Sprint vs Verizon

[mill4023]

Anyone have Sprint?

We've had a family plan with Verizon for at least 5 years and have been happy with it. But with DW's blackberry and my plan to go from a regular phone to a smartphone in the fall, the costs are getting really high. I'm also not happy about the news that the unlimited data plans are going away.

I'm currently paying about $240/month for 1 blackberry and 4 non-smart phones. That will go to at least $270 when I upgrade and I know DS16 and DD13 would love to have smart phones if they could.

So I just checked out Sprint and it looks like I can get a family plan with 5 smartphones, 1500 shared minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile calling on any carrier, and unlimited data for everyone for just under $240/month.

Sounds like an easy decision, but I have no idea how good or bad Sprint service is. I have a T-Mobile blackberry for work and it's terrible. I lose calls all the time and completely lose signal inside many buildings. Verizon has always been super reliable for us and I don't want to switch to Sprint if the service is going to be significantly worse.

 

[tOSU]

Anyone have Sprint?

We've had a family plan with Verizon for at least 5 years and have been happy with it. But with DW's blackberry and my plan to go from a regular phone to a smartphone in the fall, the costs are getting really high. I'm also not happy about the news that the unlimited data plans are going away.

I'm currently paying about $240/month for 1 blackberry and 4 non-smart phones. That will go to at least $270 when I upgrade and I know DS16 and DD13 would love to have smart phones if they could.

So I just checked out Sprint and it looks like I can get a family plan with 5 smartphones, 1500 shared minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile calling on any carrier, and unlimited data for everyone for just under $240/month.

Sounds like an easy decision, but I have no idea how good or bad Sprint service is. I have a T-Mobile blackberry for work and it's terrible. I lose calls all the time and completely lose signal inside many buildings. Verizon has always been super reliable for us and I don't want to switch to Sprint if the service is going to be significantly worse.

With any carrier they have good areas & they have bad. I have had Sprint for years & only problem I have had is there is an area when I drive through the calls drop. It is probably a 1 mile section where they must not have coverage right.

 

[soxfan11901]

If you travel alot you may want to check their coverage areas.
I had Sprint when I lived in Dallas with no problems to speak of.
But when I moved back to Maine I had to switch to Verizon because Sprint had no service here.
I've been very happy with Verizon btw. Consumer Reports consistently rates them the best overall carrier.

 

[luvmy3]

Before switching you should check out who has towers near you, you can google to find websites that do it. I'm stuck with Verizon but luckily there are cell companies that use their network so I can switch over to them, and not lose service and pay less.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Also, make sure you are comparing Apples to Apples when it comes to price, as in make sure you are taking your taxed bill from Verizon and comparing it to your taxed bill at Sprint or use pre-tax on both if easier.

Personally, I have found Verizon has the best overall coverage in terms of 3G and Voice when compared to other carriers, that said if you look specifically city to city, you may see variations from this because there is no best everywhere.

As for the data bit, since the two largest carriers are now moving to tiered plans, I would expect others to follow suit in the near future, but the good news is you can lock in unlimited data if you add it to your plan/line before July 7.

 

[mill4023]

As for the data bit, since the two largest carriers are now moving to tiered plans, I would expect others to follow suit in the near future, but the good news is you can lock in unlimited data if you add it to your plan/line before July 7.

Maybe. But I could also see Sprint keeping the unlimited data plans since it's a good marketing advantage over the others.

I read through all the information about the Verizon change, but I still wasn't clear on whether you would be able to keep unlimited data if you add it to a feature phone now and upgrade to a smart phone later.

I did some digging and it sounds like a lot of people in my area have complaints about inconsistent coverage with Sprint. I guess we'll probably stick with Verizon because we've been totally satisfied with them, at least as far as reception and consistency of service in the area and when traveling.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Maybe. But I could also see Sprint keeping the unlimited data plans since it's a good marketing advantage over the others.

That is the reason Verizon used for keeping their unlimited since AT&T announced their tiered plans. To be honest though, it's hard for companies to justify the unlimited with data usage growing exponentially each year. Sprint is the least financially sound of the group and they do not have the same capital resources to throw into expanding their data capacity as AT&T and Verizon do, so I think they will need to mirror the same plans in the future.

