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Has anyone ever taken their phone on a cruise (in the Caribbean) and had cell coverage? I have a Tilt with ATT service and have "International" turned on, but am wondering if the phone will work on the cruise ship and in the various ports (Bahamas, St. Thomas, etc.) Is there anything I can do to make the odds better?
Mine worked while in port at The Gran Camen. But, I didn't have my current phone, it was an older phone, not the new quad band "world phones".
So, your experience may be different.
yggorf said:
Has anyone ever taken their phone on a cruise (in the Caribbean) and had cell coverage? I have a Tilt with ATT service and have "International" turned on, but am wondering if the phone will work on the cruise ship and in the various ports (Bahamas, St. Thomas, etc.) Is there anything I can do to make the odds better?
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Welcome to the forum
I think this "coverage area" is also limited by your cell provider according to your contract.
On my case, I never tested on a ship, but have been in several places and always having coverage.
Of course this service have a cost.
I{m sure however that sea coverage will be more expensive
Just my thoughts
Well, after thinking about the original question for a sec, the phone won't work while at sea. There are no towers out there!
won't work at sea, but may work at certain ports. you will need to ask at&t about what caribbian cities are roaming covered.
May work at sea using the same technology that they are currrently putting in planes, a pico-cell, which will take the mobile call and then route it via the ships existing satellite connection. Anybodies guess as to the roaming charges though.
Here You Go
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/24/man-charged-28-000-for-using-data-card-slingbox-to-watch-footb/
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/08/19/tuaw-tip-using-your-iphone-on-a-cruise-ship/2
I know for a fact that some ships have built in cell towers that can be activated once you've left shore. However, I do believe it counts as data roaming, SO BE CAREFUL!! At 2 cents a KB, things can get expensive quickly. This article shows what can happen.
Dave
DaveTheTytnIIGuy said:
I know for a fact that some ships have built in cell towers that can be activated once you've left shore. However, I do believe it counts as data roaming, SO BE CAREFUL!! At 2 cents a KB, things can get expensive quickly. This article shows what can happen.
Dave
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That would be a HUGE shocking bill to get!
But at least the guy didn't have to pay it, but I bet it was a huge hassle to get it all straightened out.
Your telephone will have service on any populated island you go to. Typically you will find carriers like Digicell in the west indies. My knowledge of the northern caribbean is limited, but since the southern (and less developed) countries have decent gsm coverage, you should have no issues when less than 10-20 miles from land. Essentially islands which are within sight of each other should have few coverage gaps if any. When you have a 5 hour cruise over open sea, you will have nothing.
Roaming will depend on your carrier. I use Rogers which has dropped its rates from 5cents/kb to 3.
http://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-network/international_roaming
This link will let you select a country, when the little window opens, click the option for a coverage map. International GSM coverage has nothing to do with Rogers, it will just tell you who has coverage where. Obviously ignore the rates, all you can use from this is the map
There's been a whole lot of knocking the Touch Pro 2 on the CDMA network and Sprint (one person referred to shoving a cactus up his a**), so I just want to write and defend it. True, CDMA is kind of backwards and not internationally common, but the phone does include GSM support for foreign travel. I just bought a TP2 on Sprint, and my experience was awesome. I purchased online, and I declined to bring my number with me. Upon receiving my phone I changed my mind, so customer support told me to take my new phone to a Sprint store to get help. Service was quick, friendly, and knowledgable. They even told me it would be at least 3 hourse before I got service with my old number, if not a day, but I had it by the time I left the store. Sure, the phone is $450 upfront, but there is a $100 rebate, plus more if you list a friend on Sprint as a referrer. Plus, I sold my old Tilt for $95, and if you use 'save50' as a coupon code, you get $25 off service for the first two months. Really, not too bad at all. I actually get coverage on Sprint inside buildings where AT&T always dropped. Finally, Sprint's Simply Everything plans are better than any other network's data plans, and on them you can now call any mobile phone in America for free. I know some people trash Sprint like there's no tomorrow, but my experience thus far has been great. I grew to hate AT&T by the time I left, and I don't think I could ever go back to them. Their data prices are ridiculous, store staff are snobs, and although I would never buy an iPhone, their whole handling of that situation has been ridiculous. To sum this ramble up, don't be afraid to make the plunge and jump on Sprint. Just my two bits.
