ATT vs. Verizon question

[Spamjelly]

Hello all!

my company has required me to get a mobile device for my work as Site IT admin...and I have decided upon the Note 2 for it's awesome marriage of tablet features with the communications of a phone.
My question is:
if signal quality is the same in my area town.....is there a reason to choose either At&T or Verizon over each other? Are there things/features that the two carriers differ on?

Thanks in advance!!! I can't wait to get this!!!!
-Spam

 

[anon(94115)]

some generalities:

Verizon put their logo on the home button. Ugly but ok
Both are crappy at updates, verizon is always worse though
reviews and other comments that I have seen say that the verizon version has some things missing: blockign mode, certain toggles from the notification are and who knows what else.

If everything else is equal, I would go ATT

 

[mandyDETH]

I personally used AT&T, but recently swapped to T-Mobile. Honestly, if the reception for all of them is the same in your work area, I'd recommend T-Mobile.

But given your particular question, I can tell you that I've never had any issues with AT&T, great coverage, never had any dropped calls in my years with them (been with them ever since the Cingular merger). My gripes with AT&T are really pricing and certain policy issues. I pay less with TMO and I get unlimited data and text, whereas I was paying more with AT&T for 1200 texts and 2GB data. Other than that, I didn't like that I couldn't give my mother, who was on my plan, my old smart phone without having to pay for a data plan, meaning that she was stuck with the same old flip phone for an extended period of time.

I read an article on cnet recently that ranked AT&T last place in customer service among the big carriers, and you guessed it, Verizon was #1. The other benefit to AT&T is GSM phones if you wanna go to another carrier that supports that, Verizon phones operate on CDMA as I recall.

All-in-all, I would give Verizon a go, I have friends with them who are happy, but personally I like that I can watch all the Netflix I want on TMO and never worry about overages/throttling. Personally I was between TMO and Sprint, and I think I made the right choice.

 

[113]

I'm on T-Mobile but if I was ever going to switch to one of the other carriers it would be AT&T. I think their network issues from a few years back with the iPhone are long gone and while their LTE network is not as extensive as Verizon, ATT LTE consistently gets faster speeds (at least download speeds) in any article I've ever read comparing them with Verizon. I also just generally prefer GSM to CDMA as GSM is much more versatile (i.e. traveling overseas).

Both Verizon and ATT are ridiculously overpriced so I stick with T-Mobile but AT&T also tends to get better phone exclusives then all the other carriers. The Droid DNA is the best exclusive Verizon has had in about 2 years (not including the initial exclusivity of the Galaxy Nexus).

 

[113]

I personally used AT&T, but recently swapped to T-Mobile. Honestly, if the reception for all of them is the same in your work area, I'd recommend T-Mobile.

But given your particular question, I can tell you that I've never had any issues with AT&T, great coverage, never had any dropped calls in my years with them (been with them ever since the Cingular merger). My gripes with AT&T are really pricing and certain policy issues. I pay less with TMO and I get unlimited data and text, whereas I was paying more with AT&T for 1200 texts and 2GB data. Other than that, I didn't like that I couldn't give my mother, who was on my plan, my old smart phone without having to pay for a data plan, meaning that she was stuck with the same old flip phone for an extended period of time.

I read an article on cnet recently that ranked AT&T last place in customer service among the big carriers, and you guessed it, Verizon was #1. The other benefit to AT&T is GSM phones if you wanna go to another carrier that supports that, Verizon phones operate on CDMA as I recall.

All-in-all, I would give Verizon a go, I have friends with them who are happy, but personally I like that I can watch all the Netflix I want on TMO and never worry about overages/throttling. Personally I was between TMO and Sprint, and I think I made the right choice.

You definitely made the right choice. I've been with T-Mobile for over a decade and this, more than any other time, is the perfect time to be a T-Mobile customer. Their HSPA+ rivals or even bests the others carriers LTE in terms of speed in MANY areas. In my particular area I consistently get between 15 and 25mbps down while my friend on Verizon never gets above 15mbps down.

Given that HSPA+ is technically just very good 3G this means when T-Mobile rolls out there LTE-advanced network in 2013 with theoretically higher speeds then the other carriers, when people are out of LTE coverage they get defaulted back to HSPA+ which will be the best 3G on the market.

And on top of all of that we're finally getting better phones so we can at least compete with the larger carriers in terms of phone quality, which was always the knock on T-Mobile. I still would prefer if manufacturers stopped signing exclusivity deals with the likes of Verizon and ATT but since it seems that will never happen I hope T-Mobile works out one of two exclusivity deals for high-end phones in the future. If you can't beat em, join em right?

 

[anon(94115)]

You guy do know this thread is about the note 2 differences and not the carrier right?

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis

 

[mandyDETH]

.....is there a reason to choose either At&T or Verizon over each other? Are there things/features that the two carriers differ on?

You guy do know this thread is about the note 2 differences and not the carrier right?

 

[vNaK]

I chose verizon since they have better coverage for me

Their plans are pretty similar.

If both have good coverage for you, the only thing that verizon has over at&t is that they include hotspot in their shared plan. Another reason why I choose verizon. Ive used it several times already. Well worth it

Also I think verizon insurance is cheaper too at 6.99

 

[winmod21]

~ Their plans are pretty similar. ~
Also I think verizon insurance is cheaper too at 6.99

In our area, AT&T is also $6.99, and although a local AT&T 'Authorized Dealer' automatically over-subscribed us with it, it's not required to have (w/ AT&T), so we dropped it.

Hello all!
my company has required me to get a mobile device for my work as Site IT admin...and I have decided upon the Note 2 for it's awesome marriage of tablet features with the communications of a phone.
My question is:
if signal quality is the same in my area town.....is there a reason to choose either At&T or Verizon over each other? Are there things/features that the two carriers differ on?

