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Who has had to deal with Verizon and getting service restored?

Ok, so this might be more of a rant than it is a question, but I am still curious as to see who else here has had to deal with the same thing I have.
Back in December, I finally managed to wiggle out of my AT&T contract so I could swap over to Verizon like I have wanted to for a long time. I really only had two reasons for wanting to do this and that was data caps and very poor service for my area(s). Before I made the switch, I actually borrowed two different cell phones from friends and tried them out around my residence just to see what my service would be like. Knowing that I live basically in isolation (one hour from the nearest large city) I needed to know that I would get decent reception.
Seeing that I was going to get perfect cell reception, I pulled the trigger and signed up with Verizon for four phones. Awesome. Up until three weeks ago, I had nothing but the best service you could ask for. Anytime at home you could make calls, use data and do whatever you wanted/needed to do. Sweet.
Then along comes Spring time and with it came its naughty sibling: thunderstorms. Now, I know all to well from working in telecom that wind, rain, and lightening can do some pretty awesome stuff to our telecom and digital communication services, so when a nice storm rolled through my area, I wasn't totally shocked to notice having no cell service that night when I got home from work. The next morning, the problem was still there. Again, not a shocker and no big deal in my eyes as stuff happens.
The storm in question happened on a Thursday, and by Saturday evening I was getting a little distraught by not having any service at the house. Mainly because I'm also a small business owner and I am always on call with work. As you can imagine, having a reliable cell phone and coverage is very important to me. As most would do, I called Verizon and voiced my concerns and they issued a trouble ticket.
Two days later, they call me back stating that," the issue resolved itself and that I needed to check my service when I got home and call back should I have any other issues" Again, I work in telecom and this line isn't new to me. This excuse is usually used when a company acknowledges that there is an issue but can't seem to find the cause.
When I got home, there was still no service. Let's be clear, I'm not talking about poor service at this point, I'm talking about clearly, no service. Not even a hint of Verizon or U.S. Cellular signal for an entire three mile radius of where I live. Once again, I call Verizon and submit another trouble ticket... Three days later, Verizon calls me and states that they found one of the cell towers in my area that had a missing neighbor ID. Ok, I guess I can understand that causing some issues, so we'll see.
Still no joy. So I made yet my third call to Verizon and was told that they had done everything possible to resolve my issue and that my area is now considered to be a marginal coverage area, so I would have to deal with the issue or pay my ETF and use someone else.
As you can imagine, I complained until I got high enough on the food chain and got someone who is/was willing to look into the issue.
In the grand scheme, I've been getting excuse after excuse from Verizon and now I'm beginning to wonder if I should start looking into getting back with ATT because of this. I'm being told that they will hopefully have someone out to look at the tower within 7-10 business days (as of today)
Thoughts?

File with the FCC. If they HAD service where you live when you signed, and now they don't it CAN BE construed as breach of contract on their part. The FCC may help you with either getting a better response or get you out of your contract with Verizon with no ETF. Just know that it will take a couple of weeks to get resolved through them.
Sent from my N1, running CM7 and IntersectRaven's latest kernel. (AVS)

Babydoll25 said:
File with the FCC. If they HAD service where you live when you signed, and now they don't it CAN BE construed as breach of contract on their part. The FCC may help you with either getting a better response or get you out of your contract with Verizon with no ETF. Just know that it will take a couple of weeks to get resolved through them.
Sent from my N1, running CM7 and IntersectRaven's latest kernel. (AVS)
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FCC, huh? I know I don't need help getting out of my contract. They blantly offered to let me out of contract on the second phone call. Either I was complaining heavily or they aren't concerned about retaining customers. I really want them to fix the problem and not just cut me loose. It's not that I can't afford to change carriers as I could sell all four of my Droids and have more than enough to go with ATT. I just don't want data caps and Tmobile and Sprint have no coverage in my area. I could hack Sprint enough so that it would work with the Verizon partnership that's in my area, but I really don't want to do that. Although, if Sprint came out here... I would be nice. lol

Laramie1997 said:
FCC, huh? I know I don't need help getting out of my contract. They blantly offered to let me out of contract on the second phone call. Either I was complaining heavily or they aren't concerned about retaining customers. I really want them to fix the problem and not just cut me loose. It's not that I can't afford to change carriers as I could sell all four of my Droids and have more than enough to go with ATT. I just don't want data caps and Tmobile and Sprint have no coverage in my area. I could hack Sprint enough so that it would work with the Verizon partnership that's in my area, but I really don't want to do that. Although, if Sprint came out here... I would be nice. lol
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Well, maybe the FCC could light a fire under Verizon's a$$ and get the tower(s) fixed. Then you might not have to switch....
Sent from my N1, running CM7 and IntersectRaven's latest kernel. (AVS)

