Switching from AT&T to Sprint?

VXC · Oct 8, 2011

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Anybody switching from AT&T to Sprint? Any concerns? I'm thinking about switching over primarily because of the lower cost of family plans on Sprint, but wanted to see why others are making the switch as well.

burmguy · Oct 8, 2011

I switched over. Set up my account during preorder and have a first batch 16 and 32 gig coming. the transition seemed seemless so far but I will wait for launch day to see how it goes. Plus I have 30 days to try it out

PsstGreek · Oct 8, 2011

I switched over from AT&T to Sprint as well (joined my parents plan, save money

). Anyway online it let me pre-order my 4S but I couldn't port over my phone number.

I'll be doing that when I receive in the mail.

aneftp · Oct 8, 2011

Family Plans are not cheaper if you have say 2 iPhones and 3 dumbphones on Sprint compared to ATT.

Please keep that in mind. Because you don't get the option to remove data on dumbphones since all phones would get enrolled in the everything plan so you end up paying for data don't need for a dumbphones.

Also ATT offers any mobile for those with unlimited texting.

Sprint is getting more expensive. Their $69.99 plan is really $79.99 now since there is a $10 surcharge for all smartphones.

Plus $350 ETF fee that was implemented just last month.

btrav13 · Oct 8, 2011

aneftp said:
Family Plans are not cheaper if you have say 2 iPhones and 3 dumbphones on Sprint compared to ATT.

Please keep that in mind. Because you don't get the option to remove data on dumbphones since all phones would get enrolled in the everything plan so you end up paying for data don't need for a dumbphones.

Also ATT offers any mobile for those with unlimited texting.

Sprint is getting more expensive. Their $69.99 plan is really $79.99 now since there is a $10 surcharge for all smartphones.

Plus $350 ETF fee that was implemented just last month.

And yet GETTING more expensive is still not IS MORE expensive...just sayin

urkel · Oct 8, 2011

My employer didnt tell us but we got 18% discount with Sprint so anyone switching needs to call Sprint and see if their employer offers a discount.

VXC · Oct 10, 2011

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

A store manager at the Sprint store offered me $125 credit for each smartphone/iPhone that joined. Must be something fishy since he pulled me aside and whispered it to me. Even with that and a few ETF I need to pay AT&T, it's still not good enough for me to switch. The monthly plans actually costs more than AT&T.

iamthedudeman · Oct 10, 2011

You guys do realize that Sprints 3G is molasses compared to the 14.4Mps HSPA+ on ATT.

I would not switch to Verizon or Sprint for that very reason. Their 3G network is literally 10 times slower than ATT's. You're giving up HSPA+ for what?

Kauai · Oct 10, 2011

iamthedudeman said:
You guys do realize that Sprints 3G is molasses compared to the 14.4Mps HSPA+ on ATT.

I would not switch to Verizon or Sprint for that very reason. Their 3G network is literally 10 times slower than ATT's. You're giving up HSPA+ for what?

1. HSPA+ isn't available everywhere, or even in most places.
2. Doesn't pan out in real life. My cousin has an AT&T iPhone - my Sprint service is pretty much just as good. Yes, AT&T is slightly faster - but 'molasses' is an extreme comparison. (AT&T serves more customers, Sprint's is less burdened.)

In any case - I'm sticking with Sprint for the long run. AT&T is throttling even those grandfathered into unlimited now and it's only a matter of time till they take even more steps to take people off unlimited and make them pay through the wazoo for data.

Plus - we pay 180 for three smartphone lines with unlimited everything. That was nearly 350 at Verizon.

tonyy · Oct 10, 2011

Yes, on paper AT&T's network is faster than VZW and Sprint. But coverage in your area is everything. Where I live, Sprint coverage is excellent and AT&T is HORRIBLE.

iamthedudeman · Oct 10, 2011

Kauai said:
1. HSPA+ isn't available everywhere, or even in most places.
2. Doesn't pan out in real life. My cousin has an AT&T iPhone - my Sprint service is pretty much just as good. Yes, AT&T is slightly faster - but 'molasses' is an extreme comparison. (AT&T serves more customers, Sprint's is less burdened.)

In any case - I'm sticking with Sprint for the long run. AT&T is throttling even those grandfathered into unlimited now and it's only a matter of time till they take even more steps to take people off unlimited and make them pay through the wazoo for data.

