I am glad I switched over even though the 4G service isn't great where I live, I can sacrifice that for being able to customize MY phone/tablet/computer/anything any day. ...
If any one sees or hears anything about root/recovery for the other service providers, let them know. I know I would greatly appreciate any information to get my phone working the way I intend it to.
Thanks.
Sent from my rooted 'beaned' SM-G900T using Tapatalk Premium
em0ney14 said:
I am glad I switched over even though the 4G service isn't great where I live, I can sacrifice that for being able to customize MY phone/tablet/computer/anything any day. ...
If any one sees or hears anything about root/recovery for the other service providers, let them know. I know I would greatly appreciate any information to get my phone working the way I intend it to.
Thanks.
Sent from my rooted 'beaned' SM-G900T using Tapatalk Premium
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Click to collapse
I'm with you. I had five lines with Verizon, all with unlimited data that I only paid 9.99 a month for because I got in on some discount; I switched them all to T-Mobile. It was a tough decision at first, but I had such a terrible time with my note 3 on Verizon, I just couldn't do it again.
Admittedly, the service isn't better, but it is good enough and now I can actually do things with my phone.
Sent from my SM-G900T using xda app-developers app
So true! I just left Verizon yesterday and signed up for TMobile! SO happy so far. I just feel good
I left Verizon for TMO 5 1/2 months ago, not long after the Note 3 came out. I had a Note 2, and my upgrade date was 4 months away. I was 20 months into my contract, and they used to do upgrades at 18 months. I was with Verizon for years, ever since they first came around. I called customer service to see if I could get my date moved and get a Note 3. The rep told me I qualified for something called Pre-Edge, so if I signed up for Edge, I could get a new phone that day. He gave me his name in case there were issues and made notes on my account. I went to the store, and no one had ever heard of Pre-Edge, nor did they see any notes on my account. When I called CS and asked for him, I was told he'd call back. I never got a call and had to leave the store because they were closing. I called back multiple times over the next 2 days and no one knew what Pre-Edge was or who I was talking about. Needless to say, I was angry. The same day, I went to T-Mobile and switched. I still have no idea what happened with that guy or what he was talking about.
I just signed up with T-Mobile yesterday and got the S5. I have been very interested in them the last couple of months. I have tried on them on pre-paid and its good enough. Much better with an actual T-Mobile branded phone. I am so disgusted with AT&T's BS on locking bootloaders and everything else that goes with that. AT&T is good for those who travel. I do not travel and so far I'd give T-Mobile about an 8/10.
Things I've noticed so far:
Generally weaker signal versus AT&T (most likely due to the high bands) Still works though.
HSPA+ is very fast, but when you hit -105dbm or greater it starts to go.
LTE is not as fast as I thought, but still very good.
Call quality is SO much better than AT&T.
LTE on Band 4 is pretty weak overall, but still usable.
13 more days to see if they work for me.
I hear ya OP. I have been watching here and the ATT forums. I am feeling really sorry for the guys over there right now. I am almost betting they will be lucky to get safestrap working and that for me personally is NOT enough. It feels like a ghost town. Since I have had my S1,S2, S3, and S4 there almost always have been a ROM or more on the first day I owned the devices (usually within a few days to a month of release).
I just called T-Mobile about switching my 4 lines from ATT over to T-Mobile. Checking prices and plans. Looks like I could save some money per month. Soecially if I just bring a few of my devices onto Tmobile (My daughters S3 and Wife's S4. I would pass her S4 to my son and get her the S5 while I get the S5 as well.
No guarantee yet that I will be over here though. Just weighing out my options. I am waiting for the 32Gb version if and when...
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
...yeah, Verizon user here
I hate being locked down by Verizon. I have a T-mobile sim that I used to test T-Mobile(prepaid) in my Verizon Note 3. T-Mobile LTE is fast, but coverage is pretty sub-par compared to Verizon. When my contract is up in July I am probably going to sacrifice coverage for freedom, I mean come on still no KitKat, Verizon sucks.
I don't know about Verizon but I just left at&t for T-Mobile this past Tuesday and couldn't be happier. Their LTE is averaging about 30MB down where I live, work, and all points in between. With at&t I was averaging about 3 or 4MB on LTE at home. I'm loving this S5 but I think I'm loving T-Mobile even more. I checked the at&t forums and it is really quite over there.
TL;DR Recent family Sprint convert and so far we couldn't be happier with the S5 and TM!
I just switched my whole family (me, wife and two kids) over to TM from Sprint... we'd actually been happy with Sprint for about 6 years, weird as that may sound, but they were now trying to force us to change plans and not give us any deals on upgrades and basically it was going to cost more to stay with them monthly and we wouldn't be able to get reasonably cheap upgrades like before... for the past few years, because my kids' phones were bought almost exactly a month after mine and my wife's, we'd go in once a year, swap our phones to the kids and me and the wife would get new ones... well, they said no dice to this now. Sure, we give up unlimited data (sort of- TM is technically "unlimited" if you don't count throttling) but as it happens, that's a total worth it tradeoff.
