getting galaxy nexus but should i go to ATT or T-mobile

**daniel2744** · 09-21-2012, 10:48 AM

So here is my situation...right now i have a galaxy nexus on sprint and i renewed in May so i'm stuck with them until may 2014 however i'm tired of their data "speeds" and i might say screw it and make the expensive switch lol. i love the phone but getting only 0.01 MB at my house is unexpectable and not being able to use my "unlimitied" data either is just a waste of money that i pay every month...so anyways i'm deciding on what to do. should i go to ATT or T-moblie. I looked at T-Mobile's plans and they are better than ATT IMO but i need to know where my nexus phone would work best at. If anyone lives in southern california area and more like riverside, pomona, corona, chino cities can you let me know please? thanks for the help in advance

**emoeskaite** · 09-21-2012, 11:54 AM

T-Mobile. AT&T's HSPA+ network is a trash. At least in Chicago. Internet in mine works pretty fast. I would go with T-Mobile. Although T-Mobile ain't perfect as well - sometimes it works slow.

I just took a speedtest at mine:

**jpr** · 09-21-2012, 01:11 PM

I can't give you info on southern california since I'm up north, but if you find you have TMO coverage where you live, definitely recommend them over ATT. You will get better speeds at better prices, and if you go prepaid especially, TMO has much better offerings. Up here in the SF Bay Area, TMO coverage and speeds blow ATT out of the water. But yeah, you have to make sure you get coverage where you live/work or it doesn't matter.

Ry · 09-21-2012, 02:18 PM

I'd buy the phone now.

I'd start with T-Mobile and that $30 HSPA+ plan (I still refuse to call anything not LTE 4G). Use your phone for a few weeks in and around the areas you frequent. If you have issues, try AT&T. IF you don't stick with T-Mo.

**npark2012** · 09-21-2012, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by daniel2744

So here is my situation...right now i have a galaxy nexus on sprint and i renewed in May so i'm stuck with them until may 2014 however i'm tired of their data "speeds" and i might say screw it and make the expensive switch lol. i love the phone but getting only 0.01 MB at my house is unexpectable and not being able to use my "unlimitied" data either is just a waste of money that i pay every month...so anyways i'm deciding on what to do. should i go to ATT or T-moblie. I looked at T-Mobile's plans and they are better than ATT IMO but i need to know where my nexus phone would work best at. If anyone lives in southern california area and more like riverside, pomona, corona, chino cities can you let me know please? thanks for the help in advance

I have the $30/month (100minutes, Unlimited text & data (5GB of 4G speed)) And it is absolutely great. ATT is alright but in my opinion Tmobile HSPA+ is so much better than ATT's.
Here is my speed test with Tmobile's network I just did just now. And I'm in the basement and signal is average down here. But on ground level I get 10+ speeds

**daniel2744** · 09-22-2012, 02:09 AM

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I already have the gnex well at I should get it in a few days or whenever my brother gets his new iPhone. Then its bye bye Sprint

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**skyrockett** · 09-22-2012, 10:43 AM

I'm switching from at&t to t-mobile today. Hspa+ on at&t with nexus in NYC is pretty crappy 3 down and 1.5 up! I'll post tmobile speed once my number get transferred should be ready in couple of hours.

**turb0wned** · 09-22-2012, 09:52 PM

I want to switch to T-Mobile but there coverage is TRASH.

**emoeskaite** · 09-22-2012, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by turb0wned

I want to switch to T-Mobile but there coverage is TRASH.

That's a different story. Verizon has got the best coverage. T-Mobile won't work in rural areas. But if somebody is a city guy (like myself), T-Mobile's coverage is good enough. What I don't like is dropped calls though (many people in Chicago complain about that).

**chunkcohen** · 09-22-2012, 11:02 PM

Essentially...

