Best cell phone provider

[HappyGilmore]

We currently have Tmobile and have had them for a long time. We have been having trouble recently with a lot of calls dropping for no apparent reason. Thinking of switching so that I can get a smart phone also but don't know too much about them or the carriers. Who and what is the best carrier and phone?

 

[Rora]

I've had AT&T for years and love it. I have an iPhone, which I also love.

I think your best bet is to go into the different phone company stores and check out their phones, learn about their packages, and make a decision.

I'm sure everyone will have different answers, here on the DIS! Good luck!

 

[msjprincess]

Ask people in your are about their coverage.

 

[rie'smom]

I agree with Rora because I have At&T and an iPhone.
I also agree with msjprincess because having good coverage in your area is the most important thing.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I think you need to take an inventory of your needs and usage. Are you one to travel a lot, does your travel include international, do you want a basic phone or a more advanced device/smart phone? I'd also look at how old your phone is, it might not be the service provider, it could be your phone that is starting to fail. Whatever you do, don't choose a carrier based on a phone, choose a carrier based on your usage and the quality of their network.

As for me, I have Verizon Wireless. I choose Verizon because they have the largest coverage area with 3G service. They do have slightly slower speeds then AT&T, but because they use CDMA technology, the call quality is superior (this is just a by product of the technology, CDMA naturally has better quality then GSM). I do have a Global Phone for traveling as CDMA is not that common outside North America so I need to have one to access the GSM networks. I have a BlackBerry Storm 2 and my partner has Android based phone (HTC Incredible) and both are overall excellent, although the Android definately has an edge.

 

[samshane]

Definitely shop around as others have said. We went with Verizon and I am 100% happy with them to this point. Great coverage - even in places where I couldn't get coverage before.

 

[HOGFAN]

Verizon

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Overall, Verizon is better but it might not be the case where you live. Find out the reception quality that users of your frequent places to be have. Ask.

But, I do get bad reception at Pop Century, if that matters. And other WDW spot is fine.

 

[cc1013]

It really depends on coverage in your area. As msjprincess recommended, it's probably a good idea to discuss coverage with people in your area.

We have had Sprint and Verizon. Hands down, Verizon has been better for us. Sprint was terrible (dropped calls, horrible customer service, etc). We are anxiously awaiting the upcoming launch of the Verizon iPhone.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

Depends on where you live and coverage... chances are Verizon is going to be the best though. iPhone or Droid are good smartphones.

 

[tvguy]

Ask people in your are about their coverage.

And look at their coverage maps. Providers seem to be pretty honest about their coverage maps.
Where I live Verizon seems to be the best option by a hair over ATT. Sprint has big coverage holes here, our corporate owner switched all 30,000 company owned phones to Sprint, and now they wonder why they can't always get a hold of us at my location. T mobile would be my last choice.
Now Verizon isn't perfect, their voicemail system does funky things. My daughter got a voicemail from me 2 months after I left it. When we had Verizon at work, we'd often get voicemails a day or two late.

 

[disneychrista]

Ask people in your are about their coverage.

This is what I would say too.

It all depends on where YOU live and where you will use the phone. In my area US Cellular seems to be the best, Verison #2 others have more spotty coverage.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Verizon does in my area (at least IMO) but that could very well be different in your area. Ask your neighbors, co-workers, friends, family members, etc and see who has had the best or worst experience with their phone company.

If a couple of companies seem to be a "tie" then I would look into which has the better phone options and prices.

 

[bicker]

Verizon has the best coverage in my experience, but we've now gone with AT&T because their coverage is almost as good, given our usage patterns, and we got a good rate with them through my wife's employer.

 

[arminnie]

I had Sprint for years. I never had dropped calls. I got an iphone for my birthday 2 years ago so had to switch to AT&T. I lost 2-3 phone calls a day. I really was unhappy with the service. All of my friends knew that the chances of having an uninterrupted phone call with me were slim.

So when the Droid x came out I decided to switch to Verizon. Partly because they have a major presence in my home town. I didn't like the Droid. Personal preference not knocking it - It just wasn't for me.

