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Verizon iPhone 5 - Carrier Options

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cianclarke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2013
4
0
Hi guys,
I bought a Verizon iPhone 5 outright at the full price back in September, and used it back home in Ireland since then using my Irish provider. Now that I've moved to the states, I'm wondering what my carrier options are? I'm currently roaming with my Irish provider, which is of course pretty expensive.
I had every option of going with verizon until I discovered how expensive they were - cheapest they can offer me is ~$90/month with /some/ data, pretty ridiculous!
I'm looking for a cheap pre-pay carrier sub-$60/month, preferably with some data. Since my phone is Verizon, do I need to go for a CDMA carrier? If so, does this mean the phone needs to be 'flashed'?
I see lots of people going for a GSM carrier - do I loose 4G capability then?

I was looking at AT&T, so had somebody in the AT&T store try one of their nano sims in my phone, but it never registered with the network, even after a cycle of airplane mode. Is there something I need to do, a restore or something??

Any advice from somebody who's done this before would be much appreciated- thanks!
 
PsstGreek

PsstGreek

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2010
3,776
59
Tampa Bay
For AT&T to work on your iPhone VZW iPhone 5, you'll need to restore in iTunes. They come factory unlocked already. If you chose AT&T, yes, you'll lose the 4G/LTE capabilities.
 
A

as0016

macrumors regular
Sep 24, 2012
100
0
depending on where you are use it with straight talk or t-mobile prepaid.

straight talk 45 unlimited talk text and 2gb(ish) soft cap on data.

tmobile 70 unlimited everything no throttling.
 
C

cianclarke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2013
4
0
In Boston, so T Mobile might be a good option.. They're GSM though, so again I'd loose 4g, right? :(
 
hovscorpion12

hovscorpion12

macrumors 68030
Sep 12, 2011
2,588
2,539
USA
Verizon wireless. My Verizon iPhone had 2GBs of Data, 1k texts ...etc. Around November/December Verion update my account to unlimited texts, unlimited calls for no extra charge. Paying $88.00/A month
 
C

cianclarke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2013
4
0
hovscorpion12 said:
Verizon wireless. My Verizon iPhone had 2GBs of Data, 1k texts ...etc. Around November/December Verion update my account to unlimited texts, unlimited calls for no extra charge. Paying $88.00/A month
Click to expand...
That's pretty expensive though, no? In Europe I was used to paying about $50/month for lots of minutes, texts, and 2gb data.. Unlimited is about the same price on worse carriers

Is there any alternative to Verizon as a carrier where I won't loose 4G? If not, guess I'll have to go with Verizon!
Thanks for the replies!
 
hovscorpion12

hovscorpion12

macrumors 68030
Sep 12, 2011
2,588
2,539
USA
$88.00/ Month is cheaper the the $130/month. All carriers of the iPhone 5 support 4G LTE. (AT&T,Sprint, Verizon). It depends on your location.
 
The Robot Cow

The Robot Cow

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2012
300
69
Central California
I'm my opinion you pay more for Verizon but its well worth it. If you want 4g Lte, you're going to go with Verizon. I know that the Verizon iPhone 5's are unlocked but go with another carrier and you won't get Lte. In my area tmobile is kinda spotty and their data speed really sucks. AT&T is pretty good but I just prefer Verizon over AT&T. And they do have the largest 4g Lte network :cool:
 
determined09

determined09

macrumors 65816
Jun 9, 2009
1,454
312
The Robot Cow said:
I'm my opinion you pay more for Verizon but its well worth it. If you want 4g Lte, you're going to go with Verizon. I know that the Verizon iPhone 5's are unlocked but go with another carrier and you won't get Lte. In my area tmobile is kinda spotty and their data speed really sucks. AT&T is pretty good but I just prefer Verizon over AT&T. And they do have the largest 4g Lte network :cool:
Click to expand...
I Agree.
 
M

murrayE

macrumors member
May 4, 2011
45
6
cianclarke said:
That's pretty expensive though, no? In Europe I was used to paying about $50/month for lots of minutes, texts, and 2gb data.. Unlimited is about the same price on worse carriers....
Click to expand...
As I understand the facts, in general the U.S. wireless phone and hardwire-Internet industry is a big rip-off compared with the situation in Europe, where rates are lower and speeds (at least for hard-wire Internet) are higher.

Note that U.S. cellular carrier workers, at least for some providers, are non-union and paid significantly lower wages than unionized land-line phone workers.

The companies will try to justify the outrageously high rates by how expensive it is to maintain and improve the infrastructure. When that say that, don't ask what their profit margin is; ask what their return-on-investment is.

For this we can all thank rapaciousness and deregulation, among other causes.
 
C

cianclarke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2013
4
0
Yeah, plans are much cheaper in Ireland - however on the downside, we don't even have 4G yet. We only recently auctioned off the bandwidth after the analog TV signal was switched off late last year! :D
I guess $90=€68 isn't so bad, maybe I'll just go with Verizon. Thanks folks :)
 
V

vitale

macrumors member
Jan 16, 2013
32
19
I'd recommend getting service with Verizon. Incredibly good network and the only way to get LTE on your phone. Maybe T-Mobile if you're in a good refarmed area.
 
upnorth85

upnorth85

macrumors 6502a
Oct 2, 2011
629
202
MN, USA
Check out the 3G speeds on T-mobile and see if that works in your area. T-mobile is not quite ready for prime time and they refuse to put any 1900 Mhz coverage maps so it is kind of risky considering T-mobile unless you know some on the area who has a T-mobile phone. Check out airportal.de as well.
cianclarke said:
Yeah, plans are much cheaper in Ireland - however on the downside, we don't even have 4G yet. We only recently auctioned off the bandwidth after the analog TV signal was switched off late last year! :D
I guess $90=€68 isn't so bad, maybe I'll just go with Verizon. Thanks folks :)
Click to expand...
 
C

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,450
1,230
Charlotte, NC
In your price range I would get tmobile if you're in a refarmed area. Best value for the money.

Verizon has LTE in more places but is the most expensive. If you're not doing a lot of traveling then its probably not worth it to go with them. I have an iPhone 5 with them and I'm actually not too impressed with their service in the city. I get 1-2 bars in my neighborhood and spotty data that constantly switches back and forth from lte to 3G to "O". Tmobile gets stronger signals in most of my area. Verizon shines in rural areas and along the interstates with their LTE.
 
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