Worth it to CANCLE my Verizon plan for Nexus 4 on T-Mobile?

[theuserjohnny]

So I embarrassed myself yesterday by buying a Nexus 4 for my Verizon contract... read here!

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17113344#post17113344

So currently I'm sharing a plan with my family. They are all due for an upgrade except for me (I'm not due till next year). I have 2 options...

1.) One of them will just not upgrade and get off Verizon and just pick up my remaining contract and I'll switch to T-Mobile. The only downfall is that I just have to get a new number. The good my Nexus 4 would work.

2.) One of them will upgrade and I'll just get whatever smartphone of my choice. The downfall I'm stuck with Verizon for another 2 years. The good I get a new Galaxy S3.

Right now I'm still expecting the Nexus 4 to arrive at the end of the week.

THE TITLE IS MISLEADING! INSTEAD OF CANCEL I SHOULD HAVE PUT LEAVE!

 

[TheHateMachine]

So I embarrassed myself yesterday by buying a Nexus 4 for my Verizon contract... read here!

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17113344#post17113344

So currently I'm sharing a plan with my family. They are all due for an upgrade except for me (I'm not due till next year). I have 2 options...

1.) One of them will just not upgrade and get off Verizon and just pick up my remaining contract and I'll switch to T-Mobile. The only downfall is that I just have to get a new number. The good my Nexus 4 would work.

2.) One of them will upgrade and I'll just get whatever smartphone of my choice. The downfall I'm stuck with Verizon for another 2 years. The good I get a new Galaxy S3.

Right now I'm still expecting the Nexus 4 to arrive at the end of the week.

THE TITLE IS MISLEADING! INSTEAD OF CANCEL I SHOULD HAVE PUT LEAVE!

Well I am highly biased towards Verizon and feel like they should lose out all the time. So I am going to tell you yes!

However, you should really test out Tmobile's coverage in your area. Just buy the $10 dollar sim and use their $30 prepaid unlimited data/text 100 minute plan for a month and see how it works out in your frequently traveled areas.

 

[cynics]

I only suggest Verizon if you have an LTE phone and are usually in LTE coverage.

Their 3G is crap IMO.

Pick a phone you want THEN pick the carrier.

I don't know much about tmobile but Verizon's voice coverage is excellent. It's just there terrible 3G that bothers me especially for how much they charge. EVDO? Forget about it, be more productive to use the USPS to send messages/mms/etc.

S4 is coming out soon. I don't know how much you like the S3 but 2 years is a long time to be stuck with "last years model". Btw I don't know if Verizon is getting the S4 or when so you'll have to do your own research on that.

 

[mattopotamus]

I posted this at the end of the other thread, but here you go

t-mobile is the cheapest of the big 4 if you want unlimited talk, text, and web and fast internet speeds. Their hspa+ network is up to 42 mbps, which is basically LTE. I only get 23 on att LTE and on tmobile hspa+ I get 27 mbps down.

 

[Shrink]

I guess I should say this real quietly...

I've had Verizon for years, and I'm happy with them...

 

[2298754]

No way. Verizon has more LTE than TMobile has 3G. It's a night and day difference. Stick with big red.

 

[tjl3]

IMO, NO!

You get what you pay for, so definitely check the T-Mo coverage in your area if you are really considering it, as the person above said. Test driving a Nexus 4 will cost you tho, b/c not only does Google have a restocking fee, shipping is not calculated in the $349. And you're not likely to get the full price back on ebay or craigslist.

HSPA+ 42 is awesome, if you get it. My area has HSPA+ 42 coverage, according to T-Mo, but I am often times on 3G and many times on EDGE w/ little or no connectivity on my Nexus 4. Conclusion, my personal phone on Verizon is a much better experience and worth the marked up price!

 

[Dontazemebro]

I wouldn't do it. While TMO has improved over the years, almost anywhere you go in the continental US, Verizon is going to be better.

Furthermore, never let a phone be the deciding factor for your carrier.

 

[fr4c]

I would stay with VZW, just for pure coverage alone. I've tried T-Mobile briefly a few months back and admit that speeds are great on their "4G" network. But everything goes to **** if you step inside a building, or if you drive outside major towns/cities. My Galaxy Note 2 would randomly fluctuate between excellent data connectivity to EDGE speeds during my daily commute.

So I would make the decision based on T-Mobile coverage in your area, and if you're not the type to travel out of state a lot maybe it'll be a good choice for you.

Always pick your decision based on coverage, rather than phone. Whats the point of a smartphone if you have no coverage?

