Verizon vs TMobile vs Sprint?

[socal87]

I'm a Verizon customer going on 8 years. I have a grandfathered plan so I still have unlimited data; of course this means I can't very well upgrade unless I use an extra line. I take care of my phones and do most of my own tech support so hardware isn't really an issue. I am a heavy data and text user; I don't use many minutes.

I'm also paying $150 a month for the Nationwide 1400 plan. Obviously this is ridiculous. I just submitted a change to the 700 minute plan which is only $20 less a month...I think their pricing scheme is skewed.

So I'm considering upgrades. T-Mobile has the $80 Unlimited Everything plan, which includes unlimited minutes, text, and data. The price of a new phone is split up into 24 payments and paid on top of the bill...and after 1 year of good standing they will allow you to upgrade, while dismissing the remainder of the old phone.

I haven't looked much into Sprint but I had them a long time ago and wasn't impressed.

So...keep Verizon? Or switch to T-Mobile? Maybe Sprint?

ATT is out of the question because of their data policies.

 

[iGTI1]

Depending on your area, you get what you pay for. Some areas are better then others. Sprint is absolute garbage in my neighborhood. T-Mobil is very spotty, Verizon is more consistent and have better coverage in my area. This in comparison to my friends and family

 

[rawbdog]

Keep Verizon. /bread.

 

[jwal]

I have tmobile. Not the best service, but it beats paying out the ass for everything.

 

[socal87]

TMobile is definitely attractive because of the price. Comparitively the monthly bill wouldn't be that much lower while paying for a device but once it's paid off...

All 3 carriers have that feature. Pay a phone off in installments. The question in my mind is...when you do your yearly upgrade...do you have to give the old phone back?

 

[recognized1]

Choose your carrier based on coverage not the phone. Trust me it will save you frustration if you are a heavy user. I had T-Mobile and was always getting upset because it would say I have 4G service but it would be slow or no data at all sometimes. Something I have not experienced with Verizon.

Also, find out how much data you are truly using. I thought my wife was using a lot of data but found out she was consistently under a gig. So we signed her up for Verizon unlimited calls & text with 1 gig of 4G data for $60 a month. Also, find out if your job has a company discount which typically saves you on the taxes.

If you do not switch phones often I do not recommend those installment plans because basically you are leasing the phone and paying more in the long run. For my wife I signed a 2 year contract because we got a sweet deal on the phone through negotiating which is something you can't do for the installment plans.

 

[XGC75]

I'm switching to ATT at the end of the month. I'll get better coverage in my area and will be paying $20/mo less than sprint, limited to 3gb/mo, including the monthly cost of the phone.

Use opensignal.org to check out actual carrier coverage in your area.

 

[jwal]

TMobile is definitely attractive because of the price. Comparitively the monthly bill wouldn't be that much lower while paying for a device but once it's paid off...

All 3 carriers have that feature. Pay a phone off in installments. The question in my mind is...when you do your yearly upgrade...do you have to give the old phone back?

I am not too sure on wether you can keep the phone or not. I believe you have the option of trading it in for cash towards your new phone or keeping it. I buy my phones (not from tmobile) and bring them over.

 

[Tk_mkv1]

either verizon or ATT

 

[socal87]

I currently work for DoD so I have the 15% employee discount. As for data usage...I'm not willing to give up unlimited data.

 

[XGC75]

TMobile is definitely attractive because of the price. Comparitively the monthly bill wouldn't be that much lower while paying for a device but once it's paid off...

All 3 carriers have that feature. Pay a phone off in installments. The question in my mind is...when you do your yearly upgrade...do you have to give the old phone back?

For ATT's plan, you pay in monthly installments 1/30th the retail cost of the phone. At the end of 12 months, 18 months, 4 months, whatever, you pay them the unpaid installments and keep the phone. At the end of 24 months you can either hand them the phone for recycling and they'll waive the remaining payments or you can buy the phone for the cost of the remaining payments and keep it.

I think it's a great idea, personally. I much prefer it to being locked into a 2-year contract.

 

[ShrekSquatch]

I agree to an extent with the comment "choose the carrier based on coverage, not phone". Do the "test drive" or 14 day trial or whatever a carrier offers. I did that for T-Mobile, and ended up not keeping it because of no coverage in the data center where I work (site has repeaters for the other three major carriers, but not T-mo, so no data at work). That being said, I have Sprint, and do not plan to leave any time soon. I think AT&T or VZ may have slightly better coverage for me, but I have very good coverage most places I go, including reliable LTE at my house close to the North GA mountains. In fact for about 9 months I used a Galaxy Nexus hotspot as my home internet. When I traveled across the US regularly for my job, I had little issue. The only real problem I have is Sprint is the first to lose data when in crowds/busy areas because of the limited bandwidth. Supposedly that is changing, and indeed I think it has gotten better over the last couple of years, but still not to VZ levels. But I use about 15G a month (unlimited hotspot (easy Android hack), Netflix), and quite enjoy my unlimited everything with two phones for $150 a month, including payments for two Nexus 6 phones.

I still have 3 slots open in my "Framily" plan if you are interested. Doesn't benefit me at all if you use them as I'm at the max discount level, but they're available. $45 a month per line for unlimited everything including 1 year upgrades. Phone payment extra, no subsidized phones available. PM me if you want the group code.

But, if Sprint is crap in your area (slightly more likely to be so than VZ or AT&T), you don't want to go that route... If Sprint was still crap for me like it was 10 years ago, I wouldn't still be with them. I suffered somewhat with them before the 4G days mostly because the price couldn't be beat. In retrospect I should have been with AT&T in those years, but I would still be Sprint now. Unlimited data goes a long, long way, and I am quite happy with my service.

 

[datdudeukno]

With t-mobile you can upgrade any time. You have to pay off half the phone, which happens automatically after 12 months, but if you want to do it early you can, just pay whatever is left to get to half. In most situations you'll still owe more then the phone is worth, so it's a good plan. But remember that jump is another $10 per month. So $90 total. Unlimited data is hard to beat, and there's other good perks. Do the test drive it's literally free as long as you don't break the phone. Wifi calling helps a lot in areas where coverage is weak. Yes, I'm biased. Lol.

 

[Geist1]

Verizon all the way dude IMO. You can't beat the reliable and amount of coverage in service. And yes, VZW also has the installment plan, called Edge. But you'll have to switch to the More Everything tiered data plans. They're also giving you a credit for getting on Edge which could actually cancel out the amount you'd pay in installments. I personally also still am on the unlimited nationwide plan because I have 3 smartphones and we all use 20GB a month on average and I'm ok with getting a phone every 2yrs bc I get a new work phone every year any way. Live in the DMV area and my TMo friends always complain about lack of coverage in buildings and in general.. But like bwillet said, they have a 14-day money back switcher program right now if you want to try it out.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[mikeyy]

Forgot the best.. AT&T