I am tired of the misinformation being spread on this forum. I offer this post because I do not think most of it is malicious misinformation. It is an iPhone forum and so at this point most US posters are with AT&T; they have little knowledge of Verizon or base what they know on how it was X years ago when they were a subscriber.
Lately this forum has become a hotspot for bickering about wether AT&T or Verizon is better. It is not a contest with a winner or loser, they are both huge networks that have their own sets of strengths and failings. So much comes down to the simple fact of where you live giving you better service from one company or another. I owned an iPhone 3GS and 4 through AT&T and had a Droid X with Verizon last fall. I had an overall great experience with both. I am currently a Verizon subscriber with a mobile hotspot who will be grabbing an iPhone 4 day one on Verizon.
Verizon has Unlimited Data. This is completely true and means exactly what it should. There is no secret 5GB cap. I went over 5GB each month and suffered no fines or slowing of my data speed. This rumor has a seed of truth but for their smart phones Unlimited now truly means Unlimited.
I don't know why people keep saying Verizon will probably remove their Unlimited data soon. The only source seems to be other posters saying the same. Vz and AT&T tend to follow lock step a lot, but Verizon seems to realize the competitive advantage they hold by keeping Unlimited Data and show no sign of throwing it away so soon. Update: Verizon's COO has said they do do plan to keep unlimited for a time because they would be shooting themselves in the foot (his words) to get rid of it now. However, Verizon's COO has said Verizon will follow AT&T's lead and go to tiered plans in the "not too distant future". Not much of a time frame, could be a month or even a year; they have been hinting at getting rid of unlimited for over a year. At this point I think they would have removed it earlier, but realized how smart it would be to keep it until they have the iPhone 4.
If you think it will be scrapped because iPhones are just so data heavy then know it has been reported over and over Android phone owners use more data than iPhone users. It makes sense to me because there were so many more things I was able to download with Android app that Apple's market would never allow such as a Youtube downloader.
Verizon Customer Service. I hear a lot of knocks against Verizon's customer service here. This is something more anecdotal so I would never say anyone's experience is not valid, but I will offer my own experience to counter it. I would grade AT&T's CS a 10/10 and Verizon's a 9/10. I had a couple representatives go above and beyond to assist me at AT&T, but always got my problems solved with help from Vz as well. With any call-in support you are going to get clueless people, but I did happen upon more when calling Vz.
Interesting to note Verizon and AT&T tied for last in a study of customer's satisfaction about call-in customer support. These satisfaction studies change pretty often, but that is where it stands now.
A good thing for everyone to remember is how much luck is involved. With most of these places you could get the worst rep you have even dealt with and when you call back 5 seconds later get the most helpful person you will ever know.
Verizon vs AT&T signal strength. This is completely dependent on your location. There are million who get better AT&T coverage and millions in an area better served by Verizon. Data Speeds on AT&T can be faster, but that does not help those (like me) who live far outside of AT&T 3G coverage area.
Simultaneous Voice and Data. It is true that it is not possible to be on the phone and use data (i.e. surf the web) while you talk. Verizon's CDMA network is not built to handle this function unless the phone maker adds a "svdo chip" to the phone which the Vz iPhone will not have. This is the state as of now 2011, I doubt it will be the same X year(s) from now especially with the LTE/4G network.
This can be an issue for some people; AT&T says about 1/3 of iPhone customers use this feature daily while half said at least once a week. It matters little for people like me who could not go to AT&T even if they wanted to and just like any feature there is still a portion who do not need/want the feature enough to care. Verizon has never had this feature and it's smartphone sell just fine. It will not kill the Verizon iPhone.
Verizon apps/"bloatware" and Verizon logo. There will be NO applications preinstalled by Verizon on a Vz iPhone. There will be some available for download through the App Store. There will be no Verizon branding on the Vz iPhone.
If you want to complain about preinstalled apps gripe at Apple. With every iOS device I have had I needed to hide away the uninstallable Stocks app because I have absolutely no use for it.
Verizon iPhone 4 cases. Some cases designed for the original iPhone 4 will not work for a Verizon iPhone 4. The front and back facing are the same, but the mute and volume buttons have been moved slightly. If you are wondering about a specific case you must contact the vendor/manufacturer. Apple has already redesigned their bumpers to work with either Carrier's iPhone 4.
Verizon "iPhone 5" release. Verizon is not the first carrier to be given a mid-cycle release. True it is the first with CDMA technology, but it is foolish to believe Apple has not already been well underway developing the next iteration of the iPhone to be ready for all carriers regardless of antenna. Apple knew about the Verizon/CDMA iPhone far before January 11. We can be 99.9% sure the "iPhone 5" will be released this summer and it is just as likely a Verizon/CDMA version will be released alongside GSM. No hard facts to prove this, but it seems fool hardy to think otherwise.
This entry has nothing solid to back it up so I get if you are not convinced, but think about this example. O2 was the first carrier to have the iPhone in UK. O2 lost exclusivity when Orange got the iPhone. It happened in late 2009. So tell me, does Orange still get their iPhones in the fall? No
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Several things are not yet written in stone and we will learn more as the weeks go by and the iPhone 4 is "rereleased", but as of now this is how the facts stand.
