Iphone 5s Carrier question

[phillyman36]

Hey I am thinking about getting an iphone 5s. I can get a discount with all the carriers but T-mobile and Sprint gives me unlimited for a cheaper price than Att and Verizon. Both Sprint and Tmobile say they have 4g in my area (zip code 19107). Just wanted to know if you all have any carrier preferences? Does anyone live in or near Philly or can you point me to a reliable website on phone carrier service in my area? Anything else that i should take into consideration?

Thanks for any help

 

[bearxor]

http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint
http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/T-Mobile/lte_310260

At this point, if it came to a decision between TMo and Sprint, I'd probably choose Sprint. They USUALLY have better coverage, but YMMV. They're also, I think, in a better position to expand their network over the next couple of years. The 800mhz LTE coverage should be a lot better than TMo's AWS LTE coverage.

But, on the other hand, TMo has the advantage of being a GSM carrier which can get you a better selection of devices. TMo also gives you 2.5GB of tethering on the unlimited plan now, Sprint requires an extra per month fee for tethering. TMo is on the "you buy your phone outright" model and Sprint is still using a traditional subsidy model.

 

[smackababy]

I really don't understand the unlimited data argument for phones. Perhaps if you use it as your only internet source, but seriously? Who does that?

I am grandfathered in to the unlimited data on Verizon (even after upgrading my phone and changing my plan for some reason) and I never go over like 500mb a month. When I'm at home, I am on Wifi. When I am at work, well, I don't use my phone because I am a good employee. When I am out and about, at least 50% of the time I can access free Wifi and the other half, I don't use that much data anyway.

edit: I Just checked, and my iPhone 5 has used 3.3gb total of data since I got it in January.

 

[TheStu]

I really don't understand the unlimited data argument for phones. Perhaps if you use it as your only internet source, but seriously? Who does that?

I am grandfathered in to the unlimited data on Verizon (even after upgrading my phone and changing my plan for some reason) and I never go over like 500mb a month. When I'm at home, I am on Wifi. When I am at work, well, I don't use my phone because I am a good employee. When I am out and about, at least 50% of the time I can access free Wifi and the other half, I don't use that much data anyway.

edit: I Just checked, and my iPhone 5 has used 3.3gb total of data since I got it in January.

I work at a remote site, so stream a lot of music on my phone. Unlimited data is a big deal to me.

 

[boomhower]

If Sprint has good LTE coverage in areas you frequent then they are a great bargain. Just be aware if you travel and go out of that area their 3G service pretty much blows data wise.

 

[bearxor]

If Sprint has good LTE coverage in areas you frequent then they are a great bargain. Just be aware if you travel and go out of that area their 3G service pretty much blows data wise.

But, as opposed to TMobile, which has almost no 3G coverage in between cities, EVDO > EDGE.

TMobile's rural EDGE service is basically the reason I haven't switched. If they had decided to simply update their entire footprint to HSPA+ instead of trying to move to LTE, I would have switched already.

 

[phillyman36]

Between Sprint and Tmobile is there something about the differences(if there is any) That would make one phone better than the other? I don't understand the who HSPA,cdma etc etc. I don't travel out of the country so not worried about compatibility in other countries.

 

[bearxor]

If you're looking at the iPhone 5S on either carrier, just about the only technical difference I can think of between the two would be the ability of TMobile to do voice and data simultaneously. The Sprint version will drop the data when a voice call comes in.

I don't know if I'd let that feature trump coverage in my area however.