Thinking about changing cell phone providers.
We've had pretty good service with Verizon for the past few years but looking at a better deal with AT&T.
Any FHE/opinions about AT&T?
Where do you live and often travel is the first question.
ATT is 3rd best to Verizon and Sprint in NYC. I am on ATT, and my work phone used to be verizon. Verizon trumps by far.
In SoCal
and as for how often do I travel.. ;D
Actually, may be here for more than a year.
ATT dropped calls like crazy when I switched from Verizon for the ATT only iphone days. As soon as Verizon had iphone I switched back and very, very rarely drop a call.
Edit: So Cal of course, so my experience is relevant.
I have two experiences with to share.
AT&T is my personal provider, and have zero issues. I've made several cross country road trips and it's performed all but in the remotest places.
With work however, for 5 years we had Verizon and it was flawless. Last year we switched to AT&T and iPhone. Problem is we're on 3G phones and calls drop all the time. My personal 4G never has an issue so I don't chalk this up to AT&T but to the 3G signal.
Verizon is the way to go. I have Sprint and am counting the minutes to ditching them. Over a year wityh them and I have yet to see a single 4G signal.
Adam, I'd recommend you stay with Verizon. I've had just about every cell phone provider and Verizon has been by far the best. Now, Sprint offers a great data plan. But, their coverage is sketchy and once you reach a certain data limit, they throttle you.
AT&Ts coverage area isn't anywhere near as good as Verizon.
What kinda deal is making you consider switching?
I've used them all. I will never go with either Verizon or Sprint simply because I refuse to be attached to one of their phones, CDMA. They do offer "world phones", but at ridiculous prices. AT&T depends on where you live and travel. In FL it was easy. All carriers worked well because it's so flat. In GA they have good service and really never had issues with dropped calls. I still decided to go try T-Mobile this time around. So far, not all that impressed.
If you're going to try AT&T I suggest you give Straight Talk and Aio a look. They both use the AT&T network and offer simpler plans with no contracts.
We've had AT&T for years, and I don't have any real complaints. My experience is mostly limited to Seattle though...my wife travels a lot and I haven't ever heard her complain.
Like He Man said...probably depends a lot on your area though.
My only Verizon experience is some of my co-workers using them were able to get a good signal at any point inside a 14,000' long, 200' deep tunnel that we were building. It was pretty surprising. They'd still lose service in elevators like everyone else though! [laugh]
we just switched from VZ to sprint this week cause it was 80$ cheaper.. VZ does have the best service though..
Quote from: cokey on December 04, 2013, 01:21:40 PM
we just switched from VZ to sprint this week cause it was 80$ cheaper.. VZ does have the best service though..
Verizon is generally the most expensive, but by far the best national coverage. DO NOT roam internationally with them and make sure never to have any overages! AT&T can be used in PR with no roaming charges, I believe Sprint as well. If I was giving advise to someone "normal" I would say to simply check the coverage maps, specifically the LTE maps. In those areas you are basically assured to get the best coverage. Most people won't be moving twice a year, so that advise works for most.
there is nothing for you anywhere but verIZon.......why would you even ask?
and if that's not enough,....they have the best coverage.
I have Verizon right now, but I want to change just to lower my bill. Not to mention, where I live Verizon doesn't have the best reception (Fort Knox, KY).
Just for the Sprint fans here.
Quotehttp://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-sprint-worst-consumer-reports-20131121,0,6644321.story#axzz2mYfCqMR7
Last month I was in Dulles, Baltimore, Sacramento, Long Beach and Chicago airports. No Sprint 4G in any of them...... In fact no Sprint 4G anywhere at all for the last year. It is easy to advertise unlimited data when you don't have any.
Been a while since I had ATT as they do not provide good service int he area. And yes swallowing Verizon's 100.00+ a month bill is tough. However, at least it works.
Damn, I can see the hoodlums now. Instead of mugging the delivery driver they just have to run up and kick it over when it lands, with the beer. It will be minutes before a North Korean or Chinese hacker writes an app that hacks the drone and delivers it to an alternative address. I see a bright new future in black market drones and parts....
Quote from: duccarlos on December 04, 2013, 09:26:52 AM
I've used them all. I will never go with either Verizon or Sprint simply because I refuse to be attached to one of their phones, CDMA. They do offer "world phones", but at ridiculous prices. AT&T depends on where you live and travel. In FL it was easy. All carriers worked well because it's so flat. In GA they have good service and really never had issues with dropped calls. I still decided to go try T-Mobile this time around. So far, not all that impressed.
If you're going to try AT&T I suggest you give Straight Talk and Aio a look. They both use the AT&T network and offer simpler plans with no contracts.
CDMA is all that works here.
Thanks for the info all!
We are looking at AT&T because they have a better deal with wife's company than VerIZon. << [laugh] (Nice Herm)
I had ATT for over 10 years and with all my travels all over the US I decided to give Verizon a shot, over a year with no dropped calls and LTE everywhere. I've also used it overseas but be sure to call first and get the international plan otherwise the bill will be more than your mortgage payment.