Thanks in advance!!! I can't wait to get this!!!!

I'm not up on the various plan & shared plan comparisons, but one other thing you might want to check-out or consider? is whether or not your employer subsidizes any of your phone hardware & plan costs. My wifes' company does, and the amount her company subsidizes with AT&T is considerably way more than with Verizon! It includes hardware, accessories, and contract plans. In fact, for two state-of-the-art smartphones (until a few months ago? we had iPhones for the last 4 yrs.) we pay less per month, (with way more choices of which smartphones we have to choose from), than those who use the typical Straight Talk (pre-paid, pay for only the minutes you use, flat cost) type of services.
So you might consider checking that out with your employer.

Also, we switched from Verizon a couple of years ago, after being with them (and their predecessor's) for 21 years (me? since 1989, my wife? since 1991), and after all those years . . they never once offered us any kind of loyalty discount of any sort. I guess that's not very typical for any carrier to do, but Verizon was also a pain, imo, to deal with whenever I had to dispute over-charges.
With AT&T, the few times I've had to call their CS to dispute over-charges, they've been really pleasant to deal with; immediately deleting the over-charges I've disputed, and a few times even reduced our bill by MORE than I was asking them to, whilst promptly giving us a new reduced bill total due! In fact, twice they (AT&T) also offered us a small, but much appreciated credit, off our next months bill? just for our inconvenience of having to call them!

Perhaps just a few more things to consider . . .

 

[anon(94115)]

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2007/04/04/jackie.jpg

From the OP: if signal quality is the same in my area town.....is there a reason to choose either At&T or Verizon over each other?

 

[Spamjelly]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I really appreciate it!

 

[jeffrey10000]

I switched my wife last July and I just switched last weekend. Love AT&T. Left Verizon for pricing, speed, and customer service issues. For me the AT&T mobile data share plan is cheaper. I get unlimited voice and text and yes you do get tethering and mobile hotspot. You will love your Note 2. But Verizon does put more bloatware on their phones and they take longer with their updates. I was with them for over 10 years.

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[Jude526]

I have been with Verizon since their Air Touch days. Love them. Highly recommend. As for their logo on the home button..does NOT bother me. That's so trivial!

sent from my awesome Galaxy Note2

 

[jeffrey10000]

To check your best coverage at home, work, relatives, got to the market and download the 4g,cdma,lte,gsm,wifi coverage maps app from Sensorly. You enter the address and you can see the coverage of the carriers you want.

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[Keith Wilkinson1]

My neighbor just got note 2 on Verizon, I have att, they are different. Not sure if his isn't up to date but first 5 minutes verizon didn't have the gmail in the multi window and I dont remember youtube either which I have. When I double click the home button Verizon does nothing where mine originally opened svoice which I've changed with home2 shortcut app to google now. Verizon didnt scroll to the first page of home screens or app draw at the end had to swip back the other way mine doesnt. Also something stupid was his screen mode options in Verizon where standard and simple. Mine are basic and easy. Im sure there are real differences may have been just settings but that's what I noticed in 5 minutes

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[jneusch]

Verizon really likes to over tinker with their phones for some reason. The iPhone must drive them nuts, lol.

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[craigrn16]

The only thing I will say about Verizon is when hurricane Sandy hit my area Verizon was the only carrier to work during and after the storm. Non of my buddies with At&t, T mobile nor sprint had voice service or data available. My Verizon phone was working like nothing happened. That being said I hate how Verizon loves to control user experience on a phone, I mean come on I really have to root my GS3 to get wifi toggle back! Their prices are ridiculous too. If it wasn't for my discount and my grandfather plan my bill would be ridiculous. They are a reliable network though. I get signal in my basement where someone with At&t doesn't

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[jneusch]

The only thing I will say about Verizon is when hurricane Sandy hit my area Verizon was the only carrier to work during and after the storm. Non of my buddies with At&t, T mobile nor sprint had voice service or data available. My Verizon phone was working like nothing happened. That being said I hate how Verizon loves to control user experience on a phone, I mean come on I really have to root my GS3 to get wifi toggle back! Their prices are ridiculous too. If it wasn't for my discount and my grandfather plan my bill would be ridiculous. They are a reliable network though. I get signal in my basement where someone with At&t doesn't

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This is my dilemma. I am paying out the nose for VZ, but the service rocks. I save $50 per month by going to Sprint, but I have to deal with 3g until they get to my area. I have a discount, but not a grandfathered plan.


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[Keith Wilkinson1]

Hello all!

my company has required me to get a mobile device for my work as Site IT admin...and I have decided upon the Note 2 for it's awesome marriage of tablet features with the communications of a phone.
My question is:
if signal quality is the same in my area town.....is there a reason to choose either At&T or Verizon over each other? Are there things/features that the two carriers differ on?

Thanks in advance!!! I can't wait to get this!!!!
-Spam

Please remember what this thread is for

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[dpham00]

The only thing I will say about Verizon is when hurricane Sandy hit my area Verizon was the only carrier to work during and after the storm. Non of my buddies with At&t, T mobile nor sprint had voice service or data available. My Verizon phone was working like nothing happened. That being said I hate how Verizon loves to control user experience on a phone, I mean come on I really have to root my GS3 to get wifi toggle back! Their prices are ridiculous too. If it wasn't for my discount and my grandfather plan my bill would be ridiculous. They are a reliable network though. I get signal in my basement where someone with At&t doesn't

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I would rather have phone service in case of emergency over saving a few bucks. Although, Verizon is cheaper than att for me based on my usage, since att doesn't have unlimited unthrottled 4GLTE.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II