Sprint or AT&T?
3I’m finally changing cell phone service and my 2 options through work are Sprint and AT&T. Online studies seem to show that Sprint doesn’t have as much coverage as AT&T, but the couple people I’ve spoken with about Sprint say that they’ve never had a problem. So even if there’s supposedly less coverage from Sprint, will I ever notice the difference?
- Both will cost the same for me
- AT&T I get 5/gig of data per month, and Sprint is unlimited
- AT&T is 24 months before I can get a new phone at their discounted rate, where Sprint is 20 months
- Phones are basically the same price for each carrier through work
Any recommendations on a company to use?
- 17 comments, 53 replies
- Comment
Well, I tried to post this 3 other times and something went terribly wrong each times… so I finally took out this beautiful gif that I wanted to share with y’all:
@luvche21
No T-mobile option?
Cost/coverage/data similar to Sprint. Better CS.
If only ATT vs Sprint, I’d want the data. That’s an individual thing tho.
You get a work related discounts w some carriers?
With Sprint you can get an amazing discount just by having an account at a credit union. Might be better than your corporate discount.
@f00l Nope, only those two options for work. That’s what I’m leaning towards I think… but I’m a little worried about the supposed smaller coverage area. I’m switching from Verizon too…
@luvche21
Edited reply above.
@f00l that ninja edit, wouldn’t have noticed it otherwise
@f00l Sprint will give your pet iguana the corporate discount… of whatever company you happen to know has a contract with Sprint.
A company I used to work for was building a plant in another state. We had contracts and employee discounts with all four carriers. Our Sprint account guy drove to the other state and parked outside the gate, asking the various contractors if they wanted to sign up with Sprint under our company discount. He said to us, “well, they’re sorta working for your company, so that’s good enough for me!”
And often the corporate employee discounts are tiered or have minimum employee subscription levels or even count toward your company-billed teir… so who were we to argue?
AT&T and VzW tended to demand proof you worked for the company or require you order via the company intranet. TMO was in between, unpredictable.
Another dirty little secret - mobile companies never know you’ve left a company. So stay with a carrier if your discount is good. No sane company would share their employee terminations with an outside company unless it were an outsourced service. And the mobile companies don’t want to look too closely since they know if they yank your discount, you’ll go running to somebody else.
@RedOak
kinda curious about that company name …
Don’t answer.
@f00l Dangerous to even hint.
The really big discounts go to the Federal Govt. They often demand clauses like: “you agree not to give anybody else a lower price or you will adjust our price accordingly”.
But I’ve heard of large companies getting those same or similar discounts.
Funny thing is, we once stumbled on a way to guess the (unpublished) web pages of one of the carriers for each of their customers’ employee discounts. It was something like _____.com/____/gm… or /boeing… Fun exploring. And very handy at contract negotiation time since corporate-billed discounts tend to be better than employee.
@RedOak not intriely true. AT&T called me about a year after leaving employment at. AT&T and told me that they had to remove the company 50% off (managers or no bargained unit) discount.
@sohmageek that’s a different scanario. Apparently you were a direct employee of the carrier and of course your employer knew you left AT&T. I referred to corporate contract discounts. Those would be employees of corporate customers of AT&T, not direct employees.
Also, I’ve never heard of any carrier providing 50% off discounts on corporate contracts (AT&T calls it a “FAN”) to employees of those companies. (Perhaps you’d know, having been an AT&T employee.)
They’d be crazy to continue offering that pricing after employment since it was likely part of their employee benefits package rather than a tool to gain customers. A friend recently left AT&T from a corporate position in their wireless division. Same thing happened to them.
That they called you rather than unceremoniously removing the discount was a classy thing to do.
Did you stay with AT&T service, even without the discount?
@RedOak I did for a while as the only choices for a while were really Verizon and At&T. About 18 months ago I switched to T-Mobile. Best choice I’ve made. Saved a lot. 1st year they paid my termination fees and I saved about $4000 that year alone.
