Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Thinking of switching from AT&T to Verizon: Talk me in or out of it

ToroidalZeus said:
Not worth the switch. I'm on the complete opposite coast but the same fact about a better verizon service rings true here. With that said it's not so much better it's worth switching over to and losing my unlimited plan. From the description of your service it sounds like you are in the same situation.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I doubt I'm going to do it. I just don't think it makes enough sense for my situation. My AT&T coverage isn't bad, other than at my house (and Verizon won't be appreciably better in my house). I already own the AT&T Microcell for the house (and hopefully I'll be able to resell that once they support Wi-Fi calling on the iPhone 6), so if I switched to Verizon that's another $250 I'd have to spend to get Verizon's version of the Microcell.

There's the fact that I've got unlimited data on two of my phones (yes, just 5GB for reals, and then throttled after that, but it's still pretty good). If I switched to AT&T's new Mobile share plan or started up a new plan with Verizon and got their similar plan, I'd be able to do tethering, but I never have a need for that, so I'm not really missing out. Ditto for unlimited voice calls. My 550 minute plan with rollover minutes results in me essentially having unlimited voice calling now.

Plus, with the 2-year commitment approach with 2 of my lines on one year and the 3rd line on an alternate year, it allows me to upgrade my phone every year for the 2-year commitment price and hand a phone down to my wife or daughter. Then, upgrade my phone and one other phone on the alternate year. If I switched to Verizon (or to AT&T's Mobile share plan) I'm pretty sure my math indicates that I'd be paying more overall per month/year.

Another plus with AT&T is that it seems like it's easier for me to get a hold of an unlocked GSM phone to play with, if I ever wanted to do that (e.g., I could buy a Google Nexus 5 for $350 if I ever wanted to try out Android).
 
hipnetic said:
Yeah, I doubt I'm going to do it. I just don't think it makes enough sense for my situation. My AT&T coverage isn't bad, other than at my house (and Verizon won't be appreciably better in my house). I already own the AT&T Microcell for the house (and hopefully I'll be able to resell that once they support Wi-Fi calling on the iPhone 6), so if I switched to Verizon that's another $250 I'd have to spend to get Verizon's version of the Microcell.

There's the fact that I've got unlimited data on two of my phones (yes, just 5GB for reals, and then throttled after that, but it's still pretty good). If I switched to AT&T's new Mobile share plan or started up a new plan with Verizon and got their similar plan, I'd be able to do tethering, but I never have a need for that, so I'm not really missing out. Ditto for unlimited voice calls. My 550 minute plan with rollover minutes results in me essentially having unlimited voice calling now.

Plus, with the 2-year commitment approach with 2 of my lines on one year and the 3rd line on an alternate year, it allows me to upgrade my phone every year for the 2-year commitment price and hand a phone down to my wife or daughter. Then, upgrade my phone and one other phone on the alternate year. If I switched to Verizon (or to AT&T's Mobile share plan) I'm pretty sure my math indicates that I'd be paying more overall per month/year.

Another plus with AT&T is that it seems like it's easier for me to get a hold of an unlocked GSM phone to play with, if I ever wanted to do that (e.g., I could buy a Google Nexus 5 for $350 if I ever wanted to try out Android).
Click to expand...
Plus Verizon is less consumer friendly than AT&T e.g. forcing people to leave their verizon unlimited plans if they want to upgrade with a subsidy.
 
hipnetic said:
I just had an online chat with a Verizon rep and she indicated that I could sign up for a new plan and get an iPhone 6+ and within 14 days I could return it and just pay a $35 restocking fee. .
Click to expand...

I did tried verizon two years ago for two weeks when iphone 5 was released since I was frustrated with AT&T weak signal at my work building and at home where I had to use AT&T microcell.

