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From Verizon to AT&T soon...Question?

Eminemdrdre00

Eminemdrdre00

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 10, 2008
698
650
Hey guys, I just want to say that I just purchased my first Apple product...got the 20" iMac last Friday, 2.6 Model with 4gb of RAM and a 500gb HD. I LOVE IT! Now Im looking to finally swich to an iPhone! I called Verizon today to see when my 2 year contract is finally up...its August 28th. He asked why I wanted to leave and I told him I wanted the iPhone (he tried to talk me into the LG Dare lol). Anyway my question is...Do I have to go to the AT&T store right on the 28th when my Verizon contract is up? I want to transfer my number, is there a holding process...or do I lose my number when I cancel my contract? This may not be the best place to ask, but Im sure there have been many switchers here over the past year that may have had a similiar experience. Thanks a lot!
 
Eminemdrdre00 said:
Hey guys, I just want to say that I just purchased my first Apple product...got the 20" iMac last Friday, 2.6 Model with 4gb of RAM and a 500gb HD. I LOVE IT! Now Im looking to finally swich to an iPhone! I called Verizon today to see when my 2 year contract is finally up...its August 28th. He asked why I wanted to leave and I told him I wanted the iPhone (he tried to talk me into the LG Dare lol). Anyway my question is...Do I have to go to the AT&T store right on the 28th when my Verizon contract is up? I want to transfer my number, is there a holding process...or do I lose my number when I cancel my contract? This may not be the best place to ask, but Im sure there have been many switchers here over the past year that may have had a similiar experience. Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

I'm a former Verizon customer. The pleasure you have right now with calls not dropping and clear service goes away with AT&T. Stay with Verizon if you care about call quality. AT&T has always blown. Verizon works in the subway. The fricken SUBWAY, underground.
 
Carpe Deez said:
I'm a former Verizon customer. The pleasure you have right now with calls not dropping and clear service goes away with AT&T. Stay with Verizon if you care about call quality. AT&T has always blown. Verizon works in the subway. The fricken SUBWAY, underground.
Click to expand...

I'm a former Verizon customer. I could claim AT&T is much better then Verizon, because that has been my experience with AT&T. I could say how I get 3 bars at home, where with Verizon I got no service.

But that would be pretty meaningless to you because you shouldn't care about coverage where I live(unless we live close) but where you live(/travel to often)

Check the maps, ask people with AT&T near you, then you can get a good picture.

The iPhone is wonderful too!
 
Carpe Deez said:
The fricken SUBWAY, underground.
Click to expand...

That's probably a paid contract where they put verizon only cells down there. I know that's how it works in DC.

Anyway, you'll be fine with the number. I'm fairly sure you won't need to cancel your plan until you get the new phone.
 
Thanks for the replies guys! Yeah Im not worried about AT&Ts coverage. Its actually very good here where I live, my friends have AT&T and I make sure to look @ their phones when they're here, they usually have full bars!
 
Eminemdrdre00 said:
Hey guys, I just want to say that I just purchased my first Apple product...got the 20" iMac last Friday, 2.6 Model with 4gb of RAM and a 500gb HD. I LOVE IT! Now Im looking to finally swich to an iPhone! I called Verizon today to see when my 2 year contract is finally up...its August 28th. He asked why I wanted to leave and I told him I wanted the iPhone (he tried to talk me into the LG Dare lol). Anyway my question is...Do I have to go to the AT&T store right on the 28th when my Verizon contract is up? I want to transfer my number, is there a holding process...or do I lose my number when I cancel my contract? This may not be the best place to ask, but Im sure there have been many switchers here over the past year that may have had a similiar experience. Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

I just switched from verizon and here is what I did. My verizon contract was up on Fri 7/25.. I went to an Apple Store in an NJ mall & bought my iphone on 7/18 (They happened to have them in stock). I took a brand new AT&T phone number when I activated the phone in the store. (because I knew att network was worse than verizon) So from the 18th-26th I had 2 phones: My iphone and my verizon phone. I even ported my verizon # to my iphone so I was just using that, you cant port txts tho. After the 12 day "trial" I realized that the att service is actually better than verizon in my area. On Sat 7/26 I called AT&T after my verizon contract was up and ported my verizon # over. You have 30 days to port a # onto a new att line, you should use this time as a "trial" to see if you like the service.

Get an iphone and use it in the wild before you fully commit.
 
Instead of creating a new thread I thought I would ask this here.

I also came from Verizon (using a Treo 700p) to an iPhone 3G.

On Verizon they had a facility to update the PRL (Preferred Roaming list) with AT&T do we need to do this? If so how?

Here is how it was done on Verizon.

Updating Preferred Roaming List(PRL)

Verizon Wireless is constantly advancing its roaming technology to provide you with superior roaming capabilities. By updating your PRL every few weeks, you can be sure you have access to our enhancements. As a result you may experience:

* Longer battery life
* Fewer dropped or blocked calls
* Clear, crisp connections in more areas across the United States
* Ability to connect to the digital network in more parts of the country

Instructions for updating your PRL:

1. Power on your phone within any Verizon Wireless digital service area.
2. Dial *228 and then press SEND (this call is airtime free).
3. When prompted, press option 2 to update your phone's roaming capabilities
(the update may take up to 2 minutes).
4. Once completed, a confirmation message will appear to inform you that your phone has been re-programmed with the new PRL.
 
