AT&T vs Verizon Wireless (Before you buy an iPhone, READ THIS)
By Tech God
Buying an iPhone? Top Rated Review on AT&T vs. Verizon Wireless
Thinking of buying an iPhone? Read this TOP rated review on ATT vs. Verizon Wireless. After all, they are the only two companies currently offering the iPhone, which will hopefully change with the new iPhone 5 coming June of 2012! Our hope is that it will be offered on all networks in the USA.
So you have probably heard a lot of good and bad things about AT&T and Verizon Wireless, but we are going to get right in to the comparison:
We recommend AT&T
ATT Network is based on GSM Technology (Worldwide), Verizon is CDMA (USA only)
ATT Voice plans (monthly $39.99 for 450 min, $59.99 for 900 min, $69.99 unlimited) Verizon is the same.
ATT Texting plans (monthly $10.00 for 1000 msgs or $20.00 unlimited) Verizon is $10.00 for 500 msgs of $20.00 for unlimited... (they force you to pay $20.00 more, NO ONE texts 500 messages or less which means you either pay overages or pay the $20.00 max).
ATT Data Plans (monthly $15.00 for 200MB, $25.00 for 2GB or $45 for 4GB). Verizon has only once choice of $29.99 for unlimited service. You could EASILY get by with 2GB. I stream tons of video, songs, youtube, and run lots of apps and I do not hit 2GB until about 2-3 months later. Verizon is basically screwing you out of an extra 10 bucks here.
ATT Tethering (using your iPhone with your laptop so you can be online using your phone as a modem). Monthly fee of $20. (no data, but is included in the att 45$ data plan above). Basically you can select the att data plan of $45.00 and get 4GB of data plus tethering included. Verizon charges $20.00 for 2GB and another $20.00 per GB after that!.
ATT Wi-Fi Hotspot is not currently available on their model of iPhone. Verizon wins here... their model of the iPhone already has Wi-Fi hotspot capability for up to 5 devices. No doubt the next iPhone 5 will have wi-fi capability.
ATT Speeds are estimated at about 24 seconds. Verizon is estimated at 18.5 seconds.
ATT on average has a 5.8% dropped call rate. Verizon is at 2.0% (Not confirmed).
ATT takes the cake on MULTITASKING! On ATT you can be on the phone AND hit the home key and surf the web, text message, email, run apps, etc. You can be on the phone with someone and literally look up directions for them, or text someone else. On Verizon, its a one way street. You are either in the phone or you are using data. They do not allow for multitasking. Boo!
It all depends on YOUR needs....
Basically, you get slightly more coverage with Verizon, but... you are not likely to notice this. Your cell coverage with Verizon is expanded but would only matter if you were traveling to areas that are way off the map. ATT has excellent coverage and usage of the iPhone on their network and has proven to be the best experience. Think about it... ATT has had the iPhone on their network from the beginning! Verizon is still just getting in to the game. ATT knows and has been anticipating issues both known and unknown, preparing for and upgrading their network to provide the best possible experience.
Let's say you are streaming a movie on Netflix, Pandora or Slingbox... the differences in speed are so slight, you wouldn't even notice. That being said, the only real impact is the fact that you can not use voice and data at the same time while on Verizon's network. On ATT you can talk, text and surf all that same time!
A lot of this will change when the new iPhone 5 is released later this year. But for now, we strongly urge ATT based on our experiences over all.
(Which network do you think is best for the new iPhone 5??) SEE WHAT OTHERS are saying below). Don't miss a sneak peak at the iPhone 5 below!
The New iPhone 5
The NEW iPhone 5 - Coming October 2011 !!!
- The NEW iPhone 5 - Coming October 2011
Sneak peak at the NEW iPhone 5 !!!! - The NEW iPhone 5 - Coming October 2011
The all new iPhone 5, coming October 2011 !!!
Blackberry 4G
- The NEW Blackberry 4G - Coming December 2011
The newest Blackberry - The Blackberry Triton (4G).
The iPhone is coming to SPRINT!!
- The NEW iPhone 4 is COMING TO SPRINT - December 2011!
The iPhone 4 and the newest iPhone 5 is coming to SPRINT!
iPhone is coming to US Cellular!
Comments
The reasons you listed here against Verizon are basically all based on money. While you say things like "Verizon is basically screwing you here" because their prices are a little higher, you then go on to statistically and verbally admit that Verizon is a little better than AT&T in coverage. You recommend AT&T, but I say, why settle for less when you can pay a little extra money for a little extra service? When buying a phone as complex as the iPhone, dish out a little extra cash for a little extra service. Why worry about what you can "get by" on, because odds are if you are buying this phone, you want to make sure you get the most out of it.
