Which carrier to move the family to 4g data?

[FerraraZ]

I know its referential to the coverage area so I'll give my zip which is 16801. I know Verizon and atleast from what I see Sprint (according to Clear.com) has or will have coverage there by the end of 2011.

I'm currently on AT&T and hate it because 1) I'm spending too much money and 2)My new employer gives discounts for the other two.

So I guess real simple is which carrier should I choose or do you suggest? I know my wife wants an iPhone but Sprint has a Windows phone which I'm sure she'll like as well. Me, I'm an android guy so it doesnt matter.

 

[T4rd]

I would go with Verizon since Sprint seems like it's going to drop WiMax eventually for LTE now, WiMax has crappy building penetration compared to LTE and Speeds are faster on Verizon/LTE across the board. Also while it's still affordable, they plan on changing the pricing to tiered pricing this summer . Verizon will have a WP7 phone out here shortly too (HTC Trophy).

The only reason I would go to Sprint is maybe to save a bit on the bill. But I think you get what you pay for with Verizon. I've been with them for 6 years and been really happy so far with (both customer and cell) service. If they had 4G anywhere near me right now, I would prolly already have a Thunderbolt.

 

[bastage]

I'm currently on AT&T and hate it because 1) I'm spending too much money and 2)My new employer gives discounts for the other two.

If your paying too much with AT&T why are you even considering Verizon? Last time I looked (which wasnt that long ago) at&t was cheaper anyway.

 

[jeremyshaw]

If your paying too much with AT&T why are you even considering Verizon? Last time I looked (which wasnt that long ago) at&t was cheaper anyway.

working as an financial assistant at my workplace... *so far* all of our employees with AT&T are cheaper than equivilent Verizon plans.

 

[T4rd]

If your paying too much with AT&T why are you even considering Verizon? Last time I looked (which wasnt that long ago) at&t was cheaper anyway.

Lol, the answer to your question is in your quoted text .

 

[Mr. Wolf]

Verizon, especially since they've gotten much better with their phone choices: Thunderbolt (best 4G phone, IMO), Droid X, Droid 2, Incredible (Inc 2 soon), Fascinate, etc.

 

[FerraraZ]

Lol, the answer to your question is in your quoted text .

I thought this too and I have no idea but when I plan out a Verizon plan it's still cheaper! I pay 250 on AT&T with 2 smartphones and one dumb phone with 2100 minutes. There's maybe 30 bucks worth of international calling and the plans from sprint and verizon are around 160 so let's say 190.

 

[bastage]

I thought this too and I have no idea but when I plan out a Verizon plan it's still cheaper! I pay 250 on AT&T with 2 smartphones and one dumb phone with 2100 minutes. There's maybe 30 bucks worth of international calling and the plans from sprint and verizon are around 160 so let's say 190.

Then your paying too much..

The Family Talk 2100 miniute plan is 120 with all 3 lines covered, 30 for unlimited messaging & unlimited calls to EVERY wireless phone (not just AT&T) brings you to 150 & data pro x2 is another 50 bucks bringing you to an even 200.. My Guess is though you dont have the new messaging (since feb 10th) & if you switch you can probably drop your minutes down a notch or 2 since you wont be using any minutes to talk to other cell phones.

Verizon is 138 for there 2000 minutes with unlimited text so its 10 bucks cheaper. But 2 smart phones data is 60 instead of 50 so your still at 200.. Difference is that you have more minutes that are billed against you because no free mobile to mobile outside of verizon. & you do have unlimited data. So its a trade off, but most people dont come anywhere near the 2gb of data AT&T has per line the free mobile to any mobile means you use less minutes & probably dont need that big of a plan.

 

[T4rd]

Then your paying too much..

The Family Talk 2100 miniute plan is 120 with all 3 lines covered, 30 for unlimited messaging & unlimited calls to EVERY wireless phone (not just AT&T) brings you to 150 & data pro x2 is another 50 bucks bringing you to an even 200.. My Guess is though you dont have the new messaging (since feb 10th) & if you switch you can probably drop your minutes down a notch or 2 since you wont be using any minutes to talk to other cell phones.

