To keep Straight Talk Tmobile or go back to Verizon?

[tlucca]

Hi all,

Im having a dilemma. I have been with Verizon for a number of years and Have loved them, great reception and unlimited Data. I just switched over to Straight talk Tmobile with my Nexus 4. So far I have been loving it,, and Data speeds have been really fast on North shore of Long Island around Huntington/Smithtown. I have had it for about 5 days and on Long Island its great. the problem is when I get into manhattan, the speeds are so variable. Sometimes I get up to 12 MB/s but other times I get either no data at all or very slow data (maybe 300 kb/s) Also I notice that at least half the time the Ping is very slow, usually 1000 plus ms.

Overall I can deal with these small problems, but Im worried that Straight talk can change their terms at any time since it is a month to month contract. Im giving up unlimited data with verizon, but I was also paying $104/month whereas straight talk is $49 including taxes.

Anyone else having the above problems on Straight talk? And are you worried that they will change terms/up the price/limit data etc.

Otherwise I have been very happy with them, Ive been streaming Netflix/Spotify, used about 300 MB yesterday alone. Im just worried Id be giving up a good thing with the unlimited data.

Any thoughts?

thanks,
Tom

 

[Weirdo0815]

If you're worried about unlimited data, you can get T-Mobile service right from them on their Monthly4G plans. They have plans ranging from $30-70 a month, and they include unlimited data. The difference in price is the amount of 4G data you get before you're bumped to 3G (except the $30 / month which is 5 GB of 4G data but only 100 minutes of talk). Just last night, both my wife and I transferred our numbers off of Verizon onto these Monthly4G plans using two Nexus 4's. I went with the 2GB of 4G data at $60 / month and my wife went with the $50 / month plan (I think its 200MB of 4G). The great thing about prepaid is we can change our plans if we know we're going to use less data for a while.

I was trying out a Straight Talk AT&T SIM in my Nexus 4 until I learned about the grey area of the cap of data per month. I did like the performance of the network in my area (5-10 MB/s down). I don't use tons of data on average (1-1.5 GB / month) but I have been known to use more from time to time (I hit 10GB just a few months ago). Last I heard, Straight Talk cuts your data off depending on usage AND the average data usage in your area. The New York area may be an area that they would cut you off a little sooner than most areas of the country. But I could be wrong too.

I've never actually been to the New York area but I could guess that all carriers struggle in different parts of the area. That is a lot of people in a "small" area. T-Mobile is making some improvements to their network throughout the country, the New York area could be one of those areas that have yet to be improved so it could get better.

My recommendation would be to research if T-Mobile has already enhanced the New York area or not. If they haven't yet, I'd say stay with T-Mobile.

 

[gone down south]

Verizon can take away your unlimited plan in a heartbeat if they ever got tired of offering it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[N4Newbie]

Umm, you do realize that a move back to Verizon would entail giving up your Nexus 4, correct?

Verizon's network, like Sprint's, is CDMA. Your Nexus 4 is a GSM phone and will not operate on Verizon's (or Sprint's) network.

 

[tlucca]

Thanks for the responses!

I realize that Verizon could cut off unlimited at any time, I figure if they do then I could go to a prepaid plan like Straight Talk. I realize that I would have to go back to the Galaxy Nexus that I have on Verizon and would just sell the Nexus 4. BTW I love the nexus, much faster than Galaxy nexus and better battery life.

I just feel that the Straight talk plan has been a little flaky in the city, although these are things I could overlook. I also will have to pay $240 ETF to get rid of verizon which sucks as I have a full year left on the plan.

Im thinking what I might do is buy a used galaxy s3 and go back to verizon for a year. The battery life on the S3 I hear is quite a bit better than the Nexus 4, and its a quicker phone overall. I can just eat the cost over the year and then switch so I dont have to eat that ETF.

I use my phone very often for work and I have to say, TMobile has been great on Long Island!

Im just concerned that Straight Talk will change their terms, but probably unnecessary worrying!

 

[joey3002]

So you are worried they might change their terms?

Well you could get into a car wreck so better not drive again..

Don't worry about something that probably will never happen.. Enjoy the phone and savings. Take the wife out to dinner with your savings.


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[yankeesusa]

If the speeds fluctuate and that's the only problem I'd keep the more affordable plan. Verizon is reliable and fast but you can't beat the price with straight talk or you can go with tmobile. Their a great choice too.

Sent from the Beast that is Galaxy Note 2

 

[sillar68]

Have you tried the AT&T SIM from straight talk? The coverage might be better in Manhattan, who knows. As for me, as long as the data coverage/access doesn't adversely affect my income, freedom or family life, paying the extra $600+/year is not worth leaving Straight Talk.

 

[mrbates]

You could likely sell your unlimited data plan to someone else that wants Verizon and is currently paying much more than you for a lot less data. You could sell it for a small fee or you could just have someone assume the contract. Downside is you would lose your phone number. Like posted above, don't sweat the idea of ST changing their offering because there is no contract. I haven't heard of ST on Tmobile throttling anyone yet.

 

[minnemike]

Yeah, Tmo gets huge contracted business from all these other no contract providers, so I would highly doubt they ever let that die. The only change I might see for Tmo would be some sort of premium on LTE once they have it deployed next year - but that shouldn't affect the current 3G+ system in place.