PS This was all written on my TP2; this phone rocks! If you've been debating, stop, just buy it.
I will have to agree with trogdor1138
I was a AT&T customer for 4 years, and hated the last year and a half of service! You might ask why only the last year and the half. It all stated when I leased a new office building and got 1 to 0 bars of Edge service, my brother who was on Verizon had 5 bars of 3G. Which made for a really crap experience during the whole office phone transition. I don't even want to get into AT&T's customer service because its no existent. I got my Touch Pro2 from Sprint on the 8th and all I have to say is WOW! At my office I get 5 bars of service and I have yet to find a place in my everyday travels where Sprint doesn't have great coverage. And the best part is my cell phone bill when from 129.99 a month on at&t to 99 bucks. So yeah I paid a bit more for my phone but those poor guys on at&t will pay out their nose for the service!
I need to jump on this band wagon. My experience with AT&T and Sprint is exactly like the first two posts. I could not use my AT&T phone in my house or office or more than a mile away from the interstates (out side of metro areas). Sprint covers the whole state, (WI) has better customer service and is about 20% cheaper than what I was paying AT&T. And to top it all off, my TP2 is rock solid. I've never had a phone that was this easy to use and at the same time this versatile.
I am glad to see some support for Sprint! I have had Sprint for 8 years and my service has only got better over time. I always have signal and when I don't I roam on Verizon. Sprint has a credibility problem that was self imposed-no getting around it. But Sprint has been making the right moves for a couple years now and I hope it continues.
This reply was also typed on my Touch Pro 2.
I just switch from t-mobile to sprint. I was with t-mobile for 5 years. Thought about getting tp2 with them but there always behind everybody else and i did like all the changes they made to the tp2. What were they thinking. Anyway besides that they didn't have any of the extras internet services like internet TV,music and radio like all the other carriers do. With sprint i get all that in it's only costing me about $5 dollars more a month. So i ported my number and it only took 1 day to get the phone and have it activated with my ported number. No regrets at all.
This is soo nice after posting charts of of data throughputs of carriers proving sprints better- posting data charges from carriers where sprint wins every time - and Now 4G (yes WiMAX in my area as of sept1) it does me happy to see the light in others - sad that no matter what you say no matter what proof you provide others continue to defend spending more for getting less
AT&T was and still is horrible in my area. I canceled within the trial period. Sprint has much better service, and in my opinion better customer service.
I was with T Mobile for 8 years
I switched to Sprint from T Mobile at the begining of this year. I just couldn't wait for 3g any longer here in Salt Lake City. I am very happy with Sprint. I like both Sprint and T Mobile but I have to say that I don't feel I miss T Mobile at all.
Before I got Sprint I asked a few people about it and they told me that some times their bills were bigger than others, I am thinking this might be because I have found my phone goes into roaming but it doesn't affect me since I'm on the Everything Plan.
I think Sprint is a great company and I'm happy with them.
Battery life vs data transfer
For the US:
If you don't travel heavily, don't need broadband and live in an area with good GSM coverage then GSM is a no brainer. The battery life is better and you don't have to fiddle with phonebook transfer programs and the like.
If you need coverage and broadband then CDMA is the way to go.
My gripe with CDMA is that it takes forever to get good phones. You wait and wait for someone to make a CDMA phone that has year old GSM features.
If CDMA could fix the talk time and get manufacturers to make phones for it I would say that CDMA wins, period. As it stands though, if you live outside of the US, or live in the US and don't travel or just use your phone for talking, SMS and the occasional MMS then GSM is for you.
Basically I just want a world standard. If that means CDMA has to switch over and I lose some bandwidth, so be it. It look like Europe is flirting with (W)CDMA, so maybe GSM will be phased out. I guess it's market share vs technology at this point.
