AT&T vs Sprint vs Verizon

[Buck2520]

Just went through the cell phone question ourselves. Had a grandfathered unlimited plan with Verizon. Bought our last iPhone at full retail so would not have to change plan. Verizon and others have done away with the subsidized phone purchase and Verizon just upped the cost of the unlimited plan by $20. They obviously are trying to force people out of it. We had two unlimited plans so added $40 to our bill making it $185 a month. Figured we were paying too much for the grandfathered unlimited plan so checked out our options. Only other decent coverage was AT&T but there cost was no better than Verizon.

Decided we only used lots of data when we were out in the RV and never used over 3 gig when home with wifi. Changed our plan to the Verizon 6 shared data gigs with unlimited talk and text. New monthly bill will be about $120, ($60 for data and $20 per phone on plan) savings of $65 a month. On months when we are RVing I will change plan to 18 gig plan, will up our cost to about $160 a month. Verizon says you can change anytime so it will just be a matter of managing the plan from one bill cycle to the next. I figure we will save around $500 a year by doing this. You can manage you plan from My Verizon app or call them to make changes.


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[audreyh1]

Like T-mobile because it's so great to travel to Europe and have our phones still work!

 

[ERD50]

Take a look at Cricket - it is a non-contract/MVNO carrier owned by AT&T and uses their network. We get unlimited talk and text plus 2.5GB of data a month for $35 each, including taxes. You can up the data to 5GB for another $10 month at anytime, and switch back and forth whenever you want.

Note you have to bring or buy your own phones.

That does look good for DD (DW and I will probably stick with our T-Mobile Gold plans, since we rarely use data away from wi-fi, and don't talk/text much on the cell phones, - she gets by with ~ $100/year, I get by with $10/year).

The important point (for us) that you make is that they are AT&T based (GSM system). DD's phone is an unlocked GSM (on T-Mobile now). DD could just get a new SIM.

Her T-M plan is $30 (~ 33 after fees/taxes), unlimited text, unlimited low-speed data with the first 5GB is high speed (but she uses far less, being on wifi much of the time). But minutes are only 100 min/month - not usually a problem for her, but it would be nice not to worry.

So for $35, she'd still have unlimited text, gain unlimited voice, and just a little less hi-speed data, for a few more $/month.

AT&T probably has better coverage than T-Mobile. Some sites said that AT&T can give priority to AT&T customers over Cricket customers, but most everyone said they never experienced that.

But hey - DD is on her own now (still living at home, but fully employed), so it can be her choice, and her bill!

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Like T-mobile because it's so great to travel to Europe and have our phones still work!

My friend travels a lot - and he says this deal cannot be beat. He knows people who keep a T-M account just for travelling, and use a different carrier at home (maybe the coverage is poor in their house?).

-ERD50

 

[PRSC]

If you are OK with using an Android phone, you may want to look into Google's Project Fi. It doesn't have the concept of unlimited data but you only pay for the data you use. It is probably not the right thing for someone who uses 20 gig but it is great when you have variable amounts you use.

It works with 2 current phones, Nexus 5x and Nexus 6p. The phones have TMobile, Sprint and Wifi capability. The phone picks what has the strongest signal for voice calls. One call you may be using TMobile, the next you are using Sprint. At my house, we are often using Wifi calling since all carrier's signals are bad. You buy the phone (Nexus 5x which I have is $379). The cost for the plan is $20 for unlimited voice and text and $10 for each gig of data you use. The key is that you only pay for the exact amount of data. For example, if you use 1/2 gig, you pay $5. It sure beats the $130/month bill we were getting from Verizon for 2 phones.

We have been extremely happy so far. It is so great to not have to run outside for cell phone calls when we are home. We have tried Sprint and Verizon before and have had "femtocells". Project FI works much better than anything we have had before. You need to request an invitation to use Project Fi but I have not heard of anyone getting rejected.

 

[ponyboy]

They're basically all the same. The only way to tell is to find someone who has service through each carrier...have them come to your house or where you will be using the phone the most...and see if you have decent reception. I have att, wife has Sprint...99% of the time if one phone has reception the other does too. Anyone that tries to tell you one is better than the other can go fly a kite.

 

[REWahoo]

I have att, wife has Sprint...99% of the time if one phone has reception the other does too. Anyone that tries to tell you one is better than the other can go fly a kite.

Bring those two phones out west and get off the interstate highways. You'll revise your opinion.

 

[ERD50]

... Anyone that tries to tell you one is better than the other can go fly a kite.

OK, but some are worse than others. Is that better?


-ERD50

 

[RetireAge50]

We have AT&T works great but pay quite a bit, $229/mo including all taxes. This is for 4 people with unlimited everything. Also includes free iPhones every 2 years (sell old ones and buy subsidized for net zero cost).

 

[hesperus]

Verizon's coverage is unsurpassed. We live in the southwest, and with all our travels through the hinterlands, including indian reservations, canyons, remote ski areas, etc, Verizon has always been excellent and reliable. It's rare that I cannot get a signal. The other big carrier out here is AT&T, but friends who have it complain of dropped calls and spotty service all the time.

 

[spncity]

If you are going to change, let your son assume your unlimited plan (from what you mentioned about his usage). He won't be able to find anything close to it.

Good luck.

 

[travelover]

Verizon's coverage is unsurpassed. We live in the southwest, and with all our travels through the hinterlands, including indian reservations, canyons, remote ski areas, etc, Verizon has always been excellent and reliable. It's rare that I cannot get a signal. The other big carrier out here is AT&T, but friends who have it complain of dropped calls and spotty service all the time.

Agree Verizon has the best coverage, so I signed up with PagePlus (Verizon network) and get low rates and great coverage.

 

[spncity]

If you live in an area covered well by Sprint, they seem to have pretty amazing prepaid plans.