Maybe. I'll keep that idea on the back burner and see what happens this week. It'll be curious to see what happens when my work has to do something because my work phone is also on Verizon and I'm on call this week. LOL :/

Laramie1997 said:
Maybe. I'll keep that idea on the back burner and see what happens this week. It'll be curious to see what happens when my work has to do something because my work phone is also on Verizon and I'm on call this week. LOL :/
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FYI: If you do go the FCC route (I really hope you don't have to though) you will be contacted by Verizon's executive office. Telecoms have no choice but to respond quickly (and most likely in a favorable way for/to you). GL.
Sent from my N1, running CM7 and IntersectRaven's latest kernel. (AVS)

Well, as an update, I'm still working with Verizon in an attempt to get this matter solved. I'm starting to wonder if they haven't decomissioned a tower in the area for one reason or another because using some software with work and just knowing the general layout of my area, I can't see a Verizon cell tower for about a seven mile radius which uh, isn't right or it wasn't at one point.
Right now they have me marking my calls when they either drop, have poor call quality or can't connect at all. All I have to do is when this happens, I just dial ***** so that on the record it tells them to go back and look at the call before it. Supposedly, they can go in and look at which tower the phone used, transceiver on the tower and the node on the transceiver.
I still haven't called the FCC as I'm trying to be patient as I can be. My next step is to start turning in trouble tickets from my company's account that has something like 320 different Verizon lines. That's cell phones alone. If you threw in netbooks and air cards, you'd be looking at over 500 devices.. Maybe that would get their attention. I dunno.

[Q] Verizon???

I currently have AT&T but need to switch to Verizon since AT&T has no coverage in an area I travel to frequently. What's the likelihood of the Note coming to Verizon?
With the recent announcement of the LTE Korean version the likelihood is much better, no? If not I may have to settle for the Nexus, which is not something I really want to do...

I highly doubt it.

Thanks for the response. Why do you doubt it?

He's probably just being sarcastic, I imagine this question gets asked a fair bit. I only chanced on this thread from a google search for any new news about the Note coming to the US on Verizon.
...And the latest is still "maybe"...Maybe now that they've released a Note with LTE, in South Korea, that a US release is forthcoming. Nothing is confirmed though and neither Samsung or Verizon are saying anything further.
I was incredibly close myself to getting the GSM/HSPA version of the Note, figuring on getting whatever the cheapest service from AT&T is...But AT&T just started "turning on" their LTE service in NYC area and the Note isn't capable of using it.
...And so I too am waiting to see what the story is/will-be with Verizon.

Plus it looks like the LTE 7003 will only have the single core cpu and older gpu... I wonder why?

Verizon or TMobile or bust...
I mean that seriously, I will use AT&T over my cold dead rotting corpse...
There is NOTHING you could do besides give me everything (phone/plan/yearsofservice) FREE to get me to use AT&T... been there, done that, have to suffer with them for home phone/dsl (and no, no-one else services my area, not even SAT), dont plan on making it any worse then I have to...
I mean, hell, they yet again managed to get ranked WORST in customer satisfaction for the last 2 years solid... and more even before that...
At this point, I am willing to suffer with no 3G on TMo then not... WiFi FTW!

I have mine at Tmobile. I get 15kb down on edge. Its fine for gps and stuff, big stuff on wifi tho but i pay 50 bucks only.

I have had a great experience with AT&T. I am currently using a iPad SIM in my Note. I get 6 down and 1.5 up, which is no better then my iPhone 4 got...but it's more then adequate for surfing. Google Voice for text, GroovIP for voice. $30 a month(grandfather iPad Unlimited) Though $25 a month for 2 gigs is still reasonable I think.

bloodsilent said:
I have mine at Tmobile. I get 15kb down on edge. Its fine for gps and stuff, big stuff on wifi tho but i pay 50 bucks only.
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thats not bad actually, and if you use google maps/navigation you can use the labs "preload" and not require all that much anyway!...
the scale keeps tipping towards GNote-ON-TMo... Voice+EDGE wont be so bad since I use WiFi 95% of the time anyway...
Oh and I could switch to the "off" carrier for TMobile, ergo SimpleMobile and pay even less!

getting ATT to give you service?

