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Slashdot Asks: Which Wireless Carrier Do You Prefer?
Earlier this year, telecommunications giants like T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint were battling to see who could release the best unlimited data plan(s). T-Mobile started the domino chain reaction with the launch of its "One" unlimited plan in August. But the competition became especially fierce in February when Verizon introduced unlimited data plans of their own, causing Sprint and AT&T to unveil new unlimited data plans that same week, both of which have their own restrictions and pricing. Each of the four major carriers have since continued to tweak their plans to ultimately undercut their competitors and retain as many customers are possible.
Given how almost everyone has a smartphone these days and the thirst for data has never been higher, we'd like to ask you about your current wireless carrier and plan. Which wireless carrier and plan do you have any why? Is there any one carrier or unlimited data plan that stands out from the others? T-Mobile, for example, recently announced that it added 1.1 million customers in Q1 2017, which means that it has added more than 1 million customers every quarter for the past four years. Have they managed to earn your business? MyRatePlan has a good breakdown of the current unlimited data plans on the market today.
Given how almost everyone has a smartphone these days and the thirst for data has never been higher, we'd like to ask you about your current wireless carrier and plan. Which wireless carrier and plan do you have any why? Is there any one carrier or unlimited data plan that stands out from the others? T-Mobile, for example, recently announced that it added 1.1 million customers in Q1 2017, which means that it has added more than 1 million customers every quarter for the past four years. Have they managed to earn your business? MyRatePlan has a good breakdown of the current unlimited data plans on the market today.
AT&T customer here for several years. Evaluated all of the main carriers and a few mvno plays last year, including a trial with T-Mobile who came the closest in service quality. Ended up staying with AT&T.
It's not as if there is a website that does yearly reviews of things like this: http://www.consumerreports.org...
5 phones for $100/month total. It's unlimited data but slower, and they piggyback on AT&T so coverage is good.
it worked great for two days. 100MB down +. after two weeks of waiting, they tell us we might not have the right carrier. had to get with verizon or att... got 5 together on verizon and it's still almost $50/month/line
I have wifi in enough places if I actually need data, and otherwise I'm out and about, and don't need it.
I refuse to deal with contracts, locking me into shitty deals when better ones come out, their prices are over the top for data as is, always has been.
They keep trying to add more value but take more dollars while as employers they keep trying to add more value but not pay more. People are trying to minimize the money you get constantly while trying to maximize what they take from you.
Their only luck when it comes to me is that in todays day and age everyone has to have a phone, and a landline is just as expensive (as intended).
Comment removed based on user account deletion
TracPhone. $7 per month, everything included. Smartphone was under $100.
I figure I can take the money I would pay Verizon, $80+ a month, and, at the end of the year, have $960+, and buy myself a nice really high end laptop. That's a new laptop *every* year!
Y'all ever heard of "rent-seeking" behavior?
I use Google Project Fi. Just because.
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
What do you mean "prefer"? They're all filth!!
I have to go with Verizon. I live out in the middle of nowhere, Montana, and Verizon coverage is the best out here.
https://ting.com/
... to an AT&T GoPhone (pre-paid) plan. $43.50 / mo. (auto-charged) gets 6 GB at LTE speed, and most, if not all, of the unused data rolls over into the following month's LTE allotment.
A Teenage Hacker Figured Out How To Get Free Data On His Phone
Thank Ajit!
4 smartphones and a Samsung LTE tablet, unlimited data plan, heavy data users, $279/mo includes payments for a Pixel phone and a Droid high end phone (we own the iPhone 6+ and 6S). Always have good coverage, good calls, no drops, fast data, no complaints. We've been with Verizon since our first cell phones. We're always open to offers, but so far no one has beat VZ on quality. Price maybe, but connections, stability, speed and quality count for a lot. Cheap service isn't a value if you can't use it.
Just left AT&T. Two iPhones with fake-unlimited data and texting ran me $130 a month. Now I pay as I go on Ting, and it's $40 a month (for both phones) and the same data volume as AT&T before they throttled it into oblivion. (about 2G) Savings will cover cost of new phones in a little over a year. Best part was Ting is online, and I didn't have to leave my house or talk to a droid at the AT&T store!
No complaints. Works great in my area, and free data when I'm in Canada.
Over the years, I've been with T-Mobile, AT&T, and lastly, Verizon, whom I've been with for 10 years. All three of them excelled at charging an arm and a leg, and were never shy about letting me know all the new ways I can go into debt with them (I politely declined all of these "wonderful" opportunities)... but Verizon, despite costing the most by a hair, had the best coverage and reliability. I've been letting them pound me in the rear end, sans lube, for 10 years, and unless I move, I see this relationship continuing.
...it really depends on so many variables that there is no accurate answer. For example I am currently a T-Mobile customer, and have been for several years. Their service, for me, was very good until about four years ago. Then about four years ago my usage, and coverage area changed. I used to use my service mainly in major metropolitan areas, and T-Mobile is great in those types of areas. However, the minute you are anywhere out of the ordinary T-Mobile's service goes down the toilet. Four years ago a couple of things changed for me: My parents retired, and became part owners of a resort. I also bought a boat around the same time. These details are important because whenever I am on my boat or at the resort I have no service. This brings me to my next point which is anytime I see someone using their phone at the resort or on the water I ask them what carrier they use. The answer is almost always Verizon, and if it is not it's AT&T. Not a single person has ever answered that question with T-Mobile or Sprint. Nor has anyone ever said Cricket, Boost, Freedom Pop, etc. Just my opinion whatever that's worth.