Just becasue Verizon is better in overall coverage, doesn't mean that AT&T's coverage is lacking. In almost every area, ATT's reception is fine. We are merely stating a statistical fact that Verizon has a larger coverage area. ATT is promoted more because they have had years with the iPhone and have more abilities. So you really do get more bang for your buck with ATT. For now.
We WERE with Verizon until my wife was in an accident in downtown LA and there was NO COVERAGE! We have not had any problems with AT&T anywhere in the LA and surrounding areas!
I went to Turkey and my Verizon would not work, a blackberry phone. I had to use a friends I phone from ATT to call Verizon and complain. Im still a big fan, but hope this new Iphone does the Global thing for Veriaon
I have had no problems with talking,surfing or testing on my
Verizon phone. All at the same time.
I have just received information from verizon that the iPhone 4 IS multi-tasking...is this true or not?
AT&T is the better choice because they have had the iphone much longer and plans are better. I've been with them for years and haven't had a problem yet! Plus with the planned buyout of T-mobile they will be much larger then verizon and the dropped call rate will drop(have never been dropped)
Let's see what this got!
verizons 500 text plan is not just 500 texts it is Unlimited texting within verizon and 500 texts for outside
As someone who has had both models of iPhone 4 (AT&T and now Verizon.) I can comfortably say that Verizon's iPhone is head and shoulders above at&t. I live in Knoxville, Tn and would drop calls on I-40 in west Knoxville with AT&T not to mention all the dead spots in the Sevierville area. With Verizon dropped calls aren't EVER an issue. Also with AT&T your iPhone loses 3G data around Jefferson city (30 miles from Knoxville approximately) and then goes into edge. Talk about slow. With my Verizon I've literally never been anywhere that not only did I have service but it is 3G service. Another big thing for me is unless things with AT&T have changed in the past 4 months they still will NOT insure the iPhone 4, Verizon will for 9.99 per month. Yes that is a little pricy but to me well worth it because should something happen to your phone and your not eligible for an upgrade a replacement will drain your wallet to the tune of 650 or so. With my insurance it's a 75 dollar copayment and I receive a brand new iPhone 4. To address the talking and surfing at the same time, yes it is true that currently Verizon iPhones can't do that however their 4g lte can. So when the new iPhone comes out that won't be an issue. I had my AT&T iPhone for 3 years and I honestly can't remember ever doing both at the same time. Bottom line when you compare these 2 companies services compare what truly matters or else you might find yourself on vacation in gatlinburg not only unable to multitask but also with no signal to even make phone calls which after all is what this device is primarily. Edge: Verizon in every way that counts.
Thanks for the great post..
It depends on where you live and if and where you travel. We I live AT&T service is terrible but verizon customer service is terrible too so what do you do?
What do you do? Put your phone away and enjoy life!!!!!!!
Thanks for the information. I'm already into
Verizon for two years now so I'll be paying the extra money but really for my location Verizon is best as AT&t does not have near the service coverage for our location as Verizon does.
Verizon cdma works very well in China.
Thanks for breaking down the AT&T plan. It's obviously the way to go if someone wants an iPhone.
AT&T's wireless coverage is lacking.. There are many dead spots for AT&T cell phones in my area. The only reliable carrier here is verizon. I would like to have other options but AT&T currently has way too many gaps in their coverage here.
ATT coverage SUCKS. I am in a large metropolitan area, only mile from the center of town and I can't get coverage at my home. Even with the latest model phone the coverage is still terrible. It drops calls left and right. I have to go to the extra expense of a landline just so I can call clients reliably without the call dropping 5 times during our conference. I am switching to Verizon unless someone can give me a good reason not to.
"ATT Data Plans (monthly $15.00 for 200MB, $25.00 for 2GB or $45 for 4GB). Verizon has only once choice of $29.99 for unlimited service. You could EASILY get by with 2GB. I stream tons of video, songs, youtube, and run lots of apps and I do not hit 2GB until about 2-3 months later. Verizon is basically screwing you out of an extra 10 bucks here."
IT APPEARS THAT IT SHOULD READ "Verizon is basically screwing you out of and extra 5 bucks here."
I likes iPhone 5
You are bias for ATT. Please explain how Verizon charges an extra $10 dollars for data plans.
Verizon has since changed their data plans to have it structured similar to ATTs plans. This article is biased and not 100% correct. Get your facts straight. GO VERIZON
Just have to say, I live in a large Metropolitan city and I can not stay connected on a single phone call, I even dropped a call complaining to AT&T and the call dropped and they didn't return my phone call. What a load of crap. They even told me I live in a spot where reception is poor... mind you I'm a mile away from I-285 and GA-400- major US City. So they gave me a micro-cell and it doesn't even stay connected once a phone number is dialed. We've replaced our wireless router with the Apple extreme router and even talked about replacing other things. Only to find out the micro-cell doesn't work well with the iPhone 4. Why oh why does AT&T think they can get away with this and if we can hold on just a few more weeks we'll be getting the newest iPhone when it comes out on Verizon.
