Can't decide between AT&T or Verizon for S3

zizour10

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I know this has been asked before, but my problem here is that Verizon and AT&T are pretty much identical where I live, in Los Angeles.

According to the coverage maps, AT&T has 4g pretty much everywhere around me - but not LTE.

Verizon, however, has LTE coverage pretty much everywhere I go - again, according to the maps.

I know friends on both networks and they all recommend both of them, so I'm torn on which network to pick for my Galaxy S III...

Verizon's plan will cost me $110 which includes:
4gb data
unlimited talk and text

AT&T's plan will cost me $110 which includes:
5 gb data
450 minutes talk + unlimited mobile to mobile
unlimited text

(i don't really care for unlimited minutes - 450 is more than enough)

I get a discount through my employer for both carriers, so in the end i'll be paying the same. I dont travel much, either so i'm only concerned with the coverage in los angeles.

I can't decide on which carrier I should buy the S3 from. Help?
 
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iceman64

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Jul 25, 2010
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Verizon has the best service plus lte is really fast. I believe vz has the best service out of all carriers. But they are very expensive, but you get what you pay for. I think att have a lot of drop calls, you said you don't travel a lot. But if you did vz s3 will be global not when you first get the phone. But when vz release the software update!! Cdma network is better than gsm network Imo

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums
 
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nizmoz

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I know this has been asked before, but my problem here is that Verizon and AT&T are pretty much identical where I live, in Los Angeles.

According to the coverage maps, AT&T has 4g pretty much everywhere around me - but not LTE.

Verizon, however, has LTE coverage pretty much everywhere I go - again, according to the maps.

I know friends on both networks and they all recommend both of them, so I'm torn on which network to pick for my Galaxy S III...

Verizon's plan will cost me $110 which includes:
4gb data
unlimited talk and text

AT&T's plan will cost me $110 which includes:
5 gb data
450 minutes talk + unlimited mobile to mobile
unlimited text

(i don't really care for unlimited minutes - 450 is more than enough)

I get a discount through my employer for both carriers, so in the end i'll be paying the same. I dont travel much, either so i'm only concerned with the coverage in los angeles.

I can't decide on which carrier I should buy the S3 from. Help?

I can promise you that AT&T will cost you less than Verizon once all the taxes and everything are added up. I switched to Verizon for 3 months and identical plans and was paying Verizon 40-50 more a month on a 3 line family plan.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III.
 

nizmoz

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Verizon, you'll get faster internet, and more minutes. Plus you wont drop any calls anywhere near as much.

Verizon here in Texas is much slower on LTE vs AT&T. AT&T 4g is actually just as fast as Verizon LTE. I also never hardly get drop calls anymore with AT&T.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III.
 

cdf3

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I'd see if your friends could do a speed test to see how fast are networks speeds in your area. I'd also ask them how is their battery life. Phones on AT&T usually get better battery life than those on Verizon.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

zizour10

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I think Verizon's LTE will be faster in my area since AT&T is only at 4G for now - but I'm leaning towards AT&T for their plans and services more. Would that be a better choice?
 

PamelaBB

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Look into detail with the coverage maps. Verizons LTE does use more battery life thus far so keep that in mind but Verizons $1.99 extended warranty is a nice feature to have and there are many more locations than AT&T to bring in your phone for problems.
 

soli2005

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I'm actually deciding between the two too. Except I'm on a family plan on AT&T and my brother wants us all to switch. If we do go with Verizon, I have to wait until November for my contract to expire. I'm due for an upgrade with AT&T in a few days and am dying for the SGIII.

I go back and forth to where I currently live and my hometown. My hometown doesn't even have AT&T towers and relies on edge. Verizon does have 4G LTE in my hometown and I'm torn between waiting or better coverage.

A friend of mine said he had to pay a security deposit for Verizon as a new customer. I hear they run for about $400. I also did my research and found out deposits are for people with no credit or bad credit. I have no credit whatsoever. If that's the case, I may just stick with AT&T.
 

kev2126

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I just dropped Verizon and went back to ATT. The LTE is fast and in fact the people I work with that have Verizon GNEX have slower LTE connections and in some cases no LTE in the same area that I'm pulling 20Mbps down on LTE.

