Signing up for T Satellite without T-Mobile service isn’t as simple as it might sound

Recently, T Satellite officially exited beta and launched nationwide for both existing T-Mobile customers and those on other networks who want to sign up for satellite service only. As our de facto phone service expert, I immediately decided to check it out.

While I had skipped the beta since a colleague already covered it, I wanted to see what it was like now that it was officially ready for prime time. Unfortunately, my first disappointment came when I realized the only way to sign up was to either go into a T-Mobile store or call customer service.

While the initial beta could be set up entirely online, it’s not too surprising that T-Mobile would now want more opportunities to upsell you or convince you to leave your existing carrier. On the plus side, this also gives reps a chance to explain the requirements better. Still, I’m confident the app could have handled that just as easily.

Not wanting to deal with a retail store experience, I decided to give them a call. As for how the setup call went, it was actually pretty smooth. I called early in the morning and was connected with a rep who could help me within about five minutes. I explained that I was a Verizon customer interested in T Satellite.

The rep admitted it was his first time handling this kind of request, which made sense considering I called just a day after the official nationwide launch. Still, he did a good job and walked me through the process in about 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, I ran into a snag right at the end with processing the order and was told the only way to complete the order was to go into the store. As it turned out, this was user error on my part.

As silly as I felt, it turned out the spare phone I’d grabbed already had its eSIM slot in use even though I’d sworn I’d factory reset all that. Once I figured this out, I decided to try again with another rep via the phone system and eventually got things settled after about an additional 20-45 minutes or so.

While it would have been easier to sign up online, I was impressed with the speed and knowledge of both reps, especially considering how new the product is. Sure, the phone process is longer than what an app-based sign-up would likely take, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker. It’s also worth mentioning that if I had done a little better prep work, I wouldn’t have had to call back either.

I was also surprised that there wasn’t a strong pitch to switch from my current carrier. Both reps did ask once if I was interested in T-Mobile Home Internet, but neither were pushy about it at all.

Is it really hard? No, but it is intentionally more difficult than I was it was

The big takeaway is that while signing up for T Satellite without T-Mobile service isn’t as straightforward as it would be if you could do it yourself online, it’s not exactly hard either, and for the most part, the experience was a good one. Of course, not everyone will have the same story.

Redditors like MtnXfreeride noted that long wait times and confused reps are not uncommon. It really depends on when you call and who you get. In my case, calling early in the day probably helped.

There’s one other potential issue worth noting. As noted by Reddit user GreatShazbot, the T Sat plan may require a hard credit check. While I couldn’t confirm this directly from my credit report, I did notice a recent hard inquiry. I can’t say for sure it came from T-Mobile, but the timing suggests a possibility.

If you are someone who tries to avoid hard pulls, definitely ask for clarification before providing any personal information. I wasn’t exactly prepared for this call as I should have thought to ask, though I’ll blame that on the fact that it was barely 7:30 in the morning. Had I gone in-store instead, I doubt the process would have gone much differently, though the travel time would have added to it.

Anyone else sign up for T Satellite without T-Mobile service? Let us know how your experience went or if you ran into any issues.