They're not the best but i don't care. i have a 6 line account where my mom and in-laws pitch in for their part. $270 a month including all taxes and paying installments on two iphones.
just switched to unlimited and I get HBO included along with a $25 discount on Direct TV now which is great since my internet is only $45. $25 a month for TV i was watching the NBA playoffs yesterday and will be watching the Yankees this summer and the NFL this fall. Another $10 a month and I'll get college football
T-mobile One - gives me so many extras that I use all the time including free low speed data in 140 countries, taxes included, double the low speed in the 140 countries at no extra cost, free texting in those same countries, kickback promotion when any line uses less than 2gig for the month, free Gogo texting on domestic flights, free one hour of Gogo wifi per flight, never a price increase, promotion of a free additional line (forever), free wifi router, wifi calling, free gifts each Tuesday, massively improved network and data speeds
Been using straight talk for around 4 years. Never had an issue. I use the "at&t" tower frequencies, since at&t has better coverage in my area. 5GB data, which I never go over, unlimited talk/text, just under $50.00/month.
I had ATT for years and generally no issues with them in my area, my wife has used various services on the sprint network and is now with sprint, and it mostly seems ok
my current phone is on Verizon, and wow for as much crap they talk, at least in my area, it sucks donkey ass, its constantly at 3g or lower, often with no mobile data, and it drops at a gnats fart, not impressed for as much as it would be costing me.... now to be fair its mostly fine when I travel to other large area's, but I don't do that but a handful of times a year
So while being smack dead center in their blood red map, it is by far the worst service I have ever had... and I had cellphone's since the brick with a rubber ducky antenna Motorola's on gaping wide gaps in analog coverage, and its less reliable than that
You travel overseas. AT&T makes this very simple and has deals with local phone companies in ever country I, and people I know, have traveled. It took all of 2 minutes to enable, and while perhaps a few bucks more than some of the other methods required nothing extra. No hardware swapping, no hassle.
Prices have come down recently, which made me happy. Price was my only knock against AT&T, and I have been a customer since the iPhone 3 which had no choice but AT&T.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
It all depends on what exactly you need from your provider. My own personal preference is for Verizon because our family travels heavily within the continental United States and requires fast data at all times. Sure Verizon provides this better than most carriers, but good lord is it expensive. We pay around $300 usd a month right now for 6 smartphones and unlimited data.
Verizon has the best coverage here.
Att is very close in coverage and is faster in town.
T-mobile has great speeds nearly everywhere you can get a signal but there are still too many places that I can't.
Sprint suprisingly has fairly good coverage here but their speeds are terrible everywhere 8Mbps tops.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
Cricket/AT&T kept jacking up my rates. T-Mobile neglected to mention the "Regulatory Compliance Fees" that added $15/mo to my bill (and made them look like taxes when they're not, and no, they're not the fees for giving poor folks phone access, those have a separate line item). Verizon's expensive as hell and has overage fees like crazy (yeah, unlimited right now, but as soon as the pressure's off they'll start cancelling those plans). The little guys who resell for the big 3 have lousy coverage because they're deprioritized on the network.
Cellular is a God damned natural resource (Radio Waves) and we gave it away to businesses and let them rape us in the name of the "Free Market". A modest profit is one thing but this is nuts.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Most of the time *I'm* the wireless carrier, and it saved so much money over what I was paying Sprint, it paid for the phone in 4 months (for the Nexus 5X).
I am fortunate that my phone will show me monthly usage (Settings >> Wireless & Networks >> Data Usage) so I can quickly understand which restrictions are irrelevant to me. And, yes, headroom/carryover are parts of that equation.
My primary carrier is verizon.net (via FIOS land line). While I do own a cell phone, I'm not stupid enough to live the life-cellulite wherein number of minutes/seconds is relevant. That is: my cell phone is an older (apple 4 variant) phone. I do not have a compelling reason to switch to a consumer-abusive-account in the name of "progress"
Uneven amounts of coverage by the providers for me makes it less about preference, more what works. At this time my only option to have consistency is Verizon.
Unfortunately, we only have 4 real options in the US. Everyone else is just piggybacking on one of them.
I like to be able to use whatever phone I want, gotten from anywhere, without needing to buy it through my carrier, and which I can keep updated without needing to crack it.
That means I refuse to use a carrier with a sufficiently proprietary network technology that enables them to be assholes about devices. This excludes Verizon and Sprint right off the bat.
So my only real options are AT&T or T-Mobile. Since T-Mobile has gone out of their way to be the least-jerk'ish mobile carrier in the US, while AT&T generally hasn't, I've basically stuck with T-Mobile. Sure, their coverage may not always be the best, but it does keep improving. And if I ever actually want to travel, I don't need to worry about having to shut off my phone to not be totally gouged on the bill.
I switched from ATT to TMo when ATT started screwing around with their grandfathered unlimited plans. TMo worked great in my usual locations (home, commute, work, travel to family).
But.
