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Truth Or Dare — What Is the Best US Cell Company?
Epsilon Eridani writes "I am returning to the US after an extended time overseas and upon my return I need to jump head first into the data enabled phone bandwagon. I have to admit ... I am lost as to what is the best company to choose. Before I left the US I used a Sprint HTC phone running Windows with the 'simply everything' plan to communicate and stay organized and a Sprint Wireless Card to connect my laptop to the world. Coming back several generations of technology later, what is the best set up technology-wise to link phone and laptop or two to the Internet? (Open source solutions accepted too!) Can the Slashdot community verify some of the claims on quality of service before I give my first born up when I sign a service contract?"
wouldn't this be best done as a slashdot poll?
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(the correct answer, by the way, is Cowboy Neal Mobile)
moox. for a new generation.
It's AT&T.
With that in mind, I fully expect nothing but a torrent of complaints about them.
For a list of entirely subjective replies.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
From a pure technical perspective, Verizon will get you the best coverage. But the sales people are vicious.
AT&T has iPhone obviously, but shitty coverage. I lend my phone to friends on AT&T in a couple different cities.
T-Mobile is worse coverage then AT&T. But has more open phones.
If you've got nothing right now, I'd go Droid on Verizon, pay 40 bucks for the unlimited data and use Google Voice for routing of your calls and LD service.
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
This is like asking what is your preferred way of being tortured. They all have negatives and are would not exist if they had the competition that Europe does. AT&T doesn't care to increase their network, T-Mobile doesn't have real 3G, Sprint and Verizon are still CDMA so you'll have to get a really expensive world phone if you want to go back overseas... Better off sending telegrams.
No, they don't. AT&T's 3G network is on a different frequency than T-Mobile's, and the iPhones only support the AT&T 3G band. You can use unlocked (a step beyond jailbroken) iPhones on T-Mobile, but only with Edge support.
If you're in a major metro area, T-Mobile is by far the best and cheapest. They also let you tether with all their smartphones without an additional tethering charge. If you're in the boonies, it seems Verizon is the only way to go.
Once you have used T-Mobile and UMA at $0.10 per minute, you will NEVER go back to standard plans.
UMA is basically "GSM over IP over 802.11g", and it allows you to make GSM cellphone calls [billed at a standard $0.10 per minute] from any publically accessible WiFi hotspot.
I'd buy an older UMA phone off of eBay, and purchase a $50 [$0.125] or $100 [$0.10] prepaid plan from T-Mobile, and say goodbye to monthly fees forever.
... before I give my first born up when I sign a service contract?
You are not ready for the US American cell phone companies. Packets are transported by the souls of the damned who sign service contracts. Your firstborn is not payment enough; you must provide the souls of all your friends and family.
Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
...if you're coming back from overseas, you'll find there is no 'best'.
I've been back and forth for the last decade, and it is always a disappointment coming back into the US and trying to get decent cellphone service. The US is a backwater of customer abuse and services gone wanting.
When living/working in Japan, South Korea and China, I learned not to discuss one countries offerings versus the US unless I was looking for laughs...
I worked for Samsung in SK and for a major domestic telecom in China, so I had ample opportunity to see things from both the corporate and consumer sides.
These days in the US I carry a cellphone only for emergencies. I don't text, don't use mobile banking, internet, etc. I make maybe one call every month or two, and those are usually from my car where the phone is coupled via Bluetooth to the head unit and everything is hands free. I can't bring myself to accept a locked in contract and the high fees are best spent elsewhere... For me, the whole cell phone experience in the US is a bust.
Cell phones I brought back from Asia are going on 2 years old now and still have features that were ubiquitous there that aren't yet common here.
"It's complicated."
