Anyone have Sprint or T-Mobile?

[CycloneJames]

Looking at switching from Verizon since it seems way more expensive than necessary. Looking at Sprint and T-Mobile since they are running some deals for new iPhones. Anyone have experience with those? Seems like most everyone I know either has Verizon or US Cellular. I'm mostly in the Des Moines metro but do occasionally travel.

I've been trying to do some research but I'm getting lost in the lingo. Figured there's no better place to ask than the fanatics.

 

[KnappShack]

Switched from Sprint a few months ago. I will never do business with them again. The billing has been a train wreck. I still get bills from them on a service that was already cut.

Sprint is one of my all time worst companies to deal with. A back of dicks with spotty service.

 

[1100011CS]

There's a reason most people in Iowa have Verizon or US Cellular. The others' coverage sucks.

Also, **** that traitor Paul.

 

[cyfanatic]

I have had Sprint in the Cedar Rapids' area for more than 10 years...and my wife and I are ready to move on! Dropped calls...texts coming hours after they were sent...just done with them! Not certain where to go though...T-Mobile bought iWireless so T-Mobile is an option, Verizon seems too expensive...maybe US Cellular? Sorry to not give a straight up answer to your question but I am leaving Sprint soon after years of being a customer because the service never seems to improve.

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

T-mobile is fine in central Iowa but is not very good outside of that (in Iowa). We still have a family plan and it is the best for international travel.

 

[3TrueFans]

I have Sprint and if it weren't so expensive to switch and get all new phones I'd have been gone a long time ago. I find the coverage to be pretty poor quite often.

 

[cyclonedave25]

I’ve had Sprint my entire life and don’t plan on switching, mainly because I was grandfathered in with unlimited 4G data for cheap. The coverage is fine, as long as you’re near a city or Interstate. If you get out in the country, you’re SOL. So if you live in BFE, don’t get Sprint.

I’ve never had a problem with customer service or billing or anything.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Have been with Sprint forever and their customer service is pretty meh. I keep periodically checking for cheaper options with the unlimited data plan I have, but I haven't found any as of yet. Like cyclonedave, I was also grandfathered in with a cheap unlimited data plan. That alone keeps me with them.

When I travel back to Iowa, there are a TON of dead spots. Sprint's service is not good once you leave a metropolitan area. I'd stay away if your travels take you to rural areas.

On the positive side, I've stopped dropping calls when travelling around KC. Seeing how their headquarters is about 15 minutes from my house, that was fairly comical for a number of years.

 

[Donqluione]

US Cellular slices texts into tweet-sized messages, so anything more than a short sentence gets sliced into multiple texts, both sending and receiving. Which would be OK in this era of unlimited texting, EXCEPT that they're sent/received in random order, NOT chronological. So, a long text can be confusing to decipher, a couple sent quickly can get mixed together and be next to impossible.

Verizon service sucks in Southern Iowa/Northern Missouri, even as close as Winterset, US Cellular is much better in that area. Verizon service also sucks in high load, such as an ISU football game, but others may not be much better. US Cellular service is not supposed to be very good outside of the Midwest, but I don't have first-hand experience with that.

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

I’ve had Sprint my entire life and don’t plan on switching, mainly because I was grandfathered in with unlimited 4G data for cheap. The coverage is fine, as long as you’re near a city or Interstate. If you get out in the country, you’re SOL. So if you live in BFE, don’t get Sprint.

I’ve never had a problem with customer service or billing or anything.

This is an accurate answer (at least if you live anywhere in the upper mid-west). And by cities, that would mean Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, etc. - not necessarily places like Atlantic or Spencer. Sprint is finally actively trying to sign contracts with small local carriers nationwide to improve their rural coverage. Verizon did this years ago and that is why their coverage is so much better. Sprint has a long way to go to catch up. Sprint spent a lot of money to upgrade their cell towers in the major metropolitan areas so now in many of the bigger cities they have faster and more reliable coverage.

TLDR: Like the previous poster said.... Great in the cities but still very bad in rural areas.

 

[Max57]

I switched to Sprint last summer mostly due to a fantastic offer -- 3 new phones at no initial switching cost, plus a $400 gift card. Due to partnership with AAA I get that membership free (~ $60/year value).

Their coverage is not as good as Verizon's but I also save about $50 per month in fees. I have no issue with their customer service -- but then I've never really needed it either. Free Hulu too.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

I have T-Mobile and had no issues in Iowa.

**** Sprint though. They didn't believe my father's death certificate was real so I could cancel his service. It took over a month and they sent collections after his estate. So **** them

 

[stateofmind]

I went from Sprint to T-Mobile to AT&T. Sprint when we lived in KC and moved to Iowa. T-Mobile when I had to start paying for my own phone. That experiment lasted 4 months. **** coverage in my home in Ankeny, and NO covereage West of Jordan Creek, even on the interstate. So I switched to AT&T since it was GSM so I could transfer the phones I owned.

US Cellular, Sprint, and Verizon are on the CDMA network. I have a pretty sweet deal on AT&T and are pretty happy with them except for the other thread I started about them not giving me credit for my 2nd phone on a BOGO offer. "Should" be resolved in the next two days, that will be the only reason I'll leave them I'm guessing. (But this could be an issue more with the Best Buy salesperson and myself not reading the details closer.)

With AT&T we have 3 lines, 15 GB/month, and carryover data, and our total is around $150. A DirecTV buddy of mine was telling me that AT&T/DirecTV are looking to buy US Cellular since all their installers had to get AT&T phones when they merged and most can't get coverage in the smaller communities. But that was a while ago and I haven't heard anymore about that.

