Ditched AT&T iPhone 5 for Verizon and couldn't be happier. In LA

[ipoddin]

First, AT&T says LA has lte, but not if you live in the heavily populated area of the San Fernando Valley. No LTE. It's where I spend the majority of my time. Then when I did happen to be in an lte area, it was worse than 4G! I paid full retail since I wasn't eligible for an upgrade and was not happy with what I was getting. Plus, dropped calls or suddenly voicemail would light up and phone never rang. That was it.

Got a Verizon iPhone 5 today and basking in Lte coverage. The etf plus new line was still $300 less than what I paid for so I'm saving money. And selling the AT&T iPhone for a profit.

Verizon speed test attached.

[ipoddin]

And the glorious AT&T lte taken near LAX. I never got higher than a 9 anywhere I went in lA

[sdfu93]

Did you compare under normal use scenarios? AT&T has spectrum issues in LA and will always be slower than Verizon, but for websites, past 2 - 3 mbps is not noticeable (it's basic DSL speed). So it's like buying a car that can go 130 mph, but you'll never use that speed.

Are you getting consistent LTE or is it occasionally reverting to 2G/3G? In Chicago on Verizon, mine bounces around a lot and cuts off any time of music/video streaming for about 10 seconds. On an AT&T iPhone 5, it seems to seamless switching between 4G and LTE. The 2G/2G bouncing is the only reason I'm considering staying with AT&T.

[baslotto]

This couldn't make me happier! And make me count the minutes before my iPhone 5 comes in on the 19th…
I did the same because of poor POOR POOOOOR reception with ATT in LA (which was great back in Boston BTW).

Verizon send me the phone already!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shenaniganz08]

what are the LTE speeds around the UCLA/santa monica area ?

anyone ?

[dictoresno]

im in the same boat and may be doing the same exact thing in the next few days.

[mdwsta4]

I'm debating about canceling ATT after the piss-poor service I received from them upon getting my iPhone 5. Not that I've ever been extremely satisfied with their service, but I've been with them for nearly a decade. Seeing that they don't unlock their phones and they don't allow you to use facetime over cellular (not that I'd ever use it), I'm thinking of making the switch. Your talk about speeds make me want to even more.

[DeuceDeuce]

I switched too and Verizon has been great for me. I have yet to find a place where I don't get LTE coverage in the San Gabriel Valley/Inland Empire/Riverside county area.

This was from today right down the street from my house in San Dimas, CA.

[ipoddin]

Originally Posted by sdfu93

Did you compare under normal use scenarios? AT&T has spectrum issues in LA and will always be slower than Verizon, but for websites, past 2 - 3 mbps is not noticeable (it's basic DSL speed). So it's like buying a car that can go 130 mph, but you'll never use that speed.

Are you getting consistent LTE or is it occasionally reverting to 2G/3G? In Chicago on Verizon, mine bounces around a lot and cuts off any time of music/video streaming for about 10 seconds. On an AT&T iPhone 5, it seems to seamless switching between 4G and LTE. The 2G/2G bouncing is the only reason I'm considering staying with AT&T.

Yeah, there were all those dropped or missed calls too.

[Kaze105]

Hmm interesting thing to know when I visit LA later this year.

I did the opposite, although I live in Ohio. Verizon LTE wasnt that different than 3G in my area 2-5 mbps download with full bars (wtf). Changed to AT&T and got 5-6 mbps almost all the time. Now its 20-50 mbps since there is LTE.

[AppleFanatic10]

Originally Posted by ipoddin

And the glorious AT&T lte taken near LAX. I never got higher than a 9 anywhere I went in lA

LAX is heavily populated haha. Speeds are always horrible when I go down there no matter what carrier I have.

[Applejuiced]

You know what they say.
Location, location, location
Im very happy with AT&T LTE.

