we are thinking of switching from Verizon (not because of bad service. i actually love their service, but its getting too expensive) and have been thinking about sprint or at&t. who has the better deals for new customers? who has the better coverage and best family package plans. i would be getting a phone for myself and my husband. right now we have smartphones and i'd love to keep them but its not a necessity. if we could get good deals on them, great, if not...oh well. we mostly use for texting and facebook and occasional internet.
if anyone has either of these carriers, what are your experiences with service, price, and coverage? like i said, i love verizons service. i never have any problems with getting service anywhere. i always have full coverage everywhere. they are just too expensive and we would love to have a cell phone bill under $100!! also, if you have suggestions of other carriers besides these 2 thats great too..
thanks!
Hey C,
I actually broker for all the companies......one stop shopping! You can actually go to my website and look at all the different packages and compare packages! www.marinac.acnrep.com
Good Luck!!
M.
I think the #1 thing AT&T has going for it is the iPhone. It has so many aps, but doesn't always have the best reception. It seems to be a great device for everything except talking. If you already have the Palm Pre with Verizon then you should be able to use it with Sprint. I have the Pre and I've been pretty happy with it. I'm really considering the EVO though. Everyone I know who has it loves it. I swear these people sound like commercials talking about all the great things their phone can do. I qualify for an upgrade now, but it's still over $100 out of pocket with the rebates.
I am in outside sales and I use my phone constantly. I don't have trouble with reception at all. When i was with a group of friends in the mountains camping my phone was the only one out of 12 of us that had continuous reception. Some people couldn't get their phones to work at all.
Also Sprint has free mobile to mobile minutes, any network, anytime. I don't know if I just received a specialty perk (I've been with them over 10 years), but each one of my lines has 5 designated landlines that are also free minutes anytime.
Price- I have 3 lines that have unlimited text, internet, & data. I also carry the $7/mo per phone insurance. I pay $150-160/mo. I qualify for a corporate discount through work so my rate is lower than standard. You may want to check with your work to see if they have discounts set up with any of the carriers. Most large employers do.
I've had all three. I had Sprint, went to AT&T.. I had them when they were AT&T, Cingular and then back to AT&T... and then I went with Verizon.. now were back at Sprint.
Hands down Sprint is the cheapest if you want the most out of your phones. If you like having a data plan/smart phone you can't get cheaper then Sprint. They have smart phones that have no additional monthly "smart phone" charge -- the Pre, Touch 2 Pro, Hero, etc. They also have a few newer 4G smart phones that have a premium charge but it's $10 a month. We have two Palm Pre's currently and spend about $125 for unlimited text, internet... I think we have 1500 minutes, we have free mobile to mobile calling to ANY mobile not just Sprint. We never come anywhere close to using up all our minutes. We also have free GPS service on our phones, and a slew of other nice little extras.
AT&T's service in DFW isn't as nice. My friend has it in PA and her service is excellent. Verizon had good service but our bill was as much as we're paying now for Sprint WITHOUT having internet or smart phones :(
In my area Sprint has great service. What I did was ask my friends on facebook in the area if anyone had Sprint and how the call quality was. As a side note - Sprint has a lot of ways to save money on your bill... I actually signed up with a credit union after doing some research and that gets me another discount off my bill. :) Before you sign up - check your employer, any schools you have a personal email for (universities, etc), and any credit union or military organization you have associations with. You can usually get another 10-25% depending who or what you're affiliated with.
Here is a blog I found about Sprint's discounts: http://www.mymoneyblog.com/sprint-cellular-discounts-for-...
Good luck :)
We have had good service and reasonably priced plans with Sprint for years. Their "friends and family" coverage has been great for us. My husband and I (as well as my mom and I) talk to each other unlimited without using up our minutes. However, I am considering switching to AT&T b/c I want an iPhone!
Husbs has Sprint and I have AT&T. Mine is a smart phone and his is not so smart. Actually he can get Internet, but he says it sucks. I love my iphone! I won't live with out it and have replaced 4, or 5, or maybe 6.
