Verizon - Now even more awesome

[Drawmonster]

Their prices and data caps are my gripe.

Same for AT&T though. Verizon and AT&T are too big and powerful. They just play off each other and fuck the consumer in the process. One raises prices, the other follows. One get's rid of unlimited data, the other does as well. It's just a big game for them, and the only losers are the consumers who have to use one of them.

 

[entropism]

AT&T's 850 is HSPA+ as well, and their 1900 does GPRS and Edge. It's all homogenized these days, has been for about 3-4 years now.

T-Mobile's building penetration for HSPA+ is no worse than AT&T. It's their Edge coverage that cannot penetrate as well. Higher frequencies offer higher potential speeds, but lower frequencies offer better coverage and penetration. This is why AT&T can have Edge (850mhz) outdistance their 3G (1900mhz). T-Mobile uses 1900mhz for Edge, but uses 1700/2100 (AWS) and 1900mhz for 3G.

 

[lawlz_xd]

Why is Verizon Wireless so popular amongst consumers? Their prices are ridiculously high. Yes, they have LTE but honestly, who needs 30MBPS+ speeds on a mobile device? Yes, you can tether and boast that your cell phone is faster than most others home connection but what's the point when data plans are throttled after x GB?

 

[bastage]

I was no contract with Tmo... Just got tired of the lack of service & am not paying substantially more & under contract with VZN.. For as much as I hate the bastards, there coverage is just plain fucking better..

 

[Valaire]

Why is Verizon Wireless so popular amongst consumers? Their prices are ridiculously high. Yes, they have LTE but honestly, who needs 30MBPS+ speeds on a mobile device? Yes, you can tether and boast that your cell phone is faster than most others home connection but what's the point when data plans are throttled after x GB?

In many areas, Verizon's network is more reliable (faster to find signal and connect) and has more expansive coverage. This has been the case for a long time. It is not about offering LTE itself.

 

[txsizzler]

Although I enjoyed the Verizon coverage while I was on it, I only was able to get 3G speeds for my wife and I, as we had the old iPhone 4 phones. But, we did have unlimited data. Still, our cost was $165/mo, and our contract ended back in March. So, we looked at how much data we actually were using (1-2gb/month each), and decided to ditch Verizon and go to Straight Talk, using AT&T SIMS.

Our bill is now $90/month (actually, about $70/month as I was able to buy 3 month cards at a steep discount), and we get unlimited calls/texts/data (although there is an unwritten rule that you will be throttled at 1.5gb/month). We use Wi-Fi whenever possible, and have yet to have any issues with using the mvno carrier on our Nexus 4 phones. Even though I miss having the option of "unlimited" data, it wasn't worth the $75-95 price hike per month we were paying.

 

[Ocellaris]

Why is Verizon Wireless so popular amongst consumers? Their prices are ridiculously high. Yes, they have LTE but honestly, who needs 30MBPS+ speeds on a mobile device? Yes, you can tether and boast that your cell phone is faster than most others home connection but what's the point when data plans are throttled after x GB?

Coverage.

 

[Nimisys]

Coverage.

+ speed

my sprint connection has every bit as good of a voice connection as Verizon, since they are sharing towers, in my area. However my data connection is worthless. Unlimited doesn't mean shit if the fastest you'll ever get is 0.30 down. 10/20$ a month extra to have both voice connection and data speed is worth it. At&t and T-Mobile both have spotty voice networks here, but their data speed is still better than Sprint's.

 

[T4rd]

+ speed

my sprint connection has every bit as good of a voice connection as Verizon, since they are sharing towers, in my area. However my data connection is worthless. Unlimited doesn't mean shit if the fastest you'll ever get is 0.30 down. 10/20$ a month extra to have both voice connection and data speed is worth it. At&t and T-Mobile both have spotty voice networks here, but their data speed is still better than Sprint's.

The only way voice and data work simultaneously on Verizon is if you're on 4G/LTE (which is usually the case for me, hah). But the reason I say this is I'm sure Sprint is the same way, it's just that they're LTE footprint is still virtually non-existent at this point so you don't have that benefit. I always thought that "feature" was a retarded one for AT&T to tout on their commercials anyways as I've only ever found that ability to be handy like 1 or 2 times. Their commercials for that were retarded too, because usually the person in the commercial that was using voice+data was at home... where you have WiFi.

