Apparently, the new 4G LTE service is coming at the expensive of taking towers offline while they are upgraded. 5 towers down in Louisburg, 3 in Wake Forest. I called Sprint yesterday and told them where to shove their phone.

So now its either AT&T or Verizon. I liked the Galaxy S3, but it had some quirks that I didnt care for. Any other suggestions of a competitive phone?

Looks like AT&T is $96 for 3gb of data, or $110 for Verizon at 4gb of data.

8/10/2012 6:39:14 PM

Why not look at something like Straight talk? AT&T service for $45/month. You just need to bring in an unlocked phone (you'll make up the price difference between locked/contract and unlocked/no-contract pricing in most cases less than 10 months).

If you're dead set on either of the big 3 carriers, then Verizon has the best coverage.

8/10/2012 6:48:50 PM

galaxy s2 then

8/10/2012 6:49:24 PM

Is is really necessary for you to create a new thread every time you need to make a minor decision about something? There are already tons of threads available for asking questions about cell phone providers and/or the phones themselves. Why don't you try using one of those? Maybe you could have used the one that you created yourself about a month ago.

Also, in that last self serving, tell-me-what-phone-to-buy thread you said you had been with Sprint since '03. How does that qualify as lasting less than a month? Rhetorical question, by the way, I could not possibly care any less if I were paid to do so.

8/10/2012 6:51:35 PM

^Didnt see any rules limiting the amount of threads one can create. FWIW, I was with Sprint since 03 on my fathers plan, less than a month on my own.

8/10/2012 7:03:08 PM

Verizon has more LTE coverage and free mobile hot spot.

8/11/2012 12:13:20 PM

straight talk

8/11/2012 4:31:04 PM

Ah, so now I know WTF theyve been doing in RTP

8/13/2012 10:45:41 PM

Good to know.

Possible providers in consideration after I *potentially* leave Verizon:

Sprint
AT&T *ding ding*

8/13/2012 10:50:54 PM

^ So whyforcome you leavin Verizon?

8/14/2012 7:11:00 AM

Sprint is charging me an ETF even though I activated with a used device that I bought on ebay. (hence no device subsidy or loss if I do not stay a full two years) They are charging $350.00.

They claim to have all the paperwork on file at the store, which they may, but I did some research and ATT and Verizon do not do this. Spring is the only carrier that does this, probably because their network is so shitty they have to get you any way they can.

I am going to complain till I am blue in the face about it. I think carriers should not be able to stick you with a contract when you provide your own device, the whole pretense behind the contract is they lose money on the phone they sold you.....but they did not sell me anything.

8/18/2012 9:21:07 AM

^ if they are going to charge you an etf anyway go buy a subsidized device before you cancel. sell it for cash and use the $ to cushion the etf fees

8/19/2012 3:54:35 PM

I already ported out, should have gotten an iPhone and sold it on ebay.

8/19/2012 8:50:27 PM

Fuck it I am going to call back and reconnect, order the iphone, sell it for $450 on ebay, and port the # out again.

8/19/2012 8:52:05 PM

Quote :

"^ So whyforcome you leavin Verizon?"

They are getting rid of my family plan with my wife if I ever upgrade my phone, and it's going to cost more for the same plan we've had for 6 years now. Time to do some shopping and maybe even save some money...

8/19/2012 11:15:55 PM

sprint = buttrape

8/20/2012 10:42:43 AM

unlimited data = lube

8/20/2012 1:46:59 PM

.5 mbps down = sawdust in the lube

8/20/2012 8:15:05 PM

yea FUCK YOU elnacho you wannabe thread nazi motherfucker. you want a power trip, go beat your redneck wife and get offa my internet.

ppl, make all the threads u want it's okay. The persistence in the que is the only authoritay we need in har

8/21/2012 4:48:10 AM

I lol'ed

8/21/2012 10:51:35 AM

So the iPhone 4 is steady dropping in price on ebay, I am scared if I order that one that it will flop in value and I wont make enough back to offset the ETF.

8/21/2012 12:44:01 PM

Quote :

"Apparently, the new 4G LTE service is coming at the expensive of taking towers offline while they are upgraded. 5 towers down in Louisburg, 3 in Wake Forest. I called Sprint yesterday and told them where to shove their phone."

