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bmantz65
join:2001-07-23
united state

bmantz65

Member

Sprint or Verizon help

My wife wants an iPhone and we are trying to decide between Verizon and Sprint. We live in the Pittsburgh suburbs.

My father works for Sprint and through his discount she can get a plan for $40 a month. This includes unlimited data, messaging, mobile to mobile minutes, and 500 anytime minutes to landlines. Tethering is not included in that plan though. That is a cheap price but I am concerned about coverage. Both my parents have Sprint service. They have no complaints though my father will drop calls on a rural stretch of road he takes to work and my mother roams where she works in a small town surrounded by rural/country areas. When they come to visit our house, they have three bars of coverage and receive calls/texts fine. I am not sure on data speeds in our area. I know there are a few remote places at the moment where you get LTE in our area and I have heard and read numerous complaints on Sprint's data speeds being awful. But my wife would mainly use data via WiFi when connected at home, work, or Starbucks.

Regarding Verizon, they have the best coverage and speed in our area. I have had Verizon through work for seven years and have had zero problems or issues and pretty good 3G speeds. I receive full bars when inside buildings, at home, and most main roads and never any dropped calls. We know of one tiny "dead" spot in our main traveling area with Verizon (with Sprint it is unknown for us) and that is it. Pricing out a new Share Everything Verizon plan with my corporate discount would be $80 a month for the 1GB of data, $88 for 2GB and tethering is included (she might use this as she has a Kindle Fire).

So the Sprint option would be half the price per month, but unsure of the coverage and data speeds. Verizon is more expensive but we know the coverage and speeds we are getting. Is it worth the cheaper price (saving $480-$576 a year) to go with Sprint?

Note: the iPhone cost and contract terms are similar on both carriers.

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22

Member

Get 1 handset with a new number and try it for 10 days.

They do a 14 day trial just make sure that if it doesn't work well in your location start the cancellation well before the 14th day and you only pay for services used and some restocking fees, plan to be out $100 minimum.

»www.sprint.com/landings/returns/

bmantz65
join:2001-07-23
united state

bmantz65

Member

said by dib22:

Get 1 handset with a new number and try it for 10 days.

They do a 14 day trial just make sure that if it doesn't work well in your location start the cancellation well before the 14th day and you only pay for services used and some restocking fees, plan to be out $100 minimum.

»www.sprint.com/landings/returns/

How much advanced notice is enough? seven days?

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22

Member

said by bmantz65:

How much advanced notice is enough? seven days?

They claim you can cancel on the 14th day... I am just saying aim for day 10 to be sure

The problem with all us based cellcos is that they are more interested in selling contracts than anything... so any trick to trap you or gain the etf they will use.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

I don't know if it's nationwide, but in New York City they offer TWO return deals, the 14-day one which they tell you about, and an even cheaper three-day deal which they don't but which they will admit if you ask about it.

WK2
Premium Member
join:2006-12-28
united state

WK2 to bmantz65

Premium Member

to bmantz65
Sprint is only getting better coverage wise. Its good as well that you live close to a city.
uteck
join:2009-12-30
Elgin, IL

uteck to bmantz65

Member

to bmantz65
It seems like the only problem is the dropped calls since roaming is covered under the normal billing. So how often is your dad talking on that streach of road to justify the higher montly bill?

Data speeds are ony relevant if you are using a data intesive app. So what network games are they playing on their phones, or are they web serfing? Probibly not as big a deal as you think once you look at how they really use the phones.