Need cell phone advice.

[3catwoman3]

I am being forced to get a new cell phone because, as of the end of October, Sprint will no longer be providing full service for the phone I now have, an 4 yr old HTC Evo. I've been content with the phone, and feel no burning need to switch to an iPhone. I will not be able to get on the internet with the phone, which is no big deal to me, as that is not what I use it for. It may still be able to make calls and texts.

We have been Sprint customers for a many years. My husband grouses about Sprint all the time, but never seems willing to switch to a different carrier. Maybe I will just switch by myself. I am interested in people's happy and sad stories about their carriers to assist me in my decision making.

Thanks, everyone.

[PoliticAverse]

1. The first thing you should do is determine which carriers have service in the area

you will be using the phone in.

https://www.fcc.gov/guides/understanding-wireless-telephone-coverage-areas

[3catwoman3]

2. Thanks for the link.

We are in the greater Chicago area, and I'm pretty sure we have all the biggies, based on the stores I see while driving around. I will check it out.

[PoliticAverse]

3. Good that you're in an area where every major carrier will be, you'll have the most choices.

You may find the following webpages useful:
http://www.cellreception.com/coverage/il/chicago/page1.html
http://www.deadcellzones.com/chicago.html

[hibbing]

4. I went from Sprint to Verizon and never looked back

I has been quite a few years, but Sprint was unsatisfactory. Like others have suggested, check the coverage in your area.

Peace

[NightWatcher]

5. Don't ask me. I'm an att customer with iPhones and iPad unlimited plans

I pay them a shit ton of money each month. I'm reimbursed for half and claim the rest on taxes. The coverage and devices are great. I guess you get what you pay for.

What ever you do, don't get Boost Mobile, my MiL has it and it's worse than two tin cans and a piece of string.

[Major Nikon]

8. I've had AT&T and iPhones for many years

I often fly into somewhat remote areas, and my phone tends to have better coverage than people I'm around who are on different carriers. I could probably find cheaper plans on other carriers, but I'm pretty sure my coverage would suffer if I did.

[douglas9]

6. Sprint Will Raise Cost Of Unlimited Plans By $10 This Month

http://consumerist.com/2015/10/01/sprint-will-raise-cost-of-unlimited-plans-by-10-this-month/

[Tom Kitten]

7. I got a good deal with Cricket

My old T-mobile flip phone finally gave up the ghost, got a new phone with internet hot spot ability, because I switched I got a discount...new phone plus first month plan for 100 dollars.

I don't like Sprint either, my internet access was with ClearWire, Sprint bought it and is ending it next month. No discount if I went with them, I would just be another "new" customer. So the hell with them.

[NewJeffCT]

9. Just check the prices to see what you can afford

I switched from Verizon to Sprint last year because they paid off my Verizon phone (Droid Maxx, which I loved) and gave me half price for my service. They also gave me a new LG G3 phone, which was supposed to be an upgrade from the Droid Maxx.

However, the Sprint service seems to suck where I am, even in densely populated Connecticut. I was in downtown New London (small city in Connecticut) and sitting next to my wife and my phone would not pick up her phone call? (I was picking her up at work and sitting in the parking lot wondering why she wasn't calling and she was wondering why I wasn't picking up... so, she finally came down and I still wasn't getting a call from her.)

And, for some reason, I seem to go over with my data every month with Sprint, whereas I did once in all of 3 years with Verizon.

Also, I strongly dislike my G3 phone as well. Seems to have a lot of quirky issues, locks up, and the typing doesn't seem as intuitive as it did on the Droid Maxx.

[OriginalGeek]

10. Living in Chicago you probably won't have coverage issues

I imagine all the carriers have towers stacked up in there. With that said, I've found that Verizon has the best coverage in all the places I go - (I travel the southeast for work). But they were more expensive so last year I switched to T-Mobile and saved 50 bucks a month on the same number of lines and more data. (3 and unlimited-ish)

I love the savings but there are times when I'm not near a T-Mobile tower and it shows. I never had that problem with Verizon even in the swampy areas betwixt towns in south Florida.

As for the people, customer support, etc...I find them pretty equal. My wife gets in a LOT of calls to tech support because she keeps messing stuff up on her iPhone and iPad. I told her before she picked them that I am an android guy and would not do tech support for her on those things. The T-Mobile people are patient with her and usually get stuff done. I work with phones and deal with corporate Verizon every day and they are also helpful in most cases.

Down here, Sprint is a bad word. Nobody I know who has them likes them. As a company, we moved 300+ phones from sprint to Verizon 10 years ago and have never missed them.