Questions about upgrading - Which Carrier, LTE, Price Comparisons, etc.

[John Flud]

more than likely I'll be upgrading to the iphone 5S. I'll wait for tomorrow to know for sure.

anyway when I do I've got an issue. last year I bought an iphone off contract as I was already in a contract from the year before. I had the extra money from selling my prior iphone, so just sucked it up and paid the extra cost.

well it turns out this year my contract got renewed last year even though I paid full price. anybody else ever deal with this?

I got two options if AT&T thinks I'll pay 849 dollars for the newest iphone.

have my sister upgrade using her line and I'll give her my current phone as a hand me down for free and pay the reduced cost for the new phone, or switch to another company.

but AT&T has faster LTE than verizon and you can be online and talk at the same time. I've thought of T-mobile because they're cheaper but their coverage is spotty.

and if I use my sisters line I'll have to wait till she has time to go to the UPS office to pick it up since I won't be able to sign for it.

so if its possible I'd rather stay with AT&T and upgrade on my own line but with a contract price. That way I can sign for it when the UPS man comes, AND stay with AT&T

any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Just_Me_D]

In regard to AT&T having "faster LTE", is it really that big of a deal? I'm currently on Verizon and LTE is more than sufficient for my needs and it is clearly faster than Wi-Fi. I think the most important thing is coverage. How is AT&T's coverage in your area in comparison to Verizon's? Furthermore, will you be on LTE a majority of your online time or will you be on Wi-Fi? In regard to being able to talk & text and the same time, well, that will depend on the person. I am unaffected by it and have been for years. As for staying with your current provider, go for it. What you're wanting to do should work, in my opinion.

 

[John Flud]

I'm still thinking on the idea of maybe switching. do you know where I can get unbiased info on price comparison (including hidden fees) and coverage maps that are truthful?
AT&T does okay for me, but I'm not completely closed to switching.

thing is right now T-mobile doesn't have LTE in my area and I was reading that verizon only has 2 mb speed LTE and thats slower than AT&T 3G. on AT&T LTE I can get around 20MB a second. I used that speedtest app.

that tells me they may be slower.

T-mobile is tempting though because its unlimited and cheaper. (but is it really unlimited or do they have a catch?)

 

[Just_Me_D]

Check out the information via the following link:

AT&T vs Verizon vs T-Mobile vs Sprint: Which iPhone 5 carrier should you choose? | iMore

 

[John Flud]

Thanks for the link! that gives a general idea.

 

[21stNow]

Yes, T-Mobile's unlimited data plan is unlimited for now.

 

[Eileen89]

T-mobile is tempting though because its unlimited and cheaper. (but is it really unlimited or do they have a catch?)

T-Mobile still lists the unlimited data plan on their web site. As of now I am not seeing any catches either which is nice. If they had better coverage in my area I would seriously consider switching from my current grandfathered unlimited data plan with AT&T. Right now there are still too many areas with spotty to no coverage at all with T-Mobile, including the ER where I work, so I can't switch yet.
Here's a link to T-Mobiles unlimited plan if you want to check it out:
http://deals.t-mobile.com/unlimited...s&cm_mmca3=b&gclid=CPmjlJPTv7kCFcae4Aod7lIAPg


Sent from my iPad Mini using Tapatalk 2

 

[Juliet0915]

my current grandfathered unlimited data plan with AT&T.

Anyone know if AT&T will continue to let grandfathered unlimited plans for the 5S?

 

[21stNow]

Anyone know if AT&T will continue to let grandfathered unlimited plans for the 5S?

AT&T hasn't said that they wouldn't.

 

[tigerinexile]

Thought: strategically, if you're buying an unlocked phone for full fare anyway, buy it from Verizon.

Verizon CAN'T lock it, and it's the same model that AT&T and T-Mobile will have: the A1533.

So you can flit back and forth afterwards from Verizon to AT&T to T-Mobile, if you like.

Otherwise, if you get it from the Apple Store directly, you can't go to Verizon, as the CDMA bands will be locked down.

***

Update: Okay, this won't work for you.

But for a hypothetical American consumer who is paying full fare anyway...

 

[Eileen89]

Anyone know if AT&T will continue to let grandfathered unlimited plans for the 5S?

You will still be grandfathered in with your unlimited data plan even after you get the 5S.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using iMore Forums mobile app

 

[tigerinexile]

When you say Verizon CANT lock it (for GSM and LTE, CDMA will be locked to Verizon), is this due to the court agreement that was in effect for the iPhone 5?

Also, do you know if they will let you do this on launch day? Buy the 5S Verizon variant from the Apple store for full price and then turn around and put it on your existing ATT or tmobile account?

Know nothing re launch day, alas. (Imagine that you can't get it subsidized with the other carriers, of course.) But re not locking the phone down for others' SIM cards, that's because of the deal they had to sign with the FCC to get their 700 MHz spectrum.

So the Verizon iPhone 5 was the best for travel overseas (a1429 with Verizon LTE in NA and LTE bands 1, 3, 5 overseas), and it will be the most flexible model again for the 5s, although it's the same as the AT&T and T-Mobile models this time.

https://forums.imore.com/e?link=htt...ww.apple.com%2Fiphone%2FLTE%2F&token=tH17OShm

But now it's only better if someone wants the option of Verizon service later. Otherwise, might as well just get an unlocked GSM-only A1533 model. Same LTE bands for travel as the Verizon one.