Zero coverage on leisure vacation. Thankfully TMo didn't have the idiotic wifi-calling restrictions that ATT does, so I was able to use that when I was at our lodging -- but nowhere else.
I loved and still miss TMo's no bullshit approach to service: no silly activation fees, no nickel and diming, good customer service, etc.
The final straw was when we moved out to the suburbs and couldn't get cell signal anywhere on our property. I didn't want to be cut off from civilization if power goes out and my internet service dies. I did wait until I upgraded our phones before switching, though, so I wouldn't get hit with an extra activation fee from ATT.
Now, on ATT, I can make reliable phone calls from our house. Verizon was a no-go because of their broken can't-use-the-phone-and-data-at-the-same-time limitations.
If TMo's coverage were better, I'd have stuck with them. I have high hopes for their new 700 MHz rollout. I'd go back to them in a heartbeat.
Amusingly, I now get worse data throughput on my commute, I think in large part because of the heavier congestion of ATT users...
I have to travel internationally every couple of years and the TMo international is no joke. Upon landing in Beijing you get a 'Welcome to China' text and service includes unlimited pokey 2G data speed data that goes straight through TMo's US servers so the websites blocked normally in China work just fine. Coverage is most excellent; pretty much any city or town, just not out in the countryside.
T-Mobile is pretty good in my area, they really got good after the AT&T deal fell through and they picked up extra spectrum. But I also take advantage of the Xfinity wifi hotspots I get through Comcast, which are great when they work and save a lot of data on the LTE side. And they were the first US company to do wifi calling and are pretty good at it. I have an iPad and iPhone 7 that both have the latest LTE radios to get the 700 MHz band. Pricing isn't too bad either, I get a discount through work on an unlimited talk/text plan with 6 GB/month of data on each device, with rollover that lasts for (I think) a year.
"Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
Many who comment here will have a reason that they chose one carrier over one other carrier. They may have switched carriers. I always found that the latest carrier plan was better than the competition, and that it would go back and forth or be too confusing to come up with one clear answer. I actually have iPhones and aPhones on 5 carriers. I also travel the world quite a bit. Domestically, all the carriers are good for most unless you live in an area not covered by some. I remember times when Verizon was faster but now it seems that AT&T is faster for me, most of the time. I remember when you could buy international data from Verizon that covered 200 countries, while the AT&T list was only about 50 countries. That affected me in places like Russia and South Africa, back then. T-Mobile has incredible data plans for here and away but they don't seem as fast as claimed unless I'm in the store. Sprint has gone far out of their way to help me with issues, including a stolen phone number. Right now I believe that the best carrier I have, for my own needs, is Google Project Fi because the plan works in over 100 countries. You can even order a free data-only SIM for free, without even a shipping charge, to use it on iPads and the like. I would never say that anyone's choice of plan is bad in any way though.
OK a new size TV
I use Consumer Cellular for 3 phones as we don't use a lot of minutes.$60/mo.
But for data we have a NETGEAR AirCard on unlimitedlteadvanced.com for unlimited data for the phones and 3 tablets for $80/mo. The AirCard stays in the car 99% of the time since most of the non wi-fi data use is while riding in the car. Kids and spouse do a lot of streaming videos in the car.... usually around 150-200 GB/mo.
So $140/mo for 3 phones plus 3 tablets.
"Unlimited data" in this case is better than most since there is no throttling and it really is unlimited.
I've been a custom of theirs before smart phones were even around. I had a small pay-as-you-go phone before getting their iPhone. It's $30 a month unlimited but throttled after 1 gig. Which for me is no big deal. Just give me phone, e-mail and weather and I'm fine. Also, when I bought my iPhone 5c I think it was $350. Which was $100 cheaper than everyone else at that time.
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
No, you've probably never heard of it.
But seriously, if you don't use a ton of data, fuck every other carrier. Ting is an MVNO that's incredibly cheap, allows you to bring your own device, runs on Sprint for CDMA and they won't say for GSM. But get a GSM phone because whether its AT&T or Tmobile the cost is the same and the reception is better. How cheap? You pay only for what you use, no fixed monthly fees beyond lines and the usage rates for anything other than data are great.
If that sounds like your kind of thing go check it out.
If you travel internationally and have to pay for calls/data yourself or have family or friends overseas, T-Mo is really tough to beat. Data nearly everywhere in the world included, no worries about data roaming charges - yes, slow data, but enough for maps, e-mail, on line radio, and VOIP. I was month in Europe and even with this slow speed I managed over 4Gb of (free) data ;-)
Family - 4 phone lines (4GB data each) + 1 iPad (2GB data) for $100 + $10 for whole family free (nearly whole) world international calling. With some taxes less than $120 which I think it is a great deal. And their coverage has improved even in less populated areas of US.
honest question from someone who lives in a country where these kind of cheap ($10) additional lines do not exist. What is stopping group of friends from subscribing together and splitting the bill? One must be an idiot to get one line for $50 when you can get 8 for an average of $17.50/line before tax and your international calling add-on.
Project Fi has better international data speeds and coverage than t-mobile.
AT&T Next Family Plan 15GB with 5 lines, and corporate discount. I'm at the sweet spot price-wise for 5 lines. When I switched, at least 3 of the phones were still under contract, and were released upon switching.
