Sprint or AT&T for chasing?>

[ericjkelly]

Ok guys!

Sprint has unlimited data on the Iphone4s and I have an unlimited data plan on my AT&T account. Whats better for chasing in IA, KS, NE, etc?

Not sure I care about data/phone at the same time so that's not a factor.

Who gets better data coverage for tethering???

 

[Gordon Spencer]

Coverage wise here is my breakdown . From dealing people all over this great land.

Verizon - 1st Choice

Sprint - 2nd Choice

AT&T - distant 3rd choice ( when hell freezes over )

Tmobile - 4TH Choice ( when devil is putting salt on the roads from hell freezing over )

 

[Matt Tottle]

Not sure if it will apply to the Iphone, but on most other Sprint phones there is a way to tether where the data appears as 'on phone usage' to the network (it will most likely require a jailbreak, unless an app like PDAnet is released). Because of this, you can utilize the unlimited data roaming on Verizon's network (according to my account info page, the 300MB roaming cap no longer applies, my usage meter says Unlimited under Roaming data). Sprint has pretty solid coverage in central/western Kansas, and OK/TX west of I35, and Verizon roaming picks up the slack everywhere else. Their voice coverage (augmented by free roaming) is 100% solid.

 

[rdale]

Sprint has unlimited data for the iPhone but it's $30 to make it a Hotspot. 9to5mac has a comparison of all data plans.

 

[Matt Tottle]

The unlimited data does not apply to hotspot, it is only on-phone data usage, hence the use of apps such as PDAnet.

 

[rdale]

For Sprint it certainly DOES apply to your Hotspot. I just talked to them about it today while upgrading out of my EVO 3d.

 

[Jason Foster]

AT&T is to be avoided at all costs out west. One of the chase partners this spring had his, and it was on Edge the whole time...basically useless. I doubt the card data side is any better. The real question is Sprint or Verizon. I'd go Verizon probably since they have more funds and seem to be expanding faster. I did just go to AT&T for my main carrier, but that is because I'm on the East Coast, where they are champs (works well for cane chasing and local chasing). I'll get Millenicom next spring and get the Sprint or Verizon plan most likely.

 

[J Tyler]

All I can add is info on Verizon and AT&T. I have both. Verizon is my aircard for chasing data, and AT&T for both my iPhone 4 (wife and I). Jason is dead on. With AT&T, in Oklahoma/Texas/Kansas our phones are almost always on the slow "E" band. If you get in the boonies, you will also see "No Service" a lot. Verizon aircard will drop to a slower band from time to time, but is usually on 3G, and VERY rarely will I get "No Service". The Verizon "No Service" also only lasts for a short distance, where the AT&T, you will find giant holes in coverage.

Sorry, no help with Sprint. I wanted to add another data point for people searching this thread in the future.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Not sure if it will apply to the Iphone, but on most other Sprint phones there is a way to tether where the data appears as 'on phone usage' to the network (it will most likely require a jailbreak, unless an app like PDAnet is released). Because of this, you can utilize the unlimited data roaming on Verizon's network (according to my account info page, the 300MB roaming cap no longer applies, my usage meter says Unlimited under Roaming data). Sprint has pretty solid coverage in central/western Kansas, and OK/TX west of I35, and Verizon roaming picks up the slack everywhere else. Their voice coverage (augmented by free roaming) is 100% solid.

They can still tell if you are tethering. Lots of AT&T customers got notices about this, even those going through the trouble of jailbreaking, monkeying with the networking to make the traffic appear to come from the phone, using a VPN, etc. They can tell.

Verizon, thus far, seems to not care, or at the very least not to bother jailbreak-tether customers about what they are doing. They do throttle in certain circumstances (going over 2GB of data use in a month is a good start), but they don't threaten you if they catch you tethering without the tether feature.

 

[Matt Tottle]

For Sprint it certainly DOES apply to your Hotspot. I just talked to them about it today while upgrading out of my EVO 3d.

Guess you (and the rep you talked to) didn't get the memo. They've capped the Hotspot plan at 5GB with a $0.05/MB overage charge.

 

[Matt Tottle]

They can still tell if you are tethering. Lots of AT&T customers got notices about this, even those going through the trouble of jailbreaking, monkeying with the networking to make the traffic appear to come from the phone, using a VPN, etc. They can tell.

Verizon, thus far, seems to not care, or at the very least not to bother jailbreak-tether customers about what they are doing. They do throttle in certain circumstances (going over 2GB of data use in a month is a good start), but they don't threaten you if they catch you tethering without the tether feature.

They can tell based on volume, naturally.. Those who are getting bitched at by AT&T are probably doing supermassive downloading that otherwise couldn't possibly be phone related. Due to the way the GSM/EDGE/HSPDA+ network is designed, the data may also be handled differently over the network so it cant be masked. But on Sprint at least they can't tell the difference when the modem NAI is disabled unless you're dumb enough to download blu-ray torrents off it.

 

[Joe Masini]

I was thinking about this as well. Do they have wifi spots out west? Here on Long Island we have optimum wifi in many areas so my lap top connects to it as well as my iPhone. If not, I guess I will get a verizon plan for the Lap top.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

Wifi is very limited, typically to truck stops or hotels. If you want data while chasing in the plains, you will need a datacard.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I miss Optimum Wifi.. There are several providers that have a hotspot network, but you have to be a residential/business subscriber to access it (just like you have to be a Cablevision subscriber to access the Optimum hotspots). But also, like Optimum, it is no good while on the move (it can't hand off from one AP to the next as you go like cellular can). Wifi was never designed to work that way.

That said, there are plenty of places here and there that have free wifi hotspots (McDonalds, Starbucks, etc), but don't count on finding them in the smaller towns.

 

[Mark Blue]

It's irritating how these cellular carriers operate. Sprint's big marketing line right now is 'we're the only carrier who offers unlimited data', meanwhile they are implementing a 5 Gb cap on Sprint Mobile Hot Spot as quietly as they can. I give it no more than a year before Sprint implements a cap on 4G data (across the board) much the same as they did with 3G. As soon as they have enough subscribers signed up for 4G where the network is noticeably slowing down they'll implement it.