I made the switch from AT&T to Verizon for the unlimited data plan thread

[jp700p]

Theirs other threads about people who are planning to switch to Verizon and threads about current Verizon customers. But this thread is for people who actually did switch to Verizon very recently just for the unlimited data plan that is ending on July 7th.

Give your thoughts of Verizon when comparing to AT&T

- Your speeds
- Network coverage
- Cost of your plan
- Any hiccups or issues with the service
- Any other thoughts..

Heres a thread if you didn't make the switch yet or planning to.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I've had 0 issues with AT&T. Unlimited data on the faster network is the way to go.

 

[iceterminal]

I've had AT&T since day 1 and haven't had any problems with speed or drops. But I know I'm only one person and I know others have had problems. So I'm happy that you're now drop free.

But remember, those with problems voice them. Those with no problems don't.

 

[utwarreng]

I sort of made the switch. Haven't transferred my number over yet, and both accounts are active with unlimited data while I take some time to make the final choice. But I did activate a used iPhone 4 on Verizon today with the unlimited data plan. Verizon coverage is much better near my home. Haven't run a test on speeds yet.

 

[Paulshaqz]

do you guys miss the fact you can't talk and surf the web i know it's not that big of a deal really but still knowing you had that option is kinda nifty just my opinion tho.

 

[mtondreo]

we are now a house divided. My wife was irritated with AT&T because of constant dropped calls (She talks - I type). so we both are on unlimited data now on our respective carriers and both on iphone 4's. Yes I know the new phone is coming, but she was on a 3G and tried a 3GS to no avail. I am looking forward to using both phones this weekend to see which has better coverage. We were absolute Verizon customers and only went to AT&T for the iphones. We'll see how things go. I am still stuck in my contract because iphones are not good swimming partners - but I have not had any real issues, when my calls drop - I was probably done talking anyway.

 

[KoukiFC3S]

I switched, after playing with Android for a while.

Overall I am very satisfied with Verizon. The speeds are good enough, and the best part is that my data works almost all the time now.

With AT&T, I use to have bars and 3G, but the data wouldn't work. I guess their towers were overloaded.

 

[dickdaney]

I switched to Verizon because I broke my 3GS and needed a new phone. I was planning on switching to Verizon anyway.

Coverage: Verizon has AT&T beat in NC and southern VA where I live and ride. Most places I ride my motorcycle I have zero ATT coverage.

Speed: AT&T has Verizon beat (when I have 3G, major cities and interested). My fastest ATT speed were close to 3.5Mbps down (up doesn't matter because the 3GS didn't support hsupa). Fastest Verizon speed I've seen was 1.2Mbps down. On average ATT isn3 times faster when on 3G. I consistently saw no less than 1.5 down on AT&T. On Verizon i see 0.6 down frequently. This is 3G only. As soon as I was 4 miles outside of the city I was on edge with AT&T.

Cost of plan: my plan is about $5 more with Verizon because of the $29.99 data plan vs the $25 2GB data plan I had with AT&T. I'm also slightly more concerned about my minutes because I have no rollover, so I use talkatone to make google voice calls over 3G more than I did with AT&T.

Overall, if ATT had voice coverage in the rural areas I ride in, I would've never left. Having a voice signal is a big deal when your out riding in the middle of nowhere and you need to make an emergency call. My only choices of service out in those areas was Verizon or Sprint, and Sprint just roams on Verizon towers anyway.

I live in Greensboro, NC area and I ride my bike around the Blue Ridge Parkway just about every weekend.

 

[Centient]

We made the switch to VZ in February.

I almost never talked and used data simultaneously so I don't miss it.

Data speeds are 50% slower on VZ, but are more consistent than with AT&T. But really the difference in data speeds in my region is insignificant in RL. I mean 1.5ish mpbs vs. 3ish mbps isn't exactly night and day. What matters is that when I'm streaming music/video I don't lose the signal all that often with VZ which amounts to a better experience than I had with AT&T.

Call quality is both better and more consistent. I can't remember the last time we dropped a call on VZ. Dropped calls were the norm on AT&T.

We pay more with VZ than we did with AT&T. However I feel like we get more so I'm not complaining.

Don't like that we're behind on FW. Which has me concerned about potential carrier fragmentation in implementing iOS features down the road. The decision to allow carriers to opt in on stuff like Facetime over 3G sounds like a slippery slope.

 

[iceterminal]

I have two friends who live in Austin. She's always had a 3G with AT&T, but he works for Verizon but never had an iPhone.

