Data Plan Comparison: Unlimited Options From T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint

[M.PaulCezanne]

Just switched from AT&T to T-Mobile over the weekend. We'd been with them since the first iPhone. Had an awful time getting unlocked even though we've owned our current iPhones outright for over a year. Their phone support is worse than useless, and since we're in a major eastern city we could see no rational reason to stay.

 

[639051]

You really have to stop using the term throttle after the 22/23/28GB allotments from the carriers. Deprioritization is not a throttle, it is Quality of Service (QoS) which is apples to elephants compared to a throttle.

 

[WhoDatWayne]

With AT&T I get a free subscription to Sunday Ticket and unlimited data. T-mobile offers to subsidize DirecTV Now subscription. Not sure what incentives Verizon offers.....

How many years have you gotten the free Sunday Ticket?

 

[mmcmah]

I compared what I have now with ATT and going to their unliminted plan. While the costs would be similar, one thing I noticed is this new unlimited plan does not include Personal Hotspots. That's a deal killer.

That was my conclusion exactly. After the customer service rep offered me the "better" unlimited plan, I pointed that out, at which point he said: "I can offer you a plan with the same 30GB for $20 more per month." I was dumbfounded and asked him how that was an "option." He said I was right and asked if there was anything else I could help him with.

I said thanks but no thanks and rushed over to T-Mobile. Their network has improved tremendously since I last looked at them about 4 years ago and if you have a 700MHz capable phone, their spectrum works well too. Much faster speeds than AT&T.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

I just switched from AT&T (15 years with them) to T-Mobile. The SIM card currently is on special for $0.99.

Apparently only through phone sales though, not in stores (at least last weekend).

 

[WhoDatWayne]

Just switched from AT&T to T-Mobile over the weekend. We'd been with them since the first iPhone. Had an awful time getting unlocked even though we've owned our current iPhones outright for over a year. Their phone support is worse than useless, and since we're in a major eastern city we could see no rational reason to stay.

I am having an issue with getting wife's phone unlocked. Like you, it has been paid for over a year!

 

[mmcmah]

I am having an issue with getting wife's phone unlocked. Like you, it has been paid for over a year!

The last time I unlocked a phone with AT&T, it was much quicker to do over the phone than through their website.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

That was my conclusion exactly. After the customer service rep offered me the "better" unlimited plan, I pointed that out, at which point he said: "I can offer you a plan with the same 30GB for $20 more per month." I was dumbfounded and asked him how that was an "option." He said I was right and asked if there was anything else I could help him with.

I said thanks but no thanks and rushed over to T-Mobile. Their network has improved tremendously since I last looked at them about 4 years ago and if you have a 700MHz capable phone, their spectrum works well too. Much faster speeds than AT&T.

I still use my iPhone 6. Just ran Speedtest and got 28.51Mbps/17.29Mbps. These kinds of speeds are consistent where I am. 6s and 7 are even faster (I've seen around 35-40/20-25). AT&T was decent, but nowhere near those speeds.
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The last time I unlocked a phone with AT&T, it was much quicker to do over the phone than through their website.

Maybe that was before their phone support was pulled from the idiot bin. These people don't have a clue what they're talking about.

 

[mmcmah]

I still use my iPhone 6. Just ran Speedtest and got 28.51Mbps/17.29Mbps. These kinds of speeds are consistent where I am. 6s and 7 are even faster (I've seen around 35-40/20-25). AT&T was decent, but nowhere near those speeds.
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Maybe that was before their phone support was pulled from the idiot bin. These people don't have a clue what they're talking about.

Lol; sorry to hear that.

With respect to the speeds, I've seen T-Mobile be about 97Mbps/50Mbps on an iPhone 7. The Galaxy S7 Edge was about 115Mbps download and I can't remember the upload. T-Movile's speeds are insanely faster than AT&T. The highest I had ever seen on AT&T was about 25Mbps.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Lol; sorry to hear that.

With respect to the speeds, I've seen T-Mobile be about 97Mbps/50Mbps on an iPhone 7. The Galaxy S7 Edge was about 115Mbps download and I can't remember the upload. T-Movile's speeds are insanely faster than AT&T. The highest I had ever seen on AT&T was about 25Mbps.