I read through all the information about the Verizon change, but I still wasn't clear on whether you would be able to keep unlimited data if you add it to a feature phone now and upgrade to a smart phone later.

If you do not have an smart phone you cannot add an unlimited smart phone plan to a feature phone. So you would need to upgrade to a smart phone and add an unlimited data plan by July 7.

 

[mill4023]

If you do not have an smart phone you cannot add an unlimited smart phone plan to a feature phone. So you would need to upgrade to a smart phone and add an unlimited data plan by July 7.

When I logged into my account, it looked like it was giving me the option to add the unlimited data plan for $29.99. But I didn't go through with the transaction, so I'm not sure if it would have stopped me. It didn't look like there was any difference in data plans between smart phones and non smart phones.

 

[HonnyDipp]

I've been with Sprint for over 6 years. I started out with a regular phone then moved to the smart. Android actually. There is a rate increase with all smart phones because of the data. But with Sprint, the increase usally comes with unlimited everything so with me and my mom & DD16 (who has the blackberry on my plan) it was worth it. For us, dropped calls etc, we've never had a serious problem with it.

A few years ago, I thought about switching to Verizon, but I was turned off by the bigger store, it reminded me of the DMV total opposite with my Sprint Store.

 

[Michelle67]

I had Sprint for years with no problems living smack in the middle of a city, but once I moved outside the metro area and into a semi-rural area, I had constant call drops, missed calls, etc. I switched to Verizon and only rarely have issues now.

I can't imagine paying close to $300 for phones per month. I'd faint. Good luck, I hope you find just the right plan for you.

 

[luvmy3]

OP, have you looked at Page Plus? They use the Verizon network so their coverage will be the same. They don't have unlimited data packages, but they have a $30/ month plan and you get 1200 minutes, 2000 txts and 100MB of data per month. They have minute cards that you can add if you need to. I refuse to have to spend $30 a month extra for data on Verizon, so I'm switching over.

http://www.pagepluscellular.com/

 

[Maridw]

Before you switch I recommend you get onto the Sprint page and start pricing phones etc.

We switched to Sprint at the beginning of April and were back to Verizon by the end of April. I thought I had it all figured out and we could get a better plan with more minutes and smartphones for the same price. Once we switched it ended up being over $40 more with 1 less line than we had on Verizon.

It says "Unlimited Data" but unless you are going with the "Simply Everything" plan, some of the smartphones require an additional data package. We were going with the "Everything Data" plan for 2 lines at 1500 minutes - $129.99. Then there was the additional data package required for both of our smartphones - $20. Add in the insurance on both phones - $14. Now at $163.99 not including taxes and surcharges. On Verizon we had 3 lines sharing 700 minutes and were paying less than $150 including taxes etc. (but only insurance on 1 phone).

We now have 2 lines, phones with additional data package ($20 - not smartphones), insurance on both phones - $10. Plus we found out we could get a military discount. Now we are paying less than we were before and have data with it.

 

[tvguy]

My personal cell phone account is with Verizon, 5 phones, no smart phones, 700 shared minutes per month, 500 text messages for $120 a month. We just upgraded to unlimited texts, so my bill jumped to $130 a month. Since almost everyone we call tends to be on Verizon, 700 minutes is far more than we need.

But to be honest, look at a coverage map, and talk to folks with Sprint in your area. My national corporation switched to Sprint one year ago this week. Worked just fine in 79 of the 80 cities we do business in. EVery city put ours. Sprint has huge dead spots here, so much so that this week our location only switched back to Verizon. More expensive, yes, but our Sprint phones were just paper weights most of the time.

 

[Maridw]

While we did not notice dead spots, when we went to return our phones there was someone in the shop talking to a salesperson about the sporatic service. She had a BIG problem with getting no service on her phone. The salesperson could not offer any help to her situation. She really did not even seem interested in the woman's problem.

After seeing this and other problems we had in the short time we were with Sprint, we were glad to go back to Verizon.

 

[goofy!]

Anyone have Sprint?

