[crazy4laptops]

I am dying for 4G/LTE on the iPhone! Apple has LTE on the iPad so one can only hope for such on the next iPhone. Right now, I am on my cousin's Verizon plan which is $40 a month for me.

However, my cousin wants to revamp her phone plan and I've got to find my own plan in June. If my math is right, that's about 2 weeks before the next iPhone launch. I probably wouldn't be able to get one until july though... so here I am, kinda stuck. I don't quite want to sign a contract until I can get a handle on the new iPhone.

I personally have had a bad experience with at&t and the 3G/3GS iPhones and their call/network reliability so I am hesitant to go with them, but they have HSDPA+ and LTE!!!
Verizon is no complaints across the board (a few dead spots inside and the largest LTE network)
Sprint 3G via Virgin Mobile is quite speedy! (but Sprint has a small LTE rollout)
T-mobile + iPhone is a bad idea according to the international students I've interviewed.

I just can't win! I am willing to get my own contract so that's not an issue. It's gonna be about $80 on a student discount wherever I go, which isn't that bad after all. My big debate, do I want to keep Verizon or goto Sprint or find a prepaid iPhone?

The reason why I'm all for iPhone is because nearly half of my regular contacts have them and the rest are in Australia and Canada so that makes iMessage is a free and awesome perk.

[compnovo]

crazy4laptops, on 07 May 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

I personally have had a bad experience with at&t and the 3G/3GS iPhones and their call/network reliability so I am hesitant to go with them, but they have HSDPA+ and LTE!!!

Hey crazy,
I just signed on with AT&T for an LTE-capable phone and so far the service has been terrific (I've been with them since 2000 but this is my first smartphone with a data plan). I know AT&T has a bad rep but I personally haven't had any problems with them, and here in Western Washington coverage has been very good.

[crazy4laptops]

compnovo, on 08 May 2012 - 07:15 AM, said:

crazy4laptops, on 07 May 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

I personally have had a bad experience with at&t and the 3G/3GS iPhones and their call/network reliability so I am hesitant to go with them, but they have HSDPA+ and LTE!!!

Hey crazy,
I just signed on with AT&T for an LTE-capable phone and so far the service has been terrific (I've been with them since 2000 but this is my first smartphone with a data plan). I know AT&T has a bad rep but I personally haven't had any problems with them, and here in Western Washington coverage has been very good.

East coast at&t iPhones are getting better, but there's not 4G at school yet. So we'll see how it will play out.

I found that VZ wants a new contract and it also resets my upgrade status, plus it's gonna be $108 a month. I even asked about a discount and I'd have to register the account in my dad's name and it was gonna get complicated quickly.

However, when I visited Sprint, I could tell they wanted my business and the rep is got me a discounts I didn't even know about! The monthly bill is quoted to be at $82 a month if I join by the 17th.

[compnovo]

crazy4laptops, on 08 May 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

However, when I visited Sprint, I could tell they wanted my business and the rep is got me a discounts I didn't even know about! The monthly bill is quoted to be at $82 a month if I join by the 17th.

That's sounds a lot better
I don't text, and I have the minimum data plan, so that saves me some money. Plus, I added the new phone to our existing account for the "family plan" --- more savings still. All told the new phone is an additional $45/month (the phone was free, I got it when Nokia was giving the rebate on the Lumia 900). I couldn't pass up that deal

[crazy4laptops]

compnovo, on 08 May 2012 - 01:07 PM, said:

crazy4laptops, on 08 May 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

However, when I visited Sprint, I could tell they wanted my business and the rep is got me a discounts I didn't even know about! The monthly bill is quoted to be at $82 a month if I join by the 17th.

That's sounds a lot better
I don't text, and I have the minimum data plan, so that saves me some money. Plus, I added the new phone to our existing account for the "family plan" --- more savings still. All told the new phone is an additional $45/month (the phone was free, I got it when Nokia was giving the rebate on the Lumia 900). I couldn't pass up that deal

Awesome Awesome! My Cali friend said I could jump on her VZ plan... but it's $130 a month, it's kinda like shooting myself in the foot. Plus, the sprint rep said it may be November/December before the iPhone 5 will be available after the initial release.

