That might very well be true; Asurion is expensive as hell, and the deductibles are nuts. But with two teenage boys, it's worth it. I've used it three times already.
hmmm. I am paying 225 per month with Verizon's Share-Everything plan. But that is for 2 smartphones, 1 standard and a 4G router. So counting that as 3.5 smartphones, with 12gigs of Intertubes per month (we rarely break the 10gig point), it breaks down to less than 65 a month. With unlimited minutes, text, tethering, and more internet than I can use (I try to wi-fi everywhere I go).
I guess I just barely get a better deal than T-Mobile. Unless there is something I am missing.
Grabbed some sweet T-Mo LTE while passing through Phoenix yesterday. It'll take awhile to roll out everywhere, but I'm still pretty impressed that T-Mo enabled the radio in my Note 2 with the latest update. I've grown too cynical to expect that kind of consumer-friendly behavior. Amazing what can happen when contracts aren't in the business plan anymore.
Phoenix? You are on the wrong end of the country, go home, you're drunk.
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Mt_GoatHead Cheezy KnobPflugerville (north of Austin)Icrontian
I got in on some of the same with my Note2 in Houston last week and remembered that it is supposed to be widespread by the end of summer. And now that T-Mo and Verizon have struck a deal on sharing things could really get ineresting.
T-Mo is now offering Iphone 4/S trade-in for a free Iphone 5 for T-Mo converts this friday. If its in good condition they'll credit an additional $120.
I don't own an Iphone, but I can see the appeal of the promotion.
It's less of a deal, and more of a spectrum swap. Verizon gave up enough spectrum for 60,000,000 T-Mobile customers to ease FCC concerns regarding airwave acquisition from big cable firms. T-Mobile gave back enough spectrum for 20,000,000 Verizon customers.
Net/net, T-Mo gains bandwidth for 40 mil. users and Verizon can continue gobbling up assets from cable companies.
Will there be changes to the coverage maps or just capacity? We had decided not to go with T-Mo because of some frequently visited areas which are not currently covered by them.
Depends on what T-Mo decides to do with their new spectrum. They could either deploy coverage to underserved areas, if that's where Verizon gave them spectrum, or it could be utilized to add LTE atop existing areas.
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Mt_GoatHead Cheezy KnobPflugerville (north of Austin)Icrontian
It's less of a deal, and more of a spectrum swap. Verizon gave up enough spectrum for 60,000,000 T-Mobile customers to ease FCC concerns regarding airwave acquisition from big cable firms. T-Mobile gave back enough spectrum for 20,000,000 Verizon customers.
Net/net, T-Mo gains bandwidth for 40 mil. users and Verizon can continue gobbling up assets from cable companies.
It's not a roaming agreement.
That wasn't exactly all of it that I got from the buisness release that I read and can not say more than, there will be expanded service coverage including LTE expansion this summer. Howeever Thrax is correct about Verizon gobbling up acquisitions.
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Mt_GoatHead Cheezy KnobPflugerville (north of Austin)Icrontian
I sure hope T-Mo increases coverage in eastern/central Ohio, WV, Kentucky and southern Indiana as I travel to that region regulary. And as such I now have a Note2 on T-Mo and a flip phone on Verizon to make sure I'm covered.
We've been T-Mo customers and even though we were on contract they let us switch. We're now sporting Nexus 4s and enjoying our lower bills. I'm fine with the coverage.
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KwitkoSheriff of Banning (Retired)By the thing near the stuffIcrontian
On t_mobile, if you don't pay for a phone outright, you're still on the hook for the cost of the phone. How is it any different from any other carrier? It's an ETF with a different name.
Also, even if you don't buy the phone outright, if you keep the phone more than 2 years, you don't have to keep paying the monthly hardware installment after 2 years thus your monthly bill drops. Other cell carriers, if you keep the same phone past 2 years, they don't drop your monthly fee at all.
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JBoogalooThis too shall pass...Alexandria, VAIcrontian
Wife and I checked into this today...By the end of this coming week it'll be bye bye Verizon, hello $100 dollar a month cheaper bill!
I'm in between a rock and a hard place with AT&T where I am actually happy with the service, but it's because I'm grandfathered on an unlimited data plan that keeps on keeping on as long as I use a phone they don't have the IMEI for.
Unfortunately, my current phone sucks balls, and all the new hotness phones are ones they've flagged in their database, so I can either keep my current service and end up paying more per month for a non-unlimited plan after buying a new phone, or I can switch to T-Mo and then take the risk that the service is shittier than I can tolerate.
I had really hoped my existing phone would hold out until the next refresh where quad-core started to take over but I don't know if I can tolerate this thing a few more months.