I agree, I love my TP2 on the Sprint Network. This phone is too hot. Finally a real size screen, best keyboard I have ever used, just a sturdy build for such a device that moves many ways. Money well spent.
I agree! I was a long-time AT&T customer and was quite unsatisfied with the service I was getting. I made the jump to Sprint last week with the TP2. Ordered online Thursday night, and the phone was on my desk early Monday morning. The phone and network has exceeded my expectations--great service everywhere (EVDO service is awesome in WI)--not a single dropped call. As for the phone, battery life is pushing 2 days, which is including the constant data connection for email and occasional music streaming.
Saving $20/month from AT&T to Sprint and gaining features? Yes, please!
Another solid vote for Sprint...
Switched from Suncom (T-Mobile now). I've also had Nextel, Alltel, and AT&T.
As far as I am concerned Sprint is a no brainer.
I haven't found any company that can come close to their prices and they have definitely stepped up their hardware. (TP2 FTW!)
My current plan on Verizon and matching services was around 80 bucks more expensive. When asked why they were so much more than Sprint their answer was "We have the best customer service". Well putting opinion aside for the moment my response was "For 80 bucks a month you had best be at the foot of my bed every morning at 6am, waking me up, and handing me a cup of coffee"
They did not respond.
I also have Sprint and love it. Never a dropped call, or any problems here in s. calif. Was with Verizon for years, but coverage was bad at home and work. The two places I used my phone the most. Tried AT&T for one day. Just terrible. Been with Sprint for a year now...its all good.
trogdor1138 said:
There's been a whole lot of knocking the Touch Pro 2 on the CDMA network and Sprint (one person referred to shoving a cactus up his a**), so I just want to write and defend it. True, CDMA is kind of backwards and not internationally common, but the phone does include GSM support for foreign travel. I just bought a TP2 on Sprint, and my experience was awesome. I purchased online, and I declined to bring my number with me. Upon receiving my phone I changed my mind, so customer support told me to take my new phone to a Sprint store to get help. Service was quick, friendly, and knowledgable. They even told me it would be at least 3 hourse before I got service with my old number, if not a day, but I had it by the time I left the store. Sure, the phone is $450 upfront, but there is a $100 rebate, plus more if you list a friend on Sprint as a referrer. Plus, I sold my old Tilt for $95, and if you use 'save50' as a coupon code, you get $25 off service for the first two months. Really, not too bad at all. I actually get coverage on Sprint inside buildings where AT&T always dropped. Finally, Sprint's Simply Everything plans are better than any other network's data plans, and on them you can now call any mobile phone in America for free. I know some people trash Sprint like there's no tomorrow, but my experience thus far has been great. I grew to hate AT&T by the time I left, and I don't think I could ever go back to them. Their data prices are ridiculous, store staff are snobs, and although I would never buy an iPhone, their whole handling of that situation has been ridiculous. To sum this ramble up, don't be afraid to make the plunge and jump on Sprint. Just my two bits.
PS This was all written on my TP2; this phone rocks! If you've been debating, stop, just buy it.
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Ide have to say my switch from VZW to Sprint was as good. I had a c ouple issues with getting rebates in the begging but Sprint took care of that. Customer service in the stores is normally pretty decent. At VZW.... well... Service was good once you got somone one.
Overall I am very happy I switched. I switched for the Diamond though, not TP2. I did however just purcahse a TP2 and I am loving it!
I too just got my TP2 from Sprint and love it.
Verizon, here in LA, is pretty terrible. I could be at my internship and not get a signal at all - open space with lots of tall buildings around. Additionally, my old apartment in the Valley got almost no reception. Tons of dropped calls.
One complaint though:
My number from Sprint was a recycled phone number. I'm getting four robocalls a day from various political organizations (many of which are in Spanish) and different schools reminding me that my mythical children are about to start school in the next few days.
I've put myself on the Do Not Call registry, both the federal one and the political one, but the calls keep rolling in. Most of the time, if I press 0, it claims my number is erased from their registry, but I doubt that. And if you try to call the number back, they are mysterious ghost numbers that don't connect to anything.