Signal quality and coverage depend on multiple things - the carrier's infrastructure vs your (common) locations, and your phone. Verizon's coverage, say, in one city, can be completely different than in another city. There is also the difference between voice quality and data, and then there's data SPEEDS to consider. You also want to look at future upgrades. Verizon will be the first one going to LTE (the next big jump in data connection speeds), though Sprint has already rolled out WiMax in some cities (a competing 4th gen spec), noone is likely to be coming out with any WiMax smartphones until the second half of the year, by which time, Verizon will be on the verge of their LTE rollout. You can get WiMax cards for your laptop now, though, if you just can't wait.
There's also the issues of phone selection and plan pricing to consider, and whether you're going contract-free or not. We're in a period of transition this year on more than one front - the impending switch to LTE in the second half of the year, and the decimation of Windows Mobile-based phones by Android-based phones, oh, and the now 'superphone' type phones - ones with 1ghz-class processors and WVGA screens (like the Nexus one and HTC Bravo).
So, I guess I would start by thinking about finances. Can you afford to outright buy a phone? If you can, I'd suggest that so you can go contract-free and increase your choices for switching in a year if you need to based on how the industry shakes out this year. The beginning of 2011 is going to look VERY different from what it looks like now. Android will be matured, LTE will be available in most major cities by Verizon at the very least, Sprint's WiMax infrastructure will possibly be starting to switch over to LTE if it is, indeed, as simple as upgrading network tower software, and we'll see how mature Android is, how much Microsoft bribes the cellphone companies to put out WinMo 7-based phones, and whether the iPhone finally upgrades to 'superphone' status and becomes available on networks other than AT&T.
If you can't afford to outright buy your phone, then go with Verizon or Sprint for the 3G coverage (for now), assuming 3G is a big concern. Verizon vs Sprint is a matter of network quality/phone selection vs price. Verizon (currently) has the better phone selection and network quality over Sprint, but Sprint has those Simply Everything plans (I'm on the Simply Everything 450). Verizon is officially going to be carrying the Google Nexus One phone later this year. Sprint was completely silent during CES on what phones it's going to be carrying. If they get the HTC Bravo (the hardware that is essentially the Nexus One), I may stay with Sprint, especially if it has the Sense UI on it, which the Nexus One does not. Verizon seems to have made the biggest official commitment to the Android platform of any of the major US carriers. I just wish they'd match prices with Sprint. If I could get an HTC Bravo on Verizon at Sprint's prices, I wouldn't hesitate to sign a two-year contract.
I wouldn't consider AT&T or T-Mobile because of their 3G coverage and network reliability issues at this time, but those AREN'T issues for many people in many locations. You'll want to find out from people where you live what those networks are like there.
I've been w/T-Mobile since they started in the US. Here's why I like them:
* Avid supporter of Android. First one to introduce the G1, and now the first partner w/the Nexus One.
* Support advanced android features like visual voice mail for free and auto-notification when you near your minutes limit
* Reasonably priced, as cell phone companies go.
* Customer service has been shockingly fast/friendly whenever I've needed them (which admittedly, hasn't been often)
* Great coverage in US. Every city I've been to has had solid coverage. I've only been to fairly large cities though.
* After 3 months of service, they give you unlock codes for your phone.
* GSM network so most phones can be used overseas-- successfully used my US G1 in US, Mexico, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, etc. T-Mobile's parent company is Deutsche Telekom.
* They are not AT&T.
* As far as I know, they did not spy on Americans when Bush asked them to.
And no, I don't work for them.
all of them have a 30 day escape clause in their contracts.
That clause didn't show up there by accident. In the US, it's the law.
I believe it also depends on EXACTLY where you want to use the phone, particularly where you regularly want to use it.
You can look at the carriers web site and it can clearly show you are right in the middle of their coverage area, but get no signal, or only an intermittent signal, or only 2G instead of 3G.
I would suggest going and signing up for service by a major carrier and trying it out in the area's where you primarily will use it, and if it doesn't work well, return the equipment and cancel the service quickly [I believe most of them let you return everything for little or no penalty with a 1/2 month or a month].
