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from AmusedStove7007
im pretty confused, as a new customer, what does this cost exactly
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Sales tax on the MSRP of the phones.
Monthly: $100 w/AutoPay enabled + taxes & fees & surcharges [t-mobile.com].
Regulatory programs / Telco recovery fee: $3.99/line
State and Local Required 911 Surcharges
State and Local Taxes
Federal Universal Service Fund (USF)
Must have all 4 lines stay for 24 months to get all bill credits
Autopay requires debit or bank account
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Community Reviews
This T-Mobile 4-line promo pairs four iPhone 17s with an Essentials plan around $100 a month for 24 months, and the strongest draw is the upfront phone credit with no trade-in on many setups. Costco and Sam's Club can waive the $35 activation fee and add gift cards, while the plan includes 50GB of premium data and hotspot on paper. The main catches are taxes, fees, possible down payments, and strict port-in rules that often exclude prepaid or recent T-Mobile numbers. It is a better fit for shoppers who can meet the port and line requirements and tolerate the 24-month commitment.
Common Questions (5)
Yes. All 4 lines must be ported in to qualify, and new lines alone do not qualify. Several reports also say the port must come from an eligible carrier or MVNO, with Visible, Tello, Metro, and some other prepaid numbers sometimes rejected.
The advertised $100/month is before taxes and fees, and the real bill can land closer to about $120-$135/month depending on location. Upfront charges commonly include a $35 activation fee per line unless waived, plus sales tax on the phones and recurring regulatory fees such as the $3.99/line telco recovery fee.
The device credits are tied to keeping all 4 lines active for the full 24 months. If you shut off the 4th line, the remaining device balance for that line is still owed, and some reps warn the promo on the other lines may also be re-evaluated.
Not reliably. Keep & Switch and Family Freedom are separate pay-off programs, but multiple reports say the current no-trade-in iPhone 17 promo may not stack with them, so the account has to be checked before assuming both will apply.
The Essentials plan includes hotspot only as unlimited 3G hotspot, which is heavily throttled, and it does not include the higher-end hotspot or premium-data benefits of pricier plans. It also uses deprioritized data, so speeds can be slow in congested areas.
AI-generated summary based on comments from the community. Updated ago
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573 Comments
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1) SOC stays the same: You still pay the $100 + tax + fees, since the SOC remains the same. This is similar to when someone goes from a family to individual (2 lines to 1 line) but T-mobile agent didn't force change the SOC, biller still charges the 2 lines SOC.
2) SOC changes to regular 3 line Essentials SOC: You will get billed 90 + taxes + fees, but you may get disqualified from the device promotions since your SOC changed. SOC changes will trigger an automatic re-evaluation of device promotions on your account, and you said the T-mobile agents have warned you that you may lose the promotions since technically this offer is not available on regular Essentials SOC. Will the system actually disqualify you? Who knows.
Personally, I would not chance getting disqualified since unwinding the line 4 cancellation can be a difficult task. I recommend getting a iPhone 17 on line 4, then just selling it for $400 - $500 brand new locked to T-mobile. That will pay for line 4 + more, and you get a line to use or give away. When 2 years are up you can cancel or port away.
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Verizon's 17 pro offer is a better deal. SDers in that thread is claiming to stack discounts so it's closer to $50 a month for 4 lines.
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Thanks. don't think this is possible though.
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