After looking at all the options, I could have gotten away a little cheaper with Verizon (surprisingly!), and AT&T wasn't going to be much different than Verizon, but TM made it a deal we couldn't refuse: pay the Sprint ETF's, everyone got S5's financed, and we actually walked out of the store with the phones, Otter Boxes for three of them (I keep my phones "naked") and we actually had a $16 CREDIT on our first bill Yep, no money out-of-pocket whatsoever!
So far, we're loving it... had a minor snafu getting one phone switched over, but that was fixed quick and easy... the S5 itself is of course fantastic, which is no surprise... but so far, for the first time ever we actually get GREAT cell reception in our house even without IP calling (which we do use though), and it's 4G no less! (of course we're on wi-fi to save data, but still, we could barely get a Sprint signal before let alone a strong 4G signal like now). I also love that we get Hotspot for no extra charge, unlike Sprint... call quality thus far has been fine, though we frankly only use about 20 minutes a month COMBINED talk time so it's really not important anyway... coverage seems no different than Sprint so far overall... 4G speeds have been very good, about on-par with Sprint, maybe a hair better even. We only got the 1Gb plan because in looking at the past year with Sprint, only my son and I have ever gone over that line, twice each, and only once was more than a hundred Mb over... so 1Gb should be fine 99% of the time... we'll take the throttling after that if need be but no overage concerns is sweet.
And, of course, I rooted all four phones (screw the warranty, JUMP includes the handset insurance anyway and even though that costs something it makes the warranty a moot point to me) and I wouldn't give up that freedom for anything, so Verizon was a non-starter anyway (which is a shame really because we have FiOS and Verizon home phone and it would have been nice to have one provider for it all)... gotta have my root for Greenify and the mod to make the SD card writable!
Yeah, absolutely nothing to complain about at this point. I suppose things could go south at some point... until I see the ETFs paid off and the first bill to make sure nothing got screwed up I'm a little concerned... but assuming no surprises with either of those things I think this has been the best decision we've ever made WRT cell service (we had previously been on Verizon years ago, and AT&T before that, so we have some experience with all of them).
Verizon has never been a terribly bad deal for big families, but they hate single people with a vengeance
willbur73 said:
So true! I just left Verizon yesterday and signed up for TMobile! SO happy so far. I just feel good
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So did I! But I made sure to get an iPhone 5s from Verizon the day before so that I could sell it and get reimbursed from T-Mo for breaking the 1 day old contract. :laugh: Also sold my S4 and bought a junk phone to use as my trade in to T-Mo. Now the money I made off the iPhone and the S4 will pay for the T-Mo S5. So got the S5 for next to nothing.
I am on ATT - but starting with my NOTE 3 and now my S5 - I don't buy ATT PHONES. I buy TMOBILE PHONES and use them on the ATT Network. They work beautifully well.
I actually signed up for TMobile for about 2 days - but I was so dissapointed with the speeds I got - compared to ATT they were horribly slow - ATT gives me phenomenal speeds around town and inside my house. The final straw was that I found the only way I could make calls from inside my house is if I used WIFI CALLING. I started thinking the reason that TMOBILE Came up with WIFI CALLING was because so many people had trouble getting signals in their house. I don't know if that is why they did it, but It sure seemed that way to me.
Anyway - I have never been happier - I get the best of both worlds - an ulocked device I can use - and a network that provides lightening fast speeds..
it works for me - and I hope whatever you guys are doing works for you as well...
mocsab said:
I am on ATT - but starting with my NOTE 3 and now my S5 - I don't buy ATT PHONES. I buy TMOBILE PHONES and use them on the ATT Network. They work beautifully well.
I actually signed up for TMobile for about 2 days - but I was so dissapointed with the speeds I got - compared to ATT they were horribly slow - ATT gives me phenomenal speeds around town and inside my house. The final straw was that I found the only way I could make calls from inside my house is if I used WIFI CALLING. I started thinking the reason that TMOBILE Came up with WIFI CALLING was because so many people had trouble getting signals in their house. I don't know if that is why they did it, but It sure seemed that way to me.
Anyway - I have never been happier - I get the best of both worlds - an ulocked device I can use - and a network that provides lightening fast speeds..
it works for me - and I hope whatever you guys are doing works for you as well...
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I do the same. Unlocked T-Mobile phone on ATT.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Super Sam Galaxy said:
So did I! But I made sure to get an iPhone 5s from Verizon the day before so that I could sell it and get reimbursed from T-Mo for breaking the 1 day old contract. :laugh: Also sold my S4 and bought a junk phone to use as my trade in to T-Mo. Now the money I made off the iPhone and teh S4 will pay for the T-Mo S5. So got the S5 for next to nothing.
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haha tha'ts messed up but a good idea.
This actually is the first time I had to buy a TMo version to use on ATT due to the locked BL in nature...If you can afford it, then its the best way to go in regards to the S5.
Guess I'm lucky, T-Mobile is awesome in my area. Slightly less coverage than AT&T, but the data connection is very stable and consistent.
Just took a look over there finding bounty thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2728051
I donated 20.00 to the cause , If anyone has extra $ they can throw their way please do.
sling said:
Just took a look over there finding bounty thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2728051
I donated 20.00 to the cause , If anyone has extra $ they can throw their way please do.