T-Mobile
PROS: Reasonable pricing, fast HSPA+ (where you can get it)
CONS: Poor (and in some cases, nonexistent) rural coverage if you travel

T-Mo is a good deal if you're going to be staying in the city (you mentioned you live in SoCal) for most of your usage. Just don't expect stellar voice coverage or anything faster than 2G/EDGE speeds as you get further away from civilization. And FYI, you get roaming with postpaid T-Mo, but not with prepaid. So that's another thing to consider.

I currently have T-Mo prepaid ($60 plan) on my G-Nex. T-Mo's coverage is pretty good where I live (Phoenix) and I don't travel a lot. When I signed up, they also gave me a $5 discount promo for the first 6 months, making it $55/mo. Not too bad...

AT&T
PROS: Extensive nationwide coverage area (good for travelers)
CONS: Slower HSPA+ in most areas, overloaded network spectrum in some metros (like NYC and San Fran), expensive

Honestly, I'd only recommend AT&T to those who truly need the wider coverage (frequent travelers) or simply live in an area where T-Mo's coverage won't cut it (this shouldn't be a problem in LA, though), because they're a lot more expensive.

Another option would be checking out an MVNO like Straight Talk. You can get either a T-Mo or AT&T SIM from them on a $45/mo. unlimited talk/text/data (2-3GB soft cap, by most reports). The only notable downside with Straight Talk is that their data use policy is pretty vague (they're not up-front with their actual limits). They sort of arbitrarily decide when they feel you're abusing data and they'll warn you to stop or threaten service shut-off. Ultimately, I went with T-Mo prepaid because at least they're up-front about what you get and they simply throttle you after your high-speed data limit is exceeded.

**daniel2744** · 09-23-2012, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by CaptainChunk

Essentially...

T-Mobile
PROS: Reasonable pricing, fast HSPA+ (where you can get it)
CONS: Poor (and in some cases, nonexistent) rural coverage if you travel

T-Mo is a good deal if you're going to be staying in the city (you mentioned you live in SoCal) for most of your usage. Just don't expect stellar voice coverage or anything faster than 2G/EDGE speeds as you get further away from civilization. And FYI, you get roaming with postpaid T-Mo, but not with prepaid. So that's another thing to consider.

I currently have T-Mo prepaid ($60 plan) on my G-Nex. T-Mo's coverage is pretty good where I live (Phoenix) and I don't travel a lot. When I signed up, they also gave me a $5 discount promo for the first 6 months, making it $55/mo. Not too bad...

AT&T
PROS: Extensive nationwide coverage area (good for travelers)
CONS: Slower HSPA+ in most areas, overloaded network spectrum in some metros (like NYC and San Fran), expensive

Honestly, I'd only recommend AT&T to those who truly need the wider coverage (frequent travelers) or simply live in an area where T-Mo's coverage won't cut it (this shouldn't be a problem in LA, though), because they're a lot more expensive.

Another option would be checking out an MVNO like Straight Talk. You can get either a T-Mo or AT&T SIM from them on a $45/mo. unlimited talk/text/data (2-3GB soft cap, by most reports). The only notable downside with Straight Talk is that their data use policy is pretty vague (they're not up-front with their actual limits). They sort of arbitrarily decide when they feel you're abusing data and they'll warn you to stop or threaten service shut-off. Ultimately, I went with T-Mo prepaid because at least they're up-front about what you get and they simply throttle you after your high-speed data limit is exceeded.

Thanks for this awesome information. I'm mostly around cities and I don't travel much as in more than 50 miles so I'm good there. But I have thought about T-Mobile prepaid however I would want to have the roaming option just because if I need it. I would rather have it. Plus edge/2g speeds are alot better then what I get on sprint right now anyways where I live lol

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**chunkcohen** · 09-23-2012, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by daniel2744

Thanks for this awesome information. I'm mostly around cities and I don't travel much as in more than 50 miles so I'm good there. But I have thought about T-Mobile prepaid however I would want to have the roaming option just because if I need it. I would rather have it. Plus edge/2g speeds are alot better then what I get on sprint right now anyways where I live lol

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I'm fairly certain that Straight Talk (T-Mo SIM) will roam to AT&T for 2G voice, and that the same would be true for the AT&T SIM (roam to T-Mo 2G voice) on Straight Talk. But no data roaming. T-Mo's Monthly 4G prepaid doesn't offer roaming at all. But again, I imagine you'd be fine on T-Mo most places in Inland Empire, LA County, Orange County, etc.

