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New to Verizon/Thunderbolt.

Hello everyone! New guy here to Verizon, and the Thunderbolt. I was with T-Mobile till the BIG news break of the day about AT&T buying out T-Mobile. I refuse to give AT&T money, so I jumped ship and joined Verizon.
Simple question really....
Anything that I really need to know about Verizon in general, and/or how they work with their customers?
Thanks!
Will.

I personally have never had any problem. Always been a great experience with VZW for me.

I moved to Verizon from AT&T and have gotten far superior service. I have gone onto their site and chatted live with folks about things that are really odd and they've been willing to go out of their way to answer the questions I've had. Additionally, as I do work in smartphone security and one of my malware simulations was worried VZW would have issue with it... so went to a store and they took the time to look through the contract and make sure I wouldn't violate any policies with me. I have found them to be a significant improvement over AT&T.
So yeah great experience & great customer service. Plus the quality of network is the best I've been on yet. And can't wait to get on the Verizon 4G LTE network later this week.

g00s3y said:
I personally have never had any problem. Always been a great experience with VZW for me.
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+1!
10 char

javawolfpack said:
So yeah great experience & great customer service. Plus the quality of network is the best I've been on yet. And can't wait to get on the Verizon 4G LTE network later this week.
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Oh yeah, 4G LTE is blazingly fast

g00s3y said:
Oh yeah, 4G LTE is blazingly fast
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That's why I paid full retail to get a ThunderBolt as after seeing the speeds and no additional cost for the service couldn't convince myself not to And the sales associates were very helpful to double check that I wouldn't loose any of my current upgrade dates/promotions down the line.

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

Yeah it's been great..ex t-mobile customer here as well. Just one bit of warning, watch out for the first bill!

ram130 said:
Yeah it's been great..ex t-mobile customer here as well. Just one bit of warning, watch out for the first bill!
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Oh god, what am I looking at?

I loved TMobile for their competitive rates and awesome customer service.
Since switching to Verizon I have had superior coverage and I have had a great customer experience. My sales rep pampered me when I purchased the TB and started a new family plan.
Thus far, I have received awesome service. Maybe it is new customer treatment or maybe it is because I have a nice corporate discount plan. Either way, I am happy!

Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

bmcclure937 said:
I loved TMobile for their competitive rates and awesome customer service.
Since switching to Verizon I have had superior coverage and I have had a great customer experience. My sales rep pampered me when I purchased the TB and started a new family plan.
Thus far, I have received awesome service. Maybe it is new customer treatment or maybe it is because I have a nice corporate discount plan. Either way, I am happy!
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Yep basically my experience since November..just wish I had waited a few months..really wanted the TB ..
WilliamStern said:
Oh god, what am I looking at?
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Just a pro rated, higher than usual bill...try not to use your phone too much (like texting, calls) if you have a low mins/voice plan until the first billing cycle is over....after that it's smooth sailing from there..then again your exeperience might be different..
anyways don't let that stop u! go get your TB!

ddgarcia05 said:
Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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Yes you can and no they won't ..from my experience.

Question about the TB. Anyone getting a slight delay when rotating the phone, lets say when you want to text, or browse the web?

ddgarcia05 said:
Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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This has only been on AT&T to my knowledge so far and only for iPhone users using the MiFi app on their jailbroken iPhones. From what I understand about the way wifi tether works on rooted phones ties it into the underlying architecture so it looks like native traffic. And I'm pretty sure the methods for detecting if your tethered under this approach will make it tough to near impossible for them to detect; however, they could take the classic ISP approach of network shaping/throttling if you seem to be using more bandwidth than they want you to.
But even on the Verizon iPhone so far no issues w/ this from Verizon. Might be that the population of people who choose to jailbreak/root in comparison to the number of users is so small that they don't see enough of a loss to have them want to spend the cost of spending their time/money to track down these users yet.

Thanks for making this thread because I also jumped from ATT to V with two Thunderbolts for my wife and I. They should be here tomorrow.
It will be our first time on Verizon, and our first smartphones. We are finally joining the 21st century. Hhah.

ram130 said:
Just a pro rated, higher than usual bill...try not to use your phone too much (like texting, calls) if you have a low mins/voice plan until the first billing cycle is over....after that it's smooth sailing from there..then again your exeperience might be different..
anyways don't let that stop u! go get your TB!
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Oh, I'm good. I went with an unlimited plan.

