gfunkdave

Hey all,

I'm going to be getting a new phone soon and am debating carriers. I've already settled on an iPhone, so the question is between Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T. My question to y'all is, what are your experiences?

My company has an AT&T corporate account, so the easiest thing for me would be to just get on the company account - AT&T bills them directly. But everyone I know in NYC says AT&T has a lot of random dropped calls and poor voice quality. The consensus among my many AT&T iPhone friends is that you can't use it for reliable voice, but data is fine.

Verizon is great at marketing itself as the best network, but my boyfriend has them and he has to stand by a window in our apartment to use his phone. Still, if they could be convinced to give me a Network Extender for free or cheap, I think they'd be my preference.

Finally, Sprint. A friend has them (he lives in Brooklyn) and says the service is fine. But I was reading a lot of complaints about their data network - apparently it's overtaxed so people get a lot of slow data speeds.

If I choose Verizon or Sprint, I can expense my phone bill (for now). I lean to them anyway since they will unlock the iPhone so I can use a different carrier's SIM when overseas. (I say I can expense for now because my firm might start making everyone get on the AT&T plan, in which case I'd keep my current number and get a separate work phone with AT&T - if they're truly that bad.)

I have had T-mobile for the last 7 years, and they've been surprisingly good both here and Chicago. Good voice quality, few if any dropped calls, decent coverage.

Thanks for any insights.

RooseveltL

I can only speak for the two networks I have personally had experience with.
Eliminate customer service.

AT&T is horrible in the tri-state area. I think the frequency of dropped calls and lack of coverage for the price you pay is unacceptable. Outside of NYC service is great but everyone who doesn't believe me and stays a week in NY says it really sucks!

Sprint works. Data may not be the fastest (don't have benchmark against other carriers) but never a problem and if you are dropped or dead zone you immediately roam over to Verizon CDMA network (e.g. train tunnel between NY/NJ on Amtrak) plus it doesn't hurt it is the most economical smartphone planes with unlimited data.

You must ask the question what is your usage requirements? Are you tethering via your phone or basic small apps (Dinner reservation, movies, flight checker, GPS)? I ask because people make a big deal of data and multi-tasking (retrieve data while talking on phone) but many times the same folks rarely are doing both.

themicah

AT&T's only clear technical advantage is the ability to use voice and data services simultaneously on the same device. If that is a capability you want/need, get AT&T, as you can't do it with a CDMA phone (Sprint/Verizon).

On the dropped call front, my geekiest friend with an AT&T iPhone says he occasionally suffers dropped calls, but more often is simply unable to place calls on his first try. I've had a Verizon Blackberry for about 5 years and can't remember the last time I had a dropped call outside an elevator, although with my current Blackberry (a Curve2) I have to place calls more than once before they go through sometimes. My previous blackberry, an 8730e, never seemed to have that problem so I don't know if the network got worse around the time I upgraded or if my newer Blackberry just isn't as reliable.

Before I got a Blackberry I had a Sprint dumbphone. It worked okay and was cheaper than Verizon, but there were lots of places in the city I didn't get service--once I switched to VZW I noticed a remarkable improvement. I think Sprint has improved in the last five years, but Verizon still seems to be the leader in terms of coverage. Very, very few businesspeople seem to use Sprint.

FlyinHawaiian

I have an AT&T iPhone 3GS. +1 just got a Verizon iPhone 4. I'm not very happy with the quality of AT&T's coverage in NYC. As others have stated, the bandwidth seems to be saturated here for AT&T's GSM network. I'd probably go with Verizon.

dchristiva

I've lived and worked in the tri-state area for a decade and been an AT&T customer for the last 5 years. Never had any complaints about their mobile service/coverage.

Analise

AT&T has dropped too many of my calls right here in the city as I'm walking down the street. Dumped them last year.

I have Verizon and haven't had calls dropped. I'm also under an unlimited data plan. If you can't get unlimited data from Verizon and want it, check out Sprint. They offer it.

blort

I just ended a five-year relationship with AT&T and couldn't be happier. I live in lower Manhattan and work in CT. My Blackberry (and I had several over the five years) was almost unusable for voice calls downtown or midtown. It was either five bars and "call failed" or a couple of bars and a poor connection. Throw in the many dead spots on Metro-North and it was extremely frustrating. I had a USB mobile broadband stick on AT&T that was equally useless in NYC.