Plus - we pay 180 for three smartphone lines with unlimited everything. That was nearly 350 at Verizon.

1. Ah, yes it is. No Sprint isn't 'just as good'. It is way slower 'period.

It is available everywhere 3G is available. HSPA+ rolled about six months ago. I travel several times a week and ATT 3G with HSPA+ averages over 4Mps and peaks at 21Mps on my 3G network card. On my iphone I am constantly getting over 4Mps and that is the limitation of the iphone. All HSPA+ is or was is a software update to ATT towers with added backhaul, no new towers needed mostly software upgrade. Sorry, you're wrong there bud. Don't even talk about uploads, it gets more embarrassing.

2. No it isn't. You're not getting over 1Mps or 2Mps real world speeds, only 500kps to 1Mps. My wife has sprint, I know. She is ditching Sprint for ATT as we speak and getting a 4s.

I have the 30 unlimited plan, I use nearly 4Gb per month and have unlimited data and no throttling occurred yet.

I pay 230 per month for four lines, that is cheaper than you are paying now, granted I have a 18% discount, but even without it, That would be 270 or 67 per line, you are paying 60 per line. So for 7 a month, you are paying for a network that has average 3G speeds in the neighborhood of 700kps against a network with 3G speeds of 4 to 7Mps.

Don't believe the 'less burdened crap line'. Sprint 3G sucks. So does Verizon 3G sucks. ATT 3G literally destroys either. The iphone 4S will have the designation as a 4G device. In jan ATT will be upgraded to 21Mps, so you will see real world speeds of 14Mps. The limit of the iphone 4S.

So on sprint, you will be stuck with 700Mps average speeds with nothing getting faster anytime soon. Even worse sprint's LTE rollout is taking place 2013 at the earliest. No LTE iphone on the Sprint network until the iphone 6? Hopefully they can get some towers going next year just to use a LTE iphone 5, but that is a long time to wait. Can you say invested in the wrong tech? WIMAX, was a bad idea from the start.

good luck with browsing with those speeds. lol.

Yeah good deal.

----------

tonyy said:
Yes, on paper AT&T's network is faster than VZW and Sprint. But coverage in your area is everything. Where I live, Sprint coverage is excellent and AT&T is HORRIBLE.

Not just on paper my friend.

verwon · Oct 10, 2011

Sprint Everything Data Family, 1500 anytime landline minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited data, unlimited text is $129.99. First added phone is free, just $10 if it's a smart phone, additional lines are $9.99 dumb phone, or $19.99 + $10 for smart phone.

With 2 lines, both HTC Evo 4Gs, my total, before taxes & fees $139.99, then my discount took it down to $126, adding another line for the iPhone, before taxes, fees and discount would make it $169.98.

Sprint is still a better deal for prices and plan, even if I add a few more lines, thanks!

kleinias · Oct 10, 2011

iamthedudeman said:
1. Ah, yes it is. No Sprint isn't 'just as good'. It is way slower 'period.

It is available everywhere 3G is available. HSPA+ rolled about six months ago. I travel several times a week and ATT 3G with HSPA+ averages over 4Mps and peaks at 21Mps on my 3G network card. On my iphone I am constantly getting over 4Mps and that is the limitation of the iphone. All HSPA+ is or was is a software update to ATT towers with added backhaul, no new towers needed mostly software upgrade. Sorry, you're wrong there bud. Don't even talk about uploads, it gets more embarrassing.

2. No it isn't. You're not getting over 1Mps or 2Mps real world speeds, only 500kps to 1Mps. My wife has sprint, I know. She is ditching Sprint for ATT as we speak and getting a 4s.

I have the 30 unlimited plan, I use nearly 4Gb per month and have unlimited data and no throttling occurred yet.

I pay 230 per month for four lines, that is cheaper than you are paying now, granted I have a 18% discount, but even without it, That would be 270 or 67 per line, you are paying 60 per line. So for 7 a month, you are paying for a network that has average 3G speeds in the neighborhood of 700kps against a network with 3G speeds of 4 to 7Mps.

Don't believe the 'less burdened crap line'. Sprint 3G sucks. So does Verizon 3G sucks. ATT 3G literally destroys either. The iphone 4S will have the designation as a 4G device. In jan ATT will be upgraded to 21Mps, so you will see real world speeds of 14Mps. The limit of the iphone 4S.

