[Poll] What is the overall best carrier?

[ilongbored]

The contracts on my Sprint family plan accounts are expiring soon and I wanted to hear from others what U.S. cell phone carrier people think is overall the best.

Consider:

• 4G Speed/Reliabilty
• 3G Speed/Reliability
• Data Allowances/Price
• General Pricing
• Coverage
• Evilness/Less Evilness

Let's hear it!

 

[pazzo02]

Did you post this in all the carrier sub-forums? I can't give an educated answer because I've been on AT&T/Cingular/Cellular One since 1996. Before that I had Sprint, and they really sucked, but I can't compare that to today.

 

[Verdes8891]

I cant answer that honestly either. Every person is going to have their own answer for their own reasons. My house does not have great AT&T, Verizon or tmobile coverage, so i cannot go to those carriers. But then i have been at some of my friends houses, and my sprint phone gets very little service. So it is very hard to say which one is better.

 

[ilongbored]

Did you post this in all the carrier sub-forums?

I did. It was the only way I could think of to get a well-rounded response.

I, myself am a bit torn:

Sprint
I still have unlimited data with Sprint, but I'm moving to the Dallas area and Sprint is a little spotty in coverage there. Sprint 3G speeds are consistent, but I'd like a 4G option that works. For a family plan with 5 smart phones, I haven't found a better deal than Sprint's.

AT&T
AT&T is at the top of my list right now because of their dual "4G" technologies. When you're not in LTE coverage (Dallas is AT&T HQ, so that may not be an issue), there's a good chance you'll be covered by a nice HSPA+ network. AT&T family plan can be cheap if you match your plan to your needs. If I put my mom on a dumb phone, it could actually be cheaper than Sprint, but with a lesser plan. I've heard people have problems with AT&T with dropped calls and the like. Probably my first choice considering the Dallas area (Plano specifically). Being able to switch phones by switching the SIM card in/out is nice, especially because you can use a smartphone without a data plan.

Verizon
Definitely the best coverage overall for voice, 3G and 4G. I don't like EVDO 3G speeds or the price of Verizon's plans. I also don't like the battery drain of LTE. When Verizon is VoLTE, I think LTE phones will be a lot better on battery life. Or perhaps they'll figure out how to make the LTE radios more battery friendly.

T-Mobile
I used to have T-Mobile and I was always happy with them. Their HSPA+ network is nice, but with no news of LTE, I'm not sure I'm ready to sign up for 2 years. Their prices are great in general. One hangup is that my wife would prefer to have an iPhone on our next carrier; although she is willing to go back to Android given the right size, quality, and speed. Also, having a SIM card is convenient, especially if you want a smart phone without a data plan.

I definitely see the pros and cons of all four carriers, which is why I wanted to hear everyone else's opinions.

 

[Lorak]

I'd wait a little while honestly.

You say your moving to Dallas and Dallas is one of Sprints first LTE markets with the network vision upgrades to go live this summer. And with Network vision the coverage is supposed to improve also. I would wait until you get there and try the network before you make the decision.

If you were moving anywhere else my advice might be diffrent. But hard for me to suggest anything but sprint when your going to a known LTE/Networkvision market with unlimited data.

 

[ilongbored]

Lorak, that's good advice. I saw that Dallas was going to be one of their first LTE markets, but I didn't realize that would improve coverage of their other technologies. I'll have to do some research on what they're doing with LTE.

 

[Lorak]

Yep. They aren't just adding LTE. With NV they are totally upgrading all thier towers. SO instead of having seperate towers for diffrent services they will all be combined at each area.

Also with network vision they are moving the radios and such up the tower and placing them behind the antennas which should also provide a lot more coverage also.

 

[Eclipse2K]

If you're worried about battery drain on Verizon's LTE network, get a RAZR Maxx. All problems solved.

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk.