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Resolved Debating on switching to Verizon. Got some questions.

Cody21

Cody21

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 9, 2012
544
0
Knoxville, TN
So I'm thinking of switching to Verizon once the iPhone 5S is released, but I have a couple questions. How are the 4G LTE speeds? Is Verizon pretty good in terms of service?

btw, I currently have service with AT&T.
 
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Cody21 said:
So I'm thinking of switching to Verizon once the iPhone 5S is released, but I have a couple questions. How are the 4G LTE speeds? Is Verizon pretty good in terms of service?

btw, I currently have service with AT&T.
Click to expand...

1. Verizon does not have 4G. They have 3G and then LTE.

2. I'm in Washington DC and my Verizon service is just as good as ATT. I had ATT for over six years. I moved to Verizon with the i5

3. The LTE network with Verizon is very fast, way after than my home WiFi. Even their 3G network is fine.

The one thing I do miss is not being able to use voice and data at the same time. For instance if I'm speaking with someone and want to send a text or photo I can't. I also cannot look something up on the internet while speaking on the phone (you can but it must be via WiFi). And, yes...for those who ask I did use those features often with my iPhone on ATT. But, I wanted the LTE network. It's a tradeoff.
 
Verizons 3G networks is a turtle compared to AT&T's 3G HPSA+.
Verizons LTE speeds are fast but if there is AT&T LTE in your area then they're both comparable.
Also you can talk and use data on AT&T. Not sure if on the next iphone model it will be possible with Verizon but it is a deal breaker for many.
 
Applejuiced said:
Verizons 3G networks is a turtle compared to AT&T's 3G HPSA+.
Verizons LTE speeds are fast but if there is AT&T LTE in your area then they're both comparable.
Also you can talk and use data on AT&T. Not sure if on the next iphone model it will be possible with Verizon but it is a deal breaker for many.
Click to expand...

In Washington DC Verizon's LTE network is much faster than ATT's LTE network. Three of my family members have ATT's LTE and we tested it several times. My Verizon iPhone is much faster.
 
Hankster said:
In Washington DC Verizon's LTE network is much faster than ATT's LTE network. Three of my family members have ATT's LTE and we tested it several times. My Verizon iPhone is much faster.
Click to expand...

In my area AT&T's is way faster than verizons LTE. So obviously it varies by location.
 

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We travel a lot. In my experience att lte beats verizon in the majority of locations. I can't speak for DC, but boston, Los Angeles, Dan Diego, Des Moines, Chicago, att has verizon beat in general.

One thing to note is that in every day use, they are going to feel pretty comparable. On most websites something like 5 megabit versus 10 megabit is going to generally feel the same when loading on a smartphone, as an example.
 
Cody21 said:
I'm getting speeds like this consistently in my area too.
Click to expand...

What's the reason you're thinking about switching?

lordofthereef said:
We travel a lot. In my experience att lte beats verizon in the majority of locations. I can't speak for DC, but boston, Los Angeles, Dan Diego, Des Moines, Chicago, att has verizon beat in general.

One thing to note is that in every day use, they are going to feel pretty comparable. On most websites something like 5 megabit versus 10 megabit is going to generally feel the same when loading on a smartphone, as an example.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
On every day use weather you're loading websites, streaming audio or video you will not notice any difference weather you're pulling 20, 30 or 45mbps.
Its mostly for bragging rights:D
 
Applejuiced said:
What's the reason you're thinking about switching?
Click to expand...

The main reason is I travel constantly about 1 hour and 15 minutes away to an area that only has Edge. I hate bearing through the sloooooowww speed of Edge while I'm there, and the WiFi is almost just as slow. I know for sure though that Verizon has 3G in that area.
 
lordofthereef said:
We travel a lot. In my experience att lte beats verizon in the majority of locations. I can't speak for DC, but boston, Los Angeles, Dan Diego, Des Moines, Chicago, att has verizon beat in general.

One thing to note is that in every day use, they are going to feel pretty comparable. On most websites something like 5 megabit versus 10 megabit is going to generally feel the same when loading on a smartphone, as an example.
Click to expand...

Do you have access to both an ATT and Verizon iPhone 5 during all these city visits?

All I know is my wife and I both moved to Verizon with the i5. My father, mother and sister-in-law have the ATT i5. More than a few times we tested site load times and my iPhone loaded at least 3-4 seconds faster than theirs.

If I recall ATT's network is faster but has less coverage. But, at the same time it gets bogged down thus being slower. I always liked ATT, but for certain areas in DC ATT has no service. My wife's job there is no ATT signal. At the ballpark (Nationals Park) Verizon works all the time but ATT does not. At Verizon Center (Capitals and Wizards) ATT does not work at all but Verizon works fine even with a full house during games.

Really, if ATT worked at my wife's office we would probably still be on ATT.
 
Cody21 said:
The main reason is I travel constantly about 1 hour and 15 minutes away to an area that only has Edge. I hate bearing through the sloooooowww speed of Edge while I'm there, and the WiFi is almost just as slow. I know for sure though that Verizon has 3G in that area.
Click to expand...

Makes sense.
If you frequent a specific area with slow data speeds find out if another carriers network has better performance there.
But Verizon 3G is fast in some areas with around 2mbps and other places as slow as 0.5mbps or less. So not sure if it will be worth the switch for minimal improvement in speed.
Also depends on how much time you spend at that edge only area, if its a little here and there is not worth switching if its most of your usage getting stuck with edge then its worth the switch.
Only you can decide but also ask others what kind of service and speeds they get there with other carriers.
 