Went with them because they were the first with iPhones (had a 3G), and supported GSM (for European travel).
Not going to unlimited because I don't care about DirectTV.
$35/month, good signal in my apartment, good signal all around town.
Some 15 years ago I drove from San Diego to Oklahoma with my sister. She had Verizon. She had signal between cities when I had nothing. Then again, she was paying twice what I was. When I got close to a city I got a signal.
Few years ago I drove from San Diego to Salt Lake City, then to Montana. Never had an issue with signal strength.
Tel$tra
I'm on wifi most of the time and hardly use mobile data, so it works for me.
In my case its Ting, an MVNO that operates on both the Sprint and Tmobile infrastructure.. I buy my own phones, currently a Nexus 4, and refuse to do contracts.. With Ting, you only pay for what you *actually* use. My only nit with them (and its not just them) is their data usage prices are a bit steep.. For instance, my phone bill for TWO phones this month was $21.. It was that low as wife's phone was turned off most of the month, and I only used less than 100Mb of data.. On average, in normal months, the bill for two phones is between $35-$45.... Can't beat that with a stick...
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
Upside vs. vzw branded: It's really cheap. $10/mo for a basic plan, and $.015/mb $.015/min $.01/txt PAYG. Or $30/mo for 1.5GB, 750min, 750txt.
MVNO's are by nature a little flakey, and i've seen warnings on web forums about the puppy operator being a previous scam artist. I've used it for a couple years with no issues.
All I want is consistent coverage, even in hard-to-cover areas. Verizon wins hands-down. BTW, I tried AT&T for 2 days - without being able even to connect to a tower! - then spent 6 months dealing with their billing department even though I returned and canceled within 3 days of their "30-day" trial period. Fuckers! In a decent society, I would be able to bill THEM for the HOURS I spent arguing over a fucking 12-cent bill that they were going to "turn over to collections".
Project Fi is also limited to just a couple of handsets, and *far* more expensive unless you don't use much data.
T-Mobile was great until I made the mistake of moving. Coverage unusable at new place, even though it was in an urban area. After many months of run-around from T-Mobile, finally gave up and ate the contract penalty, which was about $800. Never again.
I have one of the few legacy plans (Sprint) that is "unlimited". There are no caps, no throttle, no deprioritization, etc.
Every other plan and carrier I have looked at don't have "unlimited" plans. They have plans they call unlimited and they apparently don't own dictionaries!!!!!!!!!! Or, they are liars.
Coming from Europe, the mobile phone service in the US is both pathetic and expensive. I am sure though that many Americans are convinced that, like their health system, is the best in the world.
T-mobile MVNO's seem to be cheap and offer decent service.
Mintsim is $300/year for unlimited talk/text and 5gb of data per month. This beats most comparable service for a single line.
Used Cricket wireless for past 18 months without issues. Month to month, throttles after 12 gigs, AT&T network $55/month.
... due to the rural area. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
super cheap and the data just cuts down to 2g speed when you go over limit, so no fees or disconnection.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
As long as I can see/get what I want, they can reach out to me when they want.
Win, Win, Win, uh - let me get back to you on the oncall thing...
The real question with wireless is who provides the best coverage where you need to use it.
Forget the TV ads and coverage maps. You don't care if they claim to cover 99% of the country. Real-world, in the places YOU use it, is what matters. Once you know who works where you need it, find the best deal.
In determining coverage, it is important to use a device that can take full advantage of the signals in use. For example, if you are looking at T-Mobile coverage, you should do so with a LTE band 12-capable device, not an old T-Mo phone granny had in a drawer.
For a relative of mine, we determined that Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint signals would not work for him. So I got him a T-Mobile phone and found a dirt-cheap MVNO to provide service. Works fine, costs very little. Done.
It seems like a lot of people never bother to take that approach and instead get hung up supporting a company because that's who they have been with forever, or they don't mind paying whatever they pay.
Sig for hire.
t-mobile pre-paid "wallmart" plan. Unlimited data (first 5G at full speed, throttled after that). Unlimited text. 100 minutes voice. I use google hangouts dialer for free unlimited outbound calls to US phone numbers, and a cheap VOIP provider (Callcentric) for all other outbound calls. I leave the 100min for inbound calls. And, if I get a call that is using too much of that 100min, I just call them back over voip.
Also, you can get the phone credits for less than retail off ebay, if you are patient. So, it works out to about $25-28/mo.
You need a phone with voice over LTE support for some areas (and support for t-mobiles LTE bands and frequencies), or you will get no voice coverage. But, with the right phone (nexus 5x) I have not had coverage issues in California. My old phone (n900) did have coverage issues in many areas with t-mobile.
I had Sprint, the coverage sucked. Really fast in some areas. Slower that 2G in some urban areas. When I complained, Sprint told me to use Wi-Fi, among other excuses.
Verizon is faster, and I get service where my friends with other carriers don't.
Google Fi.
Tethered together with twine. It's free and has no overage charges, but it's a PITA to send texts one letter at a time. Coverage depends on string value and length.
OP is right. $20 for 90 days for 60 minutes, which accumulate and multiply like bunnies on Easter morning. After two years, I have 959 unused minutes, after paying for only ~540 of them, and using maybe an hour or two. (I don't need or use a phone much these days. I don't like phones much.)
