I was sick of contracts. So I thought I'd be savvy and order a Chinese phone and put it on walmarts straighttalk plan. I did a lot of research, got a phone with the correct Frequencies, etc... The phone was fantastic. Best I've ever had. Unfortunately those frequencies were reversed (it used voice for data, data for voice) So I'd randomly get connected and dropped. So I lost $30 on restocking fees.
In a panic (need my phone for work) I ran back to walmart and got an AT&T GoPhone. I liked it, not as much as the Chinese phone, but whatever. Unfortunately AT&Ts network has 3 towers in my city. The main problem is my house is in a dead zone. I tried to get one of those wifi network extenders but AT&T requires them to be registered with them, and they will not register a pre-paid phone.
So now I'm really trying to do my research. The only carrier that would support the GoPhone (Galaxy Express) in my area is T-Mobile... and they're just using AT&Ts towers. So there's no point in that.
Based on the coverage maps I've seen, my only options as far as carriers go is US Cellular, and Verizon. US Cellular appears to be in a death spiral, so I'm going to stay away from them. So that leaves me with Verizon, whom I hate, but I have no other options.
I've looked into the tech, and it appears that due to the fact they are CDMA and CDMA providers lock their phones to their network, I'll never be able to move the phone off their network. Because there are no other carriers with decent coverage in my area, I'm stuck with Verizon unless I move. At this point it looks like I'm de-facto stuck with Verizon for the rest of my life no matter what I do. Is there anything wrong with my reasoning? Or should I really just give up and sign the stupid contract? I really despise this situation, I do not sign contracts if I can find any reasonable way not to.
In a panic (need my phone for work) I ran back to walmart and got an AT&T GoPhone. I liked it, not as much as the Chinese phone, but whatever. Unfortunately AT&Ts network has 3 towers in my city. The main problem is my house is in a dead zone. I tried to get one of those wifi network extenders but AT&T requires them to be registered with them, and they will not register a pre-paid phone.
So now I'm really trying to do my research. The only carrier that would support the GoPhone (Galaxy Express) in my area is T-Mobile... and they're just using AT&Ts towers. So there's no point in that.
Based on the coverage maps I've seen, my only options as far as carriers go is US Cellular, and Verizon. US Cellular appears to be in a death spiral, so I'm going to stay away from them. So that leaves me with Verizon, whom I hate, but I have no other options.
I've looked into the tech, and it appears that due to the fact they are CDMA and CDMA providers lock their phones to their network, I'll never be able to move the phone off their network. Because there are no other carriers with decent coverage in my area, I'm stuck with Verizon unless I move. At this point it looks like I'm de-facto stuck with Verizon for the rest of my life no matter what I do. Is there anything wrong with my reasoning? Or should I really just give up and sign the stupid contract? I really despise this situation, I do not sign contracts if I can find any reasonable way not to.