This thread is not meant to put forth either AT&T or Verizon to be superior to the other, but simply to clear the air on simple things not known by enough people. Anything I missed?
Lately this forum has become a hotspot for bickering about wether AT&T or Verizon is better. It is not a contest with a winner or loser, they are both huge networks that have their own sets of strengths and failings. So much comes down to the simple fact of where you live giving you better service from one company or another. I owned an iPhone 3GS and 4 through AT&T and had a Droid X with Verizon last fall. I had an overall great experience with both. I am currently a Verizon subscriber with a mobile hotspot who will be grabbing an iPhone 4 day one on Verizon.
Verizon has Unlimited Data. This is completely true and means exactly what it should. There is no secret 5GB cap. I went over 5GB each month and suffered no fines or slowing of my data speed. This rumor has a seed of truth but for their smart phones Unlimited now truly means Unlimited.
I don't know why people keep saying Verizon will probably remove their Unlimited data soon. The only source seems to be other posters saying the same. Vz and AT&T tend to follow lock step a lot, but Verizon seems to realize the competitive advantage they hold by keeping Unlimited Data and show no sign of throwing it away so soon. Update: Verizon's COO has said they do do plan to keep unlimited for a time because they would be shooting themselves in the foot (his words) to get rid of it now. However, Verizon's COO has said Verizon will follow AT&T's lead and go to tiered plans in the "not too distant future". Not much of a time frame, could be a month or even a year; they have been hinting at getting rid of unlimited for over a year. At this point I think they would have removed it earlier, but realized how smart it would be to keep it until they have the iPhone 4.
If you think it will be scrapped because iPhones are just so data heavy then know it has been reported over and over Android phone owners use more data than iPhone users. It makes sense to me because there were so many more things I was able to download with Android app that Apple's market would never allow such as a Youtube downloader.
Verizon Customer Service. I hear a lot of knocks against Verizon's customer service here. This is something more anecdotal so I would never say anyone's experience is not valid, but I will offer my own experience to counter it. I would grade AT&T's CS a 10/10 and Verizon's a 9/10. I had a couple representatives go above and beyond to assist me at AT&T, but always got my problems solved with help from Vz as well. With any call-in support you are going to get clueless people, but I did happen upon more when calling Vz.
Interesting to note Verizon and AT&T tied for last in a study of customer's satisfaction about call-in customer support. These satisfaction studies change pretty often, but that is where it stands now.
A good thing for everyone to remember is how much luck is involved. With most of these places you could get the worst rep you have even dealt with and when you call back 5 seconds later get the most helpful person you will ever know.
Verizon vs AT&T signal strength. This is completely dependent on your location. There are million who get better AT&T coverage and millions in an area better served by Verizon. Data Speeds on AT&T can be faster, but that does not help those (like me) who live far outside of AT&T 3G coverage area.
Simultaneous Voice and Data. It is true that it is not possible to be on the phone and use data (i.e. surf the web) while you talk. Verizon's CDMA network is not built to handle this function unless the phone maker adds a "svdo chip" to the phone which the Vz iPhone will not have. This is the state as of now 2011, I doubt it will be the same X year(s) from now especially with the LTE/4G network.
This can be an issue for some people; AT&T says about 1/3 of iPhone customers use this feature daily while half said at least once a week. It matters little for people like me who could not go to AT&T even if they wanted to and just like any feature there is still a portion who do not need/want the feature enough to care. Verizon has never had this feature and it's smartphone sell just fine. It will not kill the Verizon iPhone.
Verizon apps/"bloatware" and Verizon logo. There will be NO applications preinstalled by Verizon on a Vz iPhone. There will be some available for download through the App Store. There will be no Verizon branding on the Vz iPhone.
If you want to complain about preinstalled apps gripe at Apple. With every iOS device I have had I needed to hide away the uninstallable Stocks app because I have absolutely no use for it.
Verizon iPhone 4 cases. Some cases designed for the original iPhone 4 will not work for a Verizon iPhone 4. The front and back facing are the same, but the mute and volume buttons have been moved slightly. If you are wondering about a specific case you must contact the vendor/manufacturer. Apple has already redesigned their bumpers to work with either Carrier's iPhone 4.
Verizon "iPhone 5" release. Verizon is not the first carrier to be given a mid-cycle release. True it is the first with CDMA technology, but it is foolish to believe Apple has not already been well underway developing the next iteration of the iPhone to be ready for all carriers regardless of antenna. Apple knew about the Verizon/CDMA iPhone far before January 11. We can be 99.9% sure the "iPhone 5" will be released this summer and it is just as likely a Verizon/CDMA version will be released alongside GSM. No hard facts to prove this, but it seems fool hardy to think otherwise.
This entry has nothing solid to back it up so I get if you are not convinced, but think about this example. O2 was the first carrier to have the iPhone in UK. O2 lost exclusivity when Orange got the iPhone. It happened in late 2009. So tell me, does Orange still get their iPhones in the fall? No
__________________
Several things are not yet written in stone and we will learn more as the weeks go by and the iPhone 4 is "rereleased", but as of now this is how the facts stand.
This thread is not meant to put forth either AT&T or Verizon to be superior to the other, but simply to clear the air on simple things not known by enough people. Anything I missed?
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. It is the same iPhone 4 just with a different antenna and no SIM due to it being CDMA instead of GSM.