@sohmageek $4,000? Is that a typo? If not, wow, you must have some premium service!
Our entire bill for the year is only about $1,600. Crazy when I see the cost in on lump - $1,600 for phone calls/texts and mobile Internet - no hardware costs. Crazy. And I know it is common for folks to pay $2,400+ per year.
TMO and Sprint simply are not an option for us. Nonexistent coverage too many places where we go. And having dealt with VzW as a corporate customer, it would take a lot for me to move to them.
@RedOak between termination fees and service discount. No it’s not really a typo. I was paying almost $300 more a month on service (3 unlimited and rest were 5 GB plans- 5 lines total) plus the hardware they threw in for free and other things. Yeah. I’ve really liked T-Mobile.
@RedOak plus my wife and I were heavy internet users. Going through 10-15 GB of data a month on at&t. I couldn’t get a mobile share plan. I would have needed 50 GB or more.
@sohmageek wow again. I guess that hardware wasn’t really free was it?
@sohmageek That much data just sounds… crazy!
One thing I can say is to consider tethering options… is “hotspot” or “tethering” comparable on the two providers?
hotspot/tether varies widely between providers, even sometimes between different plans on the same provider.
also consider video throttling, at&t will soon be doing what sprint and tmobile are already doing with video streams as well (if they are not currently) they announced it would be happening this year and i think they said you can opt out… if you are watching on the handset it’s not much of an issue due to screen size.
also cricket/gophone is just another brand of att ; boost and virgin mobile are just other brands of sprint; and metropcs is just another brand of tmobile if you are shopping for a better deal…
@thismyusername I haven’t looked much into tethering between the two, thanks for the tip!
Yeah, I remember hearing about Sprint’s video throttling, that’s a bummer, but I don’t think I’d be streaming too much on my phone anyway, other than the few times of year when I’m away at conferences (like next week!)
@luvche21
Video streams fine to the phone. If you want HD to for tethering a TV or laptop it may cost you tho.
@luvche21, plans and data options aside, I will speak as a longtime subscriber on the Sprint network. TL: DR? Sprint coverage is not ideal if you stray far from home.
I have been a Sprint MVNO subscriber for years. First with Virgin, then switched to Boost. I finally bailed out after my continual frustration with coverage. 85% of my life exists in a bit of a bubble. I don’t wander out of town often.
Within my town, in all the places I frequent, Sprint coverage was great. At home (suburbia), on the commute to work, in the office (a somewhat rural town a few miles outside suburbia), the places I shop and dine… my Sprint coverage was great.
On those occasions when I wander outside the metropolitan city and suburbia… for example if I go camping, out to the lake, drive out to the indian casinos, road trips… coverage would vary wildly. For example, the trip from my home, to my dad’s place about 60 miles away I will lose signal three or four times. Once at my dad’s place (a not-that-rural area) I get VERY intermittent coverage. Inside the indian casino I get ZERO coverage, and even when I venture outside to check messages I have to hunt for a decent signal. When traveling to visit my mom, once I leave the interstate, even in populated areas, no coverage. Inside some airports, spotty at best. Almost always, on road trips, if I’m on the interstate I’m fine. Venture on state or county highways and it’s hit or miss.
This is why, about a year ago, I fired Sprint MVNO providers and jumped to an AT&T MVNO. Since I’ve been with AT&T I have had better experiences all around.
For no reason related to service, at the end of this month I’m firing AT&T and switching to a T-Mobile MVNO (Mint SIM; unlimited talk and text, 2GB data for $13.75/mo!).
The moral of this story? I did not have great success with Sprint’s coverage outside metropolitan areas.
@ruouttaurmind This is exactly what I’m worried about. I don’t leave town too much, and all of the cities around me are covered pretty well by Sprint, but it’s those times that I’m away that I’m worrying about.
The other thing I need to look at is international calling (for when I travel outside of the US every couple years…). Do you have any experience with that through either AT&T or Sprint?
