Do you miss your old carrier?

[villanova329]

I was one of those that converted from Sprint right in the middle of my contract. I do miss not having to worry about my minutes whenever people call me because I had unlimited incoming minutes. Other than that, I love the fact that I can listen to the voicemails I want to instead of having to sift through voicemails of people just hanging up after the beep or ones that I know what they already contain.

I'm still getting used to having 7pm nights instead of 6pm. Oh well, I love my new baby, she was worth the betrayal:D

What do you miss about your old carrier? Despite having such a god-like handheld, do you regret making the jump?

[siurpeeman]

this thread doesn't exactly pertain to me, since i switched from spring to at&t almost four years ago. but the reason i switched certainly was mac-related; sprint's only available bluetooth phone was some half-assed sony-ericsson, and i was really drawn to bluetooth syncing with my mac, and i wanted to be able to transfer photos and ring tones over as well. i'm happy i made the switch, and i don't regret moving from sprint at all. and i'm really happy with my iphone, too. :)

[opticalserenity]

I miss T-mobile's better text messaging plan rates.

[ErnestS]

Though I was never a fan of Verizon phone crippling practices and prices, I must say that I do miss their coverage. I've noticed that I do lack reception in a lot of places now ... however, the enjoyment of using an iphone over my old blackberry almost makes up for the experience.

[earnjam]

I switched from Alltel to AT&T.

I miss having to continually call people back because of dropped calls.
I miss the complete dark zones surrounding my house and office.
I miss the good times of trying to speak to someone about why my voicemail wouldn't notify me, and continuing to get the runaround for months.
I miss the hassle of trying activate a new phone by calling some number that doesn't connect and then not being able to get in touch with anyone about why that is.

Oh wait...I don't miss any of that.

Truth be told, I don't miss anything from my old carrier. The phone I have is clearly better and the coverage is like night and day.

[iMetalG5]

YES.

Well I still have Verizon and have been with them since 1995. I will say this. Their service is incredible. Meaning about 98% of the time I can make a call anywhere. BUT I hate their interface and the phones they offer. But they do have the best service per se.

I opened a new AT&T acct and well am just sick with disgust. Their service is supposed to be on par with Verizon? NO. Dropped calls, no service, problem after problem. I've only had their service for a few days because of the iPhone and I am very worried. I don't want to return the iPhone but the service is below average and is a joke. Where I live I can not make a call or access the 'net. I have to drive 1/2hr to finally get sub par service. I guess if I lived in the city I'd be fine but I do not. AT&T keeps saying, "BUT YOU HAVE A COOL CELL NOW! ISN'T THAT INCENTIVE ENOUGH TO STAY WITH US?" what kind of answer is this??????????

i don't know, i think i'm gonna have to give up the iPhone :( because I can't have a unreliable cell. I'll have to stick with my Treo 700wx (which has worked flawless both in function and cell service) for now. I just don't know what to do...

[Andrmgic]

In my area, AT&T seems to be almost as reliable as Verizon.

So far I don't miss Verizon, mainly because I don't miss my old phone

[Island Dog]

I was one of those that converted from Sprint right in the middle of my contract. I do miss not having to worry about my minutes whenever people call me because I had unlimited incoming minutes. Other than that, I love the fact that I can listen to the voicemails I want to instead of having to sift through voicemails of people just hanging up after the beep or ones that I know what they already contain.

I'm still getting used to having 7pm nights instead of 6pm. Oh well, I love my new baby, she was worth the betrayal:D


I was on Sprint for a while, and I gave my Motorola Q to my wife. There are a few things I miss, but no big deal really.

How do you get 7pm nights with the iPhone plan?

[diabolic]

No, I don't miss T-Mobile at all. AT&T's coverage seems to be as good or better in the places I go, and the call quality has been great.

With T-Mobile I had a lot of trouble with their voicemail not having a timestamp when you retrieved it. Sometimes my phone wouldn't alert me until hours later than the call itself.

[Bradley W]

_

[devilot]

Thanks for starting this thread, I'm interested to see what others think...