My summary is that if you can afford what you have, stay with what you have. Even if it is for a "free" phone deal with Sprint or T-Mobile. And know that your only option if you go with T-Mobile will be to go to AT&T with that phone.

 

[CycloneJames]

I switched to Sprint last summer mostly due to a fantastic offer -- 3 new phones at no initial switching cost, plus a $400 gift card. Due to partnership with AAA I get that membership free (~ $60/year value).

Their coverage is not as good as Verizon's but I also save about $50 per month in fees. I have no issue with their customer service -- but then I've never really needed it either. Free Hulu too.

I'm expecting the coverage to be not as good as Verizon's. But the savings are pretty significant. And as long as it works pretty well in cities and along the interstates that's really all I need. I don't spend too much time in rural Iowa. Although I do think its important to have at least some coverage in rural areas for voice in case of an emergency.

 

[Stewo]

I went from Sprint to T-Mobile to AT&T. Sprint when we lived in KC and moved to Iowa. T-Mobile when I had to start paying for my own phone. That experiment lasted 4 months. **** coverage in my home in Ankeny, and NO covereage West of Jordan Creek, even on the interstate. So I switched to AT&T since it was GSM so I could transfer the phones I owned.

US Cellular, Sprint, and Verizon are on the CDMA network. I have a pretty sweet deal on AT&T and are pretty happy with them except for the other thread I started about them not giving me credit for my 2nd phone on a BOGO offer. "Should" be resolved in the next two days, that will be the only reason I'll leave them I'm guessing. (But this could be an issue more with the Best Buy salesperson and myself not reading the details closer.)

With AT&T we have 3 lines, 15 GB/month, and carryover data, and our total is around $150. A DirecTV buddy of mine was telling me that AT&T/DirecTV are looking to buy US Cellular since all their installers had to get AT&T phones when they merged and most can't get coverage in the smaller communities. But that was a while ago and I haven't heard anymore about that.

My summary is that if you can afford what you have, stay with what you have. Even if it is for a "free" phone deal with Sprint or T-Mobile. And know that your only option if you go with T-Mobile will be to go to AT&T with that phone.

I have been using Cricket for something like 3 years now (AT&T towers) and it's been the best service I've used. I get reception everywhere and I pay $70 a month for two lines with unlimited text, talk and each line gets 5 gigs per month. The "big boy" companies are so damn overpriced.

 

[beentherebefore]

Have been with Sprint forever and their customer service is pretty meh. I keep periodically checking for cheaper options with the unlimited data plan I have, but I haven't found any as of yet. Like cyclonedave, I was also grandfathered in with a cheap unlimited data plan. That alone keeps me with them.

When I travel back to Iowa, there are a TON of dead spots. Sprint's service is not good once you leave a metropolitan area. I'd stay away if your travels take you to rural areas.

On the positive side, I've stopped dropping calls when travelling around KC. Seeing how their headquarters is about 15 minutes from my house, that was fairly comical for a number of years.

I, too, have been with Sprint from the very beginning of digital service--I think they called themselves Sprint PCS back then. Nothing being offered by any of the carriers compares to the plan that I--and others have mentioned in above posts--have been grandfathered in to. Frankly, for no extra fee, my family package can basically be used anywhere in the world. My wife and daughter used their phones all over Europe, and no problem with data. No new plans compare.

The key to any of these cell plans is to make sure that they are not dropping you down to 3G or whatever when you hit a certain amount of data. In my case, I have five phones on my plan. If I was only paying for one phone, I suppose making a change could be easier.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

I, too, have been with Sprint from the very beginning of digital service--I think they called themselves Sprint PCS back then. Nothing being offered by any of the carriers compares to the plan that I--and others have mentioned in above posts--have been grandfathered in to. Frankly, for no extra fee, my family package can basically be used anywhere in the world. My wife and daughter used their phones all over Europe, and no problem with data. No new plans compare.

The key to any of these cell plans is to make sure that they are not dropping you down to 3G or whatever when you hit a certain amount of data. In my case, I have five phones on my plan. If I was only paying for one phone, I suppose making a change could be easier.

My T-Mobile plan includes free unlimited data and text all over the world. Have to pay for calling but I hardly call anybody anyway

 

[mikeeISU]

If you aren't married to getting an iphone, I can recommend going with project fi from google: https://fi.google.com/about/

It automatically switches between t-mobile, sprint, and US cellular based on signal strength. For 1 line its $20 plus $10 per gb up to 6 gb, data is free after that (so semi-unlimited). International data is charged at the same $ per gb.

The only drawback is that you have t use one of their approved phones (pixel, pixel 2)

 

[dinger]

Sprint's network S U C K S!

 

[cyfanatic]

If you aren't married to getting an iphone, I can recommend going with project fi from google: https://fi.google.com/about/

It automatically switches between t-mobile, sprint, and US cellular based on signal strength. For 1 line its $20 plus $10 per gb up to 6 gb, data is free after that (so semi-unlimited). International data is charged at the same $ per gb.

The only drawback is that you have t use one of their approved phones (pixel, pixel 2)

This is what I am holding out hope fore...but T-Mobile is the "clearing house" for phone numbers used in Fi. And T-Mobile isn't technically in eastern Iowa yet even though they purchased iWireless (all iWireless stores and service is supposed to be rebranded soon). Therefore...I can't port my 319 number into Fi yet. Ugh!