Now that I know my Droid 3 will work, I tested it with a ATT gophone SIM after doing the radio flash and such but now I'm trying to get real service with a dataplan and it is hell.
They say I need a certain sim card (W7 sim card) and they seem to think it is a micro sim which the droid 3 doesn't have that. the phone support told me they could not mail me this type of card and the store people can't seem to bring up my information from the phone order and keep saying I need something else.
Keep getting the 'its not going to work' thing but obviously it will.
Did any one else in the states run into this trying to get your D3 on ATT with service other than gophone service? Trying get a 550 sharte plan and 3gb data plans for 2 phones, both are Droid 3s

bigbacon said:
Now that I know my Droid 3 will work, I tested it with a ATT gophone SIM after doing the radio flash and such but now I'm trying to get real service with a dataplan and it is hell.
They say I need a certain sim card (W7 sim card) and they seem to think it is a micro sim which the droid 3 doesn't have that. the phone support told me they could not mail me this type of card and the store people can't seem to bring up my information from the phone order and keep saying I need something else.
Keep getting the 'its not going to work' thing but obviously it will.
Did any one else in the states run into this trying to get your D3 on ATT with service other than gophone service? Trying get a 550 sharte plan and 3gb data plans for 2 phones, both are Droid 3s
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You can buy sim adapters fairly cheap, if they sent you a micro sim, grab an adapter on ebay for a few bucks (usually comes in 3 packs for micro mini, and standard). Don't ask any customer service/corporate if it'll work, as by 'stock' the D3 does NOT support ATT (the mnc block Verizon has in the radio prevents this).
I have Straight Talk's BYOP service using AT&T's network on my Droid 3 and it works just fine (albeit hating ST ). If you want a go-phone plan, your cheapest option would be grabbing an ATT SIM from ebay (I bought one for a penny, trolol free shipping), and activated it on gophone awhile back when I was just first testing the radio swap, worked great, but I never tried doing much beyond a 10 dollar card for talk/text while away.
If you're trying to get on a contract, etc etc, I'd suggest you just don't tell them you have a verizon droid 3, tell them you just have an unlocked GSM phone, and if they bug you about it, tell them it's an XT860 4g or an XT883.
EDIT: You can also try just buying a SIM on ebay (make sure to get the newer orange ones) and just activating that on your AT&T account.

I had a free or discounted feature phone / dumb phone with them, with the 2 year contract, and I've used that SIM in subsequent phones with no problem... the SIM had 3G branding. Currently that same SIM and same account are working fine in my XT860 from Bell Canada (unlocked).
If you don't mind a contract, go with the simplest 3G feature phone you can get from them, and add Media.net Unlimited if they still offer it. Sell the feature phone or keep it as a backup.

I ran into the problem also with them saying I can't transfer my line because I now live in a different state. So I was give nthe option to go and sign up in that state OR send the sims to someone in that state....
what a pain. I never thought it was would be so difficult. If I'm going to get into a contract, I'll just get a new phone, I just fear that even though it seems to work with the ATT gophone SIM that once I pop a normal SIM in there, it won't work and I'll be switching to a contract and paying the 'upgrade' charge (which is really jut anoher way to make you pay the activation again)
That was my main fear.
I'm hoping they will let me just test a sim from another device at the store. I was going to show up with our phones radio flashed and ready to go for GSM and then see what they will do for me. I hope they;ll let me test it some how and/or let me sign up month to month and if it doesn't work, let me switch to contract and wave the upgrade BS.
thats the only thing I'm unsure of if I reflash to the GSM radio, take out my verizon SIM and show up with no sim. new build prop and it set to GSM before I show up if it will work or not.