Hankster said:
Do you have access to both an ATT and Verizon iPhone 5 during all these city visits?
Click to expand...

In general I do. My wife travels with me almost always. We have never been to the DC arra, so i cant comment. I completely beliece your ezperience, by the way. I was just stating my own. But the take home point is that even when there is a variance (and there often is) it really isn't noticable to the point that I would say choose one over te other. I will be honest. We also don't spend out entire time mashing the speed test app. It's just something we had noticed in general. Would I pick att over verizon because of it? No. I'm just happy with my unlimited data, which is mostly why I stick with att.
 
Applejuiced said:
Makes sense.
If you frequent a specific area with slow data speeds find out if another carriers network has better performance there.
But Verizon 3G is fast in some areas with around 2mbps and other places as slow as 0.5mbps or less. So not sure if it will be worth the switch for minimal improvement in speed.
Also depends on how much time you spend at that edge only area, if its a little here and there is not worth switching if its most of your usage getting stuck with edge then its worth the switch.
Only you can decide but also ask others what kind of service and speeds they get there with other carriers.
Click to expand...

You're onto something here. I'm only there about 2-3 weekends a month, basically I get there on Fridays and leave early sunday. I guess it really wouldn't make much sense to switch considering I'm around LTE most of the time. Probably should have done a little more thinking into it before I asked, but it just slipped my mind.
 
lordofthereef said:
We travel a lot. In my experience att lte beats verizon in the majority of locations. I can't speak for DC, but boston, Los Angeles, Dan Diego, Des Moines, Chicago, att has verizon beat in general.

One thing to note is that in every day use, they are going to feel pretty comparable. On most websites something like 5 megabit versus 10 megabit is going to generally feel the same when loading on a smartphone, as an example.
Click to expand...

I live in San Diego and Verizon is faster.

My friend (on AT&T) and I bought our phones at the time and we are always running our Speedtest application to see who wins. Sometimes his is faster, but most of the time my speed is better than his. When we test indoors, there is no contest - mine is always faster (way faster).
 
Elvergun said:
I live in San Diego and Verizon is faster.

My friend (on AT&T) and I bought our phones at the time and we are always running our Speedtest application to see who wins. Sometimes his is faster, but most of the time my speed is better than his. When we test indoors, there is no contest - mine is always faster (way faster).
Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks for the input. :)
 
Hankster said:
1. Verizon does not have 4G. They have 3G and then LTE.

2. I'm in Washington DC and my Verizon service is just as good as ATT. I had ATT for over six years. I moved to Verizon with the i5

3. The LTE network with Verizon is very fast, way after than my home WiFi. Even their 3G network is fine.

The one thing I do miss is not being able to use voice and data at the same time. For instance if I'm speaking with someone and want to send a text or photo I can't. I also cannot look something up on the internet while speaking on the phone (you can but it must be via WiFi). And, yes...for those who ask I did use those features often with my iPhone on ATT. But, I wanted the LTE network. It's a tradeoff.
Click to expand...

LTE is 4G. LTE is part of the fourth generation network. Don't be confused by the false 4G indicator when an AT&T iPhone is in an HSPA+ area. HSPA+ is really just an advance 3G network.


As for the OP, Verizon's LTE network is the best network available. It has the most coverage and it has the most reliable speeds. AT&T has the potential to be faster than Verizon in certain areas due to a less congested network, but Verizon has the best potential coverage for the continental USA. They have 22MHz for 48 states where as AT&T has only 10MHz in certain areas like Southern California. That's a good reason why AT&T LTE can be unreliable in SoCal.

Check your location and see what type of spectrum AT&T has in your area. Or just go with Verizon and save yourself the hassle.
 
I stayed with ATT with my iPhone 5 instead of joining our Verizon family plan solely for the simultaneous voice/data. Otherwise Verizon has much more comprehensive coverage (both 3G and LTE) for our area. I can't give up the simultaneous voice/data but I put up with LOTS of dropped calls while the rest of my family on Verizon iPhones never drop their calls! I really wish the simultaneous voice/data was available with Verizon iPhone but this doesn't seem to be a priority for either Apple or Verizon.
 
koigirl said:
I stayed with ATT with my iPhone 5 instead of joining our Verizon family plan solely for the simultaneous voice/data. Otherwise Verizon has much more comprehensive coverage (both 3G and LTE) for our area. I can't give up the simultaneous voice/data but I put up with LOTS of dropped calls while the rest of my family on Verizon iPhones never drop their calls! I really wish the simultaneous voice/data was available with Verizon iPhone but this doesn't seem to be a priority for either Apple or Verizon.
Click to expand...

No voice/data at the same time is a Apple iP5 issue not a Verizon issue unfortunately.
 
Diseal3 said:
No voice/data at the same time is a Apple iP5 issue not a Verizon issue unfortunately.
Click to expand...

This is true.

Every other 4G phone on Verizon allows this, even the crappy Pantech Breakout, LG Lucid, or HTC Rezound offers this basic functionality.

Apple is too focused on thin to make better.






As for the service, go with Verizon, it can't be beat.
 
Do you actually use your phone as a phone? The reason I switched from ATT to Verizon was because I couldn't hold a call for one mile without dropping it on ATT. With Verizon, while on a conference call I drove from Cheyenne WY to Denver CO without losing the call once.

if you actually talk on the phone this is a no-brainer.
 
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