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Here was my post over there cause I donated too... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=52145012&postcount=60 I have Verizon and T-Mobile so I grabbed the M8 on Verizon and the S5 on T-mobile. Best of both worlds, although the M8 is waaaay snappier in pretty much every task. I wish Samsung would slim this damn TouchWiz down. Look at your available ram and tell me that this baby don't NEED 3gb of ram like the Note 3. WoW! Anyways, the more devs we all have the better if you think about it. Look how many roms and mods get ported over from different carrier variants. Yes, I am a crack flasher for sure. Glad to see you donate too though. :good:
I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile the week before the S5 came out, I was paying $125 for a single phone on Verizon with 4GB data. Now on T-Mobile I get the same 4G coverage (in come cases better) as I did with Verizon, yet my girlfriend joined my account and together we get 3GB high speed data per month each, and its $100/month plus paying for the phones per month, I got the S5, she got the Note 3. Verizon is too expensive and controlling. I am very happy switching to T-Mobile.
Those who got the TMO S5, can you comment on performance? One guy on here feels it is not optimized for AT&T. He said it can be stubborn and prefer H+ in LTE areas.
Related
I don't know how many of you have been in the same boat (or care, really) but I am just so torn as to what to do!! I have been with t-mobile for the last 10 years and haven't had too many problems other than small hiccups from time to time. And I got onto their no roaming charges plan fairly early on after i signed up. I don't travel very often, but it was nice to not worry about roaming charges. I would always look at verizon and see that they charged roaming fees and were generally more expensive than what I had. Then I got my first smart phone in 2006 and was hooked! However, t-mobile was pretty late in the game as far as 3G speeds were concerned, especially in my area. And sometimes, the "3G" speeds really suck!! Tho I have compared against people with AT&T and verizon, and when I have 3G speeds on my phone, they tend to be faster. Hell, I can even stream netflix movies through my phone! But now with the onset of 4G, verizon seems to be in a good position. Tho I just read that Salt Lake wasn't going to get complete LTE coverage until the end of the year. Which kind of bites. Anyway I am kind of wanting to jump ships now, however I would have to cut my allowed minutes in half (to 450), and service would STILL cost like 10-15 dollars more per month than what I already pay. But I really do have my eye on the thunderbolt. I have gone in like 3 times to the verizon store to play with it. I am a little bit concerned with battery life, and I don't want to pay extra for 2 GB worth for tethering. Yes, I understand you can root and put new ROMs on the device, but that process still confuses the crap out of me since I have never done it before. The other thing that i get stuck on is that I am a terrible decision maker, so I am kind of scared of making a bad move and regretting it (like buying an HD2.) So I guess that my question is (especially for you former t-mobile customers) is why do you like verizon? I'm not asking you to convince me to switch, I just want to know why you like verizon. Is there a reason you don't like verizon? I don't think I need to ask why you like or dislike the thunderbolt, since I have found plenty of posts for that. But hopefully a few of you will give your two cents
Well, from what I can say, I'd honestly say that if you main concern is speed, verizon is the way to go, if you lookin for a balance, maybe look into sprint. They have 4g phones (the evo, and the evo shift) being almost the same as the inc I just owned (I ran an evo rom, radios, and battery), as they have decent prices and coverage and 4g. T mobile I have never used or been a fan of, but if they work, why change? They will catch up in a bit I'm sure. I've always been with Verizon as I'm on someones plan, and could never afford the insane rates myself. really though I'l check to see what you need, what you want, and what you can afford. Assuming sprint is good in your area, I'd highly suggest an eve/evo shift as a balance, but I can't really give you a definite answer. I have a thunderbolt as of he last few days and like it. I can't say I love it even with the 4G speeds being impressive at the moment. Just waiting for some more hackers and HTC to give us the code we need then I may love it.
Hope that helps a bit and I didn't bore you.
I moved over from AT&T this past summer because well I really don't like AT&T and even as a priority customer on an iPhone I had terrible coverage/service. I made the move to Verizon initially for the superior network/service. I am paying significantly more as I'm no longer on a family plan w/ my brother who didn't want to leave his iPhone...
And if you do come to Verizon by the time the free mobile hotspot promo ends I'm quite sure the hacker/developer community will have greatly simplified the rooting process and there will be custom roms/kernels to optimize power. If not the extended battery add on doesn't cost too much and doesn't add to much to the overall size, I grabbed it for those days I'm traveling. And there are tethering options that don't require monthly payments/limits that don't require root.
I'm loving my thunderbolt, though I agree w/ kdb424 I'm looking forward to some further development on the custom roms/kernels front. I only have rooted currently to get rid of the bloatware & access to the root apps, but can't wait to have some more custom roms to play with. But well currently seemingly the community is waiting for HTC to release the kernel source.
But again I love Verizon for the service/quality of network/helpful employees & I am definitely liking the thunderbolt even though it is a significant change in size from my Droid Incredible.
Holy massive block of text!
I would recommend checking out which carrier best serves your personal needs. Verizon is a little pricey if you cannot get any sort of discount (through work, family, etc.)... but they also have amazing coverage and an impressive start on their 4G LTE network.
I understand why you may not want Verizon though. Sprint is a tad more affordable and can offer great devices and service depending on your area.
