I have been with Sprint since it was Nextel back in 03. Normally fairly happy with them, but the dropped calls and stupid shit has increased greatly. I'm paying ~$95 a month for my HTC Evo for unlimited data and 450 minutes with unlimited mobile-mobile.

I have some options;

1. Upgrade my phone with Sprint and do another 2yrs
2. Move to Verizon or AT&T.

If I make the move, will verizon or at&t be any better cost wise? I dont use a ton of data or landline minutes. I mostly use data for pandora and some weather/navigation usage. If on Verizon, what smartphones are you guys happy with?

7/1/2012 8:40:29 PM

Quote :

"Move to Verizon"

Even if you end up paying a little more, won't it be worth it? There's a reason you're moving...

I've got the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (and love it), but I'd definitely get the Samsung Galaxy S3 if I were signing a new contract now.

7/1/2012 11:46:21 PM

$95/month for a single line without unlimited everything is silly, paying more is stupid. boost mobile, cricket, virgin, and walmart's service are all resold sprint for WAY less. I'd start there. virgin is something like $35/month for a similar plan without a contract. revolution wireless would be a good option as well. if you're making calls from one place a lot, get a free femto cell

7/2/2012 12:22:19 AM

ATT and Verizon both have better networks than Sprint. Pick which ever has LTE in your area/is going to have it soon and call it a day.

7/2/2012 12:34:06 AM

Quote :

"paying more is stupid. boost mobile, cricket, virgin, and walmart's service are all resold sprint for WAY less. I'd start there. virgin is something like "

Sounds like he's already fed up with Sprint's service...so a company reselling Sprint's service isn't gonna work.

7/2/2012 9:20:04 AM

im thinking he's fed up at that price point since he asked about making a change to the "better cost wise"

7/2/2012 12:25:58 PM

Quote :

"but the dropped calls and stupid shit has increased greatly."

I'd say he's fed up with the shit service which won't change on any of the sprint-based MVNOs.

7/2/2012 3:20:38 PM

Quote :

"ATT and Verizon both have better networks than Sprint. Pick which ever has LTE in your area/is going to have it soon and call it a day."

This. I'm in Charlotte and AT&T's the fastest/most stable. Just see what works in your area.

7/2/2012 3:53:57 PM

I'm unhappy with the cost and service.

With Verizon or AT&T can I expect to still have minutes, data and smartphones for less than $90 a month? I dont use that many minutes as nearly all calls are mobile to mobile.

I'm also sick of my phone. I just want a phone that works. The EVO I have has such shitty battery life and so many little quirks its annoying. I just want a phone that when I press a button it responds, instead of freezing up then taking a shit on the batt.

7/2/2012 6:26:45 PM

Quote :

"With Verizon or AT&T can I expect to still have minutes, data and smartphones for less than $90 a month?"

Not without some nice discounts or something. You can get unlimited talk + tax and 1GB of data for $90 (plus tax) from Verizon. I'd bet ATT is similarly priced.

Service-wise, just get the hell away from Sprint. You'll be happier once you do. If you wanna stick with Android just make sure you get an Android 4.0+ phone and you'll be fine...though personally I'd stick with Samsung. I think I may be done with HTC phones for now

7/2/2012 6:33:28 PM

Jellybean w/ butter!

7/2/2012 6:40:03 PM

Virgin Mobile.

7/2/2012 7:51:04 PM

Watch out if you are streaming Pandora on a metered data plan. Neither Verizon or ATT have unlimited data anymore so you are going to have to watch your consumption.

Verizon has free mobile hot spot, which is pretty cool, but it also consumes data, talk and text are unlimited.

Att has a shitty voice network, shitty pricing for minute plans, shitty text bundles, and no unlimited data.

7/3/2012 12:09:49 AM

^And I do listen to Pandora on a daily basis. Does that mean I need to stick with unlimited Sprint or go with a more expensive Verizon plan?

7/3/2012 6:53:22 AM

Just grab a data counter app and listen to Pandora for an hour and figure out your usage before you commit to "I need an unlimited plan". I was surprised how little data I actually use and I have been using Amazons Cloud Player lately. I would assume its similar in data usage to Pandora.

7/3/2012 8:20:48 AM

Quote :

"Verizon has free mobile hot spot, which is pretty cool"

i see no advantage in this...rooting a phone is stupid fast and easy and then you have "free" mobile hotspot...which was only useful when you had unlimited data

take away unlimited data and the mobile hotspot loses nearly all its value

7/3/2012 8:26:34 AM

Quote :

"And I do listen to Pandora on a daily basis. Does that mean I need to stick with unlimited Sprint or go with a more expensive Verizon plan?"

When you stream Pandora are you on WiFi at home or usually in the car driving around?

Either way you need to login into your Sprint account and determine how much data you're using per month. Then figure a little more if you're going to be going to Verizon, because Verizon has 4G and their data network works soooo much better.