I'm using a tough Alcatel Flip Phone that can be used to crack Walnuts. One never knows when this could prove useful.
The big caveat with Tracfone is that they have, by far, the worst Customer Service reputation around. Their incompetence is legendary, and it's best not to get into situations where this is needed.
This is a Lessons Learned thing. I got my first Cell Phone back in 1996 with Cellular One, back when it was still all Analog. I got it because I needed it, not because I wanted it. Damn Beeper kept on going off, and I'd have to go find a Pay Phone. (Operations Supervisor for a Tech Outfit, 24/7/365...)
I've been through a bunch of phones since, and most of the Carriers, and I simply can't be bothered any longer with the incompatibilities, the greed, and the fuss. For all of that silly Smartphone rubbish, I do what any sensible person does- I steal Wifi for my Macbook. (Note: anybody who wants to use my open Wifi is welcome if they don't abuse it. I check the Logs regularly; it's not been a problem.)
I am not a typical user of Cell Technology these days, but then again, I wasn't in 1996. I was a bit more high tech, working on SOTA stuff, like the Cerebrum Communicator, or the "CC" for short. This dandy little device can actually perform every function of the old-fashioned telephone and more. And it does it without any costly maintenance. Without telephone poles, without wires, without exchanges, without anything in fact, except another CC in another location. And now you're probably wondering why have we made it so small. Because it will be in and powered by your own brain.
Oops, I wasn't supposed to mention this.
Oh rly? Which plan is that? The Pinocchio plan?
It's not really a plan. It's the $19.99 60-minute, 90 day refill card. With a smartphone, the minutes "triple" to 180, and you also get 180 texts and 180mb data. If you sign up for auto-refill, you get a small discount off that (and it becomes kind of a plan).
If your wireless needs fit that profile, it works out to around $7/month. I've saved a boatload of money going down that route, although I have needed to supplement it with a few data-only refills, which has only tacked on a couple of bucks per month for me on average. It does kind of rule out using any audio or video while not in WiFi range, and you can't yammer on the phone endlessly, but for me that's an acceptable trade-off.
I've been with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile in the pacific northwest (Washington, Oregon mostly) for the last several years. During that time I have traveled both to the more metropolitan western Oregon and Washington, as well as the more rural eastern sides of the states. AT&T is pretty good around major metros and most semi-rural areas. T-mobile is very spotty outside of the metros and most major interstates, and many rural areas of eastern Washington and Oregon they have zero coverage at all. I've never used Sprint in this area but I don't know anyone who even has Sprint so that should tell you something. Verizon seems to have the best overall coverage in the pacific northwest, especially the more rural areas. Even when really out in the middle of nowhere they always seem to have some coverage to at least get a call out if nothing else. I can't speak for Idaho as I have not traveled in that area in several years. All of the major companies are awful in terms of pricing and customer service when you have a problem, but the best of all of the evils seems to be Verizon in my experience in this region of the US.
You can kind of game them on data, SMS and voice to keep your costs near zero.
Granted, certainly not for everyone but there is nothing less expensive and coverage in the States is fine.
pigeon
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
they all suck - get a burner phone .......(get 2)
I love tmobile. If my data is getting used up they tell me (text). If I run out of data, they tell me. They don't charge me more, and they don't shut it off - they just slow things down.
After having been gouged by AT&T and Verizon (some years ago), I have no interest in going back.
I was with AT&T for 12 years but they finally nickel and dimed me off their customer list. First, they were charging me for text messages when everyone else includes them. Then they started playing games with the grandfathered "unlimited" plan I had. Twice they raised the price by $10/month. That was the final straw.
I went from paying about $145/month (and that included a 22% discount from a former employer) for two lines to $100/month for 3 lines with T-Mobile. The third line was a promotion so I put a chip in the wife's iPad and she's happy as a clam. No contract. Unlimited data, voice and text. No charge for tethering. Unlimited calling to Canada and Mexico. Pretty sweet deal.
As near as I can tell, the coverage is just as good as it was before. Maybe better in some places. I think there was a time when AT&T and Verizon could legitimately say they had better networks. But I think the gap has closed considerably. It all comes down to where you live and the coverage in your neighborhood. Now it's just a race to the bottom.
I was on AT&T for several years. They were generally reliable, although couldn't get a signal in a few areas near me, and the speed was not very fast. So I switched to T-Mobile's unlimited plan this year. They were faster than AT&T and pretty good signal wise, except at my office where I get no signal at all. So I had to switch to Verizon. Initially the signal seemed good everywhere and speeds seemed decent, but generally not as fast as T-Mobile. But after a few weeks, the LTE signal at my home has become very intermittent - it frequently drops to 3G and even 1X sometimes. Not a big deal as I can use Wifi at home (although Comcast at home frequently has problems so it'd be nice if I could use the mobile hotspot). If T-Mobile ever upgrades their network near my office, then I will definitely switch back to them.
You should seriously look into upgrading to the T-Mobile One plan.
Features: Unlimited calls, texts, and unlimited 4G data! Also, 10GB high-speed tethering for each line (3G tethering when exceeded). Unlimited texts & 3G data internationally, Unlimited calls to/from Canada & Mexico. Free use of GoGo Wifi on domestic flights.
I have 7 lines for $220. This includes all taxes.
