Cleveland
Well-known member
I am picking up my new iPad in a few days and I'll be going with the AT&T model - they rollout their LTE here in Cleveland, Akron and Canton on Sunday I believe plus still being able to be HSPA+ is a huge factor
I went with Verizon because they have prepaid data for iPad. I pay when I need it. And don't pay when I don't need it. The prices and speeds are exactly the same as the contract prices.
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I went with Verizon because they have prepaid data for iPad. I pay when I need it. And don't pay when I don't need it. The prices and speeds are exactly the same as the contract prices.
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I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?kaa52g
Did my test in So Cal. Covered many parts. Orange, LA, San Bernardino counties. Vzn had great LTE. Got slow in a couple spots. But that happens with any carrier. This confirms why I went with Vzn. Hopefully Att's LTE map will broaden or they may lose our business when a LTE iPhone comes out. Been with AT&T for 12 years. Would hate to leave as their LTE is very limited out there.
Verizon has stated they're going for 100% LTE coverage by end of 2013. AT&T is going for 80% or so of it's current 3G coverage which is already poor compared to verizon's. Add the LTE rural program Verizon has and it won't be close.
I know people mention the HSPA+ speeds on AT&T while posting screenshots of 7mpbs or more. The frustrating thing is, i've never seen this kind of speed on AT&T, not even in areas where it's "4G". Just for the fun of it, i'm on Verizon 3G yesterday with the ipad. It's around 1mbps vs iphone 4S (att "4G") getting around 2.5mbps. Browsing still seemed a bit faster on verizon vs tethering off iphone.
I do realize i'm not likely to see the faster hspa+ speeds til i get an ipad or phone supporting higher speeds. The iphone 4S only supports HSDPA 14.4 while the new ipad "brings a new 42Mbps HSPA+ radio for AT&T, Canadian, and international carriers that support it. (Technically dual 21Mbps HSPA+ radios.)"-- http://www.imore.com/2012/03/19/ipad-lte-hspa-radio-tests/. Hopefully in a couple years, i won't care and LTE will be abundant.
One of these days i'll have to throw an AT&T SIM in my verizon ipad and see if the hspa+ speeds are any better. I haven't seen anyone really posting speedtests for this.
People are getting the Verizon version because they can use it on AT&T as well, but just remember...it will not work on AT&T LTE. Just 3G. Not sure about the "4G". AT&T seems to hit the sweet spot of data allowance, 3GB (I say sweet spot because 3GB probably will satisfy the vast majority) for the same price as Verizon's 2GB. And I bet it's just a matter of time before AT&T opens up the hotspot feature. They won't let Verizon 1 up them for very long. I've also noticed multiple nationwide 4G outages, and many regional 4G outages as of late on Verizon. So for these reasons, and a few others, I took my Verizon one back and got the AT&T one. No complaints so far
I chose Verizon because my 4s is on at&t and signal strength is glitchy. VZW is also better for travel to many of the larger cities where at&t coverage is similarly spotty...or worse. Ultimately with one device on each carrier and both devices with me most of the time, I will have coverage pretty much anywhere.
Having said that, the LTE leaves something to be desired. At some point pretty much every day, I have to disable LTE to load anything - reverting to 3G. This does not happen automatically (as I thought it should...) - instead it will churn away on LTE without loading, so I disable and return to Safari, where page loads on 3G with no problem. I then have to remember to re-enable LTE after some time has passed, which means I wind up using on 3G as often as on LTE.
The wi-fi is spectacular. Grabs the signal when I get to work and holds it all day. Speed can vary on wi-fi, but that is the network here rather than the iPad or VZW.