Sprint says there's nothing they can do about it. Luck of the draw, and they've offered to give me a new number (which I'm a little loathe to do, since I've already updated so many people with my new number.) I just wish there were something (maybe even a piece of software for the phone?) that would let me block individual numbers. A lot of the calls I get are repeat offenders.
I have worked for 2 different wireless carriers. The honest answer to the cell phone debate in the US is use what works for you. The ratings you see are typically an average of experiences across the whole US. Most carriers have stronger regions and weaker regions. I have seen poor numbers out west for Verizon Wireless and strong numbers out east and the complete opposite for AT&T.
Network limitations (mainly in-building penetration) may skew your experience from one carrier to the other at the places you use the phone most like your residence and workplace. We are dealing with radio signals that have a very short effective distance, and if you only get one bar of signal, you are going to have a rougher experience with everything than if you had 2 bars or more.
Customer service experiences vary greatly. It depends on who you get when you call. Outsourcing calls makes it a crapshoot. I have heard the horrid Sprint stories, but those were mostly calls that got outsourced and when you reached an actual Sprint rep they were good experiences. At least with wireless carriers they all are trying to provide as good a service as possible due to competition. I wish cable and landline services back in the day had that type of competition. 3 major nationwide carriers minimum in a market and various regional carriers help keeps the competition going, and it is a very competitive market considering the ammount of investment needed to put up a nationwide network in the United States. (Europeans can't quite understand the size of our country and how much empty space there is between major cities). It isn't really quite cost effective to put up a $200,000 tower for 500 customers in a small town, but we expect to have coverage everywhere we go.
Sprint has the good price plans, no denying that. I would put Verizon's network up against Sprint any day though when comparing them nationally. Both EvDO networks are superior to AT&T and T-Mobiles at this point for overall consistancy of service nationwide. But you might live in one of those lucky areas where AT&T or T-Mobile will have their 7Mbps services running well and not overloaded, and they could be the best option. It really comes down to what works best where you use your device and that is going to be different from person to person.
Sprint phone roaming on Verizon?
I am considering a Sprint TP2. I have read differing statements regarding roaming on Verizon. I have several questions:
Basically: does Verizon allow Sprint customers to roam onto their network?
If yes, then: (If... then... an old BASIC programmer, haha)
Can TP2 be "forced" to roam if for example Verizon has a stronger signal a certain area?
When roaming onto Verizon, will you get only the slower speeds and no 3G?
Thanks very much!
I don't really get the knocking of CDMA since it is faster than gsm. If you have a faster network that equals better right? GSM really only has the sim card which i have seen to be a problem actually drop your phone and the sim seems to get creamed fairly often. I have used both CDMA works better and faster. And with programs like My Phone the address book is really a non issue.
my friend been complaing HSPA chew thru battery faster on his phone than my CDMA phone
gliscameria said:
For the US:
If you don't travel heavily, don't need broadband and live in an area with good GSM coverage then GSM is a no brainer. The battery life is better and you don't have to fiddle with phonebook transfer programs and the like.
If you need coverage and broadband then CDMA is the way to go.
My gripe with CDMA is that it takes forever to get good phones. You wait and wait for someone to make a CDMA phone that has year old GSM features.
If CDMA could fix the talk time and get manufacturers to make phones for it I would say that CDMA wins, period. As it stands though, if you live outside of the US, or live in the US and don't travel or just use your phone for talking, SMS and the occasional MMS then GSM is for you.
Basically I just want a world standard. If that means CDMA has to switch over and I lose some bandwidth, so be it. It look like Europe is flirting with (W)CDMA, so maybe GSM will be phased out. I guess it's market share vs technology at this point.
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Default option is only Sprint only and "automatic"
maybe someone can tweak it to roam only
however, if you roam too much, sprint will drop you as a customer
Hi all,
I'm going to play with the Xoom at Carphone warehouse tomorrow. My main concerns are the overall ergonomic and screen quality.
If I'm happy with the Xoom, I'll buy it for £130 and 5GB of data per month for 24 months with Talk mobile at £25p/m.
