AT&T vs Verizon ... in rural areas

[Jim Ahrman]

Has anyone made the switch recently from ma bell to big red? at&t was first carrier in my area..had them for....long time... live in the country..no cable..only option is satellite.. luckily i really like direct tv...so was set on finally getting rid of my bb 9000...and go to atrix... but with now hearing at&t limiting uploads... should i consider big red? I keep wondering..because of where i live...my speeds are going to be limited anyway..will it make any difference?
Sprint..no wimax..
No Verizon 4g/lte
ma bell just gave me 3g late last summer
my speeds all suck compared to what everyone else is getting..so...
Anyone have any thoughts to add to me switching? Getting a new phone..no matter the carrier..will be an improvement...but upload/download speeds won't make a difference.
I have a sprint 301 for internet...i sware it's gotten slower in the last year..phone is bb 9000...
Thanks

 

[Menno]

It all depends on the rural area your in. Nationwide Verizon (and even Sprint) have stronger rural coverage, especially with 3g. But some areas are stronger for ATT because of companies they purchased, etc. In low signal areas CDMA tends to be a bit stronger because of the nature of the technology, but as ATT likes to point out it means no super fast 3g or talk/surf capability. If you're in a low signal area, often-times the tradeoff is worth it. But if you have strong ATT coverage, it might mean a speed dip.

Does Verizon offer 3G in your area? If so, do you know what speeds they're hitting? In a normal area, verizon 3g hits about 800kbps-1mb , and in a good area that number is closer to 1.6. Me? I'm lucky enough to be near an LTE market so the speeds I get are consistently around 2.3 thanks to the improved backhaul.

One thing to remember is that unless something goes Drastically wrong, everywhere that has Verizon 3g will have LTE by the end of 2013.

 

[Jim Ahrman]

It all depends on the rural area your in. Nationwide Verizon (and even Sprint) have stronger rural coverage, especially with 3g. But some areas are stronger for ATT because of companies they purchased, etc. In low signal areas CDMA tends to be a bit stronger because of the nature of the technology, but as ATT likes to point out it means no super fast 3g or talk/surf capability. If you're in a low signal area, often-times the tradeoff is worth it. But if you have strong ATT coverage, it might mean a speed dip.

Does Verizon offer 3G in your area? If so, do you know what speeds they're hitting? In a normal area, verizon 3g hits about 800kbps-1mb , and in a good area that number is closer to 1.6. Me? I'm lucky enough to be near an LTE market so the speeds I get are consistently around 2.3 thanks to the improved backhaul.

One thing to remember is that unless something goes Drastically wrong, everywhere that has Verizon 3g will have LTE by the end of 2013.

According to the map, Verizon does have 3g in the area. I've had sprint internet card for the last..3 or 4 years now and have gotten mostly between 1 to 1.2M speed..been a touch slower over the last month or 2. I don't know anyone who lives close to me that has Verizon. According to their map..4g is..aprox 15-20 miles north of where i live. I've had Sprint 3g here ..surprisingly a long time. Was very surprised i got it that much earlier that ma bell. I know 1 person who didn't have at&t..i can't remember what he tried, it had to be sprint or verizon..but signal was week..and had to go back to at&t.
I can see the tower and have a good, strong signal where i am..but..just the way things are going and being realistic...i just don't see any cell company to increase the speed where i am..it might be 2+ years before i would see any kind of either 4g or fake 4g.