I am in NY, and I can tell you that AT$T doesn't work inside the high-risers. You just don't have signal with the iPhone. Yes multitasking doesn't work with Verizon on iPhone4, but that is only because the iPhone4 just got to Verizon and actually Apple didn't supply them with it at that point. And yes iPhone5 will solve that problem. Now, when you are thinking about $25.00 for 2GB at AT&T or $30.00 unlimited at Verizon I would say don't even think about it and run to Verizon. Or else hey, you can get the 200Mb for $15.00 at AT&T or just 4GB for $45.00. How is that for a bargain. :) Can anybody see the difference? Yes you may not use up 2GB a month, but for sure you'll use more than 200Mb. So there you go. You try and go over the 200Mb, then you'll see how much it is going to cost you monthly. Anyway, Verizon is much better out there, especially than AT&T. And yes, it is important to have coverage no matter where you go. Since you sign a 2 year contract you want to be able to rely on the carrier. And yes you can rely on Verizon. Not so much on AT&T and deffinitly not on TMobile. So AT&T buying TMobile won't change anything in terms of coverage. They use each other's antennas already. They want to buy it only because of the subscribers. They know that they are loosing big time.
you are one biased lil wanker
and no i didnt read all the comments (just the first one)
but honestly i just wanted the facts not your comments on how much you hate verizon
I have had both ATT and Verizon. We had ATT for many years because as they were the only provider that worked in our rural area. A few years ago, we started to get dropped calls where we never used to get them.??? I understand that they often move their towers a bit to get coverage in new areas...not sure, but that's is what I have heard. Anyway, we switched to Verizon and were able to keep calls in areas that I've never kept calls before. Also, on a camping trip a few years age, when I still had ATT and my relatives had Verizon, I got coverage and they did not. The very next year, I could not even get coverage at the marina and my relative's Verizon phone got coverage at the marina, all over the lake and camp ground. I switched to verizon and do have to say that I get coverage in many more areas. So in my experience ATT has dropped in their coverage.
I used to have AT&T provided free by my job. I lived in just outside a major city. I frequently liked to go to multiple areas within less than an hours drive (but more rural), and NONE of them had ATT coverage. I had to turn in my free phone, and pay for my own phone through verizon in order to be able to leave my house on weekends when I had to be available to work. Then I moved to a new city. There was no official verizon coverage here when I first arrived, yet I get better coverage and NO dropped calls with my verizon plan than ANY of my co-workers with ANY of the local plans. I may be in a fairly small town, but it's not exactly the ends of the earth. It is right on I-5, a MAJOR freeway connecting the length of Mexico, the US, and Canada. SO, you literally couldn't pay me to use ATT... Thanks, I'll stick with paying my own way on verizon, and be assured that I actually have a phone with me that I can MAKE A CALL ON, and isn't merely for decorative purposes.
This should become interesting since Sprint is going to provide iPhone services, as well. However, I must say that I have a pay as you go smartphone, and it costs half the price of a contracted phone.
FYI to all of you, new plans, will be "structured" with tiers of data plans because of the new phones requiring data. They will be more structured like at&t and other companies because of stupid whining morans like on here complaining of the unlimited package of $30 a month. Which to me, I would much rather pay $30 a month a be safe for my unlimited, and just pay $20 for 2 a month... because my flow varies. As far as coverage, it's apples and oranges! At&t is better hands down overseas, but here in the US, they SUCK! I live in FTL, and have friends with the iphone, they have dropped calls, cant get web connections etc... now me i can be right there next to them NO PROBLEMS with my verizon moto X. connect to the web - fast speed, no dropped calls, great connections. Verizon in the US is the best carrier for service, hands down!
Wouldn't an iPhone 5 with one of Sprints unlimited data plans blow att and vz away?
AT&T plans seem to include rollover minutes, whereas Verizon's do not. Is that correct, or has it changed? Although I prefer Verizon reliability, that ROM feature is immensly ATTractive to me!
I have had both AT&T and Verizon and as alot of the posting have stated Verizon's coverage is better than AT&T but from my experience Verizon far more expensive than AT&T. You have rollover minutes with AT&T and your bill does not increase every other month with hidden charges. And as others stated you are able to multiple task with your iphone4 although that will change with the iPhone 5 for others bout for now that's a plus
I am a proud owner of ATT service, prior to that I was with Sprint, and prior to that I was with T-Mobile. Verizon is shit, never had them, but they are shit. They are the most overrated and primary blockers of the ATT/T-Mobile merger because they know they'd be done with. Yes ATT still does do rollover minutes, also they are the original iPhone carriers. Fuck Verizon.
This must be an ATT ad and couldnt take the heat so you have to talk like the one above me.
