ATT vs GTE Sprint

[sevencyclist]

I have carried the ATT iphone for past 5 years. There are spotty coverages especially in the hills above Palo Alto area with ATT, and some holes even within Menlo Park/Palo Alto area. I would love to have good coverage when I am biking in the hills.

Anyone with experience with GTE Sprint iphone and their coverage compared to ATT? I have the unlimited data with ATT currently, so would hate to give it up and not being able to come back to the plan.

[Gradient]

Take your at&t phone to T-Mobile and lower your monthly costs. I used to work for T-Mo but no longer, still use their services here in the Seattle area and get great coverage. My daughters have been pirating iPhones on T-Mo for years and now it is legit. I think Silicon Valley area has been bumped to 4G speeds for the iPhone but check.

[cody.wms]

GTE has been out of business for 13 years, so do you mean Sprint's LTE network?

[Chance Legstrong]

Sprint has unlimited data- you wouldnt be giving anything up
I have been using it for 8 years.
As with EVERY carrier, they have holes.
they do offer a 14 day return policy.
test one out, if you don't like return it

[Gradient]

Just to finish my thought, if your iPhone is off contract ask at&t to unlock it. If it is technically not off contract, have it unlocked by the myriad of service providers (craigslist/google) and have it done for like $20.

Walk into a T-mobile store and get a micro sim, transfer your phone number, and sign up for a month by month pay only service. Try it out for a month. If not happy, you have not committed to a contract or paying off a heavily discounted new iPhone on another carrier (Sprint/Verizon).

Regarding low coverage spots, that is a problem anywhere you have hilly topograhy. Add to that the California state/county/local jurisdictions create nightmares for cell companies because of their aggressive taxation enforcement sometimes double taxes companies so they try to avoid certian jurisdictions and leaves holes in coverage you will not find in other locals.

[cody.wms]

Just to finish my thought, if your iPhone is off contract ask at&t to unlock it. If it is technically not off contract, have it unlocked by the myriad of service providers (craigslist/google) and have it done for like $20.

Walk into a T-mobile store and get a micro sim, transfer your phone number, and sign up for a month by month pay only service. Try it out for a month. If not happy, you have not committed to a contract or paying off a heavily discounted new iPhone on another carrier (Sprint/Verizon).

Regarding low coverage spots, that is a problem anywhere you have hilly topograhy. Add to that the California state/county/local jurisdictions create nightmares for cell companies because of their aggressive taxation enforcement sometimes double taxes companies so they try to avoid certian jurisdictions and leaves holes in coverage you will not find in other locals.

To add to this, if your phone is >2 years old, go here and ask them to unlock it.

You can use your existing phone with ATT or T-Mobile. StraightTalk offers sims for both, and both offer pre-paid sims directly. My phone runs over ATT on StraightTalk and is $42 a month.

T-mobile service may be better in your area, but I have no idea. Sprint will probably improve as a company over the next couple years as Softbank injects huge piles of cash into it.

[sonnybiker]

the problem is your device not your carrier.

tmobile is great though. great plans, great prices, great coverage, great company. the fact that it's not att or vzw makes it that much better also.

[sonnybiker]

as for the bit about worrying about losing your grandfathered unlimited data- how much data do you actually use? is it more than the tiered plans currently offered?

your billing statement / account should have the data.