@luvche21 I do not have experience on those networks with making calls during international calling. I haven’t had an occasion to do so since I left Verizon several years ago.
I have family/friends come here to visit me from UK, and we discovered the best option for service was to get a burner SIM from T-Mobile, or AT&T. Although they weren’t able to maintain coverage on their home number, they were able to make/receive calls on their UK handsets without incident. Providing family/friends/work with the temporary US number in case of emergencies.
I suspect there is the same kind of option when traveling to most of EU/UK/Asia, etc? This being said… it almost certainly won’t work on just any Sprint handset since Sprint uses CDMA cellular technology (as does Verizon), and AT&T/T-Mobile use GSM (like the rest of the free world). The exception to this is newer Sprint Apple devices and certain Sprint Samsung devices may be unlocked to use the GSM bandwidth when traveling internationally.
@ruouttaurmind Good thoughts, I’ll look into that more. I’m not worried about keeping my number over there (when visiting my wife’s family in Japan), but rather to be able to contact her family and friends when we’re there from any phone. Thanks!
@luvche21
@luvche21 What @ruouttaurmind said… I live in an area that is not metropolitan, but not that small (300K+ people in the two cities here). Sprint is OK around the interstates but spotty in a lot of places, especially if you get outside of town. TMobile is pretty much nonexistent. Our choice is pretty much at&t or verizon if we want service all over the area.
@luvche21 I’ll echo some of what @ruouttaurmind said above.
Note: do NOT spend much time using mobile phone, smart or otherwise. No streaming; 98% call & text
@compunaut Cricket has a family plan with pretty decent rates (I’m sure you’re aware since you mention them). I had no trouble at all with my individual plan on Cricket. I just decided to switch to Mint because… $13.75/mo!!!
@luvche21 Sprint deals usually include international calling. Work takes me to Mexico occasionally, better results there than rural US
@djslack surprisingly I have better service in some areas (faster internet) than At&T with the same hardware on T-Mobile. But there are 0 T-Mobile stores in vt. Even Best Buy tries to avoid them in vt.
@compunaut I use Net 10 and it piggy backs the AT&T network (Net 10 is now owned by T-moble but keeps the brand separate). Customer service there hasn’t been too horrible. Better than comcast.
AT&T - You’re right on with the comments about Sprint and their coverage outside metropolitan areas. I’ve had AT&T since way back when it was Comcast/Cellular One and I can’t begin to tell you how many times over the years I’ve had to let people with other carriers use my phone. Just the other day my friend with Verizon couldn’t get a signal up in Hunter, NY when I had 2 bars worth of LTE. With Verizon’s announcement of new unlimited data plans today, I wouldn’t be surprised to see AT&T develop a new offer that goes beyond what they currently have with DirecTV/U-verse.
I’ve been using AT&T since it was Cingular. The only times I have connection problems is when I’m in BFE, where if you look at a cellar provider map, no one has coverage.
Well, I just jumped over to our cell phone office for work and went with AT&T! Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback!
The Samsung Galaxy S7 will arrive in a couple days!
@luvche21 Good choice, especially if you want to travel to other countries with GSM like the EU.
Where we regularly camp, AT&T (even 5-bar LTE!) and VzW have solid coverage but Sprint and TMO are non-existent to barely there.
A lot more phone choices and therefore price ranges with GSM as well.
If you travel a lot, there are phones available with dual SIM slots. Also handy if your company allows you to stick their SIM in your personal phone. (Ours did not for security/data on the phone ownership purposes.) Blu, for example has them.
@RedOak I don’t travel too often out of country (once every 2 years or so), but would love to more if my salary ever increases…
Both Sprint & ATT have zero coverage at my house.
Stuck with Verizon…
I would go for At@t. I’ve been begging for my parents to switch because Verizon and Sprint don’t support the phones that I want such as the One+ x. I’m also not a huge fan of CDMA.
@spcial_snwflake Just signed up for AT&T!
