Am I making a mistake buying this phone and switching to Verizon?

[basscadet]

As a business traveler who is fed up with lousy hotel WiFi, I have decided to hand in my AT&T iPhone 4 and try to find a device that excels at tethering.

I travel all over the USA and while I understand I won't always be in a LTE city, I do want a 4G phone. I will not be doing anything like streaming movies, I just need fast web access.

For those of you with the Thunderbolt, how has your experience been with tethering? Even further, how is your experience with LTE? And lastly, do you regret buying your phone?

 

[gwtiff54]

Everything has been working like it should. Hotspot is free till July then it is 20$ a month I think? The tbolt is a awesome phone. LTE will knock your socks off its so fast. But you need to get the extended battery if you are going to tether. Just my 2 cents.

 

[FrankXS]

As a business traveler who is fed up with lousy hotel WiFi, I have decided to hand in my AT&T iPhone 4 and try to find a device that excels at tethering.

I travel all over the USA and while I understand I won't always be in a LTE city, I do want a 4G phone. I will not be doing anything like streaming movies, I just need fast web access.

For those of you with the Thunderbolt, 1) how has your experience been with tethering? Even further, 2) how is your experience with LTE? And lastly, 3) do you regret buying your phone?

1) Good. Love the Mobile Wireless Hotspot

2) When LTE is good it is very good. When LTE is bad it is very bad. But, turn 4G off if you're having issues in any given area. Turn it back on when in a better area.

3) No

Note: As for AT&T verses VZW - it's all about coverage. AT&T is also rolling out LTE. But it looks like it will be many more years before LTE is viable on AT&T. You travel, you want VZW. My opinion.

-Frank

 

[fatboy97]

Like FrankXS identified your questions above...

1) Sorry, I don't use Mobile Wireless Hotspot

2) Love LTE... but I'm in one of the original LTE locations and have great LTE at work and at home... but I do have the "LTE OnOff" App for traveling outside the metro, which I'll be using this weekend when I travel north for a vacation.

3) Absolutely not... it is a great phone and will be for some time to come... things will change significantly over the next year or two in the Smartphone industry of course... this feels like the PC industry about 10-15 years ago.

 

[EisBlade]

Mobile Hotspot all the way. Once expired, charge to tether is $20; free if rooted.

Easy switching from 4G/LTE to 3G if no service.

Battery life could be better, but smartphone users should be carrying something for charging anyways.

No regrets.

 

[mclarryjr]

I use wireless tether every weekend which is a root app that should always be free and it works great, I have used the wireless hotspot a few times without any issues too.

I currently don't have LTE in my area but do travel in area that do have it and it's very fast from my experiences and no regrets on this phone.

 

[basscadet]

Everything has been working like it should. Hotspot is free till July then it is 20$ a month I think? The tbolt is a awesome phone. LTE will knock your socks off its so fast. But you need to get the extended battery if you are going to tether. Just my 2 cents.

Can the phone be rooted for free tethering? Is this possible and safe if I do not use crazy amounts of bandwidth?

 

[worwig]

I took a few years, but I convinced a friend of mine to dump AT&T and switch to VZW. That was a mistake......
Now, he calls me.....
Before he was like, I was going to call, but I didn't have service.
No idea why people pay AT&T for non-service.

As for the Thunderbolt. I am VERY happy with mine, except for battery life. Basically, carry a spare battery, or if you are OK with it, get the extended battery.

 

[SF DINC]

Mobile Hotspot all the way. Once expired, charge to tether is $20; free if rooted.

Easy switching from 4G/LTE to 3G if no service.

Battery life could be better, but smartphone users should be carrying something for charging anyways.

No regrets.

Guys, the hot spot is free til mid July, the $20 montly charge for hotspot after that IS NOT FOR 4G LTE speeds. The $20 is for the 3G Hotspot. There is no pricing out yet for the 4G LTE Hotspot. Please read a little, spreading misinformation causes all kinds of confusion. Not bashing anyone I know all are trying to help but the information is all over the net regarding the the 4G LTE Hotspot pricing.......there is no yet.

 

[SouthernStar09]

Tethering is pretty awesome for me. Really quick too, in my opinion. I love the LTE network and have always been in 4G since I got my phone. It does make the battery wear down fast, but as long as you keep it plugged in, it's good. I definitely do not regret buying my Thunderbolt.

 

[blackberryconvert2011]

Fyi some of us have issues with the hotspot, mine works when it wants to and it's intermitten and spotty at best

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Everything has been working like it should. Hotspot is free till July then it is 20$ a month I think? The tbolt is a awesome phone. LTE will knock your socks off its so fast. But you need to get the extended battery if you are going to tether. Just my 2 cents.

...the extended battery would probably be necessary if you are using hotspot no where near a power supply, but extended battery or not, do know that wireless tethering using a LOT of power, and you should plan on having the device plugged in if planning on using it for extended periods of time.

 

[dpham00]

Fyi some of us have issues with the hotspot, mine works when it wants to and it's intermitten and spotty at best

Same here, sometimes it works great, other times, it drops every few minutes.

 

[Who?]

You're probably making a mistake. The TBolt is not a world phone and it's been out for 3 months. Wait a couple more months (or days), pick up something with a dual core processor. Or get a Sensation.

 

[thinknate]

Have mercy on your co-workers and switch to Verizon! I can't stand talking to people who have at&t because the call quality is horrendous. (I'm in Chicago.)

The Thunderbolt is a good option if battery life isn't high on your list of priorities.

 

[lavrishevo]

The 4G LTE is great, Verizon's voice service is great but the phone itself will be disappointing going from the iPhone 4. I had to switch back due to Verizon's coverage in PR, which I found out after the fact due to the salesman misrepresenting their service but I was not particularly excited about Android and how unpolished everything is and the crashing of system apps / phone rebooting. In all honesty, I would have stayed with Verizon if I could have made it work for me but the Thunderbolt, at least compared to the iPhone 4, is nothing to write home about...

 

[mdunn1066]

Looks like his questions have been answered but ill chime in on something because i recently switched from att to verizon as you are planning to..

LTE Coverage in my area is surprisingly good. I live in a suburb area 15 minutes from New Haven CT and 30 from Hartford CT, and I was not expecting any 4g coverage, but my town and the surrounding towns all the way to the cities are fully covered. I expected only the main cities to have coverage and not the outlying areas, but that was surprisingly not the case. I am very happy with my switch, even if for me its slightly more expensive.

 

[Johnly]

Verizon has good coverage, I have found sprint to be as good. At&T not so much, but with the acquisition of tmo, maybe that will all change. I am done with VZW I think.

 

[willymakit]

Do it you won't regret it, love the Mobile Hot Spot, has never had a problem. 4G is awesome when you are in 4G. I do not regret for one minute that I bought this phone.