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AT&T vs VZ 4G LTE consideration - VZ has 200+ 4G LTE Markets

A

aka777

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 13, 2012
878
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Something to consider when choosing between the AT&T or VZ LTE iPad.

You've come a long way, Big Red. For a network that launched a little over a year ago, VZW's LTE service is about to hit a high water mark, blanketing 203 markets come tomorrow's planned expansion to an additional seven territories. But the nation's top wireless dog isn't taking this milestone as a moment of respite; the carrier's aiming to double its current footprint by end-of-year 2012, boosting its tally to a potential 400-plus areas. As for the grand honor of being the 200th to come under the operator's 4G breadth, well, that distinction goes to a little town by the name of Dothan, Alabama. Sadly for those local folks, no festivities, fireworks or even service discounts are planned. Check out the PR after the break for the full list of cities joining the 700MHz brigade.
Click to expand...

vzw-lte-map.jpg


http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/14/verizon-aims-to-double-4g-coverage/
 
I wanted to stay with ATT, but I only get their Edge and Old data networks. Maybe in a couple of years it'll go to 4G. Verizon is pretty much saturated and they have the most coverage in my area.
 
the vz connection made more sense, 4g+ wifi to use when not using 4g. I wont want 3g. It'll be like using dialup after using high speed.
 
It was a pretty easy consideration for me.

Despite living in an area with Verizon LTE coverage (Seattle area) it is unavailable almost everywhere I would want to use my iPad that didn't have WiFi coverage anyway. I know this from using an HTC Thunderbolt as a secondary phone/hotspot.

For everywhere else I would wind up being on Verizon 3G which is close to useless around here. I'd rather AT&T 3G/HSPA+ performance pretty much everywhere than LTE in a few places and being saddled with Verizon's 3G in most places.

I'm seeing about 5Mb/s on my iPhone 4S vs. about 300-700Kbs on Verizon 3G. Given that Verizon LTE is good for about 8Mb/s outside of some very specific spots here (I got a 20Mb/s peak once) my average data rates are still going to be much higher with AT&T than on Verizon.

If that changes ... I'll just buy another one.
 
Anyone have any idea how far out the signals reach outside of these markets? I plan on being in Vero Beach, Florida in a few weeks - about 100 miles north of West Palm Beach, which has LTE coverage. Any chance we'll have LTE in Vero?
 
randymac88 said:
Anyone have any idea how far out the signals reach outside of these markets? I plan on being in Vero Beach, Florida in a few weeks - about 100 miles north of West Palm Beach, which has LTE coverage. Any chance we'll have LTE in Vero?
Click to expand...

http://network4g.verizonwireless.com/#/coverage has a pretty good map showing where the coverage spots are and the extended coverage spots are. You have to enter in an address that has LTE to show it, otherwise, the default map that you can click on without an address tells you basically nothing.
 
In Arizona, AT&T only has 3G in the PHX, Tucson, and Flagstaff areas. They are Edge everywhere else in the state. VZW has 3G everywhere you have coverage, with LTE in Phx and Tucson. Even though AT&T 3G may be faster than EVDO, having EVDO in more places, even if slightly slower, outweighs having AT&T 3G in very limited areas in the state. This is why I've gone with VZW on my last iPad and this one.

Your state mileage may vary!
 
In Hawaii, there is no AT&T LTE and it's not announced to be coming anytime soon. Also, during any normal times of congestion (both rush hours, when anything exciting or weather-related happens) AT&T data almost completely cuts off. I'm going Verizon this time around. The 3G may be slower but it's much more reliable, and the LTE will be really fun.
 
VZW 4G LTE coverage is on the map where I live, but I have yet to connect to 4G LTE in my house. It is very spotty for being one of the cities that supposed to have VZW 4G LTE coverage. I own a VZW 4G LTE mifi that I use with my iPad 2... and had VZW mifi's since they first came out with the 3G version. Verizon 3G is slow, but I generally have a signal when I travel, but the thing that annoys me is the lag time when 4G switches to 3G... and the other way around. That's when I pull out my AT&T iPhone to check email and browse till it switches. I don't mind using my AT&T iPhone while I'm waiting... since my AT&T 3G is pretty fast. Sometimes I just turn off my mifi if it's switching to 3G... since VZW 3G is slower. That's one of the nice things of having data from 2 different providers.:)
 
I chose Verizon because it covered most of the mid and east coast. I live in NYC, Verizon covered it all. And Verizon offer free personal hotspot.

Oh, and Verizon had the right plan that fits me.

1GB $20
 
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Living and always being within metro LA, choosing between LA and VZW isn't really a big deal. I have both a 4G LTE hotspot fro AT&T and VZW and I can achieve 20MBps from the same areas. However, I am hoping that AT&T will offer free hotspot with the new iPad to compete with VZW's. Or else I can always use my hotspots.
 
I love how this thread poses a question AND argues for one side with just the title. Biased much? Work for Verizon much too? If not, you should call them and apply.

Every carrier has good and bad traits, just the same as every carrier has areas with great reception and areas that don't get a single bar. I always tell my customers to consider where their travels take them and make a decision accordingly. TV ads, friend/family recommendations, posts in a forum (lol), none of these things really matter when you're making this decision. Verizon could have the fastest 4G in the freakin' universe, but if you don't get reception where you need to use it then what difference does it make?
 
dell who? said:
I love how this thread poses a question AND argues for one side with just the title. Biased much? Work for Verizon much too? If not, you should call them and apply.