Those of you saying Verizon has better coverage-- can you give a rough estimate of whereabouts you use your phone? I'm in the Bay Area (South Bay to be more precise) and regardless of whether or not I get the iPhone, I'm switching from V -> AT&T and a bit worried about coverage. :p

I'm still getting used to having 7pm nights instead of 6pm. How do you get 7pm nights with the iPhone plan? I'd like to know that as well. :o




From the iPhone Terms & Conditions site (http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/iphone-terms.jsp):

Nights and Weekends: Nights are 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Weekends are 9:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 a.m. Monday (based on time of day at switch providing your service).

[iQuit]

I just miss my unlimited minutes. That is all. :)

[kman34]

Switched from Verizon to AT&T....I don't miss a $%#* thing!!!

I really guess it depends where you live...I had a TON of dropped calls with Verizon. So far, I've had much better reception and haven't had one dropped call to date.

So far...very pleased!

PS...I live in Colorado.

[Nykwil]

Yeah i miss cingular alot

:p

considering it USED to be cingular...

[villanova329]

I was on Sprint for a while, and I gave my Motorola Q to my wife. There are a few things I miss, but no big deal really.

How do you get 7pm nights with the iPhone plan?



Add 7pm nights for $8.99, its an option to everyone, even iPhone customers

[Briellz]

I was with sprint before i joined at&t. I kinda like at&t. I havent had any problems with them yet (crossed fingers). My phone bill is a lot cheaper compared to what I was paying. So far, I'm a happy camper.

B:apple: :D

[ErnestS]

My Verizon service was in the Northern Virginia / DC area. I used to get service everywhere, including inside most buildings. With AT&T, it seems like I only get full and reliable service when I'm outside, and occasionally in certain buildings.

Lately, my reception has been fluctuating from 0 to 5 bars inside my house. Sometimes it even says "no service." I've called AT&T about it, and they've told me that I'm in a good coverage area and that they can never guarantee that the signal will reach inside.

I do miss my extensive and reliable Verizon service. However, I think I'm happier overall with my iPhone.

[AaronHeth]

I've actually been pretty impressed with AT&Ts service so far. I get full coverage in areas that I got little to no coverage at with Verizon.

[szark]

Though I was never a fan of Verizon phone crippling practices and prices, I must say that I do miss their coverage. I've noticed that I do lack reception in a lot of places now ... Lately, my reception has been fluctuating from 0 to 5 bars inside my house. Sometimes it even says "no service."

Same experience here. Sometimes when my iPhone says "No Service", I'll put it to sleep then instantly wake it up again, and it will have 4 bars. :rolleyes:

Verizon's coverage seemed to be a lot better. (Phoenix area)

[powerbook911]

Yes I miss T-Mobile. They were nice, and my bill was only $26 a month including unlimited data (very old plan).

[yayaba]

Thanks for starting this thread, I'm interested to see what others think...

Those of you saying Verizon has better coverage-- can you give a rough estimate of whereabouts you use your phone? I'm in the Bay Area (South Bay to be more precise) and regardless of whether or not I get the iPhone, I'm switching from V -> AT&T and a bit worried about coverage. :p


I commute back and forth from the Bay and Sacramento and at least for Northern California, I can say that I don't have any issues with AT&T. I get about 5 dropped calls a month which is negligible but I never got any with Verizon in my 6+ years with them.

EDGE service in Nor Cal is good too... I average 180-220kbps on EDGE.

Edit: Actually, I remember now. The only time I had a hellish time with Verizon was when I went to Vegas. For some reason right when I got there I got 0 bars and couldn't place any calls until the next day. Throughout my trip, my coverage wasn't the greatest either. My friends who had Cingular at the time had no issues.

[CDugan]

Living in Kansas City, down the road from sprint's "old" world hq, and having just left them for ATT, I can honestly say i'm happy I switched. For a city that has a disproportionatly high number of Sprint customers, I was amazed at the number of dropped calls I'd get. You can drive past their massive campus and still drop a call

The real deal breaker for me was the customer service I got throughout the switching process. My porting issues weren't ATT related, but Sprint's systems not wanting to release my number since I'm assuming my number off an old family plan. I would routinely get phone calls from ATT's porting department updating me on the process, and answering any questions I had. They were easy to get ahold of when I had a new development. When talking to Sprint, all I could get was outsourced customer service reps in India claiming to be part of the porting deparment and REFUSING to let me speak to a supervisor. It was a less than pleasant experience.