My main concern is I never used Talk mobile before and would like some input about there data coverage in the UK please? I'm located in north London area.
Many thanks
It uses vodaphones network so coverage seems quite good! I get 6mb download speed in my house (knowsley 10 miles from Liverpool city) yet barely get a phone signal at all on my android phone! Downside is Vodaphone have an 'adult content control' which stop you from accessing some. Completely innocent sites and talkmobile told me they can only lift it after 3 months! I've not been able to access some news sites either... I wouldn't mind but even if I was looking for porn, why would I have to wait 3 months? Does that make any difference? Will the xoom have cleansed my muddy soul by then?? ;-)
Anyway back on topic... its been great signal for me so far... even got gprs on a campsite surrounded by hills in Wales...
Bigmille said:
Hi all,
I'm going to play with the Xoom at Carphone warehouse tomorrow. My main concerns are the overall ergonomic and screen quality.
If I'm happy with the Xoom, I'll buy it for £130 and 5GB of data per month for 24 months with Talk mobile at £25p/m.
My main concern is I never used Talk mobile before and would like some input about there data coverage in the UK please? I'm located in north London area.
Many thanks
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ATT is losing 3 lines of service due to their horrible customer service!!! Wasted 2 hours dealing with 8 different people and 4 different departments over ATT failing to provide me with the service promised. I live in a moderate coverage area things were alright up to June of this year, I can hardly place a call, keep a call connected or download a pic via mms. One solution was the 3G micro cell but they wanted me to give them 199$. I told them no I'm paying extra to improve my service and stated it was their part to provide service. horrible customer service and even worse cellular service forces me to Verizon!!!
T-MOBILE bro. Verizon is to expensive. IMO. Or sprint for that matter.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium
Right, but they got the prime!!! Sprint doesn't have data in my area, I live in the sticks lol. I'll check into T-Mobile though. Thanks Guy.
Meh. Think about it. Its not the nexus prime your after. Its the ICS...
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I called them yesterday about my signal I get inside of my house and they wanted me to pay the same price for the micro cell. It's a bunch of bullsh*t. I'm stuck because I uversre tv, Internet, home and cell phone with them.
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Lol exactly why I haven't signed another 2yr contract with them.
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I too want to jump ship to Verizon. I know it's a little expesive but in the long run. I know Verizon's service is way better then at&t. I was going to get the Skyrocket but I have read in the forums it has a lot of issues. I just want good service and plus I do want ICS.
Go with Verizon, I use to have Tmobile but service at my place was horible.
You're right Prime it is the ICS that I'm after!!! My friend has Verizon and has excellent service where I have no service lol. I'm afraid of Tmobile due to the fact ATT is trying to over take them. What kills me is they know I'm in a poor reception area, it's on their map but refuse to give me a micro cell for free because other associates have handed them to anyone who called complaining. WTF to do looking at like 675 to cancel all 3 lines
The att and tmobile deal fell through. They aren't buying tmobile.
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ryanwatson said:
You're right Prime it is the ICS that I'm after!!! My friend has Verizon and has excellent service where I have no service lol. I'm afraid of Tmobile due to the fact ATT is trying to over take them. What kills me is they know I'm in a poor reception area, it's on their map but refuse to give me a micro cell for free because other associates have handed them to anyone who called complaining. WTF to do looking at like 675 to cancel all 3 lines
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If you have the money, pay 675. I'm thinking of canceling my 3 lines too. and I don't care how much it will cost me. I will pay for it. No more AT&T for me.
AT&T is under no obligation to provide indoor coverage - buildings can vary greatly in terms of construction materials, and some are very effective RF shields, making them impossible to cover without slapping a cell tower right outside just to cover that one building.
For example, if you go more than 100 feet into my local Wal-Mart, signal drops from 5 bars to one, sometimes none in parts of the store. AT&T's fault? No - there's nothing AT&T can do to penetrate that kind of building construction without the building owner's cooperation.