 

[Dontazemebro]

I would stay with VZW, just for pure coverage alone. I've tried T-Mobile briefly a few months back and admit that speeds are great on their "4G" network. But everything goes to **** if you step inside a building, or if you drive outside major towns/cities. My Galaxy Note 2 would randomly fluctuate between excellent data connectivity to EDGE speeds during my daily commute.

So I would make the decision based on T-Mobile coverage in your area, and if you're not the type to travel out of state a lot maybe it'll be a good choice for you.

Always pick your decision based on coverage, rather than phone. Whats the point of a smartphone if you have no coverage?

T-Mobile does have the worst building penetration of all the big carriers. Few years back when I was still on their network I would be lucky to get 2 bars at work (hi rise building)

 

[cynics]

I'm surprised the last couple of people like Verizon so much. Of course that partly maybe my fault with an iPhone 4S. But their data speeds can be terrible on 3G. Max I've ever seen was 2 mbs and I travel all over the country. In large crowds its nearly unusable. I was just at opening day in Baltimore, MD for the Orioles and even iMessage was near impossible to use. I had to use a friends ATT 4S for directions. Vegas is a nightmare.

Then you have the issue of no talk and data. Some of their phones can do it, but only if you are on LTE. The iPhone can't even do both if its on LTE.

I'm sure I'd be much happier if I had an iPhone 5 but even then data and voice at the same time is pretty important to me because I use the phone for work.

Just not a CDMA fan I guess.

 

[scott craft]

There are Verizon phones that can talk and surf at the same time on 3G. The Galaxy S3, Note 2 and most newer HTC phones are capable of it.

 

[tjl3]

I'm surprised the last couple of people like Verizon so much. Of course that partly maybe my fault with an iPhone 4S. But their data speeds can be terrible on 3G. Max I've ever seen was 2 mbs and I travel all over the country. In large crowds its nearly unusable. I was just at opening day in Baltimore, MD for the Orioles and even iMessage was near impossible to use. I had to use a friends ATT 4S for directions. Vegas is a nightmare.

Then you have the issue of no talk and data. Some of their phones can do it, but only if you are on LTE. The iPhone can't even do both if its on LTE.

I'm sure I'd be much happier if I had an iPhone 5 but even then data and voice at the same time is pretty important to me because I use the phone for work.

Just not a CDMA fan I guess.

I agree with this about 3G speeds, although the LTE coverage is so well and reliable that I rarely suffer from low data speeds. If AT&T didn't have such poor coverage at home and at work I would definitely have gotten the gsm iPhone 5. I definitely miss not having simultaneous data and voice, but it's not a deal breaker.

For the record, u think Verizon 3G is slow, well T-Mo EDGE is infinitely worse!

 

[fr4c]

I've never had any issues with Verizon 3G, if I was to fall back to it. Chances are most of the places I travel to are blanketed under LTE, and Verizon 3G were more than fast enough for what I needed to do on my phone anyways.

I'm more worried about the ping times than anything else, because a speedtest of 12MB down is not going to do you any good if your ping is 3-4 seconds. In my own experience Verizon has always been very good in that aspect.

You should see some of the results I get with AT&T, with full bars of "4G"...

 

[blackhand1001]

I say try out a sim and see how it goes. Some areas they have great coverage and the nexus 4 is an excellent phone, especially of you're into root since the boot loader is unlocked and Google provides all the drivers and binaries for custom ROMs. Roms like cm10, AOKP, etc are all as stable as stock essentially with added features and there much better than chrome, aosp browser.

 

[tensiondeadache]

Just switched from AT&T to T Mobile a few hours ago. Just walked in the store, said I wanted the everything unlimited plan, signed two papers and walked out in minutes with my number ported over on my Nexus 4.

I feel like I'm in a new world already, not being afraid to use the many data-intensive apps on my phone. TMO's HSPA is considerably faster than AT&T's LTE in Los Angeles (in the tests I've done using a Lumia 920 and Nexus 4), so it looks like I'm getting better service, unlimited data, HD Voice, wifi calling while spending about 30 bucks less a month.


Not a bad deal.

 

[fr4c]

Just switched from AT&T to T Mobile a few hours ago. Just walked in the store, said I wanted the everything unlimited plan, signed two papers and walked out in minutes with my number ported over on my Nexus 4.

