It's everyone's favorite (or least favorite) time of year again. The time when a new iPhone is announced and everyone either goes gaga or ho-hum on the specs and changes — there's never a shortage of opinion. This however, is also a great time of year to evaluate your service provider for an iPhone 5 or any new smartphone purchase. Should you stick with the same network you've been using? Or jump ship to another? I'll detail the main points you should consider.
The Network:
This is a big decision, and to ensure that you are getting the most from your phone (the iPhone 5 now supports LTE) you need to understand the network coverage in your area. Go to OpenSignalMaps and type your address or zip code to see what services rank best in your area. Note the highest data speeds, and I'll explain those next.
Now that you have a handle on what data rates are available to you, what does it all mean?
In general, LTE networks are the fastest offering real world speeds of 5-12MB per second (MBps) download rates. This means loading a webpage, downloading attachments on email, and finding a location using maps data should all be quick with minimal lag.
Next in line is WiMAX, HSPA, and EV-DO. They offer real world download speeds in range of 2-6MB per second (MBps), and if you currently have an iPhone it's likely what you are using now. Is that fast enough for your use?
Summary:
If you travel a lot and want the fastest data, Verizon may be a good option with the wide coverage of its LTE network. However, if you stay local then what really matters is the coverage near you and how important having the fastest data networks are. OpenSignalMaps should give you a good idea of what's best in your area.
The Pricing:
The next big question is how much is all this data going to cost? Sprint seems to have the best overall plan in terms of value, and also is the only carrier still offering unlimited data. Early iPhone adopters on AT&T can still be grandfathered into unlimited plans, Verizon customers will have to pay full retail price on new iPhone 5's to keep that privilege.
Otherwise, AT&T and Verizon customers will be paying for data in 2GB Chunks. Typically 2GB is enough for average to moderate users with home wifi. Do you know what data plan you have now? Do you frequently have overage charges?
Here's some average pricing plans to give you a start, but check the carrier website for specifics to your needs...
- AT&T: Average price - $99.99/month (450 minutes, unlimited messaging, 2GB data)
- Verizon: Average price - $100.00/month (unlimited minutes, unlimited messaging, 2GB data)
- Sprint: Average price - $79.99/month (450 minutes, unlimited messaging, unlimited data)
- T-Mobile: Average price - $89.99/month (unlimited minutes, messaging and data)
Summary:
Sprint seems to offer a clear advantage in terms of value. True unlimited data for smartphones, and a reasonable cost. This advantage can be downplayed a bit if you are a light data user (2GB or less per month), but there is a sense of freedom in knowing you have no limit.
Customer service:
This factor is all too often overlooked. In the event you do have to deal with technical support or some billing issue, you want that experience to be pleasant.
Here's a recent chart of service rankings from JD Power & Associates....
The results are surprisingly convincing that Verizon is far and away the leader in this category. Want to do more legwork on this? Call the customer service departments and ask them some of the questions I posed here (what's the data plan going to cost? what data rates are available?). You can also research this online by going to the carrier's webpage and seeing how easy it is to use. Who had the best customer service? least phone wait time? most helpful website? That can help you decide how to rank customer service in your area.
Summary:
Don't overlook customer service and user-friendly carrier websites. You'll likely have to use them more than a handful of times through the life of your contract, so it pays to make sure that the carrier is providing a valuable customer service as well. You sure are paying them enough for it.
Everything Else:
If you've looked through these areas and made it this far, you've done a bulk of the work and probably have a good sense of which carrier is best for you. If it's close between two carriers, now is the time to consider the little things. Here's a few of note.
- Verizon:Mobile tethering offered free with shared data plan. This lets you setup the iPhone like a hotspot so you can use it for data for a laptop when wifi isn't available.
- AT&T: A GSM carrier (and the only one for iPhone). GSM is known to experience longer batter life compared to CDMA equivalents due to the antenna technology (Verizon and Sprint use CDMA standards). GSM also supports simultaneous voice and data, CDMA only will support this if you're in an area that supports LTE.
