Cell Phone Carrier Recommendation?

fov001 · 11-28-2012, 07:02 PM

Hey guys,

I am very frustrated with my Sprint Note2 and iPhone 5. The 3G is about 300Kbps and there is no LTE.

I am cancelling my contract...don't care about the cancellation fee anymore, or that I will loose a lot of money because of the phones, I just want to have good service, both voice and data.

Can anyone suggest a good carrier with good data/voice service in NYC???

I will be getting the same phones...

Thanks in advance!

lopri · 11-28-2012, 07:17 PM

Which part of NYC? Manhattan?

cl-scott · 11-28-2012, 07:20 PM

I think by and large Verizon is considered to have the best overall service period. The price you pay for that, is VZW has kind of a crap phone selection, and they charge you for EVERYTHING they possibly think they can get away with.

exdeath · 11-28-2012, 07:23 PM

Verizon has the best network but they know it and have the highest prices and will nickel and dime you to death. They also like to force manufacturers to cripple and remove features from their phones (like SD card slots) to force you to use services they can charge you for (more data use), locked bootloaders, etc. Some of what they do is downright scandalous, abusive, and criminal.

You should be safe from device crippling with the Note 2 and iPhone 5 though since those are global single device multiple carrier products. Samsung and Apple generally are big enough to stand up to that shit and just exclude Verizon if they don't back down into their hole.

But hell, 40 mbps and crystal clear calls in the middle of a large building or middle of nowhere is hard to pass up being that is the primary purpose of your device in the first place. Doesn't really matter how ungimped your device is or how cheap the monthly bill is if it never works... sigh

lopri · 11-28-2012, 07:25 PM

Agree with the above. Verizon 1st and possibly T-mobile 2nd. AT&T is horrendous by my experience.

shortylickens · 11-28-2012, 07:30 PM

I got my Note 2 on Tmobile and have been quite happy. The 3.5g speeds average around 15mbit and I often get up to 20.

fov001 · 11-28-2012, 07:44 PM

I am in Queens, but this also happens in Manhattan and the Bronx

fov001 · 11-28-2012, 07:48 PM

I have a question guys...I am on the phone with a sprint customer rep manager and she just told me that 4G and LTE are two different things.....what?

she said that WiMaxx, 4G and LTE are 3 different things...

correct me if I am wrong...but isn't LTE and WiMaxx a 4G technology ??

fov001 · 11-28-2012, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exdeath

Verizon has the best network but they know it and have the highest prices and will nickel and dime you to death. They also like to force manufacturers to cripple and remove features from their phones (like SD card slots) to force you to use services they can charge you for (more data use), locked bootloaders, etc. Some of what they do is downright scandalous, abusive, and criminal.

You should be safe from device crippling with the Note 2 and iPhone 5 though since those are global single device multiple carrier products. Samsung and Apple generally are big enough to stand up to that shit and just exclude Verizon if they don't back down into their hole.

But hell, 40 mbps and crystal clear calls in the middle of a large building or middle of nowhere is hard to pass up being that is the primary purpose of your device in the first place. Doesn't really matter how ungimped your device is or how cheap the monthly bill is if it never works... sigh

Thank You!! You just confirmed my research

Dulanic · 11-28-2012, 08:14 PM

I am by no means going to bat for Sprint because they have taken too long for lte. However, doesn't lte go live in NYC within a few months? Is it worth that much money for a few months? I was about to drop sprint myself but glad I waited since it saves me a bunch and the lte is pretty good.

fov001 · 11-28-2012, 08:18 PM

The problem is not LTE.....I don't have LTE so there is no problem lol

the problem is 3G...voice and data sucks, do you think paying 6 months $160 for 300kbps max is worth? I barely get pics and phones calls.

internet connection times out all the time....$h1t even trying to get to the app store times out.