Quote from: Skybarney on December 04, 2013, 05:14:55 PM
Damn, I can see the hoodlums now. Instead of mugging the delivery driver they just have to run up and kick it over when it lands, with the beer. It will be minutes before a North Korean or Chinese hacker writes an app that hacks the drone and delivers it to an alternative address. I see a bright new future in black market drones and parts....
oops, wrong thread huh?
Yup lol. Wondered where that went.
Quote from: muskrat on December 05, 2013, 05:49:59 AM
I had ATT for over 10 years and with all my travels all over the US I decided to give Verizon a shot, over a year with no dropped calls and LTE everywhere. I've also used it overseas but be sure to call first and get the international plan otherwise the bill will be more than your mortgage payment.
I learned that the hard way. Back in the day I went to PR assuming that my plan covered it. Was very surprised by the bill. Pretty much my mortgage payment. When I was with AT&T they realized that I had gone over my minutes, so they called me and bump me up to the next plan so that I would not get stuck with an additional $200 worth of overage charges. The month after I was able to switch my plan back. Verizon at the time could not offer me the same treatment.
Verizon now sends you text messages when you are approaching your limit.
But are they flexible enough to change your plan on the fly? Not sure how useful this would be for a normal person, but my company would not take kindly to me telling them that I could not join a conference call because I was close to going over my minutes.
yup. I've had to do it recently when we were traveling a lot.
The sim slot on the verizon iPhone5 is unlocked, so you can use any nano card you want when traveling. (afaik)
Quote from: duccarlos on December 05, 2013, 02:42:14 PM
But are they flexible enough to change your plan on the fly? Not sure how useful this would be for a normal person, but my company would not take kindly to me telling them that I could not join a conference call because I was close to going over my minutes.
You can go online and change your plan anytime you want.
Quote from: NAKID on December 05, 2013, 01:25:41 PM
Verizon now sends you text messages when you are approaching your limit.
and even if you have an unlimited everything plan like what we have for my StepDaughter for her iPhone5S, they send messages saying she is over her data limit even though she doesn't have one....
granted, I think it is ridiculous how much data she actually does use....buit that is another story altogether....
I was unaware that verizon had an unlimited plan. Was this grandfathered?
Quote from: NAKID on December 06, 2013, 09:22:18 AM
I was unaware that verizon had an unlimited plan. Was this grandfathered?
yeah...an older plan that we have kept by not modifying it at all....we just took phone upgrades from the other lines and got the equipment switched on under her #.....hers is the only phone of our 4 on our plan that has Unlimited...
That's a good one to have on the unlimited plan!
Quote from: NAKID on December 06, 2013, 09:47:33 AM
That's a good one to have on the unlimited plan!
which...the phone or the 14 year old girl?
So now if they could simply lower their prices in my area, I would consider switching back.
We had unlimited data grandfathered from vz.. usually go through 30 gigs a month. But now sprint has it..
May look at just staying with Verizon
Quote from: cokey on December 06, 2013, 01:34:52 PM
We had unlimited data grandfathered from vz.. usually go through 30 gigs a month. But now sprint has it..
30gigs a month in Data? Holy smokes, I do less than 1 gig and have the cheapest data plan available.
Phone is my computer. . When on lunch usually watching movies on it or you tube (gun stuff)
Ahh, that makes sense. I have yet to bother to figure out how to watch a movie on the phone. I also drop it far to often to use it for anything fun lol.
I am a big fan of the Square Trade Warranty. $100.00 for two years. $25.00 deductible for damaged phones, overnight replacement with a call tag in the box to return yours. I think I am on my fourth phone this year.......
One more thing: My Wife had a 4s and I called to trade it into an iphone 5c. They told me they'd give me $200 and blah blah blah regarding upgrade edge and so forth. I went in and told them I want the phone outright and not only did they credit the $200, they gave us $400 in accessories. Now my Wife has a cover to match her purses or whatever she pleases. I've never gotten such a good deal on buying a phone and getting this much store credit. If anyone is thinking of buying a phone with no contract ask for the Manager to see what they'd be willing to throw in.
yea i droped the droid bionic a few times.. fixed it my self though. cheaper cause with ins you pay monthly but still have to fork over 100 bucks for a refurbished phone.. f that noise.. ebay for brand new glass 60 bucks.. 2nd time i got one off some one for 30 bucks entire phone.. just used the screen and extra extended battery.. now i can sell off the parts.. got the otter box case for the new phone though.. galaxy s4..
Im eyballing Virgin Wireless. Any FHE with mr Branson?
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/ (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/)
Quote from: Mendo Dave on December 09, 2013, 07:00:44 PM
Im eyballing Virgin Wireless. Any FHE with mr Branson?
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/ (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/)
All smaller companies are offering the unlimited talk and data plans. You need to make sure that the coverage is there. Check the map.
I checked all vendors but found out that they have "selective" LTE/4G in most of the places I travel.....not going back to 3G dammit.