iPhone on Virgin Mobile USA?

[Cursor]

Just wondering what people's experiences were with the iPhone on Virgin Mobile USA?

What download speeds were you getting?

Is MMS and FaceTime supported?

Any other information (pros/cons) you could supply would be helpful.

I'm currently with VM USA and am interested in the iPhone 5, whenever it comes out.

Thanks for any replies.

[nburwell]

I had VM US for about a month with the 4S. The voice and data coverage were absolutely awful. Data speeds were pretty much nonexistent since they essentially piggyback off of Sprint's network. I ultimately left VM and went to ST until the 5 came out and went back to AT&T.

They do support MMS. I can't comment on Facetime since I never use it.

[Cursor]

Originally Posted by nburwell

I had VM US for about a month with the 4S. The voice and data coverage were absolutely awful. Data speeds were pretty much nonexistent since they essentially piggyback off of Sprint's network. I ultimately left VM and went to ST until the 5 came out and went back to AT&T.

They do support MMS. I can't comment on Facetime since I never use it.

Wow! Were you using it in Philadelphia? I'm closer to central PA, but travel to Phila. and South Jersey a lot. This is making me rethink buying it with VM. What was your experience with Straight Talk? Did they have decent speeds and support MMS? Any other pros/cons? I'm guessing you had to buy another phone that worked with ST?

[KoukiFC3S]

http://i.imgur.com/9LLoc.jpg

Here are my speeds on VM.

I have had it for 3 weeks, and while it can be slow, the speeds are sufficient for youtube, gps, and social network apps. As you can see in the pic I used up 3GB in 3 weeks, and that's with wifi at home.
I did 2 facetime calls over cellular and both went smoothly.

Voice and sms also work great. I clocked in about 3 hours of calls.

If your area is scheduled to get the sprint network vision you will be able to use the increased data speeds on virgin as well.

In conclusion, if you have decent sprint coverage, then virgin will work just as well for you.

[Cursor]

Originally Posted by KoukiFC3S

http://i.imgur.com/9LLoc.jpg

Here are my speeds on VM.

I have had it for 3 weeks, and while it can be slow, the speeds are sufficient for youtube, gps, and social network apps. As you can see in the pic I used up 3GB in 3 weeks, and that's with wifi at home.
I did 2 facetime calls over cellular and both went smoothly.

Voice and sms also work great. I clocked in about 3 hours of calls.

If your area is scheduled to get the sprint network vision you will be able to use the increased data speeds on virgin as well.

In conclusion, if you have decent sprint coverage, then virgin will work just as well for you.

Good to know. Those speeds seem slow, but I'd be using primarily GPS and MMS mostly 3G or 4G service. Thanks!

[TacticalDesire]

Sprints 3G network (what virgin mobile uses) isn't exactly fast but it should be adequate for moderate smartphone usage (social networks, google searches, the occasional download or music video etc.). I don't think you should have any issues with coverage being on the east coast.

[ValerieDurden]

Originally Posted by TacticalDesire

Sprints 3G network (what virgin mobile uses) isn't exactly fast but it should be adequate for moderate smartphone usage (social networks, google searches, the occasional download or music video etc.). I don't think you should have any issues with coverage being on the east coast.

With Network Vision the 3G speeds are improving, I have only been with Sprint for a week now but I am averaging 1.3-1.5Mbps and in certain areas over 2Mbps which is not bad considering the max for CDMA is 3.1Mbps. I have no issue with facebook, browsing the web or streaming audio/video it's quick enough for everything I do and with LTE coming in my area soon it will only get better.

[nburwell]

Originally Posted by Cursor

Wow! Were you using it in Philadelphia? I'm closer to central PA, but travel to Phila. and South Jersey a lot. This is making me rethink buying it with VM. What was your experience with Straight Talk? Did they have decent speeds and support MMS? Any other pros/cons? I'm guessing you had to buy another phone that worked with ST?

Yes, I used it in and around Philadelphia. Even when I traveled up to Rhode Island for a wedding, the entire way up there the data was absolutely awful. I would tread cautiously if you're still considering VM.

On the other hand, I absolutely loved ST. Data, voice, and pretty much everything worked the way it should on my 4S. I had to sacrifice visual voice mail and MMS (if the other person didn't have an iPhone). But if you can get past that, then I would highly recommend them. I only switched back to AT&T because I didn't know when the 5 would come to ST (and now coincidentally, it's available).

[Cursor]

Thanks for all of the tips. I have a lot of thinking to do between Virgin Mobile (who doesn't even have the iPhone 5 yet) and StraightTalk. Both seem to have opposite plusses and minuses.