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Carrier Is Verizon really that bad?
- Thread starter PCtoMAC1
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Thank you for your valuable input on the question.
No. Verizon is not bad at all. Do not believe any hatred comments. They are the best carrier in the US with the widest coverage. The price is high but it is worth every penny of it. No signal issues inside buildings or certain areas within metro areas like T-Mobile does.
I have been with Verizon since they were Commnet in my area. TMobile has beefed up service out here in the sticks, and I am trying it. It will save me $70 a month.
I would also like to point out that cell service is very location dependent. If a particular carrier doesn't work where you live or work, then it doesn't matter how much, or how little, they cost. Try the particular service and if it doesn't work, move on to the next one while you are still in the return period. Verizon has worked fine, but holy moly. 4 lines and over $200. Tmobile, free Netflix and 4 lines for $140 (tax and fees included). Worth a try...
I would also like to point out that cell service is very location dependent. If a particular carrier doesn't work where you live or work, then it doesn't matter how much, or how little, they cost. Try the particular service and if it doesn't work, move on to the next one while you are still in the return period. Verizon has worked fine, but holy moly. 4 lines and over $200. Tmobile, free Netflix and 4 lines for $140 (tax and fees included). Worth a try...
Verizon was generally better coverage for me than ATT. Location. Location. Location. Coverage was marginal where I sit in my workplace, often switching to unusable "3G". ATT works better there for me (even T-Mobile worked better at my desk). Verizon was better on the road.
I got a cheap Verizon MVNO for a spare phone if necessary for road trips.
I would have never switched from ATT if, 2 years ago, they had had decent international roaming plans. I had a vacation planned.
I got a cheap Verizon MVNO for a spare phone if necessary for road trips.
I would have never switched from ATT if, 2 years ago, they had had decent international roaming plans. I had a vacation planned.
Verizon's network is -clogged-.
I live in CA, and I travel within it a LOT. With Verizon I basically never don't have service. But lately it's been slower and slower. 5 Bars in Monterey, and maps wouldn't load. Four Bars in the mountains, and not a song will stream.(both LTE) Those are just two of the most obviously congested situations. I've had webpages, email etc not load with several bars of LTE.
Really annoying. I've found that my friends with T-mobile/At&t often have lower signal than me, but almost always have things load much faster. Don't know anybody with Sprint so I can't comment on it.
I live in CA, and I travel within it a LOT. With Verizon I basically never don't have service. But lately it's been slower and slower. 5 Bars in Monterey, and maps wouldn't load. Four Bars in the mountains, and not a song will stream.(both LTE) Those are just two of the most obviously congested situations. I've had webpages, email etc not load with several bars of LTE.
Really annoying. I've found that my friends with T-mobile/At&t often have lower signal than me, but almost always have things load much faster. Don't know anybody with Sprint so I can't comment on it.
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I get 5x more data gigs for slightly less with V than AT&T.
I just don’t think the service via phone is any better and the performance of Apple Watch LTE is poorer.
What is happening to Verizon is what happened to AT&T back in 2007-2009. Verizon is coming from CDMA tower separations, and those separations are not compatible with how LTE (which is GSM based) requires towers to be placed and new backbone connections to be made. Hence, Verizon's LTE network is choking due to incomplete network.
AT&T had this issue when moving from EDGE to 3G (not tower placement) because where as all Verizon needed for their towers was a software update to enable EV-DO. Whereas AT&T had to put up new UMTS equipment in old towers and new towers at certain new intervals.
Because of this, when doing the upgrade to AT&T, all they had to do is buy the LTE equipment and plug into their existing backbone which ultimately became the reason why even though AT&T started 1.5 years late into LTE, they have a network so robust that they have already shut down their 2G fall back and used those frequencies to strengthen their new LTE network. Verizon hasn't been able to shut down their CMDA and EV-DO network because users have nothing to fall back on.
