What is the best Cell Phone Provider?

[Pardus]

Verizon/ATT are good if you can afford 100+ a month.
Metro PCS, Cricket, Virgin Mobile sucks, avoid them.
T-Mobile would be my choice as well.

 

[Staples]

Thinking of switching to Tmobile from Sprint but I'd like to know what '2G' speeds are.

I am a cheap bastard and will only pay for their minimum data plan which is 500MB of 4G data. There after, you get unlimited bandwidth up to "2G speed."

Can someone with Tmobile quantify the speed of 2G on Tmobile?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Thinking of switching to Tmobile from Sprint but I'd like to know what '2G' speeds are.

I am a cheap bastard and will only pay for their minimum data plan which is 500MB of 4G data. There after, you get unlimited bandwidth up to "2G speed."

Can someone with Tmobile quantify the speed of 2G on Tmobile?

How do you do that? Disable 3G/4G and run a speedtest app?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Using the Speedtest app on a Nexus 4, 2G, Full bars:

DL: .21 Mbps
UL: .11 Mbps
Ping: 242

I only ran it once.

 

[Staples]

Thank you GT. That is faster than I get with Sprint's 3G.

Voice is acceptable on Sprint and always has been but their data coverage is just terrible.

In San Jose, I estimate that LTE coverage on Sprint is only about 10% of the city. The rest is supposedly 3G but it rarely works in a moving vehicle (and we are not talking constant streaming either, web browsing, maps, you name it). The outskirts of town are mostly dead spots for data (even where the population is still dense).

The kicker is, those 2G speeds you posted are almost always faster than I get off Sprint's 3G.

 

[HumblePie]

I have sprint now for 20 years and the only reason I don't give it up is because of an old grandfathered plan I have. $20 for everything for me still and I still have the latest phone access. Currently using an HTC Evo 4g.

But the network sucks. 20 years ago they were on top. Now they are the worst. My wife uses Straight Talk and it's $45 + tax a month for everything AND everything works all the time. Unlike my spotty call reception or worse data connections.

 

[desura]

Meh, I found Sprint's 3g to be more than fast enough for my data needs.

Which is basically occasionally checking a website. Mainly looking up map data and the phone numbers of local businesses.

I'm old fashioned and believe in local storage.

I don't really ever see a need for getting 4g. Yeah, you get like a 1mb/sec download on your...tiny phone...while destroying battery life.

 

[RossMAN]

I am a cheap bastard

:wub:

 

[RockinZ28]

Does your work not pay for your cell? I get an expense to cover my line on my family plan. Never giving up my unlimited Verizon lte. Their coverage is superb. My last company, I had a company cell phone with Sprint. Data was just unusable. Pretty sad when I traveled on business and my sprint cell didnt even have voice coverage sometimes, while my vzw phone had lte.

 

[soulcougher73]

I use StraightTalk via AT&T. Works as id expect it to work. Bill comes to $50/m after taxes. unlimited talk/text/data(2.5gb)

 

[jaedaliu]

I use Sprint. With 5 lines on the family (SERO) plan, unlimited talk, text, and data is $50/line.

Moved to an old brick house with crappy interior cell phone reception. A quick call to 611 and they sent me a free femtocell. I think I'm supposed to return it when we cancel our plan.

 

[rudeguy]

Does your work not pay for your cell? I get an expense to cover my line on my family plan. Never giving up my unlimited Verizon lte. Their coverage is superb. My last company, I had a company cell phone with Sprint. Data was just unusable. Pretty sad when I traveled on business and my sprint cell didnt even have voice coverage sometimes, while my vzw phone had lte.

Cell phones are still tower based. So yes, you will have times when one carrier works better than another. However I have Verizon and hate it. My LTE works maybe 10% of the time. I went down to the minimum data plan because my data never works. If I ever got time I would harass them into letting me out of my contract and get something that works.

 

[mnewsham]

I don't really ever see a need for getting 4g. Yeah, you get like a 1mb/sec download on your...tiny phone...while destroying battery life.

Not with modern devices, I get 1-2 days of battery life on an LG G2 on AT&T 4g getting 36.33Mbps download, 12.98Mbps upload, and 62ms ping.

 

[RockinZ28]

Cell phones are still tower based. So yes, you will have times when one carrier works better than another. However I have Verizon and hate it. My LTE works maybe 10% of the time. I went down to the minimum data plan because my data never works. If I ever got time I would harass them into letting me out of my contract and get something that works.