I was with TMobile for about 8 years before switching to Verizon a week ago (relocated for work and had no data coverage with TMobile at my new location).
Well I have looked at the options. I might get a new job in Elko, Nevada in which case only Verizon and AT&T have any decent coverage. This is also another reason why i ask. And I doubt Elko would be getting 4G any time soon.
Oh, decisions decisions!!
I don't like AT&T and I'm with T-Mobile. AT&T plans give you very little for what they charge and their stupid roll-over minutes mean diddle squat to me. I've been with them at least twice in the past 10 years.
I was planning on getting the international version and possible going with RedPocket since I heard they use AT&T towers anyway. I would get 3g without the ball and chain.
On launch day I went to go see the Note with my husband. When I got to the mall, Samsung was having an event for the Note and I kind of got sucked in with the hype because I've been drooling over it for months. I went to the AT&T store and the manager shockingly honored an online price for the Note so I decided to get one. Ok, I got 2 since the deal was good and I needed a second line for my husband. He loyally feeds my phone addiction and goes with what ever plan/network I want. The other one is sitting in the box and is nicknamed "termination fee coverage" since he could care less about the awesome sexy beast, A.K.A. my new boyfriend who is 5.3".
When I got home I unlocked it and I have been switching back and forth between the networks. I used my AT&T Dell streak on T-Mobile before and was fine with the crappy speed for a while because most of the time I had Wi-fi. After the Streak I had the Galaxy S2 and got hooked on the speed.
I don't have long to decided because AT&T will charge to migrate my phone over after a certain period. I also currently have 2 sets of numbers with each carrier and don't want a double bill.
My debate is this, is it worth giving up a decent plan, so I can always have the full potential speed of my Note? I do plan on rooting it soon to get rid of the crap and open the potential. I will be paying about the same for less minutes on our family plan.
Devs are working on getting 3G to possibly work for Tmo. It can use the 1700 band that tmo uses for 3G. I would say give it some time. I use Simple Mobile which uses Tmo and I'm waiting to see if they get it to work.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
I think it's a question of what will irk you more- a less than stellar plan or a slower phone. If your dislike for AT&T trumps your need for speed then lose them. If you think you'll frequently be in a non wifi situation and regret not having the full speed, stick with AT&T.
Read the AT&T contract carefully. If memory serves if you cancel with in the first month and keep the phone you are charged the difference in price paid vs. full price of the phone per/device not the early disconnect fee. I may be wrong about this but when I was reading it on Thurs. Im pretty sure I saw something to that effect
Thanks all...
Yikes! I never read my phone contracts. Funny how I spend so much time reading and researching my gadgets but mindlessly sign my life away.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk
csmith7502 said:
I don't like AT&T and I'm with T-Mobile. AT&T plans give you very little for what they charge and their stupid roll-over minutes mean diddle squat to me. I've been with them at least twice in the past 10 years.
I was planning on getting the international version and possible going with RedPocket since I heard they use AT&T towers anyway. I would get 3g without the ball and chain.
On launch day I went to go see the Note with my husband. When I got to the mall, Samsung was having an event for the Note and I kind of got sucked in with the hype because I've been drooling over it for months. I went to the AT&T store and the manager shockingly honored an online price for the Note so I decided to get one. Ok, I got 2 since the deal was good and I needed a second line for my husband. He loyally feeds my phone addiction and goes with what ever plan/network I want. The other one is sitting in the box and is nicknamed "termination fee coverage" since he could care less about the awesome sexy beast, A.K.A. my new boyfriend who is 5.3".
When I got home I unlocked it and I have been switching back and forth between the networks. I used my AT&T Dell streak on T-Mobile before and was fine with the crappy speed for a while because most of the time I had Wi-fi. After the Streak I had the Galaxy S2 and got hooked on the speed.
I don't have long to decided because AT&T will charge to migrate my phone over after a certain period. I also currently have 2 sets of numbers with each carrier and don't want a double bill.
My debate is this, is it worth giving up a decent plan, so I can always have the full potential speed of my Note? I do plan on rooting it soon to get rid of the crap and open the potential. I will be paying about the same for less minutes on our family plan.
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I have Red pocket and love it...plus they roll over your unused data which is sweet.
am wondering what should i do too.....came from tmobile....for $98 bucks i had unlimitted calls, text, web, insurance, and international calls and text....with att i pay the same and only 450 mins, and no international
what is this red pocket service,,,,,does it have lte? is the internetet 4G.....
i dont know if i should go back to tmobile.....
whats the cheapest or best plan to have for the note, with unlimitted calls and 4g?
the go phone options seems better and cheaper than being on contract, it does not make sense to me...
can i switch to a prepay plan? and how much would i have to pay to change? i became a new att member....and pay 300 for the note....if i cancel do i just pay the 325 ETF? and take my note somewhere else?
I am torn trying to decide whether it's a wise move to switch from T-mobile to AT&T to get the Note. I'd hate to switch then 1 month later the phone comes to T-Mobile. It pains me thinking about AT&T but I really want this phone. Using it on 2G won't work for me. Has anyone switched or are there other people that feel the same?
