ATT or Verizon?

[jalaram]

My wife's company gave her a Blackberry which she used on T-mobile. Now, they're dropping T-mobile. She now has a choice of Verizon or AT&T.

I'm interested in other opinions/suggestions. I've seen how slow Edge was for the occasional web browsing, so 3g speed/coverage would be nice to know. I have no experience with either service since I've had T-mobile to go for the past few years.

 

[billyb0b]

verizon - no contest.

att is terrible

 

[misle]

I was with AT&T for 9 years. Never had a problem with them. But, I recently switched to Verizon and I think the service and 3G is much better.

 

[Demo24]

Got fed up with ATT and went to Verizon, don't regret it yet.

 

[nickbits]

if (iphone) att
else verizon

 

[zerocool84]

My brother is a die-hard Apple fanatic and has AT&T but is leaving cus their dropped calls and spotty 3G service.

 

[secretanchitman]

only go to att if she wants an iphone. if she doesnt, verizon all the way.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Test the area you're in. Some of us don't want to stick to CDMA. AT&T isn't half bad where I'm at, so I stick with it. If I lived north in SF downtown, I'd reconsider. I'm a GSM guy. Love being able to throw in random handsets and start using it. And not have to buy it through a carrier...

 

[shortylickens]

Verizon is expensive, and I love to hate on the Big Dog, but they have never been a problem for me.
The other 3 big guys have always had some sort of issue that pissed me off, whether technical or administrative. I was happy with Sprints hardware and network, but their customer service fucked me over so badly I will not go back to them for many years, and only if I hear they have seriously improved.

 

[boomhower]

Go with who ever provides better service in the area where the phone is going to be used. If she travels a lot or business and stays in the country go with Verizon as in general they have better coverage, particularly with 3G. If she goes overseas a lot then AT&T may be a better choice with it's GSM service but Verizon does have a couple world phones(Tour and TP2 off the top of my head)

Personally I would go with Verizon and would be with them now if they weren't so damn expensive.

 

[BabaBooey]

verizon - no contest.

att is terrible

this.

 

[jalaram]

She doesn't travel as much as she used to. She goes mainly to northern California, but has gone all over the country. She hasn't needed to travel overseas yet *knocks on wood*.

However, we do go to Canada 2-4x a year. How's the roaming up there for Verizon? T-Mobile had an agreement with Rogers, so that was relatively easy up there.

[Edit] Found this on their site.

Other than that last question, you guys have convinced me to recommend Verizon. Thanks!

 

[Rottie]

I have iphone 3Gs but i am tired of ATT slow and spotty 3G i cant cancel ATT contact until June 2011 then switch to VZW and get Nexus One or Driod

 

[zerocool84]

I have iphone 3Gs but i am tired of ATT slow and spotty 3G i cant cancel ATT contact until June 2011 then switch to VZW and get Nexus One or Driod

Ha and they'll be much better Android phones out by then.

 

[Rottie]

Ha and they'll be much better Android phones out by then.

iPhone running with Android would be sweet....dont you agree with me?

 

[zylander]

Go with what ever company gives good service in her area. I have had ATT for about 7 years now and have never had a problem. I get great 3g service on my iPhone all over the SF bay area and when I go down to LA. I have been in Orlando for the past week and had had great 3g coverage everywhere I go. Keep in mind when reading this thread that the cool thing to do on anandtech is to hate on AT&T.

 

[Demo24]

Go with what ever company gives good service in her area. I have had ATT for about 7 years now and have never had a problem. I get great 3g service on my iPhone all over the SF bay area and when I go down to LA. I have been in Orlando for the past week and had had great 3g coverage everywhere I go. Keep in mind when reading this thread that the cool thing to do on anandtech is to hate on AT&T.

, please. They've earned what they get on this board. If they offered a more reliable service and had better customer service this board wouldn't be complaining.

 

[Raduque]

Verizon pretty much has the best network, period.

Say whatever you want about GSM this or unlocked that (btw, GSM call encryption was broken recently - it'll take months and millions to update to a new code), but the coolest europhone in the world isn't going to help you if you have no signal.

only go to att if she wants an iphone. if she doesnt, verizon all the way.

Even if she does want an iPhone, go Verizon. They're getting one sometime this year.

 

[zylander]

, please. They've earned what they get on this board. If they offered a more reliable service and had better customer service this board wouldn't be complaining.

Again, I have always had great coverage in my area. Plus, all the times I have ever called customer service the wait times have been short an I have been given excellent customer service.


I'm notgoing to deny that verizon probably has better coverage nationwide but if there is no problem with ATT in your area why not go with them? You are open to a lot better phones with AT&T.

 

[her209]

Again, I have always had great coverage in my area. Plus, all the times I have ever called customer service the wait times have been short an I have been given excellent customer service.

I'm notgoing to deny that verizon probably has better coverage nationwide but if there is no problem with ATT in your area why not go with them? You are open to a lot better phones with AT&T.

Maybe the coverage isn't so great at work, school, around town, etc.?

 

[CurseTheSky]

I currently have two phones - a business phone on AT&T, and an everyday phone on Verizon.

Verizon's network coverage is leaps and bounds better in my area. Too bad their plans are so damned expensive.

 

[PlatinumGold]

I currently have two phones - a business phone on AT&T, and an everyday phone on Verizon.

Verizon's network coverage is leaps and bounds better in my area. Too bad their plans are so damned expensive.

As most people have acknowledged, verizons network is the best. Hence why shouldn't they charge the most. What I don't. Understand are att users trying to defend atts rates.

 

[DanMart25]

If you want to get an iphone, then AT&T is the only option you have. Or else Verizon has a better range of service.

 

[CrimsonWolf]

Hope Verizon Wireless treats her well. Looks like you're covered for Canada - for other international travel some of their high-end phones are both CDMA and GSM equipped. I used my BB Storm in Australia for two weeks without a problem.

I have Verizon and my GF has AT&T. AT&T is fine for her in town but it's a total gamble outside of major urban areas. If we're traveling, we can be in a bumbfuck town and I still have a decent 3G signal - in the meantime she's asking to borrow my phone because she can't even get a call through. God help AT&T when they lose iPhone exclusivity.

 

[Kadarin]

San Jose, CA here, and I've recently had the iPhone 3G, BB Pearl (both on AT&T), and in December I switched to a Droid. On Verizon I'm getting a strong 3G signal pretty much everywhere, and data xfer is consistently fast. On AT&T, the 3G coverage was terrible, and even on Edge I was still getting dropped calls (often) and text messages that wouldn't send.