Wow! We are in the exact same boat. Once I found out about the sale I jumped ship as well. I ordered on amazon tonight and will get the phone cheaper but I'll have to wait til its back in stock.
I currently use a G2 on TMO and I love it, never had a problem until todays news came out. AT&T will NEVER get anything from me again, I was with them once a few years back and it was horrible!
Anyways, From one former TMO customer switching to VZW to another, enjoy man! I know I will. Went in store today for a demo. This phone looks awesome!
On a side note, any TB users use Slingbox? With the 4G speeds how reliable is it? And how is the quality? I normally only watch over WiFi or at my comp at work.
WilliamStern said:
Hello everyone! New guy here to Verizon, and the Thunderbolt. I was with T-Mobile till the BIG news break of the day about AT&T buying out T-Mobile. I refuse to give AT&T money, so I jumped ship and joined Verizon.
Simple question really....
Anything that I really need to know about Verizon in general, and/or how they work with their customers?
Thanks!
Will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my T-Mobile HTC G2 using XDA Premium App

All I got to say is you guys are lucky! I'm stuck with my DX until I can get an upgrade next year ..I was thinking of selling it on craiglist for $300 with a few extra cases but not sure how I will get the other $200 for the TB lol...

ddgarcia05 said:
Can you tether the TB once rooted or does verizon sniff around and cut you off or send a text that your not allowed to tether?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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lol before switching from sprint to verizon, since sprint doesn't care what you do data wise, i asked verizon this in a round about way. They said they could careless how much you use. Which makes sense when you have a device pulling at times near 30Mbps down, (got that speed a few times today) you are bound to use a crapton of data. I have only had the phone 24 hoursish, and I already have a gig of data used...lol...

Disturbing trend coming to VZW phones?

This is pretty turrrrible. how can they do that? Unlocked bootloader for 15$ per month? Might make me hold onto my S3 for alot longer than I anticipated.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Motorola-X-to-launch-July-8th-for-299_id38955

Well, that's one site, so it may not be true. My guess is that Moto and Google won't work together and make a non-Nexus phone. But, in the case that this is true, its reason #187324 to get the hell of Verizon, as I will be doing in August. Easily the worst carrier CS-wise. Cost me $65 to return the DNA. I'm just done. T-Mobile take my significantly smaller sum of money.

I doubt any of that info is true. Just my two cents.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Smells like bull****.

Even if true, you should unlock the bootloader using tools found on XDA and then donate the $15 to the awesome devs here, thus making the world a better place

Amphibliam said:
Well, that's one site, so it may not be true. My guess is that Moto and Google won't work together and make a non-Nexus phone. But, in the case that this is true, its reason #187324 to get the hell of Verizon, as I will be doing in August. Easily the worst carrier CS-wise. Cost me $65 to return the DNA. I'm just done. T-Mobile take my significantly smaller sum of money.
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T-Mobile service is terrible though. Two bars of 4G in my bedroom with verizon, data dropping on the note II on T-Mobile. Literally would drop 4G to 3G and back and forth and data was unusable. Both sat pretty close to -111dBm.
Might be going back to sprint. Least I know from having had them I get their 3G. Can't wait for their LTE.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Evan that link states its speculation. This is not an official statement. Why would Goggle and Moto not work? And as stated you can buy it ditect .
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

nosympathy said:
T-Mobile service is terrible though. Two bars of 4G in my bedroom with verizon, data dropping on the note II on T-Mobile. Literally would drop 4G to 3G and back and forth and data was unusable. Both sat pretty close to -111dBm.
Might be going back to sprint. Least I know from having had them I get their 3G. Can't wait for their LTE.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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Lol in my area, tmo gets >20 mbps hspa+ speeds. Sprint has actually no service. Verizon is the best, but eh I'll deal.

Not being an official statement, I suspect the article is full of fertilizer.

....sigh...just because it's on the internet it doesn't mean it's true. Plus for it to be a trend, this would need to be happening with other devices already, which is not.