...is this something you are guessing, or something they told you?

Honestly if they are taking towers offline while upgrading, I can promise you they're working around the clock to get them back online. Carriers hate downtime more than users and will do almost anything to avoid it.

8/21/2012 1:16:16 PM

Its what they told me. They have been down for a month according to them and wont go back online until end of the year.

8/21/2012 1:37:44 PM

Somebody likely fed you a line of bullshit. I would be very surprised if they have had towers off for a month and will be off until the end of the year.

I can see a few weeks (possibly a month) for construction, but after that...

[Edited on August 21, 2012 at 4:38 PM. Reason : ]

8/21/2012 4:13:29 PM

^ Since I don't know your credentials, why should I believe what you have to say over someone who works at Sprint? (honest/non-hostile question)

8/21/2012 7:34:10 PM

I work in the industry.

After talking with our RF guy, he said it depends on how they are set up and what technology is on each tower. If they are putting LTE equipment onto towers where they have PCS stuff, they'll likely power down the systems overnight (~10pm-5am) to do testing (something to do with spectrum availability), and that might actually last several months. So it is possible they are down, but likely just at night.

In the meantime though, I would honestly consider it a First World Problem.

[Edited on August 21, 2012 at 8:10 PM. Reason : ]

8/21/2012 8:09:21 PM

I used to get good/great signal at my mom's house. Now, I get 1 bar/dropped call repeatedly. Sprint.

8/22/2012 12:02:43 AM

I went from about 1-2 bars of 3G to full 4G at my new house in BFE. Thanks Verizon!

8/22/2012 8:27:54 AM

Pageplus (Uses verizon towers) 55 a month 2 gigs Unlimited talk and text.

Just buy a flashed verizon phone off ebay and your are in.

8/22/2012 3:51:38 PM

straight talk - 45/month for unlimited everything on att, tmo, and verizon towers depending on which phone you bring.

8/22/2012 4:12:58 PM

Quote :

"Verizon has more LTE coverage and free mobile hot spot."

Wait, free mobile hotspot? I'd like to know more about this. I grandfathered in an unlimited data plan and just recently bought a Droid 4 not through Verizon. What do I need to do to enable this? I figured there was a fee involved.

Wait, nevermind. Upon doing further research, I see that they won't let me do this without starting a new contract. Screw that.

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 9:48 PM. Reason : research]

8/22/2012 9:46:15 PM

Quote :

"straight talk - 45/month for unlimited everything on att, tmo, and verizon towers depending on which phone you bring."

From what i've read (most recent reviews being 2 months ago), ST will bug/harrass you if you hit around the 3GB data mark, and will drop you if you go over 6GB. Granted I usually hover around 2-3GB, but still. Unlimited data my ass. It's unlimited, until they drop you, which they reserve the right to do anytime without refund.

Still better than nothing.

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 11:14 PM. Reason : .]

8/22/2012 11:13:54 PM

Is the speed on straight talk comparable to other providers like AT&T? I know they're using the same towers. Will straight talk also get 4G if you're using a 4G phone?

8/23/2012 9:29:32 AM

I get identical speeds as when I was on att, but I did not follow the instructions and configure my phone to use the straight talk proxy. I imagine the proxy is what collects usage information as well and have had no issues with streaming or using my phone as a hotspot.

[Edited on August 23, 2012 at 10:29 AM. Reason : i do get hspa+ but the galaxy nexus gsm doesn't have LTE so I can't comment on that]

8/23/2012 10:28:39 AM

NC DOJ has forwarded my consumer complaint to Sprint.

8/25/2012 10:48:22 PM

i have the t-mobile unlimited data, 100 minutes for $30/mo right now on my GSM GNex...but doing voice over Talkatone / GrooveIP completely is not quite there quality-wise yet...my data usage on the network hasn't exceeded 500MB actually, which is surprising, so I think I'm going to switch to Straight Talk...

8/26/2012 1:05:18 AM

Can you use any phone with straight talk, or are you limited to the shitty phones that they offer for their service?

8/26/2012 11:50:07 AM

any unlocked GSM phone will work -- can't beat the Galaxy Nexus for $350 to be honest

8/26/2012 12:31:20 PM

cdma works too, just uses verizon towers

8/26/2012 5:12:51 PM

^ How do you hook up a CDMA phone to straight talk?