Dulanic · 11-28-2012, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fov001

The problem is not LTE.....I don't have LTE so there is no problem lol

the problem is 3G...voice and data sucks, do you think paying 6 months $160 for 300kbps max is worth? I barely get pics and phones calls.

internet connection times out all the time....$h1t even trying to get to the app store times out.

I know their 3g is slow but warning so is Verizon. I know because I used to swap my prl on my sprint phone to use Verizon data. I don't understand you saying you don't have lte? I was just saying you will within a few months since both of those phones support lte.

Just a warning though if you want fast 3g go T-Mobile or AT&T because Verizon is as bad speed wise.. CDMA just sucks for data.

fov001 · 11-28-2012, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fov001

The problem is not LTE.....I don't have LTE so there is no problem lol

the problem is 3G...voice and data sucks, do you think paying 6 months $160 for 300kbps max is worth? I barely get pics and phones calls.

internet connection times out all the time....$h1t even trying to get to the app store times out.

how the hell did you get 15Mbps??

In response to the above question, I noticed you have 4G....You can't understand my frustration since you are not in NYC. problem is I don't get half the calls and 3G will not even load google play store (it times out most times).

I just did a network reset....I have never received such high data rates before wow

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exdeath · 11-28-2012, 08:36 PM

Yeah Verizon 4G is incredible but 3G blows. Funny it was fast when I first got my Droid X before 4G LTE rolled out. I wouldn't put it past Verizon to gimp and cap 3G speeds to get people to upgrade.

Dulanic · 11-28-2012, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fov001

how the hell did you get 15Mbps??

In response to the above question, I noticed you have 4G....You can't understand my frustration since you are not in NYC. problem is I don't get half the calls and 3G will not even load google play store (it times out most times).

I completely understand your frustration. Your frustration is the same as mine was. Sprints old network SUCKS. I averaged 100kbps and would miss calls left and right. Sprint launched LTE here a few months ago and it made a world of difference. The 3G got faster, the LTE 4G speed is 15Mbps for me as you saw in that screenshot.

All my point was is this... NYC LTE is being put in place right now... it will go up area by area and is expected to be finished for all of NYC by early 2013... like Feb/Mar timeframe. All my point was is that you have 2 LTE capable phones... is 2-3 months not worth waiting to save the ETF etc? That's all my point is. Not trying to push you to keep Sprint... just saying given your situation.... is it really worth blowing that much money when the issue quite likely will be fixed in a few months? Even my voice signal is 3x what it used to be and they didn't put a new tower in, they just upgraded the tower to their new LTE towers. Their LTE towers also improve voice.

s44 · 11-28-2012, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dulanic

NYC LTE is being put in place right now... it will go up area by area and is expected to be finished for all of NYC by early 2013... like Feb/Mar timeframe. All my point was is that you have 2 LTE capable phones... is 2-3 months not worth waiting to save the ETF etc?

^^^ this

If you *do* want to switch, in NYC it's (1) Verizon LTE and (2) T-Mo. AT&T is still a mess.

Oyeve · 11-29-2012, 05:46 AM

Dude, if you are in NYC get tmobile. In speednet tests my Tmo sgs3 is over twice as fast as either my Verizon iPhone 5 and my razr. Plus Tmo is the cheapest plan.

MichaelBarg · 11-29-2012, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fov001

Hey guys,

I am very frustrated with my Sprint Note2 and iPhone 5. The 3G is about 300Kbps and there is no LTE.

I am cancelling my contract...don't care about the cancellation fee anymore, or that I will loose a lot of money because of the phones, I just want to have good service, both voice and data.

Can anyone suggest a good carrier with good data/voice service in NYC???

I will be getting the same phones...

Thanks in advance!

Verizon has the best network in NYC. Between personal cell and work blackberry me and my wife have used all 4 major carriers at one time over the past few years. It's not close, Verizon has better coverage. Sprint ant T-Mobile have a lot more dead spots, especially inside buildings. AT&T still drops a lot of calls. All 4 have been improving, but in absolute terms and not relative to each other.