T-Mobile is cheaper than Sprint, even without discount. Video throttling is optional. Also, Sprint has smaller phone selection. I think CDMA is better tech, but the world choose GSM
We’ve been with Sprint over 10 years. Hubby is a long haul driver and Sprint coverage is better than any other service. Where their coverage is spotty they lease access on the competitions towers [Wyoming, and New Mexico come to mind]. And wifi calling boosts coverage when you can link with a router. And if you have a problem, be polite and they’ll bend over backwards to solve it.
@sarahsandroid I’m using Boost, which uses Sprint network. At home in DFW area, in Chicago & southern MI (places I visit often) everything works fine. But there are miles and miles of US287 (between, say, Wichita Falls & Amarillo) and US87 (Amarillo to Raton, NM) in NW TX that have zero signal strength. They’re not leasing access from anybody there, cuz the Verizon & ATT phones are working. I had occasional trouble making connections along I-10 driving west from FL to TX as well, but that was a few years ago.
It’s possible that it’s just a handset issue, but the scenario is hard to imagine with the good performance I have elsewhere.
@compunaut
Last summer I pretty much kept Sprint access from W Falls to Amarillo. (Didn’t check all the time, but when I checked …)
When I hit close to NM (on the interstate) I got almost nothing until Sante Fe.
@f00l Yes, but Sprint might ‘borrow’ competitors’ signal towers to ensure coverage while not allowing Boost to do so. I’ll try to remember to check frequently next month when we drive out west for spring break…
If you’re seriously considering AT&T, you may want to find out where they keep your data and who has access to it.
@sgrazi
That’s true w any of them. Not that we have much control …
@sgrazi What data? Texts and calls and stuff? I don’t keep much in the cloud that’s personal (mainly work stuff), and that’s not tied to my carrier anyway.
Get friends with each to come over and check service in your home.
I use them all, and for future reference I just wanted to mention that sprint and tmobile have really improved in the last year… areas where I would only get at&t signal now have tmobile and sprint lte… so before you judge sprint and tmo on past performance check them today.
I am sure verizons coverage is fine but I have always avoided them due to their “it costs more so its better” ad campaigns.
@thismyusername they fucked me over too. I had different answers from different people. Mostly on final month billing. I was expecting prorated as that’s what 2 sales reps told me. Guess what? No prorated. I got 1 bill 5 days after the due date that I was told to not pay until I got a bill labeled FINAL BILL. A debt collector called me. 5 fucking days to send me to collections. Seriously???
@sohmageek I would ask who but this sounds like every cell phone company operating in the usa rofl
So here’s my $.02 if the employer is paying go with whatever. I switched from AT&T to t-mobile and am saving about $3,000 a year. After figuring in the price of buying phones without discounts I was still ahead about $300/year (assuming I would buy 5 phones every 2 years spread out over the 2 year thing) with at&t I was still getting the $200-500 iPhone on contract (they pulled that) but I wasn’t even figuring that into my cost above. So basically. I picked tmobile for the discount and wifi calling.
I’m staying for the customer service, tmobile Tuesdays and the discounts. Sometimes a corporate discount on a phone you still end up paying more.
How about Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular?!
I can send you a referral code to get a $20 credit when you join Project Fi! Hit me up, Dawgs!
@medz but are taxes and fees included? Does it give you free shit on Tuesdays?
I am using ting.com for about $40/month for two phones. It is based on actual usage of talk, text and data. We will be switching to Google Fi in a few months because there are no roaming fees for international use.
I have had AT&T through work, and it’s fine, so I don’t think you’ll regret your choice, not any more than anyone regrets their choice of carrier, anyway.
Over that time the dead spots in Kentucky have gone away. There are a few places where my phone doesn’t work inside, but those are rare.
On a recent road trip I found a lot of big dead spots, but they may be dead for everyone. I had no coverage at all in northeastern Iowa and north central Kansas. I probably should have picked up some real maps before the trip. I made it home, but it was tough getting from the geographic center of the contiguous states in Lebanon, Kansas, to the giant ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas, without a map and only a vague idea of where they were in relation to each other. But I made it.