I did not find much improvement plus I would lose unlimited from ATT. I cancel verizon and had to pay activation fees and 2 weeks of usage for two phones, total over $200.

luckily I did not cancel ATT and was able to keep unlimited data. now ATT signal is much better at my house and work, Charlotte NC. I traveled to Seattle, South Carolina, and Georgia, and I got LTE signal most of places. I rarely got 4G signal.
 
ToroidalZeus said:
Plus Verizon is less consumer friendly than AT&T e.g. forcing people to leave their verizon unlimited plans if they want to upgrade with a subsidy.
Click to expand...

I concur this. AT&T allow you to keep unlimited data while upgrading. AT&T moved my contract date by two weeks so that I am qualified for iphone 6 upgrade.

Verizon is very strict from what I heard in this forum.

----------
darkflounder said:
AT&T GSM iPhones resell for more than Verizon CDMA phones.

If that's an issue...
Click to expand...

this was true before iphone 5. Since iphone 5, verizon is the most compatible across bands and comes unlock out of the box.
 
ATT was the OG original iPhone carrier
ATT is more globally automatic if you travel out of the country
LTE behavior is probably better there on ATT I figure

vs

Verizon is better in rural areas
Verizon is the most expensive

I dunno it doesn't really matter. Verizon used to not be able to do voice and data at the same time which is why I never considered going over but thats fixed now.

ATT also has better coverage in my state but I think Verizon has better coverage in your state overall.

Plus I have unlimited on ATT and don't get throttled. Im very comfortable.
 
With the 14 days return promise, make sure they are telling is what you are understanding! This is very important.
You get a 6+ at the first day with Verizon service, if you do not like it anyhow, you can just cut off with Verizon's service and back to ATT, the 6+ would work on both networks.
 
Thinking of switching from AT&T to Verizon: Talk me in or out of it

I work across the street from Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. The Verizon Service SUCK - Big time X2!!!!!! It take me 20 minutes to send a Imessage from my office. There are zero service inside the terminal itself. Never been happier since I dumped Verizon for T-Mobile. Good luck.
 
andrewxie said:
With the 14 days return promise, make sure they are telling is what you are understanding! This is very important.
You get a 6+ at the first day with Verizon service, if you do not like it anyhow, you can just cut off with Verizon's service and back to ATT, the 6+ would work on both networks.
Click to expand...
Well that's an interesting idea. I wonder if I could try out Verizon and then if I decided I wanted to stick with AT&T, just cancel the service but pay full price for the iPhone 6+.

But here's the other factor I don't think I mentioned...I've got an unused iPhone 4, and two (in-use) iPhone 4S models, plus the iPhone 5 I'm currently using. I'd like to trade in my iPhone 4 for $200 at either AT&T or Verizon, but I'm going to need to know exactly who I want to stick with since that $200 will come in the form of a credit and I think I'll need to initiate the trade-in the same day I'm getting the 6+.

Again, I think it all gets too complicated if I think there's even a possibility that I decide to stick with AT&T. Basically, I would need to try out Verizon and find out that the service is head-and-shoulders above what I'm getting with AT&T in order for it to be realistic for me to want to give up what I've already got for Verizon and one of these newer plans that don't seem as good as the plan I'm already on. So, I'm most likely just going to play it safe and stick with AT&T.

That said, I'm not preordering an iPhone 6+ just yet. Assuming I decide in the next two days that sticking with AT&T (and my existing plan) is the right choice, I'll probably head over to the local AT&T store around 7am on Friday to see if I can score a Space Gray 6+ 64GB. If not, then I'll have a couple more weeks to decide what to do. I'd like to take advantage of the trade-in offers, which means that I'll need to make a move by 9/30.
 
hipnetic said:
Well that's an interesting idea. I wonder if I could try out Verizon and then if I decided I wanted to stick with AT&T, just cancel the service but pay full price for the iPhone 6+.