- Sprint: Only iPhone carrier still offering unlimited data with no throttling for new customers.
- T-Mobile: Another GSM carrier, and they have recently announced an unlimited data with no throttling data option. They don't formally sell the iPhone through retail but welcome unlocked iPhones on their network
Which area do you live in? What network did you choose and why?
(Images: 1. Apple, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, 2. OpenSignalMaps 3. JD Power)
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I have unlimited data with AT&T
These US prices baffle me.
In Belgium, I pay 15 euros a month for 2 Gb Data, 2000 texts, 64 minutes to all networks and 60 minutes/day to my network, prepaid.
And we buy our smartphones unlocked.
I have a 2 gig plan through AT&T with 450 minutes and texting, I pay $60 a month. Verizon has the best service in my area, but it's not worth an extra $40 a month to me!!
Better cellular plans and chocolate @Vallie? Belgium just moved up on my travel priority list.
Verizon has got to have the worst customer service of any carrier that I've ever had. I'm sure people's experiences are different, but I'm shocked to see that they won the customer care award.
I really wish T-Mobile would give a roadmap/timeline for their 1900 conversion to 4g. I LOVE my 30 dollar plan with them, but I just do not like android, and have zero interest in windows phones. I wish I knew if i got an iphone today, how long before i could get 4g speeds on their network.
@vallie...you should see what we pay for our healthcare.
P.S. Thank you Apartment Therapy for breaking this down! Very helpful. I'm looking forward to upgrading from my 3G.
@Vallie,
I'm in Belgium too. Which carrier are you using? I'm with Proximus and pay about 40 euros for 1GB of data and a bunch of texts and/or minutes (Comfort 20 plus the data plan)
Russel
I've had AT&T and Verizon before. Verizon had good customer service but ridiculously high and AT&T was terrible in just about every way possible. I now have Sprint and love the unlimited data (it was awesome to go from paying $200+ a month w/ AT&T for hotspot data to one fixed rate), but once my contract ends I'm probably going to switch to prepaid because $79.99 (though I do get a discount, which is nice) is just too pay much to pay every month.
I see you haven't heard about Solavei! :D It's $49/month for unlimited data/calling/texting, with no contracts! It's what I use with my new smartphone, and it works great. You also get payed when someone you tell about Solavei signs up, or when someone you've signed up signs up someone else (and so on).
Anyway, it's just an option you should be aware of when looking at service providers. If anyone's interested, they should let me know. ;)
I love Verizon. Customer Service, coverage (haven't been anywhere and not have coverage) and I got grandfathered in the Unlimited Data...I guess you really get what you pay for. wouldn't trade it for anything
@RDFOUTS
mobile vikings, a real joy to use, great costumer service, and very honest company. if you need more minutes per month you can either reload more often or pick the 25 of 40 euro plan.
@alicejohnson
is it really that bad? Did it get better with Obama's healthcare plan?
I currently have unlimited data with AT&T but hate the lack of service. Is it worth switching to Verizon for better service but a small data availability?
@GEORGIAZEE I'd say it is pretty hard to use 2GB of data without tethering or streaming video a lot. Maybe look at your current usage and if it is well below 2GB switching would be an ok idea. I guess it depends what you think might happen in the future.
My plan here in Australia is complicated but great. I bought the phone unlocked from apple and then pay $30 a month. That includes $220 in call/text value (which is impossible to convert into minutes because of the way they do things here but I always finish the month with $100+ left on the account). I get 400MB of data include but also get allocated 30 credits a month to buy extra data with, I usually but an extra 700MB for 20 credits and the extra 10 credits accumulates on my account. This way when I go traveling I can buy extra data (the larger the data block the less credits/GB) and use my phone as a 3G modem. I'm not in a contract either so if I run out of data credits I can just up my monthly spend and get more.
