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

[shoebobs]

I switched to Verizon today. I had always planned on going back to Verizon once they got the iPhone, so with the unlimited data ending, I figured I better do it now.

A couple of factors in my decision:
-I didn't have to pay an ETF from ATT
-Verizon service is superior in my area
-I travel a lot and have found Verizon to be better at more locations
-I can sell my 3GS now and this iPhone 4 in a few months and not have to pay too much extra for the iPhone 5

 

[jp700p]

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..

Just got myself an iPhone 4 Verizon. Heres my observations so far.

1. When both phones are in peak data areas, AT&T will pull down about 2-3megs. Verizon will do about 2megs. While going around town I did notice Verizon is much slower. When I loaded webpages side by side, I did notice the Verizon would immediately start to open the page, while the higher latency AT&T would just stay dorment. Once the page starts to open the Verizon crawled trying to open the page. Once AT&T woke up, it downloaded the page quicker. I would say on average about 5-10 second difference between Verizon and AT&T.

The Verizon phone felt "snappy" when its loading a page, but once it gets to about 70-90%, it slowly loads the rest. While the AT&T felt sluggish, it manages to load the page fully about 5-10 sec quicker then the Verizon phone.

Sure, the Verizon phone managed to load some pages quicker, but more then often the AT&T beat it 8 out of 10 times. Its only a matter of seconds but those seconds add up quickly if your a web surfer.

2. Verizon signal is stronger then AT&T. I rarely got below 4 out of 5 bars. With my AT&T, I usually get about 2-3 bars. I don't live out in the boonies. I live in one of the top 20 metros.

3. Inside thick buildings I would lose signal with AT&T. With Verizon I got at least 1-2 bars and still could use the internet or make calls. When i'm at my WalMart, I can not use the internet when i'm in the back of the store. With the Verizon phone I was able to surf the internet just fine.​

Right now I don't know what I want to do. All I care about is unlimited data. If I go to Verizon, I would be spending $35 more per month (I don't get employee discount with Verizon, only AT&T and its a pretty sweet AT&T deal)

Right now i'm going month to month with Verizon (I bought the iPhone 4 Verizon outright yesterday from a friend) and I will hang on to it until 7/7. Verizon will probably release a statement about it. If Verizon says anyone who upgrades to LTE phone in the future, I will continue to hang on to my Verizon account, but will "suspend" it until October or whenever the iPhone 5 is announced.

If the iPhone 5 does come with Verizon LTE, I will dump AT&T. If it doesn't have LTE, then I will probably dump Verizon, but will not be happy with forever having the chance of having unlimited data with a good cell coverage company.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

I've concluded that i had obviously dropped my old phone one too many times, my call quality on my ip4 just rocks. I make a comment a out it after every single call! Heck, I could even understand both my kids on the old Migo they use when they go to their dads!!

But anyway, I thought that it was like 95% certain there was NOT going to be an LTE iPhone in the fall?

 

[jp700p]

I've concluded that i had obviously dropped my old phone one too many times, my call quality on my ip4 just rocks. I make a comment a out it after every single call! Heck, I could even understand both my kids on the old Migo they use when they go to their dads!!

But anyway, I thought that it was like 95% certain there was NOT going to be an LTE iPhone in the fall?

Well if AT&T is getting "4G" in the fall, Verizon probably sure won't let it happen without its phone using LTE https://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/02/iphone-5-att-4g/

Its a long shot, but with rumors of further delays into October, i'm hoping part of the reason is they are trying to include 4G tech in the iphone 5.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Hmmm, I missed that article when it ran by the first time.

Because i don't need to spend 8 hours a day entertaining myself with my phone data, it isn't that big of a deal for Me! Heck, having not had a smartphone with data for 3years at least - I'm just enjoying being able to scan barcodes and see prices.

I fall under the "easily amused" category!

I guess we shall see what happens.... Hopefully everyone gets something close to what they want this fall!