Looking to switch phone carriers. Looking for some real-world opinions.

[Outlaw]

I have been with Verizon for 15 years. Over the past two years their service has been slowly getting worse and worse in the areas that I'm frequently in. As far as service costs go, from my research they're pretty much on par, but they're currently not offering shit for deals for existing customers for phones. By my next billing cycle all of the devices on my plan will be paid off. My bill is around $160/mo not including the device payments for two phone lines with "unlimited" data, an iPad with 15gb monthly data before throttling and an Apple watch that the GF had to have, as well as insurance on all devices.

We will be just switching over with phones for now. 95% of my iPad use is done on WiFi, and I can hotspot it to my phone if I absolutely need to. She wants to go back to a FitBit that doesn't require a data plan to function. I may also be considering a separate WiFi hotspot down the road for use on the road.

T-Mobile is offering me an iPhone 12 for $300 when I trade in my 7 and the GF can get one for free with the trade-in of her XR, I have yet to look at plan pricing yet. I put T-Mobile at the front of the list because my Cousin is currently up at my house in Hayward (where I have to drive 15 miles to receive a phone call) and is calling, iMessaging, picture messaging and has a strong LTE signal from everywhere on the property. This could be because his phone is 5G compared to my 4G phones, but my friends with T-Mobile and Sprint have always been able to get far better service up in that area than I ever have.

I have yet to look at AT&T as far as pricing goes for both phones and data plans.

Looking for some real-world advice from customers. I've heard that with T-Mobile you just permanently lease your phone, or at least that's how it used to be? I'm so out of the loop with how things work and I don't want to get stuck in a shit situation.

Click to read more...

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

T-Mobile is not a permanently lease. Its 2 years but they offer programs to upgrade early to keep you in the lease. Personally I pay mine off and then can leave whenever with my phone.


Verizon is usually the best coverage wise, but as noted, expensive as fuck. I pay 120/m with T-Mobile for 3 lines unlimited and that includes 20/m that is for my pixel that I almost have payed off.

I haven't had issues with them, you can test their network for like 30 days and return it if it doesn't work in your areas.

 

[nytebyte]

I've had T-mobile for years and never had any issues. Coverage is good and service is reliable.
They're not the cheapest, but they're FAR cheaper than Verizon, especially if you have multiple lines on your account.

 

[Chet Donnelly]

I do AT&T prepaid. $300 a year, for unlimited talk/text and 8GB of data each month, and they rollover data if I don't use 8GB.

Service has been good for me.

AT&T AT&T Prepaid 8GB 12-Month Plan | WhistleOut

www.whistleout.com

 

[blue-sun]

I have Xfinity for ISP at home. If you have them for ISP, you can get their mobile plan - which is Verizon cell towers at a fraction of the cost. Call/text are free you just pay for data. We have 5 lines on unlimited and it’s $140 a month

 

[GTPpower]

We have Verizon because it seems like nothing else works here in the middle of nowhere.

But I would love to try something like this for a month and see how it does.

Cell Phone Plans | Mobile Network Provider | PureTalk

Mobile wireless cell phone plans from PureTalk offer low-cost nationwide 5G with no contract or hidden fees. Switch carriers and start saving today

www.puretalkusa.com

 

[importcrew]

I used to have AT&T and it just got stupid expensive. Had 3 lines and was paying about $250/month and that's with the discount I had on my account which was only for the primary line. I tried adding the vet discount and it took off my old discount which was a better percentage off. Tmobile gives a better vet discount. I now pay 120/month for 3 phone lines and a data line for my daughters tablet, plus Netflix. I also got my Galaxy Note 10+ for half off, and my daughter tablet for about 100.

Service was great up until they put up closer cell towers and for some reason mine and my wife's phone tries connecting to a further out cell tower. So they gave me a personal cell for me to put in my house which has helped out a lot. Better service, better customer care, better plan, additional line, newer phones, and more than half the price.

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

Just saw this in an article. Might help with making a decision if coverage is a major factor.

The Federal Communications Commission has finally released an up-to-date mobile broadband coverage map, giving consumers a long-needed tool to find out what kind of cellular coverage they can expect in any given area across the U.S.

ArcGIS Web Application

fcc.maps.arcgis.com

Source article (turn on ad blockers, all of them):

FCC Finally Debuts an Up-to-Date Mobile Broadband Map of the U.S.