Amphibliam said:
Well, that's one site, so it may not be true. My guess is that Moto and Google won't work together and make a non-Nexus phone. But, in the case that this is true, its reason #187324 to get the hell of Verizon, as I will be doing in August. Easily the worst carrier CS-wise. Cost me $65 to return the DNA. I'm just done. T-Mobile take my significantly smaller sum of money.
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You do know that google now owns Moto Phones right?

Lol if this is true, Verizon is full of shit.. You can unlock your phones as long as you pay us. LOL

I read the article on droid life, it has to do with unlocking the phone to use on another carrier.I think we'll be just fine if it truly is bad why would they start charging $15a month extra for unlocked phone's (which is ridiculous) they may have the best service but they truly become money hungry....T-Mobile is slowly catching up...maybe in the future they'll take big red's crown.never under estimate the under dog.my opponent did and lost
stripped apart rebuilt with Clean Rom&XdaTechnology!!!

nujackk said:
You do know that google now owns Moto Phones right?
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Yeah... That's why it would be weird for it not to be a Nexus.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Waiting for n5. What would you do?

Have a GN. Looking to upgrade to n5 but it doesn't look like Verizon will support it. Rightfully so. They really just don't get the android Dev experience. If I was to switch to another carrier what would be the next best choice. Live in Northeast USA. If I don't switch carrier what would be some other comparable phone choices that boot loader is unlockable and rootable. What choices are there. Lg g2. Note 3. Galaxy S4 kind of old all ready. Moto x. What would you do and why
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

jmileti said:
Have a GN. Looking to upgrade to n5 but it doesn't look like Verizon will support it. Rightfully so. They really just don't get the android Dev experience. If I was to switch to another carrier what would be the next best choice. Live in Northeast USA. If I don't switch carrier what would be some other comparable phone choices that boot loader is unlockable and rootable. What choices are there. Lg g2. Note 3. Galaxy S4 kind of old all ready. Moto x. What would you do and why
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Just get the LG G2...I mean, the nexus 5 is based off the G2...G2 has a bigger screen bigger battery and higher mp camera tho, you will however have to either sign a contract or pay alot of money off contract for it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4

mg2195 said:
Just get the LG G2...I mean, the nexus 5 is based off the G2...G2 has a bigger screen bigger battery and higher mp camera tho, you will however have to either sign a contract or pay alot of money off contract for it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4
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Also worried about being able to root. Since Verizon seems to want to lock down devices. Also don't know what to do about the unlimited data I have. Don't want to pay retail but might have to to keep it. Is it worth it. With the nexus 5 I would probably jump ship. Verizon has lost interest in taking care of the customers who made them what they are. They simply don't mind losing customers when new ones walk in the door. What would be a second choice of carrier. T-Mobile. Sprint. At&t. Choosing should not be this difficult but this is what Verizon has done to customers. Bad business practice with customers and Google alike.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

jmileti said:
Have a GN. Looking to upgrade to n5 but it doesn't look like Verizon will support it. Rightfully so. They really just don't get the android Dev experience. If I was to switch to another carrier what would be the next best choice. Live in Northeast USA. If I don't switch carrier what would be some other comparable phone choices that boot loader is unlockable and rootable. What choices are there. Lg g2. Note 3. Galaxy S4 kind of old all ready. Moto x. What would you do and why
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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I still have unlimited data through Verizon on my GNex, and when the Nexus 5 drops I am getting rid of Verizon!
I am really liking the wireless plans (no contract) offered by AIO. They were bought out by ATT and and it basically uses the ATT LTE nationwide network.
I plan on ditching my GNex and getting a Nexus 5 and signing up for AIO's $70 plan. I will save about $30 a month from what I am paying to Verizon and I'll be able to enjoy the Nexus experience
I can't stand the phones the Verizon offers anymore (no nexus, etc) and I want a phone that I can use on multiple carriers and around the world. Screw Verizon!

jmileti said:
Have a GN. Looking to upgrade to n5 but it doesn't look like Verizon will support it. Rightfully so. They really just don't get the android Dev experience. If I was to switch to another carrier what would be the next best choice. Live in Northeast USA. If I don't switch carrier what would be some other comparable phone choices that boot loader is unlockable and rootable. What choices are there. Lg g2. Note 3. Galaxy S4 kind of old all ready. Moto x. What would you do and why
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Just leave Verizon. Too much BS in that crap company. Go to At&t or T-Mobile. I live in the northeast and had At&t for almost twenty years only switched recently to T-Mobile because of the uncarrier stuff

