AT&T to VZW - who made the switch?

LCW

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Jul 3, 2010
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So who has gone to VZW from AT&T and are you happy you did?

I'm debating paying the ETF and switching to VZW. I picked up a 5 on the 21st (preorder from apple). Paid the "early upgrade" from AT&T - so a 32gb cost 550 (300 + 250). Since it's from apple, I have 30 days to return. A 5 from VZW would be new customer price - 300, but my ETF would be about 250 - so cost wise a wash.

With AT&T - get simultaneous voice/data (which I actually make use of). With VZW, would have facetime over cellular (without jailbreaking or expensive share plan where I lose the nation+canada option I'm on) - since I don't have a need often for this, it's not a dealbreaker. Neither LTE is in my area yet (northern MN), but VZW LTE is getting much closer - probably about 10 cities in MN, vs only Minneapolis for AT&T LTE so far. With AT&T still having EDGE in parts of the country, I'm not holding by breath for AT&T LTE up here any time soon. But not sure how soon VZW LTE will show.

I travel to Canada fairly often, so the LTE capability in Canada with the AT&T might be a bonus, but would need to get a prepaid SIM to do it (say on Rogers or Bell). Brings up the sim unlocked problem. Could get the 5 unlocked via a service for like 15-20. VZW model is sim unlocked out of the box (could still use HSPA in Canada with it).


So just curious if some are in similar situations...
 

Acelx

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It cross my mind during the iPhone 5 launch since ATT had a massive line that i didn't want to wait in (but waited anyway) and VZW only had like 8 people along with Sprint who had 4..

But i know a couple of friends with VZW LTE phones and they only getting 20-30mbps down and around 15-19mbps upload.. my iPhone 5 gets 40-51Mbps down and a study 19 upload..
 

anon(4706822)

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I did and don't regret it. I now get service where it matters the most. It was a huge mistake to switch to AT&T before it was an option on Verizon. I'm a happy camper back with my old carrier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Joe McG

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I switched on Friday. I am very happy so far. LTE coverage is larger on Verizon and I travel a lot so it just made sense.

I've had the Verizon ipad for awhile and have always had great LTE coverage when traveling.
 

coreymcl

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I'm switching, along with my wife and son as well. Our iPhone's show up tomorrow so we'll see how smooth the porting process goes.
 

Bias X

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I've heavily debated it for the 5, but the cost is too much.
I'd lost the 22% discount my brother gets for working in a hospital, I'd lose the 6 year good standing I've had with At&t.
The only benefit I would get is a GSM unlocked 5 and LTE and LTE should be out by the end of this year in my area.
 

Joe McG

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I'm switching, along with my wife and son as well. Our iPhone's show up tomorrow so we'll see how smooth the porting process goes.

Just turn the new phones on and the port happens. Restart your AT&T iPhone in about 20 min and it will say "NO SERVICE". That's it!
 

Rocket_Girl

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I did and don't regret it. I now get service where it matters the most. It was a huge mistake to switch to AT&T before it was an option on Verizon. I'm a happy camper back with my old carrier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did the same. I was with VZW for years, then went to at&t last fall (for phone that VZW did not offer). Have been waiting for release of iPhone 5 to return to VZW - subsidized phone, new contract, etc. Happy to be back.
 

Chaos5

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I switched to VZW from AT&T and don't regret it. People are saying by the look of these VZW LTE speeds stay with AT&T, the thing is VZW has a larger layout and has had LTE up longer meaning more people are on it. How long will AT&T's LTE speeds last at 40-50mbps? I'd say not long considering only more people will be getting on the AT&T LTE as it rolls out. So they're just wishful thinkers hoping that they stay at 40-50mbps.
 

TaliZorah

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Switched the day the iPhone 5 came out.

It was cheaper for me to pay my termination fee + switch to Verizon than it was for me to just buy an iPhone 5 from ATT because I didn't have an upgrade.

Bonus is I have yet to find an area that I frequent where I don't get 3g or LTE. Whereas on ATT there were plenty of times I found myself on Edge with my Lumia 900. Loved that phone though... Happy with my i5 on VZW even more though I think :)
 

siddfinch

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I used a Samsung Skyrocket on AT&T last fall in my area (Boston) and LTE was exceptional (20-35Mbps). Tested an iPad on Verizon LTE, and it hung around 10-16Mbps.

Depending on how the launch goes, and how taxed AT&T's network becomes, it could be the better option if you're in an AT&T LTE area.
 

coreymcl

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I switched my entire family from AT&T to Verizon, now we've only had our new iPhone 5's for a day but I'm pleased so far. Oh one more note, last night I was able to Facetime call my son while in a store that when we were on AT&T we get not even get a call to go through.
 

fridayxiii

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I was considering it as the ETF and not paying the early upgrade would be a wash for me too. I like the fact that VZW's LTE is more mature and has wider reach. The reason I stuck with AT&T? VZW would cost me nearly $30 more per month. Yipes, and no thanks.