But here's the other factor I don't think I mentioned...I've got an unused iPhone 4, and two (in-use) iPhone 4S models, plus the iPhone 5 I'm currently using. I'd like to trade in my iPhone 4 for $200 at either AT&T or Verizon, but I'm going to need to know exactly who I want to stick with since that $200 will come in the form of a credit and I think I'll need to initiate the trade-in the same day I'm getting the 6+.

Again, I think it all gets too complicated if I think there's even a possibility that I decide to stick with AT&T. Basically, I would need to try out Verizon and find out that the service is head-and-shoulders above what I'm getting with AT&T in order for it to be realistic for me to want to give up what I've already got for Verizon and one of these newer plans that don't seem as good as the plan I'm already on. So, I'm most likely just going to play it safe and stick with AT&T.

That said, I'm not preordering an iPhone 6+ just yet. Assuming I decide in the next two days that sticking with AT&T (and my existing plan) is the right choice, I'll probably head over to the local AT&T store around 7am on Friday to see if I can score a Space Gray 6+ 64GB. If not, then I'll have a couple more weeks to decide what to do. I'd like to take advantage of the trade-in offers, which means that I'll need to make a move by 9/30.
Click to expand...

Yeah it is complicated. Carriers are fighting hard for the new iPhone, they all seem pretty legit but devil is in the plan details.
If you want to trade your current iPhones, I would recommend do this quick, preferable before this friday. Old iPhones prices will drop a lot after the new iPhones launch, the new says around 11%, not sure it is true but it give you something to think about.
My advise would be don't sell your iPhone to either ATT or Verizon, just sell it back to Apple, look up the Apple recycle program, basically it is a service that you send back your phones to Apple, then they will evaluate how much they worth, then they will email you back the Apple gift cards. I think this is way easier and safer than sell it on ebay or other places.
 
Not that anybody probably cares, and my personal experience/location is not applicable to anyone else's, but for anyone who has thought about switching carriers, and just to close out my story, I figured I'd post back with how things turned out for me...

Yesterday was the last day possible for me to return my AT&T iPhone 6. As a result of the latest offers from AT&T and Verizon for their doubled-data plans, I was also now considering whether I should give up my "unlimited" plan and switch to AT&T's version of that (I still have until 10/31 to do that).

Anyway, as luck would have it, my father called me on Thursday to say that his Verizon iPhone 6 arrived and he wanted me to help him restore his backup onto it, so I told him to come over yesterday (Friday). I got his new 6 configured, and then I went for a little drive with it and my AT&T 6.

I'm in the boonies and there's a backroad I frequently take which runs about 10 minutes to get me to a busier part of town with grocery stores, etc. My signal can get pretty weak along much of that road, but I'm usually able to stream sports radio, podcasts, or Pandora without it pausing (though I'm sure some of that is due to some buffering which covers the sections of road where the signal gets exceptionally weak). So, I put both phones into the diagnostic mode (whatever it's called) which shows the signal strength in numbers, and I went for a drive. I was happy to see that my AT&T 6 maintained an LTE connection through most of the journey, while the Verizon 6 was on 3G most of the time. Signal strength did show higher for the Verizon phone, but if I turned off LTE on my AT&T 6, it would switch to 4G or 3G mode and the signal strength would get a boost. Still, I proved out that a weak AT&T LTE signal provided data speeds higher than a stronger Verizon 3G signal (I used the Speedtest.net app a few times).

The other part of my test was to go into a grocery store that we frequently shop at. There are a couple of spots in the center of the grocery store where I've had my AT&T iPhone 5 give me problems (I can hear my wife on the other side, but she can't hear me). I was curious to see both how the Verizon 6 fared compared to my AT&T 6, but also if my AT&T 6 was any better or worse than my AT&T 5. In the worst spot in the store, my wife reported that she could hear me talking to hear on my AT&T 6, but I believe there was one instant where she said it was getting choppy. So I'm thinking that the AT&T 6 is about the same as my AT&T 5. The Verizon 6 did show a little stronger signal here. In the parking lot, the Verizon 6 was noticeably better than my AT&T 6, so that section of town seemed to have better Verizon coverage.