AndreaCristiano said:
Just leave Verizon. Too much BS in that crap company. Go to At&t or T-Mobile. I live in the northeast and had At&t for almost twenty years only switched recently to T-Mobile because of the uncarrier stuff
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What do you mean uncarrier stuff. I travel all over new england so I need an adequate carrier. Plan on leaving Verizon but don't want to hop on board with the wrong carrier for what I need.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Get the n5 with att then. It seems you are used to the price and coverage. I know tmo is great in the urban areas up the eastern seaboard but if you go anywhere like upstate new York etc it gets sparse. I've been on T-Mobile for more than 10 years and fortunate to always be within good coverage but I would probably have to go with evil att if I traveled a lot. Verizon has the best coverage and same prices as att, but no Sim card or way to root the majority of their phones, I would have to go with att
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

jmileti said:
What do you mean uncarrier stuff. I travel all over new england so I need an adequate carrier. Plan on leaving Verizon but don't want to hop on board with the wrong carrier for what I need.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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The new pricing and format. Their network works almost everywhere. If your unsure go At&t it works everywhere

Have to sell my Nexus 5, what phone to get on VZW?

Man this sucks so hard. I was hoping to switch from Verizon to T-mobile but the service at home for me is not going to cut it. Is anyone else in the same boat as me? I'm looking at the Moto X dev edition and the G2, not sure which one will be the best choice after giving up my N5

I like the G2 but I think I would get more out of the Moto X. Would have to play with both side by side to make a final choice though.

sure you can't try AT&T? hate to see you not be able to use such a good phone because of the service. probably be seeing close to the same prices if you go with Verizon.

Use pre paid plan on go phone I belive it's called. Try for 1 month. I think it's $30?? This is for att
Sent from my dlx using XDA Premium HD app

lucky_strike33 said:
Use pre paid plan on go phone I belive it's called. Try for 1 month. I think it's $30?? This is for att
Sent from my dlx using XDA Premium HD app
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I would get the Note 3 if you can handle the size, I played around with it a little at Best Buy and fell in love. I'm on Verizon so I never had the opportunity to get the Nexus 5, so I will be getting the Note 3 later this week. I might sell it when Google's Verizon project comes out next year, depending what the specs are and how much I like the Note 3.
Keep in mind they do have a Note 3 developer edition.
And if you decide the Note 3 is too big for you, I'd get the G2.

Moto X all the way.

Yeah the only reason I'll stick with Verizon is because I have the unlimited $30 data. :'(
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4

Why not use AT&T's AIO service?

hlaalu said:
Yeah the only reason I'll stick with Verizon is because I have the unlimited $30 data. :'(
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4
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That is if they'll let you keep it if you upgrade your phone. Been hearing they've been basically trying to force people off the unlimited plans in such a way.

If by "home" you mean your actual house, why not just keep your baby and get better signal?
Have you looked into cellular boosters?
Buying straight from a store is probably going to eat your pockets out and then some, so I would suggest using eBay.
I run AT&T and have horrid service at home, but luckily AT&T has a "Microcell" cell booster that I paid maybe $99 for, but I get full bars everywhere in my house. Well worth it.
Here's one for T-Mobile I found on eBay ending in 2 days as of this reply.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Nextivity-Cel-Fi-indoor-signal-booster-extender-/331062576666
I'd hate to see you have to give up your N5, honestly...

I have a similar problem.
Tried Tmobile, no service
Tried Straight Talk, no service
Verizon isn't compatible
Page Plus won't work wither
I'm gonna try out AT&T but IDK if that will work either
I live in a rural area, and it seems like Verizon would be the best carrier for me.
I looked up a Tmobile booster but the prices are ridiculous and I saw a topic earlier where someone bought one but it wasn't working properly with their Nexus 5. I love my Nexus 5 and don't want to give it up, but I might not have a choice.

As a t mo subscriber for 2+ years its terrible anywhere rural. Had ATT Sprint and Verizon prior. Only Verizon was strong in NH. ATT was second and sprint and T mo are on par with each other. Hence the cheap plans. Thankfully I live not in a rural area anymore in terms of service.
That being said its terrible Verizon opted out not being part of the N5.
Would suggest trying ATT and if that fails if you have the cash get an S4 or HTC One. My HTC One had Sim issue and since I had cracked screen no warranty help so now I have a N5.
Since Verizon doesn't use Sim card...? Maybe HTC one is best for you then use a ROM to get 4.4.
The boom sound and the screen is best in the biz IMHO.
Fing
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

supafing said:
As a t mo subscriber for 2+ years its terrible anywhere rural. Had ATT Sprint and Verizon prior. Only Verizon was strong in NH. ATT was second and sprint and T mo are on par with each other. Hence the cheap plans. Thankfully I live not in a rural area anymore in terms of service.
That being said its terrible Verizon opted out not being part of the N5.
Would suggest trying ATT and if that fails if you have the cash get an S4 or HTC One. My HTC One had Sim issue and since I had cracked screen no warranty help so now I have a N5.
Since Verizon doesn't use Sim card...? Maybe HTC one is best for you then use a ROM to get 4.4.
The boom sound and the screen is best in the biz IMHO.
Fing
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
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Hopefully I can get better service with AT&T. I guess I could possibly look into buying the microcell booster.
---------- Post added at 03:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:57 AM ----------
tripleboolean said:
If by "home" you mean your actual house, why not just keep your baby and get better signal?
Have you looked into cellular boosters?
Buying straight from a store is probably going to eat your pockets out and then some, so I would suggest using eBay.
I run AT&T and have horrid service at home, but luckily AT&T has a "Microcell" cell booster that I paid maybe $99 for, but I get full bars everywhere in my house. Well worth it.
Here's one for T-Mobile I found on eBay ending in 2 days as of this reply.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Nextivity-Cel-Fi-indoor-signal-booster-extender-/331062576666
I'd hate to see you have to give up your N5, honestly...
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Did you get your microcell from the store, or from another seller online?

whats your carrier and why pick it

i currently have verizon. i feel like its pretty good and the 4g works in alot of diffrent locations. i had sprint before, but i feel like the internet on verizon is better. plus i get less dropped calls on verizon. only down side is the price, i feel like verizon is over priced.
what do you guys have? what do you like and dislike about your carrier?

Personally I have 2 separate lines. One for work one for personal. My work line is through Selectel, who provides post-paid service (with no 4g yet but will soon), a corporate store location, and actually tells me what I am getting (Vs having Straight Talk for years and being lied to) My personal phone is with Verizon, an S4 as you saw in my last post) which is ok but for what I use I could switch this line to Selectel and save some money. Although, I have heard some bad things about their dealers. Selectel does have promise if they can keep their prices down when the do go 4g.

Phurkus said:
i currently have verizon. i feel like its pretty good and the 4g works in alot of diffrent locations. i had sprint before, but i feel like the internet on verizon is better. plus i get less dropped calls on verizon. only down side is the price, i feel like verizon is over priced.
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Verizon wireless work hard to make our phones not Root-able and that's why i hate them!

Newyork! said:
Verizon wireless work hard to make our phones not Root-able and that's why i hate them!
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i didnt know this. it was pretty easy rooting my phone. maybe it will be harder next time

Phurkus said:
i didnt know this. it was pretty easy rooting my phone. maybe it will be harder next time
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It is easy after Devs do all the hard work for us. +100000 props to all the Devs out there for all of the hard work. If you buy an s4 new you cannot unlock the bootloader which sucks!
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Free mobile app

Illogi.xbone said:
It is easy after Devs do all the hard work for us. +100000 props to all the Devs out there for all of the hard work. If you buy an s4 new you cannot unlock the bootloader which sucks!
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Free mobile app
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mad props to them!! thanks for the info mate!

When they could be out drinking they are here helping all of us
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Free mobile app

I use T-Mobile. I mainly chose them due to price. Yeah, their coverage isn't as robust as say, Verizon, but the cost is significantly less. And for the most part I'm satisfied with the service. I have had to reach out to their tech support and found them responsive.
I was using a regional carrier prior to switching to T-Mobile. That was the worst experience ever. That carrier ended up selling out to Verizon who basically just scuttled the carrier to get the bandwidth. Good riddance as far as I'm concerned.