bigbacon said:
I ran into the problem also with them saying I can't transfer my line because I now live in a different state. So I was give nthe option to go and sign up in that state OR send the sims to someone in that state....
what a pain. I never thought it was would be so difficult. If I'm going to get into a contract, I'll just get a new phone, I just fear that even though it seems to work with the ATT gophone SIM that once I pop a normal SIM in there, it won't work and I'll be switching to a contract and paying the 'upgrade' charge (which is really jut anoher way to make you pay the activation again)
That was my main fear.
I'm hoping they will let me just test a sim from another device at the store. I was going to show up with our phones radio flashed and ready to go for GSM and then see what they will do for me. I hope they;ll let me test it some how and/or let me sign up month to month and if it doesn't work, let me switch to contract and wave the upgrade BS.
thats the only thing I'm unsure of if I reflash to the GSM radio, take out my verizon SIM and show up with no sim. new build prop and it set to GSM before I show up if it will work or not.
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Welcome to the world of AT&T! Where they win worst in customer satisfaction 3 years running by consumer reports.
"Each year, Consumer Reports ranks all manner of U.S. wireless carriers based on customer satisfaction in a number of different categories. AT&T ranked dead last in the customer satisfaction survey for the third year in a row. It was hit with the worst rankings for any major carrier in value, voice quality, and customer support."
I'd suggest you go with a prepaid like Page Plus. I've used them, good flexible plans, friendly customer support, free ESN changes via online chat, no bull. Any Verizon phone outside of 'new' inpulse and blackberries can be activated (I've got Page Plus on my CDMA side and a *shudder* Straight Talk AT&T SIM on GSM in my Droid 3)
If you call customer service, you can usually get it activated for free, or find a 3rd party page plus dealer (I have a couple that do free instant activations). They're an MVNO of Verizon, so same network, but very much lower price. Verizon prepaid smartphone plan; 70USD for unlim talk/text and 1GB data. PagePlus? 55USD For unlim talk/text and 2GBs data, or 69.95 for 5GB of data, and buying online, no taxes either.
Anyway, luck to you. If you decide to go in-store, make sure your phone is completely GSM ready, leave the Verizon/Vodafone sim at home. Tell them it's GSM unlocked and it works on AT&T's network (mention you tested it, or let you test a SIM. I've *yet* to find a store that lets me test a sim though.)
The Droid 3 supports up to HSPA 14.4 on AT&T's network, I can get ~5.5Mbps, but I have noticed it's not as stable as Verizon, and calls drop, due to CDMA having better hand-off than GSM (CDMA actually connects to multiple towers at once for seamless handoff, GSM has to toss between the towers). Been awhile since I've really read into it, and I'm likely getting a bit technical...

for me, I can't even use verizon at home or anywhere with in a 30 mile+ radius. The ONLY carrier that has coverage out here is ATT and oddly, they have 4g coverage. My neighbors use them and the signal strength and data speeds are superb. There isn't another carrier.
I know straight talk and such might use ATT towers but I worry about the so called unlimited data and everything that really isn't unlimited.
I guess if one of those carrier actually use ATT towers then I guess I'm ok but how would I know without trying them out some how?

looks like straight talk no longer does ATT
net10 seems like you can still get ATT sims
I'm in WV and, again, ATT is the only provider that has voice and data coverage out here.

bigbacon said:
looks like straight talk no longer does ATT
net10 seems like you can still get ATT sims
I'm in WV and, again, ATT is the only provider that has voice and data coverage out here.
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Net10 at least came out and said there was a 1.5gb cap now on att. Albeit net10 and straighttalk are the exact same company. Outside of that, most any mvno of att is expensive, att itself is expensive, but you gotta use what you have to. Any that run on att will work on the d3 once modified to do so. Net10 and Red Pocket are the only two that come to mind at the moment, but do a bit of research and find a good one that fits your needs.

I have to search for a list since I'm reading now that some services like Net10 and such may use the ATT gohpone service area or they may use the normal service areas.

Can anyone confirm if Calls, SMS, MMS, and full Data and 3G coverage all work correctly on AT&T on the Droid 3 once unlocked?

think I'm going to try net10. $85 bucks a month to use the postpaid ATT network for 2 lines is alot better than 120 going with ATT and we don't use a lot of data. Looking back at our Verizon account over 6 months, we've never used even 1gb worth of data in a month. I can't find a chart or anything that shows which ones use the postpaid ATT network as I am up for other carriers other than net10 if they do.
seems like moving my number might be an issue though since I am no longer in PA.

braambo said:
Can anyone confirm if Calls, SMS, MMS, and full Data and 3G coverage all work correctly on AT&T on the Droid 3 once unlocked?
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I have a Bell Canada XT860, unlocked, and I use all of those except MMS, which I'm pretty sure would work too... I have the APN settings for it.

I am using a Droid 3 on At&t with the Medianet plan that only costs $10(if you're on an unlimited text plan).I'm getting speeds of
up to 5.5mb down and 1.5mb up. The speeds are better at night though.
If you want to use a prepaid GSM,the cheapest I've seen is Red Pockect that uses AT&T's network.They have unlimited talk,text &MMS.

PassingThruLife said:
I am using a Droid 3 on At&t with the Medianet plan that only costs $10(if you're on an unlimited text plan).I'm getting speeds of
up to 5.5mb down and 1.5mb up. The speeds are better at night though.
If you want to use a prepaid GSM,the cheapest I've seen is Red Pockect that uses AT&T's network.They have unlimited talk,text &MMS.
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Do you have the XT860 or XT862?
I would be all over the XT862 if Jellybean was available in a ROM (100% working)

redsrule2500 said:
Do you have the XT860 or XT862?
I would be all over the XT862 if Jellybean was available in a ROM (100% working)
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i have an xt862 that i flashed with the chinese radio. I love it honestly,especially since I can have a decent android phone with keyboard + a cheap data plan.
id love to see ICS on the droid 3 but i know it wont happen,the phone is going on 2 years into its lifespan and that kind of age means DEATH in the phone industry .

