Can I buy the Play version and jump ship to another carrier?

[mbfavreau]

Sorry, in advance, for questions that have probably been answered a million times. I did some searching and couldn't find an answer to my situation.

I've been with Verizon for 10+ years, my contract is up, I feel like we're getting raped on a two line FamilyShare plan ($172/month with nothing fancy attached) and I'm sick of them not having good phones. I'm ready to suck it up and buy the Google Edition from the Play store. If I do:

* Does it come auto unlocked so I can use it with any carrier/any SIM?
* Since I like Verizon's coverage (like many others), can I use a prepaid or no contract plan of theirs? i.e. Does the ONE do CDMA?
* Who would you recommend for a non-contract carrier?

I appreciate all the knowledge on this forum and hope somebody can help. Thanks!

 

[stockandroidguy]

Yup. Phone is factory unlocked to work on any GSM carrier worldwide. If your looking for no contract check out straight talk. Have you started looking to see how your coverage is in your area with different GSM carriers?

 

[mbfavreau]

Thanks, SPHD!

I've heard about straight talk before. Good reminder. I'm loosely aware of the coverage of the 2 major GSM's in Chicago (ATT and T-Mobile) and neither are as good as Verizon. Any idea if this version does CDMA also?

 

[benhmadison]

Sorry, in advance, for questions that have probably been answered a million times. I did some searching and couldn't find an answer to my situation.

I've been with Verizon for 10+ years, my contract is up, I feel like we're getting raped on a two line FamilyShare plan ($172/month with nothing fancy attached) and I'm sick of them not having good phones. I'm ready to suck it up and buy the Google Edition from the Play store. If I do:

* Does it come auto unlocked so I can use it with any carrier/any SIM?
* Since I like Verizon's coverage (like many others), can I use a prepaid or no contract plan of theirs? i.e. Does the ONE do CDMA?
* Who would you recommend for a non-contract carrier?

I appreciate all the knowledge on this forum and hope somebody can help. Thanks!

First off the device is worth every penny! Secondly and more importantly, if you live in an area where T-Mobile has LTE you will be good but if you don't the GPE ONE will not work with T-Mobile's HSPA+ service so it's pretty much LTE or bust. With AT&T, it can use their LTE or HSPA+. In my case I do not live in an area that has LTE yet so I use HSPA+ and it still gets solid speeds. I would recommend looking at the new AT&T prepaid plans. As I recall, they are around 60 bucks a month and you get 2 gigs of LTE and plenty of minutes and such. I have never used Strait Talk but I know they are really strict on data usage and throttle your speeds pretty much all the time. Good luck in your search for a new provider.

 

[Mellimel22]

Thanks, SPHD!

I've heard about straight talk before. Good reminder. I'm loosely aware of the coverage of the 2 major GSM's in Chicago (ATT and T-Mobile) and neither are as good as Verizon. Any idea if this version does CDMA also?

What??? Bro my speeds are killing vzw even on hspa+. Trust me t-mobile isn't a bad choice here.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mellimel22]

First off the device is worth every penny! Secondly and more importantly, if you live in an area where T-Mobile has LTE you will be good but if you don't the GPE ONE will not work with T-Mobile's HSPA+ service so it's pretty much LTE or bust. With AT&T, it can use their LTE or HSPA+. In my case I do not live in an area that has LTE yet so I use HSPA+ and it still gets solid speeds. I would recommend looking at the new AT&T prepaid plans. As I recall, they are around 60 bucks a month and you get 2 gigs of LTE and plenty of minutes and such. I have never used Strait Talk but I know they are really strict on data usage and throttle your speeds pretty much all the time. Good luck in your search for a new provider.

The Google play edition can use t-mobile hspa+. If u are in a refamed market. ATT uses hspa on 1900 which t-mobile is moving hspa+ to also.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mbfavreau]

What??? Bro my speeds are killing vzw even on hspa+. Trust me t-mobile isn't a bad choice here.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using Tapatalk 2

I wasn't clear. Its the COVERAGE that Verizon has over ATT and T-Mobile, not speed. Or so says everybody who has had both

Who can hip me to what the diff is bt LTE and HSPA+? Is the historical network progression EDGE --> 3G --> 4G --> 4GLTE --> HSPA+ ?