I feel like I'm in a new world already, not being afraid to use the many data-intensive apps on my phone. TMO's HSPA is considerably faster than AT&T's LTE in Los Angeles (in the tests I've done using a Lumia 920 and Nexus 4), so it looks like I'm getting better service, unlimited data, HD Voice, wifi calling while spending about 30 bucks less a month.


Not a bad deal.

Enjoy. As long as you have good coverage, T-Mobile's plans are a bargain. Every time I look at my Verizon bill I think about how much they shaft consumers, if it wasn't for my 30% corporate discount.

 

[viskon]

T-Mobile does have the worst building penetration of all the big carriers. Few years back when I was still on their network I would be lucky to get 2 bars at work (hi rise building)

That's been my experience as well. Coverage inside buildings can be better.

 

[tensiondeadache]

That's been my experience as well. Coverage inside buildings can be better.

Ironically, the TMO store I dumped AT&T at was inside a mall, where I could not connect to AT&T but could TMO. I'll happily accept TMO's shortcomings to be able to use my Nexus 4 unlimited. I swear there is something about the N4's radios that make it work much better on TMO than AT&T-or AT&T is just neglecting HSPA. I was on the 3GB individual plan with them, my last bill was $147 because of data overages (the AT&T app assured me that I was under, until they tacked on 6GB's at the last second). I had a law enforcement discount, which they only applied to the voice portion of the bill....resulting in a measly $6 savings.

Goodbye AT&T, you have a solid LTE network in San Diego but that is about it. Cannot think of any reason to use them unless you are grandfathered unlimited.

 

[siurpeeman]

one bit of advice: just because a line is upgrade eligible doesn't mean the line is off-contract. look into the lines that you're thinking of dropping and check their contract end dates to make sure you can cancel without paying the early termination fee. usually, the line is given upgrade eligibility four months before the end of the contract.

with that said, i would suggest you get a sim card and test out t-mobile's coverage, both voice and data. my dependency on voice has declined over the years, and it didn't make much sense to me to hang onto verizon and pay $80/mo when i was using fewer than 100 minutes and roughly 2 gb of data. i'm trying t-mobile at the moment (with a nexus 4), and i'm pleased with the network speeds and reception despite it not being lte. verizon's coverage is appreciably better, sure, but for me it was worth leaving to save $50/mo.

 

[theuserjohnny]

HEY GUYS I really want to express my thanks for the advice you guys have given me! Again I'm not really keen on the phone industry and how it works more of the computer guy.

Anyways I've been hearing alot about Solavei as a provider from what I understand they use T-Mobile so it's T-Mobile without the T-Mobile? Like how do those type of providers (Boost Mobile, Criket, etc) work?

 

[mattopotamus]

IMO, NO!

You get what you pay for, so definitely check the T-Mo coverage in your area if you are really considering it, as the person above said. Test driving a Nexus 4 will cost you tho, b/c not only does Google have a restocking fee, shipping is not calculated in the $349. And you're not likely to get the full price back on ebay or craigslist.

HSPA+ 42 is awesome, if you get it. My area has HSPA+ 42 coverage, according to T-Mo, but I am often times on 3G and many times on EDGE w/ little or no connectivity on my Nexus 4. Conclusion, my personal phone on Verizon is a much better experience and worth the marked up price!

I would like to point out that I have never had to pay the restocking fee when buying from google.

 

[tjl3]

I would like to point out that I have never had to pay the restocking fee when buying from google.

Ah, well that is good. Their return policy is a 15 day window from purchase (which isn't a long time to try their products) and one line reads a 15% restocking fee will be deducted on the return (but if applicable). I think I looked up the policy when they had the GNex last summer, so I must not have remembered the "if applicable." The restocking fee policy clarifies it a little more.

 

[mattopotamus]

Ah, well that is good. Their return policy is a 15 day window from purchase (which isn't a long time to try their products) and one line reads a 15% restocking fee will be deducted on the return (but if applicable). I think I looked up the policy when they had the GNex last summer, so I must not have remembered the "if applicable." The restocking fee policy clarifies it a little more.

I think as long as you keep all of the original packaging they do not charge you the fee. Almost all business say they have a restocking fee, but never charge it. The only people I know to always enforce it are the damn cell phone carriers! ATT always hits your for the $35 restock fee.

 

[streetfoldsfive]

Probably a little late but I hate Verizon. I do stay because they have the best service in my area but they have done nothing but screw me numerous times. Not to mention the price. I can say that by the time my contract is up if they do not have the latest Nexus device I will set fire to something and most likely leave. If you love the nexus 4 why not leave? Tmobile seems to be doing everything they can to improve themselves. Things could only get better