Yes, you'll lose the old number if you cancel your Verizon account before you activate your new iPhone.

If you wait till your Verizon contract expires, you can have the number ported when you pick up your new iPhone at the Apple or AT&T store. When they port your number, your Verizon account will be automatically cancelled.

I picked up my iPhone a few days before my contract ended, so I didn't port my number when I got my phone. I called 611 after my contract ended and had them port my old Verizon number. It took about 5 minutes.
 
I was with verizon for 4 years until July 11th, when i switched to at&t for iphone 3g, AT&T service sucks ass in small cities, and where i was living was a deadzone, i was mad so i returned iphone 3g and got sprint samsung instinct, now i have 4 bars, never missed a txt or have dropped calls. VERIZON call quality is #1 then SPRINT then AT&T, that's my experience.
 
Had Verizon for like 7 years and switch to AT&T for the iphone on July 11. AT&Ts service sucks really bad compared to verizon everywhere I've used it. And I live in the DC metro area - decent size metro area! AT&T is pretty good in the metro area itself (but there are still areas that are spotty), but go outside the metro area and I'm LUCKY to get 2 bars on edge, but mostly 1 bar (which I can't use for data - haven't tried too much voice with the 1 bar) and no service. I work in southern maryland, and I literally count my blessings if anything will load whatsoever any further than 5-10 miles south of the beltway.

The lack of service is annoying, but it's worth it for the phone, honestly, because I really don't do much talking. I am waiting for the day I break down and "need" it and I don't have service though, that's going to piss me off. I actually thought about keeping a cheap verizon contract with my old phone just for emergencies, lol, it's that bad. I used to be the guy where everyone would say "I have no service" and I would ALWAYS proudly have service no matter where in the country I was. Seriously. Now I'm the idiot who has the "fancy phone" that "wow, that doesn't have turn-by-turn navigation? are you kidding?" and "so, your fancy phone doesn't have any service?" Heh.

But, back to your original question... I was on month-to-month on my verizon account for a while, and I just ported my number at the apple store, and evidently, porting your number automatically cancels your verizon account. (I called to cancel a few days later and they told me it was already canceled because I ported my number). So my advice is to wait until after your contract it up, don't say anything to verizon, go get your iphone, port your number, and it will automatically cancel your verizon account. You can call them after to confirm. If you are getting a new number, then just cancel your verizon account after you get your iphone. Hell you could get the iphone now if you want to do that, and just cancel the verizon service when that contract is up. You'd have two phones for a couple days, but who cares?
 
I made the switch

So far, 3 weeks into it, I'm very happy with my iphone here in NYC. I use a bluetooth headset and making calls is effortless. I have only had one dropped call and I think I did that. I talk to the west coast a lot and those calls are clear as bells (yesterday, the person I was talking to was biking around LA and we had a minute or so of garbled talk until he turned a corner.)

Maybe next time I travel I'll notice AT&T deficiencies, but right now even texting etc. is great. (We did have a 3G meltdown in Manhattan for a day or two.) I never got Verizon service in the subway, btw. But now I've got a Subway Map app on my iphone, with up to date service alerts. So at least I won't get lost.

Visual voicemail, e-mail, Safari, 3rd party apps - I don't see how Verizon can ever get me back unless they offer a transformed web experience. I loved my LG ENv, but it was crippled. The iphone is really a computer in your pocket/purse, and Verizon can't compete (yet) with that.
 
Eminemdrdre00 said:
Hey guys, I just want to say that I just purchased my first Apple product...got the 20" iMac last Friday, 2.6 Model with 4gb of RAM and a 500gb HD. I LOVE IT! Now Im looking to finally swich to an iPhone! I called Verizon today to see when my 2 year contract is finally up...its August 28th. He asked why I wanted to leave and I told him I wanted the iPhone (he tried to talk me into the LG Dare lol). Anyway my question is...Do I have to go to the AT&T store right on the 28th when my Verizon contract is up? I want to transfer my number, is there a holding process...or do I lose my number when I cancel my contract? This may not be the best place to ask, but Im sure there have been many switchers here over the past year that may have had a similiar experience. Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

I had Verizon for 5 years before switching on July 12. The only thing you need to do is go to the AT&T or Apple Store with your SSN, Picture ID and Verizon Account password (you can setup/change it on the web where you view your bill). Do NOT cancel your Verizon contract before you go in, even if you can't make it on the 28th. Your contract won't automatically renew if you don't switch on that day, you'll just be on a month-to-month basis.

As for AT&T service, I don't think it's as good as Verizon, but I think the main issues are with 3G service. I get good 3G coverage everywhere but in my house and in my office, so I mostly stay on EDGE (until 2.1 comes out...I hope), especially when I'm on WIFI.
 
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