• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

What is the best Cell Phone Provider?

Raizinman

Raizinman

Platinum Member
I’ve had Sprint for many years. My contract is up in two weeks. I’m tired of dropped calls. My work requires that I talk to customers during the day and one out of 3 or 4 calls is dropped. My friends with AT&T and Verizon both tell me that their dropped call rate is almost zero. My requirements for a phone are pretty simple, no dropped calls. Are there any others besides AT&T and Verizon that have good coverage or is AT&T and Verizon the top two?
 
Have been with T-Mobile for over a decade. Love them.

-Never made a billing error.
-Never waited more than 3 minutes for a CS rep located in the USA.
-Amazing international coverage.
-Never had a major coverage area problem. But I live/work in a city and travel to other cities.
-German parent company = they can say "FUCK YOU" to the NSA a little easier than their US competitors.

Current plan:
-Simple Choice Family (2 Lines): Unlimited Talk, Text, Data
-Both Lines: 2.5GB high-speed data (throttles after)
-1x Line: International Plan = Unlimited data and text abroad + 0.20/min calls
-1x VOIP Land Line at home through TMO.
-Total Fees: about $110/mo.
 
Had AT&T for MANY years, (started with AT&T...it switched to Cingular...back to AT&T) dropped them, went to GhettoPCS (metropcs) for the MUCH lower bills...their service, even though they've merged with T-Mobile, is spotty at best here, so we signed up with Verizon. MUCH better cell service than we've ever had before...but the bills are VERY HIGH.
 
Used to have Sprint and had the same issues as you. I switched to Verizon a year and a half ago. I wish I made the switch sooner.
 
Verizon if money is no issue. T-Mobile if money is.

I never had a drop call with Verizon. I think I had one with T-Mobile. Also T-Mobile's HD calling is awesome. Not sure if the other services have that.
 
I've had all in the NYC metro area. BTW Geography is important as some carriers are much better in certain markets, worse in others.

When I had sprint it was good in NJ not as good in the city as far as deeper inside buildings. Verizon had a great network here which I switched to as it was for my business. It was the most expensive $250 per month for two lines, my business partner and myself. It was a personal account, unlimited everything.

I had T Mobile in between those two and found it pretty good actually. After my business went down, I switched onto my family's AT&T plan. Now I pay far less as it only added $70 to the monthly bill. I do only have a 2gb data plan but I have only once gone over 1gb in the last 7 months. The service is quite good, I rarely get dropped calls. There are a few places where I get only 1 bar but I've never not gotten service.
 
Verizon for sure if they weren't so damn expensive.

I've been Sprint customer for... holy hell, 10 years now. Their reception & coverage is utterly, ashamedly garbage.

Wife and I have same Galaxy S4, but she's on VZW. She has reception in elevator, and anywhere she goes whereas I don't.

We just moved. Guess what, same garbage coverage on my phone whereas she can use hers just fine.
 
Raizinman said:
I’ve had Sprint for many years. My contract is up in two weeks. I’m tired of dropped calls. My work requires that I talk to customers during the day and one out of 3 or 4 calls is dropped. My friends with AT&T and Verizon both tell me that their dropped call rate is almost zero. My requirements for a phone are pretty simple, no dropped calls. Are there any others besides AT&T and Verizon that have good coverage or is AT&T and Verizon the top two?
Click to expand...

Generally, AT&T and Verizon are the best carriers for coverage. You will pay out the nose for that coverage though, and not just in the monthly bills.

For the most part, I've been happy switching to TMO from Verizon, but remember that all US wireless carriers are dirty, unethical, scumbags.
 
yeah, back in college (~2011) my class would go on camping trips and hikes, and 9 times out of 10 the only one's with signal were verizon 😛. I had a t-mobile dumb phone, so I won on battery life 😛.

Verizon's coverage is pretty amazing.
 
Last edited:
There's no realistic way to give you a good answer, it all depends on your location.

As someone who hacks on cell phones constantly, I have multiple phones used on every major carrier and there is no good way to say which one is the best in your area without trying them out. They should all let you do a trial period to see what the coverage is like.

From a coverage standpoint, it's kind of hard to argue with Verizon, but they are one of the worst companies I can think of so unless you have no other choice, fuck them.

That said, if we're talking purely customer service/value, I would vote t-mobile without a doubt. But great CS/value doesn't mean a goddamn thing if you have no coverage where you are, so take recommendations with a grain of salt. The US coverage map is too wildly unpredictable.
 
AT&T - It's a GSM provider meaning you can slap SIMs into phones and be going. That alone is worth it over any CDMA carrier. Want to use any phone you want? Sure. Go ahead. Try that on Verizon or Sprint with a phone without their fat logo stamped on it.

As for T-mobile? They're OK I suppose. Smaller network, and GSM, but AWS isn't as widely used as 850/1900 for 3G.

The landscape may change with LTE taking over as AT&T is on its own bands. The good news is that it seems that multi-band devices are pretty easy to build. Apple built a 14-band iPad Air and iPad Mini 2 to have a single device work globally.
 
Personally I'm using Republic Wireless. Which uses sprint...when you're on the road, but otherwise relies on wifi.

Wifi is pretty reliable. Gets really good reception inside buildings too.
 
I had Verizon for 8 years and thought they were great.
When the iPhone came out, I switched to ATT. No problems yet. (4 years)

I just looked into Verizon again to trade in my old iPhone, but the same package starts at $100 whereas my bill at ATT is only $60 total.
 
Verizon has the best coverage particularly away from the big cities. If you really just need a phone and not a smart phone/tablet/media device and want to get Verizon's network on the cheap then look at Great Call/Jitterbug. They use Verizon's network and have low rates with no contracts. The only caveat is that you have to buy a Jitterbug phone.
 
I had sprint because they were cheap and good enough. I knew verizon was the best so when we bought a house and our phones didn't work there, we finally switched to verizon. I have been able to achieve a cheaper cost by adding a lot of people to my plan.

Haven't had problems since.
 
Dropped Sprint for AT&T, could not be happier. One dead zone on my way to work, but thats about the only issue I have...now.

When we first switched, it sucked balls, we had almost zero coverage at our house, and they gave us a MicroCell. Eventually we got a tower closer to ur house the the microcell was not needed anymore. They didn't want it back so I sold it on eBay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top