I replaced my Sensation with an AT&T Note hoping that we can get T-Mobile 3G working on it sometime soon. For the time being, it runs just fine. I am near WiFi 90% of the time anyway, and those LTE speeds aren't too shabby of a backup plan.
BTW, this phone is the best device that I have owned. Even with EDGE and Gingerbread, this is better than my previous combination of a Sensation running ICS and a Transformer Prime.
I am on the the boat... I am coming from Sprint... I wanted this phone so decided to give the 30 day trial a try... The data service is slower than the sprint service here at home... I'm running edge with at&t and its slooowww... But I love this phone... The screen is awesome... I describe it as having a 1080p tv.. I have the the galaxy sii and it feels like running 480 tv. its like night and day... Just my opinion...
If you are thinking about getting the note.. Try to get it at 50% off through the at&t website... Don't cancel your service with t-mobile... If you decide that your going to keep it then you can just port your number over to the note.. And they wont charge you if you do it before the 30 days...
Also if you keep it, and tmobile gets this phone in a few months... You can just pay the EFT of 325... and if you add the 150 you paid it comes out to 475 total for phone... thats good compared to what the retail price is... 699... just something to think about...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
I was on TMOUS with my samsung galaxy tablet 7" with cell phone enabled, and rooted.
Switched to ATT for speed, and now I am using the NOTE, and it kicks all other cell phones I have had. love the screen and the response.
@towncop1978 Unfortunately, I have a family plan so ETF would be $650. Also, I tried the 50% off and for whatever reason it doesn't work with a family plan. Unless I was doing something wrong.
I think its worth the switch. That's what I did, I had the GS2 with T-Mobile and canceled my contract sold the GS2 on ebay and haven't looked back.
Sent from my Galaxy Note
I switched from T-mobile to At&t for the G-Note. I have a Tmobile G2X and am test driving the At&t G-Note for 30 days. So far its a keeper. Unless T-mobile can pull a rabbit outta their hat and snag either the G-Note or the LG Optimus VU, its adios amigos
I switched I had the sensation which was aggravating after a while... at&t speed where I'm at is a bit faster than Tmobile's so I'm very happy
Sent from the biggest damn cell phone on earth using tapatalk
The Note is a great piece of hardware. AT&Ts HSPA+ speeds are surprising the heck out of me after using Verizon and Sprint 3G for the last year and a half.
If the SERVICE is good or better than what you have now, no reason not to switch! However, dont get caught up in the hardware if the network cant provide whats needed to keep it working. Just something to think about.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
I switched from TMo to At&T about a week ago specifically for the Note. I loved my Vibrant, but it was ageing and I had to move on. I went from $50 for unlimited everything to paying twice as much for 450 min/unlimited txt/5g data. On the good side my company pays 75% of my bill so I'm still paying less then I was at TMo, I just miss not worrying about data usage. I never make phone calls so minutes I couldnt care less about. So far I'm happy with it, but would switch back in a heart beat if TMo released the Note on their network.
I came from Verizon had had the iPhone 4S been drooling for the note ever since I saw the international one then AT&T releases it good times got 30 days to decide but it's not looking good for the iPhone
Hello,
We are long time Verizon customers but have had enough of their capricious attitude, the insane recent price hikes and limited data plans. (although we currently have unlimited data). However, my husband's phone was stolen about a month ago and while we're using an old phone for the moment, we need to upgrade it for him. I like Sprint's current business model of unlimited everything (& we plan to sign up for everything data plus from the employees referral to save a bit and get more minutes). We also like the fact that Sprint is a green company and supports more things that we believe in. Yeah, I know that we're giving up the network for a bit until Sprint's Network Vision is completed but I think we can live with that.
Here's my dilemma. There are no Sprint owned stores in our area, just third party stores and only a couple of those so I can't buy through them &get everything data plus... Which is fine because they don't know much at all. I went there to try to see both the Evo 4G LTE side by side with the Samsung Galaxy S3...both working. Unfortunately, they didn't have a working model of the S3 but they opened up a package so I could at least hold them next to each other.
My concern most of all is with the radio quality and reception. I have some serious medical issues so being able to call for help is a frequent need. I took my current phone (HTC Rezound), my husband's Motorola DROID X, and the Evo LTE, and did side by side comparisons of the radios. My Rezound came in top at -80 give or take a few both directions, the DX, at -86 also give/take & the Evo LTE at -97 to -103. I then tried to load a webpage on my Rezound and the Evo. I picked yahoo because it has mixed media &was a first thing that popped into my head. My Rezound loaded the desktop version in less than 20 seconds... The Evo was still attempting to load the mobile version after several minutes.
So, do I believe the story that the mall kiosk has terrible Sprint reception? Was the demo Evo LTE one of the bad first batch? I know that there will be a step back in service speed but this was unbearable. I'm hoping that this isn't the normal for Sprint service... I mean it can't be, right? Right no one would use them.