Quote :

"i see no advantage in this...rooting a phone is stupid fast and easy and then you have "free" mobile hotspot...which was only useful when you had unlimited data take away unlimited data and the mobile hotspot loses nearly all its value"

You don't have to root to get mobile hotspot (on most phones at least)...there are a number of apps that provide that functionality. SVTP is a good example. Also unless you want to hotspot every day, I still think the feature has value for use on random occasions. Travelling, someone's WiFi doesn't work etc.

7/3/2012 8:49:39 AM

Quote :

"You don't have to root to get mobile hotspot (on most phones at least)...there are a number of apps that provide that functionality. SVTP is a good example. Also unless you want to hotspot every day, I still think the feature has value for use on random occasions. Travelling, someone's WiFi doesn't work etc."

ah, that's true...which further proves my point that charging $30 for a "feature" that costs nothing was stupid in the first place

now they just jack up the cost for EVERYONE and make the feature free that was already available for free

and i didn't meant to imply that the feature itself has no value...i use it semi-regularly and when beach week rolls around, i just let my phone sit there as a hotspot for everyone in the house (unlimited 4G FTW...for now)...i just meant that verizon now offering it for "free" with all data plans is completely without value

7/3/2012 10:01:15 AM

Quote :

"I'm also sick of my phone. I just want a phone that works. The EVO I have has such shitty battery life and so many little quirks its annoying. I just want a phone that when I press a button it responds, instead of freezing up then taking a shit on the batt"

Modern smartphones have improved like 100 times over since the EVO. My HTC One X probably does everything 5-10 times faster than the EVO stock, using like half the battery.

7/3/2012 10:24:47 AM

I'm on tmobile prepaid and thinking about switching to straight talk or one of the other prepaids. Those are definitely the best deal going right now.

7/3/2012 10:33:18 AM

1)take your phone to crossroads and let them run test on it. your radio maybe dying
2) do you have a job or are you a student? if yes , you're probably eligible for some type of discount.

as a former sprint employee i still feel like they are an incredible value (granted after my discounts my bill is closer to 70$). their data speed sucks during peak hours but speeds are decent enough for streaming and i never have to worry about overages.

7/3/2012 12:23:39 PM

T Mobile is definitely the best value around but since I switched from AT&T I've found the signal degrades really badly indoors, maybe their on a bad end of the spectrum. No complaints about the company but the signal can be a little spotty even in Raleigh proper.

7/3/2012 1:05:08 PM

So I'm not eligible for a contract renewal until 9/11 apparently. The girl at BB told me that Verizon plan using 1gb of data is $90 a month and with 2gb of data is $100 a month.

According to my plan I use 1.25gb a month of 3g and 0.8gb of 4g.

7/3/2012 5:09:12 PM

...and 4GB is $110. Get that shit. An additional GB is $15 if you end up going over (under any plan) so not the end of the world.

7/3/2012 6:27:04 PM

I don't understand how anyone can justify $110/month for what amounts to mobile internet access, especially when it's not unlimited and tied to contract.

7/3/2012 7:33:21 PM

^I'm just having a hard time with $95 a month as it is. Its not much about the money, its $95 a month for talking on the phone and using some navigation.

7/3/2012 7:42:57 PM

try to get in on revolution wireless. $19 for unlimited everything on the network you're on now but you get a shitty phone (spec wise) and the phone routes all the traffic it can over wifi

7/3/2012 7:46:07 PM

Quote :

"^I'm just having a hard time with $95 a month as it is."

That just what shit costs now. It is what it is.

Quote :

"try to get in on revolution wireless. $19 for unlimited everything on the network you're on now but you get a shitty phone (spec wise) and the phone routes all the traffic it can over wifi"

With his line of work I don't think that will work. If he had an office job with WiFi during the day it might.

7/3/2012 7:57:52 PM

Quote :

"I don't understand how anyone can justify $110/month for what amounts to mobile internet access, especially when it's not unlimited and tied to contract."

You're conveniently forgetting about the voice and text service, which many of us, still use lots of. You can get purely mobile internet access for way less than $110 per month.

7/3/2012 7:59:14 PM

^ you can use google voice for text and phone calls for free without any need for "voice and text"

7/3/2012 8:45:42 PM

I have Verizon....68 a month.... 450 min 500 text and unlimited date


I have sprint unlimited everything's 25 a month. Going back to my sprint phone ASAP.

7/4/2012 12:12:42 AM

^^ and maintain the same phone number you've had for a decade+...or would you have to switch to the new google voice phone number as your main call in number?

^ yay for you. I'm thinking the OP doesn't have either option at his disposal.

7/4/2012 12:12:57 AM

My point is do they have any qualifiers for discounts

7/4/2012 12:17:52 AM

My point is nobody can walk up to either wireless store and get those deals. So yay for you.

7/4/2012 2:12:42 AM

Quote :

"and maintain the same phone number you've had for a decade+"

yes. google voice offers LNP

7/4/2012 6:44:25 AM

Quote :

"I do listen to Pandora on a daily basis. Does that mean I need to stick with unlimited Sprint or go with a more expensive Verizon plan?"