That said, Verizon can get pretty congested. People know it tends to be the best and buy accordingly. My Droid Razr gets LTE fine at home in Queens, but at work (midtown, 6th avenue) it usually drops to 3g. Between about 4:30-6pm data speed often increases noticeably there which I bet is because so many people head home and take their phones with them around that time.

MrX8503 · 11-29-2012, 07:49 AM

I can't speak for NYC, but in Chicago lte is a godsend. Since you're in a big city, you definitely want lte. Verizon's lte is about twice as fast as AT&T in large cities.

You can read more about it online. It has to do with AT&T running at half the Hz.

I still went with AT&T because it was cheaper and fast enough. If you want the fastest, you'll be paying a little more. Read reviews on lte speeds in NYC

Oyeve · 11-29-2012, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrX8503

I can't speak for NYC, but in Chicago lte is a godsend. Since you're in a big city, you definitely want lte. Verizon's lte is about twice as fast as AT&T in large cities.

You can read more about it online. It has to do with AT&T running at half the Hz.

I still went with AT&T because it was cheaper and fast enough. If you want the fastest, you'll be paying a little more. Read reviews on lte speeds in NYC

I speak from experience when I say verizon LTE in NYC is mediocre at best. I have a razr and an iphone 5 from verizon and LTE speeds are bleh, especially in manhattan. I just ran speedtest on my tmobile sgs3 and got 17down and 7up, I just ran it on my verizon iphone 5 on lte and got 6down and 1.5up. IMO, if you are going to be in the city most of the time and want to save some cash go tmobile.

bigrash · 11-29-2012, 09:27 AM

I live in Queens and work in Manhattan and Verizon is excellent in both areas. LTE is super fast in Queens. I had AT&T before that and it sucked real bad. Used to get tons of dropped calls and the 3G data service was terrible.

NutBucket · 11-29-2012, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fov001

I have a question guys...I am on the phone with a sprint customer rep manager and she just told me that 4G and LTE are two different things.....what?

she said that WiMaxx, 4G and LTE are 3 different things...

correct me if I am wrong...but isn't LTE and WiMaxx a 4G technology ??

LTE and WiMax are both 4G network standards. Sprint has officially stopped investing in WiMax and has started rolling out LTE.

vshah · 11-29-2012, 11:20 AM

t-mobile is excellent in manhattan. the cheapest as well.

dagamer34 · 11-29-2012, 01:07 PM

I never like these kinds of threads simply because unless you are a heavy traveler, the best people to talk to is actually your local friends, neighbors, heck, whoever lives across from you. My experience with a carrier in Texas doesn't affect your signal in NYC. For example, I get 1 bar of Verizon LTE in my apartment and sometimes phone calls don't go through. I immediately switched back to AT&T after being with Verizon for 3 days. That doesn't mean Verizon is terrible, just that it wasn't a good option for me (LTE signal was good everywhere else where I live).

I'd also be very careful with people who blindly recommend Verizon. When you look at their spectrum assets, they only have 10Mhz of LTE currently supporting all of their customers and their phones only support one LTE band at the moment. I definitely expect their network to be loaded in the next year. Just note that Verizon is only promising you 5-12Mbps down and 2-5Mbps up, which T-Mobile's DC-HSPA+ network can easily provide now. Do not expect 40-50Mbps speeds to sustain themselves forever without Verizon rolling out new LTE bands and new phones that support them, and that won't be until 2014 at the earliest.

lothar · 11-29-2012, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrX8503

I can't speak for NYC, but in Chicago lte is a godsend. Since you're in a big city, you definitely want lte. Verizon's lte is about twice as fast as AT&T in large cities.

You can read more about it online. It has to do with AT&T running at half the Hz.

I still went with AT&T because it was cheaper and fast enough. If you want the fastest, you'll be paying a little more. Read reviews on lte speeds in NYC

I thought it was Sprint doing that, not AT&T?