I read an article recently (I think it was posted in another thread in here) that Verizon is planning on having their LTE rollout completely finished by the end of this year. If that is the case, then soon afterwords they should be implementing VoLTE, which should lead to them allowing unlocked GSM/LTE devices on their network. If that's the case, then that's going to be awesome and it gives me much more incentive to stay with them and keep my unlimited data plan on them.

It seems too good to be true though, I will almost bet that Verizon will still do something to ruin it. Though I'm not sure what, because it was required by the FCC to allow unlocked devices on their network once the acquired the spectrum for LTE. So I'm thinking that they'll kill the unlimited data plans at some point since by then your contract will have expired, so they'll be free to change the terms at any point after that.

 

[V10Ace]

Coverage.

And they don't throttle 4G LTE service, only 3G.

 

[Deleted whining member 223597]

Why is Verizon Wireless so popular amongst consumers? Their prices are ridiculously high. Yes, they have LTE but honestly, who needs 30MBPS+ speeds on a mobile device? Yes, you can tether and boast that your cell phone is faster than most others home connection but what's the point when data plans are throttled after x GB?

As others mentioned, coverage. I have LTE or at the least 3G pretty much anywhere I go. Voice is always fine, I haven't found anywhere where I don't have coverage(other than in Europe but that doesn't count). It's also very consistent, it's not really slow anywhere.

The only problem is the price is a bit stupid, but then again for the coverage/speeds it's slightly less bad.

 

[g1xx3r]

Being a 10+ year Verizon customer,the time has come for me to break my Stockholm/Verizon Syndrome..Used to get $150 towards new smartphone and saw that reduced by $50 to zero each upgrade.Then needed to use my"insurance"for a replacement phone and was told I was only paying for an extended manufacturer warranty.Final straws having my upgrade date pushed from Oct 2013 to Feb 2014 and no idea when or if the HTC One is coming..Off to AT&T who welcomed me with open arms.Walked out with the HTC One and a Galaxy S3 for the wife for $200 out the door due to a Walmart pricematch.Also got them to waive the $72 in activation fees.So far so good.On LTE and fallback to 4g instead of 3g in my areas like VZW..Rook some courage but so far Im happy..

 

[T4rd]

Being a 10+ year Verizon customer,the time has come for me to break my Stockholm/Verizon Syndrome..Used to get $150 towards new smartphone and saw that reduced by $50 to zero each upgrade.Then needed to use my"insurance"for a replacement phone and was told I was only paying for an extended manufacturer warranty.Final straws having my upgrade date pushed from Oct 2013 to Feb 2014 and no idea when or if the HTC One is coming..Off to AT&T who welcomed me with open arms.Walked out with the HTC One and a Galaxy S3 for the wife for $200 out the door due to a Walmart pricematch.Also got them to waive the $72 in activation fees.So far so good.On LTE and fallback to 4g instead of 3g in my areas like VZW..Rook some courage but so far Im happy..

So you went from the carrier with the best coverage/speeds with unlimited data, but horrible new policies to the next worst carrier (with whom they seem to have a duopoly with) with almost the same exact polices, prices, less coverage, and crappy tiered data plans.

Unless you got a significantly better employee discount or something, I'm not sure how this benefited you. As much angst that I have against Verizon at this time, if I was to leave them, there's absolutely no way it would be for AT&T.

 

[ComputerBox34]

So you went from the carrier with the best coverage/speeds with unlimited data, but horrible new policies to the next worst carrier (with whom they seem to have a duopoly with) with almost the same exact polices, prices, less coverage, and crappy tiered data plans.

Unless you got a significantly better employee discount or something, I'm not sure how this benefited you. As much angst that I have against Verizon at this time, if I was to leave them, there's absolutely no way it would be for AT&T.

Obviously, getting cheaper phones was more important to him....in exchange for a higher bill and limited data?

 

[rudy]

Gixxer points out a really messed up thing about US carriers. They treat old customers like shit and treat new customers like gold. They never seem to think about the fact that this causes a ton of churn. If you sit there happily paying whatever they ask for years you would think they would offer you better discounts on phones and even something like 1% off your bill for every year you are with them and keep your bill current. But instead they screw you over, I feel it on sprint too, we buy a new phone, theres a stupid activation fee, really what is the point in that? New customers get and extra $100 off a phone we get nothing but an extra $18 or 36 added to our phone. The other thing that is bothersome is that sometimes you can get them to work with you because you have been with them a long time, but its only after you have threatened to quit. At which time half those people are too pissed off to stay anyway. You shouldn't have to goto retentions to get good service....

