Just switched to Verizon and now I'm wondering how I lived with AT&T for three years

[ap3604]

You'll find when you zoom in the coverage looks more like a patchwork quilt than solid coverage

The maps that you posted Pnutt have no meaning since your Att map doesn't show which areas are 3g and which areas are 2g Edge. Att's Edge data speeds are so slow that if you are ever out of a 3g coverage area then you might as well not have any data coverage at all which is why I posted the following map:

So with Att in 5x more places your data speeds will hover around a snails pace of 0.05 - 0.1 mbps compared to the Verizons 3g data network that will get you around 0.5 - 1.5 mbps.

I currently have Att and like them alot since I live in a big city but I can think of 5 really big benefits of going with Verizon over Att:

1) 5x more 3g coverage (if you ever go on Att's edge network you might as well have no data coverage at all)

2) Tethering plan that lets you keep your unlimited (Att doesn't let you keep you unlimited)

3) Less dropped calls

4) Only carrier with LTE and will continue to have a far bigger LTE network in the future than other carriers

5) Has already officially said that people with 3g unlimited plans can upgrade to unlimited 4g plans and be grandfathered (Att hasn't said this yet)

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Knowing these facts how can you be happy with going with Verizon?

Well, I dunno, maybe the person is like me and owns a phone to, you know, make phone calls?

I could honestly care less about the speed. For what I need it for it works well and I can make a phone call when I need it. My phone is NOT my primary data consuming device... That is what I pay Comcast monthly for....

 

[tardman91]

I switched to Verizon from T-Mobile (I had AT&T about 10 years ago) and I've been using the speedtest app to see what kinds of speeds I get. The Verizon speeds are horrible compared to the T-Mobile speeds I was getting. Like .6 mb vs. 2 mb on T-Mobile, yet when I'm surfing the web on the phone it feels just as fast if not faster than the web on my old Nexus One. I'm very happy with Verizon so far. Much better coverage and voice quality than I had before.

 

[Glideslope]

I agree. If you are near or close to a cell tower and have 5 bars with 3G on VZW, you will get super fast speeds. Best part is that is reliable. I like near a train station so my verizon service is a little laggy (max 3 bars) but since I connect to wifi it won't matter. At work, however, I get very good speeds (sometimes I feel it is faster than wifi).

You should get the My Verizon app - it is quite helpful. University discount at VZW will give you 15% off. ATT I think is the same.

Yes. 15% on at&t. It's all about where you live. It's amazing how many people truly never look into coverage prior to their purchase.

We have 4-5 bars on our at&t iPhones where we live and work. My 4 is definitely quicker than the VZ 4 with the same signal strength. No question.

My Sister in Law in Pasadena is lucky when she has 1-2 bars on at&t.

Always check your coverage prior to purchase. I'm very happy with at&t only because of great coverage in my area, and the ability to talk and search simultaneously.

That could very well change when LTE finally has it's act together. Depending on coverage I could go back to VZ easily, as LTE will support talk and search.

It's nice to have choices. Bring on T-Mobile and Sprint!!

 

[317342]

In the Los Angeles area, Verizon definitely has good coverage. We had Verizon before T-Mobile, then AT&T. The only reason I don't switch from AT&T to Verizon is...

a) Rollover minutes.
b) Can't talk and use data at the same time.
c) Verizon's billing dept is evil.

As an anecdote, my wife had 2 lines with Verizon + data card and was charged domestic roaming on a free-and-clear plan that includes free roaming. When she called, they said we roamed on Sprint and were therefore dinged $60. We were in our home calling area, too. 45min and a supervisor later, they finally admitted it should have been covered under our plan. We paid the ETF and dropped them, it was the 2nd time we had a billing problem with Verizon. I had T-mobile for 6 years without a single billing problem (only coverage issues). We've been on AT&T for three years and counting and all billing issues (mainly data) got cleared up rather simply, no issues with customer service.

 

[jeejeebu]

Looks like I can get a 26% discount through work, which is nearly the same (27% or 28%, I can never remember) as I was getting through AT&T, so my bill should only be off by a couple bucks.