[adeedew]

I absolutely hate att, so i switched to Verizon on this Iphone 5 launch a few months ago. Although LTE is pretty avail everywhere in my area of the san fernando valley, it does go down to 3g alot lately, i'm slowly starting to miss (and i wont go back to ATT but maybe tmobile since 3g is almost as fast as Verizon's LTE in my area at the moment, i realize that can change when more jump on the 1900 band) but you guys that jumped, do you make alot of calls? I do, and the whole cdma limitations w/ getting another call, it doesn't show you who you are talking with per line, it now will change to "multiple calls" and when you dump one call, the other goes away and you get rung back with that person holding on the other line, unless you "Swap" back to the call while hanging up on the other line and it will read "multiple calls" until you hang up with that person, it won't read the persons name you're talking with. The no surf and talk i admit is a bit annoying too, but i can deal with it most of the time, but coming from att in my opinion it feels like the phone is crippled a bit not having that feature w/ Verizon. Also when in a call, the call waiting beep or sound to alert you of another call is really more like a buzzer and a bit rough to listen to, GSM or att network makes a much smother sounding tone for call waiting IMO. Never have dropped a call, but i do get random dial tones in calls which is driving me nuts, already noted on a different thread i just started

[iHailCarlo]

Good, glad you are getting your desired result.

[bmwman3241]

Switched from AT&T to Verizon as well last month and am happy. These are from today and yesterday..I was seeing how high it would go.

[jstar002]

How is ATT vs Veriz in the Weho area? Anyone know?

How much more are you paying per month with Veriz vs Att? I went to the ATT store in Weho and the lte speeds were pretty darn fast on the S3...

[AppleFanatic10]

Originally Posted by ipoddin

First, AT&T says LA has lte, but not if you live in the heavily populated area of the San Fernando Valley. No LTE. It's where I spend the majority of my time. Then when I did happen to be in an lte area, it was worse than 4G! I paid full retail since I wasn't eligible for an upgrade and was not happy with what I was getting. Plus, dropped calls or suddenly voicemail would light up and phone never rang. That was it.

Got a Verizon iPhone 5 today and basking in Lte coverage. The etf plus new line was still $300 less than what I paid for so I'm saving money. And selling the AT&T iPhone for a profit.

Verizon speed test attached.

Is Northridge considered to be the San Fernando Valley? I may be attending school there nxt fall and want to know how good VZW coverage is out there overall.

[jwlbel]

Originally Posted by jstar002

How is ATT vs Veriz in the Weho area? Anyone know?

How much more are you paying per month with Veriz vs Att? I went to the ATT store in Weho and the lte speeds were pretty darn fast on the S3...

I am in WeHo and was with AT&T for MANY MANY years. I never really had problems with AT&T but kept hearing "how much better Verizon was" so I made the mistake of changing. I was lucky to get one bar on Verizon inside my house. I got "no service" a lot of the time. Even when I was trying to call Verizon to complain the operator kept saying "I can't hear you, you are breaking up" Yes I know that is why I was calling. After a few weeks I went back to AT&T and I very happy with the choice to go back to AT&T. I was even happier when I went back to AT&T that I was able to still have my old plan with unlimited data. For coming back they gave me one year of free family texting ($30 a month). So my bill with 700 shared minutes and I have the A-list, so 10 landlines don't count against my minutes. I have two iPhone 5 with unlimited data and family unlimited text and one regular non-data phone. So with 3 phones my bill is $126.24 (that is with a FAN discount and the free text @ $30 a month for the year) With Verizon for 3 phones it would have been well over $200 and I would not have unlimited data. So I am VERY happy that I can use my phone inside my house and have no complaints with AT&T.

[jstar002]

Originally Posted by jwlbel

I am in WeHo and was with AT&T for MANY MANY years. I never really had problems with AT&T but kept hearing "how much better Verizon was" so I made the mistake of changing. I was lucky to get one bar on Verizon inside my house. I got "no service" a lot of the time. Even when I was trying to call Verizon to complain the operator kept saying "I can't hear you, you are breaking up" Yes I know that is why I was calling. After a few weeks I went back to AT&T and I very happy with the choice to go back to AT&T. I was even happier when I went back to AT&T that I was able to still have my old plan with unlimited data. For coming back they gave me one year of free family texting ($30 a month). So my bill with 700 shared minutes and I have the A-list, so 10 landlines don't count against my minutes. I have two iPhone 5 with unlimited data and family unlimited text and one regular non-data phone. So with 3 phones my bill is $126.24 (that is with a FAN discount and the free text @ $30 a month for the year) With Verizon for 3 phones it would have been well over $200 and I would not have unlimited data. So I am VERY happy that I can use my phone inside my house and have no complaints with AT&T.