If you are getting decent signal outside your home, then AT&T is perfectly within their rights to tell you to spend money to compensate for your home being made out of RF shielding materials.
Either go for the microcell, or go for a Wilson amplifier system (which avoids the funky bugs many microcells seem to have).
There are a lot of things that suck about AT&T, but this isn't one of them.
Entropy512 said:
AT&T is under no obligation to provide indoor coverage - buildings can vary greatly in terms of construction materials, and some are very effective RF shields, making them impossible to cover without slapping a cell tower right outside just to cover that one building.
For example, if you go more than 100 feet into my local Wal-Mart, signal drops from 5 bars to one, sometimes none in parts of the store. AT&T's fault? No - there's nothing AT&T can do to penetrate that kind of building construction without the building owner's cooperation.
If you are getting decent signal outside your home, then AT&T is perfectly within their rights to tell you to spend money to compensate for your home being made out of RF shielding materials.
Either go for the microcell, or go for a Wilson amplifier system (which avoids the funky bugs many microcells seem to have).
There are a lot of things that suck about AT&T, but this isn't one of them.
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Well said. I notice that a lot inside Walmart. Even in my work place it used to suck a lot. My cube used to get 1-2 bars, wherein another cube like 10 feet away had more bars.
Looks like someone complained, and AT&T actually listened, now I get like 4-5 bars in my cube too.
Ah, entropy is always here to save the day. Good point.
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Entropy512 said:
AT&T is under no obligation to provide indoor coverage - buildings can vary greatly in terms of construction materials, and some are very effective RF shields, making them impossible to cover without slapping a cell tower right outside just to cover that one building.
For example, if you go more than 100 feet into my local Wal-Mart, signal drops from 5 bars to one, sometimes none in parts of the store. AT&T's fault? No - there's nothing AT&T can do to penetrate that kind of building construction without the building owner's cooperation.
If you are getting decent signal outside your home, then AT&T is perfectly within their rights to tell you to spend money to compensate for your home being made out of RF shielding materials.
Either go for the microcell, or go for a Wilson amplifier system (which avoids the funky bugs many microcells seem to have).
There are a lot of things that suck about AT&T, but this isn't one of them.
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truth !!!!
ehhh tomāto tomato. they are all the same. T-Mobile may have great pricing and customer service but they have little coverage and are going out of business. Verizon has close to identical billing to att but the insurance is 3+ times the price and from what my friends say the can kill you with taxes and fees.
both companies have good coverage. Verizon doesn't have magical towers that don't have dead spots. believe me. there is one area my phone doesn't work locally. just one. Verizon works there. 1/4mile up the road I have 4bars hspa+ pulling 12mbps and Verizon has no service. that's just the nature of cell phones.
att customer service varies. mine is great. no complaints. they suck updating Samsung devices and exert too much control over what's on there network like the whole automatic data plans on smart phones unless you have a number clear of ever having a smart phone. I'm not even sure how that's legal if you aren't under contract for a smartphone at that time but its their policy. just have to plan around it I guess. so to each there own. ill take my GSM network that can use off contract international phones and can talk and surf simultaneously on any data network, not just 3g or 4g and has 3g that is several times faster while I wait for widespread lte deployment. then ill see who is better once that happens.
I have always been on AT&T for years now. My wife got a Verizon work phone for a couple years. From our experience, we noticed that Verizon has more dead spots than AT&T, even while driving on freeways between states.
I did a speed test on android phones at my work place - on all four carriers - att, tmo, sprint and Verizon. Even in that my phone had the fastest speeds.
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i went through the whole indoor coverage(or not) with att i had to pay for microcell but they in turn credited my phone bill for that amount(no loss) it does suck having to call and threaten to cancel but it usually works.. i kind of like the challenge lol.. but i usually get what i want from them ..i soooo want the galaxy but i will wait for att version or gs3 or something... i have 4 lines with att (car payment) lol .. if you think about it its like $3000. a year for 3 smartphones and 1 dumbphone.. i think that with all carriers you will still run into these situations and will all pretty much give you the same hassle.
okay... if you really want to get their attention file a BBB complaint.
