Planning to get a GNex, but...

[randomdude]

i'm in a dilemma. i currently have sprint and have the nexus s 4g. i could stay with sprint and upgrade to the gnex with lte...but lte isn't ready til june, it will most likely drain my battery and i'll be under contract.

or i could buy the gsm gnex from the play store and sign up via att or tmobile. i won't be under contract and i'd be able to use this in more countries, but i won't be experiencing faster network speeds.

anybody have advice? if i were to go the gsm route, would att or tmobile be better? i know tmobile is cheaper but i wouldn't want them capping my data speeds...

 

[anon(94115)]

I have had 4G for over a year on 4 different phones. The only one it was totally killer on was the TB, but that had issues all its own.

If you are happy with your carrier, stick with them and carry a spare battery....just my 2 cents

 

[font1975]

Turn LTE off (which I think I heard Sprint has set by default on the GNex). Battery should about what you had the NS4G, if not better.

 

[Andrew Martonik]

i'm in a dilemma. i currently have sprint and have the nexus s 4g. i could stay with sprint and upgrade to the gnex with lte...but lte isn't ready til june, it will most likely drain my battery and i'll be under contract.

or i could buy the gsm gnex from the play store and sign up via att or tmobile. i won't be under contract and i'd be able to use this in more countries, but i won't be experiencing faster network speeds.

anybody have advice? if i were to go the gsm route, would att or tmobile be better? i know tmobile is cheaper but i wouldn't want them capping my data speeds...

Well first off, AT&T will cap your data outright, and charge you overages. I'd take T-Mobile's throttle over a cap+overage any day.

Now what I'd recommend if you choose to go with the GSM route is to look into prepaid carriers. If you're not going to get a device from the carrier or sign a contract, don't pay the large monthly fees of AT&T and (to a lesser extent) T-Mobile proper. There are about 12 MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) running on AT&T and a few running on T-Mobile. T-Mobile offers Prepaid services directly as well. The prices in terms of AT&T are about 50% of their normal prices. T-Mobile's are about 75% of the price. Good deals are to be had if you look into them and know what you're getting into. Plenty of info out there and read the fine print before signing up!

As far as AT&T vs T-Mobile coverage goes, AT&T probably gives you a better "footprint" and T-Mobile usually offers better speeds. What really matters is your location. Ask your friends and family about what they use and why (coverage wise). You can always try one and if it doesn't work you're only out $30-$50, and you can try the other, considering that there are no contracts involved. Keep in mind that with prepaid carriers do not get roaming so choosing the right carrier is important.

 

[randomdude]

thanks guys. i've also heard rumors that unlocked phones won't be able to get HSPA+ but rather be stuck on HSPA on tmobile/at&t. is this true?

and it would kind of defeat the purpose of getting an LTE phone if i had to keep that feature off, right?

 

[rizzman]

I thought so too but was just informed today that the GNEX does work well with tmo hspa+ just that the icon set on the handset does not display H+.....just H. So i just checked and am now averaging 7 megs down with only H showing.....clearly it is getting HSPA+ speeds but just showing H by the battery. Very glad with my device today. I usually get a new device every year but feel I will be holding on to this one longer if it continues purring along like this.

 

[Andrew Martonik]

thanks guys. i've also heard rumors that unlocked phones won't be able to get HSPA+ but rather be stuck on HSPA on tmobile/at&t. is this true?

and it would kind of defeat the purpose of getting an LTE phone if i had to keep that feature off, right?

It gets the full HSPA+ available. It has a 21mbps HSPA+ radio inside. There's no technical reason why they shouldn't offer it. I get full HSPA+ on T-Mobile prepaid.

Don't listen to what the CS reps tell you, its 100% capable of getting full speeds.

 

[rizzman]

Yep it is. I have stopped worrying about the dang icon and not showing h+. Regardless of what it is showing, I am getting those speeds. I am extremely happy with my device choice. The best part....if I get sick of Tmo tomorrow. Pop an AT&T sim and off I go. Head out to Europe, pop a prepaid sim and off I go.