Additionally, for each line that uses less than 2GB of data in a month, they refund you $10!!!
My bill this past month was $170 for 7 lines.
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
It sounds good in theory. In practice there always seems to be someone who starts slacking off, never has their share, abuses the setup and the whole thing starts falling apart. Same reason why roommate agreements go bad.
I have had AT&T, Verizon, US Cellular, and finally settled on Google Project Fi. AT&T, US Cellular, and Verizon all felt roughly like the same version of a bad deal: the phone and plan were too expensive, the customer service wasn't great, and their primary objective seemed to be to lock me into a contract by having C and D students up-sell me at the local retailer.
Project Fi just works and is very reasonably priced. The only difference being that I had to buy the phone out of pocket up front (although I'm saving money, even amortizing the capital cost of the equipment).
Any carrier that offers unlimited 3G data for less than 20$/month per line.
I use Lyca. They are a Polish based carrier that are setup all over Europe, so offer lower (or no) roaming costs. And they are cheap. I can pay €5 and get some free data with that. Or €10 and get a lot more free data and free calls and texts. Or €15 for even more. Plus they have other packages available for people with different usage patterns. They don't offer LTE in Ireland (yet?!), but I'm happy with the speeds I to get on HSPA.
But I guess you are asking about US carriers...
As someone who's company has paid for his phone/plan for the last 15 years, we are in the middle of having our numbers released and will be in charge of selecting our own provider and coverage plans. We've had Verizon for years, and I haven't had any complaints with coverage (mostly suburban/metro area), although I'm probably in that low-hanging fruit area where everyone has coverage.
For me now, the biggest interest is in unlimited data, tethering/hotspot usage, and how much I get before I get dropped to lower speeds, although 10 GB for hotspots seems a default. AT&T slows speeds after 22GB of data; T-Mobile seems like they don't except if you fall into the >30GB a month and there is congestion (take that as you will). My new vehicle has a built in hotspot (cool or a WTF, I'm not sure yet), but I'm stuck with AT&T if I want to put it on a plan. So far T-Mobile seems to be the most cost effective, but as others have mentioned, rural coverage will be lacking. Right now, I expect I'll be negotiating with T-Mobile to see what my wife and I can get. If that is enough savings, I may then look at a separate plan for the vehicle to help offset coverage when I travel (I travel a good bit for work).
You need a matrix just to try and keep track of what you need/where, and how to connect to avoid issues or using the 'wrong' data.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
I have this same thing using AT&T's GoPhone service, and they've been adding more data to theor $45 tier every time I consider switching. Started with 3GB, then 4GB, now it's 6GB and the data I don't use rolls over.
That right there is the top reason why t-mobile rocks. That ceo of theirs knows how to treat their customers.
Yeah I know.
Huh. I have Mintsim and pay $200/year for 1 line, 2GB/month 4G LTE, unlimited text, unlimited voice. My next renewal is $160 for the year, though. Taxes are an additional 3%.
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OK, so I know that Boost is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint, but that is why i chose them. Nationwide footprint, lots of 4g lte and the same service that Sprint people are paying out the wazoo for. We have 4 people on the family plan and all 4 phones cost $98.10 with 2 of them having unlimited data.
I am quite happy with T-Mobile as well. I know that the other providers are doing "unlimited" plans, but I much rather deal with a slight slowdown than a surprise big bill.
Plus, historically, it has been "the" provider to go to, if you have an unlocked phone.
We celebrated the new year by ditching Cingular and getting those awful Blackberry 7105t phones with unlimited voice/data/text.
I'm still grandfathered into that plan, which isn;t always the cheapest, but it is NEVER data capped for me, NEVER limited in any way for video playback, NEVER limited for streaming of any sort.I have never had an overage in now 11 years and 3 months, ever.
Now the complaints...
At my previous office location, the cafeteria suffered from being located too close to an old GPRS tower that TMO leased, and I had to sit by the windows to get 3G service. They could not solve it, the leased tower solved voice problems and the owner was raking in $ without further effort.
Moved to my current office location 3 years ago, and here the lunch time demand is so great that I usually cannot get data service. Fortunately I like the lunch spots that give me WiFi. My Blu R1 HD may not be getting Band 12, but I don;t care to diagnose it further until my new phone next month. TMO will not build out further here, so it may be solved with Band 12/66 (TMO is leaving some Band 12 sites for Band 66, which is wack), though spectrum is changing for TMO so fast they can't keep up with phones, SDR can't come soon enough.
My vacation spot was without service for 10 years until TMO finally got Band 12 there, which they bailed on for Band 66 this past fall. At least the resort WiFi got fixed.
TMO does have odd dead spots, but not as many as Sprint. Mostly long stretches of highway through 'wilderness'.
But on the positive side:
Great customer service. Even when they can't solve the problem, they are at least pleasant and honest.
They follow through when they say they will. I've logged several 3rd level calls, and got engineers calling back explaining. Once even a roaming problem turned out to be a config problem with my phone, and they helped me set it right.
I have no intention of changing service, though right now I'm paying a bit more than I like with a 3rd line and extra phone on EIP. But it's too close to what VZW would gouge me for, and no one else can match it without exposing me to random plan changes.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
My wife and I go to Germany a lot, she grew up there. Having our unlimited data plan available through all of Europe has made traveling a breeze
My wife and I switched from Verizon to Fi and our bill went from about $150/month to $55. It didn't take too long to pay off the Nexus 5x phones we picked up.