 

[mikedamirault]

I know this thread is pretty much pro-Verizon, but personally, being a Verizon customer since my first contract cell phone, I can't stand them one bit

Of course it does matter where you live, but despite Verizon's coverage maps, I barely get service anywhere (at least not where I need it), and I have been through 4 phones so it's definitely the network in the area, I also had a Virgin Mobile prepaid phone one time (through Sprint's CDMA network), and I had to go outside and search for service just to top up, GSM was never an issue, I even have a friend with Walmart's Straight Talk prepaid (through AT&T's GSM network), my jaw dropped when I saw she had better service than me, I really wish I had a Verizon femtocell (residential mini cell phone broadcast antenna), I get a horrid signal at home, I can't stand it when I go to tell someone about my horrid signal strength, and they instantly think my phone is defective, as "Verizon" and "poor signal quality" never seem to relate to them

Signal coverage aside, I just hate CDMA technology, I just hate the limitations of it, I would much rather swap a SIM card than have to do *228 and put in information every time I want to switch phones, and every time I have done a *228 option 1 on Verizon, I never got it to work ONCE (kept saying it was unable to program the phone ), and when in the middle of a phone call, Verizon (and other CDMA carriers), due to a CDMA limitation, can't support voice and data at the same time (if you want to, let's say do a google search while talking to a friend, you MUST be on WiFi on in order to get online, or you have to end the phone call first), and 3 way calling and call waiting features are very limited on CDMA

And lastly, Verizon nickel and dimes you for every single service, like Visual Voicemail, of course the iPhone gets it for free of course (as it's part of iOS), but for RIM/BlackBerries and Droids, you have to pay $3.00/mo for the service... IT SHOULD BE FREE

Of course that could just be me, I do like/prefer AT&T a lot more

 

[erayser]

^^^^
Some of us Verizon customers understand it is all about location. I'm not really pro anything since I'm a customer of AT&T also. Both carriers have good and bad things... so it's always best to go with the carrier that gives you the beat service in your location. Just because a carrier isn't great in your location, doesn't mean the same carrier is bad in another location.

 

[mpossoff]

The iPhone 4 doesn't support LTE so that is a moot point. The next iPhone will support HSPA+ but not likely LTE so AT&T will be better than Verizon 3G for overall speed and latency. I get 6 Mbps regularly on AT&T HSPA+ here in the SF Bay Area. Plus, you get simultaneous voice and data.

So, if you use a lot of cellular data and want to stay with the iPhone, AT&T is the best choice. Verizon does have better voice quality so if you need solid voice, that would be the only reason to choose Verizon. Now if you want outrageous 4G speeds, then Verizon LTE is unmatched. But you have to switch to Android.

I agree. If you are an iPhone user AT&T is most likely the best choice in most areas. I have to admit VZW LTE are impressive. I tried android for a long period of time and just couldn't get to like it. If I liked android I would definately most likely have switched to VZW. If VZW had an LTE iPhone right now I would be a VZW customer. In my area comparing iPhones AT&T hands down is better than VZW in the Philly metro area. However VZW LTE is better than AT&T hspa+ but there isn't an LTE iPhone.

 

[gettysburg11s]

I have an AT&T iPhone, and I've never had any problems in my area or region (Gettysburg, PA and Washington/Baltimore). The 3G data connection could probably be faster, but other than that, its great. Also, AT&T customer service has always been good. Very professional and helpful. Perhaps I am just lucky or perhaps people who have problems don't tell the whole story.

 

[317342]

I was a little surprised that VZW got rid of their unlimited plans. Coverage aside, I thought it was the only competitive feature of their data offerings over AT&T.

Incidentally, I really liked having an EVDO card on VZW when traveling with an unlimited plan. The speeds were pretty good (1-1.5Mbps) and they had coverage everywhere. I cannot imagine how nice LTE must be but with no unlimited plan for data cards I cannot see going LTE over simple tethering.