I'm a pretty happy Verizon customer. I have to travel a little bit for work throughout California and like someone else mentioned, my coverage is pretty good though not perfect. I have an iPad that I keep on the T-Mobile network and my iPhone is on Verizon. I buy data on demand for my iPad if I'm someplace where my Verizon data speeds are lacking or I just need a lot more data than my Verizon plan is subscribed to.
In general, I don't find their plans to be excessively pricey if your needs are modest. I rarely use any data when I'm not traveling so with the data rollover, I'm able to bank enough data to use it when I really need it and then you're allowed to switch up and down as your needs change from month to month. You just have to be careful in how to switch because they purposefully make it easy for you to lock yourself into extra months at an elevated consumption plan.
As for speeds in Monterey, I sometimes end up there and I find the data coverage there to be very erratic. T-Mobile is blazing where you can get it, but Verizon's speed is a block by block proposition there. It's terrific on one block and barely usable on another.
Verizon is consistently rated as the best overall carrier in the United States. Unfortunately, their plans also usually cost the most money. If you're on a tight budget, paying for a Verizon plan probably isn't worth it when the other carriers are almost as good.
service varies geographically, though.
my modest 5g data plan with V costs slightly less than AT&T. Unfortunately, the cellular transition to Apple Watch LTE seems slower and less reliable so I will probably return to AT&T despite the $8 mo difference.
Totally depends on location as everyone says. For me w/ single line and hotspot / jet pack all of the carriers are in the same ballpark price wise. Verizon in Chicago is by far the best for me, tried them all within the last 2 years. By far the most reliable and fastest and rural coverage is spectacular. When Comcast internet goes out at my office I can use my jet pack to provide internet for my PC and server PC, which is amazing and a life saver at times. AT&T is a congested mess downtown in the loop and T-Mobile is even worse overall downtown because they are so spectrum starved here. Verizon has been setting up small cells all over the place to try and alleviate congestion and density issues and it's working here.
I'll give you a specific example of why cell phone service cost makes no difference to me. Back in 2010 or so when AT&T was having severe problems here I broke my ankle just stepping off a curb and wanted to get to the Northwestern Hospital ER. This is smack dab in the heart of Chicago, not the sticks. I had 5 bars of 3G on my phone but could not load maps or internet because the network was so congested. I had to stand in the street and hobble over to a crossing guard to point me in the right direction (didn't get cab because I was very close, just needed to know which direction to walk). Once I arrived at the hospital I tried to call my dad while waiting. I had 5 bars of Edge service and could not make a call.
The next morning the first thing I did was strap on my ankle boot and hobble over to the the Verizon store and switched. I've had an active Verizon line ever since and always get a temp number if I try out another service. I always cancel within a month. I'm sure others have the same experience with other carriers where VZW sucks like AT&T did for me. Location, location, location.
I'll give you a specific example of why cell phone service cost makes no difference to me. Back in 2010 or so when AT&T was having severe problems here I broke my ankle just stepping off a curb and wanted to get to the Northwestern Hospital ER. This is smack dab in the heart of Chicago, not the sticks. I had 5 bars of 3G on my phone but could not load maps or internet because the network was so congested. I had to stand in the street and hobble over to a crossing guard to point me in the right direction (didn't get cab because I was very close, just needed to know which direction to walk). Once I arrived at the hospital I tried to call my dad while waiting. I had 5 bars of Edge service and could not make a call.
The next morning the first thing I did was strap on my ankle boot and hobble over to the the Verizon store and switched. I've had an active Verizon line ever since and always get a temp number if I try out another service. I always cancel within a month. I'm sure others have the same experience with other carriers where VZW sucks like AT&T did for me. Location, location, location.
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Everyone’s experiences will vary. People take to the internet when they’re pissed. Verizon is the #1 U.S. carrier for a reason.
I hear that a lot, but in my extensive price comparisons vs. Ma Bell and Legere & Co. (for my family), Big Red was very comparable if not cheaper.
Again, YMMV, but ignorant tautologies help no one.