Now if I could just figure out how to tether my AppleTV to my iPhone and somehow get around the 10GB cap then it's goodbye Comcast - the undisputed worst telecom company on earth! (I'm sure at least the former is possible, but I guess that's a discussion for another thread)

 

[BuffaloTF]

does verizon allow you to be on the phone and the internet at the same time? i remember hearing that wasn't possible awhile back?

You've gotten a lot of answers but nobody seems to have answered it well... it's complex.

-With VoLTE, yes. You get voice and data at the same time. Verizon offers this as a random branded name "Advanced Calling"
-On a CDMA call with a phone released in the past ~3 years, no. Easier way to figure this one out -- Any phone that offers carrier aggregation can not do both at the same time.
-On an older Android device (Galaxy S5 year and older) on a CDMA call, YES. They used the additional antenna run to use both CDMA and LTE at the same time. This extra antenna run is now what makes carrier aggregation possible - you get 2 (and now 3) separate transmissions.
-On an iPhone 5S and older, NO. Apple never used the Android method.
-On Sprint, NO. Not possible whatsoever, they have no VoLTE.

 

[mmcmah]

Now if I could just figure out how to tether my AppleTV to my iPhone and somehow get around the 10GB cap then it's goodbye Comcast - the undisputed worst telecom company on earth! (I'm sure at least the former is possible, but I guess that's a discussion for another thread)

Tethering the Apple TV should be straightforward. You can get unlimited hotspot tethering by adding the $25 One Plus International feature. The actual feature might be less not as part of that package.

I don't know how that plan feature's fine print works with respect to tethering for more than 50% of the plan use for two consecutive months.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I believe so. Canada isn't as important to me now, but it was for many years up until a couple of months ago.

The Verizon "service" in Canada is spotty anyway, particularly on the voicemail indicator on my iPhone. Point that out to Verizon, they will blame the Canadian carrier. That's when I reminded them my company was paying Verizon and not that Canadian provider. Verizon's response was the kind that helped me make my decision easier.

T-Mobile's coverage may still lag, but they appear to be hungry and trying.

Just curious how Verizon customers can even roam in Canada? Are there any CDMA carriers left up there? I read that Bell shutdown it's CDMA network for most of Canada this January. What about Mexico? Do Verizon phones in the US also work on GSM in other countries?

 

[yanksfan114]

Yea okay, att ***** on all those networks

I have ATT and even I admit it's not the best. Especially for the price.
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With AT&T I get a free subscription to Sunday Ticket and unlimited data. T-mobile offers to subsidize DirecTV Now subscription. Not sure what incentives Verizon offers.....

Mobile NFL games. And ATT Sunday ticket is only for their cable not phone plan.

 

[mmcmah]

Tethering the Apple TV should be straightforward. You can get unlimited hotspot tethering by adding the $25 One Plus International feature. The actual feature might be less not as part of that package.

I don't know how that plan feature's fine print works with respect to tethering for more than 50% of the plan use for two consecutive months.

Just looked again. The feature is described in the link: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-2384

It does not appear to have an issue with tethering for >50% of the line usage, but worth checking regardless.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

I read the first several pages of this thread and didn't see it posted. But is the Verizon 22GB cap PER LINE or for all lines combined?

My family plan is currently 6 lines and we share 30 Gigs. I typically roll over 8 Gigs per month which puts me right at 22 GB usage monthly. Two of the lines barely use any data, while two others (mine included) use 80% of the data each month.

I'm actually toying with idea of splitting off the low data users to this new plan and keeping the other two of us on a different plan. I have multiple billing addresses so can do that as necessary. But it really depends on if the 22GB is per line or total for all lines combined.

Thanks.

 

[Closingracer]

These unlimited plans are another gimmick. Most smartphone users use less than 5GB per month and will be more happy to have less expensive plans rather than pay for unlimited and use only a fraction of it.

I used 43GB with Sprint last month and averaging around 28GB per month. Even when I was with Verizon I had an 10gb plan ( or was it 8?) and was paying $150 a month for a single line and I had to basically turn off data within the first 10-15 days each billing period

 

[mmcmah]

I read the first several pages of this thread and didn't see it posted. But is the Verizon 22GB cap PER LINE or for all lines combined?

