What cell phone provider is best?

[Xecuter]

I currently have Sprint and am looking to get a family plan.

Which cell phone provider is best? I've been with Sprint and they are ok.

I've been told that AT&T is the best, but I don't know.

It seems to me pricing structures are similar.

Give me some feedback guys.

Thanks
-Xecuter

 

[TheStu]

Generally, the prices for the plans are going to match up. This provider or that might have a better deal depending on what you are looking for (some might be cheaper on texts, whereas another might give you more minutes).

What it ultimately boils down to is who provides the best service in your area, and if any of the providers have a particular phone you want (Want the Storm? Verizon only. Want the iPhone? At&T. Want the Pre? Sprint)

 

[gorcorps]

Best is definitely up to opinion. T-mobile can be slightly cheaper than AT&T, but not that much to make a decision based on that alone. Every provider will have customer service horror stories, and I can't say I've heard worse things about one vs. the others though. I will say that I'd never go with Verizon mainly because they have a pretty poor phone selection (but still better than the Sprint you're used to), partly because they're more expensive than the others by a fair bit, and because they don't use sim cards. You're locked into their phones no matter what which I don't enjoy.

 

[TheWart]

I think the best way to find out is to ask people in your area how happy they are with their provider.

Asking on the internet is not really going to help you out cause what works well in the Southeast might suck in the West. I have ATT in the Washington DC area and it works great. My friend who took his ATT phone out to Colorado (forgot which part) said that it was horrible. My family has Verizon in TN, and it is spotty, but their Verizon service rocked when we lived out northern CA.

 

[shortylickens]

Back in 2003 you could probably call one of them "The Best".
These days they are very similar in price and quality. If you have had a bad experience you may dislike one more than the others, but if you let a whole year go by you may be suprised to see their quality go up and the others go down.
I know guys who only keep service and phone for a year at a time and always switch out. When their service is about to end they start looking around at who fits their current needs the best.

Check you area for the best coverage.
I live in Northen Virginia and frequently go into DC. Verizon typically has good coverage, even on the Metro.
When my contract is up in Oct. I may end up moving to someone else. If there are new Android phones out and the Palm Pre is good (or has a good revision) then Verizon will have to fight to keep me.

 

[Bibble]

I completely agree with what the others above me have said, but I would just like to add that I enjoy Verizon because I can talk to all other Verizon wireless people as much as I want. Nearly all of my friends and family use Verizon, thus I can talk to them without worrying about minutes. This plus great coverage makes the price worth it for me.

 

[boomhower]

As others have said best is really a floating term. I would put it as who has the best coverage at the lowest price. Assume two componies have similiar coverage as priciing is very close. Next I will move to phones, who has what you like, this is where me and verizon diverge. Just a general way I go. I have Sprint and will be with them for a long time. They and Verizon are the only ones that have 3G in my area. With the way Verizon cripples their phone I don't see me going that way anytime soon. Assuming I can keep my SERO plan I looking forward to being the proud new owner of a Pre.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: boomhower
As others have said best is really a floating term. I would put it as who has the best coverage at the lowest price. Assume two componies have similiar coverage as priciing is very close. Next I will move to phones, who has what you like, this is where me and verizon diverge. Just a general way I go. I have Sprint and will be with them for a long time. They and Verizon are the only ones that have 3G in my area. With the way Verizon cripples their phone I don't see me going that way anytime soon. Assuming I can keep my SERO plan I looking forward to being the proud new owner of a Pre.

Thats another thing I forgot to mention.

Both Verizon and Tmobile are known to disable features on the phones they get. And from my personal experience the menu & UI that Verizon forces on their phones is usually inferior to what the phone maker put on originally.

 

[TheWart]

Originally posted by: Bibble
I completely agree with what the others above me have said, but I would just like to add that I enjoy Verizon because I can talk to all other Verizon wireless people as much as I want. Nearly all of my friends and family use Verizon, thus I can talk to them without worrying about minutes. This plus great coverage makes the price worth it for me.

This is something important I forgot to mention. As most of my friends are on ATT, all of my calls to them don't use my minutes, so they are 'free.'

If you have 2-3 people that you call all the time, if you can get on their network, it could possibly save you a bundle.