RyanMM, I recently switched from my broken first generation iphone to a nexus 4 and everything went fine. Still grandfathered unlimited plan, just had get a new micro sim, and then I updated the hardware to run HSPA+ speeds etc.
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JBoogalooThis too shall pass...Alexandria, VAIcrontian
I'm in between a rock and a hard place with AT&T where I am actually happy with the service, but it's because I'm grandfathered on an unlimited data plan that keeps on keeping on as long as I use a phone they don't have the IMEI for.
Unfortunately, my current phone sucks balls, and all the new hotness phones are ones they've flagged in their database, so I can either keep my current service and end up paying more per month for a non-unlimited plan after buying a new phone, or I can switch to T-Mo and then take the risk that the service is shittier than I can tolerate.
I had really hoped my existing phone would hold out until the next refresh where quad-core started to take over but I don't know if I can tolerate this thing a few more months.
fwiw, me and the wife are somewhat where you are. We've been with Verizon since 2005 (I longer), grandfathered into the whole unlimited data, blah blah...But, the main reason we've stayed is because the service is damn good and we were getting a corporate discount. This weekend we found out they want to verify her employment for continuing the discount (which she can no longer do). Because of our current situation (and realizing the stupid amount of money we've been wasting for a cell phone bill), I brought up this thread (problem solving made easy in IC land . We looked at T-Mobile coverage and pricing. For us, it's worth it to drop a bit in service (metro area dwellers, not too bad), gain an excellent plan and pay a hundred dollars less per month than before. The only downside is that we'd be breaking contracts and have to get new phones (iphone...Verizon...ugh). But, with the money saved I'll be breaking even in 6-8mos
RyanMM, I recently switched from my broken first generation iphone to a nexus 4 and everything went fine. Still grandfathered unlimited plan, just had get a new micro sim, and then I updated the hardware to run HSPA+ speeds etc.
Unfortunately, it's a pre-iPhone data plan that is technically not supposed to be used on smartphones. As a result, if my phone gets detected in their system as a smartphone, I automatically get "upgraded" to the non-unlimited, more expensive data plan.
I've been able to use 7Mbps 3.5G data on a Nokia E51, Motorola Milestone, and HTC Incredible S because they were all phones that AT&T has no information on. Unfortunately, the Nexus 4 has been flagged in their system and isn't a viable option.
All the 'good' phones, for the most part, are currently flagged. It's a really short list of phones that are objectively better than my Incredible S that can still fly under AT&T's radar.
@RyanMM - Why not just buy a Nexus 4 from Google Play and go to T-Mobile. Since they don't do contracts anymore, and you bought your phone outright, if you decide you don't like it you can just take your unlocked Nexus 4 (which works on AT&T) and go back to AT&T without any penalty. Sure you'll no longer have your grandfathered in unlimited data, but as you mentioned, you'll lose that in your next upgrade anyway.
T-Mobile, for the first time in a very long time, is having network issues.
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JBoogalooThis too shall pass...Alexandria, VAIcrontian
Well, done and done. Verizon is gone (though they'll get in that one last bone with their final bill and all) and we're saving money. Of course, getting sexy phones doesn't hurt either I'm so glad @primesuspect decided to publish this. Thanks, dude. You just saved me and the wife about $1500 over the next year
Comments
I guess I just barely get a better deal than T-Mobile. Unless there is something I am missing.
I don't own an Iphone, but I can see the appeal of the promotion.
Net/net, T-Mo gains bandwidth for 40 mil. users and Verizon can continue gobbling up assets from cable companies.
It's not a roaming agreement.
T-Mobile unlimited: $600 phone + (($70/mo)*25)) = $2280 for two years.
Closest AT&T plan (only 5GB/mo data): $100 phone + (($139.99/mo)*24)) = $3459.76 for two years.
That's the point. You buy the phone outright.
Unfortunately, my current phone sucks balls, and all the new hotness phones are ones they've flagged in their database, so I can either keep my current service and end up paying more per month for a non-unlimited plan after buying a new phone, or I can switch to T-Mo and then take the risk that the service is shittier than I can tolerate.
I had really hoped my existing phone would hold out until the next refresh where quad-core started to take over but I don't know if I can tolerate this thing a few more months.
I've been able to use 7Mbps 3.5G data on a Nokia E51, Motorola Milestone, and HTC Incredible S because they were all phones that AT&T has no information on. Unfortunately, the Nexus 4 has been flagged in their system and isn't a viable option.
All the 'good' phones, for the most part, are currently flagged. It's a really short list of phones that are objectively better than my Incredible S that can still fly under AT&T's radar.