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Verizon vs AT&T iPad for LTE?
- Thread starter Walter Bell
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Exactly. Unless you travel a lot then Verizon since they have much broader LTE coverage than AT&T. Cell phone service is way to regional for us to recommend what is best for you.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the Verizon iPad will also work on AT&T after swapping the sim card, but not the other way around. Get the Verizon iPad and have options down the road. You don't need to activate it in store like an iPhone, so get the iPad, decide which company has better coverage and go with them.
The Verizon model will only work with Verizon LTE and AT&T with AT&T LTE. You are correct in that inserting an AT&T SIM Card will allow the iPad to work on AT&T minus LTE.
That's not as easy as it sounds.You also would have to obtain an AT&T sim card and activate it on another device first. That's way too much trouble IMO.
If you have 4G LTE in your area and primarily want to use it in your area then go for whichever company provides that LTE service.
As for me I went with AT&T even though they don't have LTE in my area.
I travel a lot so I would be in non-LTE cities all the time and AT&T's 4G HSPA+ is waaay faster than Verizon's 3G. So I based my decision on who has faster 3G instead of who has better LTE coverage.
No matter which way you look at it LTE coverage is less saturated than 3G so performance of 3G is more important to me.
As for me I went with AT&T even though they don't have LTE in my area.
I travel a lot so I would be in non-LTE cities all the time and AT&T's 4G HSPA+ is waaay faster than Verizon's 3G. So I based my decision on who has faster 3G instead of who has better LTE coverage.
No matter which way you look at it LTE coverage is less saturated than 3G so performance of 3G is more important to me.
I swapped to Verizon this past week and loving every minute of it.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1426949/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1426949/
Verizon! if you want Personal Hotspot as well. Verizon also has a better coverage nationwide.
But it will work on their H+ network which is good enough for most efforts - this is what they label as 4G. I get 3 - 9 Mbps downloads on it.
IME, HSPA+ in the US is crap (compared to the rest of the world), this is why AT&T and Verizon are rushing to get 4G LTE established. Where as Europe can take a breather now, sit down and think about their long term 4G plans.
Also IME, another big difference between LTE and HSPA+ is in the upload speed. (10Mbps vs 1Mbps)
Most users are consuming on their iPads, not creating and uploading content. H+ is plenty for watching videos and reading online content.
As was already stated earlier, it really depends on whoever has the better coverage where you'll use the iPad the most...
I started out with an AT&T model - but LTE service in Chicago is just plain horrendous on AT&T's network. I switched to a Verizon model and could not be happier.
I also found that Verizon's network is better in the Tampa area (where I travel from time to time).
Overall, Verizon has more spectrum - so, in theory, it will work in more places. But that doesn't make a lick of difference if it's not in places where you will be.
If you are in one of those areas where AT&T totally re-worked their network and added a bunch of spectrum, your story might be the exact opposite of mine.
I started out with an AT&T model - but LTE service in Chicago is just plain horrendous on AT&T's network. I switched to a Verizon model and could not be happier.
I also found that Verizon's network is better in the Tampa area (where I travel from time to time).
Overall, Verizon has more spectrum - so, in theory, it will work in more places. But that doesn't make a lick of difference if it's not in places where you will be.
If you are in one of those areas where AT&T totally re-worked their network and added a bunch of spectrum, your story might be the exact opposite of mine.
Just depends on your personal preference and like everyone else has said, coverage. I have an AT&T iPhone, but for some reason they don't have LTE service in Denver (and I don't see them expanding here anytime soon), so I bought the Verizon iPad because I get around 20-25 mbps on it. And that personal hotspot is nice to use with my iPhone if there is little to no AT&T signal around.