I also agree with the comment on ATT being cheaper in the long run. I was with Verizon for 12 years becasue I loved the ability to maintain calls practically anywhere. But I paid the price for it. My bill, although paid for by my company, was $21.00 higher than my wife on ATT with the same features.

My wife and kids have always been with Cingular and then ATT post merger. I've watched AT&T's service improve by leaps and bounds over the past few years and decided to make the jump and get on the same plan as the family. I haven't dropped a call yet. I can surf and talk at the same time (Big PLUS for me). My download and upload speeds are stupid fast and I'm saving $29 a month by dropping Verizon. No brainer for me.

-Kevin
 

beh

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I just moved from Verizon after 20 years (Verizon and predecessors) to at&t. Why, because Verizon's management are arrogant and their service and attitude toward customers is the worst I have ever experienced. I was with them because I traveled a lot and they had the best coverage. Today, they probably still do but not by a large enough margin to put up with their attitude and outrageous over-pricing. I did compare prices between the two carriers and with the new pricing plans at Verizon I would pay a lot more than at at&t with my old plan I would pay about the same as at&t but without unlimited txting, mobile to mobile minutes, and minute rollover. But the clincher for me was the people in the at&t stores and the quality of the phone tech support. And I had the phone that I lusted for on June 25th, not still waiting for big red to decide to let me have one. And Verizon is always the very last (by months in most cases) to provide updates.
 

Dunbar42

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As far as the networks Verizon is much better than AT&T in Southern California. I live in SoCal and be porting my number from AT&T to Verizon once my S3 arrives. I have an iPad 3 on Verizon LTE and have been very impressed with the network so far. I have been wanting to ditch AT&T for a while now but was just waiting for the right phone to come along. I'm not a fan of Verizon's recent move to Share Everything plans for ALL new customers but that won't affect me since I pre-ordered on 6/18 and was able to select an old plan. AT&T may not copy Verizon completely but you can expect a similar move from Blue soon.
 

Bbeelzebub

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Depending on where you go in LA, AT&T will drop out.

Ever have to drive into Culver City? Forget not having dropped calls. Every have to drive into any of the canyons, Malibu, Topanga, etc? Forget not having dropped calls.

There are also tons of dead spots for AT&T in OC and SD as well. Same if you ever need to drive to Vegas, Arizona, etc.

If you ever go to events with lots of people, AT&T's network gets clogged really quick. I get tired of my AT&T friends asking to use my phone because theirs won't work, but they swear it must just be a fluke. :rollseyes:
 
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Joe the Insider

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Verizon, because you'll never drop calls, LTE is blazing fast and you'll never randomly roam. AT&T is a joke and so is their so called 4g. It's 3G just enhanced, their LTE is nowhere just look at the map. Verizon's LTE is practically all over and everyday they keep expanding.
 

zizour10

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Are dropped calls really that big of an issue? I know it was a problem back in the day but I've yet to hear of anyone complain about getting dropped calls from any carrier..
 

Dunbar42

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Are dropped calls really that big of an issue? I know it was a problem back in the day but I've yet to hear of anyone complain about getting dropped calls from any carrier..

Not as much these days, and it has gotten better, but if you make business calls on your phone it's kind of annoying. The bigger issue for me is AT&T's 3G network is very inconsistent. You can be driving down the freeway and go from a good connection to dialup speeds so slow you can't even load the google maps data. I was watching a guy load a page on his AT&T 3G iPad and it was taking forever. Something I experience on my 3G AT&T iPhone 4 on a daily basis. For me AT&T charges premium prices for medicore network performance.
 

billism

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I chose AT&T for the option to not pay for text messaging (SMS). That is a service that should be dirt cheap or free when you look at what it costs the carriers to "support" it. I switched to using Google Voice entirely for my texting needs. If you want to send/receive pictures and video, use a protocol that is better suited for that, such as email. Opting out of paying for AT&T's text messaging saves my wife and I $40 a month. That puts it at cheaper than Verizon for sure.

Also, in the Houston area, AT&T's LTE is faster than Verizon's. Check the stats for your area.
 
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Vengeful

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I switched from vz to att, I dont like their new plans since I dont care for unlimited talk and text, the reception is almost as good as vz currently, I havent had a dropped call yet and their lte is faster, I get 40mb down on att, was getting 25mb on vz. I also dont pay for text msgs so their similar plans is cheaper ($30 less) for me monthly on att.
 

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