Absolutely agree. Went to Taiwan and a couple other countries in one trip and the T-Mo international plan was great. Yes, the speeds are limited to 256kbps, but at least you're not paying extra for it.
Surprised I haven't seen much (if any) love for MetroPCS here. I was on Credo (an MNVO) for a while, but moved to MetroPCS for truly unlimited. Now I'm paying half at $60/month for what my husband has on AT&T being grandfathered into unlimited data. He'll be moving when his AT&T contract is up later this year. And if we combine accounts, we'll pay $100/month for both lines with the discount.
I live in a rural mountain-west state. Around here, all four major carriers are fine in the center of the "city" (by city, I mean a town of about 50k people). However, in the surrounding area, Verizon is really the only show in town. T-Mobile is growing, but Sprint and AT&T don't really even have 3G reaching my house, much less 4G.
I started with Sprint then switched to AT&T after a couple of years. After a couple of more years with AT&T I switched to Simple Mobile for the unlimited data and the low cost. During a cross country car trip I switched to Straight Talk because Simple Mobile did not have coverage through large swaths of Tornado Alley. I currently use Google Project Fi while my wife is still on Straight Talk. Most of my data usage is on WiFi so the $0.01 / Mb data charge works well for me. My wife will probable switch also when we get her a new Google-phone.
All wireless companies, broadband providers, cable TV companies, telecom companies, etc, are all greedy bastards who are screwing over their customers in one way or another (usually in several ways) and violating our privacy, so I 'prefer' none of them. I merely put up with them because unless you can manage to live with U.S. Mail and face-to-face meetings with people as your only means of communication and information sources, you end up paying these bastards, and they damned well know it. Landline phone service costs about the same, if not more, than having the cheapest wireless service, and is less convenient or efficient.. I'm not even sure if dialup internet access is even available anymore, but you'd have to have a landline to use it, so it'd cost at least as much if not more than the cheapest broadband connectivity, and you'd be lucky to get 28kbps out of it. DSL costs as much as broadband, and again you'd need a landline, so it costs more. I only put up with AT&T because I haven't had a contract with them for at least 10 years so they have nothing to hold over my head; if there was something significantly cheaper I'd jump. There's only maybe two choices for internet where I live, and unfortunately Comcast is one of them, and the cheapest; I'd go for a fraction of the speed if it would halve the cost. There are shitty choices all around, and again I'd do without all the above if it wouldn't completely sabotage my life. Really, seriously, honestly, there needs to be some sort of reforms on this sort of stuff. It's like paper companies deciding that since you can't live without toilet paper, that they'll start charging you $20 for a four-pack; it's price-gouging and it's wrong. Telephone and internet cost at least twice as much as it should, and that's the main reason I hate all of them.
I have been a Verizon subscriber of nearly 18 years now and the reason I stuck with them (even though I HATE their policies) is that the other carriers have terrible coverage in most of the areas I've been. My in laws tried Sprint and T-mobile (not any experience with AT&T though, so maybe they come close to Verizon.)
This includes in my neighborhood (in the urban area of a medium-small city in Ohio.)
The only area I ever had an issue with VZW was in the Wabash Indiana area (I think VZW lost a tower contract or something like that and was too cheap to replace it???) All the people who lived in that area used AT&T or one of the other guys (I think Sprint.)
I use Oister. Pay around $20 a month for unlimited talk + data + text in all of Scandinavia. It also includes 60GB data for internet sharing, and while that isn't enough for my monthly desktop use, it's very handy to have as a backup (faster than my wired connection).
I avoid the carrier that has a problem with me rooting and works hard to prevent it.. Hey Verizon, yeah you! Tmobile doesn't care, sprint doesn't care.. Sprint is still building out their 4G network though lol (North Dallas) and that leaves TMobile..
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
Look, I use AT&T but, quite frankly, none of them are as easy to use and as cheap as providers in South Korea, Japan, and the EU.
None of them.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
In 2013 I was on Verzion and needed to travel internationally. They quoted me a price of $20 a MB for data while abroad. Once T-mobile started providing free international text and data I switched and haven't looked back. In most of South American I was getting 2G speeds but have received 4G in places like Germany and the Czech Republic. That is how T-mobile has kept me as a customer.
Why choose? I prefer to be on T-Mobile, Spring, *and* U.S. Cellular. This thirst for unlimited data is ridiculous. What I want more than anything is a cheap data-only plan, so I can just use Google Voice/Hangouts for the 3 voice calls I make a year.
Certainly not for everybody, but my wife being from Taiwan we already have a number there. With Chunghwa Telecom, which is sort of like the Taiwanese version of AT&T, we put her phone on a pay as you go plan. With this plan we only have to add about $3US ($100TWD) every 6 months to keep it active. That money stays on the account. When we go to visit about once a year the account will have perhaps $6 ($200TWD) in it. For about $30 ($1000TWD) we get an unlimited data plan AND the $30 we paid for the plan goes as a credit for voice and text but now expires at the end of the month. This means that we virtually have unlimited voice and text for the 14 days we are there, unlimited 4G data, and that $6 we paid during the year to keep the account active also just went towards the unlimited plan we purchased. It also has the great benefit of keeping her number, so when we get to Taiwan, we post on Facebook that we're back, and can instantly get phone calls from any of our friends or family.