What I'm unable to find out is what the Samsung Galaxy S3 radio is like compared to the Evo LTE in similar circumstances. I can't afford to get one of the phones, not have it work, pay the restocking fee and a second activation fee. With two lines that's over $200 just to switch away from a defective phone. Is there any leeway given for phones that won't hold a signal... Like allowing us to switch to another phone if the first is defective? I know that the base chipset is the same between the two phones but from what I've read the radios themselves can be different based on the manufacturer. So, I don't know what either the HTC Evo LTE or galaxy S3 would be like on any specific phone and it sounds like there are differences in the batches. What do I do or what would you do? I know we're taking a risk switching to carriers but we want to live authentically and put money into companies that are supporting the things we believe in and shaping their company based upon similar values. We will be having to do a transfer of our Vzw account (assumption of liability) once we're settled into Sprint but not until we're positive it works for us. Then we'll give up our Vzw contract so we don't owe an ETF. It also gives my DH the phone upgrade he needs since his was stolen during one of my medical emergencies. Vzw refused to help us at all through the whole process.
But I digress.
What do you think phone wise? Bad reception? Bad Evo LTE? Would you take a chance on the S3 with Samsung's past radio issues... Do you think that they've improved them? Would you take a chance on getting a bad Evo LTE since HTC /Sprint have admitted to a problem there? Since I can't compare them side by side working or compare radio strengths I really need advice!
Thanks so much in advance!
All the best,
Rae
I just loaded up the yahoo desktop Site on my LTE in about 18 seconds and I have 1 bar and very bad 3G reception in my house.
Radios seem to be just fine on the Evo and from the GSIII. Sure Samsung had issues in the past but I think they have gotten them all squared away. Sprints network is just down right awful but as you said they are working to improve a large coverage area over the next 18 months.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Wow the was a beating to read but imo the radio is pretty good and I'm sure its getter than the gs3 also overall build quality is getter than the gs3 but if I were you I'd get a gs3 to play with for a little bit and compare side to side. I'm die hard HTC so there was no question for me
Sent from my htc_jewel using Tapatalk 2
Speeds will differ from city to city. I get 25kbps in my city where the towers are clogged and undergoing maintenance. I was on a road trip this weekend and got 2mbps a few hours from my hometown.
WiFi is your friend
Sent from my htc_jewel using Tapatalk 2
I tend to agree. I'd get the GSIII too if I were them. I just have a thing for Evo's and HTC.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Also, if you have high speed internet at home you can get an adaptor for your house to allow a mini like sprint tower for your house. My buddy did it and its only a few dollars a month for taxes. Something to consider if poor signal around the house.
Sent from my ClassicJewel
I just picked up the EVO for me and the wife. The radios are fine. You really can't go wrong either way, with the SG3 or the EVO. I had an SG1 before this. I would say you have to try it out at your house. If sprint doesn't fit the bill then you just stuck with Verizon.
There are some other differences between the SG3 and the EVO, I found that the Evo had the things that I really wanted like camera button. I really did think that I would have the SG3 about 2 months ago, just saying really look at them closely if that is the way you go.
I, too, am an HTC fan. Love Sense and I don't care for Touchwiz. I'm sure either phone would suit your needs. I would think Sprint would trade out your phone if there was a defect issue. I got mine through Best Buy but have bought from Sprint before and had issues with my 3D after I had it for about 6months and they traded it out for me. Also, just wanted to mention, in case you didn't already know, that any phone call made to any mobile number with Sprint does not come off your minutes. I barely touch my minutes because most of my calls are made mobile to mobile. And the nights and weekends start at 7pm instead of 9pm. You may not need the unlimited calling plan if you don't do a lot of land line calling.
Sent from my EVO LTE using xda premium
Let us know what you decide. I don't know what sprints return policy is. Think you should just go to Best Buy & see what there return policy is.
As far as price, sprint really is great. The network can vary greatly from horrible to average on 3g depending on if your tower has gotten the network Vision upgrade. (there are places online that you can check if it's gotten the upgrade, but I don't know the link)
As someone mentioned, you can get the airwave femtocell to improve service in your home and sometimes you can get that for free.
I too am a fan of Sprints green policies. And I love the screen on the this (evo) compared to gs3. But they are both great phones.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
I love the sprint pricing/plan practice, but the network is terrible. It's usually been pretty good but lately it has been garbage, I'm hoping it's due to the upgrades and tower converting..
I wouldn't recommend Sprint at this time with someone who has health issues, but you can try them and see. I think they have a decent return policy
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
in my area the NV upgrades are causing lots of dropped calls for me and my wife... the 3g speeds have always been abysmal with sprint... the unlimited data sounds great, but do you really need more than the 2gb caps that most other companys have in place? I don't think I've ever used more than 1gb of data in a month.
If I were you, I'd wait a bit before switching to sprint, make sure NV actually does what is promised, before you commit to them for 24 months
varaonaid said:
I like Sprint's current business model of unlimited everything (& we plan to sign up for everything data plus from the employees referral to save a bit and get more minutes).
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Keep in mind that Sprint does free mobile to mobile. My family plan has only 700 minutes, and we usually end up with 500 minutes unused every month. That's free *any* mobile to any mobile. If you get a call from a verizon user, for example, you're still not using your minutes. Lots of minutes is nice, just make sure you don't end up paying more for a plan you don't really need
My concern most of all is with the radio quality and reception. I have some serious medical issues so being able to call for help is a frequent need. I took my current phone (HTC Rezound), my husband's Motorola DROID X, and the Evo LTE, and did side by side comparisons of the radios. My Rezound came in top at -80 give or take a few both directions, the DX, at -86 also give/take & the Evo LTE at -97 to -103. I then tried to load a webpage on my Rezound and the Evo. I picked yahoo because it has mixed media &was a first thing that popped into my head. My Rezound loaded the desktop version in less than 20 seconds... The Evo was still attempting to load the mobile version after several minutes.