I went into this test thinking that I might discover that Verizon's coverage was significantly better than AT&T's for my neighborhood, and that didn't turn out to be the case. In fact, the opposite was true for a good portion of my drive.

So that made my life a bit easier, since I didn't have to rush out to the AT&T store to return the 6. Not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post, but I'm pretty sure that I want a 6+, and that was another reason why I was thinking that I might need to return the 6 before the 14 days were up, but it looks like my wife is going to be content taking the 6 (she initially was thinking 6+), so once I can score a 6+, my wife will get the 6. And my daughter will probably get my 5 (she's currently on a 4S).

One bummer: I was hoping to trade in one or both of our other two 4S's but AT&T's $200 trade-in offer on the older models is now down to $100. For that price, I'd prefer to keep at least one of them around as a spare.
 
Verizon's femtocell device costs $259 and when it works I get full bars in the house. My uptime over the last 4 years of owning it is @ 90%.

It does not play well with Satellite internet.

It does play well with DSL which we finally got about a year ago.

1 of the drawbacks of living in the sticks. Technology advances for the rest of the world but those in the sticks get screwed.

Anyhow I still lose signal about once a month for a day. No rhyme or reason for it.

Any questions about it just ask me.
 
nhgrumpy said:
Verizon's femtocell device costs $259 and when it works I get full bars in the house. My uptime over the last 4 years of owning it is @ 90%.
Click to expand...
My decision is already made, but I am curious about your femtocell. I have the AT&T microcell (their name branding of their femtocell) and it's great when it's working. Unfortunately, on occasion I'll be talking on the phone and my call drops. I look at my phone to discover that it wasn't using the microcell, but instead had chosen to grab the 1 bar signal of the real tower outside. Do you have *ANY* Verizon tower coverage inside/outside your house and, if so, do you ever experience this sort of thing, or have you found that your phone has always been smart enough to always choose the femtocell over the real, but weaker, tower signal?
 
hipnetic said:
Do you have *ANY* Verizon tower coverage inside/outside your house and, if so, do you ever experience this sort of thing, or have you found that your phone has always been smart enough to always choose the femtocell over the real, but weaker, tower signal?
Click to expand...
I have almost no coverage at my house without the femtocell. All of our phones choose the femtocell. It says right on the phone verizon network extender coverage.
 
hipnetic said:
So, I'm currently on an older AT&T family plan with 3 phones, 2 of which are grandfathered on unlimited data. Also, 2 of my 3 phones are eligible for new 2-year contracts, and the 3rd will become available for that in December. I could also opt to switch over to one of the new mobile data share plans, if I wanted to, and buy the new phones with Next. I ran the numbers and it makes the most sense, financially, to go with the 1st option, plus I'd keep "unlimited" data on 2 lines, which would be nice (yes, I know that they're not truly unlimited data - they're more like 5GB plus unlimited slow data after that).

But I'm also thinking (as I do every so often) about the possibility of switching from AT&T to Verizon. I live in the suburbs north of Hartford, CT, and I know that Verizon is considered to have the best network in this area. But AT&T hasn't been awful. Most of the time when I drive around, I have a signal with AT&T and very rarely do I actually hit a dead zone. But if Verizon truly is a bit better, I might be willing to pay a bit more monthly for that better service.

Now, the signal in my house is poor with AT&T (0 to 1 bars), but with Verizon it's only 1-2 bars, so still not usable. So I use an AT&T Microcell in my house, and if I switched to Verizon I'd buy their version of the same thing (it's too bad that neither AT&T or Verizon are supporting the iPhone 6's Wi-Fi calling feature at launch).

So the purpose of this thread is to hear some opinions from others, ideally others who switched from AT&T to Verizon (or vice versa) with their take on what's better or worse about Verizon vs AT&T. I'm looking for opinions about service quality, customer service, useful features that one offers that the other doesn't, etc.