So I go to return it about 36 hours later. OMG - Verizon was HORRIBLE BEYOND BELIEF. I must have made 6-7 trips to accomplish that task. They tried to keep me from porting it back to AT&T. They lied and lied. They were worse than timeshare salesmen.

After hours and hours I finally got my phone number back to AT&T. Any company that can make AT&T look great has to be really, really bad. I got charged hundreds of dollars in restocking fees. I am still in dispute with them over another $121 they tacked on after that.

I upgraded to iphone 3GS and now I never have dropped calls. I am actually very happy. But if Verizon iphone service had been available I would have ended up with Verizon. The thought of giving that &%$#^^ company another penny of my money makes my head want to split open.

I cannot believe that company operates with such sleazy, sleazy operating principles.

 

[Imzadi]

Depends on where you live and coverage... chances are Verizon is going to be the best though.

Yes, it depends on where you live. The best thing is to ask people around you how their coverage is. What is their percentage of dropped calls, bad connections etc.

Around here, you'd think all carriers would be equal in such a large metropolis. But, Verizon has the best coverage because they inherited & owned all the landline phone lines & equipment, from way back when the (original) AT&T phone monopoly was forced to break up. Because of that, when technology went cellular, they already had equipment in prime real estate locations and just added the cellular equipment on.

AT&T & T-mobile just don't have as much coverage. Sprint is the absolute worst. Everyone I have polled, and it has been many, as well as reading message boards, have said this.

You need to find out what is going in in your specific area not in another part of the country.

 

[njmom47]

We've had Cingular/AT&T since day one. As far as customer service goes, I think they are #1. They have consistently gone out of their way to keep me as a customer. My dds have brand new4G Iphones and love them. The rest of us have pretty much basic (phone and text). I am happy with them.

That being said, when we went on vacation in upstate NY a couple of years ago, the only cellphone that worked was Verizon. I was impressed, but not enough to change providers.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

In regards to sleazy business practices, I am sure any of these companies would be capable of that. I had a bad experience with AT&T upon leaving, as a result I won't give THAT company another dime again ever.

My situation was when I left AT&T and went to Verizon. I had auto bill pay. I tried to cancel my AT&T phone a good long while before the next bill was due, I am thinking 3 weeks plus. I told them at the end of this billing cycle I want it shut OFF, no more service, we are done, it is over...and they were like OK. Long story short, they charged my CC in the NEXT month's cycle. I was month to month, out of contract. I stayed on hold for like 45 minutes bouncing back and forth between reps, of course they denied ever having the conversation of TURN IT OFF 3 weeks before. I never did get my money back, so I have completely written them off as theives. Just to be safe, I went ahead and cancelled that credit card so they couldn't make any further charges.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

In regards to sleazy business practices, I am sure any of these companies would be capable of that. I had a bad experience with AT&T upon leaving, as a result I won't give THAT company another dime again ever.

My situation was when I left AT&T and went to Verizon. I had auto bill pay. I tried to cancel my AT&T phone a good long while before the next bill was due, I am thinking 3 weeks plus. I told them at the end of this billing cycle I want it shut OFF, no more service, we are done, it is over...and they were like OK. Long story short, they charged my CC in the NEXT month's cycle. I was month to month, out of contract. I stayed on hold for like 45 minutes bouncing back and forth between reps, of course they denied ever having the conversation of TURN IT OFF 3 weeks before. I never did get my money back, so I have completely written them off as theives. Just to be safe, I went ahead and cancelled that credit card so they couldn't make any further charges.

That is pretty much word for word what happend to us when we switched over to Verizon. AT&T did everything in their power to charge us hundreds of dollars worth of fees and refused to reverse the charges until we threatened them with a lawyer (didn't actually have a lawyer but the threat seemed to work).

 

[jedijohn]

The obvious choice is Sprint. You can get the HTC Evo which is superior to the iPhone. One great benefit is that you can tether your phone to your laptop without paying an additional fee. This means you don't need to pay for internet while at WDW. They also have great customer service, responding to my inquires very promptly. Coverage has been exceptional; we love streaming music on my HTC phone while we are driving down the interstate. And the price can't be beat, especially considering they don't limit their data like most other cellular providers do; they also have unlimited mobile-to-mobile on ANY CARRIER (not just friends/family that have Sprint service)!!