So, do I believe the story that the mall kiosk has terrible Sprint reception? Was the demo Evo LTE one of the bad first batch? I know that there will be a step back in service speed but this was unbearable. I'm hoping that this isn't the normal for Sprint service... I mean it can't be, right? Right no one would use them.
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Sprint has very similar coverage to Verizon, since they rent towers from each other. The difference is that Verizon uses different frequency signal, which penetrates some hard objects (like walls) better than Sprint. So yes, your reception indoors is likely to be worse with any Sprint phone.
Sprint can give you a minitower for your house though (they call them Airave). If you tell them you don't have reception in your house, they will give it to you for free. It plugs into your network router and gives you about 100' radius of very good reception.
As far as Galaxy vs Evo, I can't really say, since I don't have a Galaxy. Evo's reception seems to me to be very good, compared to my old Moment, Transform, and Epic. Similar to slightly better than my wife's iPhone4.
I'll let you know. Mostly I want to know that Sprint will stand behind either phone if the radios aren't up to par without the restocking fees and a second activation fee... I can't afford $210 of activation, restocking and another reactivation fee for phones that are defective. I'm not talking about just changing my mind and wanting a different phone but needing to trust that one way or another I'll get two phones with no radio issues.
It's not as simple as just staying with VZW, my husband's phone was stolen during one of my medical emergencies... He's currently using an old phone but it's not working very well. So, we either pony up for a new phone (even if it's via Craigslist) or we get a new provider (who hopefully gives a care bc Vzw certainly didn't!), both get new phones and sell our current ones to cover most of the upfront cost of the new phones. We could wait until Network Vision is completed or moreso but will they still be able to offer unlimited data plan at that point. Since we feel that we want to switch, now feels like a good time to do so. Does that make sense?
No we're not out of contract with Verizon but have people lined up to do an AOL (assumption of liability or contract takeover) so we'd be out of it with no fees. However, we won't complete the AOL until we're sure that Sprint will work for us now.
Does anyone know if the everything data plus (we'd be looking at the 1600min family plan) has free activation? I'd have to order online and it would be via employee referral? Also, do you get any numbers you can pick that are unlimited to those numbers? Verizon had friends and family where you got to pick a handful of numbers that you call the most that don't count against our minutes. My only concern is my in laws as they have a VERY limited cell plan and use their land line almost exclusively. If we could add that one number that would help a ton. I'd read somewhere online that Sprint had something similar but now, of course, can't find it again.
I appreciate all of your help and advice so very much. I hope this explains more why we're considering the switch and why we need good phone reception... At least as good as is currently possible on their network.
BTW, when we informed Vzw about the phone theft we were tracking the phone on Google latitude and the refused to help or advise us as to what to do in any way. Super disappointed with their lack of help. If the customer service had been better, we might have gotten our phone back. I've heard good things about Sprint's customer service.
Any other thoughts or suggestions or advice... Please share! And many thanks to all of you who have shared!
I'll add my 2 cents. I have bought phones from Sprint local stores, employee referral that you mentioned (I have the 1600 employee referral plan). I have had similar service from all places. And yes, Sprint does have an add-on for call any number for free. It is called pick 3. After you sign up for service, call customer service, and tell them you came from Verizon which had that feature and you really miss it. Ask them about pick 3 and they should be able to give it to you for free. 3 numbers that don't use your anytime minutes. Can be different numbers for each line.
Sent from my Meanie ICS LTEvo
I'm sorry to have to ask this. I REALLY want to stick with my Note 2. But, unfortunately, there is no lollipop ROM where everything I need just works, and there is no kitkat rom that is both stable and debloated. I keep going back and forth from rom to rom to rom, but can't find one that I'm happy with for the long term.
I'd like my next phone to be unlockable, or at the very least rootable. And, I don't want to spend the insane amount of money on a dev version. So, any suggestions?
Same boat. I've been running Wilson's LP on my NOTE2 and probably still have to do a hard reboot at least once a day. Even the DEV solution isn't much for the newer phones because the development is driven by such a small audience the communities will never be as robust as unlocked bootloader phones. Seriously considering jumping ship to T-Mo but it is SO much more expensive compared to having 10 lines in a corporate plan and shared data. A T-Mo coverage is awful at my house.
Think I'm just going to ride the non-upgrade wave until I can't stand my Note2 anymore - maybe something will be different in the market 12 months from now.
X3 on that, I am not sure what to get if I were to do a VZW upgrade as well. I would love to be able to go with a GSM carrier, but VZW has the best service in my area as well.
Anything with an unlocked boot loader from HTC, Moto, or other brands?
I'm in the same boat as well. I try every lollipop rom out there but I just keep reverting back to Jedix20 since it's the most stable rom I've used.
I'm looking at the blackberry priv. But I'm waiting till Verizon to get them unless I get the att version since I have straight talk now.
