Why I ditched Sprint & why I chose AT&T (Part 2)

About a month ago, I made the jump from Sprint to AT&T as my cell phone provider.  In a previous post, Why I ditched Sprint & why I chose AT&T (Part 1), I talked about why I left Sprint.  In this post I'll focus on why I chose AT&T over Verizon and discuss a few components that factored into my decision.

Plan & Cost:
Big reasons people choose one carrier over another are the types of plans available and their associated costs.  Both AT&T and Verizon have plans that include unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, mobile hotspot capability, and a pool of data to share between devices.  For my family, this type of plan really aligns with our needs.  We don't need that many minutes but unlimited texting is critical and the mobile hotspot feature allowed me to drop the separate iPad data plan I had been paying for.  I use way more data than my wife, so having a plan that allows sharing the data between devices rather than a fixed amount for each device gives us more flexibility.  The way these plans are priced varies between AT&T and Verizon. However, both carriers charge a per device fee and a fee for the plan itself that is based on the amount of data you want to share.  For us, I was interested in the 6 GB plan with two smartphones, which just happens to be priced exactly the same at both carriers.  No clear winner in this category.

Coverage:
Cellular coverage varies by carrier and location.  It's unlikely that you can find a single carrier that has great service everywhere you go.  Verizon claims to have "more bars in more places", and that claim may be valid if you consider their entire US coverage area, or even all of California, but in the Sacramento region where I spend most of my time, I'm not sure there is a clear winner between the two.  In some areas AT&T has better coverage and in others Verizon.  Unfortunately, unlike some of the other carriers, neither AT&T nor Verizon provide detailed coverage strength maps on their website. I knew that AT&T recently installed a new tower in Plumas Lake where I live, taking them from being known as having the worst signal strength in town to having the best.  That was a factor in my decision to go with AT&T but a fairly minor one as Verizon is known for having decent coverage there as well.

Data Speed:
In my previous post, I mentioned that I hardly talk on my phone but use the data quite a bit.  Therefore, data speed was an important consideration for me.  AT&T says they have the "largest 4G network" and Verizon claims to have the "largest 4G LTE network" and the "fastest 4G network".  Depending on how you look at it, all of these statements are true.  First, some technical terminology that is essential to understanding their marketing slogans and my choice for AT&T.

EVDO - Standard for 3G data networks used by CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint
HSPA - Standard for 3G data networks used by GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile
HSPA+ - Standard for 4G data networks used by AT&T and T-Mobile (some call this 3.5G)
LTE - Standard for 4G data networks used by all carriers

The actual speed you experience on each of these network types depends on device, signal strength, and how busy the tower is so I won't get into specific speed numbers but EVDO is the slowest and HSPA is a bit faster but still fairly slow.  HSPA+ is a decent jump up in speed (we'll call it fast) and LTE is super fast.

Verizon has the largest LTE network in the country by far, covering almost 500 cities compared to less than 200 by AT&T.  The LTE coverage difference here in Northern California between the two carriers is also substantial, with Verizon the clear winner.  Thus, their claim that they have the "largest 4G LTE network" is valid, even here in California.  Since LTE is faster than HSPA+, they can also claim that they have the "fastest 4G network".  Seems like Verizon would be the easy choice if I was looking for pure speed, but there is one other thing to consider.  While they have significant areas of LTE coverage in Northern California, there are still plenty of areas without it; especially rural areas.  If you use a Verizon LTE phone and leave their LTE coverage area, or can't get LTE signal in a building, you fall back to their 3G EVDO network, which is SLOW.

Prior to rolling out LTE, AT&T deployed HSPA+ to almost all areas where they had 3G service in Northern California.  This means that if you happen to be outside the somewhat limited AT&T LTE coverage area, instead of falling back to a slow 3G data network, you fall back to a decent 4G network.  In other words, you get "super fast" in more places with Verizon but fall back to "slow".  With AT&T, you have less "super fast" coverage but fall back to "fast".  For me, a more consistent "fast" experience was important, so I went with AT&T.

LTE coverage by both AT&T and Verizon is expanding on an almost daily basis and both carriers plan to provide LTE coverage everywhere they provide 3G coverage within a few years.  When that happens, the difference between falling back to HSPA+ verse EVDO will be mostly irrelevant.  But until that time, I think HSPA+ is a great reason to choose AT&T, especially in Northern California.