So on sprint, you will be stuck with 700Mps average speeds with nothing getting faster anytime soon. Even worse sprint's LTE rollout is taking place 2013 at the earliest. No LTE iphone on the Sprint network until the iphone 6? Hopefully they can get some towers going next year just to use a LTE iphone 5, but that is a long time to wait. Can you say invested in the wrong tech? WIMAX, was a bad idea from the start.

good luck with browsing with those speeds. lol.

Yeah good deal.

----------

Not just on paper my friend.

This belies everything I've experienced since 2007 with AT&T. I would get a new iPhone each year it came out and AT&T was terrible each year that I had it. In 2007 I moved over from Sprint, obviously it was my choice to do so and I did it primarily because I wanted the iPhone. To my initial surprise (I travel all over the country for work), service with AT&T was generally worse (and so were data speeds) than my prior service with Sprint (Not counting the original iPhone which was sans 3G). I had always heard and read that AT&T had a poor network but I was not expecting it to be as bad as it was.

Early this year when Verizon received the iPhone 4, I wanted to switch over but was wary about doing so. I purchased a Verizon iPhone 4 and compared it with my AT&T iPhone 4, there was simply no comparison when it came to service. The Verizon network generally significantly better than AT&T's. It is true that the fastest data speeds I ever recorded were with AT&T, the problem was that it was very infrequent. Usually, Verizon's service was better and its data speeds were roughly equivalent to AT&T's. Of course, that was when I had service with AT&T to compare Verizon with, often, AT&T showed that it had reception but when I would actually try to make a phone call or use data it faltered.

AT&T may claim to have the fastest data speeds in the universe, and if that kind of thing is important to you then fair enough. I would just caution you to consider that it only holds true where a person actually gets reception with AT&T. Anyway, that's my take on things and others will differ.

Kauai · Oct 11, 2011

iamthedudeman said:
1. Ah, yes it is. No Sprint isn't 'just as good'. It is way slower 'period.

It is available everywhere 3G is available. HSPA+ rolled about six months ago. I travel several times a week and ATT 3G with HSPA+ averages over 4Mps and peaks at 21Mps on my 3G network card. On my iphone I am constantly getting over 4Mps and that is the limitation of the iphone. All HSPA+ is or was is a software update to ATT towers with added backhaul, no new towers needed mostly software upgrade. Sorry, you're wrong there bud. Don't even talk about uploads, it gets more embarrassing.

2. No it isn't. You're not getting over 1Mps or 2Mps real world speeds, only 500kps to 1Mps. My wife has sprint, I know. She is ditching Sprint for ATT as we speak and getting a 4s.

I have the 30 unlimited plan, I use nearly 4Gb per month and have unlimited data and no throttling occurred yet.

I pay 230 per month for four lines, that is cheaper than you are paying now, granted I have a 18% discount, but even without it, That would be 270 or 67 per line, you are paying 60 per line. So for 7 a month, you are paying for a network that has average 3G speeds in the neighborhood of 700kps against a network with 3G speeds of 4 to 7Mps.

Don't believe the 'less burdened crap line'. Sprint 3G sucks. So does Verizon 3G sucks. ATT 3G literally destroys either. The iphone 4S will have the designation as a 4G device. In jan ATT will be upgraded to 21Mps, so you will see real world speeds of 14Mps. The limit of the iphone 4S.

So on sprint, you will be stuck with 700Mps average speeds with nothing getting faster anytime soon. Even worse sprint's LTE rollout is taking place 2013 at the earliest. No LTE iphone on the Sprint network until the iphone 6? Hopefully they can get some towers going next year just to use a LTE iphone 5, but that is a long time to wait. Can you say invested in the wrong tech? WIMAX, was a bad idea from the start.

good luck with browsing with those speeds. lol.

Yeah good deal.

----------

Not just on paper my friend.

I won't bother responding to all of this, though I disagree with it. (Mostly because it's too late to do so rather than because of my agreement or disagreement) but you're just plain wrong.

Go onto the AT&T site, zoom in on the coverage map. See all those dark blue spots? They have HSPA+. See everywhere that doesn't? Including my area? (Southern Oregon) we don't.

In any case - I trust my real world experiences and experience with my area's cellular networks (been on all three major carriers) more than your word. And for my area, and the places I frequent, Sprint is the best by far. If AT&T is the best for you - wonderful, don't need to justify it to me.