If anyone has personal experience using both AT&T's Microcell and Verizon's femtocell device (made by Samsung), I'd also be interested in hearing your experiences with them, and if one seemed more reliable than the other. My AT&T Microcell works great when it's working, but I've had occasions where my iPhone is no longer using it and is instead attempting to use the weak tower outside, where I'm only getting 1 bar of coverage.
Click to expand...


Go with who has better signal where you are the most. That's all that matters. Both are really good and have comparable quality.
 
Do it. It's with AT&T for4 years with the iP3G and iP4 and hated thee coverage. What is the point of the fastest 3G or LTE if the coverage sucks. It is great if you live in a city and you never leave but sucks when you live in the country and you travel the entire east coast to visit family.

Switched to Verizon when the iP5 came out and never looked back. I pay about the same so having LTE almost everywhere is great.

I say do it.
 
nhgrumpy said:
I have almost no coverage at my house without the femtocell. All of our phones choose the femtocell. It says right on the phone verizon network extender coverage.
Click to expand...

True, and see my house/area was the opposite. A was horrible, maybe on bar, dropped calls, significant battery loss overnight. I switched V and problems gone. Three bars on my V iP6+ in my house.
 
hipnetic said:
So, I'm currently on an older AT&T family plan with 3 phones, 2 of which are grandfathered on unlimited data. Also, 2 of my 3 phones are eligible for new 2-year contracts, and the 3rd will become available for that in December. I could also opt to switch over to one of the new mobile data share plans, if I wanted to, and buy the new phones with Next. I ran the numbers and it makes the most sense, financially, to go with the 1st option, plus I'd keep "unlimited" data on 2 lines, which would be nice (yes, I know that they're not truly unlimited data - they're more like 5GB plus unlimited slow data after that).

But I'm also thinking (as I do every so often) about the possibility of switching from AT&T to Verizon. I live in the suburbs north of Hartford, CT, and I know that Verizon is considered to have the best network in this area. But AT&T hasn't been awful. Most of the time when I drive around, I have a signal with AT&T and very rarely do I actually hit a dead zone. But if Verizon truly is a bit better, I might be willing to pay a bit more monthly for that better service.

Now, the signal in my house is poor with AT&T (0 to 1 bars), but with Verizon it's only 1-2 bars, so still not usable. So I use an AT&T Microcell in my house, and if I switched to Verizon I'd buy their version of the same thing (it's too bad that neither AT&T or Verizon are supporting the iPhone 6's Wi-Fi calling feature at launch).

So the purpose of this thread is to hear some opinions from others, ideally others who switched from AT&T to Verizon (or vice versa) with their take on what's better or worse about Verizon vs AT&T. I'm looking for opinions about service quality, customer service, useful features that one offers that the other doesn't, etc.

If anyone has personal experience using both AT&T's Microcell and Verizon's femtocell device (made by Samsung), I'd also be interested in hearing your experiences with them, and if one seemed more reliable than the other. My AT&T Microcell works great when it's working, but I've had occasions where my iPhone is no longer using it and is instead attempting to use the weak tower outside, where I'm only getting 1 bar of coverage.
Click to expand...

For what I heard AT&T rules in CT?
 
Winona Northdakota said:
When I switched from Verizon to AT&T, my bill went down for the same comparable service.
Click to expand...

As did mine. However, if Verizon was more than ATT but offered better coverage I wouldn't have switch.
ATT has better coverage in more of the places I frequent as well as my house.

This proved to be an important matter during a major ice storm. We lost power for 8 days and at the time we had verizon. The signal was so weak the phones were useless. Luckily with my att work phone we had excellent signal strength.
 
In my area AT&T is a little better. However not by much. If I didn't have unlimited data with Verizon, I would switch back to AT&T. I was close to switching if Verizon did go with their data throttling on unlimited data. Since they aborted that plan, I'll remain a Verizon customer for now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back