Both our bills are the same. $120. We get unlimited because we both use them for business and would pay an extreme amount if we had to pay for going over. He will probably get his iphone for Christmas and he can't wait.
As for coverage, I live in Vegas, but the suburb and get coverage all over. I used to know exactly where I would drop calls, but when it happens I call and tell them and then it is fixed. I imagine I am not the only one telling them.
I used to call sprint and ask questions and ask if they have any discounts and then they would say there were not discounts, but they could take $5 off my bill. I haven't don't it in years, but used to do it ALL the time, hehe.
We have T-Mobile. 4 lines, two with email/web/text, too many minutes, and it's under $200/mo. The rare dropped calls are usually w/another cell so it's a tossup if it's me or them. I'd love an iPhone but there's no way I can justify doubling or tripling my bill just to have AT&T.
My husband and I have a Sprint family plan (includes unlimited phone to phone, texting, NO INTERNET though) and we pay $120 a month. This doesn't seem cheap to me at all, especially since it doesn't have data/internet.
We had sprint 10 years ago then switched to AT&T, this year we switched back to sprint for 1 week. We ended up going back to AT&T because the "coverage" from sprint was bad, we received way too many dropped calls. However, if the coverage had been better, I would have kept sprint. Sprint was/is cheaper than our AT&T package. I just need more reliable service since I have 1 1/2 hour commute each way from work. (I live in the NW sub of Illinois)
Good luck!
If Sprint's coverage is good for your area, consider using Virgin Mobile, which is owned by them and uses their network. You can pay monthly with no plan, and get unlimited EVERYTHING -web, data/pics, text, phone- for 49.99/mo. I have the Rumor Touch that Virgin offers and I love it. It's not 4G but the internet works well, the touch screen isn't as responsive as my son's Ipod Touch, but not bad. I have never had a problem with their customer service, either.
We just switched from AT&T to Verizon. If you are going to make the switch - I would go to AT&T. Long story short - I didn't want to but my husband did and well - he won that battle. LOL
I have AT&T and hate it. My bill is outrageous but we do have 4 lines and the Internet. I LOVE my iPhone but I hate the service. My calls get
dropped all of the time. I used to make all of my calls in the car (bad, I know but that is the only time my kids let me talk on the phone) and can't anymore because the service is so bad. I miss verizon so much and am counting down the time til we can switch back next year. Verizon is coming out with their version of the iPhone early next year so that will be my next phone.
Our family of 3 carry IPhones and we have had ATT for years. Our service is good, never complaining about it.
We are in the DFW area and have no issues with coverage. We have experienced no issues with travel as well, especially when hubby is on the road in rural areas of MO, OK, TX, LA, CO, NE, AZ, NM. (well, all over the country and then some)
We do pay a lot for our services and I know you can get more reasonable plans from ATT. My daughter is bundled with my bill and I pay $196/month. We both have IPhones, unlimited plans with data, texting, etc. and minimal actual minute plans. We never use a home line for long distance or any calling for that matter.
Hubby has IPhone, his plan has higher minutes because he is in sales and uses more minutes. his bill runs around $172 per month....all unlimited text, data, etc to the max.
That said............YES you can get a cheaper monthly bill from ATT. They have been easy to deal with (especially when daughter loses, breaks or has a phone stolen). Our bill was never much more than $100 until we got the IPhones.
Good luck.
I am in the NW burbs of Chicago, I have had att for ummm ever!! However I am counting down the days til I can change. (6 more left!) I pay like 70.00 for talk and text only. I have been shopping around for a smartphone plan. I have looked at boost mobile, Cricket, and sprint. Both Cricket and boost use the sprint network, and are about 10.00 cheaper, but the "blackberry and android" plans are limited with apps. Sprint is 69.99 and it has everything. One of my BFF's has has sprint and loves them. The 69.99 has 450 talk minutes, but that is only counted day hours not nights weekends. All moble to mobile calls are free to any network. You just use minutes to land lines, and honestly, I don't know anybody right now that does not have a moble phone. My Bff does not even come close (and yes she, like me have the ultimate gift of gab;-)
Hope this helps. I am swithching to sprint in 1 week!!!!
