[ale] OT: Cell service provider recommendations

[JD]

On 06/05/2014 03:26 PM, Scott Castaline wrote:
> So we're sort of getting tired of ATT's games with pricing. We have 5 phones
> with 15Gb data and paying ~$340/month with my wife's state employee discount.
> We're looking to bail out of ATT and go with T-Mobile's program to pay contract
> termination fees. We can get all 5 phones exchanged for new ones plus the deal
> only gives 1GB/phone, but I can get and extra 2GB for $10. So what I'm asking is
> 2 things:
> 
> 1. How is T-Mobile's service and also their coverage?
> 
> 2. Motorola, LG, Samsung, or HTC?
> 

Coverage maps are full of lies. The cell companies hide their true maps -
probably the most sensitive data they have. I've worked for the parent company
and we were not shown the TRUE coverage maps when considering which data service
to buy for 17K employees - just sayin'. It wasn't like we'd buy from anyone else.

I've had service from AT&T, Sprint, and T-mobile. I've used all of them when on
travel in the USA. All of them have gaps in coverage, so it really comes down to
where YOU are and if you want data there.  Voice coverage is different from data
coverage.

Sprint was the worst, unless in a sprint "hub." Dropped calls happened to be all
the time - this was many years ago, so it really isn't fair to compare. At the
time I carried a personal sprint phone and a business Cingular GSM data device.
I'd be knocked off calls on sprint when a new email arrived on the Cingular BB
device.  I still have trouble believing the FCC allowed GSM in the USA with all
the interfering it does to other devices.

For me, priceis was more important than coverage. T-mobile lets me control costs
much more than the other options.  There have been times in the last 60 days
that I had ZERO bars on interstates in TN, TX, and OH with T-Mobile.  There have
also been times with 3+ bars in Rural Tx (TX-95 south) when I was surprised to
get a call or have any data. It generally works fine where I am around metro ATL.

These days, I'm rockin' a pay-as-you-go plan, then toggle data for $2/day as
needed.  Think I'll spend about $50 this year on voice and data for the cell
phone. It is a Nexus4 - that's an LG without any external SDHC. Besides that
lack, I enjoy it and plan to get another Nexus when the time comes directly from
Google. Not having all the pre-loaded crapware is nice.

If you travel internationally and might want to have phone/data there, get a GSM
capable phone.  If you travel a bunch internationally, AT&T really is the only
game - best to get the company to pay for the international roaming.  Or you can
wait in line at every airport in foreign countries to get a new SIM that may not
work in your device.  I've had that happen with my Nexus4 in Africa.