Is Verizon Worth It?

[Tx Evo 90]

I ask this because I have Sprint and ever since I upgraded in October the service has been hit or miss, at my house it's decent (if you call <1mbps decent) but usually whenever I go places like out to eat, work, stores...the service is always slow, sometimes loses data connection but I've never had a dropped call tho

I've been toying around with the idea of just paying the ETF around October and either going VZW or ATT, I've had VZW about 6 years ago and never had problems but I've never had ATT before, tho I like the idea of switching sim cards freely but I tend to only do that because its real easy to do. The coverage areas for both are equal with VZW giving LTE versus ATT not. I live east of the Houston area and I highly doubt sprint LTE will cover this whole Houston metro area at launch. :-\

What are some of yall's experiences with VZW? Do you really get what you pay for? or even if you switched between both services, oh and for the math wizzes lol I'm looking at the invidivual line for both with equally run me $89.99 before taxes, about how much would a 15% or 20% discount bring me down to? Any replies would be appreciated

 

[Nakrohtap]

I don't care how much you save in your monthly bill. If you can't get reception at your house 100% of the time, you can't compare carrier rates to each other. I had Sprint for 9 years. It was awful...walking out to the garage or sidewalk to make a call in the middle of winter while someone sitting right next to me with Verizon was getting 2-3 bars. Every carrier will screw you with their new rates. You just need to determine what's more important to you.

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[Ry]

It's only worth it if works where you need it to work.

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[Johnly]

I would have sprint, but they do not have the coverage that VZW has. at&t has a way better phone line up, so I may go with them, but the way gsm handles tower switches sucks. LTE is absorbing that, and once that hits, it should be great.

 

[johnriii]

Verizon is the best. period. when you need to make a call, you can. I've never yet had to go out to my garage or some of the other ridiculous things I've heard about sprint. I live in KC, where Sprint has a huge headquarters, and their coverage is worse than any that I hear about. when I was with sprint 9 years ago, my wife and I would drop calls to/from each other daily. in the same city. WTH?? Now, in 9 years, I bet between the two of us, we haven't dropped over ten calls. big time tornado issues last spring...everyone in the walmart where I was stuck couldn't get a signal, only people on verizon had a signal. you get what you pay for.

 

[H0m1c1d4lb4c0n]

I have had both verizon and sprint and both are horrific. I now use Boost mobile and can honestly say it beats both I have true unlimited data free tethering and 80% excellent service reception. The only downside is limited phone choice and you have to buy the phone but for what you get its well worth it. The best plan I have been offered to give up Boost was ATT that said I could get for 130 a month that included taxes and such .... Unlimited data to 5gb and 1200 min and free nights and weekends. I laughed and hung up I pay $40 a month

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[usguyver]

I have had both verizon and sprint and both are horrific. I now use Boost mobile and can honestly say it beats both I have true unlimited data free tethering and 80% excellent service reception. The only downside is limited phone choice and you have to buy the phone but for what you get its well worth it. The best plan I have been offered to give up Boost was ATT that said I could get for 130 a month that included taxes and such .... Unlimited data to 5gb and 1200 min and free nights and weekends. I laughed and hung up I pay $40 a month

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You do know that boost is part of sprint and works off of there towers I mean I have sprint and I have services any where I go

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[dalmi]

My current plan at Verizon isn't so bad, 450 minutes, 1000 texts, and unlimited data. My bill comes out to be about $70 a month. Will say the service is great if you don't have a galaxy nexus with terrible radios.

Was debating on getting the $30 prepaid card from T-Mobile with unlimited text and data, with 100 minutes. Still haven't decided though.

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[Tx Evo 90]

Thanks for all the replies,
Does anyone know if the discount applies to the texting or just the voice part of an individual plan?

 

[jonathanm1978]

I've had Sprint for quite a few year (going on 5), and dealt with quite a few issues with reception/service at home...but I've stuck it out..I've stayed with them throughout the difficulties..they gave me a free Airvana (and before that, a free Airwave by Samsung) to compensate me for not being able to use my phone (because for the first entire year I had service, i never used over 50 minutes a month on my 450-single phone plan...)...
Then when I switched to a Share plan, I managed to use more of my phone and minutes...along with the Airvana being able to give me full service at home, I also noticed that Sprint had done work in my area and the signal was incredibly better...so I now enjoy a good signal at home, with or WITHOUT the Airvana, and mostly anywhere that I travel in the area around me..so for the most part, I don't have much to complain about with Sprint.

I will say this, just because Sprint service doesn't work well in the area you're in, it doesn't mean that Verizon will always work great and have excellent signal...I've read that Verizon is decommissioning some of the older towers as they move to the LTE..and this is going to affect it's signal...

Not only that, I know from experience that hearing them say they are "working on it" (Sprint) isn't very comforting when you drop a call...but I've seen the proof in their work because now my phone works fine..where I used to NOT be able to use it. And Houston, among quite a few other cities are in the list for LTE in the very near future, and complete LTE coverage across the USA by 2014...so you have to figure out what you want long-term...
Most people are moving from using more voice to using more data. And the big thing they Sprint's going for now is improving data, which will benefit everyone....plus, I hope that Sprint stays away from the iPhone 5, but for now, the iPhone is not taking off like Sprint thought, which is good news for other smartphone users when they finish up their "Network Vision" improvements.

 

[Jude526]

Corporate discount varies within the company. It all depends on what your company has set up with the carrier for your discount. No one can really answer that question for you. You have to call Verizon and let them know the company you work for and they in turn will tell you what your discount covers. Both my brothers also get a corporate discount and mine covers differently than their's and mine is higher LOL So like I said, it is different.

