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Really thinking about changing providers and getting a 4S. Bad idea?

felixroqu3

felixroqu3

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 5, 2012
649
685
New York, NY
I currently have an iphone 4 with AT&T and im not very pleased with their service. I dont think ill wait for the iphone 5 because im not interested in a bigger screen. Less interested if the screen will be taller. Not wider. Do you think i should still wait for it or no? And what provider is better? Sprint or Verizon?
 
felixroqu3 said:
I currently have an iphone 4 with AT&T and im not very pleased with their service. I dont think ill wait for the iphone 5 because im not interested in a bigger screen. Less interested if the screen will be taller. Not wider. Do you think i should still wait for it or no? And what provider is better? Sprint or Verizon?
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Varies by location, even within different areas of the city. Depends on capacity and amount of towers. Where are you located, or would you use your phone the majority of the time? Someone on here may be from the same area and be able to offer their experience in the area. If that is not the case, you get a 2 week at least return period so I would get an account on both and keep your at&t line so you still have your number, then decide on who you like adn return the other phone within two weeks and once you've decided port your number from at&t.
 
We're already this far in so definitely wait for it. If you can't stand ATT, sell your ATT iphone 4 on craigs and buy a vz one
 
felixroqu3 said:
I currently have an iphone 4 with AT&T and im not very pleased with their service. I dont think ill wait for the iphone 5 because im not interested in a bigger screen. Less interested if the screen will be taller. Not wider. Do you think i should still wait for it or no? And what provider is better? Sprint or Verizon?
Click to expand...

If you don't want to wait until October, who are we to dissuade you? Get whichever phone would make you the happiest. Since you're (still) on the 4, it's clear you don't need the latest and greatest- and the 4S is a step up from that... no matter what the critics here will have you believe.

As for which carrier is best, ask your friends/ coworkers/ neighbors which they use and how their service is. They'd be able to help you far more than anyone on here can since, as others have said, it varies too much on location.
 
Verizon = AT&T > Sprint (I think Verizon is best, but to avoid flame war I'll make them equal.

But I would wait for the next iPhone at this point and suck it up for a few more months if possible. It's nearly June, and I would expect the new iPhone to drop in September/early October.
 
Really boils down to where you are going to be using it the most like others have said. What is good for me may not be good for you. But beware sprint you will never see much over 1mps down no matter where you are.
 
I say go to sprint and get the 4S. But like others say just depends on area. I'm in VA and I don't have the issues with sprint like some people do. I love the service and the unlimited data. Also the speed is not bad at all in my opinion. Been with sprint for over 10 yrs.
 
I am on Sprint, and aside from atrocious 3G speeds, I am happy. It's so much cheaper than Verizon and AT&T, but you sacrifice network speed. Sometimes I have trouble loading the web on a 5 bar 3G tower. If I didn't have wifi saturation, I'd probably be with AT&T albeit paying $10 more per month for less.
 
You aren't interested in the new iPhone based off rumors? Just wait. It's only 4 half months until it comes out. No point of paying $199 when you can potentially get a redesigned iPhone in October.

Anyway, go with Verizon.
 
I live in NY and I'm with Sprint and all I can tell you is that Sprint speeds are very very bad, go with Verizon. Sprint is horrible in NY. Right now I'm waiting for the new iPhone to switch. If you're not a heavy internet user then go with Sprint.
 
Im on att and live in ny. If you think att is bad in ny then def DONT choose sprint. Go verizon!
 
VZ all the way homie.

Sprint drops too many calls, plus their 3G is much slower than VZ.
 
felixroqu3 said:
I currently have an iphone 4 with AT&T and im not very pleased with their service. I dont think ill wait for the iphone 5 because im not interested in a bigger screen. Less interested if the screen will be taller. Not wider. Do you think i should still wait for it or no? And what provider is better? Sprint or Verizon?
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. I have an IPhone 4 with ATT and a BB 9650 on VZW. I'm so tired of not having a good signal with my iphone at home and work(Times Square area) thinking about going to VZW Iphone but I don't like that you can't talk and surf at the same time--also, I would be giving up my "unlimited" plan on ATT since i'm grandfathered in. Decisions, Decisions. Any advice??
 
As others have said Verizon right now would be my choice...However my speeds on Sprint have been improving too with Network Vision.

If you were to wait for the iPhone 5 then I would do research and see how Sprint LTE launches are going and go from there.