 

[Katsmeow]

(2) My understanding is that Verizon has started leasing phones and adding that charge to your monthly bill, instead of letting you purchase a phone and use that one. So as soon as I need a new phone, my $60 is history, I suppose.

I don't think that is correct. Verizon is splitting out the cost of the phone from the cost of the service.

For example, I'm on the "old" plan. I got a very nice iphone at a discounted price, but basically I'm paying the full price of the phone as the rest of the cost of the phone is built into my bill over the time of my 2 year contract. Under that type of plan when my contract ended I would keep paying the same monthly amount. In effect, continuing to pay for my now paid for phone.

Under the newer plans, I can buy the phone at full price and either pay for it up front or divide the payments out over time.

Then I pay for the service which is separate and less than the old monthly amount. If I pay out the phone over time once it is paid for my bill goes down (unlike the old way where it didn't).

 

[misanman]

Verizon is splitting out the cost of the phone from the cost of the service.

You are correct. In my case, I bought a Verizon-compatible phone elsewhere and just pay Verizon the fee for the service. DW's iphone is now off-contract and we just pay for the reduced cost of service. We do not continue to pay for the phone. You can lease a phone from Verizon if you want but it is not required. At least that is my experience.

 

[Greencheese]

Might be a bit of a stretch but those unlimited data plans may pay dividends for owners who opt to be total cord cutters. As someone who only has a Verizon unlimited data plan and netflix, its saved quite a bit of money not having cable or a home internet connection. It's not for everyone, but certainly something that is a potential tool to save $$$...

Forget cord cutters, Cord-nevers must be scaring cable companies | Digital Trends

 

[spncity]

Just went through the cell phone question ourselves. Had a grandfathered unlimited plan with Verizon. Bought our last iPhone at full retail so would not have to change plan. Verizon and others have done away with the subsidized phone purchase and Verizon just upped the cost of the unlimited plan by $20. They obviously are trying to force people out of it. We had two unlimited plans so added $40 to our bill making it $185 a month. Figured we were paying too much for the grandfathered unlimited plan so checked out our options. Only other decent coverage was AT&T but there cost was no better than Verizon.

Decided we only used lots of data when we were out in the RV and never used over 3 gig when home with wifi. Changed our plan to the Verizon 6 shared data gigs with unlimited talk and text. New monthly bill will be about $120, ($60 for data and $20 per phone on plan) savings of $65 a month. On months when we are RVing I will change plan to 18 gig plan, will up our cost to about $160 a month. Verizon says you can change anytime so it will just be a matter of managing the plan from one bill cycle to the next. I figure we will save around $500 a year by doing this. You can manage you plan from My Verizon app or call them to make changes.


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If anyone else here wants to give up a Verizon unlimited data plan (phone or hotspot), would you please consider offering it to someone on this forum - like me! I'm bummed that I did not realize that I would need such a thing and missed out on getting it "back then". We can't even get cable, Fios or DSL at our house.

Evidently there are some hoops to jump through as Verizon does not make assumption of liability as easy as they used to, but I've read up on how it's possible.

Kindest regards.http://www.early-retirement.org//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[GTFan]

Check out T-Mobile or Walmart Family Mobile. Both are cheaper.

Yep, we're paying $90/mo. all-in for 3 lines on a T-Mo family plan (after 15% MegaCorp employee/retiree discount, which I don't think you can get now). Comes with 2GB of LTE data and unlimited everything else. We're mostly on wifi so that data is fine with us.

I've seen MVNOs like Cricket with similar deals, and they're on AT&T's network.

 

[Greencheese]

If anyone else here wants to give up a Verizon unlimited data plan (phone or hotspot), would you please consider offering it to someone on this forum - like me! I'm bummed that I did not realize that I would need such a thing and missed out on getting it "back then". We can't even get cable, Fios or DSL at our house.

Evidently there are some hoops to jump through as Verizon does not make assumption of liability as easy as they used to, but I've read up on how it's possible.

Kindest regards.http://www.early-retirement.org//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

From what I understand Verizon unlimited data phone lines are now non-transferable. So if you want the data plan you'd have to assume the phone number as well.

One should note however that Verizon has indicated there will be some sort of phase 3 for unlimited data users (phase 1 and 2 were $20 increases on various plans). Whatever that means is unknown right now, but they did indicate that they will not get rid of people's unlimited data by force. Whether 5G will be included in the unlimited data in a few years is also a mystery...

 

[DrRoy]

I have had Verizon for years and have great coverage all over the country. It's a company phone, though, so I have not shopped on price.

 

[spncity]

Quote
Originally posted by spncity
If anyone else here wants to give up a Verizon unlimited data plan (phone or hotspot), would you please consider offering it to someone on this forum - like me! I'm bummed that I did not realize that I would need such a thing and missed out on getting it "back then". We can't even get cable, Fios or DSL at our house.

Evidently there are some hoops to jump through as Verizon does not make assumption of liability as easy as they used to, but I've read up on how it's possible.

Kindest regards.

From what I understand Verizon unlimited data phone lines are now non-transferable. So if you want the data plan you'd have to assume the phone number as well.

One should note however that Verizon has indicated there will be some sort of phase 3 for unlimited data users (phase 1 and 2 were $20 increases on various plans). Whatever that means is unknown right now, but they did indicate that they will not get rid of people's unlimited data by force. Whether 5G will be included in the unlimited data in a few years is also a mystery...

Understood.

Just wanted to put it out there since some folks are changing strategies and don't need it. You just never know... There are some RV bloggers who stay on top of the "how" of these things.

I have a mifi and unlimited from a different carrier (not the kind of national coverage Verizon has) that DD has asked to have if we can get something that will work better for RV travel.

Kindest regards.

http://www.early-retirement.org//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/