I managed to convince them to get the 4. She moved over to Verizon to their family plan. According to her, the voice is great. She doesn't lose any calls at all now. But she swears her data speeds are less than half of what it was with AT&T.
I can only assume its a classic case of saturation. And I told her that the data with AT&T will also drop dramatically during SXSW. So wait until next year and see how Verizon holds up then. She said its a double edged sword. AT&T has great data, bad voice. Verizon has great voice, slow data.

I figure its a push where they live.

In Dallas, AT&T is the better carrier.

 

[nburwell]

I made the switch to VZW on Wednesday, and the phone came yesterday. I haven't unboxed it yet because I don't have a case that fist the CDMA iPhone. However, I'm going to the Apple store after work, picking up a new case, and activiating my VZW iPhone tonight.

For me, I was sick of the dropped calls and inconsistent data speeds; specifically at work. However, the deciding factor was not the unlimited data I got with VZW, but the fact that I'll be saving $10/month on my bill compared to AT&T. That $120 is better in my pocket at the end of the year.

 

[x-kid]

I made the switch yesterday. I was going to switch when the new iphones come out but since they were getting rid of unlimited data i decided to swich now. I got tired of all the drop calls and not being able to use my phone in the house. If it was on the phone longer than a few minutes it would drop. Plus I would get voicemails all the time because me phone wouldn't even ring while I was at home. So I just purchased 2 palm pixi's to use in the mean time until the new iphones come out.

 

[jp700p]

I bought the Thunderbolt from a friend of mine and heres my observations so far:

- When your on the outskirts of 4G, the phone will go ballistic. I thought it was the phones fault and was cursing at it. I had full 4 bars and for a few minutes would be on 4G, and then off, then 1X, then 3G a few seconds later, and then off again before going to 4G mode again. It was like it was possed! When you try to surf the internet, check email, it was load then a pop up saying, "NETWORK ERROR" would display. Then a minute later it would work and then that message would pop up again. I drove back home about 10 miles away from and the phone went into 1X mode (I know damn well that area had 4G) until I got home and reset it.

- Once I reset the phone at home, it went into 4G mode and stayed 4G mode the whole time. So far no problems.

- LTE is just discustingly fast. I am averaging nothing under 10mbps down and 2mbps up. My peak was 13mbps down and 3mbps up.

What I like about Verizon:
- LTE is stupid fast. Faster then my home broadband service.

What I don't like about Verizon:
- When you are in a weak 3G/4G area, the phone will "hunt" for the best signal but won't stay put in any signal. In between switching signals, it disconnects, stopping your internet connecting to a complete halt. My iPhone 4 AT&T even in the crappiest signal would pick a signal and stick with it. It has never bounced around like a ping pong.

- My plan is $10 more expensive. With how the internet behaves, I might as well stick with AT&T 2GB plan. Whats the use of verizon unlimited data if it doesn't work at all.

Overall
I think i'm keeping this and will test it until July 8th and right now, i'm leaning towards just cancelling Verizon and sticking with AT&T.

 

[flipster]

I bought the Thunderbolt from a friend of mine and heres my observations so far:

- When your on the outskirts of 4G, the phone will go ballistic. I thought it was the phones fault and was cursing at it. I had full 4 bars and for a few minutes would be on 4G, and then off, then 1X, then 3G a few seconds later, and then off again before going to 4G mode again. It was like it was possed! When you try to surf the internet, check email, it was load then a pop up saying, "NETWORK ERROR" would display. Then a minute later it would work and then that message would pop up again. I drove back home about 10 miles away from and the phone went into 1X mode (I know damn well that area had 4G) until I got home and reset it.

- Once I reset the phone at home, it went into 4G mode and stayed 4G mode the whole time. So far no problems.

- LTE is just discustingly fast. I am averaging nothing under 10mbps down and 2mbps up. My peak was 13mbps down and 3mbps up.

What I like about Verizon:
- LTE is stupid fast. Faster then my home broadband service.

What I don't like about Verizon:
- When you are in a weak 3G/4G area, the phone will "hunt" for the best signal but won't stay put in any signal. In between switching signals, it disconnects, stopping your internet connecting to a complete halt. My iPhone 4 AT&T even in the crappiest signal would pick a signal and stick with it. It has never bounced around like a ping pong.

- My plan is $10 more expensive. With how the internet behaves, I might as well stick with AT&T 2GB plan. Whats the use of verizon unlimited data if it doesn't work at all.

Overall
I think i'm keeping this and will test it until July 8th and right now, i'm leaning towards just cancelling Verizon and sticking with AT&T.