PassingThruLife said:
i have an xt862 that i flashed with the chinese radio. I love it honestly,especially since I can have a decent android phone with keyboard + a cheap data plan.
id love to see ICS on the droid 3 but i know it wont happen,the phone is going on 2 years into its lifespan and that kind of age means DEATH in the phone industry .
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Oh yeah, that's my goal here in looking for a replacement for my Milestone 1. I just know that I won't be able to take full advantage of the device without the newer Android OS versions available, and that's too bad because everything else is perfect with this phone. So I'm basically sticking w/ the Milestone 1 on CM7 until something better becomes available. (Weird part is even my Milestone 1 can run JB 4.1 100%...!)
I honestly have no phone to get that meets my upgrade specifications for AT&T (JB, keyboard, global phone), aside from attempting the PhotonQ SIM Card Mod, which is a huge risk since I don't know if it will work on AT&T. Blah.

redsrule2500 said:
Oh yeah, that's my goal here in looking for a replacement for my Milestone 1. I just know that I won't be able to take full advantage of the device without the newer Android OS versions available, and that's too bad because everything else is perfect with this phone. So I'm basically sticking w/ the Milestone 1 on CM7 until something better becomes available. (Weird part is even my Milestone 1 can run JB 4.1 100%...!)
I honestly have no phone to get that meets my upgrade specifications for AT&T (JB, keyboard, global phone), aside from attempting the PhotonQ SIM Card Mod, which is a huge risk since I don't know if it will work on AT&T. Blah.
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LOL I have spent some time thinking about the Photon Q,you can buy one with a bad ESN for around $120... but I am not that handy and taking apart the phone kind of scares me.
I'd be happy with a Photon Q for a while tho.

PassingThruLife said:
LOL I have spent some time thinking about the Photon Q,you can buy one with a bad ESN for around $120... but I am not that handy and taking apart the phone kind of scares me.
I'd be happy with a Photon Q for a while tho.
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Wow, that's so tempting. Didn't realize they would be that cheap.
It could be a fun project, as long as I don't screw it up completely....but I also would feel bad about owning a device which was most likely stolen.

redsrule2500 said:
Wow, that's so tempting. Didn't realize they would be that cheap.
It could be a fun project, as long as I don't screw it up completely....but I also would feel bad about owning a device which was most likely stolen.
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Well "bad ESN" doesnt always mean stolen,could also mean the person owes money and the phone is blacklisted till they pay it.

My Droid 3 had a bad ESN but it was because I lost my job and couldn't afford to pay Verizon's ridiculous prices. My income was literally cut in half.

Thinking about moving over from Verizon for the Note 4...

I just wanted to put a feeler out there. Hopefully those who may have switched from Verizon might chime in and give me some helpful advice.
I've been with Verizon since the GS3 came out and I've had it with that company. They have excellent service, and I have signal just about anywhere I go, but there are a lot of things about them that bother me, and I'm ready to jump ship. This all started when I had a Note 4 in hand at the VZW store the other day, and after speaking to the ASSociate there, I'm ready to leave. I'm on the EDGE plan (kinda like JUMP), and was an early adopter to that, so I had the 50% pay off to get a new phone after 11 mo. First thing I don't like is the cost. With a 21% discount, I was paying $121/mo for the Note 3 with 5GB data, 450min, and 1000 text messages (I never used up the minutes or texts). I didn't think that was too outrageous since I was paying off that N3 every month, and I was OK with it because I'm a complete nerd and like to have a new phone every year. However, they now want you to pay off 75% of the phone over 18 months. What is that bs? If I'm paying 75% of an $800 phone, I might as well just sell it on eBay. Another issue is the bootloader, of course. Verizon locks down their phones hardcore. Even rooting them is a chore on VZW, and I'm tired of it. I'm not even a huge "power-user". I just like to have my Titanium Backup and freedom of controlling my system apps. T-Mobile obviously doesn't have any of these issues, but everyone I talk to says the service isn't that great, especially in rural areas. I take a lot of trips to remote locations, and fear that I will not have signal at any of them. For a person who always has their phone on them and is an extension of themselves, this could be a deal-breaker.
Any advice? I'm seriously considering it, and TMo is sending me an iPhone 5s to test this week, but I'm still afraid of the commitment.

