Topic: You Can Hear Me How? (Read 17544 times)

Brentai · « **on:** December 21, 2009, 11:04:57 PM »

So I've had a couple people ask me to consider switching my cell phone carrier who weren't telemarketers, and although I've always been more or less happy with Sprint, I'm always open to the possibility of there being something better. Sow how do you think the major phone carriers stack up? As I see it, it comes down to this:

Verizon
PROS:
* Has the most customers (which is at least relevant when you get into in-network calling plans)
* Fastest overall data rates in the nation*, if you're using your phone for that
* Tends to get top ratings in consumer reports
* Has a ton of phones to choose from

CONS:
* From what I hear their pricing practices can be conservatively described as "baby-raping evil"
* Coverage seems to be shittier than other carriers in large metro areas
* Second highest in price to AT&T overall

AT&T
PROS:
* omgz iphone!!!!!!
* Is a conglomerate of several telecomm companies with way more years of experience than the other carriers

CONS:
* Data network is a fucking joke
* Prices will fuck you
* Is a fucking telecomm conglomerate
* No seriously AT&T is pretty much trash unless you need a damned Apple phone

SPRINT
PROS:
* About the only time I have ever not had or lost the signal was when I was in an elevator
* Apparently has the most reliable data network too*, and is faster than Verizon on the West Coast
* Billing is always straightforward, probably especially if you get the flat-everything plan
* Best exclusive phones imo

CONS:
* No tethering. Ever.
* No SIMM cards either. Sprint basically hates technology.
* They tend to be huge dicks about signing and resigning the contract, but as far as I know that's pretty much universal
* Customer service is reportedly not great although I've never had a huge problem
* Is actively losing customers at the moment, which is not a great sign

T-MOBILE
PROS:
* Pretty much the cheapest plans around
* Gets really high marks for customer service

CONS:
* Reception is still unforgivably awful pretty much everywhere
* Really small network
* Has a tendency to lose all your Sidekick data
* Is also actively losing customers

* According to CNET

TA · « **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2009, 11:13:09 PM »

It's getting to the point where you should pick what phone you want, and go for what that's tied to. If you got drunk and trepanned yourself enough to think an iPhone is a good purchase, that means AT&T. If you want a Droid, that means Verizon.

I've got a G1, which means T-Mobile. For what it's worth, I've had no troubles with reception or anything, going up and down Maryland and Virginia.

I don't think Sprint has anything to recommend it. I was with them for years, across three phones, and never had a call without static.

Kayma · « **Reply #2 on:** December 21, 2009, 11:30:14 PM »

I have a Blackberry on T-Mobile. I have nothing but good things to say about their customer service.

When I was in college, my cellphone reception was unforgivingly poor. While T-mobile doesn't have nearly the coverage of AT&T or Verizon, it IS getting better all the time.

Brentai · « **Reply #3 on:** December 21, 2009, 11:33:04 PM »

Quote from: TA on December 21, 2009, 11:13:09 PM

It's getting to the point where you should pick what phone you want, and go for what that's tied to. If you got drunk and trepanned yourself enough to think an iPhone is a good purchase, that means AT&T. If you want a Droid, that means Verizon.

Not a bad strategy, but say I've got (access to) an unlocked Blackberry.

Mongrel · « **Reply #4 on:** December 22, 2009, 04:07:05 AM »

It's worth mentioning that reception quality is more a function of the quality of the phone than the quality of the network nowadays.

Miss Cat Ears · « **Reply #5 on:** December 22, 2009, 06:37:38 AM »

I don't have any problems with reception using T-Mobile. My parents don't have any reception issues with them either except near the airport. None of us have landlines and our cell phone service has been reliable.

I haven't heard anything but bad news about reception using AT&T.

Is a Sidekick an internet phone? I don't approve of phones with internet on them, but there are some sweet tokidoki skins for them. Although as far as phones go I'm still mourning the loss of my N-Gage.

Walker · « **Reply #6 on:** December 22, 2009, 07:12:01 AM »

You basically can't get anything but Verizon around here, that is if you actually plan to use your phone. Sprint has maybe ten square feet of service up near Yellowstone, otherwise 95% of Wyoming gets no service at all.

T-Mobile reception is shitty at best in this area, and I don't think there's an AT&T carrier anywhere in the state that I know of--not that anyone would want to use it anyway. So it's pretty much just Verizon.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #7 on:** December 22, 2009, 07:35:00 AM »

I can't use my iPhone inside my house. I get such poor reception in here. But down abouts my area, everybody uses AT&T, there's just no way around it. I can buy the cheapest plan and still make unlimited calls to friends during the day because of network-to-network.

Joxam · « **Reply #8 on:** December 22, 2009, 07:46:54 AM »

I use verizon and they tried to rape me on my first month's bill (I should say I use alltel but now I have to have verizon), but all I had to do was call them up and they actually offered to lower my bill for me. It was nice. I do not consider this an actual representation of their customer service, however. As, it was so out of the blue even I thought that guy must have been having a bad day with his company or something.

Niku · « **Reply #9 on:** December 22, 2009, 08:16:10 AM »

Yeah, I had tons of reception problems with T-Mobile, but I rarely have them with AT&T. Which isn't to say they never happen, but I've never had them during a call at least, just problems picking up a signal in places where I know there is one once every couple of months.

MadMAxJr · « **Reply #10 on:** December 22, 2009, 11:37:45 AM »

I'm also a T-Mobile G1 user. I have a friend who worked at HTC for a while. Apparently these guys work raw awesome into cellphones but then the carrier (T-Mobile, Verizon) decides to chop up the aweseome, spread it out, and lock new features that can be done on ANY google phone into exclusive new handsets (Droid voice navigation. Google navigation in general was delayed several weeks from other google units). Apparently if I unlocked my G1 I could do so much more with it.

My dad got the iPhone and on my last visit home I got to sit and compare a bit. The android market isn't incredibly diverse, but it does typically have everything I need. IRC client, very slick google apps, soundboards, and more, generally free to use. The only stuff that costs money seem to be the pointless (Super Yaztee!) and the very useful (laptop tethering apps, Outlook Sync apps, etc). The iPhone market on the other hand has many more apps you'll actually want to use, but from my brief glance it seems most people there charge at least .99 cents instead of offering something for free (though this was a year ago, correct me if I'm wrong).

T-Mobile coverage infuriates me. Most of the greater Kansas City area gets great 3G coverage. But when I went to Gencon in Indianapolis, I was stuck on the Edge network the entire time while in and around the god damned convention center. The CthulhuTech guys at the Catalyst booth were getting 3G on their respective carriers, what the hell? I also get spotty 3G coverage when I visit Oklahoma City. So apparently as long as I never leave my home area, my phone does a great job. Great. Voice quality and reception actually haven't been a major issue.

So in short, the parts of the phone that are google tech are awesome. The part where I have to rely on T-Mobile, not always awesome. I've also had to do a warranty call on the G1, the device was no longer registering actions when you slide the face closed. This second unit is doing just fine. Battery life kinda sucks though, but I suppose this should be expected when you get a first-gen piece of a line of technology.

Lottel · « **Reply #11 on:** December 22, 2009, 11:42:42 AM »

I use Verizon. The only problem with Verizon is they charge you incredibly high for the service they provide and they have a stranglehold on phones.
This leaves them with a lot shit tier phones for cheap and god tier phones with prices a small country can't afford.

I've only NOT have service a handful of times, and those were because my crappy phone did not have an antenna. But the area of me not having signal, even then, was about the size of a small room.

If you DO go with Verizon, and can afford the ridiculous price, I suggest an HTC phone of some kind. They are all pretty good, and differ enough for what you want. They are the least... Verizon of the Verizon phones.

FUN FACT: The iPhone was originally pitched to Verizon and they said no. They wanted to have control of (and profit from) music sales instead of Apple. Apple laughed and said "WHO ELSE WANTS THIS?!" AT&T sucked some cock and viola.

EDIT: voilà. I meant voilà.

Mongrel · « **Reply #12 on:** December 22, 2009, 12:05:40 PM »

Quote from: Lotteldactyl on December 22, 2009, 11:42:42 AM

AT&T sucked some cock and viola.

That sounds pretty painful

Lottel · « **Reply #13 on:** December 22, 2009, 12:10:40 PM »

Youse a funny man, youse knows that?

Kayma · « **Reply #14 on:** December 22, 2009, 01:57:52 PM »

Quote from: MadMAxJr on December 22, 2009, 11:37:45 AM

So apparently as long as I never leave my home area, my phone does a great job. Great. Voice quality and reception actually haven't been a major issue.

This is true for me as well. Great at home, spotty abroad.

Catloaf · « **Reply #15 on:** December 22, 2009, 03:27:59 PM »

I have an iPhone, and have never had any problems with it. Well, the internet without wifi is slow, but I almost always have wifi when I'm trying to use the internet with it.

MadMAxJr · « **Reply #16 on:** December 22, 2009, 04:20:38 PM »

I don't have any hard evidence, but I've heard T-Mobile will send you a warning if they think you are using the phone for tethering.

Dooly · « **Reply #17 on:** December 22, 2009, 05:09:04 PM »

I'm interested in which company has the best prepaid plan. I have no intention of using a cell phone for anything but talking to people, and I'll almost never actually use that either, so I don't want to pay for any amount of time I'm not actively using.

Ideally, I'd like to buy some unlocked RAZR for cheap off of Ebay, stick in a SIM card from some company's prepaid plan, use Google Voice to route all incoming text messages to my email, and just buy a twenty-dollar minute card when I've used up the minutes from my last purchase (which would probably take months).

Assuming there's any US company who'd be flexible enough to allow all that, I also wanted to get a second SIM card and prepaid account from a Canadian company for when I'm up there (ha ha, yes, I know, Canadian cell companies are all shit), and link both numbers to one master number through Google Voice. It turns out that I can't even activate a GV account while in Canada.

Mongrel · « **Reply #18 on:** December 22, 2009, 05:15:20 PM »

Welcome to Canada! We have rocks!

McDohl · « **Reply #19 on:** December 23, 2009, 05:43:27 AM »

God, I miss my RAZR so much. That phone was a wonderful thing.

These days, I'm haulin' around an iPhone that I got for 99bux off of AT&T's website. The PDA functions (calendar, e-mail, etc) are way more robust than anything I've ever used before, which makes me happy. Plus all the free toys on the iTunes store.

I also forgot to mention that I have a RED logo on mine, with the TF2 victory flourish as a ringtone, making it the BEST iPhone ever!

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Author Topic: You Can Hear Me How? (Read 17544 times)