I'm on the AT$T 2GB plan and listen to Pandora on my commute probably 7-8 times / week. That probably works out to about 14 hours / month. Never gone over the limit yet, and that includes sometimes traveling without WiFi access and using Maps / Web / email heavily too.

7/4/2012 8:49:19 AM

Sprint is scheduled to roll out their LTE in the Raleigh-Durham area by the end of 2012 so, theoretically, you should be able to enjoy the same speeds as Verizon and ATT on the cheaper Sprint plan with no usage restrictions...might be reason enough to stay.

7/4/2012 9:02:56 AM

key word

Quote :

"theoretically"

and that would only be when he's in range of 4G (which i bet he won't most of the time given his job). and when he's not, he'll still have to deal with Sprint's shitty 3G data network.

7/4/2012 10:47:51 AM

Brandon-where do you work? I will look up your discount

7/4/2012 10:54:45 AM

If I were you the choice would be between Sprint & Verizon.

ATT has nothing to offer other than the shittest coverage in the industry, and global phones, unless you travel abroad a lot the second thing should not matter, which leaves shitty ATT

Shitty

Shitty

Shitty

ATT.

7/4/2012 12:18:56 PM

I think most of that is unfounded. I use both AT&T and Verizon and AT&T is by far faster and more stable in my area (Charlotte). My company tested a variety of hotspots and I use my Verizon Blackberry frequently and much prefer my personal AT&T phone. Their LTE is much faster in the area and we experienced continuous drop-outs with the Verizon devices we tried. Verizon support blamed it on signal congestion or whatever.

7/4/2012 12:32:27 PM

dont mind him, he works for sprint

7/4/2012 12:42:58 PM

I have a personal phone on ATT and my work phone on Verizon. They both work just fine across the state. Verizon has slightly better coverage in the boonies but often times I get shit call quality with full bars. I can't comment on 4g, but AT&T 3G speeds are waaay faster. Calling AT&T "shitty shitty shitty shitty" is pretty unfounded IMHO.

I used to have my work phone through sprint, I found the experience to be terrible.

[Edited on July 4, 2012 at 1:27 PM. Reason : *]

7/4/2012 1:26:32 PM

Don't forget to see if your place of employment offers discounts....

My brother's company offers 20% off of Sprint and since I had two lines (had it with an ex)...I just had him flash his badge at the store and viola I have 20%. It is off the primary plan, but if cost is a bit of a concern I would look into it.

I think I pay $113 for 1500 min 2-line unlimited plan on Sprint with the discount. The taxes are killing me.

7/4/2012 2:03:41 PM

I am an ex-Verizon employee.

7/4/2012 2:12:14 PM

Making the same decision

Stay with sprint with unlimited data for 80 a month, and hope LTE gets here fast (Raleigh)

Go to Verizon with 2gb of data for 90, or 4 for 107.

I would like to keep unlimited data, I really would. So how do you guys vote? 4g is supposed to be in Raleigh by end of year, until then I have crappy data, but ive gotten used to that.

I think the unlimited 4g plan will be valuable in the future (sprint inst going anywhere, if i can keep getting grandfathered in, i can use that fucker as my home internet).

I feel sprint is unlimited data, through a straw, Verizon will be delicious but i think i can burn though it if i really start using the phone.



My phone is on the way out so i have to make some kinda decision now.

7/4/2012 3:18:52 PM

Well I dropped and shattered my poor evo today, so Its either get an insurance phone until 9/11 when I upgrade or just go ahead and commit to 2 more years of Sprint.

I have no problem with Verizon, however I cant get over the $100 a month (before taxes, surcharges etc). Granted Sprint is $95, but it is unlimited.

7/4/2012 4:28:43 PM

Brandon have you checked into the upgrade now deal at sprint where you can buy out your contract and get your upgrade sooner?

7/4/2012 6:23:58 PM

Verizon has been great, had them four years now. I get coverage i have places i never expected, almost no dropped calls, and the customer service has been stellar. I suppose i pay more for it but I'm ok with that...money wont matter so much when my ride breaks down in the middle of nowhere and i still have cell service.

However, i just learned that the major carriers, including verizon, are dropping unlimited data. That fucking blow.blows. as i understand it, those with unlimited data can be grandfathered in with a contract renewal but they lose the phone discount, or vice-versa. My time is about up and I'm switching from android to an iphone" afraid now the cost will be prohibitive. Dont really have a choice though, due to my work i use a LOT of data.





Ahhhhjh ignore the typos and weird shit, this phone makes editing longer passages fucking impossible. Yet anothet reason I'm ditching a glitchy-ass android phone (droid x)

7/5/2012 1:04:32 AM

Yeah I've done the math and just with by business needing the amount of data and minutes I use, I'd still be better off staying with Sprint cost-wise. My biggest problem with Sprint so far has been this shitty EVO, so hopefully a new phone will help that.

I'm thinking either the EVO LTE or the Galaxy SIII. I'd love to go Iphone but they dont support insurance for Iphone right now.

7/5/2012 7:15:54 AM