I live in the northern suburb of Atlanta and ATT's 3G network is TERRIBLE!!! Calls drop, music apps can't connect, surfing is minimal, and issues have been called in to customer service, tech teams, and reported to supervisors and managers with minimal response or ability to fix/resolve my issues. Every time I call for an issue now, no matter what it is, I remind them that I will not renew my contract with them. Since I am an iPhone user, and started with ATT, I'm glad now that there are other providers who will carry this amazing piece of technology and I hope that they will be able to provide excellent service with their networks so ATT can see how important it is to retain business with someone who has had a plan with them for years. AT&T.......understand this is just as drastic a choice as a long time driver of BMW switching to Mercedes because they no longer perform. ATT you will be losing a long time customer in me.
AT&T is a JOKE. Avoid them like the plague. They have been 3 years of constant frustration. This article is obviously biased.
AT&T does not work in parts of southern NH, and I am not talking remote areas either. Major towns right off of highways, entire neighbors and sections where the iphone with AT&T is useless.
Verizon is the best overall all the way. Made the mistake of switching to AT&T a few years back...not bad, but calls dropped all the time or couldn't get a connection and custom service is lacking as well. Verizon in both areas is superior. I also agree article is biased...just sayin' thats what it seeems..
I have verizon and its amazing! my friend has att and doesn't even have service in her own house.
I had the iphone with att and my service was crappy, and expensive. I never had good service, and had lots of dropped calls. It wasn't worth paying $130.00 a month for bad service.
Opinions are like nose's, everybody has one and no two are alike. You just have to check the rates and coverage in your area and find out for yourself. some people iare going to have something negative to say about everything, can't please everybody, Like me, I don't care for the colors of Verizon's logo and there are too many T' in the computers name.
verizon very bad company they steal from custmers
I don't think anyone with comments above has really understood what the article was trying to say. It is in no way biased. It is stating what it has researched in the real world. They even state that VZ wins in depth of coverage. Each company has prepared for REAL 4G service in different ways, but when in iPhone is released in two days, you MUST consider that there more to the US than New Hampshire, New England or any area of the country.
But from an overall picture of the US, AT&T has built its backhaul with such strength that they will be far greater than VZ or Sprint. Poor Sprint can't win for losing. I live in Austin, TX and it is one that has HSPA+ but not LTE, yet. AT&T has much catching up to be equal in coverage in LTE to VZ. But, in those cities that do (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago and Atlanta) and will have (15 additional cities by years' end (undisclosed at this time), their LTE will be better than VZ's ever will be.
This is a very complicated matter. Suffice it to say that if AT&T does not cover where you live or VZ offers you better coverage than AT&T, then by all means go with VZ. Who wouldn't? But, don't say that AT&T stinks, etc., only because they don't have the coverage that VZ has in your area. It would be foolish to do so.
By 2015 when LTE is fully in place just as 3G is now, and assuming that both carriers stay on the same track they are on now, AT&T will will the war--VZ may win the battles, but AT&T the war.
AT&T has done a great job in making sure you get the best possible experience using your iPhone. It sounds like all the haters that couldn't have an iPhone till now want to walk with their chest out high and mighty - enjoy not enjoying all the iPhone has to offer! And if you ask any apple employee at any given "genius bar" they will tell you it's a no brainer- AT&T.
My ATT service and coverage was so bad with my Iphone I deactivated it and went back to Verizon and an old Motorola flip phone where performance was flawless and service and honesty excellent. I would not even own a cel phone if ATT was the only choice of carrier. I look forward to having an I phone again on Verizon. Great device,
I agree ATT WIRELESS is better than Verizon for nationwide traveling. I'm on the road MSA's and RSA's 308 days last year and had ATT wireless, Verizon and Sprint.
Real Coverage Attwireless: B- Aircard C
Verizonwireless D+ C-
Sprint D D
Note: the brocures both online and carrier owned stores
are not honest they all have disclaimers in the small print real coverage is not allowed for public to see.
I've seen these three carriers real engineering maps public is not allowed to see. They all lie on public maps for getting new clients not one carrier is honest with marketing so far.
I would love to see the iphone 5 be able to use flash player as many websites use this for streaming video.
I totally get this article! And the guy above was right...it was an overall summary of both services with a recommendation...far from biased, goofballs. I have been with At&t now for 14 years, all the way back to cingular & have had the iphone 3 & 4. At&t also had unlimited data but dropped it only last year. Honestly, never needed more than 2 but i can see the draw. I have the 4 & tether the internet wherever i go. At&t's 4 is also a wifi hotspot for multiple devices as well so verizon does not have that advantage, only had it for a moment. The multi-tasking feature is incredible...would absolutely NOT want to be restricted to one feature at a time. We are constantly using various apps while having conversations. Further, at&t's rollover minutes, along with their free cell to cell calls with any carrier & a top 10 list, leave you wanting for nothing. The poster above was correct about at&t winning the 4g war in the end but that isn't today, so each subscriber has to answer what is best for him/her. If you live in an area with weak at&t, and i have absolutely NO problem with it, than verizon is obviously the choice for you. But if that isn't an issue, or you travel internationally, as i also do & use my phone all over the world & have for a decade, then it is a no brainer, at&t is the better option.