We've had a family plan with Verizon for at least 5 years and have been happy with it. But with DW's blackberry and my plan to go from a regular phone to a smartphone in the fall, the costs are getting really high. I'm also not happy about the news that the unlimited data plans are going away.

I'm currently paying about $240/month for 1 blackberry and 4 non-smart phones. That will go to at least $270 when I upgrade and I know DS16 and DD13 would love to have smart phones if they could.

So I just checked out Sprint and it looks like I can get a family plan with 5 smartphones, 1500 shared minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile calling on any carrier, and unlimited data for everyone for just under $240/month.

Sounds like an easy decision, but I have no idea how good or bad Sprint service is. I have a T-Mobile blackberry for work and it's terrible. I lose calls all the time and completely lose signal inside many buildings. Verizon has always been super reliable for us and I don't want to switch to Sprint if the service is going to be significantly worse.

We have this exact plan, complete with 4 4G smart phones and one regular smart phone.

Love it. Haven't had a problem yet. I am hard on phones and Sprint has replaced my Epic 4 times in the past year, no questions asked. We have always had outstanding service from them.

They were recently rated the company (not just phone company, but any company) with the best overall improvement in customer service. You can definitely tell they worked on their customer service which was previously a bit weak.

It always blows my mind when I hear what other people pay for their data and voice.

 

[Clifton]

I've had Verizon for 6 years and paying $56/month for talk and text. I now have Virgin Mobile (owned by Sprint) paying $25/month, no contract for 300 minutes and unlimited text and data. I have the LG Optimus V with Android 2.2.1 and so far works great. I wouldn't say as great as Verizon/At&t contracts with $30+/month data packages but good enough for me. Other VM Beyond talk plans are: $40, same as $25 but with 1200 minutes and $60 for Unlimited everything.

YouTube works good despite slow buffering but isn't most phones like that lol.

 

[goofy!]

Before you switch I recommend you get onto the Sprint page and start pricing phones etc.

We switched to Sprint at the beginning of April and were back to Verizon by the end of April. I thought I had it all figured out and we could get a better plan with more minutes and smartphones for the same price. Once we switched it ended up being over $40 more with 1 less line than we had on Verizon.

It says "Unlimited Data" but unless you are going with the "Simply Everything" plan, some of the smartphones require an additional data package. We were going with the "Everything Data" plan for 2 lines at 1500 minutes - $129.99. Then there was the additional data package required for both of our smartphones - $20. Add in the insurance on both phones - $14. Now at $163.99 not including taxes and surcharges. On Verizon we had 3 lines sharing 700 minutes and were paying less than $150 including taxes etc. (but only insurance on 1 phone).

We now have 2 lines, phones with additional data package ($20 - not smartphones), insurance on both phones - $10. Plus we found out we could get a military discount. Now we are paying less than we were before and have data with it.

but you are not even comparing apples to apples. 700 minutes vs 1500, smart phones vs no smart phones, insurance vs no insurance, etc. And the extra $10.00 per month is not for every smart phone, just the handful of 4G smart phones. Regular smartphones such as most of the android phones are included in the everything plan with no upcosts on the dataplan.

With teens, what saves us is not only the unlimited texting and but mostly the unlimited mobile to mobile since they can call anyone of their friends cell phones without any hits to our minutes, regardless of carrier.

Since our teens rarely call somebody's house landline, they don't have to worry about spending minutes calling other cell phones.

 

[dundee10]

I've had Verizon for 6 years and paying $56/month for talk and text. I now have Virgin Mobile (owned by Sprint) paying $25/month, no contract for 300 minutes and unlimited text and data. I have the LG Optimus V with Android 2.2.1 and so far works great. I wouldn't say as great as Verizon/At&t contracts with $30+/month data packages but good enough for me. Other VM Beyond talk plans are: $40, same as $25 but with 1200 minutes and $60 for Unlimited everything.

We moved from Sprint to VM and have been pleased, too. The Optimus V is a good solid Android phone. The VM rates are hard to beat. OP, if this is your first smartphone, I think you'd be pleased with the phone, the network (but do check coverage for your area), the rates.