Verizon is 138 for there 2000 minutes with unlimited text so its 10 bucks cheaper. But 2 smart phones data is 60 instead of 50 so your still at 200.. Difference is that you have more minutes that are billed against you because no free mobile to mobile outside of verizon. & you do have unlimited data. So its a trade off, but most people dont come anywhere near the 2gb of data AT&T has per line the free mobile to any mobile means you use less minutes & probably dont need that big of a plan.

You also have to factor in that Verizon has Friends and Family where you can have 10 numbers that you have unlimited calling to. That usually covers a majority of mins used to lines outside of Verizon. Also, you keep forgetting that he gets a discount with Verizon through his employer.

 

[bastage]

You also have to factor in that Verizon has Friends and Family where you can have 10 numbers that you have unlimited calling to. That usually covers a majority of mins used to lines outside of Verizon. Also, you keep forgetting that he gets a discount with Verizon through his employer.

Att has a list that is the same as friends and family. So still shouldn't need as many minutes. As far as the discount goes you can see if you can get one through att by going to wireless.att.com/businessservices if you have a work email. Normally if you work for a company big enough to get a discount with one you can get a discount with the rest of the big carriers too.
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[Apallohadas]

You also have to factor in that Verizon has Friends and Family where you can have 10 numbers that you have unlimited calling to. That usually covers a majority of mins used to lines outside of Verizon. Also, you keep forgetting that he gets a discount with Verizon through his employer.

On ATT you can get unlimited mobile to mobile + text for like $20, allowing you to opt for a smaller minutes package.

 

[T4rd]

Att has a list that is the same as friends and family. So still shouldn't need as many minutes. As far as the discount goes you can see if you can get one through att by going to wireless.att.com/businessservices if you have a work email. Normally if you work for a company big enough to get a discount with one you can get a discount with the rest of the big carriers too.
Posted via Mobile Device

Ahh, cool, didn't know they had the same deal. Yeah, that's usually true too about the multiple carrier discounts. I know in the Military and Federal jobs (my only past employers), you get discounts on all carriers. So I would recommend to OP to check that out also.

I would chalk the decision up to coverage in your area since the price differences between AT&T and Verizon aren't significant. But if Sprint is good in your area too, I would just go with them since they seem to have the best pricing/plan out of any carrier, IMO. If Verizon really does kill Unlimited data plans this summer and I can't keep it unlimited when I get a 4G phone, then I may seriously consider jumping ship to them. Which I don't want to do after being with them for 6-7 years and they've been good to me otherwise.

 

[kilik64]

pricing is the exact reason im gonna give sprint a shot. Cheapest family plan for me after company discount is 123.99 and thats like 900 mins (unlimited any mobile any time so really wont ever use mins...) unlimited text and data. Some people pay that for ONE phone on att and verizon. Hell i pay 80 a month after discount for my iphone right now.

oh and that includes the bullshit 10/month 4g fee for both phones. they drop that bullshit and its super cheap...

 

[bastage]

Not to thread jack since its off subject.. But if your not using alot of data I would still check out Walmart Family Mobile. at 95 a month for 3 phones with unlimited talk & text is a deal no matter what way you slice it. But if your a heavy data user there data ends up pretty expensive (1gb for 40 bucks so its still cheaper then the small data plans of the big carriers per mb, but if your using 300+ mb a month it would be cheaper for the data on a 25 or 30 dollar plan from att or verizon)

 

[Sycraft]

Verizion isn't cheap and I can't imagine they'll be getting cheaper. However when it comes to 4G coverage they are likely to have the best. They bought licenses for the whole US.

If they have a discount that you are pleased with, then look at them. Is likely to be the best 4G you can get for awhile at least. Of course I think only the Thunderbolt supports 4G on Verizion and it is pricey. However don't be surprised if they aren't cheaper. They've never been known as the cheap carrier and they spent like $10 billion getting 700mhz licenses (where their 4G is) for the whole US, they'll want that money back.

 

[munkle]

I would say go with verizon, my work has all sprint and they use 3g modems for laptops but the service isn't that great, they are trying to switch to verizon but sprint gives too good of a corporate discount so they ended up staying with sprint.