It's a nice phone, it's just stupid when it comes to trying to get 4G signal. It's Android's crappy way of hunting down 4G. I'm sure it will be better with iOS

 

[TraceyS/FL]

I didn't switch from ATT, but added data to my V plan and dropped my iPad unlimited in favor of personal hotspot.

Part of my issue with my old phone was call quality, and I haven't been disappointed at all. I can hear people clearly!!!

My data on V is faster than the ATT ever was, but i had an issue this morning using it in a spot I never had problems with before on ATT. I'm thinking since the tower likely feeds both carriers, the iPads bigger surface for antennas helped it.

Overall, I'm very happy I took the plunge early - as evidenced by the 4 hours I've spent talking on the phone so far!

 

[jp700p]

It's a nice phone, it's just stupid when it comes to trying to get 4G signal. It's Android's crappy way of hunting down 4G. I'm sure it will be better with iOS

Do you know if the Verizon iPhone 4 hunt for 3G signal like that? Holy cow was that flipping annoying with the Thunderbolt.

 

[barkingDog]

Do you know if the Verizon iPhone 4 hunt for 3G signal like that? Holy cow was that flipping annoying with the Thunderbolt.

Negative, it doesn't (in my observation).

Don't own it, but a certain 'close' female to me does. So it's nice to have a side-by-side comparison of my AT&T iPhone 4 v. her VZ iPhone 4 experience on a daily basis. We haven't seen anything close to what you described above.

A phone possessed -- yikes!

 

[flipster]

Do you know if the Verizon iPhone 4 hunt for 3G signal like that? Holy cow was that flipping annoying with the Thunderbolt.

It definitely does not, the only phone that I know does that is the Thunderbolt. The iPhone 4 is perfect when it comes to 3G signal.

 

[jp700p]

Cha ching!

Can't we sell our unlimited data Verizon accounts on eBay and make some money? I signed up for the month to month plan (since I bought the Thunderbolt from my friend). I know you can transfer account ownership pretty easily.

I would then go back to AT&T normally (I still have my iPhone 4 with AT&T, haven't cancelled or ported my number)

 

[Big D 51]

Good decision. Verizon has been awesome for me.

 

[jp700p]

Good decision. Verizon has been awesome for me.

Just curious... when your in the outer rim of 3G, does your Verizon iPhone switch back and forth to 3G and 1X like crazy? Has your phone ever switched to 1X temporally, but your in a strong 3G area that you've always had 3G?

 

[Big D 51]

Just curious... when your in the outer rim of 3G, does your Verizon iPhone switch back and forth to 3G and 1X like crazy? Has your phone ever switched to 1X temporally, but your in a strong 3G area that you've always had 3G?

Never experienced switching to 1x while in heavy 3G area. I've been in what I consider the rim of 3G area and it go back in forth though. It didn't go back in forth like crazy. Seems like when it's laying down it's on 3G and when I pick it up, it drops to 1x. I'm Mostly in a town with highly 3G coverage though.

Hopes this helps. As I'm sure you already know, it's all area related. That is Cingular or Verizon.

 

[Shockwave78]

I signed up on Wednesday with verizon, got my phone thursday and returned it Friday. Overall i would definetely say the service was better than my AT&T service which i thought was great already.. But the $265 termination fee was not worth it, plus me actually buying a new iphone 4 from verizon for $299. So i just returned it...


Now i am thinking, just sell my almost mint condition AT&T 32GB iphone 4 with e13tron s4 case for $500.

Pick up a used Verizon iphone 4 16gb for around $300, pay the ETF for AT&T with the left over(plus $65 out of my pocket) then sign up for a month to month contract with verizon.

This would give me a solid 3 months to try out verizons network and still be able to sign a contract with them or AT&T for the new iphone release.

I am past the unlimited data thing, by the time i start using that much data those "grandfathered" plans will be phased out more than likely anyway when you upgrade, maybe not 2yrs from now but I would definitely say 3yrs all the companies will phase the unlimited plans out.

 

[jp700p]

I signed up on Wednesday with verizon, got my phone thursday and returned it Friday. Overall i would definetely say the service was better than my AT&T service which i thought was great already.. But the $265 termination fee was not worth it, plus me actually buying a new iphone 4 from verizon for $299. So i just returned it...


Now i am thinking, just sell my almost mint condition AT&T 32GB iphone 4 with e13tron s4 case for $500.

Pick up a used Verizon iphone 4 16gb for around $300, pay the ETF for AT&T with the left over(plus $65 out of my pocket) then sign up for a month to month contract with verizon.