 

[kritterbell]

I have been with Sprint and AT@T... To be honest I would never go back. Verizon has given me the best service and coverage. We own a business and it is very dependable.

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[One Radical Dude]

It depends on your location, and where you're going to be using it a lot. It's best to do a little research on the coverage and reviews. For me, Verizon has worked good enough in my hometown. It's not perfect (data speeds vary greatly -- I still do not have LTE, but the antennas are up). I've had very few dropped calls. It's worked really well in all the places I've visited. The worst thing I've experience is maybe data cutting out a bit (down to 1x) in few places. The only other provider I used was Sprint's network, and even though it worked fine at my address, the east side of my city has little to no coverage at all. That's my experience. Yes, Verizon is pricey, but they've done a fine job with their network, and they're pushing LTE technology faster than any other provider (if you need the speed that is). Again, my provider may not work for you in your area. Definitely research.

 

[Jude526]

The new share everything plans corporaye discount applies to the data. Before at least on mine was the plan and then the phone data. Now that they are giving unlimited talk and text the data is discounted. I am getting the corporate discount off the data....I am switching over July 22nd. Now am paying 163. That is my plan phone data and the mifi for my internet on my laptop and tablet. If you get a tablet from them it will be an additional 10.00. Mine is wifi so no additional cost for me. My new plan will be cheaper. I am not the data hog I thought I was. So the new plan will work for me


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[johnriii]

The new share everything plans corporaye discount applies to the data. Before at least on mine was the plan and then the phone data. Now that they are giving unlimited talk and text the data is discounted. I am getting the corporate discount off the data....I am switching over July 22nd. Now am paying 163. That is my plan phone data and the mifi for my internet on my laptop and tablet. If you get a tablet from them it will be an additional 10.00. Mine is wifi so no additional cost for me. My new plan will be cheaper. I am not the data hog I thought I was. So the new plan will work for me


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no sarcasm here, but it's nice to see that the new "plan" works for some. unfortunately, I won't be one of them who will, because I am a data hog...slowly weaning myself, but still used 5.6 GB last month. and that's cutting back??? I have a solid 11 months to get it right.....

 

[MERCDROID]

My current plan at Verizon isn't so bad, 450 minutes, 1000 texts, and unlimited data. My bill comes out to be about $70 a month. Will say the service is great if you don't have a galaxy nexus with terrible radios.

Was debating on getting the $30 prepaid card from T-Mobile with unlimited text and data, with 100 minutes. Still haven't decided though.

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I have the exact same plan and pay about $85 a month. Honestly, its not worth people switching to save a few bucks and you have to drive a few miles from home to make a phone call. My friend has T-Mobile and never gets a signal at home, though YMMV. Good luck with it.

 

[jonathanm1978]

I have the exact same plan and pay about $85 a month. Honestly, its not worth people switching to save a few bucks and you have to drive a few miles from home to make a phone call. My friend has T-Mobile and never gets a signal at home, though YMMV. Good luck with it.

I remember when I first got Sprint, 4 years ago, I never had signal.. And when I completed my first year of service with them, I remember calling them from my mother-in-law's house and talking to the agent for nearly an hour..because I was SO pissed. I had not used over 45 minutes or so per month over the past 12-month period, because I looked at my bills online and saw where my usage, EVEN night and weekend, never went over 45 minutes a month...
I told the girl that I had been paying nearly 80/month for 12 months for something I couldn't use..and that I didn't need a phone that didn't work for me.

This was when everything changed for me with Sprint...I went from having nothing to having an Airave (the samsung version), then it got swapped for the new Airvana version that's out now, the one that does 3G and allows more users...
Then I added another line for my wife...
Off to a bumpy start with them, but now I wouldn't change for anything. I'm glad I've stuck it out, and I hope that Birmingham, AL will get 4G before too much longer (although I live a bit south of Bham)...
If they'll do 4G in the Bham + Montgomery market..with me in-between the two cities...maybe being in the middle will give me some sort of 4G service. But in the end, I like Sprint..and I hope they can turn things around now that they are doing all of these upgrades.

 

[Eclipse2K]

The new share everything plans corporaye discount applies to the data. Before at least on mine was the plan and then the phone data. Now that they are giving unlimited talk and text the data is discounted. I am getting the corporate discount off the data....I am switching over July 22nd. Now am paying 163. That is my plan phone data and the mifi for my internet on my laptop and tablet. If you get a tablet from them it will be an additional 10.00. Mine is wifi so no additional cost for me. My new plan will be cheaper. I am not the data hog I thought I was. So the new plan will work for me


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I thought you were one of us who said you would never give up unlimited data?

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[drummerman2008]

Yea getting a good coverage all depends on were you live and it also depends if you got a better phone that can pick up a good signal

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[jim302]

Verizon doesn't have a perfect network everywhere, and they have taken away a lot of the things that added value to their service (new every two, annual upgrade, one year contract option, etc). If you do switch, make sure to pay close attention during the first 14 days... and make test calls at all hours of the day since call quality and reliability can vary based on network load.

If you're on Sprint and aren't getting dropped calls, try to stick with it until Network Vision hits your area. Keep in mind that it could get worse during the equipment changes. Sprint has good customer service and better pricing than Verizon. They are heading in the right direction.

There are always options... for example, if you don't get great service at home but are otherwise happy with your current service, there are inexpensive VoIP providers that will often deliver far better service (especially as far as sound quality goes) than any wireless provider.