 

[FerraraZ]

Awesome responses from everyone. Its clear that I'm paying too much on AT&T. Seemed like a good deal then but now its time for me to jump ship. The coverage is good at work and at home but between it seems alittle shoddy on Sprint. Still if there unlimited voice roaming and data roaming(?) then I'm all game for going to Sprint.

 

[nerdydesi]

oh and that includes the bullshit 10/month 4g fee for both phones. they drop that bullshit and its super cheap...

I don't mind that $10 "premium data fee" charge for all smartphones on Sprint now, as long as they use that extra income to keep the data truly unlimited, unlike T-Mobile for instance who soft caps you after 5gb and dunno about VZW's cap on "unlimited" smartphone data.

 

[Ocellaris]

oh and that includes the bullshit 10/month 4g fee for both phones. they drop that bullshit and its super cheap...

Its not a 4g tax anymore, the extra $10 gets applied to all new smartphone activations

 

[sugosugita]

I would go with Verizon since Sprint seems like it's going to drop WiMax eventually for LTE now, WiMax has crappy building penetration compared to LTE and Speeds are faster on Verizon/LTE across the board.

I think the reason Verizon's new LTE is faster is that there aren't many users on it. When I first jumped on 4G from Sprint, I was getting about double the speed that I get today, ten months later. So there ya go.

 

[FerraraZ]

I think the reason Verizon's new LTE is faster is that there aren't many users on it. When I first jumped on 4G from Sprint, I was getting about double the speed that I get today, ten months later. So there ya go.

I still have questions about roaming on Sprint. For example if I'm taking a trip across PA and I know I'll be roaming, what will happen with my google navigation? Will I be able to surf the web or atleast still get my email. I'm hoping someone on Sprint who experiences this when they travel can shed some light on it.

 

[Ocellaris]

I still have questions about roaming on Sprint. For example if I'm taking a trip across PA and I know I'll be roaming, what will happen with my google navigation? Will I be able to surf the web or atleast still get my email. I'm hoping someone on Sprint who experiences this when they travel can shed some light on it.

I drive from Maine <-> Ohio a lot and I make the trek across a few long routes in PA. The 80 and 70/76 corridors are really well covered and I haven't had a coverage problem affect me. Google Navigation does a bit of caching, it still works for a while even with 0 data coming in.

When you are roaming, data works at 1X speeds so its pretty damn slow. I haven't personally used Google Nav when I was stuck in roaming for a long period of time, so I don't know how well that would work. Normally I seamlessly pass through coverage areas without seeing a problem.

 

[FearTheCow]

I have sprint with a palm Pre, wife has the Epic 4g. with 1500 minutes, night and weekends free starting at 7pm, unlimited text and data, and unlimited calls to any cell phone no matter what carrier, and $13 for insurance per month for both phones, I spend $130 a month, this is with a 24% discount though. Wife likes Sprint better then Verizon who she had for about 8 years.

 

[FerraraZ]

I drive from Maine <-> Ohio a lot and I make the trek across a few long routes in PA. The 80 and 70/76 corridors are really well covered and I haven't had a coverage problem affect me. Google Navigation does a bit of caching, it still works for a while even with 0 data coming in.

When you are roaming, data works at 1X speeds so its pretty damn slow. I haven't personally used Google Nav when I was stuck in roaming for a long period of time, so I don't know how well that would work. Normally I seamlessly pass through coverage areas without seeing a problem.

Do you feel my concern is legitimate though? Not that the state of PA isnt covered well but I'm living in the central part of PA and will occasionally made trips to the east. I wish it was covered as nice as Philadelphia and New Jersey are.

 

[entropism]

FerraraZ, if Google Maps give you trouble, Sprint includes their own Telenav product for free in their data plans. Try that, and you should get a good connection even when roaming. You're looking at a data speed drop from 1-2mb on 3G to about 100-500kb/s when roaming.

OH, and voice/data roaming is free, but not unlimited. If you go over 40% of your usage while roaming for a few months (about 3-5) in a row, you'll get a letter to knock it off. Honestly, it's just a filter to keep people who have NO sprint in their home area off the network.