And they wonder why customers have no loyalty. For me on sprint its just unfortunate my family all upgrades at different times now, so we cant move together without taking a large hit. But I think if we all upgraded at the same time I would simply jump carriers every 2 years and I am guess it would net me about $500 in savings every time.

 

[Medion]

The only way voice and data work simultaneously on Verizon is if you're on 4G/LTE

Just to amend this; there are phones (like the HTC Thunderbolt) that have dual CDMA antennas. They can do simultaneous voice/data on 3G only. The TB was the first Verizon phone to do it this way, and one of the last. It MURDERED battery more than the LTE radio.

I've only ever found that ability to be handy like 1 or 2 times

I use my phone as a GPS often, as well as talking through my car's BT. On my Incredible this caused major issues. Since being on GSM/UMTS, this has not been a problem. I can't go back to separated voice/data.

If that is the case, then soon afterwords they should be implementing VoLTE, which should lead to them allowing unlocked GSM/LTE devices on their network.

I would not plan for this. I would LOVE to see Verizon allow unlocked phones onto their network. I suspect that they would have to if the phone supported LTE 700b due to FCC conditions. We'll see. If they allow me to have an unlocked LTE Nexus, paired with my wife's iPhone, I may consider paying their premium over T-Mobile, down the road.

Though I'm not sure what, because it was required by the FCC to allow unlocked devices on their network once the acquired the spectrum for LTE.

Only for 700b. For AWS, they don't have to allow the device to be unlocked. Once Google and a few others pointed out the 700b loophole, Verizon has been scrambling to make new phones support AWS. I suspect that they will eventually want to move to that band exclusively, using 700b for their in-home internet service.

 

[g1xx3r]

So you went from the carrier with the best coverage/speeds with unlimited data, but horrible new policies to the next worst carrier (with whom they seem to have a duopoly with) with almost the same exact polices, prices, less coverage, and crappy tiered data plans.

Unless you got a significantly better employee discount or something, I'm not sure how this benefited you. As much angst that I have against Verizon at this time, if I was to leave them, there's absolutely no way it would be for AT&T.

Read my post.I outlined quite a few reasons.I wanted the HTC One,my Wife wanted the GS3.Even though we were grandfathered into the old unlimited plan,truth is lately we have combined monthly ~ 5gb combined.Nothing more than a tee hee from us to VZW. We would have had to wait till next February to upgrade even if we were OK with losing the unlimited.

Obviously, getting cheaper phones was more important to him....in exchange for a higher bill and limited data?

Getting the phones we wanted NOW,plus the cheaper OTD cost was important.Monthly bill is around $15 cheaper and for our particular area we are now on LTE and fallback 4G. On Verizon we were LTE and fallback 3g. We have the shared 10gb plan which is more than plenty.

Gixxer points out a really messed up thing about US carriers. They treat old customers like shit and treat new customers like gold. They never seem to think about the fact that this causes a ton of churn. If you sit there happily paying whatever they ask for years you would think they would offer you better discounts on phones and even something like 1% off your bill for every year you are with them and keep your bill current. But instead they screw you over, I feel it on sprint too, we buy a new phone, theres a stupid activation fee, really what is the point in that? New customers get and extra $100 off a phone we get nothing but an extra $18 or 36 added to our phone. The other thing that is bothersome is that sometimes you can get them to work with you because you have been with them a long time, but its only after you have threatened to quit. At which time half those people are too pissed off to stay anyway. You shouldn't have to goto retentions to get good service....

And they wonder why customers have no loyalty. For me on sprint its just unfortunate my family all upgrades at different times now, so we cant move together without taking a large hit. But I think if we all upgraded at the same time I would simply jump carriers every 2 years and I am guess it would net me about $500 in savings every time.

Exactly.I contacted VZW after the 24 month screw over and pleaded my case.Overall their response was take it or leave it.Been with them 12 years,all top of the line phones back to the Palm Treo and VXW phones and nothing but a big "fuck you very much" from them. Im sure AT&T will eventually have the same attitude..Maybe then VZW will spoil me to come back.Like you said..As the carriers churn!