The iphone 5 is supposed to have HTML5 Safari which is Fash player compatible.
I am not a big iphone fan, then again it is pretty cool. I just don't want to reformat my life to Apple.
Also, I am a huge Verizon fan cause you get a nice price break on internet, land line and wireless package which brings all of the prices down. Verizon customer since CellularOne days.
I have had an iPhone since the 3 came out, so I've had a 3 (8gig), 3GS (16gig my wife uses now) and a 32gig 4. I have been with AT&T for years all the way back past to Cingular and went with them for one reason: coverage.
At the time 3-4 years ago I was traveling all over the country and the company I worked for had no uniform phone for everyone so they paid a stipend for phones and let everyone choose. Without fail my phone worked in far more places than anyone else (I distinctly recall one colleague using my phone to call and cancel his Sprint service after getting no service at three sites in a row). In all, after 5 years of traveling there were 2 places my phone didn't work, Elkins WV and about 40 miles southeast of Legrange KY. Yes there were a lot of places it rolled to EDGE and I hated those places, but it still worked.
Eventually my company went with a uniform provider and bought phones for everyone. Guess what? iPhone 3GS on the AT&T network has been the phone for the last 2 years (I keep my 4 and snicker at them when they need a camera with a flash).
Make your own choice but there are quite a few companies that go with AT&T exclusively for a reason.
I bought my iPhone 4 from AT&T about 8 months ago. I LOVED the phone. It truly is an amazing piece of technology. Then I moved into my new apartment. I had one, and if I was lucky, two bars of service. I was in an area that AT&T told me was saturated with antennas. I must admit, when I got out to a major road, the coverage did improve. Then I moved again, same state, different city. Zero to one bars in my new apartment. It mostly says “Searching…” I can sometimes make a call but connecting to the internet or sending email will not work. AT&T advised a 3G Microcell, which they were glad to sell to me for only $199. Well, I liked the phone so I said OK, I’ll buy it. That was a week ago. The Microcell has never worked. I have been on the phone (Skype) with them for hours upon hours and they can’t get it to work. I cannot tell you how frustrating this has been. The problem has been escalated twice to their top-tier specialists who have come up with excuses each time as to why it wouldn’t work. Their latest one was that the Microcell was not compatible with my ISP (Verizon).
I, too, have traveled to almost every state in the Union. My company provided me with a Verizon (then GTE) flip phone and upgraded to the next highest technology about every two years. I went to major cities and I went to towns so small one had to stay 20 miles away where the closest motel was available. I never had one occurrence when my Verizon phone could not get coverage. I do not see how AT&T can say they have nation-wide coverage when I have been so many places where I could get maybe one bar if I was lucky.
I hate to leave AT&T because I like being able to multitask. But one must be able to connect to the Internet to multitask and I cannot do that in my own home. So I will literally pay the price to leave AT&T, since I signed a two-year contract with them in order to be able to afford the iPhone 4. My plan is to buy a refurbished iPhone 4 from Verizon, and purchase the voice, data, and messaging plans that I need, then get an iPhone 5 next year when they come out.
One note about customer support. AT&T’s front-line support people are absolutely amazing. They are anxious to help you with your problem; they are almost fanatical about solving your problem. I cannot say enough good things about them. However, when they escalate a problem to the wiz-kids, it is a whole different world. I doubt whether one of them has ever actually talked to a customer. All I got from them were two archaic texts saying they had closed out my case. That was it, no explanation as to why they closed it. And both times I received this text, the problem was not resolved. I was a senior technology manager for a Fortune 500 company for 17 years and ran a technology company for two years. I would never allow anyone, no matter how brilliant he or she was, to disrespect a customer. And when we had a problem that was difficult facing us I would round up all the required people and put them in a conference room. I would tell them as I shut the door, “we’re not leaving till we figure this thing out.” And 85% of the time we solved the problem in just a few hours because we approached it as a team. Why would one have all these talented and brilliant employees around and not listen to them? I loved it when one of them came up with an idea or a plan that was better than the one I proposed. I encouraged them to come up with better ideas or plans because in the end, we had a better product or solution that if we had done it the way I wanted it done.
Well, I’ll stop rambling on. Good luck to all you AT&T customers out there. If you get great coverage then I’m happy for you. If you don’t get great coverage, demand it. If that doesn’t work, maybe it’s time to quit coming up with excuses for their short comings and switch to another carrier.
If you travel to other than a big city Verizon is the way to go. It beats ATT hands down.