I was thinking, since I am stuck with VZW, a Nexus?
I've been wanting to upgrade for a while now, really considering the nexus or LG's V10 with their 2560x1440 screens, but the note 3's a big draw too..... There's (apparently) no verizon phone that's rootable/romable AND has a 2560x1440 5.3"++ screen, micro SD slot, and removable battery? (quad/hex/octo core, 3++GB ram, 32GB++ internal, ideally, too!)
Finally giving up my Note 2 as well and going with this http://www.amazon.com/Honor-5X-Meta...=UTF8&qid=1454231963&sr=1-2&keywords=Honor+5x
Very inexpensive, $199, for what you get. It should arrive Monday and they've already released the kernel to xda for rom development. Can't wait. This Note 2 has been a beast since I picked it up on release day. I don't think it ever really been off for an extended period of time since then. Love this phone. Now my 3 year old can love it, lol.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
That Honor looks like a nice phone.
You can even put in an external SD is a bonus, wonder how the battery life is?
I see it is dual sim, does it actually work on Verizon, if it does it would be the first one that ever did?
Keep us updated, I would love to have dual sim phone.
Droid_Nut said:
That Honor looks like a nice phone.
You can even put in an external SD is a bonus, wonder how the battery life is?
I see it is dual sim, does it actually work on Verizon, if it does it would be the first one that ever did?
Keep us updated, I would love to have dual sim phone.
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I don't believe it will work on big red. I dropped big red a couple of months back. We were still grandfathered with our unlimited data and they were going to charge us $20 more a month per line. That would have put us over $400. That ain't happening. Switched us all to StraightTalk and pay $150 a month now. Since you cam use Verizon phonesvon StraightTalk now it made it easy. Bought this honor 5x since I'm not held down by red anymore and can use different sim cards like the rest of the world. You can put 2 sims in it and an SD card at the same time. I've heard that's pretty rare to have that capability. Love the phone so far, but I've only had it for about 6 hrs now.
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k9cop said:
I don't believe it will work on big red. I dropped big red a couple of months back. We were still grandfathered with our unlimited data and they were going to charge us $20 more a month per line. That would have put us over $400. That ain't happening. Switched us all to StraightTalk and pay $150 a month now. Since you cam use Verizon phonesvon StraightTalk now it made it easy. Bought this honor 5x since I'm not held down by red anymore and can use different sim cards like the rest of the world. You can put 2 sims in it and an SD card at the same time. I've heard that's pretty rare to have that capability. Love the phone so far, but I've only had it for about 6 hrs now.
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After I posted I checked things a little closer, and found no mention of it working on VZW. I hear the customer service with StraightTalk is terrible? But can you get a StraightTalk sim, and be on the actual VZW CDMA Network, or at least use the same towers? I tried a Lenovo Zuk Z1 with AT&T pay as you go, and the service did not compare to the VZW in my area, otherwise, I would have switched all my phones to an AT&T contract plan. My ZUK was a dual sim as well, but I eventually sent it back to the seller for a full refund with no questions asked.
Droid_Nut said:
After I posted I checked things a little closer, and found no mention of it working on VZW. I hear the customer service with StraightTalk is terrible? But can you get a StraightTalk sim, and be on the actual VZW CDMA Network, or at least use the same towers? I tried a Lenovo Zuk Z1 with AT&T pay as you go, and the service did not compare to the VZW in my area, otherwise, I would have switched all my phones to an AT&T contract plan. My ZUK was a dual sim as well, but I eventually sent it back to the seller for a full refund with no questions asked.
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Yes StraightTalk does have CDMA sim cards now. Months ago I switched over my Verizon Note 2 to a ST sim and it US d the same towers. It even showed Verizon as the network. And yes, their customer service is horrible. I'm not sure what country it is with, but its really lacking. As long as you don't have any issues ST is great. lol Unfortunately I've had to call them a few times and it was a very memorable event. Guess you can't expect much for unlimited everything for $45 a month. Only the first 5 GB is at 4g speed. I'm onvwifi for 90% of the time, so it doesn't really affect me.
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k9cop said:
Yes StraightTalk does have CDMA sim cards now. Months ago I switched over my Verizon Note 2 to a ST sim and it US d the same towers. It even showed Verizon as the network. And yes, their customer service is horrible. I'm not sure what country it is with, but its really lacking. As long as you don't have any issues ST is great. lol Unfortunately I've had to call them a few times and it was a very memorable event. Guess you can't expect much for unlimited everything for $45 a month. Only the first 5 GB is at 4g speed. I'm onvwifi for 90% of the time, so it doesn't really affect me.
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I assume that Honor is a GSM phone anyways right? So is straight talk using the same towers as VZW to put out a GSM signal? What about 4G, are you able to get that with Straight Talk? I was never able to get that with my Zuk on the AT&T plan.
Ubuntu Phone
http://www.ubuntu.com/phone/
Honor 5X is GSM and Straighttalk will default to AT&T towers, deal breaker for me, like every other dual sim phone.
Personally I'd go for the Nexus 5x. I don't personally own it yet. But it will be my next phone and I'm buying it straight from Google so vzw can't bend me over with a bill the size of china