I'm contemplating switching to Cricket or Virgin Mobile, who offer Pay-As-You-Go plans. You buy the phone up front, then pay $55 monthly, unlimited minutes and data, with no contract. It's a high initial cost, the phone costing $500+, but much cheaper monthly cost, and no long term commitment. Cricket gets the iPhone 5 later this month. Virgin currently only offers the iPhone 4, but I bet the 5 will come soon.
@jazzminephoenix - you may not trade verizon for anything.. just make sure you don't trade your phone for anything, or you will no longer be grandfathered in to unlimited data...
@jazzminephoenix & @kaz
You can keep your unlimited data with Verizon if you do not sign a new 2-year contract; you have to transfer your current contract (whether you're still in the 2-year period or not) to a new device, meaning you will have to buy that at retail price. A friend of mine did this (for the Galaxy SIII); I bought a Galaxy Nexus and switched to TMo because Verizon decided to take away my mobile hotspot (that I got as a condition of having a palm pre plus... that POS....) and the hotspot was limited to 5gb and my bill got huge whenever I exceeded that (I use this as my internet at home).
I can't do the unlimited contract with TMo because it doesn't count for tethering/mobilehotspot usage. :( But at least when I exceed my highspeed data allowance it just throttles my speed instead of charging me more.
We bought used iphones on ebay and had them jail broke. When we are in the US we use simple moble. We pay $40 a month for unlimited talk/text/and web. No pictures sending included. But $40 bucks flat! and never had a problem with the service.
In Serbia we use a VIP prepay plan. I don't use my phone much there, so there is nothing to mention about the service there.
I totally Recommmend Simple moblie!
TIna
@lepidoptery - good point. I didn't bring that up because most americans get sticker shock when seeing the retail price on phones :)
@kaz
re: sticker shock, yeah, it was a bit rough getting the nexus! But it's unlocked, so if I want I... can use it with... AT&T? >.> Oh well, whatever. I like that TMo is upfront about the cost of getting a phone bundled with a plan--they tell you that it's $20 extra per month foer however many months (20 for the galaxy sIII, I think) and then afterwards your bill goes down. If you come in with your own phone, your bill never has that extra $20 in it in the first place. But with verizon, I bought my pre from them and the bill was the same even after the 2 year contract.... >.>
(Things that count against TMo: even if you come in with your own phone, unless you get a pre-paid plan, you're still in a 2-year contract. :| But, at least you can change the terms of your 2-year contract, so if their high-speed network goes to hell I guess I'll get rid of the the data component and get a clearspot.)
Runnun, I'm surprised by your comment. Is your experience that bad? I'm just curious (genuinely, not ironically) becaus in 4 years with Verizon, I had to speak with customer's service about two dozen times and only once was the person inefficient. I left them because they are really too expensive and not flexible enough in their plans, but their crews went out of their way to accomodate me and bend the rules as much as they could every time they could. I heard people complain about them but it was about the internet/TV support. Maybe the service for this department is not as good?
In France, where I live most of the year, I hear people complain all the time about all the carriers. They always post their rage on Facebook to let the world know how their carrier/internet provider stinks! In then end, you'd think they all stink! But that's what the French do... complain all the time! We're spoilt! :-)
I have to question the advice: "If you travel a lot and want the fastest data, Verizon may be a good option ..."
Depends on where you travel. If you travel to common, highly populated areas, it doesn't make a difference what carrier you use because they all cover densely populated areas.
If you often venture to the boonies, then check the carriers' coverage maps, as well as compare roaming charges.
Of course, the most important criterion for choosing a carrier is how well they serve you in the places you go most often.
@QUINCYSCOTT - yes, we did the math on switching to Virgin Mobile, and the savings for us was >$1000 in 2 years, including purchasing a phone at full price and paying an early termination fee for AT&T. But I, too, am going to wait and see if they support the iPhone 5. If they do, then it's adios AT&T.
highway robbery!