Every carrier has good and bad traits, just the same as every carrier has areas with great reception and areas that don't get a single bar. I always tell my customers to consider where their travels take them and make a decision accordingly. TV ads, friend/family recommendations, posts in a forum (lol), none of these things really matter when you're making this decision. Verizon could have the fastest 4G in the freakin' universe, but if you don't get reception where you need to use it then what difference does it make?
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Agree, who ever stuck with whether AT&T or Verizon are good, just go to their site and check the place that you often use data and see the coverage difference.
 
Xscapes said:
Agree, who ever stuck with whether AT&T or Verizon are good, just go to their site and check the place that you often use data and see the coverage difference.
Click to expand...

From a coverage standpoint, this is great advice.

The plans are kind of annoying in that they flipflop which is cheaper based on what you use.

The wildcard is what happens if/when one or the other offers shared data later in the year. A bit easier to take advantage if your ipad is on the same carrier as your phone service.... :D But of course no telling if this will happen or when.
 
iMaven said:
I wanted to stay with ATT, but I only get their Edge and Old data networks. Maybe in a couple of years it'll go to 4G. Verizon is pretty much saturated and they have the most coverage in my area.
Click to expand...

Then Verizon is the better choice.

I don't have LTE available where i live for ATT, but do for Verizon. I went with ATT again, though, because I currently have an unlimited plan with my 1st generation. And until LTE is available, the HSPA+ available here is still faster than what I currently get. If it hadn't been for my plan, though, I probably would have gone verizon.
 
I live in one of those solid red areas and had two Verizon Thunderbolts. LTE coverge SUCKED! When it worked, it was lightning fast. But more often than not it would continuously cycle between 3G and 4G, making it unusable. And reverting to 3G was painfully slow. My AT&T iPad was a lot faster and reliable. Several calls to Verizon tech support were fruitless. I dumped the Bolts for AT&T iPhones and couldn't be happier with HSPA.
 
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Torq said:
It was a pretty easy consideration for me.

Despite living in an area with Verizon LTE coverage (Seattle area) it is unavailable almost everywhere I would want to use my iPad that didn't have WiFi coverage anyway. I know this from using an HTC Thunderbolt as a secondary phone/hotspot.

For everywhere else I would wind up being on Verizon 3G which is close to useless around here. I'd rather AT&T 3G/HSPA+ performance pretty much everywhere than LTE in a few places and being saddled with Verizon's 3G in most places.

I'm seeing about 5Mb/s on my iPhone 4S vs. about 300-700Kbs on Verizon 3G. Given that Verizon LTE is good for about 8Mb/s outside of some very specific spots here (I got a 20Mb/s peak once) my average data rates are still going to be much higher with AT&T than on Verizon.

If that changes ... I'll just buy another one.
Click to expand...

I live in seattle, where are places without lte? I ordered one for my mom
And if lte is bad we might swap it out
 
Ozy said:
In Arizona, AT&T only has 3G in the PHX, Tucson, and Flagstaff areas. They are Edge everywhere else in the state. VZW has 3G everywhere you have coverage, with LTE in Phx and Tucson. Even though AT&T 3G may be faster than EVDO, having EVDO in more places, even if slightly slower, outweighs having AT&T 3G in very limited areas in the state. This is why I've gone with VZW on my last iPad and this one.

Your state mileage may vary!
Click to expand...

check this out

http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/02/at-tests-show-blistering-speeds-up-to-40mbps/

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1745108-AT-amp-T-LTE-Service-in-Phoenix-AZ
 
Noticed this on howard forums using VZ LTE

gXryt.png


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redman042 said:
I thought about that, but went with AT&T. Why?

- Even in the covered cities, there will be lots of coverage holes until the tech matures.
- Without LTE, you'll fall back to existing 3G, and for 3G AT&T is massively faster than Verizon (around 5 mbps vs 1.5 mbps on an iPhone 4/4s or iPad 2/3)
Click to expand...


This is true.

For myself, I found that even though AT&T advertises HSPA+, I was only ever able to reach speed close to 5MB at around 3am. During the day it hovers at between 0.2MB to 1.3MB DL and is practically useless during peak hour.
 
aka777 said:
Noticed this on howard forums using VZ LTE

Image

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This is true.

For myself, I found that even though AT&T advertises HSPA+, I was only ever able to reach speed close to 5MB at around 3am. During the day it hovers at between 0.2MB to 1.3MB DL and is practically useless during peak hour.
Click to expand...

If wireless can be THIS fast, why can't DSL be faster than 6 Mbps or so?
 
redman042 said:
I thought about that, but went with AT&T. Why?

- Even in the covered cities, there will be lots of coverage holes until the tech matures.
- Without LTE, you'll fall back to existing 3G, and for 3G AT&T is massively faster than Verizon (around 5 mbps vs 1.5 mbps on an iPhone 4/4s or iPad 2/3)
Click to expand...

And I make this counterpoint:
- Any connection and Verizon's 3G speeds is better than no connection when AT&T's towers are overloaded.
 
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