VXC · Oct 13, 2011

Thanks for all the responses. I think I will be staying with AT&T for the time being. I crunched some numbers for Sprint a couple times and verified with their employees and I would paying about $60 more a month if I were to switch to Sprint (4 iphones and 3 dumbphones).

mjoshi123 · Oct 13, 2011

aneftp said:
Family Plans are not cheaper if you have say 2 iPhones and 3 dumbphones on Sprint compared to ATT.

Please keep that in mind. Because you don't get the option to remove data on dumbphones since all phones would get enrolled in the everything plan so you end up paying for data don't need for a dumbphones.

Also ATT offers any mobile for those with unlimited texting.

Sprint is getting more expensive. Their $69.99 plan is really $79.99 now since there is a $10 surcharge for all smartphones.

Plus $350 ETF fee that was implemented just last month.

I did comparison shopping between AT&T & Sprint and on Sprint with 3 smartphones and employer discount 20% I'm paying $129. Same thing on AT&T costs me $190 with same 20% employee discount. So what you are saying is not entierly true.

VXC · Oct 13, 2011

mjoshi123 said:
I did comparison shopping between AT&T & Sprint and on Sprint with 3 smartphones and employer discount 20% I'm paying $129. Same thing on AT&T costs me $190 with same 20% employee discount. So what you are saying is not entierly true.

How did you get $129 with Sprint?

Hook'Em2006 · Oct 13, 2011

Luckily for me, I'm in Dallas, HSPA+ is available!!!

dacreativeguy · Oct 13, 2011

VXC said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Anybody switching from AT&T to Sprint? Any concerns? I'm thinking about switching over primarily because of the lower cost of family plans on Sprint, but wanted to see why others are making the switch as well.

I'd be concerned that sprint may not be in business through your 2 year contract.

iprime · Oct 13, 2011

Enjoy 14.4 mbps with 2 Gb limit

knoxtown · Oct 13, 2011

iprime said:
Enjoy 14.4 mbps with 2 Gb limit

Unlimited plan. And we will! :apple:

iprime · Oct 13, 2011

knoxtown said:
Unlimited plan. And we will!

Good for you then. New customers are still stuck with 2 Gb or pay premium for more data. How fast should 3G be for browsing? If streaming videos regularly isn't important then CDMA should be fine.

treyjustice · Oct 13, 2011

I'm not AT&T is too fast compared to sprint.

burmguy · Oct 13, 2011

im not going to get into a pissing contest here but Ive had AT&T for the past 5 years and majority of the coverage was ****** and I would lose calls constantly. I have 30 days to play with sprint. All else fails, I cancel, get my money back and go back to AT&T

Yoursh · Oct 13, 2011

I'm switching my one number from AT&T to Sprint. As others have shown, all signal quality is relative. I've been with AT&T for close to 8yrs, but the signal has gotten close too unusable at my work. Up until about a year ago, I would get about 3-4 bars with ~1Mbps connection. Since then I'm lucky to get 2 bars with data constantly dropping out. Even in the parking lot, I get 3 bars at best with my 3GS. Drive a few miles away, and you get full signal. At home the signal is also fine, but I'm on wifi for data. I use my iphone's cell data almost exclusively at work.

Once I heard Sprint was going to carry the new iphone, I borrowed my brother's sprint phone to do some speed/signal tests at my work location. My 3GS would spike at 1.2Mbps, but would usually hover around .3-.4Mbps. His Evo would maintain a constant ~2Mbps with about 3/4 signal.

So while theoretically the AT&T iphone 4S can get faster speeds and has better coverage, it's useless to me if I can't maintain a connection at my work location. It's all relative.

Went with Sprint mainly for the unlimited data package. I hover just above and below 2GB of data usage a month currently and have always worried about AT&T removing my grandfathered unlimited data. My job also offers a corporate discount through Sprint, so I'll be saving about $10 a month.

Switching from AT&T to Sprint?

macrumors member

macrumors regular

macrumors 68040

macrumors 601

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68030

macrumors member

macrumors 65816

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 65816

macrumors 68030

macrumors regular

macrumors 6502a

macrumors member

macrumors 6502

macrumors member

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68020

macrumors member

macrumors 6502

macrumors member

macrumors 65816

macrumors regular

macrumors 6502

Our Staff