AT&T... What should I know before I switch?

[jimmiekain]

Hi everyone I'm looking for a little help. I currently have sprint and I am considering a switch to AT&T. Nothing against sprint its just that I really need better coverage and better data speeds. I live in Southern California (about 45 mins east of Los Angeles and 2 hours north of San diego) in a city called Ontario. On average I drop about 4 calls a day and my 3g data speeds are about 119KBPS. On 4g I get like 800KBPS (wimax).

The reason I am considering AT&T instead of VZW is that from what I understand GSM carriers like ATT offer better features and technology like being able to call up to 5 people at one time for a conference call, being able to import phones from all over the world and using data while on 3g or 4g.

My question is what else does AT&T offer that Sprint/ CDMA does not offer? PROS and CONS maybe?

Thanks in advance for all your help and suggestions.

FYI: I currently have the Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4g Touch on sprint and if I switch to ATT I will be getting the Galaxy S3

 

[Shadowtc]

At&t for one offers betrer customer service better then vzw. GSM is always better for me because if you want to switch phones you dont have to call just pop in your sim. Also no worry about bad esn if you buy a phone.

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[cgardnervt]

I just switched 3 months ago from Sprint. All I can say is it was the best change I have ever made to mobile needs!

$10 more will get you better CS, coverage and you will never be on the world's biggest dial up network anymore! In this case the grass is for sure greener on the att side! Jump ship...I Mean hell the Sprint ship is currently sinking. Fast!

 

[jcp007]

I have been with AT&T for 17 years with no issues. Their customer service has always been great. Most countries outside the USA are on GSM. If you plan to travel or work abroad, then that is something to consider. I was on a work project a couple of years ago in the UK and had no problems.

Sent From My Samsung Galaxy S III Handheld Device

 

[suv4run94]

Plus with AT&T you can talk and surf the web on your phone at the same time.

 

[jimmiekain]

How about on 2g? Can you talk and use data while on 2g too or only on 3 and 4G?

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[erwaso]

Browse web and text while on a call.

Hspa+(5-12mbps) fallback when no LTE (hit 20-30mbps in san francisco)

Those 2 alone are awesome benefits for me.

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[jonathanm1978]

I just switched 3 months ago from Sprint. All I can say is it was the best change I have ever made to mobile needs!

$10 more will get you better CS, coverage and you will never be on the world's biggest dial up network anymore! In this case the grass is for sure greener on the att side! Jump ship...I Mean hell the Sprint ship is currently sinking. Fast!

Wow, really? So because you might've not gotten the greatest service, that means that all of a sudden, service for everyone has degraded to be so negligible that it can't be used?
I call BS. My Sprint service has done nothing but drastically improve and become more consistent than it ever was when I first joined Sprint 4+ years ago.
Yay, you aren't / weren't happy with the service in your area...but stick to facts when you start posting drivel, just because you said they are a sinking ship didn't make my phone suddenly quit working. Actually, I'm enjoying the 4G that I get at no extra charge in areas near me, and before 2013, in MY area. And AT&T sucks just as bad in some areas as Sprint does.

How about on 2g? Can you talk and use data while on 2g too or only on 3 and 4G?

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Far as I know, the ONLY tech that can handle a simultaneous data and voice is 4G. Neither 3G or anything below it can handle that...on any carrier. So unless it's 4G, there won't be any voice+data at the same time.

 

[jimmiekain]

I didn't know it could only be done on 4G I thought for sure it was possible on 3g too.

What about Internet connection? On sprint my Internet connection goes to sleep after a few seconds of sitting idle. This causes me to get emails and instant messages late. Is it true that on gsm the data connection stays awake all the time?

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[broseph23]

On AT&T, 3G and 4G can do voice and data simultaneously. LTE is data only for now, and 2G can do both but separately.

On other US carriers other than AT&T and T-Mobile, simultaneous data and talk can only be done on 4g

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[jonathanm1978]

I didn't know it could only be done on 4G I thought for sure it was possible on 3g too.

What about Internet connection? On sprint my Internet connection goes to sleep after a few seconds of sitting idle. This causes me to get emails and instant messages late. Is it true that on gsm the data connection stays awake all the time?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

this has nothing to do with carrier, this is your sync settings and other settings on the phone. If the connection stayed alive all the time, you would have no battery life worth talking about(like 2 or 3 hours)

Swype'd with my Sammy Galaxy S3

 

[jimmiekain]

One thing I forgot to mention in my original post was that a buddy of mine has an iphone on ATT and he complains that ATT has a wifi network that is at a bunch of McDonalds, Starbucks and hotels etc... He said that this is so that ATT customers can reduce the data that they use on there cell networks but its annoying because the wifi is always slow and his phone automatically connects to them when he is near one.