 

[Bloodraw850]

I'm glad that Verizon got the iPhone the coverage is outstanding in my area, I have full 3G bars nearly everywhere and the lowest I seem to drop is to 3 bars

 

[wordoflife]

Signal coverage aside, I just hate CDMA technology, I just hate the limitations of it, I would much rather swap a SIM card than have to do *228 and put in information every time I want to switch phones, and every time I have done a *228 option 1 on Verizon, I never got it to work ONCE (kept saying it was unable to program the phone ), and when in the middle of a phone call, Verizon (and other CDMA carriers), due to a CDMA limitation, can't support voice and data at the same time (if you want to, let's say do a google search while talking to a friend, you MUST be on WiFi on in order to get online, or you have to end the phone call first), and 3 way calling and call waiting features are very limited on CDMA

And lastly, Verizon nickel and dimes you for every single service, like Visual Voicemail, of course the iPhone gets it for free of course (as it's part of iOS), but for RIM/BlackBerries and Droids, you have to pay $3.00/mo for the service... IT SHOULD BE FREE

Of course that could just be me, I do like/prefer AT&T a lot more

I agree with everything you said, which is why I have AT&T.
Though, if AT&T didn't work in my area, I would have switched to Verizon.

 

[jeejeebu]

Perhaps I am just lucky or perhaps people who have problems don't tell the whole story.

Perhaps I've just been unlucky with AT&T's customer service, but in addition to being a wireless customer, I am also a DSL customer, and I have so many horror stories when dealing with AT&T CS. You can imply anything you wish, but there is not "whole story" I am leaving out. Three times I have had techs just not show up to appointments. It took nearly two months to get DSL sorted in my apartment after my roommate moved out and I took over the account. If I hadn't complained on Twitter, it probably never would have been sorted. Speaking of, perhaps I should try that route to get the early termination fee waived.

 

[erayser]

Perhaps I've just been unlucky with AT&T's customer service, but in addition to being a wireless customer, I am also a DSL customer, and I have so many horror stories when dealing with AT&T CS. You can imply anything you wish, but there is not "whole story" I am leaving out. Three times I have had techs just not show up to appointments. It took nearly two months to get DSL sorted in my apartment after my roommate moved out and I took over the account. If I hadn't complained on Twitter, it probably never would have been sorted. Speaking of, perhaps I should try that route to get the early termination fee waived.

This is the reason why it's good to have options. AT&T was pushing hard to sell digital TV and internet in our neighborhood (probably why have better phone coverage here than Verizon), but we went with Cox internet. We have great internet speeds with Cox... which is why I am not bothered not have Verizon 4G LTE on my street. Darn Verizon map said we did... lol...

 

[flipster]

The iPhone 4 doesn't support LTE so that is a moot point. The next iPhone will support HSPA+ but not likely LTE so AT&T will be better than Verizon 3G for overall speed and latency. I get 6 Mbps regularly on AT&T HSPA+ here in the SF Bay Area. Plus, you get simultaneous voice and data.

So, if you use a lot of cellular data and want to stay with the iPhone, AT&T is the best choice. Verizon does have better voice quality so if you need solid voice, that would be the only reason to choose Verizon. Now if you want outrageous 4G speeds, then Verizon LTE is unmatched. But you have to switch to Android.

Cool, when it is 4G LTE, the speeds will be insane. Tested the Droid Charge the other day, and got 32 mbps down on it. Insanity.

So enjoy your 6 mbps down, and we will enjoy our 30 mbps down. With 400,000 4G phones now active on their network, and 250,000 4G phone activations in Q1, 2011, it still hasn't slowed down.

 

[317342]

For just cell data, LTE doesn't impress me. Real 4G (e.g. 100Mbps+) impresses me.

 

[2ndchancephones]

That's interesting, I'm in Keller, TX, and even though my coworkers get 4-5Mb with AT&T and I only get 1.5Mb or so at best, for some reason everything loads faster on my phone. Also, I don't drop any calls, but there are many "drop" zones for the AT&T phones around. I had a tough time deciding to go with Verizon since AT&T is based right here, but all the issues I've heard about from my coworkers/friends made me a Verizon customer. So far (3 weeks) I couldn't be happier.

Polbit

Yep...just depends on where you live. I just drove east of Sanger this weekend looking at some hunting land and I had great service and the guy in the truck with me couldn't get a signal...who knows!

 

[greenchiliman]

Had verizon for 10 years. Got employee discount and soon will have the new iphone and have data and text through work, only paying minutes. Had an issue with verizon coverage when I moved into my new place. Got a femtocell and went from 1 bar to full 4 bars.