AT&T or Verizon, help me choose for the iPhone 5

[dictoresno]

Ok, so here is my predicament. I currently have an iPhone 4 on at&t. I am due for an upgrade already, which Im saving for the iPhone 5. However, I dont know if I should stay with at&t or goto Verizon. Here are the pros/cons I can think of. Thoughts or suggestions?

AT&T Pros:

1. Will get full upgrade discount
2. Been with them since 2009
3. Already have a grandfathered unlimited data plan (nice to have, but I use less than a 1 GB per month since Im mostly on wifi)
4. Always nice to have a SIM card phone

AT&T Cons:

1. LTE is VERY spotty around here (just outside the reach of the NYC market. I will be mostly on H+ and who knows how long it will take to even get LTE in my area (at&t says by the end of 2013)

Verizon Pros:

1. Will get full discount as a new customer
2. LTE is ALL over my area, including anywhere I would need to travel. Their speeds have been proven in my area to be very fast.
3. My fiancee, most friends and family have Verizon. She can add me onto her plan (cost effective for us)

Verizon Cons:

1. Verizon EVDO phones/network can be very spotty in buildings around here, including my work where I sit for 12 hrs a day. I assume their 700mhz LTE wont have this issue, right?
2. Verizons 3G EVDO speeds are considerably slower than at&t's EDGE, 3G and H+ networks, should I not have an LTE signal.

Give me thoughts or ideas on what you think would help me decide. Im leaning more towards Verizon, only because their LTE is fully deployed here. Then again, I have always been partial to GSM networks and the fact they can penetrate buildings better.

 

[qbnkelt]

You said reception can be spotty in some buildings. For me, that would be a hard stop.
I experimented with Verizon for nine months. If you hit an area without LTE it can drain your battery as it continues to search.
Lastly, and you said it, I prefer SIM phones.
I prefer AT&T. Most people will disagree with me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dictoresno]

im under the impression the 5 will be cdma/gsm for verizon right? isnt the 4s? yea and indoor reception is spotty, but 750mhz LTE should alleviate this issue i think.

 

[Just_Me_D]

You said that you use less than 1 GB of data a month because you are mostly on Wi-Fi. If that is true, Verizon's 3G speeds shouldn't be much of a concern. Yes, AT&T is faster, but it's not as if Verizon's speed is turtle slow. Too many people pay attention to technical information instead of focusing on real world situations, in my opinion. Seriously, if a web page loads in 2 seconds via AT&T, but loads in 4 seconds via Verizon, will that extra 2 seconds be that much of a turn off? Furthermore, voice usage is still a top priority. Which ISP gives you the best chance of making, receiving and maintaining a call anywhere in your area? I currently have phones on both AT&T and Verizon and in my area, Verizon wins hands down. As for the SIM card, both have one although Verizon's doesn't come into play unless you're roaming outside the U.S., if I'm not mistaken and since T-Mobile doesn't have the iPhone yet, so having an AT&T SIM is somewhat a moot issue in regard to the big four networks. Anyway, good luck on your decision and have a great Labor Day weekend.

 

[dictoresno]

You said that you use less than 1 GB of data a month because you are mostly on Wi-Fi. If that is true, Verizon's 3G speeds shouldn't be much of a concern. Yes, AT&T is faster, but it's not as if Verizon's speed is turtle slow. Too many people are pay attention to technical information instead of focusing on real world situations, in my opinion. Seriously, if a web page loads in 2 seconds via AT&T, but loads in 4 seconds via Verizon, will that extra 2 seconds be that much of a turn off? Furthermore, voice usage is still a top priority. Which ISP gives you the best chance of making, receiving and maintaining a call anywhere in your area? I currently have phones on both AT&T and Verizon and in my area, Verizon wins hands down. As for the SIM card, both have one although Verizon's doesn't come into play unless you're roaming outside the U.S., if I'm not mistaken and since T-Mobile doesn't have the iPhone yet, having an AT&T SIM is somewhat a moot issue in regard to the big four networks). Anyway, good luck on your decision and have a great Labor Day weekend.

both carriers here have equal coverage and quality, so thats not a concern. my biggest pro verizon thing is FULL LTE coverage all throughout my area where at&t is spotty, if at all. so, i would basically never have to worry about losing LTE with a verizon phone (so EVDO speeds wont be an issue) but i would primarily be stuck on at&t's H+ all the time. so verizon wins that bout. my other main concern is at&t rocks indoors where verizon can be spotty. so i have two huge issues, however im leaning more towards the 100% LTE coverage of the verizon network.

 

[cardfan]

Both Verizon and AT&T LTE phones have SIMs. Your verizon plan follows your SIM. You could pop it in an ipad if you wanted or a different verizon LTE phone.

I always thought cdma penetrated buildings better. Granted I've only had Sprint in the past as any measure of that compared to AT&T.

I can't say enough bad about AT&T. Their network has been so unreliable in the past. Full bars and no data. That seems to be less of an issue now but they seem awfully worried about their fragile network. You have to wonder if AT&T will allow anymore "preinstalled" apps to work on their network like Facetime. Heck, you have to wonder if they will work well at all on their iphone heavy network that only figures to get more iphones. AT&T still have the majority of iphone users by far.

I'd go with Verizon. It's smarter and cheaper to be on the same plan as your fiancee. Data sharing plans have unlimited minutes so it doesn't matter what friends and family have. But with any plan, the more you have to split with, the cheaper.