He says that there is no way to turn it off and that even when he turns the wifi off it still connects to any nearby ATT hotspot. Is this something android users have to deal with too or is that only on the iphone?

 

[crackmonke]

Hi,I just switched to att from Sprint. The data speeds are much better. I don't like gsm voice call quality. Customer service has been good so far, but Sprint cs will be hard to beat. Insurance is with the same company. It's just a tad cheaper but the deductible is 200 instead of 100. Simultaneous voice data has been a staple of gsm for a while now. Att also has the larger data allotment for the price.

 

[jimmiekain]

@crackmonke

Are you saying that GSM doesnt have good voice quality? I thought it was the other way around? I was under the belief that GSM voice was superior to CDMA... is that wrong?

 

[Doug B]

I'm in central California (just south of Fresno) and switched back to at&t about a month ago. Best thing I ever did. I think though the best thing to do in any area is to check around and see which carrier performs the best in for your needs in your area. Every region is different and some carrier perform better in some area than others. Your mileage may vary. Where I'm at Sprint is horrible with data speed.

Swyped from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2.

 

[jonathanm1978]

One thing I forgot to mention in my original post was that a buddy of mine has an iphone on ATT and he complains that ATT has a wifi network that is at a bunch of McDonalds, Starbucks and hotels etc... He said that this is so that ATT customers can reduce the data that they use on there cell networks but its annoying because the wifi is always slow and his phone automatically connects to them when he is near one.

He says that there is no way to turn it off and that even when he turns the wifi off it still connects to any nearby ATT hotspot. Is this something android users have to deal with too or is that only on the iphone?

The free WiFi at McDonald's and such isn't only for cell, I get that included with my dsl internet and get inserts in my bill telling me to remember to use my laptop or connect my y cell phone to the free WiFi that comes with my dsl plan.

And far as I know, cdma is a tad better than gsm when it comes to penetration of exterior surfaces and such, read this:

The CDMA spec allows for the transmitter (phone) to connect to two towers at one time. So as you are moving down the road, and the signal starts to weaken from the tower you are currently connected through, the phone starts searching for the next tower, and makes the connection. As the signals strengthens, the call gets transferred to the new tower, before the signal is lost from the old tower.?With GSM, whilst the next tower is located by the phone, there is not a smooth transition from one tower to the next. The phone will hold the signal on the old tower until it is lost, and theoretically, will transfer the signal to the new tower in a short enough time slice (the T in TDMA), that the call seamlessly transfers.?There are plenty of other differences, as has been pointed out, but this is yet another reason that CDMA is more prevalent in rural, or less populated areas.?there is also the more efficient use of the available bandwidth, to allow more phones on a given tower antenna, and the like.


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[jimmiekain]

@jonathanm1978

couple of questions for you...

As far as the wifi at McDonalds and such... is there a way to turn it off?

I was under the impression that penetration of surfaces had to do with the MegaHertz for example vzw 700mhz gets better penetration than 1900mhz on sprint or 1700mhz on Tmoble. Is that not right?

I think what you are talking about is called tower handshake this guy at the sprint store was telling me about it. He essentially said what you said but he said that when you are driving if you drive out of the coverage of a tower and into a different one on GSM that it will disconnect you and drop the call. Are you saying that it wont?

 

[crackmonke]

Sprint did one thing right and that's actual calls. My gsm voice existence had been so so. To me it ha a hollow cell phone sound. It's hard to describe over text. I'm ok with voice on att, just Sprint voice quality is superb.

 

[crackmonke]

But don't get me wrong,I will never go back to Sprint because of the data

 

[epicness4G]

Wow, really? So because you might've not gotten the greatest service, that means that all of a sudden, service for everyone has degraded to be so negligible that it can't be used?
I call BS. My Sprint service has done nothing but drastically improve and become more consistent than it ever was when I first joined Sprint 4+ years ago.
Yay, you aren't / weren't happy with the service in your area...but stick to facts when you start posting drivel, just because you said they are a sinking ship didn't make my phone suddenly quit working. Actually, I'm enjoying the 4G that I get at no extra charge in areas near me, and before 2013, in MY area. And AT&T sucks just as bad in some areas as Sprint does.



Far as I know, the ONLY tech that can handle a simultaneous data and voice is 4G. Neither 3G or anything below it can handle that...on any carrier. So unless it's 4G, there won't be any voice+data at the same time.

What you all don't know is that all tech can carry voice and data at the same time. Its just that Verizon and sprint choose not to do this because it causes a more severe strain on their networks. It certainly pulls more bandwidth than a gsm phone. At&t is just cool enough to let us do it. I've been surfing and talking since the iPhone 3G came out thankfully now I'm on android

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