One reason why I havent left Sprint is one I have been with them for 14 years, I have one more premier upgrade which is on my account waiting for the iPhone 5, other than data speeds my service excellent and I have 4 iPhones 4s with them and it would be about 1k to cancel right now.
 
Skipped some replies but don't get a Verizon 4S. There 3G network is very slow. Either stick with AT&T or wait for an LTE iPhone on Verizon.

I just took this. I'm in Baltimore and this is a very very good speed on Verizon. Rarely see much higher.

aefc6cb6-682c-679d.jpg
 
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candigrl73 said:
I'm in the same boat. I have an IPhone 4 with ATT and a BB 9650 on VZW. I'm so tired of not having a good signal with my iphone at home and work(Times Square area) thinking about going to VZW Iphone but I don't like that you can't talk and surf at the same time--also, I would be giving up my "unlimited" plan on ATT since i'm grandfathered in. Decisions, Decisions. Any advice??
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What will you be giving up since 'Unlimited' on AT&T doesn't exist any more.

Unless you generally use between 2.9-3.1GB of data/ month and are afraid of overages, I don't see the point with staying with a data plan that basically kills data after 3GB. I'd much rather pay the same amount and know that if I were to go over, I'd simply pay a little more - but at least have it if I needed it.
 
Need more info. What size is the iPhone 4 (Thinking about resale value). Are you still under contract? Do you have to pay an ETF?

A quick search of ebay shows the used 16GB 4 on at&t selling for about $250. Another search shows a 16GB Verizon 4S is around $375-$400.

So what if you were to sell your 4 and combine the proceeds with the money that you would have invested in a new 4S and buy a used one. So conservatively, sell your 4 for $200, take the $200 you would have spent on a a 4S with activation and you have $400 to buy a used 4S.

Then you will still have an upgrade available for whenever the next iPhone is released. You will be able to sell the 4S and at least cover the cost of the upgrade. When all is said and done, you have spent the same $200 out of your pocket now, you have a 4S to use in the meantime, and will have the next iPhone when it comes out.

Just a thought.
 
cyks said:
What will you be giving up since 'Unlimited' on AT&T doesn't exist any more.

Unless you generally use between 2.9-3.1GB of data/ month and are afraid of overages, I don't see the point with staying with a data plan that basically kills data after 3GB. I'd much rather pay the same amount and know that if I were to go over, I'd simply pay a little more - but at least have it if I needed it.
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You can look at this two ways. If you go over on your last day, it kind of sucks to pay for an extra gig of data for that short amount of time. This is why I keep my "unlimited" plan. There is also hope that unlimited with the LTE iPhone will give us 5GB of data (this is currently ATT's offering for LTE phones). If I REALLY needed extra unthrottled data, I could always drop the unlimited plan when the time comes. It's as simple as logging online and changing my data package. I have not run into that yet, so for now, the peace of mind that I won't have an overage tacked onto my bill automatically is just fine with me. :)
 
DollaTwentyFive said:
Need more info. What size is the iPhone 4 (Thinking about resale value). Are you still under contract? Do you have to pay an ETF?

A quick search of ebay shows the used 16GB 4 on at&t selling for about $250. Another search shows a 16GB Verizon 4S is around $375-$400.

So what if you were to sell your 4 and combine the proceeds with the money that you would have invested in a new 4S and buy a used one. So conservatively, sell your 4 for $200, take the $200 you would have spent on a a 4S with activation and you have $400 to buy a used 4S.

Then you will still have an upgrade available for whenever the next iPhone is released. You will be able to sell the 4S and at least cover the cost of the upgrade. When all is said and done, you have spent the same $200 out of your pocket now, you have a 4S to use in the meantime, and will have the next iPhone when it comes out.

Just a thought.
Click to expand...

You've talked me into it!!!! I'm dumping my 4s for "The New iPhone" when it comes out!!! LTE here I come!!!! :cool:
 
I think some may be missing the "NY" part, depends on your area but NY for the most part (especially the city) sucks for the networks unless you get out to the more open areas like Nyack etc. Buildings interfere like a mofo. I'm with AT&T and when I'm in NY visiting, some friends are on Verizon... still spotty and slow vs down here in South FL but seems better than AT&T there and more stable (though there's Verizon LTE if you go Android), and much better than Sprint

If your in the city, Verizon easily imo.
 
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