It wasn't the phone, either -- the service was phenomenal when roaming outside the US.

I'm now on Verizon and much, much happier. I can make calls whenever I like, and I actually receive calls instead of just having the voicemail icon appear when the phone never rang. The 4G data is ridiculously fast, although I have to be far more conscientious about charging my phone (Galaxy Nexus) than before.

With respect to simultaneous data+voice, I was told that was possible on Verizon with 4G devices, but haven't verified that firsthand. It was something I used only a couple of times with AT&T and haven't really cared.

RooseveltL

You are in the minority. Many AT&T folks have had to borrow my phone to place a call, stay on a conference call, etc. in Manhattan & my part of NJ not because of their phone just AT&T network drops too much. I returned my ATT iPhone upon initial purchase and cancel because of horrible coverage (which wasn't hardware related) = pay too much for too little consistency.

:Very, very few businesspeople seem to use Sprint. :

I would have to disagree - IBM major contract is via Sprint - they are big and nationwide.

I feel Verizon is the best but you pay a premium - or company will cover you. If a personal value vs. function - I think Sprint and/or T-Mob are your best choices. I can't speak for TMob coverage and/or service but can't be worse than AT&T.

Keep in mind - every opinion on cell phone is equal to opinion on airline, automobile, etc. Two people with identical circumstance may have a different take-away because of their expectations, monthly bill and benchmark of what they rate as good.

Good luck with your choice and keep in mind you can always return/cancel with any service within 30 days so just don't port your phone until you vet it during your normal daily routine.

FlyinHawaiian

I blacklisted Verizon and dumped them a few years ago and have taken a blood oath never to be their wireless customer ever again but I cannot in good faith recommend AT&T over Verizon in NYC. I've had too many bad calling experiences on my phone when +1 is sitting next to me on her Verizon phone without any problems at all.

erik123

The December consumer reports covers this. Verizon came out tops in NY.

ijgordon

Terrible experience with iPhone 4 on AT&T: dropped/failed calls, calls not received (while the phone was in my lap waiting for a call, voice mail indicator just popped up, and the caller told me that the phone did in fact ring). Often very bad data service -- 3-4 signal bars but won't connect or incredibly slow. Sometimes I'll lose service walking down the street (happened in Times Square the other day) and it'll be 10 blocks before I can get the data connection back up and running. Sometimes (not often) it can take a few blocks until the service comes back on after exiting the subway. And yes, lots of dead spots on Metro North, I don't even bother trying to make a call anymore. Ugh.

I think part of the problem may be with my handset (I seem to have worse experience than others with the same phone in the same location), but it's also clearly a network problem.

That said, I've had very good experiences with customer service, although Verizon was very good too when I had them prior to my first iPhone. I think I'm going to have to switch back when my contract is up, although the $2 b.s. that VZ tried to pull makes me a bit leery.

bhatnasx

I have AT&T on a 3G blackberry. My office is on the 49th floor of a building in Midtown near Times Square - I have usually 1-2 out of 5 service bars that high up. Go down to ground level and I have full service, no problems.

I live in Brooklyn in Crown Heights on the 9th floor of a 14 story building with nothing more than 4-5 story brownstones around me for the most part - in my apartment, I have 2-3 service bars, but dropped enough calls that I ended up buying a MagicJack (worth the money, IMHO - and the fact that you can take it with you internationally & have a local US number over the internet and use a real phone and not Skype? Good too!).

If I didn't have an unlimited international data plan for $65/mo - I'd switch to another carrier - but my plan is too good to give up, so I deal with it.

dchristiva

Maybe. But I don't care. It works for me.

Nugget_Oz

Having used Verizon, AT&T and T-mobile it would be Verizon by a country mile.

I still have AT&T data for a blackberry and often the 3G signal will disappear and be replaced with EDGE which is a real pain.

Analise

Does Verizon still offer unlimited data? I know Sprint does but not sure about Verizon.