8/26/2012 6:12:52 PM

im not exactly sure - i know there are tutorials. you can also buy a cdma phone from them directly

8/26/2012 10:01:20 PM

Quote :

"Pageplus (Uses verizon towers) 55 a month 2 gigs Unlimited talk and text. Just buy a flashed verizon phone off ebay and your are in."

Quote :

"straight talk - 45/month for unlimited everything on att, tmo, and verizon towers depending on which phone you bring."

i don't know how AT&T 4G works, but since you have to have a SIM card to use verizon 4G (or you do with my tbolt), i assume you only get 3G even if you bring in a 4G phone?

my parents are out of contract with verizon, but are on a legacy alltel plan (3 VERY dumbphones sharing 900 minutes, 10 my circle numbers, and no texting for $80/month after taxes/fees) and they never go over their limits..."upgrading" to a verizon plan will jack it up to a minimum of $130 (or so i was told by verizon last night)

they're interested in getting smartphones before a big trip they're taking next summer and so were asking me what i'd suggest...they'd want to get it around the spring so they could learn how to use them before they leave and the more i think about it, the more something like ST/PP appeals to me for them...*i* rarely go over 2GB (and it's usually around 1GB) and mostly use just 3G for the battery life, so they should be fine with it

8/27/2012 10:54:06 AM

My dad used to work for Nortel and I can tell you that he personally managed construction efforts for RF towers. When properly motivated and money is no problem, a construction crew can erect a 100ft metal tower and have it fully operational in 8 hours.

They did this a lot in poor neighborhoods at night. lol


I highly doubt a tower would be down for months at a time.

8/28/2012 9:33:47 AM

Quote :

"Dear Ms. Williamson: Thank you for your recent complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau. Your account concerns have been forwarded to our Executive Offices, and I have been asked to address them. I apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced while attempting to resolve this matter. According to the information provided, you are disputing the validity of the Early Termination Fee assessed to your account stating that you activated your services with previously owed device. Please contact me by calling our Executive & Regulatory Services Department directly at (817) 215-**** or toll-free at 1-866-727-****, regarding case 1994***. I am available Monday through Friday, between 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Central Time. Sincerely, LaDonna J*** Executive & Regulatory Services Department ladonna.****@sprint.com"

8/28/2012 10:02:28 AM

If rural coverage is what you're looking for I don't know that AT&T is the answer.
Verizon is great, but sprint verizon = buttrape.
"We're not going to nickel and dime you on using the mobile hotspot feature that is built into your phone from the manufacturer...instead we're just going to charge you $1200 per year and limit you to 2GB of data transfer per month. Aren't we great!!!???!!!"

[Edited on August 28, 2012 at 12:39 PM. Reason : s]

8/28/2012 12:33:38 PM

sprint only works in cities, pretty much everywhere else is roaming and a crap shoot. I'm not even that far from Raleigh and get 1-2 bars at my house. Service in the city is good, only with them for the crazy discount for being with sprint for 14 years now and I have no need for a data plan. Everywhere I go has wifi.

8/28/2012 7:56:25 PM

^^ I do not see why everyone thinks they need unlimited data on their smart phone. As long as you are not doing stupid shit on it the usage should stay well under the plans that are available.

Certain businesses may actually need more, but most personal users are just being wasteful if they go over those limits.

8/28/2012 8:05:22 PM

^I think its more on the idea of people just want to be safe than sorry about their data package. It's hard to gauge your short term usage needs since you only get the bill once a month.

I know Verizon's data plans with their usb plug-ins allows you to see your complete cumulative download and upload numbers live. Not sure if you can see this with phone plans.

8/28/2012 8:39:49 PM

What's your definition of doing stupid shit? I'm at nearly 5GB with about a week to go in the billing cycle and that's with no tethering or video streaming. Pretty much only includes a few rom downloads and full app restores after factory resets in addition to normal browsing. I can definitely see where those who actually use the devices for what they're advertised for and don't have regular wifi access could end up using a good bit.

8/28/2012 8:44:50 PM

don't forget video chat now on most new phones... AT&T charges extra for that shit now since it hogs bandwidth according to them.

8/28/2012 8:48:13 PM