There's also new T-Mo MVNO called Solavei that does service for $49/mo. (unlimited talk/text + 4GB of high-speed data before throttle). And they also give you the same roaming features as T-Mo postpaid gets. FYI, they're also a multi-level marketing company and they charge $49 for enrollment/activation. But from what I understand, you don't necessarily have to recruit others (unless you want to earn money, of course) and you can just be a service-only member. I've been pondering it a bit but for now, I'm happy with my T-Mo service and the bill is lot more reasonable than what I came from ($90/mo. on Sprint).

**daniel2744** · 09-23-2012, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by CaptainChunk

I'm fairly certain that Straight Talk (T-Mo SIM) will roam to AT&T for 2G voice, and that the same would be true for the AT&T SIM (roam to T-Mo 2G voice) on Straight Talk. But no data roaming. T-Mo's Monthly 4G prepaid doesn't offer roaming at all. But again, I imagine you'd be fine on T-Mo most places in Inland Empire, LA County, Orange County, etc.

There's also new T-Mo MVNO called Solavei that does service for $49/mo. (unlimited talk/text + 4GB of high-speed data before throttle). And they also give you the same roaming features as T-Mo postpaid gets. FYI, they're also a multi-level marketing company and they charge $49 for enrollment/activation. But from what I understand, you don't necessarily have to recruit others (unless you want to earn money, of course) and you can just be a service-only member. I've been pondering it a bit but for now, I'm happy with my T-Mo service and the bill is lot more reasonable than what I came from ($90/mo. on Sprint).

Yeah I just gotta see what plan will be the best one for me. I'm just having trouble with the data usage because when I had my evo 3d I didn't get 4g wimax where I lived but I was able to get a signal at my work and school which I did use a lot!!! Since I went with my Gnex in May. My data usage has gone down by at least 75-80 percent. I do not know if I would go to T-Mobile if my old usage patterns would come back. I remember I would at least use like 6-7 GBs of data a month but who knows now since

And yeah I actually did hear about solavei. The price sounds every good however I'm not really a social person I guess. I'm not sure I would be recruiting people to join but yet its another good option to have. I never really know about how these good choices prepaid customers had to choose from now

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**chunkcohen** · 09-23-2012, 11:42 PM

Yeah I just gotta see what plan will be the best one for me. I'm just having trouble with the data usage because when I had my evo 3d I didn't get 4g wimax where I lived but I was able to get a signal at my work and school which I did use a lot!!! Since I went with my Gnex in May. My data usage has gone down by at least 75-80 percent. I do not know if I would go to T-Mobile if my old usage patterns would come back. I remember I would at least use like 6-7 GBs of data a month but who knows now since

Well, you can also set a data warning or disable in ICS/JB if you're worried about it. T-Mo prepaid simply throttles to 2G/EDGE after your allotment, so it's not like you'd have to worry about losing data service entirely. So far, I'm doing a fairly reasonable job of keeping my data usage under control. I work mostly at home, so I have fast Wi-Fi there and most of the places I go also have good Wi-Fi. But I also avoid streaming music and video over mobile, so my daily mobile data usage rarely exceeds 50MB.

And yeah I actually did hear about solavei. The price sounds every good however I'm not really a social person I guess. I'm not sure I would be recruiting people to join but yet its another good option to have. I never really know about how these good choices prepaid customers had to choose from now

Well again, you don't necessarily have to buy into being a recruiting "social" member. From everything I've read, you can be service-only as long as you want and just pay the $49 every month. I think I might just wait and see how Solavei is faring as an MVNO after a few months have passed by before trying them out, because you're essentially being charged $49 for a SIM. With T-Mobile, it's 99¢ online, and Straight Talk charges $14.99 for one of theirs.