Contract Up, WANT S3 desperately. Which carrier should I choose?

[Tailgun]

I've had my first smartphone, a Droid 1 for two years now and my contract is finally up in 2 days. For months I have lusted after the Galaxy SIII and it is now within my grasp!

The question I have is: which carrier should I go with, and for what reasons? I currently am a Verizon customer but am willing to look elsewhere; I liked the look of the Sprint unlimited data but have been reading a bit about how their network isn't very good and may be slow to roll out 4G LTE everywhere. I'm in the Lehigh Valley (Allentown) area of Pennsylvania - if that matters.

I'm shopping on Wirefly/Cellular Choices because I used them for years to get other phones but are there any other, better deals for the S3 out there? I am thinking of calling Verizon anyway, just to see if I can squeeze a good deal out of Customer Retention.

All help and advice is appreciated!

 

[94lt1]

You could look on Craigslist list or at our sister site, android forums.net.. and several other places to find better deals on the s3.. especially on vzw.. because lots of people used their last unlimited upgrade to get the s3 and are selling them... one option..

T-Mobile is also doing unlimited again.. and could be another possibility perhaps???...

Also swappa... check there

 

[sweeeeet]

tough decision guess it matters most if you NEED unlimited or not.. me personally I do and since I'm locked on Verizon's unlimited im buying my s3 off contract... ive been shopping it but nothing reasonable yet (all over 400) but in time I'll get the one I want

my friend went in store at tmobile (bad idea) and they wanted over 300+ closer to 400 which is just sick when getting a new 2 year contract

if unlimited isn't a must stay w Verizon

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[indywrenchin76]

I'd stick with Verizon. They have 4g LTE in more places and have a very reliable network. Sprint sucks I wouldn't even consider them. T-mobile has no 4g LTE. At&t has LTE but not in many cities yet.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Droid Forums

 

[liftedplane]

I'd stick with Verizon. They have 4g LTE in more places and have a very reliable network. Sprint sucks I wouldn't even consider them. T-mobile has no 4g LTE. At&t has LTE but not in many cities yet.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Droid Forums

Sprint is getting much better and as soon as they start rolling out their lte it's on like donkey Kong. They are still the only truly unlimited carrier and will probably try to remain that way for as long as possible..

But for now stick with VZW

Sent from my frozenly delicious bionic.

 

[Tailgun]

Thanks for the answers, guys. I was looking over my past account statements and it looks like I've never really gone over 1.3-1.4 GBs of data in any given month and most of the time I seem to be around 500-700 MBs. But of course that was with my D1 which could never handle things like Flash content on the browser very well. I'd be willing to bet I'd use more data with the 4G phone.

The deals I'm looking at now seem to be $150 with either new customer-Sprint or (possibly) upgrade-VZW (but I can't tell if I qualify for the upgrade offer on VZW) though Cellular Choices. I'll also look at CL, swappa and the sister site to see if there are better deals. Just went back to work after a long layoff and best price is a concern.

 

[Jon K]

I live in bucks county and went to school in the lehigh valley - if you go with anything other than Verizon in that area you are going to hate it.

 

[Tailgun]

I live in bucks county and went to school in the lehigh valley - if you go with anything other than Verizon in that area you are going to hate it.

Really? I'm in Walnutport, just north of Whitehall, about 15 mins outside Allentown. I don't mind waiting for Sprint to roll out 4G LTE if they would get it done before the end of the year. I just don't want to be sitting here next year, still waiting to use my new phone to its utmost.
:unsure:

 

[bsweetness]

I live in bucks county and went to school in the lehigh valley - if you go with anything other than Verizon in that area you are going to hate it.

To me, this is the biggest factor in deciding which carrier to go with - coverage in your area. Personally, I don't care if switching to Sprint or T-Mobile would save me $20 a month because their coverage where I live is terrible. I'd rather pay $20 more a month for strong, consistent coverage than save $20 a month and always be frustrated with dropped calls and a lack of signal. Where I'm living at now, AT&T only has edge, Sprint is extremely spotty, T-Mobile has no signal, but Verizon has strong LTE and 3G. So for me, it's an easy decision. I also travel quite extensively, and while different carriers have better coverage in various places, Verizon is still the most consistent because their actual coverage area is larger (this is particularly true if you get out in the country). Plus, Verizon's LTE network is the best available, and it's only getting better.

So, I really think that looking into which network has the strongest, most consistent coverage in the areas you're frequently in should be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) deciding factors. Verizon might be the best where you're at, but then again they may not.

 

[bsweetness]

Sprint is getting much better and as soon as they start rolling out their lte it's on like donkey Kong. They are still the only truly unlimited carrier and will probably try to remain that way for as long as possible..

But for now stick with VZW.

T-Mobile is starting up truly unlimited again.

 

[liftedplane]

T-Mobile is starting up truly unlimited again.

Hopefully this is the beginning of a new trend toward unlimited data again.

Sent from my frozenly delicious bionic.

 

[syndicate0017]

Hopefully this is the beginning of a new trend toward unlimited data again.

Sent from my frozenly delicious bionic.

Just for the companies that can't compete with Verizon's LTE coverage map and coverage in general. I do believe we are trending toward getting more data for our buck though.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tailgun]

Has anyone heard specifics on when nationwide 4G LTE coverage will be a reality for Sprint/T-Mobile? It seems whomever I go with will be for a new contract so I can afford the phone.

 

[bsweetness]

Just for the companies that can't compete with Verizon's LTE coverage map and coverage in general. I do believe we are trending toward getting more data for our buck though.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Very true. Sprint, as the third-place carrier in the U.S., has hung onto it in an effort to have something that stands out from AT&T and Verizon and might draw in a few more customers. T-Mobile, sitting in fourth place, has decided to do the same. I seriously doubt Verizon or AT&T will bring back unlimited data because they have no reason to.

 

[bsweetness]

Has anyone heard specifics on when nationwide 4G LTE coverage will be a reality for Sprint/T-Mobile? It seems whomever I go with will be for a new contract so I can afford the phone.

T-Mobile's LTE network won't start up until sometime in 2013 (I've read "summer" several times). And like with all of the other carriers, it will be limited at the beginning as far as active markets. I haven't seen a target date for the entire network to be active. Sprint is hoping to have their entire LTE network up an running by the end of 2013.