Yesterday someone suggested that it would be better to use a different carrier for my iPhone. The iPhone is now available on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, and you can also use it unofficially on T-Mobile, but with some limitations, such as no 3G. I use AT&T and here's why.
The main reason is price. I am on a family plan, which means I pay only $10 for talk. AT&T offers data plans starting at $15 for 200 MB, which means a minimum of $25/month, but I pay $30 for unlimited data, for a total of $40/month. If I were to ever leave AT&T I would lose that plan, which I need for broadcasting from my taxi. Verizon no longer offers unlimited data. Sprint does, but I would end up paying more.
A lot of people think that Verizon has the best network. This is a myth. It's probably true that they're the best for voice calls. I have always had problems on AT&T, with lots of dropped calls and such, although it has improved greatly over the past couple of years. However, I don't use my iPhone that much for voice calls. It's the 3G cellular data network that's important to me for broadcasting video and such, and AT&T is supposed to be significantly faster. Verizon and Sprint have 4G, but that does me no good on an iPhone. I used to have problems with data, but recently it seems like I hardly ever have problems broadcasting video and such, especially on Ustream. I think AT&T has been working hard to upgrade their network, especially since millions of people are about to get new iPhones.
And the network improvements on the new iPhone 4S only apply on AT&T's network, with potential download speeds increased from 7.2 to 14.4 MBPS only on AT&T. (Real speeds are always a lot less than potential, and it remains to be seen if I'll actually get faster downloads on my new phone.) I suspect that next year we'll see the iPhone 4G, but until then AT&T will have faster 3G. Plus, only AT&T lets me talk while using data at the same time.
Anyway, now I'm locked into another 2-year contract, so I'm stuck with AT&T!
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteNice post, I still hate to see that you are stuck with AT&T but it seems that with the family plan you are on it makes sense to stay put.
I on the other hand do favor Verizon. It is true that "Verizon no longer offers unlimited data." but not Verizon customers are limited.
If you have been an existing customer with Verizon they will grandfather you in which means no forcing to paying for limited data packages.
Right now my total bill a month is $86/mo and that is with a discount from where I work. I am on a normal Droid X and have 3G. I also am able to tether my wifi with a hot spot from a root along with other various things. I think the biggest thing is the functionality you can get from the phone vs the iphone personally.
Any who, good luck with your Iphone and hopefully the Iphone 5 comes with 4G and some other features to keep apple users happy!
Verizon also throttles their grandfathered users after 2GB. AT&T grandfathered me into unlimited, just like them. I've already used 8GB this month, and I'm only halfway through my billing period, and my total bill is only $40. I could also tether, but have no reason to.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the advantage of 4G would be to me. I can broadcast video just fine on 3G, and it's not like I watch Netflix while working. But again, AT&T's 3G is faster than Verizon's, especially since AT&T rolled out 4G here, which required them to upgrade their network. Having 4G would just mean hitting the cap sooner.
What I'm saying is that there is no advantage of Verizon over AT&T. Maybe on Sprint, but not Verizon. Sprint has no cap, although its 3G data is the slowest. Even throttled, I get 1 Mbps up now. (I get up to 6 Mbps down when not throttled.) The real reason I'm "stuck" is that there is no better alternative. That's why I signed up for two years.
Not sure what functionality I'm supposed to be missing on iPhone.