AT&T or Verizon

[Tailwind]

I know, just what we need, another subject to debate. Just wanted to know if anybody who has had experience with both carriers if there is a significant difference in the coverage while on the road and in campgrounds of either carrier. I currently have Verizon, so I know what coverage I can get with them but it will cost me $250 x 2 to get the new phones DW and I want with them vs free with AT&T. So, will AT&T give me similar coverage while camping or should I bite the $500 bullet and stay with Verizon.
So pop some corn and let's .

[Blaster 84]

I hear bad things about AT&T customer service. Why change phones? What's wrong with the ones you have?

[dcheatwood]

Yes. Was with att for years, even before they were att. Got so tired of their mess i switched to Verizon in 2010. Even changed home phone & internet. Now they've gotten crazy and outrageous with prices. Signal is ok. Its the changing contract agreement and leaving you no option but to pay more or take less service. I'll move again as soon as I fund a deal.

[dcheatwood]

Att claims more nationwide coverage with fewer dead zones with 3 G or less. Verizon claims more 4 G area that att. You can see their maps online.

[Platokidd]

I had att and sprint.
I like big red myself best

[Tailwind]

Blaster 84, our current phones were the cheaply made free ones and are about dead. I have a family plan with 5 phones and 2 of my kids have had to revert back to their old non-smart phones because they quit working. The other 3 are having more problems than I care to get into.

[ependydad]

I've price shopped all of the carriers- for the phones, plans and devices that we have, they all come out approximately to awash.

I've had AT&T since before they were AT&T, too. We got them when Verizon didn't work well where we lived at the time (we had it and had a few too many dropped calls + wife finally switched us).

The few times I've had fringe service, I had the same approximate amount of service as friends + family who have Verizon.

I'm not convinced one is better than the other.

[retiredcamper47]

I have had AT&T for many years. I get decent coverage (bars signal) most of the time while camping. There have been a few areas in Ohio that I cannot get a signal. When I hear a phone ring while I have no signal, I ask who their carrier is. The usual answer is Verizon.

Bob

[Oaklevel]

We have tried most of the carriers but for our area in SW Virginia & the general mid Atlantic region Verizon has the best coverage. (Just wish we had cell service at our house). We have to stand on our head against a certain wall to send a text. But no other carrier can get us that even.

We have the cell phones for phone calls not so much for internet etc. I am technology challenged & still had a dumb phone. The DW got her first smart phone (an apple something) when we renewed with Verizon last fall it was $1 the son got a ? but I do not remember the cost but it did not seem to bad. We paid as much for the dumb phones as we did the smart ones. We keep 4 phones on our plan and are used mostly from SC, NC, VA AND TN. Our home area has the worst coverage area (all plans). There are a lot of dead zones with all plans here. The next county over has almost no cell coverage.

[ChooChooMan74]

Never had AT&T. Had Verizon, switch to T-Mo when they had the original Sidekick, so I could communicate with my Deaf friends. Then, switched back to Vzw when T-mo left me high and dry in upstate NY with no coverage at all.

[Evereddie]

Over the last several years I have been in some 'out of the way' places with friends and family and I had service and they didn't. I have Verizon and they had AT&T. For me Verizon works, but as others have said, you pay for it.

[merrykalia]

I had Verizon for the first few years that I had a cell phone and then had Alltel for years, then they sold out to AT&T. I kept their service for about 1 1/2 years and their bill just kept getting higher and higher with less and less services.

I finally said goodbye to all of them and went with Straight Talk from Walmart. I get unlimited talk, text and data, plus a smart phone (of my choice) for $45.00 per month. It actually costs me $46.38 per month.

The down side is that you purchase the phone straight-out, but you can get a really nice phone for $75.00, then have a $45.00 bill each month. Mine is automatically deducted from my checking account every 30 days. You can buy all sorts of phones, even an I-phone, but they cost a lot - over $500. I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII.

The Straight Talk service, at least in my area, is Verizon service. We have had this service for three years and have traveled extensively throughout the eastern US. We have had service over 95% of the time, with most of the 5% being in isolated campgrounds.

We will NEVER go back to contracted service through the "big ones".

[travyp]

Originally Posted by Blaster 84

I hear bad things about AT&T customer service. Why change phones? What's wrong with the ones you have?

Some people don't realize this (I hope most do) but no carriers are not giving the phones away for $200. You are paying that extra cost in your monthly phone bill. That is the reason you do not want to just stick with your old phone after 2 years. You will still be paying for the cost of a new phone even though you didn't get one. I'm not one to just throw away a working device "just because" but ultimately you are the one getting the short end of the stick if you just stay with what you have. You are better off selling or trading in your old device. There are services that will give you a couple of dollars for them like Gazelle and Verizon/Walmart and some of the others.

[iowaborn]

I do not know if this is true for all service providers, but before I retired I worked for Oracle and Verizon offered an 18% discount for personal accounts. A friend was a County Sheriff deputy and Verizon had a discount plan for him too. It would be worth asking.

[Dovetail]

I have use both and changed about 3 months ago to ATT.

I used to have regular outages with Verizon and would have to reboot.
Have not had that problem with ATT

We use the MIFI at home for our internet use and have found that the range for the ATT version is much shorter than that for Verizon.
Have to move the MIFI some to maintain coverage from room to room.
Going to see if I can find a signal booster.

Other than that we are happy with ATT

[Mtelkman]

In Montana, Verizon gets the nod for having the best coverage.

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by reyob

I do not know if this is true for all service providers, but before I retired I worked for Oracle and Verizon offered an 18% discount for personal accounts. A friend was a County Sheriff deputy and Verizon had a discount plan for him too. It would be worth asking.

I had the gov discount of 18% until retirement, then it went to 8% to "thank you for your years of service." Per Verizon.
Teachers, military, law enforcement and other similar entities can get Verizon discounts but you have to jump thru hoops.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

I had the gov discount of 18% until retirement, then it went to 8% to "thank you for your years of service." Per Verizon.
Teachers, military, law enforcement and other similar entities can get Verizon discounts but you have to jump thru hoops.

Wow, I guess I am lucky with my 22% with CSX and 25% off accessories.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using the FRF mobile app.

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by ChooChooMan74

Wow, I guess I am lucky with my 22% with CSX and 25% off accessories.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using the FRF mobile app.

Yep. If the price is right and service is good. Don't know what CSX is. Must not have it here.

[greenliner]

is a railroad company.