I just traded in my Verizon Note 3 and switched to tmobile. I am loving it so far. I actually get better reception that Verizon here in my part of Pittsburgh. I recently upgraded to the unlimited 4g plan and decided I am going to ditch Comcast too. I will get a Chromecast and/or MHL cable to hook my note up to my tv and occasionally for youtube ans netflix, wifi Hotspot when I am using the computer.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

i made the switch from verizon to t-mobile on friday. i'm giving up verizon's unlimited data plan because they won't let me upgrade unless i pay full price or give up the unlimited. i chose to go with t-mobile's $80 unlimited everything plan w/ 5gb of hotspot. my situation is a little different than yours, though. i was already a t-mobile customer (back when they were voicestream until 2010), so i already know what i'm getting myself into in terms of quality (plus, my parents, brother, and sister-in-law are on t-mobile). i live in chicago also, so that makes a difference. i've never had an issue with t-mobile's service. the only reason i had originally switched the first time is because when the smartphone race began, t-mobile had some of the worst selections.
again, i live in chicago, so your results might vary, but i did a ookla speedtest on my brother's note 4 (on t-mobile) and my galaxy s4 (on verizon) and his numbers beat my numbers consistently (which genuinely surprised me).

Do the T-mobile test drive first available here http://explore.t-mobile.com/test-drive-free-trial?cmpid=WTR_PB_N62kxn2C&002=2202007&004=13691619257&005=47088372328&006=45480286217&007=Search&008=&025=c&026=&gclid=Cj0KEQjwt7KiBRD9lOePpe_BhrgBEiQAHaS_116jcCU3lPFxN-073akQkOmUEMwL_jAlA8fhsqPxLb4aAuDY8P8HAQ. They will send you a phone to try out for a week. I wanted to switch, but found out that they actually have no service at my home and half of the areas on my way to work, even though on their website it says there is full 2g service in all these places. Their coverage map is extremely misleading. Just read all the customer dissatisfaction with coverage via this link. http://support.t-mobile.com/community/coverage/content?filterID=contentstatus%5Bpublished%5D~objecttype~objecttype%5Bthread%5D
Cicatrize said:
I just wanted to put a feeler out there. Hopefully those who may have switched from Verizon might chime in and give me some helpful advice.
I've been with Verizon since the GS3 came out and I've had it with that company. They have excellent service, and I have signal just about anywhere I go, but there are a lot of things about them that bother me, and I'm ready to jump ship. This all started when I had a Note 4 in hand at the VZW store the other day, and after speaking to the ASSociate there, I'm ready to leave. I'm on the EDGE plan (kinda like JUMP), and was an early adopter to that, so I had the 50% pay off to get a new phone after 11 mo. First thing I don't like is the cost. With a 21% discount, I was paying $121/mo for the Note 3 with 5GB data, 450min, and 1000 text messages (I never used up the minutes or texts). I didn't think that was too outrageous since I was paying off that N3 every month, and I was OK with it because I'm a complete nerd and like to have a new phone every year. However, they now want you to pay off 75% of the phone over 18 months. What is that bs? If I'm paying 75% of an $800 phone, I might as well just sell it on eBay. Another issue is the bootloader, of course. Verizon locks down their phones hardcore. Even rooting them is a chore on VZW, and I'm tired of it. I'm not even a huge "power-user". I just like to have my Titanium Backup and freedom of controlling my system apps. T-Mobile obviously doesn't have any of these issues, but everyone I talk to says the service isn't that great, especially in rural areas. I take a lot of trips to remote locations, and fear that I will not have signal at any of them. For a person who always has their phone on them and is an extension of themselves, this could be a deal-breaker.
Any advice? I'm seriously considering it, and TMo is sending me an iPhone 5s to test this week, but I'm still afraid of the commitment.
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I made the switch yesterday . Screw Verizon I had the note 3 and was out of contract . So I just switched over got the note 4 and so far so good . I stay in Caldwell Idaho .