 

[boomhower]

Originally posted by: TheWart

Originally posted by: Bibble
I completely agree with what the others above me have said, but I would just like to add that I enjoy Verizon because I can talk to all other Verizon wireless people as much as I want. Nearly all of my friends and family use Verizon, thus I can talk to them without worrying about minutes. This plus great coverage makes the price worth it for me.

This is something important I forgot to mention. As most of my friends are on ATT, all of my calls to them don't use my minutes, so they are 'free.'

If you have 2-3 people that you call all the time, if you can get on their network, it could possibly save you a bundle.

You can also get "my circle" with verizon on top of alltel as well. If your calling is concentrated on a couple people on different networks that would be worth considering.

 

[dlock13]

Originally posted by: boomhower

Originally posted by: TheWart

Originally posted by: Bibble
I completely agree with what the others above me have said, but I would just like to add that I enjoy Verizon because I can talk to all other Verizon wireless people as much as I want. Nearly all of my friends and family use Verizon, thus I can talk to them without worrying about minutes. This plus great coverage makes the price worth it for me.

This is something important I forgot to mention. As most of my friends are on ATT, all of my calls to them don't use my minutes, so they are 'free.'

If you have 2-3 people that you call all the time, if you can get on their network, it could possibly save you a bundle.

You can also get "my circle" with verizon on top of alltel as well. If your calling is concentrated on a couple people on different networks that would be worth considering.

And the caveat of the 'my circle' deal is the fact that you need to have a nationwide plan that costs more than 39.99 or 49.99. I don't recall which it is.

 

[randomlinh]

yeah, you need something above the baseline plans to get the whole "my friends and family on any network deal."

I personally will be leaving verizon for the Pre. The data plan on sprint is a lot cheaper when you're on the family plan. My bill will go up about $40, but all four lines will have unlimited data and we'll have double the minutes. Sprint service around here has improved, so hopefully I won't regret this, haha.

Most of my friends are on verizon, but one recently switched to sprint. I never really call them anyway, if anything, no more than 5 minutes maybe to figure out where we're meeting up.

But yes, ask around your area. Sprint has the worst rep around here, but mostly with customer service. We'll see.

 

[zerocool84]

I'm like Tmobile cus I have their unlimited plan for $50 which is cheap as hell.

 

[Muadib]

I advise you to visit howardforums, and look for posts in each provider's forum for your area. Telling you who we think are the best really won't help, as no one who has posted so far is in your area. Go Vikes!!!

 

[corkyg]

In many cases, it depends on location and proximity to provider's towers/antennae. I travel a lot, and have two providers - Sprint and AT&T. One is CDMA and the other GSM. Sometimes Sprint wins, sometimes AT&T does. Where you are when the connection is made is critical in many instances.

 

[pinenuts]

In LA I would say verizon is the best

 

[joutlaw]

I use a regional provider in my state, Cellular South. They have the best coverage here b/c their focus is pretty much only MS and parts of TN, AL, the FL panhandle.

I don't travel much, but the plan I have is $50 for 750 nationwide minutes and unlimited data in the home area. I can only use 25MB of data outside our home area which kind of sucks, but doesn't happen much.

The service is much better than AT&T in the part of MS where my wife is from so it's a no brainer to have them.

 

[gar655]

The one with the best coverage where you live, travel to regularly or may move to. That said, I will never own another phone without a sim card. So for me Verizon and Sprint are out. No big loss as the coverage with either sucks where I live.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: TheWart
I think the best way to find out is to ask people in your area how happy they are with their provider.

Asking on the internet is not really going to help you out cause what works well in the Southeast might suck in the West. I have ATT in the Washington DC area and it works great. My friend who took his ATT phone out to Colorado (forgot which part) said that it was horrible. My family has Verizon in TN, and it is spotty, but their Verizon service rocked when we lived out northern CA.

Yep. Especially in mountainous areas, it's important to do research locally. Read up at craigslist forums, city-data forums, or howard forums.

I never had ATT but Tmobile, Sprint and Verizon are all pretty equal in Denver metro, as well as Cricket. In the mountains, Verizon and Tmobile still worked, and Tmobile worked best up in Hannah, Wyoming 'cause they jumped on the local carrier's towers, Verizon was spotty.