@craigthom
Exactly the reason I keep my Garmin GPS handy when driving unfamiliar roads! No cellular network required.
@ruouttaurmind that sucks. I got rid of my gps years ago.
@sohmageek Since the majority of people have smartphones and Google Maps now, many have given up their GPS systems. Check CL, boot sales, eBay… they’re available for pennies on the dollar compared to 4 or 5 years ago. Consider picking up a gently “pre-loved” unit for $30 or $40 if you drive unfamiliar roads frequently. The map data in those older units can be “out of date” but generally suitable for road trips in most cases.
@ruouttaurmind and then there is a thing called a map. You may not have heard of them. Uses paper. Does not use power. Does not need a battery or service. Does not break when you drop it. Cheap and no monthly fee.
@Kidsandliz Of course there are things called “maps”. I saw one in the Smithsonian once when I was a kid.
Though my maps don’t instantly calculate my trip time, keep track of my progress, notify me of the distance to my next turn, instantly recalculate my route if I miss a turn, instantly offer multiple alternate routes if a street or highway is closed or heavily congested due to accidents or construction, store 99% of roadways (both highways and surface roads) for all of North America (including Canada and northern Mexico) in a space the size of a pack of playing cards and easily visible, day or night, without a flashlight or map light… all the while entertaining me with a hundred hours of static-free music it’s playing from the SD card.
But that stack of paper maps is good too.
And for the record, the only time my Garmin GPS suffered from “no signal” was when driving the bay bridge tunnels. Also, after the initial purchase, I’ve never paid any kind of fee, monthly or otherwise.
@ruouttaurmind @Kidsandliz
Hah! More like repeating “Turn around when possible” for the next 2 miles…
I can’t even imagine how our forefathers even survived without ‘electric maps’ telling us where to turn next
@compunaut The same way they survived without indoor plumbing, refrigerated food, antibiotics and CAT scans… not very comfortably and not very long.
@Kidsandliz
Try to buy a map from a gas station lately?
Ha ha ha.
@f00l Yes - bought a Houston street map in a gas station last May, enter a state and they have state maps in the first rest area, and of course Walmart sells an atlas just about everywhere…
@ruouttaurmind I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that. One relative who was born in around 1840 lived to 99 and his sister to 104… a bunch of others into their 60’s-80’s - all born in the 1800’s… Of course antibiotics, etc. saved some folks but there were also a number who lived long despite not much or any access… And if you don’t know any other way, you don’t miss what you don’t have and don’t know exists. Think about how primitive people in 100 or 1000 years will think we were LOL.
@Kidsandliz
I’m amazed about the gas station having the map. Good for them.
Some gas stations at least have detailed wall maps mounted so that you can ask for help and take notes.
Walmart road atlases are decent but won’t do sometimes for some circumstamces. And you have to be able to find Walmart. At least every living human around here old enough to drive knows where Walmart is.
If you’re traveling in Texas, you might not encounter a visitors center very often. Easier to find Walmart.
Florida visitor centers are the best. Free fresh squeezed OJ.
@Kidsandliz
People 100’years ago who mamaged to avoid serious injury, major killer deseases as children and adults, and death by childbirth often had long lives. The average was pulled way down because so many died young, esp children.
@f00l A Walmart RV group has a database of every walmart known to man in North America (with coordinates in case you don’t need to buy a map LOL) and whether or not there overnight parking is allowed… No problem finding an Walmart. Loves, Pilot, etc. generally have maps and atlases… Or if you are on a road trip - do what I do - google map it before I leave, safe to pdf, access it on my computer later… and wifi at McD’s, Wendy’s etc. can google map while on the trip if need be. Plus some rest areas now have free wifi. Problem solved. You are welcome.
@Kidsandliz
Yeah I know all that. So there.
I’m bitching here. Stop getting in my way or else!
@f00l Your lunch is ready LOL (running away and ducking)