NWNJ said:
Do the T-mobile test drive first available here http://explore.t-mobile.com/test-drive-free-trial?cmpid=WTR_PB_N62kxn2C&002=2202007&004=13691619257&005=47088372328&006=45480286217&007=Search&008=&025=c&026=&gclid=Cj0KEQjwt7KiBRD9lOePpe_BhrgBEiQAHaS_116jcCU3lPFxN-073akQkOmUEMwL_jAlA8fhsqPxLb4aAuDY8P8HAQ. They will send you a phone to try out for a week. I wanted to switch, but found out that they actually have no service at my home and half of the areas on my way to work, even though on their website it says there is full 2g service in all these places. Their coverage map is extremely misleading. Just read all the customer dissatisfaction with coverage via this link. http://support.t-mobile.com/community/coverage/content?filterID=contentstatus%5Bpublished%5D~objecttype~objecttype%5Bthread%5D
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I think my anger with Verizon caused me to leave that part out of my long post, lol. I did that, and they're sending me an iPhone 5s to test, which will be here on Tuesday. I'm excited to try it out, but the consensus around my office with T-Mobile customers is that it's not very good service. Time will tell, I guess.
How is T-Mobile's customer service? I was a T-Mo customer about 10 years ago and it was excellent back then.

JUST DO IT. VERIZON SUCKS. COMPLETELY OVER RATES THEM SELVES.
I've had better coverage data speeds and call quality in the last week with my note 4 then the last 8 years with Verizon. Not to mention Tmobiles not a bunch of ****ing blood suckers.

I switched from att to tmobile two weeks. I'm in northern new jersey and I'm not looking back. I originally got the note 3 but decided I wanted to make sure I had the latest phone so I got the note 4 before the return period was up. I ported over two lines and a tablet. I'm saving about $50 per month on tmobile. The service has been great so far. The speeds have been excellent and coverage at my job and house is five bars. The fact that their phones have unlocked bootloaders is of course a plus. I'd say if coverage is good then make the switch.
Taking Notes on my Note 4

Well these are interesting responses.
As far as my work goes, nothing seems to penetrate that building except AT&T, which would be nice, but they have the same issues that Verizon has. It's interesting, because I thought TMo piggy backed off of AT&T towers for roaming...

Depends on the service in your area. I live in NYC so I've notice hardly any difference in service and faster speeds with T-mobile. However if you travel a lot I would say Verizon is better because that map does not lie, you really do have service everywhere with them.

idelgado782 said:
I switched from att to tmobile two weeks. I'm in northern new jersey and I'm not looking back. I originally got the note 3 but decided I wanted to make sure I had the latest phone so I got the note 4 before the return period was up. I ported over two lines and a tablet. I'm saving about $50 per month on tmobile. The service has been great so far. The speeds have been excellent and coverage at my job and house is five bars. The fact that their phones have unlocked bootloaders is of course a plus. I'd say if coverage is good then make the switch.
Taking Notes on my Note 4
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Ditto. I switched from Verizon this past Thursday and not looking back. I love the freedom with bootloaders. I was with TMob 8 years ago and the service to be honest was horrible. But now TMob has greatly improved. I haven't dropped calls and data speeds are fast.

Cicatrize said:
Well these are interesting responses.
As far as my work goes, nothing seems to penetrate that building except AT&T, which would be nice, but they have the same issues that Verizon has. It's interesting, because I thought TMo piggy backed off of AT&T towers for roaming...
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As far as penetrating buildings goes, earlier this year tmobile just bought the rights to new frequencies that have a lower wave length and will penetrate buildings considerably... they haven't made the activation on this frequency everywhere yet, but the Note 4 is one of the first phones(if not the first?) to have the ability to receive this frequency built in, so as soon as it goes live in your given area, you'll get the benefits! This is a hardware thing too, so it's not like they can just update other phones n they'll have it too, only new phones built to receive it

p()()pypants said:
As far as penetrating buildings goes, earlier this year tmobile just bought the rights to new frequencies that have a lower wave length and will penetrate buildings considerably... they haven't made the activation on this frequency everywhere yet, but the Note 4 is one of the first phones(if not the first?) to have the ability to receive this frequency built in, so as soon as it goes live in your given area, you'll get the benefits! This is a hardware thing too, so it's not like they can just update other phones n they'll have it too, only new phones built to receive it
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That's interesting. I didn't know that. Did they give an eta when they expect to turn on those frequencies?
Taking Notes

p()()pypants said:
As far as penetrating buildings goes, earlier this year tmobile just bought the rights to new frequencies that have a lower wave length and will penetrate buildings considerably... they haven't made the activation on this frequency everywhere yet, but the Note 4 is one of the first phones(if not the first?) to have the ability to receive this frequency built in, so as soon as it goes live in your given area, you'll get the benefits! This is a hardware thing too, so it's not like they can just update other phones n they'll have it too, only new phones built to receive it
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Are you referring to the 700MHz spectrum they're rolling out? Link here: https://sites.google.com/site/cellularbinder/t-mobile-700a-spectrum
If that's the case, I'm in Southwest Michigan, and it looks like they need to clear up some stuff before that happens in my area (if I'm reading that correctly)?
EDIT: Also, is not the 700MHz for LTE band 12 only? I would love to have LTE inside of work, but less necessary than just a regular GSM phone signal.