That's surprising considering that everyone says that AT&T is superior in the L.A area but I guess exact location matters too. I wouldn't want Verizon if I could barely get a signal in my house. How long ago was it when you only had one bar w/Verizon?

You lucked out and got a good plan. AT&T plans aren't that great for individuals with just one line... It will cost me around $90 a month for just 450 min w/rollover and 5,000 night and weekend minutes ($39.33), 3 gigs of data ($30), unlimited text ($20).... and it's not even unlimited minutes.

I get unlimited minutes right now with Tmobile but I have an old BB and it is super slow on 3G... Even on wifi it takes 30 seconds for a page to load etc but I'm only paying $60 a month total.

[macher]

Originally Posted by jstar002

You lucked out and got a good plan. AT&T plans aren't that great for individuals with just one line... It will cost me around $90 a month for just 450 min w/rollover and 5,000 night and weekend minutes ($39.33), 3 gigs of data ($30), unlimited text ($20).... and it's not even unlimited minutes.

I get unlimited minutes right now with Tmobile but I have an old BB and it is super slow on 3G... Even on wifi it takes 30 seconds for a page to load etc but I'm only paying $60 a month total.

Individual plan with AT&T or VZW are 'pricey'. I'm with AT&T and have a 4 line 700 minute family plan, each line has unltd LTE data, aList, mobile to any mobile, unltd family text. My bill is $192 including my employer discount and taxes. That equals to almost $50 per line. Family plans are much more cost effective.

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I have a 4 line 700 minute AT&T family plan with 3 iPhone 5 and one Android. and a individual VZW plan with an iPhone 5 provided by my work.

It depends on location. I'm in the Philly market and I can say both AT&T and VZW are pretty much equal with each having their issues. I can't say one is better or worse than the other.

One thing I notice with VZW is their LTE network seems a little thin. What I'm saying is I can be in a VZW LTE area but switch back from LTE to 3G more often than I do with AT&T. Not really a huge deal but when you switch from VZW LTE to VZW 3G, VZW 3G is horrendous. This happens more often than AT&T. I'm told it's because VZW has less cell density and or less towers and would need more towers to have this happen less.

I'll give VZW an edge with voice.

AT&T LTE is definitely more 'snappier' I notice, less hiccups.

[jstar002]

Originally Posted by macher

Individual plan with AT&T or VZW are 'pricey'. I'm with AT&T and have a 4 line 700 minute family plan, each line has unltd LTE data, aList, mobile to any mobile, unltd family text. My bill is $192 including my employer discount and taxes. That equals to almost $50 per line. Family plans are much more cost effective.[COLOR="#808080"]

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I've noticed that as well and I don't feel that's fair. Some of us don't have families. Personally I do not ever want to get married or kids and I don't have anyone else to have some "family" plan with. I'm not close to anyone in my "family" actually.

From a business point it makes sense though; of course they will want to give you a discount if you are bringing in more $ overall because it's the bottom line that counts.

[macher]

Originally Posted by jwlbel

I am in WeHo and was with AT&T for MANY MANY years. I never really had problems with AT&T but kept hearing "how much better Verizon was" so I made the mistake of changing. I was lucky to get one bar on Verizon inside my house. I got "no service" a lot of the time. Even when I was trying to call Verizon to complain the operator kept saying "I can't hear you, you are breaking up" Yes I know that is why I was calling. After a few weeks I went back to AT&T and I very happy with the choice to go back to AT&T. I was even happier when I went back to AT&T that I was able to still have my old plan with unlimited data. For coming back they gave me one year of free family texting ($30 a month). So my bill with 700 shared minutes and I have the A-list, so 10 landlines don't count against my minutes. I have two iPhone 5 with unlimited data and family unlimited text and one regular non-data phone. So with 3 phones my bill is $126.24 (that is with a FAN discount and the free text @ $30 a month for the year) With Verizon for 3 phones it would have been well over $200 and I would not have unlimited data. So I am VERY happy that I can use my phone inside my house and have no complaints with AT&T.

Get Google Voice #'s and put them in your aList.

Then get the GV Connect app and set it up to call you back.

This results in unlimited outbound and inbound calling.

The only downside is by doing this you can't have caller ID with inbound calling. We only use this method for calling land lines.