[mrtune]

I had att back in the day and their coverage stank around my area. So I was hesitant to leave verizon's excellent coverage just for a phone.

While I feel verizon's coverage at my house was better, att is better at my work. Everywhere else it's the same! Looks like att did a complete 180 since I used them like 5 or 6 years ago.

Not only do I have a great phone now, but the service plan is cheaper! verizon's pda plans start at $80 with no text messages. My iphone's plan is $60 for the same minutes, unlimited data and 200 texts.

I do not miss verizon one bit!

[powerbuddy]

I am happy with Deutsche Telekom. While roaming it switches to AT&T's network which isn't that bad. So I am happy with DT anyways. :)

[/dev/toaster]

Nope, don't miss any of my carriers ... I have switched phones so many times, that it really doesn't matter much anymore.

[Chip NoVaMac]

Thanks for starting this thread, I'm interested to see what others think...

I'd like to know that as well. :o

Once you have activated the iPhone, you sign up for the AT&T website. There you have more options for service options. IMO it would have been better for them to offer it when activatng it on iTunes....

[strangelogic]

I miss tmobile terribly. I have had to call 4 times to get them to add international calling to my phone, and that was over an hour of time on the phone. Then it's an extra 3.99 a month to get their 'discounted' international rates that are um... roughly the same a tmobiles 'regular' rates to foreign countries.

I may still cancel the att service within the first 30 days.. :( Signal is much less stable in my area than tmobile's. Lots of situations where the signal goes from full-bars to no-service in a span of a few seconds and then back again. And it is not the iPhone, I had a Treo a year or 2 ago that I returned after 3 weeks (due to the same thing).

Interestingly enough - with tmobile, you can turn international calling on or off from their website yourself (from day 1). With att - you have to go through an 'advanced' credit approval if you have not been with them for very long. ''Did you live at this address? Did you ever work for this company..."

Tmobile even threw out my overages the month my father died... they just looked at my history and said 'yeah - obviously it was an unusual month for you' ...

But - they don't have iPhone, and I think I'm hooked, so I guess I will look at the att coverage map and put the house on the market.

[iMetalG5]

anyone from central CT? please tell me your experience with ATT. Tonight at my house and around town my iPhone had trouble connecting and dropped calls. I went to the mall and I have no idea what that ATT tech did but he said maybe my iPhone will work now. I asked him what he did and he couldn't explain it to me because he was "too busy". What could he have done? The cell is still the same. They really do not want me to drop ATT its hilarious. They are doing everything they can to keep me. But I'm just not having luck with ATT at all.

[Clix Pix]

Don't really miss Sprint, although it was my cell phone carrier for several years. WHY don't I miss it? Because I never used the darned cell phones enough to know one way or another if the service is good! I've only had my iPhone since Friday at 6:30 PM and I think I've already used it to make more local and long-distance calls than I ever did with my other cell phones in a month or maybe even two months!

[mduser63]

I switched from Verizon (in the middle of my contract) and so far I don't miss it at all. Verizon is the worst company I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. AT&T's coverage seems just as good. I haven't had any problems with no reception or dropped calls (yet anyway), and iPhone makes my old Verizon RAZR look like a joke. The plan is a lot better deal too. Verizon was expensive.

No regrets whatsoever for me. I just wish I had never gotten involved with Verizon in the first place.

[Chip NoVaMac]

Don't really miss Sprint, although it was my cell phone carrier for several years. WHY don't I miss it? Because I never used the darned cell phones enough to know one way or another if the service is good! I've only had my iPhone since Friday at 6:30 PM and I think I've already used it to make more local and long-distance calls than I ever did with my other cell phones in a month or maybe even two months!

OH... you were one of those people! LOL

Got mine at 11AM Sat at the Tysons store....