Yea every carrier is going to have areas that coverage isn't that great. I went to a number of different areas around the US last year and always had lte. Even in places in the middle of nowhere that I was surprised would even have voice let alone 4g. So as a whole Ive found vzw to be excellent and will not change unless they force me off unlimited.

 

[Raizinman]

OK, it appears to be between Verizon and T-Mobile. Now, the next question, is where to obtain the best deals? Being members of both Sams and Costco I thought they would pretty much offer the best deal. Is that right? Is it better to go into a T-Mobile or Verizon store? Where is the best deal at?

 

[jaedaliu]

OK, it appears to be between Verizon and T-Mobile. Now, the next question, is where to obtain the best deals? Being members of both Sams and Costco I thought they would pretty much offer the best deal. Is that right? Is it better to go into a T-Mobile or Verizon store? Where is the best deal at?

Plans are all the same wherever you go. The only questions are

1) what are you paying for your phone?
2) are you paying for activation?

I would figure out which phone you want, then wait for a sale on the phone. Check the price at your warehouses, walmart, best buy, look at flyers, set an alert on a deal website, etc. until the phone is free or you get tired of waiting.

 

[rudeguy]

OK, it appears to be between Verizon and T-Mobile. Now, the next question, is where to obtain the best deals? Being members of both Sams and Costco I thought they would pretty much offer the best deal. Is that right? Is it better to go into a T-Mobile or Verizon store? Where is the best deal at?

Between the 2 I would go Tmo. No contract and much better phone selection. With VZW you can only use the phone registered to them. Tmo uses unlocked phones, so you can just pop out your SIM card and pop in a new one.

Amazon has awesome deals on cell phones. So does Sam's Club website. Target's website also has good deals from time to time.

Otherwise just go to wirefly.com.

 

[mnewsham]

OK, it appears to be between Verizon and T-Mobile. Now, the next question, is where to obtain the best deals? Being members of both Sams and Costco I thought they would pretty much offer the best deal. Is that right? Is it better to go into a T-Mobile or Verizon store? Where is the best deal at?

You could also go for AT&T as they have some of the best LTE 4g coverage in the kansas city area

 

[IronWing]

OK, it appears to be between Verizon and T-Mobile. Now, the next question, is where to obtain the best deals? Being members of both Sams and Costco I thought they would pretty much offer the best deal. Is that right? Is it better to go into a T-Mobile or Verizon store? Where is the best deal at?

Don't worry, no matter which service you select, we're here to tell you you're wrong. 😛

 

[Zee]

Verizon for Voice and Text. NOT FOR DATA.

Verizon Data is crap all over. you might get 3G on your phone display, but you aint loading shit.

Areas with LTE work a lot better.

 

[rudeguy]

Verizon for Voice and Text. NOT FOR DATA.

Verizon Data is crap all over. you might get 3G on your phone display, but you aint loading shit.

Areas with LTE work a lot better.

I've found the opposite. I can never get LTE and my area in blanketed with LTE towers. My theory is the network is overloaded and bumps people down to 3G. Signal strength is always good (going off testing apps, not bars displayed). Another hint is that it gets worse in the winter, when coverage actually improves.

 

[mvbighead]

Meh, I just switched to Sprint due to work. My Verizon bill for two phones was ridiculous at about $150 with a 17% company discount. Now that it's a single line, it's still north of $100. My wife will be on Sprint due to work as well in a few months.

As for coverage, we live in the sticks. Verizon or Sprint both have sucked. I had a Galaxy nexus for a long time, and that sucker had TERRIBLE reception. Sometimes it's just the phone I guess, but for me, I'll go with free. If that ever changes, I'll go with cheap plans. Having had Verizon, I've experienced dropped calls and other things even in the city. If I get the same with Sprint, which I am sure I will, at least I won't be paying as much for it.

 

[RossMAN]

Plans are all the same wherever you go. The only questions are

1) what are you paying for your phone?
2) are you paying for activation?

I would figure out which phone you want, then wait for a sale on the phone. Check the price at your warehouses, walmart, best buy, look at flyers, set an alert on a deal website, etc. until the phone is free or you get tired of waiting.

The OP's answer to question #1 is very important.

If you're looking for the best bang for your buck here's what I would do:
1) Buy a phone such as the Moto G for $179 or a dumb phone if you need a simple flip phone, buy it outright without any carrier subsidies.
2) Research and find the perfect T-Mobile or AT&T MVNO such as h20 wireless which offers $30/mo for unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB data.

 

[Anonemous]

Just Sensorly your area and pick the provider that you find is acceptable. As for battery life, I can stream netflix over 4G for half the day (Iphone 5) before the battery runs out.

 

[duragezic]

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