On one family trip within the country the B&B we were staying at had horrible internet on the 4th floor, but thanks to our unlimited plan I just started a hot spot and shared it with all four of us.
The rest of the time we use Ting in the US. For our needs that amounts to less than $40/mo.
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." [Thomas Jefferson]
Another plus of T-Mo is they just added optional spam filtering on calls. I imagine all carriers will or already have done it. I've not gotten a single "student loan", "CC Offer", ... call since I enabled it and I used to get at least 2/day. Thank you T-Mo.
Let me whine and moan about my expereince in Metropolitan NYC with the PFi/Pixel: AM UNDERWHELMED!
!Fucking underwhelmed!
* I live in the 11219 zip code
* I spend my working day in the 11238, 11231 are codes
* I eat on weekends in Chinatown ~10038 area code
* I effing travel/visit in the weekend in Northern NJ: Paramus (northeast) _through_ Cherry Hill (southwest)
And aside from _twice_ in *suburban* NJ, one of those at a Wendy's hamburger with bad wifi signal, and once near the (Brooklyn Academy of Music:) BAM I have NOT ...
Nein
Nunca
Niet
received wonderful, life giving, /abundant or even mealy/ data from my Project Fi smartphone plan.
IOW, I am in the heart of civilization, supposedly, in kewl Paris/French/Moscow envious Brooklyn, NY, in some not shabby locations, but apparently IF I'M NOT IN SILICON ALLEY? MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, OR JUST EFFING ?MANHATTAN? useful/abundant/easily automatically cutting edge Google tech switchable wifi data is for the other guy.
To wit, the Pixel is a universal network phone, so since November 2016 I've had pre-paid ...
* VZW (Dec, Jan $45 / 3 GB)
* ATT (Jan, Feb $45 / 4GB; $60 / 8GB)
* Project Fi ({a Tmobile/Sprint hybrid network} Mar, Apr $30/1GB, $40/2GB, etc.)
And here is where the putative Google Pixel-WiFi data-magic I was hoping for was supposed to kick in.
What am I saying, the marketing I read at the GOOgle store led me to believe that living in a Metropolis like NYC, with high tech incubators up the Yang, with Verizon FIOS fiber universal-like, with BUSH Terminal ... O! Ecu'eme ... Industry City "Happening," and the likes of suck-my-dick Kanye, Jay-Z and his T&A motherfucking wife ... like ... chillaxing in the O so elite strip clubs there, and the raves' after hours parties that cocksucking Brooklyn ... in Sunset Park, Carrol Gardens, Prospect Heights, ad infinitum would get some major Wifi/Pixili tone!
Man, I nearly love the phone ... but give me robust encryption with thine own adhoc chips a la iPhone ... password/pin demand for new app install, etc. or even a FUCKING WAY TO SET TEXTS/MISSIVES' REPEAT ALARMS. You know, fucking text arrives, so keep beeping/flashing at mine own set intervals, e.g., 3, 5, 10 minutes. WHATEVERS!
Anyway. Eat me Project Fi! Am going to ATT soon, I think. King Fucker Chicken
I really would thought that Republic Wireless would be known and popular among the Slashdot crowd.
Republic Wireless is not a carrier but MVNO which defaults to Wi-Fi and falls back to Sprint's and T-Mobile's cellular network. It does seamless handover and starts at $10 p/m with unlimited call/text, no contract. Data is cheap too and they refund unused data from your chosen bundle. Only limited to Android phones that support that seemless handover but many popular Motorola, Samsung and Google phones work fine. You can bring your own phone or lease them with Republic Wireless.
For iPhone I would choose AT&T GoPhone, only $40 for unlimited call/text and 6GB high speed data (slow down after that), no contract. If you sure you never want data or recieve text and call very little you can to that for $25 per year on AT&T without contract. For that get a SpareOne emergency phone ($12 on Amazon) and use that SIM in your iPhone. I have my old iPhone setup like that and it works fine, was even able to set it up with Google Voice.
Is it more of a class (meaning social status, not school grade) snobbery, or mere incompatibility? Like if you gave them a lower end iPhone, such as an SE or a 5s, would their friends still ostracize them? If it's incompatibility, your kids do have a case, such as not being able to FaceTime w/ their friends (and it's too much to expect some 10 or so kids to go out of their way and download Duo or WhatsApp just in order to include your kids). But if they were to be looked down on b'cos they had an SE, then you'd have a case.
For kids that age, might as well give them something they could use, rather than something that just satisfies your own ideological POV of a company. Otherwise, you could just as easily have given them a Lumia 520 and saved the most money
If you need to use your phone overseas, why not just get iPlum, and then use that during those trips? You could even make that a common number for all your work related stuff, while using your actual cell number for personal/family stuff
They're all terrible in terms of most of the things I care about, so I avoid any service contracts whatsoever and pay as I go, using whichever service is currently giving me the best rates.
Project Fi's coverage maps lists a few addresses around Beijing. To say the coverage is better means you haven't actually tried it. TMo uses one of the major telecoms so coverage is almost everywhere.