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
I've settled on AT&T. I've spent a lot of time on the road and have been to nearly every state, and AT&T has been generally okay for me (certainly not good, but okay). But with that said, Verizon and T-Mobile both sucked for me, with both coverage issues and serious billing issues (the kind that get you red in the face and ruin your day, then your week, then your month, until you're telling people how ridiculous it's getting).
So I've been with AT&T several years now and am uninterested in switching at this point (and I live in NYC, where people [usually not AT&T customers] are sure AT&T is at its worst).
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
That's actually offered by AT&T under the term "A-List", Sprint under "Any network any time", and T-Mobile as "MyFaves"... all require their higher plans.
Sprint is about the same price as Tmobile (and until recently, were cheaper), has better 3g coverage by far than Tmobile, and roams on Verizon's network in case you *are* heading for the boonies. Sprint has a bad reputation they can't seem to get rid of, but have made vast improvements in customer service under their new CEO Hesse. That having been said, all of the carriers suck....
The question is clear and other people's answers appear to have the same problem I do -- namely that it's unclear WHAT kind of service you want (good voice quality, good data quality, good SMS, pricing, etc.) and no criteria for "Best."
At this point I could stop having criticized the question, but instead let me offer you some answers, and you can pick and choose.
I have a Nokia N900 on a T-Mobile "all you can eat" plan. The plan is great. The phone is great. In my area T-Mobile can't hold a call.
I have a Motorola Droid on a Verizon "don't eat very much but enjoy your meal" plan. The plan is so so. The phone is almost great. Verizon coverage for voice and data is awesome here.
I have a Treo 700wx running Windows Mobile 5. I believe it's three years old. It was my Verizon phone prior to the Droid, and while it was annoying in requiring reboots and factory defaults, it was reliable. I did not love it very much tho, as I'm not a big fan of Windows Mobile. Here it works on SPRINT or Verizon, which are good.
If you go 1 hour north, there are totally different carrier coverages. However, on their respective maps they all appear to have equally good coverage here or there.
SO: When asking what is the best US Cell company, realize that
1. There are different companies throughout different parts, regions, and even cities in the same country.
2. Some companies (e.g. Cricket) resell limited services of some other companies (e.g. SPRINT or Qwest or Verizon within a limited geo. area where I am)
3. Some companies (e.g. Verizon) are an amalgamation of other companies, and their services vary greatly. (Verizon *in this area* formerly Cellular One formerly Bell Atlantic)
4. Data services and voice services are a function of many different things including how they provision service to the cell sites. Literally moving two miles away may get you 700Kbps on 3G data and good phone service, but the other way no data and decent phone service.
5. SMS is something I consider critical. Others do not.
So, in sum, to wind up this post, Voice Coverage, Data Coverage, SMS Coverage, and availability of phones are what can be used to judge the best US Cell company -- in my little neighborhood. Your conclusions 5 miles away will vary.
Good luck with your quest.
E
I was with AT&T for over 10 years then switched to T-Mobile because AT&T had no signal in my new house. T-Mobile and Verizon stores let me borrow a phone and bring it home, which was really cool of them I think. I went with T-Mobile because I could get 2-3 bars at home my old GSM phones would work.
Anyway I am 100% happy with T-Mobile. Their 3g service is NOT oversubscribed and will go to 21mbps (HSPA+) in 2010, everywhere. The price is lower and their customer service is far better, hands down.
AT&T has better coverage in remote areas. Their 2g signal is pretty much everywhere, while T-Mobile is in the metro areas and along the highways only.
I am envious of the Droid, which makes my Cliq look like a toy, but Android phones seem to be falling from the sky these days. One equal to the Droid should come around this year.
What exactly do you have against thin small outline packages, anyway?
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
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Don't be a troll: http://mobile.engadget.com/2006/12/18/sprint-users-can-get-their-data-served-verizon-style/