Someone from ATT's office of presidents will call or email you within 3-5 days and will more than likely offer you a free one. Just make sure to tell them your service outside the home actually sucks not just inside.
And yes the BBB complaints work
wade7919 said:
okay... if you really want to get their attention file a BBB complaint.
Someone from ATT's office of presidents will call or email you within 3-5 days and will more than likely offer you a free one. Just make sure to tell them your service outside the home actually sucks not just inside.
And yes the BBB complaints work
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For whiney little girls...service doesn't work in your home? Get a different service provider. If you insist on staying with a company who's service does not work in you're home pay for the m-cell device. END OF STORY/ MODS CLOSE THIS THREAD IT SUCKS
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Biggest issues you'll run into between AT&T and Verizon are "hidden costs". They are both the same company wise and support wise from my experience with them, however I'm in Wyoming and small markets have that issue.
Hidden cost wise, unlimited texting with AT&T gives you unlimited mobile to any mobile, meaning any carriers mobile. Unlimited mobile on Verizon is unlimited to other Verizon mobile only, both with text and calls. So find out what the people you text and call the most are on before you make the jump, and how much that teenage daughter texts to her friends that are probably not on the same carrier Since unlimited texting with verizon is only to other verizon people, texting outside of them there is a limit of "free" texts available rest is a cost.
I have been a loyal Sprint customer for ten years now (please don't judge). At one point, I was even on SERO and my wife convinced me to switch to a family plan (once again, please don't judge). Anyway, here I am today out of contract with 2 smartphones (Evo and Epic 4G), 1500 anytime minutes, an Airave (since Sprint doesn't work in my home), terrible 4G service (in Central Florida) and a $155/month bill all after a 22% discount. I'm ready to make a drastic change.
After looking at Sprint's website, combined my wife and I use a monthly average of 1200 minutes (about 1000 of them are mobile-2-mobile), 3000 text messages, and about 1.9GB data. We are pretty equal on data on texts, but I use about 300-400 minutes and she uses the rest (her phone doubles as a work phone).
I have been going back and forth with either renewing Sprint, signing my life away to Verizon, or going prepaid. The benefit of going with Verizon is that I also get a 17% discount (work) off their service. However, that only covers the data plan (stupid). So, I could fork over about $138+tax and move to unlimited everything with 4GB of shared data. My wife likes this idea because we don't have to worry about roaming and Verizon has decent service in Central Florida (as well as other places that we travel). Plus, she can get an iPhone 5 (but she may change her mind if navigation doesn't improve). Since we have a newborn though she is constantly taking pictures with her phone and sending them to family so I thought an iPhone 5 would be decent for that.
I like the idea of buying a couple of Galaxy Nexus's and going with two Straight Talk lines. We have been on Android devices for so long I hate to give them up especially after seeing Jelly Bean in action. Plus to me an iPhone is just like my iPad just pocket sized...why do I need two? However, if we travel to an area where there is no service the phone doesn't Roam, it just stops working. She is in sales and unfortunately has to work at times such as Christmas where we will be in an area where T-Mobile and/or AT&T don't work but Verizon does.
I thought about even putting her on Straight Talk and me on TMo $30 using the VOIP (since I work from home I don't see myself going over 100 cellular minutes a month if I'm careful).
Now, I've been reading about Solavei ($50/mnth) which allows roaming but I'm not to keen on MLMs. (I've seen MLMs break a few friends). However, since you don't have to participate in them this could be an option.
So, the question is, what would you do? Is the Galaxy Nexus worth the $350 on a prepaid vs. buying an iPhone 5 and getting locked for another 2 years? The money isn't really the issue (since we are already budgeted for the $155 per month but it would be nice to save some $$). How often do you find yourself Roaming on Straight Talk or TMo? How is the VOIP? What about Solavei (I read a forum about it and it sounds enticing, but once again MLMs bug the hell out of me).
I guess I'm not looking for some straight answers, but maybe someone to help me straighten out my thoughts. I really appreciate any feedback.
Thanks for reading.