 

[gollum18]

I wasn't clear. Its the COVERAGE that Verizon has over ATT and T-Mobile, not speed. Or so says everybody who has had both

Who can hip me to what the diff is bt LTE and HSPA+? Is the historical network progression EDGE --> 3G --> 4G --> 4GLTE --> HSPA+ ?

Hspa+ is not 4g at all. It is advanced 3g that uses sim card technology to fully utilize 3g spectrum. It is far more advanced than both sprint and Verizon's CDMA 3g network, is far more reliable, and has much higher bandwidth.

The complaints over CDMA is the whole reason why verizon is considering switching over to a 4g only network.

Its funny because sprints nv 4g, doesn't even meet the qualifications for standard 4g, they had to get the FCC to allow an exception for them.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mellimel22]

Hspa+ is not 4g at all. It is advanced 3g that uses sim card technology to fully utilize 3g spectrum. It is far more advanced than both sprint and Verizon's CDMA 3g network, is far more reliable, and has much higher bandwidth.

The complaints over CDMA is the whole reason why verizon is considering switching over to a 4g only network.

Its funny because sprints nv 4g, doesn't even meet the qualifications for standard 4g, they had to get the FCC to allow an exception for them.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

T-Mobile and att consider it 4g.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[gollum18]

T-Mobile and att consider it 4g.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using Tapatalk 2

I know they do. Its just that it doesn't fit the classification for 4g, under the FCC's definition of 3g it fits the bill.

They may advertise it as 4g, but its actually only advanced 3g.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[benhmadison]

The Google play edition can use t-mobile hspa+. If u are in a refamed market. ATT uses hspa on 1900 which t-mobile is moving hspa+ to also.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using Tapatalk 2

My fault I didn't realize that. That's good news

 

[mbfavreau]

We've experienced a little drift here but I appreciate the knowledge thus far. I'm not sure my following original questions have been addressed, though:

1. Will the Google HTC ONE work on a CDMA network? Can I use Verizon's prepaid program, for example?
2. In terms of speed, is this list (worst to best) correct: 3G --> HSPA+ -->4G -->4GLTE?

 

[GNexROC]

We've experienced a little drift here but I appreciate the knowledge thus far. I'm not sure my following original questions have been addressed, though:

1. Will the Google HTC ONE work on a CDMA network? Can I use Verizon's prepaid program, for example?
2. In terms of speed, is this list (worst to best) correct: 3G --> HSPA+ -->4G -->4GLTE?

No, you cannot use the Google HTC ONE on Verizon's network.

 

[21stNow]

Hspa+ is not 4g at all. It is advanced 3g that uses sim card technology to fully utilize 3g spectrum. It is far more advanced than both sprint and Verizon's CDMA 3g network, is far more reliable, and has much higher bandwidth.

The complaints over CDMA is the whole reason why verizon is considering switching over to a 4g only network.

Its funny because sprints nv 4g, doesn't even meet the qualifications for standard 4g, they had to get the FCC to allow an exception for them.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

LTE didn't meet the original definition of 4G, either so I take it that there is currently no 4G in the US. LTE-Advanced is the standard that meets the original 4G definition and no US carrier has deployed that yet. Under the revised definition of 4G, HSPA+ meets the qualifications so it is 4G in the US.

 

[21stNow]

We've experienced a little drift here but I appreciate the knowledge thus far. I'm not sure my following original questions have been addressed, though:

1. Will the Google HTC ONE work on a CDMA network? Can I use Verizon's prepaid program, for example?
2. In terms of speed, is this list (worst to best) correct: 3G --> HSPA+ -->4G -->4GLTE?

For #2, it's not always this simple. Generally, it will fall along the lines of LTE>HSPA+>3G>EDGE>GPRS. However, there are some T-Mobile customers that will get higher speeds on HSPA+42 than what Verizon LTE customers get. The throughput speed should be consistent within a network type, but there are still variables in this depending on the network equipment that the carriers use.

Theoretical throughput can be meaningless if you aren't also considering the amount of bandwidth the network has and how many users are hitting a particular tower at one time.