 

[anon(4698833)]

You just have to decide whether the cost effectiveness of Verizon outweighs the potential NON-LTE support of AT&T...in my case, Atlanta is a pretty well saturated LTE city so i don't share the signal problem with AT&T that you do, but if i were in your exact case, i would probably go with the more cost effective way (Verizon) and deal with the lower end cellular signal when out of the LTE range.

 

[dictoresno]

Both Verizon and AT&T LTE phones have SIMs. Your verizon plan follows your SIM. You could pop it in an ipad if you wanted or a different verizon LTE phone.

I always thought cdma penetrated buildings better. Granted I've only had Sprint in the past as any measure of that compared to AT&T.

I can't say enough bad about AT&T. Their network has been so unreliable in the past. Full bars and no data. That seems to be less of an issue now but they seem awfully worried about their fragile network. You have to wonder if AT&T will allow anymore "preinstalled" apps to work on their network like Facetime. Heck, you have to wonder if they will work well at all on their iphone heavy network that only figures to get more iphones. AT&T still have the majority of iphone users by far.

I'd go with Verizon. It's smarter and cheaper to be on the same plan as your fiancee. Data sharing plans have unlimited minutes so it doesn't matter what friends and family have. But with any plan, the more you have to split with, the cheaper.

at&t's 850mhz penetrates better than verizons 1900mhz. however, verizons 750mhz LTE "should" penetrate just as well as the 850, given its lower on the spectrum. so that should alleviate that issue.

 

[kch50428]

at&t's 850mhz penetrates better than verizons 1900mhz. however, verizons 750mhz LTE "should" penetrate just as well as the 850, given its lower on the spectrum. so that should alleviate that issue.

Actually, any radio services on 750mhz will have better building penetration than 850mhz - it's all in the physics of electromagnetic wave propagation.

 

[dwayne.williams]

I don't know about the iPhone 5, but I have had the 4S on both AT&T and Verizon. I live in the Chicago suburbs. AT&T has been better for me as far as data speeds, a lot better. That may be a moot point with the 5 though. It could be me, but it seems as thought the AT&T iPhone gets better battery life as well. Building penetration also seems to be better on AT&T. But of course, this could be different for someone else somewhere else.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Jamess9046]

Even though I live in the UK when I was roaming on AT&T for a month it seemed good to me, it just depends on your location.

 

[giper54]

What is faster edge or Verizon 3G?

I am in the same boat. I have AT&T but I can switch to Verizon. Right now I am about 3-5 miles away from LTE for both Verizon and AT&T. LTE for both companies is supposed to come to my town by the end of the year. Right now AT&T has a better signal and speed than Verizon where I work. Verizon's sped is about .2 Mbps while AT&T is 1-2 Mbps. The problem is that there are places I go and travel through where AT&T only has edge while Verizon has 3G or even LTE. I was at a lake and the edge and loss of signal killed my iPhone 4s battery the mainly LTE sometimes 3G signal was fine for the Verizon iPad. I think that was the final straw. Root metrics has much better results for the area I live and travel around so I think Verizon is the choice for me.

 

[zeteo#IM]

You said reception can be spotty in some buildings. For me, that would be a hard stop.
I experimented with Verizon for nine months. If you hit an area without LTE it can drain your battery as it continues to search.
Lastly, and you said it, I prefer SIM phones.
I prefer AT&T. Most people will disagree with me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't disagree. I love AT&T.

 

[Jeremy]

I'll solve this debate right now - whichever service works best for you, that's the service you go with. Nothing else matters. Or shouldn't matter at least. It's pretty simple.

 

[dictoresno]

I'll solve this debate right now - whichever service works best for you, that's the service you go with. Nothing else matters. Or shouldn't matter at least. It's pretty simple.

either would get the job done, pretty much the same around here. the only things i worry about are Verizons in building issues, yet full LTE coverage vs at&t's spotty/non existant LTE here, but better coverage where i need it. im kind of siding with at&t now, but ill just have to wait for LTE.

 

[anon(279851)]

You said reception can be spotty in some buildings. For me, that would be a hard stop.
I experimented with Verizon for nine months. If you hit an area without LTE it can drain your battery as it continues to search.
Lastly, and you said it, I prefer SIM phones.
I prefer AT&T. Most people will disagree with me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would prefer AT&T as well.

 

[dmt316]

Your area also makes a difference. I'm in nj and Verizon's 4G is very strong here. I always had problems with AT&T 3G, no experience with their 4G. I currently have the 4S and a 4G mifi and the mifi is blazing fast.

 

[rooktdphi]

I suggest AT&T so that there is one less person trying to buy a phone from Verizon along with me

 

[Jeremy]

either would get the job done, pretty much the same around here. the only things i worry about are Verizons in building issues, yet full LTE coverage vs at&t's spotty/non existant LTE here, but better coverage where i need it. im kind of siding with at&t now, but ill just have to wait for LTE.

Just came out today they plan on rolling out LTE in a bunch of more places by the end of the year.

 

[smileyboy]

Verizon!! AT&T is tooo evil. Trying t kick me off my unlimited data plan, reducing my speed after 3gb, fake 4G signal on my iPhone and no FaceTime unless I switch to a tiered plan.... I'm switching alright.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk