non music related cell phone carrier question

[sweetcell]

don't get sprint.

eh, definitely a case of YMMV.  i've never had a coverage problems in the DC area, including out in the burbs.  in the past year i've rented in falls church, beltsville and rockville before buying a place - good reception all around.  i travel almost every week for work and i can't remember the last time i've had a reception prob.  keep in mind that some phones are better than others... there's a reason carriers can give away phones with a subscription.  when i hike in shenandoah i tend to leave my phone in the car so i can't tell you about reception there   sprint's data speed = fast.  i don't call customer support that often but when i have they were just fine, never had a bad experience with them.  i really have no complaints.

but i can't see any of the big carriers competing with $35/month, if reception is half-way decent.  if cricket uses the sprint network, my experience tells me you'll be fine.

[hutch]

Does Cricket cost less or something?

Yeah... unlimited talk/text for $35/month.  That's why I'm tempted.

http://www.mycricket.com/cell-phone-plans

hm.. well i never need more than my standard minutes (well there was one month..) and i'm clinging to the 29.99 plan with sprint that i signed years and years ago...

i would second what sweetcell said about coverage with sprint: never had a problem and very very rarely any dropped calls

if people want to go with verizon fine but those guys will bill you for stuff illegally, make your life hell when you try to terminate (and make you call in a bunch of times to get refunded for stuff)...

verizon really is the walmart of cell phone providers... TO BE AVOIDED.

now unfortunately for DSL in some places verizon is the only game in town.

[Vas Deferens]

what are some good reasons to get out of a contract without having to pay the early termination fee?

do they accept losing a job as a good reason?  

[Darth Ed]

what are some good reasons to get out of a contract without having to pay the early termination fee?

do they accept losing a job as a good reason?  

I doubt it. I've heard that some carriers will let you out if you tell them you're in the military and you're getting deployed overseas for an extended period.

[chaz]

Pick a spot on their coverage map where they have none.  Say you are moving there.  Hope they don't require much proof.

[sweetcell]

you can ask if they have an "economic hardship policy", but most of the time that just means they'll give you more lenient terms, less minutes at a lower cost, etc - not common to let you completely off the hook, but it can't hurt to ask.

otherwise, sell you contract:
http://consumerist.com/2007/01/sell-your-cellphone-contract-to-escape-it.html

[vansmack]

what are some good reasons to get out of a contract without having to pay the early termination fee?

do they accept losing a job as a good reason?  

Is this because t-mobile isn't getting the iPhone?

Seriously, some companies will suspend service up to three months, but it's very tough to get out of the contract without paying the fee.

Some companies, like Sprint, are offering up to $125 to switch carriers if you really just want out of your contract and aren't really facing hardship.

[Vas Deferens]

^^ yes, trying to prepare to switch to verizon once the iphone w/new OS comes out.

my parents were able to get out of a sprint contract when they moved back overseas (I think they were only with them for a year) and first they asked for documentation with their name and new address on an electric bill or something...but I said well, they pay utilities/cell phone bills by cash...sprint was ok without the documentation (this was easy because I was telling the truth...lying is hard...)

[vansmack]

^^ yes, trying to prepare to switch to verizon once the iphone w/new OS comes out.

I'd recommending waiting until the announcement before making any moves. 

If the next iPhone is a world phone, then t-mo might be in the picture (albeit, without LTE support).  If it's the 4GS (ie, same as the 4 just added LTE) then yes, a switch to Verizon would be a smart move in the short run as their LTE network is much more built out than at&t.

But you're planning on a big move on a lot of speculation at this point.

[Vas Deferens]

^ ok cool thanks.

this got me excited:

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/

[wml7]

what about iPhone on sprint when when? 

[vansmack]

this got me excited:

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/

Software, shmoftware. 

It's all about the hardware improvements (which we don't know about at this point).

[vansmack]

what about iPhone on sprint when when? 

The rumors are "this holiday season."

But that doesn't make sense if the next iphone is LTE, which Sprint won't support for another 18 months, if then.  I can't see Apple going "World Phone" and supporting both LTE and Wimax.  Not a good business decision.

If the next iPhone is not LTE, then why get one this year on a two year deal when we know next years will definitely be LTE? 

I suspect that a lot of the new Verizon iPhone owners are going to be pretty damn upset in 2 months if this a major hardware upgrade.  We already know the software is not that much of an upgrade, so they can run 5.0 on their current handset.  But what if it's LTE or NFC? Totally different story. 

[Vas Deferens]

haha true....but still...