This would give me a solid 3 months to try out verizons network and still be able to sign a contract with them or AT&T for the new iphone release.

I am past the unlimited data thing, by the time i start using that much data those "grandfathered" plans will be phased out more than likely anyway when you upgrade, maybe not 2yrs from now but I would definitely say 3yrs all the companies will phase the unlimited plans out.

My thoughts exactly. Plus Verizon and AT&T are obviously against unlimited data and will do everything they can to get as many people on to tiered plans as much as possible. I am willing to bet money that when the iPhone 6 comes out next year with LTE for Verizon, they will try to make some kind of rule where if you want the iPhone 6, you need to have a tiered data plan because its a "special" kind of phone or something like that.

In my case, I might just stick with AT&T 3G. Its so much faster then Verizon's 3G. The 4G is too spotty. When I look at my coverage 4G map, Verizon claims I have coverage (actually, i'm right in the middle). But yet in some areas, my Thunderbolt 4G will bounce back and forth like a ping pong ball. And when it does that, internet will not work unless if I set it to 3G only mode.

3G with verizon is ok... Voice on verizon is THE BEST. However, I rarely use voice. I use probably 100 minutes max a month over the past year. Some months I only used maybe 10 minutes. AT&T 3G in my area isn't the best, but I constantly get between 1-2mbps. On Verizon from my testing in the past 48 hours, I get about 0.5mbps.

I want to stream video and music when I am at work. Theirs WiFi, but if they catch you using steaming, your fired. My friend who has 4G charge, he uses about 10-15GB per month. He streams music and video ALL DAY while working. Not to mention he downloads a crap load of apps and stuff. I have to sit in silence while I see him chair dancing to music.

I hate not having unlimited data. Sure I use well under 2GB a month, but thats because I have to consciously think about not using it that much. It sucks. I was hoping for Verizon to be the "hero" and keep unlimited data. They are just as evil as AT&T. No more no less.

 

[Shockwave78]

My thoughts exactly. Plus Verizon and AT&T are obviously against unlimited data and will do everything they can to get as many people on to tiered plans as much as possible. I am willing to bet money that when the iPhone 6 comes out next year with LTE for Verizon, they will try to make some kind of rule where if you want the iPhone 6, you need to have a tiered data plan because its a "special" kind of phone or something like that.

In my case, I might just stick with AT&T 3G. Its so much faster then Verizon's 3G. The 4G is too spotty. When I look at my coverage 4G map, Verizon claims I have coverage (actually, i'm right in the middle). But yet in some areas, my Thunderbolt 4G will bounce back and forth like a ping pong ball. And when it does that, internet will not work unless if I set it to 3G only mode.

3G with verizon is ok... Voice on verizon is THE BEST. However, I rarely use voice. I use probably 100 minutes max a month over the past year. Some months I only used maybe 10 minutes. AT&T 3G in my area isn't the best, but I constantly get between 1-2mbps. On Verizon from my testing in the past 48 hours, I get about 0.5mbps.

What i noticed on my short two days with verizon...

1. I had 5 bars it seemed like everywhere..wow
2. I work in a 500,000sqft building and i never get reception with AT&T in the middle of it, with verizon i had 2-3 bars all the time, i could not believe it!
3. Overall at the peak AT&T's speeds were faster, at the max with AT&T here i get about 4mb down with 1.3mb upload. However! This is usually always early in the morning or later in the evening. During the day it seems to slow down dramatically to a crawl sometimes, but on average during the day it will stay around 1.0 -1.5mb down, .75 up.

4. With Verizon i was VERY surprised with the speed of there 3g, it is much slower than AT&T but you will only notice this downloading apps it seems or maybe an HD video. There latency times were always around 120-150ms for me, while AT&T was anywhere from 145-300ms. This even when the latency times were roughly the same during parts of the day the AT&T just has some additional delay to it for some reason that the test don't pick up. Verizons speed were slower but were way more consistent, upload would peak around .90 at its best, but average i would say is .60. The download would stay steady all the time aright around 1.0-1.2mb.

5. Call quality, I never had an issue with calls dropping in my 7 or 8yrs with AT&T. I maybe dropped 5 calls over all these years. The big difference i noticed is that on the verizon iphone the sound had a lot more natural bass to it, and i never noticed it until then that the AT&T voice quality has this ice picking shrill sound to it, boost up the bass if possible on AT&T's side and they would be equal IMO.


I have been HUGE AT&T supporter over the years, but I do see what all the fuss is about with Verizon's network is now..