My family plan is currently 6 lines and we share 30 Gigs. I typically roll over 8 Gigs per month which puts me right at 22 GB usage monthly. Two of the lines barely use any data, while two others (mine included) use 80% of the data each month.

I'm actually toying with idea of splitting off the low data users to this new plan and keeping the other two of us on a different plan. I have multiple billing addresses so can do that as necessary. But it really depends on if the 22GB is per line or total for all lines combined.

Thanks.

I can't speak to Verizon, but having just made the switch to T-Mobile, I can say that T-Mobile's cap of 28Gb applies per line. I assume it would be the same with Verizon.

In terms of the low usage lines, T-Mobile allows you to take advantage of their Kickback feature; for each line hat uses less than 2Gb in the month, you get $10 off the bill.

 

[Zaft]

Once you get average speeds around 10mb/s its really fine for just about anything.

The real world difference between 10mb/s and 20mb/s is non existent unless your downloading huge files.

 

[WinstonRumfoord]

Old people.

I tihnk that's probably true. AT&T has been around for ages and the aging population has grown up with their name in their heads.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Old people.

hey, hey.....
but lots of experience

,,,,,,,, in ripping us off.

 

[Hitch08]

I read the first several pages of this thread and didn't see it posted. But is the Verizon 22GB cap PER LINE or for all lines combined?

My family plan is currently 6 lines and we share 30 Gigs. I typically roll over 8 Gigs per month which puts me right at 22 GB usage monthly. Two of the lines barely use any data, while two others (mine included) use 80% of the data each month.

I'm actually toying with idea of splitting off the low data users to this new plan and keeping the other two of us on a different plan. I have multiple billing addresses so can do that as necessary. But it really depends on if the 22GB is per line or total for all lines combined.

Thanks.

On Verizon, it's per line. Also, not a cap, per se.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

On Verizon, it's per line. Also, not a cap, per se.

Thank you! And I get its more of a service level threshold than a cap.

 

[Tinmania]

I have been with AT&T for last 14 years. Got UDP with iPhone and stayed this long since I could get a new iPhone subsidized every 2 years. They used to permanently throttle UDP after 2 GB usage till couple of years back. 2 GB. No hotspot. Well, I am planning to leave now that they are increasing UDP price.

T-Mobile coverage has improved a lot in last 5 years where I live, so that is one option.

Another option id ATT GoPhone plan - 4GB for $40. tax included, hotspot included. same coverage and speed. Can anyone think of any cons of going with AT&T prepaid? I haven't seen people commenting on it.

This may not be a con to you, but I always seem to get the feeling that AT&T treats prepaid customers as ugly step children.

I have been on AT&T since the iPhone came out. I'm tempted to leave as well, but I have gotten perks through the years that make it harder to do. I also try to make the best of their promotions. I just got an LG V20, which to me is a really amazing smartphone, for half price (it's priced like an iPhone 7+). For buying that phone I got a just-released LG Sport Watch for $49.95 (as opposed to $349). On top of that they gave me a bill credit of $200 and change to cover the remaining payments on my iPhone 6S (which I still have).

So I have to factor that into my decision making....



Mike

 

[zzoomp09]

I've been with AT&T since 2000 (AT&T, Cingular then AT&T again), finally decided to switch to T-Mobile in 2014. I've realized my big mistake and T-Mobile was still just on its way of improving their service at the time.

So, when AT&T and Verizon doubled their data in Oct that year, I switched again, this time to VZW. Had them for more than a year, and loved their service. Everywhere I go, there's just signal, just like Steve Jobs always says, "It just works.".

When I visited National Parks in the West, most carriers have no signal, VZW has decent if not full bars of signals on all parks I've visited.

Then decided to try T-Mobile again last year, they've improved, A LOT, but they still have a lot of dead spots in between. They're not as well engineered as VZW is when it comes to signal penetration and propagation in a lot of places in and around my metro area.

Being that I need signal all the time specially where I drive from one place to another around a 200-300 mile radius, I switched again to VZW. I got the 24GB plan for 3 lines plus 4GB bonus with a corp discount. We use over 20GB per month, and that's with trying to limit watching online videos and video calls.

So this unlimited plan works really well for us. Now we don't need to limit anything we use data with, and my bill only increased 14.20/mo, which I made other members of our plan pay for it. Lol