[magicandmystery]

AT&T is a joke- my T-Mobile service, although by no means perfect, at least gave me service where I live. I did all my due diligence before switching- I called AT&T customer service reps to determine coverage in my area, looked online at their coverage maps, and even went in the stores. I was assured that AT&T had EXCELLENT coverage. Ummm... no.

In my house, my phone will switch from 5 bars to 1 bar- and the phone doesn't even move positions. I've had more dropped phone calls in the past 6 days then I've had with T-Mobile in 2 years. And their customer service? Oh- they're nice enough, but utterly incompetent: 5 people, 5 different answers, 1 moronic joke of a company. Riddle me this: Which company refuses to give out it's corporate contact information?

I'll actually be contacting (somehow, some way) AT&T corporate tomorrow- if I have to deal with this abominable service, my plan should cost me 1/2 of the $120 it currently costs me, if not less. If they're unwilling to budge, there is a small claims lawsuit that I will be actioning against them to cover my costs of having to switch back to T-Mobile, considering I can't get the plan that I used to have with them ($50 for 3500 minutes).

Ah, the joy of the iPhone; Oh, the misery of AT&T.

[Clix Pix]

OH... you were one of those people! LOL

Got mine at 11AM Sat at the Tysons store....

Yup, I was one of those people....on Friday, I got in line at around 1:45 or so and had the best time hanging out there! Time really passed fairly quickly. We all chatted, talked on our soon-to-be-defunct cell phones, played with our MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Powerbooks.... Once the Apple store reopened at 6:00 PM, things moved right along and I was in the store by 6:30 PM (I was number 100 in line). For me, being there and waiting in line, then entering the store and high-fiving the employees (most of whom I recognized and who recognized me, so what does THAT tell you?), then stepping up to the Genius Bar and purchasing my iPhone was all part of the overall Experience Of Buying My iPhone. LOL!!

[Chip NoVaMac]

Yup, I was one of those people....on Friday, I got in line at around 1:45 or so and had the best time hanging out there! Time really passed fairly quickly. We all chatted, talked on our soon-to-be-defunct cell phones, played with our MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Powerbooks.... Once the Apple store reopened at 6:00 PM, things moved right along and I was in the store by 6:30 PM (I was number 100 in line). For me, being there and waiting in line, then entering the store and high-fiving the employees (most of whom I recognized and who recognized me, so what does THAT tell you?), then stepping up to the Genius Bar and purchasing my iPhone was all part of the overall Experience Of Buying My iPhone. LOL!!

LOL... this may go OT - but I really don't miss Sprint by much right now.

My experience was different the day after. Went to the AT&T store on Fairfax Circle just to see if I could hold an iPhone. Was told they were in too short of a supply, and that by going on the web I could see what the experience was all about. This was like about 10:15AM. BTW I was told it would be 2-3 days for them to get one to me.

Then drove over Apple Tysons. No lines. A nice greeting at the door - no high fives, guess they were reserved for those that stood in line for hours on the 29th. :D I was surprised that there were not great lines to look or buy the iPhone. Within minutes I was playing with one. After 15 or so minutes (including a call to my sister and a friend on the store's iPhone - they said the call quality was better than on my Treo 650) I was standing in line to get my 8GB iPHone.

Trust me, I really only wanted to look at the iPhone. I had been in touch with Sprint, they were willing to move me to the SERO plan ($30 for 500 daytime minutes, nights and weekends starting 7PM, and unlimited text messages - a very sweet plan - a very sweet offer). At that point I was looking at staying with them, with either the Moto Q or the new Mogul.

I tried both of them at a Sprint store, and they were better than my Treo 650. The Mogul though won out between those two. So with that in mind, that is why I went out to "just look" at the iPhone.

In my short time at Apple Tysons with the iPhone, I found it everything that I wish the Treo 650 had. To Sprint and Verizon - you all messed up on passing up on Apple's offer to be the exclusive network for the iPhone.

Along those thoughts - yes each network has its strengths and weaknesses. The EV-DO networks on Sprint and Verizon may be faster - but EDGE works for me. Yes, I will miss - for the time being - being able to take calls in the Metro Rail tunnels. But that will allow me to listen to some tunes or view a video on my iPhone - till AT&T adds service in the tunnels.