The interactive tool is based on data provided by Verizon, T-Mobile, and other major carriers.

gizmodo.com

 

[Outlaw]

From what I’m seeing, the costs are going to be about the same. I have a Verizon business account currently, so that probably helps some. My biggest issue is the service. I get one bar at my house, GF has to drive across the street from her work to use her phone, I drop calls constantly, etc.

Second biggest issue is that Verizon “unlimited” data throttles me like mid-month. T-mobile claims true unlimited, and 40gb hotspot. I use a shitload of data and hotspot working remotely or bidding from auction sites, so having it throttle is a big deal.

 

[importcrew]

From what I’m seeing, the costs are going to be about the same. I have a Verizon business account currently, so that probably helps some. My biggest issue is the service. I get one bar at my house, GF has to drive across the street from her work to use her phone, I drop calls constantly, etc.

Second biggest issue is that Verizon “unlimited” data throttles me like mid-month. T-mobile claims true unlimited, and 40gb hotspot. I use a shitload of data and hotspot working remotely or bidding from auction sites, so having it throttle is a big deal.

If you use your phone as a Hotspot on Tmobile, they throttle you as well after a certain amount of data per month. But the data on the phone itself (non-hotspot) I don't get throttled.

 

[Outlaw]

Yeah it’s 40gb before they throttle the hotspot, my Verizon is 10 lol

 

[importcrew]

Yeah it’s 40gb before they throttle the hotspot, my Verizon is 10 lol

When I used to have AT&T, they wanted extra for Hotspot.

 

[Outlaw]

I remember those days lol.

Every time I pay attention to the wireless landscape it’s completely changed all around.

 

[importcrew]

I remember those days lol.

Every time I pay attention to the wireless landscape it’s completely changed all around.

I'm happy I switched to Tmobile. Saved so much money. I feel I get my money's worth. I do have AT&T for home internet though.

 

[inthebagracing]

I’ve had good service with T-Mobile. Came from at&t. There’s odd dead zones in areas you wouldn’t expect but I’m paying a lot less now. Like many I can miss out on money if my phone service is delayed/slow because OT is based on receiving a text and calling in to accept it before 100 other guys do. Paying $150/month for two unlimited lines and home internet.

 

[Outlaw]

I have Xfinity for home internet. 50mb service for $30/mo with autopay. Don’t plan on leaving that anytime soon so it’ll just be the phones. Sounds like I’ll be more than happy with T-mobile, just waiting to pay the devices off

 

[JeffsLightning]

Thinking about making the switch to Xfinity. Just got this FJB email .
Due to rising operational costs, you'll see an increase of $12/mo. on your current plan,

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

Thinking about making the switch to Xfinity. Just got this FJB email .
Due to rising operational costs, you'll see an increase of $12/mo. on your current plan,

I got that too, and am in the same boat. I stuck with Verizon due to my dad's situation, where many years ago they were the only company to have a network extender. He has no cell coverage in his area (from any provider), so I got him an extender to use his cell phone (flip phone at the time) across his super slow DSL.

Now that he's moving to a town south of Lexington I'm looking to drop carriers. I have four lines to take with me, so no matter what I do it's going to be at least $150.

 

[boostedguy05]

FESTER665

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

It boggles the mind how poor verizon's coverage has gotten over the last few years. They were the best, by far, for a loooong time

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

I switched to Xfinity I forget when, something like 4-5mos ago. Been super happy with it.

That’s it.
That’s my story.

 

[Yaj Yak]

I switched to Xfinity I forget when, something like 4-5mos ago. Been super happy with it.

That’s it.
That’s my story.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

It boggles the mind how poor verizon's coverage has gotten over the last few years. They were the best, by far, for a loooong time

Because they dropped CDMA which can be better for weak signals. Now everything is GSM.

 

[Yaj Yak]

Because they dropped CDMA which can be better for weak signals. Now everything is GSM.

well fuck at least there's a reason.

why'd they do that shit.

i legit can't take a call at my desk

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

well fuck at least there's a reason.

why'd they do that shit.

i legit can't take a call at my desk

TLDR: its complicated, is really the easiest answer

CDMA has better error correction and can tend to operate much better on weaker signals. At the same time, in really dense urban areas, multiple CDMA networks can have a reverse effect and cause worse performance of the network over all as you scale up to more and more users.

GSM tends to operate better in that environment, at the cost of losing the weaker signal areas, but being able to distribute more hubs to cover those areas without degrading the network quality over all when more users are using the network.

So its a trade off, GSM won.