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Switching phone carriers

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Turfg

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Been with Verizon for 10 years. Picking up the new Samsung Galaxy S5 next week and thought this would be a good time to review other options. Verizon basically works wherever I am so that's my big question now... Will others provide same coverage but on a cheaper plan. Also, some carriers are not including certain features on their S5's.

Any advice?
 
If you live in or drive through rural or non-metro areas a lot than you shouldn't change carriers, but there are likely multiple carriers who can offer you similar or better voice and data coverage for less money if you live in a medium to large city or surrounding area.
 
I think Straight Talk is on the Verizon network, so that might be a good option for providing the "same coverage but on a cheaper plan" as you say above -- you might be able to use a GS5 on it, not sure about that
 
if I have an ATT iPhone 4S and am thinking about switching to verizon... do I HAVE to get a new phone?
 
AT&T is a GSM network while verizon is a CDMA network. your iPhone has GSM guts, and won't work on a CDMA network
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
If you live in or drive through rural or non-metro areas a lot than you shouldn't change carriers, but there are likely multiple carriers who can offer you similar or better voice and data coverage for less money if you live in a medium to large city or surrounding area.
Click to expand...

Verizon has the best network, and this becomes apparent when you are in remote areas like above. My parents used to live in the mountains of VA, and only Verizon could provide reliable coverage. But if you are in big cities or close to a major highway, all the carriers can provide good service.

I'm shopping, too, and have noticed that everybody but Verizon has plans around $40/person/month for Talk, Text, and Data. Verizon will give Talk and Text for $40, but charge separately for data plans, which is almost another $30-40. Anyone know how to get a better Verizon deal? Verizon is having a BOGO on top-end phones, but their monthly charges make it not worth it in the long run.
 
If you want to stay on the Verizon network, look into Straight Talk. It runs on the Verizon network and has an "unlimited" voice, text, and data plan for $45/mo. (They do throttle your data speed after 2.5 gigs/mo).

Every major network has these resellers called MVNO's like Straight Talk. Service quality is exactly the same, but each MVNO varies greatly as far as what phones are allowed and what their data plans look like. The best way to save money is to buy a used phone on Swappa (or similar) and use it on an MVNO.
 
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As another posted if you travel through rural areas better stay with Verizon. In the NC Mts. along the Blue Ridge Parkway Verizon is the only dependable carrier. This is also true in New England as Verizon is a must if you travel through Vermont. I have had SunCom which was bought by T-Mobile and ATT. Neither provided the coverage of Verizon.
 
I took the boards advice and switched to Ting. It has been amazing so far - two months in.
 
420 Wireless.... Donates a portion of the proceeds to legalize cannabis in the US

LOL. Insert joke here.
 
smallbigtall said:
Not sure your question makes sense, because Straight Talk is an alternative to Verizon (but uses the CDMA Verizon network), much like Virgin is an alternative to Sprint (but uses the Sprint network). In any event, this might give you the answer you're looking for:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_virtual_network_operators
Click to expand...

You're right. I was looking at their website, and I saw some stuff about GSM phones and sim cards and didn't read it clearly. Thanks for the link as well.
 
Explain to me how you folks did the Ting... sucked it up on the purchase of a new phone at full price? Where did you you purchase the phone? Describe the quality of service, etc..
 
the only downside to pre-paid carriers like straight talk is that they don't have contracts with regional carriers.. so if you have a verizon phone on straight talk it will work on all the verizon towers but not their roaming towers.. so if you are in the mountains of nc you will have no signal because they won't ping off of the carolina west towers
 
Turfg said:
Explain to me how you folks did the Ting... sucked it up on the purchase of a new phone at full price? Where did you you purchase the phone? Describe the quality of service, etc..
Click to expand...

I already had sprint on a phone with an expired contract so I just switched over to the phone through the website. Went from $75 a month to $18. The service is exactly the same as before
 
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Good god. Straight Talk's non iPhone selection is fucking awful.
 
No idea what plans are out there these days, but as far as coverage I would not leave Verizon.
 
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