My verizon Blackberry worked fine in Turkey
I have had AT&T since back in Cingular. No bias here, just my experiences. I lived in Fayetteville, NC, Charlotte, NC, and Statesville, NC. I have never had a problem with signal unless they were making system updates. I have always had good customer service and they grandfather you in for anything. I have the iPhone 4 and just changed my plan from my parents to my own. I STILL have unlimited data. AT&T does allow wireless hotspot now. But, as stated in the Hub, you have to pay the extra for the tethering plan. I have had iPhone 8gb, iPhone 3G 16gb, and now iPhone 4 16gb. Will be staying with AT&T for iPhone 5 next year on both me and my wife's phones. Verizon is a good company. If they weren't they would not be in business. I have just heard too many stories about bad customer service and lack of features. But if you like Verizon, stay with Verizon. If you like AT&T, stay with AT&T.
i think yall just trying to sell att over Verizon, because both are great services in reality Verizon is better, one fact that i can confirm false is the data i easily run over 2gb in one month and that doesn't even include the tethering. another fact i can confirm false is that u CAN surf the web and be on the phone at the same time....
I consistently use about 10 GB per month or more streaming Pandora,SlackerRadio, Netflix, HBOGO, and numerous other entertainments using 4G on Verizon. The real fact remains that without 4G service on the iphone Verizon offers better data rates with 3G over HSPA but AT&T offers the best functionality with advanced backhaul(if you can find coverage).
I have ATT and my husband has Verizon. We had to put a signal booster on our home in order for me to not get the words "no service" on my ATT iphone. My husband's Verizon had no problems. My ATT iphone outside of my home works equally as bad. I get tons of dropped calls, lots of "data cannot connect" messages. Then it tries for hours to connect and runs the battery down to zero in the process. I see the words "Call Failed" constantly and I see the words "No Service" frequently. It happens at home, at my office, up north and in several different states that we travel to. ATT's response "There are 16 towers around you so there shouldn't be a problem" but there is. I have had the phone checked out and there is nothing wrong with the phone. My husband's Verizon phone works perfectly in all the places my ATT iphone will not work in. I will NEVER use ATT again. My experience as been awful!
I have a sprint evo 4g and i get great 4g connection in my home. I get great signal everywhere in the tri state area. I have had att and verizon in the past and hands-down prefer sprint service.
I am posting this comment while simultaneously on a call and running bejeweled on pause on my AT&T iPhone..I live in Ohio and anyone from Ohio knows the hell we go through with reception and coverage with ANY company! The AT&T iPhone is BY FAR the best phone in terms of coverage, service and reception I've had in years if not EVER...my mom is a Verizon customer and upon seeing how great my phone performed , has since switched to AT&T
On my plan....EXCELLENT multitasking performance with more than adequate load speed.. The ONLY drawback I've experienced is how quickly you can use up thE 2GB AND 4GB memory if you're not connected to WiFi..if AT&T goes ahead and offers UNLIMITED data like Sprint does, AT&T's IPhone experience will be HEAD AND SHOULDERS above ALL!
verizon actually has several options for data plans when it comes to the iphone. i know because for the past couple of hours i have been researching upgrading to 4s on verizon...it is very clear you are biased to att, and you let that get in the way of displaying the information objectively.
A friends daughter couldn't use her Iphone in Bali because it was AT&T. All her other traveling companions that had Verizon had service. Where we live, AT&T is awful. Unfortunately, the ONLY carrier that works here is Verizon.
Att is way better then Verizon, I had Verizon for 4 years and I didn't like it at all, I have AT&T for 9 months already and I love it!
ATT is better because you can talk and be connected to the internet at the same time. For us, IT professionals, this means a lot in solving issues on the road without having to carry additional devices to do the work and be on the phone. This is huge. You can also do webex (online meeting/presentation) and be on the phone at the same time. That's just an example and there are many more why you would want this ability.
ATT sucks I work under street level and I left my phone once at home, had to borrow a friend phone which was ATT dame call was dropped on the other had I have my VERIZON phone work great under street level and tunnels too.
As someone who has had both Verizon and AT&T and I can say with the utmost certainty that Verizon is a far superior network. I live in a city of 5 million people...a large city by most standards...a city that should have phenomenal cell phone coverage. Not with AT&T. There are dead zones every which way you turn. I refer to them as Black Holes. Customer service is subpar at best. There's a reason you pay more with Verizon. They're a superior service.
I used to have At&t years ago and I can honestly say they're coverage sucks. I couldn't get service in my home and when I called to complain they had really bad customer service. I switched to Verizon and the service was a lot better.. With that being said I'd rather pay the extra bucks (which is really no big difference) to have better service and NO dropped calls.
