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Ask Slashdot: Best Cell Phone Carrier In the US?
martypantsROK writes "After nearly seven years of living abroad, I'm planning to return to the U.S. in early 2013. Last time I lived there, smart phones weren't out yet. Dropped calls were common, and poor reception (can you hear me now?) was an ad campaign. I'm used to South Korea's wicked speeds, both for internet and wireless networks, and I'm wondering what the Slashdot community believes to be best carrier in the U.S. Which is fastest? Which offers the best deal for lots of data? Nationwide roaming and coverage? Prices? Service?"
That's like asking what the best fast food restaurant is.
Just accept that and find the plan that best suits your needs.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
But Sprint has unlimited data.
It's a seriously stupid Ask Slashdot. Unless you state where you will be living, how often you will travel and where, how you use your service, and what your priorities are, no one can answer. Different carriers would be better for two different families living in the same city depending on a whole bunch of factors.
I don't really care about customer service, but I've been a pretty happy T-Mobile customer since the Voicestream days.
They probably have the cheapest plans, and will probably be the most familiar service for international folks... what with using SIM cards and allowing you to use unlocked phones and such. If you already have a quad-band "international" phone, this may be your best bet with finding a phone you can use elsewhere in the world (but do your research... there seem to be some caveats when it comes to max data speed).
Also, don't shy away with buying an unlocked smartphone from Craigslist. You can get lots of equipment like that for pretty cheap, and T-mobile has cheaper monthly rates without a 1-2yr contract that you would have to sign up for when subsidizing a phone purchase through them... though you might have to dig a bit to get to those cheaper plans.
Another side benefit is if you pay for the Android data plan, you could probably get away with tethering Android tablets at no extra charge. They recently started detecting PC browsers and redirecting you to a tethering upsell if you try to tether a laptop, though.
Coverage is great in metropolitan areas and along most interstate corridors. If you want better coverage, then pay out the nose for a Verizon phone... I've had these for work... so I didn't really care about having a locked-down phone as long as I wasn't paying for it.