Carrier Anyone Tempted by Sprint 1/2 Price Plan Offer?

[Technarchy]

I'm very content with AT&T and would not consider Sprint at this time.

I had Sprint for 11 years and coverage was actually very good. I could even get signal out by the dunes and in the desert where I should.

Their weak spot at the time was utterly abysmal 3g and their crap Wimax 4g service; it was complete ****. Also their frequencies were terrible at penetrating buildings.

Now it's a whole new game. They have way better frequencies, better infrastructure, and real LTE 4G.

If you have spark in your city, check them out and see if it works for you.

 

[bushman4]

Sprints Network has the worst coverage overall in the U.S. according to Consumer Reports. My personal experience backs this up. While they have improved their towers they still have a lot to do.
If you want service regardless where you are, Sprint is not for you.

 

[KPOM]

No one who doesn't already have one can get a Verizon UDP line any more unless you can buy one and sneak it through on an AOL. The Verizon official policy does not even allow you to do that.

----------

Grandfathered plan that is unobtainable now so irrelevant to this discussion. You can't even officially AOL one of those even if you buy it from someone.

It's relevant to the extent that Sprint's CYBIH offer would theoretically give a Verizon customer with a UPD unlimited everything (voice, text, and data) for half what they are currently paying VZW. Heck, if you convert a UDP to the loyalty plan, in theory Sprint would sell you an unlimited everything plan for $22.50/month. You have to pay full price for the phone, but you need to do that to keep a UDP on VZW anyway, so whether or Sprint's network is comparable to Verizon's in one's area is directly relevant.

I was quoted $26.50 to port my AT&T UDP to Sprint. AT&T still lets us get subsidized upgrades if we are willing to accept locked phones so on a per-month basis it would be about the same price if I switched, though I'd get unlimited minutes and text. That said, in my real-world tests at home and the office on Sprint today (using a one-day pass on my iPad Air 2, which is compatible with Sprint Spark in my Spark-enabled city) I was barely getting 1Mb/s on Sprint's LTE network while both Verizon and particularly AT&T were significantly faster (12-25 Mb/s). So I'm keeping my AT&T plan for now.

 

[JulesJam]

You have to pay full price for the phone, but you need to do that to keep a UDP on VZW anyway

No you don't - read the wiki:

http://slickdeals.net/f/6964624-upgrade-and-keep-your-unlimited-data-with-verizon

 

[eyoungren]

Sprints Network has the worst coverage overall in the U.S. according to Consumer Reports. My personal experience backs this up. While they have improved their towers they still have a lot to do.
If you want service regardless where you are, Sprint is not for you.

I have to take issue with that.

Consumer Reports is not the paragon of unbiased reporting that it used to be. Despite what it reports, Sprint is actually very good in some places. There are many users with personal experience on MR that have reported the exact opposite of your personal experience.

Even in my own market which I disparage Sprint over frequently, Sprint has some places where LTE is good, even on Band 25 which is all my iPhone 5 is capable of.

 

[KPOM]

No you don't - read the wiki:

http://slickdeals.net/f/6964624-upgrade-and-keep-your-unlimited-data-with-verizon

I should have said absent loopholes or having a second account with a TDP. A lot of us with UDPs on AT&T and Verizon have individual accounts. The Best Buy method is fairly straightforward but still is a loophole.

 

[JulesJam]

I should have said absent loopholes or having a second account with a TDP. A lot of us with UDPs on AT&T and Verizon have individual accounts.

You can use the Best Buy Method or the UDVZWIP4 Method to upgrade a Verizon individual UDP line. These methods have worked for a couple of years now and thousands of people have used them to successfully purchase subsidized phones and keep their UDP.

 

[KPOM]

You can use the Best Buy Method or the UDVZWIP4 Method to upgrade a Verizon individual UDP line. These methods have worked for a couple of years now and thousands of people have used them to successfully purchase subsidized phones and keep their UDP.

Since we're on an iPhone forum the "Best Buy" method is the most relevant to most posters here. But the difference with Sprint is that you are getting a sanctioned UDP that you don't need to worry about accidentally losing or having a nosy CSR mess up at a later point (which at the very least wastes time). If Sprint had a better network (and they certainly have the available spectrum) it would be worth considering, particularly since the CYBIH promotion gives everyone unlimited talk and text no matter what they had on AT&T or Verizon. In my case, it's a virtual wash compared to my AT&T UDP except for the unlimited minutes, but since AT&T still has rollover minutes and Retentions liberally gives them away I decided to stick with AT&T since their network is noticeably better than Sprint's where I use the phone most.

With Apple's slow but relentless war on the SIM card we may lose these loopholes in the future eventually even if Verizon continues to turn a blind eye to it. The Apple SIM in the iPad is the next phase of this. Apple says the Apple SIM won't be coming to the iPhone anytime soon and as long as most people buy their phones through their carriers I agree, but I think they are looking to subtly promote the idea of selling a single model not connected to any carrier and have customers select their own carriers at their convenience, and then move to an electronic "SIM" that can be "transferred" to a new device virtually.

 

[JulesJam]

Since we're on an iPhone forum the "Best Buy" method is the most relevant to most posters here.

Not everyone gets their iPhone directly from Apple.

 

[Nerdface Killah]

Not at all. Their lte in Hawaii is so spotty it wouldn't be worth it.