[LiveBrianD]

Perhaps you can use your verizon iphone on their prepaid service in the meantime? (as far as the prices go verizon prepaid is awful, as high as the regular service even though it's not subsidized, but with a cdma phone your options are limited)

[smax013]

crazy4laptops, on 07 May 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

I am dying for 4G/LTE on the iPhone! Apple has LTE on the iPad so one can only hope for such on the next iPhone. Right now, I am on my cousin's Verizon plan which is $40 a month for me.

However, my cousin wants to revamp her phone plan and I've got to find my own plan in June. If my math is right, that's about 2 weeks before the next iPhone launch. I probably wouldn't be able to get one until july though... so here I am, kinda stuck. I don't quite want to sign a contract until I can get a handle on the new iPhone.

I personally have had a bad experience with at&t and the 3G/3GS iPhones and their call/network reliability so I am hesitant to go with them, but they have HSDPA+ and LTE!!!
Verizon is no complaints across the board (a few dead spots inside and the largest LTE network)
Sprint 3G via Virgin Mobile is quite speedy! (but Sprint has a small LTE rollout)
T-mobile + iPhone is a bad idea according to the international students I've interviewed.

I just can't win! I am willing to get my own contract so that's not an issue. It's gonna be about $80 on a student discount wherever I go, which isn't that bad after all. My big debate, do I want to keep Verizon or goto Sprint or find a prepaid iPhone?

The reason why I'm all for iPhone is because nearly half of my regular contacts have them and the rest are in Australia and Canada so that makes iMessage is a free and awesome perk.

I kind of agree with the Sprint rep...don't count on the next iPhone being out in June (or July). While it is not impossible, the more logical time period for a new iPhone is sometime in the fall...roughly a year after the 4S was released. We might have a better idea in mid June after/during the Apple WWDC. It is highly likely that they will announce the next iOS (iOS 6?) and Mountain Lion (the new Mac OS) during the conference. It is also possible that they might tip their hand on the next iPhone, but I would not hold my breath. Best case scenario you learn that they are NOT releasing the new iPhone in June/July, which would further point to sometime in the Fall.

I would say that it really comes down to things...1) how much you want to pay and 2) are you potentially willing to wait for a new iPhone while having to use some intermediate solution such as maybe a pre-paid/"burn" phone that might be a "dumb" phone.

#1 seems to be in effect whether you wait or even if you try to find a new option right now. If you want to keep the cost down, based upon your other posts, it seems like Sprint might be your best option. This likely would mean you will NOT be getting LTE anytime soon as it will likely be awhile before many locations get LTE through Sprint. So, if you go with the Sprint option, then you should pretty much assume that you will be stuck using 3G for a while (a year or more). As such, I would likely not worry about a new iPhone with LTE and just get a 4S now. I will note that Sprint's 3G can be very doggish in some places (I have Sprint...and its 3G data where I am is SLOOOOOOW).

If you are dying on having LTE, then you a likely gonna have to wait until the Fall...and even then it is not completely sure that the new iPhone will have LTE. I would personally put on money on it having LTE, but you never know with Apple. Regardless, that means you will need to find a temporary solution to tide you over until Fall (at a minimum). The most cost effective way should be some sort of pre-paid plan with a "dumb" phone and then maybe using the old iPhone as you would an iPod Touch. In theory, it should still allow you to send iMessage messages, but I am not 100% sure because Apple completely disables the messaging app when you are in "Airplane" mode (I have bad reception in my house, so I tend to leave my iPhone in Airplane mode at home). As a result, I am not sure if you would still be able to send iMessage messages with no phone service on the old iPhone. As an alternative for iMessage, download the Messages beta for Mac OS Lion and you will still be able to send messages to your friends (my memory tells me you have a Mac).

Overall, it seems to me that unless you are willing to stick with some "temp" solution until Fall (or maybe later), your best option might be to just get a phone now through Sprint and worrying about getting an iPhone 5 (or what ever it will be called) at some point in the future. This, of course, assumes that you have reasonably good Sprint coverage where you are...that is ALWAYS something that must be taken into account...i.e. what kind of coverage each service has.