As too size of the network. Most are pretty equal. Until you look at the number of subscribers. I am getting more free M2M minutes than I ever got on Sprint.

So in the end do I miss Sprint? Not really.

[slffl]

Yeah, other than the iPhone is awesome, I regret switching from Sprint to AT&T.

I don't like the interference GSM causes in speakers. IMO, the sound quality isn't as good as it was on Sprint. And I miss EV-DO.

But my god, the iPhone is an awesome device :) So I'm happy.

[coolbreeze]

I miss paying only $50/month on Sprint for 1500 AT, unl SMS, unl ROAM, M2M, 7pm n&w, you get the point. I think I pissed my parents off who recently went from over 2000 minutes a month to just 400 b/c our whole family has Sprint (M2M). Now I only have 450 mins, my bill is higher, and I have to "ration" my conversations.

Oh well. Love the iPhone.

Oh, the $200 cancellation fee from Sprint was not fun.

[EricNau]

With the exception of coverage, does anybody that switched from Verizon to AT&T miss anything else?

For example, with Verizon I can view my account usage and status in Mobile Web airtime free. Does AT&T have an equivalent?

Basically, I'm worried about differences in account features and pricing, etc.

[coolbreeze]

With the exception of coverage, does anybody that switched from Verizon to AT&T miss anything else?

For example, with Verizon I can view my account usage and status in Mobile Web airtime free. Does AT&T have an equivalent?

Basically, I'm worried about differences in account features and pricing, etc.



ATT has SMS codes you can send (in the Apple settings menu) and you get an instant SMS back with bill balance, minutes used, etc. Free, too.

As a former Sprint use, I find this to be really neat. Don't have to dial a number or go to website(s) for the info. It is SMS-based and really easy.

[mduser63]

ATT has SMS codes you can send (in the Apple settings menu) and you get an instant SMS back with bill balance, minutes used, etc. Free, too.

As a former Sprint use, I find this to be really neat. Don't have to dial a number or go to website(s) for the info. It is SMS-based and really easy.

Yeah, if you go into Settings->Phone->AT&T Services (last one in the list) you can easily check your bill, your minutes, etc.

[DiamondMac]

I miss not having my calls dropped during the middle of conversations on the phone.

But, I don't miss my Verizon piece of crap phone

[Clix Pix]

Trust me, I really only wanted to look at the iPhone.

Riiiiiight!!!! How many times have I been in Penn and thought, "well, I just want to look at.....[fill in the blanks]!!! I did that with Bertha, if you will recall! LOL!!!! I really, truly, thought that once I saw and handled her that that would lay to rest any ideas I had about using that lens, as I just knew that she was going to be too heavy for me to handle hand-held.... And look what happened!!! I held her and the magic occurred.....took her home with me.

Anyway, back in January I watched the Keynote and said, "well, that iPhone looks neat but I don't need one...." I wasn't using the cell phone I had already and I didn't have a PDA and didn't see the need for one since I'm more-or-less retired. Well....watched the videos closer to the time of the iPhone launch, started reading the posts in this new forum and thought, "well....gee...." Next thing you know I'm in line for hours to spend $600 on a device I haven't even seen in person and am not even sure I have a genuine need for or would use all that much! Well, one day with the iPhone was enough to convince me that my money was well spent. Unlike my previous cell phones, the iPhone actually gets used, both at home and away from home. I've just figured out how to set up Bluetooth pairing between it and my GPS (Garmin Nuvi 660) in the car so now that's good to go. WOW!
I learned a lot over the past several days about synchronizing and all that other great stuff, something I'd never bothered with before even though I've had my mac.com account since my first iMac and even though I've got several Macs....

All I can say about the iPhone is WOW! Do I miss my Sprint account and my old cell phone (which I'm about to give to a friend)? NO -- a resounding NO!!!!

[diamond.g]

I honestly was missing Sprints data stuff, right up until I read this (http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1995). Now I am happy I jumped ship. After reading what I read I am glad to pay the 427 dollar ETF to do so! :mad: