Verizon vs AT&T

[Chugbug]

I know this is a loaded question but I'm new to this site and may not have searched the right way. I've always been with Verizon and currently use the iphone 4 (for the last 4 years) and will be buying an Android GN3 this week, actually 2 GN3's and a G Mini. I've price them out with AT&T Next and Verizon Edge programs and it seems in the long run Verizon is going to be much more expensive. We will be paying roughly $213 under both programs for appx. 20 months then AT&T will cost us $128.00 per month vs. Verizon at $205. per month. If you purchase your smart phones under the Next program AT&T cuts their access fee from $40. a month to $15. a month for each smart phone for the life of those phones plus they said around the 3rd billing they will give a $100. credit for each smart phone you purchase ($300) with is pretty sweet. So I'm leaning towards AT&T but I've never had them, don't know anything about them. Is anyone using to Next or Edge if so what do you think and is Verizon better than AT&T (this is the loaded question). Whats the difference between the 2 carriers.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[wilyums]

The biggest difference you will see is price and coverage. Verizon is sort of you get what you overpay for. Their coverage and 4g LTE is second to none. I was on AT&T for years. Living in a rural community I waited on 3g and waited and waited. After a dispute over an air card that didn't work at the speed they said it would, I changed and never looked back. Here in KY AT&T's 4g is basically 3g I will say in larger areas it's quite fast, but out in the boonies you might a well be running the EDGE network. I don't know if this helps you. I hope that soon some of the other guys catch up and bring Verizon back to earth just a little, so I don't have to worry about losing my unlimited each time I need a phone. I know it's more expensive but I live in a rural area I have DSL through at& at home now because of the price before that I was using Verizon's home fusion. There was no comparison. I was getting downloads on 4g at 30mb speeds. I'm not trying to compare my DSL to that. I'm just trying to give you an idea of their network out here in the country. Again it's expensive but I think you get what you pay for. You may live in place where at&t is great and will be a better deal.

 

[k1ngr4t]

I'd have to agree with wily. If you're in a major area, I'd go with AT&T because a) it has the same network as other carriers around the world and b) will generally be more affordable for a single person plan. Verizon is more expensive and has their own exclusive network that only their phones will work on, and they're also always last to receive updates, but overall the service is reliable. I can't say it's great, as my dad's apartment just a little north of Atlanta has hardly any 3g coverage, but I generally have 4g.

Personally, I'd go with AT&T. I'm just sick of Verizon's added on BS and bloatware. I also hate dealing with Verizon reps at the stores! I dunno if others are any better, but I am so done with those guys...

 

[mountainbikermark]

Verizon is going down 1 paper cut at a time while other carriers are working hard to surpass king Verizon.
I'm sick of excuses why my signal sucks with Verizon.

Support Our Troops!!!
<><
NoteToo

 

[pc747]

I have switched from vzw to AT&t and have experienced better data consistency. At&T having hspa+ backing lte was a good decision it was like they learned from the iphone days with 3g and decided to take their time with LTE and it shows. When I left vzw I kept having LTE drop issues but I also believe the galaxy nexus had a lot to do with that as well. Any way since switching to At&T all the fears I had about dropped calls and not getting a signal was put to rest. And their customer service reps are just as helpful and friendly so personally I am happy with AT&T and with T-mobile nipping at their heels they are having to keep their prices a little more competitive which is even better. Any one deciding to make the switch to any carrier I recommend you do a few things:

1) ask all your friends or co-workers with the particular network their feel and experiences (if they are having a lot of data issues or dropped calls more likely you will too).

2) before cutting off vzw (especially if you still have unlimited data) try out the new carrier for the full 14 or how every many days they give you. In about 3 days you will know whether or not to keep it.

The first time I switched to At&t from vzw i picked up a s3 and was having all kind of data issues so I took it to to carrier and was able to continue on with life as my vzw phone still worked . Once the LTE bugs were ironed out I bought a Note 2 and did the same and this time around everything worked up to par so I went back to AT&t and this time ported my vzw number to it.

3) If your job requires a lot of traveling or you work in a reinforced building make sure that you either have access to wifi or you make sure your device will work in that building (or where you are traveling to).

Here are my pros and cons going from vzw to At&t

Pros: can buy a nexus device, cheaper than vzw, can take your device to T-mobile or straight talk (or any other gsm carrier).

Cons: have to make sure they are strong or have decent coverage in your areas as they do not have lte in some rural areas. They are just as bad about locking phones down as vzw fortunately you have options. Not all unlocked phones will work with their lte (If you buy international phones they may work but the best you may be able to get is hspa+ and with unlocked phones you may need to go into the carrier and make sure that device is activated on that sim. When I bought my nexus 5 I had issues where it would not connect to Lte took it to the store and fortunately the guy had experience with nexus devices and knew the problem I had as soon as I walked in).


Come October I would have been on AT&T for 2 years and I have to say I do not regret the move one bit. I can not even think of a second where my thought is me wishing I was back at verizon. At&t has a better selection of phones, their LTE is just as blazing fast (and in my area was voted more dependable with data and data speeds then vzw), I can use a nexus or gpe phone if I choose, and the plans are better and continuing to get better thanks to the competition with T-mobile (hence me rooting for T-mobile). At this point if all things were equal and in an area where the coverage was the same vzw vs at&t I would choose at&t 10/10 times because of the reason I listed. I feel like I chose to be on At&t vs with verizon I felt stuck because there were no other reliable options.

 

[Chugbug]

We live in the country and travel to southern Oh on a regular basis and Verizon works really well for us, just hate the cost in comparison to AT&T. AT&T has a store 10 minutes away in town but with Verizon we have to travel 30 minutes. I think all in all though we will probably stick with Verizon its a safe bet. Thanks for everyones help and comments!