I verified the coverage in my neighborhood.

I went to your Coverage Area page (http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/) put in my zip code (98133) and was presented with a map. On that map I saw four (4) colors of green. Above the map there is a Signal Strength guide that matches colors to signal strength bars. There are 5 colors of green and one white box in the guide, the white box indicating no signal at all. The mouse-over pop-up states 0 bars, No coverage, for the white box.

All perfectly understandable. Except for one small thing.

The colors depicted in the Signal Strength Guide and the colors depicted on the map are different hues of green. There is not one single color that has the same RGB values between the two objects. I can’t tell what the signal strength would be on my street. On the map I am the second lightest color. Could you tell me what signal strength that is supposed to represent? 2 Bars or 3 Bars?

Is this an intentional misrepresentation of your service coverage area? Are you hoping my mind will subconsciously select the better of the two choices? I’ve posted a PDF and a JPG document on my web site so that you may examine the difference. Here are the links to the documents:

http://www.daily-nonsense.com/images/T_Mobile_Coverage.jpg

http://www.daily-nonsense.com/images/T_Mobile_Coverage.pdf

Please advise exactly what level of coverage I can expect. Thank you.