JCG hit the mark! ATT is NOT 4GLTE - their 4G is not LTE. I, too, have a business phone from ATT that is useless where I live - Houston suburbia. My ATT phone is a "company email-only" device as far as I am concerned. I cannot make a phone call in my house. My personal phone is a Verizon 4GLTE and it runs circles around my ATT pseudo-4G phone.
Verizon is the only carrier to consider.
I have the Verizon Droid Bionic and from day one I've been able to talk and surf the web on my phone. Yes, the wifi is off. So you're mutli-tasking bit about hitting the home key and doing whatever....I do that too :/ on Verizon.
Have had every iPhone but 4s. Been with AT&T and have never had one dropped call. I've had great service in every way and the multitasking has been fantastic. I checked Verizon out, but they are, thus far, inadequate. I do use my phone primarily for browsing, music, apps, bill payment, texting and messaging, including email. Never had a moments down time. The iPhone, iPad and my iMac work perfectly together. iCloud also is awesome. Will definitely get the iPhone 5 as soon as I can. Apple and AT&T are excellent together!!
One minor detail that was missed by this old data. AT&T coverage is pathetic in comparison to Verizon. How would i know, I carry devices from both and I can always count on my trusty AT&T device to NOT have a signal and Verizon service to be rock solid, even in the remote mountains. I know, your experience will vary, but i cant wait to trash my AT&T device and convert to strictly Verizon, the extra $, if this is true, is worth it to me. Useful device (Verizon) vs. brick (AT&T).
Verizon is superiorr...its a fact it has better coverage...at&t wants to be nd make people think that they are something theyre not..of course verizon gives honest info. and u could see it in peoples experience, switching from at&t to verizon.. it depends if u want the best service which of course its verizon.. Verizon rocks:)
seems to me that this is a war of words between ATT and Verizon employees
FYI ... Verizon supports talk and surf capability on ALL 4g LTE devices. :)
Whoever wrote this is an absolute idiot. Ie/ "no one uses less than 500 messages" is blatantly untrue especially since messages to other verizon phones doesn't count in that 500. And also if you only use 2gb in 2-3 months you clearly don't "stream tons of video, songs, youtube, and run lots of apps" as you said you do. I couldn't read much further because well quite frankly i didn't trust you anymore after reading those absolute lies.
I had AT&T. There coverage was horrible. I watched others making calls all around me and my phone had no service. When I switched to Verizon, which is what the other people around me were using along with TMobile and a couple of others (I asked about 30 people who their providers were, only AT&T had no service in the instance). I always have service now and by the way I do use much more than 2 GB's of internet service, my messaging is unlimited thank God and I can multi task on Verizon. You are very misinformed or being paid to put out misinformation.
Think about what your comparing. Every city/area is different and the wireless infrastructure is built/designed by different contractors. ATT is probably best in certain areas, like any place in Texas I would imagine.(Their Headquarters) So when you compare, take that into account. Cincinnati for att was terrible though, couldn't roam a call from tower to tower without dropping it. But other places its probably the best and fastest. Verizon where i am now isn't awesome, but it works fine, T-Mobile is actually better. And I can't imagine the struggle carriers face with global roaming. Do you know how many carriers there are and what all they have to deal with? Frequencies and separately owned towers, it goes on and on. Just think about it, alot of things are out of their control, complaining about them really doesn't help. Over all, cell phones are pretty great.
My At&t experience is a nightmare of dropped calls and excuses for poor service. I live in Alaska and the word on the streets is At&t sucks. I will wait for Verizion to arrive and the iPhone 5.
LOL I love how everyone here is just throwing out their opinions about who is better and blah blah. The fact is that Apple iPhones are so heavily subsidized that when ATT got them back in 2007, they were dropping $500 initally for each and every phone sold. ATT did not have the money to invest in their network because they were buying iphones by the millions and is why their network never improved! It doesn't help that the iphone is a data hog and costs so much money to maintain so many iphones on ATT's malnourished network. Ever wondered why there's no more unlimited data? At least Verizon had an extra 4 years on ATT to develop their network. That's also why Verizon is in about 200 more locations with 4G compared to ATT. And lastly, any device on Verizon 4G LTE is capable of using both talk and web features. That's why ATT is really pushing the new 4G Windows phone. Because they hate Apple! Sorry if you don't agree, it's just the facts. =)
I do a lot of traveling and was constantly losing signal.... i had tmobile, ATT, and now Verizon. Definitely Verizon is the best!
I've lived all over city of Atlanta and have never had a problem with ATT coverage, even when i goto my parents house in conley. So it leads me to wonder who these people are in Atlanta that don't get good coverage. Now I did have a couple of problems with it on the west side of the island of Oahu in Hawaii but thats it. Now I had Verizon first and if you are traveling across Texas or anywhere in the midwest your screwed or if you happen to go to the Mediterranean countries it sucks. So if you you are never going to leave the US or go to the Mid-West your good on Verizon, but I'll stick with ATT because I have been around the world and one or 2 dropped calls a month is not enough to make me switch.