Verizon sucks...PERIOD
the ONLY reason to even consider them is if you need coverage in the most obscure areas of the US; if not, kick those scumbags to the curb..
If you have decent coverage in your area, then no one can beat T-mobile for coverage, price, customer service, and everything else.
Do the test drive, go to all the areas you are concerned about, and if you get coverage, then switch

wase4711 said:
Verizon sucks...PERIOD
the ONLY reason to even consider them is if you need coverage in the most obscure areas of the US; if not, kick those scumbags to the curb..
If you have decent coverage in your area, then no one can beat T-mobile for coverage, price, customer service, and everything else.
Do the test drive, go to all the areas you are concerned about, and if you get coverage, then switch
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Click to collapse
My fiancee and I are both geocachers and use an app to post our finds immediately, so we do actually need coverage in obscure areas. We often have trouble even with Verizon, but that trouble is 1-2 bars of 3G. I'm hoping that doesn't translate into zero signal with T-Mobile. You are right, though. The plan is to do the test drive and see how it goes. With an unlocked bootloader and an eventual SIM unlock, I could always switch to AT&T if it ends up not working out very well. I have none of those freedoms with Verizon.

yeah, as much as I dislike "the deathstar", I hate verizon more, so given the choice of 2 evils, ATT would be your way out..
but, here again, go nuts on the 7 day tmobile test drive and see how good/bad they are in your area..

I use AT&T go phone prepaid with my tmo gn4. $60mo unl talk and text and 3gb LTE. I can add additional lte at $10 per gb. Just have to pay full price for my devices. I LOVE my set up. I travel, so tmo isn't an option for me. Hope you find a set up. Also, vz just released their prepaid plan mostly the same at $65mo with LTE service, and they're getting the gn4 developer edition with bootloader unlocked. Again, just have to pay full price.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

I have both so I know. I'd go with TM any day. Don't think about it. Just do it. Depending on your usage, if you don't talk much, the $30 pre paid plan is unbeatable. 5gb of data.

Well I've had this iPhone for an hour now. Hate the phone, but one thing I've seen already is the LTE speed is DOUBLE what I get from Verizon. It gets around 40mbps down and 10mbps up in my house, which is ridiculous. I can't even get that on Verizon outside with full bars.
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Free mobile app

[Q] Moving to from Sweden to Santa Monica, CA, what carrier?

Hi!
First off, I didn't know where this belongs, so I'm sorry in advance if this is the wrong part of the forum.
My wife and I are moving to Santa Monica in August, and one of my biggest struggles right now is figuring out what American carrier to go with (yep, this is MY issue to handle, since I'm the phonegeek in the family). I'll start off with telling you what we're used to here in Sweden, and I hope you can help us pick a carrier and maybe even a plan that will fit our usage after the big move.
We always buy our phones unlocked from electronics stores, ALWAYS. I'm currently using the OnePlus One which should be working fine in the U.S., but I am planning on getting an LG G4 in a few months. Wifey's got an iPhone 5S (European version, guessing she'll have to replace it in order to use 4G/LTE IB the U.S?) I suppose it depends on what carrier we choose, but if signing up for a plan and getting the phone along with it is a better option than cashing it we're of course willing to do so (I have absolutely no idea how this stuff works in America, as you might've understood by now...).
We're currently using Telenor, on a shared family plan. The cost for this is roughly $85 a month. It includes a shared 24GB of data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts. To be honest, this is way beyond what we ever use, so cutting the data amount in half should be no problem at all. We don't text or call that much either, but it's nice to have the ability to do so if needed.
From what I understand, Verizon locks their phones down tight. Locked bootloaders, SIM locked and whatnot. If this really is the case Verizon really isn't a viable option considering the fact that I'm an avid flasher of roms. My wife doesn't really care much about that stuff though, she's all iPhone all the way.
Any advice, thought or opinion is welcome and highly appreciated!

UPS or Fedex
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Tmobile. I hate verizon for the same reasons. But, I've heard people in that part of Cali say it's got good service.
But, if no verizon. Then tmobile
And, yes verizon does that.

Karakoram2 said:
Tmobile. I hate verizon for the same reasons. But, I've heard people in that part of Cali say it's got good service.
But, if no verizon. Then tmobile
And, yes verizon does that.
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Thanks for the reply! I've read good stuff about T-Mobile so I think that's what I'll go with. Apparently I'll get 4G with a European LG G4 with them aswell so that suits me great.