I went to Turkey and my Verizon would not work, a blackberry phone. I had to use a friends I phone from ATT to call Verizon and complain. Im still a big fan, but hope this new Iphone does the Global thing for Veriaon
I have Verizon and my husband has AT&T. i get service in our LA adjacent town and my husband does not. Our friends who live in New York cannot get service. AT&T may want people to think they are the better provider, but get real. The reason they are cheaper than Verizon is because they are providing an inferior service.
I originally used Verizon although my reception was terrible in a close suburb to the Twin Cities. I would have to be by our windows to use our phones or outside. I couldn't use my cell in my home office because of the dropped calls. Also, Verizon frequently dropped calls while I was driving.
Switching to ATT was huge improvement!!! Better reception, call stability and coverage area. From my experience, far better than Verizon. Paying 'a little extra' with Verizon IS NOT going to allow you multi-task as you can on ATT!!! Coverage area is VERY similar, the added cost with Verizon doesn't improve your ability to use all the available features on your iPhone.
Unless something drastic occurs with the big 3 (ATT, Verizon or Sprint), I'm sticking with ATT. As for those mentioning Sprints "Unlimited Use", I challenge you to REALLY look at what you're getting; I believe it may not be as cost effective as you may think!! That's what I found.
I had Verizon for years and wanted an iPhone two years ago (2010) so I switched to AT&T. I love my iPhone. I live on Covington, WA - suburb of Seattle - and I have definitely noticed the difference in cell coverage between the two carriers.
I just bought the new iPad 3 from Verizon and I'm so impressed with the LTE capability. I'm upgrading my iPhone to the new iPhone5 when it comes out but it must be able to multi-task while on a cell call and I want world wide coverage. We'll see what they both have to offer when the time comes.
with att and they complain often about the service and reception. To make phone calls they have to go outside. Now that sucks.
I have had all of the major carriers, with the exception of t-mobile over the years and I can say with certainity they all have the strong and weak areas. I went to school in Southern Illnois, and Verizon was the only game in town that worked in the Forest. I was in Chicago at the Cubs Game this weekend and my AT&T had full service at Wrigley, while my verizon friends were having problems getting calls to go through. I live in Central Illinois and Verizon has 1 bar in my house, while AT&T has 4. If you look at their coverage maps for 2012, both networks are going to give you service in somewhere between 85-90% of the Country. AT&T appears to be slightly stronger in the South, while Verizon appears to be slightly stronger on the East and West Coasts. This doesn't have to be a pissing contest. Both networks are amazing when you consider the amount of land mass they must cover in comparison to let's say French or German Operators. Their nationwide networks are the same size as one of our larger states.
To those of you talking about how you can multitask on Verizon, that is great, but this is an article about the iPhone and not about 4G LTE phones. I would assume this is why the writer decided to include it. I personally would not own an iPhone on Verizon 3G, their network speeds are about 400-700 kbps in most areas the network is so saturated with iPhones. With them it is 4G or nothing. With my 4S on AT&T I'm speeding along at 3.9 MBPS and we don't even have HSPA+ where I live. Both good networks, but I have made my choice and have been happy with AT&T and will be until they screw something up.
If you look at the current rate plans and features for both carriers you will see that since the io5 came out and enabled people with iphone to text each other using data instead of text, AT&T got rid of their cheaper text plans and now only offer unlimited texting for $20 a month. Verizon still offers 1000 texts for $10 a month or unlimited for $20 a month. I have AT&T and an Iphone, as do the majority of the people I text. I would love to be able to cut my text plan charges in half but I can not with AT&T!! Everything else is about the same. All carriers have good and bad. None of their signals are perfect.
Yeah I agree On the texting. AT&T throws in unlimited mobile to any mobile with it to make more people bite because then they are up selling 30 dollars to families that could normally just pay an extra 10 to move up to the next minutes tier. It's really a sneaky marketing tactic. I think everyone should just download whatsapp or heytell and write off carrier SMS all together it is sooo overpriced it should be illegal.
This isn't accurate anymore.
A lot of the verizon pricing information is incorrect
Verizon has 1,000 text msgs for $10. The information in this article is currently outdated! The best thing to do is research both companies before making a decision. Verizon does have more coverage and rarely ever a dropped call.
My sister switched to AT&T from Verizon to get the Blackberry Bold. After one month she said she had more dropped calls than her entire contract with Verizon.
The statement about NOT being able to talk and use data at the same time is totally 100% incorrect. This has been possible ever since Verizon released the HTC Thunderbolt over a year ago. When posting you should have your facts straight. The speeds, coverage and service with Verizon compared to AT&T is 2nd to none.
Cristii 11 months ago
I m so happy if sprint get iphone I been 2 years and sprint so I'm excited these please sprint get get the iPhone. Please.