Time to switch me over to AT&T Prepaid, buh bye Verizon

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 09/10/2018 at 14:42 • Filed to: None

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Round and round the cheap cell phone plan merry go round we go again! I’m going to switch to AT&T Prepaid! When I moved to DC, I was on T-Mobile, but that didn’t work for me. Then I switched to Verizon prepaid, which also didn’t work. AT&T redid their plans, and has a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

The very short version of why those other networks didn’t work for me is that T-Mobile doesn’t have the coverage in the places I need it and Verizon has been ruining the service quality on their prepaid plans in the past year or so.

The Verizon prepaid data congestion throttling is really bad. At first, they had “unlimited” plans where if you went past some reasonably high number like 22 GB in a month, your data would be lower priority when the network gets congested.

But now Verizon prepaid customers are deprioritized all the time whenever the network gets congested. This would be ok if the throttling put your speed down to 3 Mbps or something like that. But the speed gets clamped down to under 1 Mbps. It’s often straight up unusable. Whenever this happens, voice calls kick over to the old school CDMA network with crappy call quality and no background data. This is a big city. The network is often congested. It sucks.

There are times where all I want to do is to pull up directions in Google Maps to see the best route around traffic. But the route options screen will take a while to display travel times with traffic, and shows little “offline” icons on the routes because there’s no data yet. Then I sit there waiting, and eventually it gets some data and says the actual time estimates.

My work phone is on Verizon postpaid, and the service is way more reliable. I use it way less so don’t see if it gets congestion throttled as much, but often if my personal prepaid Verizon phone is getting throttled and/or kicked down to CDMA, the work phone is still making VoLTE calls just fine.

You’d think if the congestion throttling on Verizon bothered me that much, I’d look for a plan that doesn’t have it. But the Verizon postpaid plans that don’t have deprioritzation either have too low of a data cap, or are “unlimited” and way too expensive.

Enter AT&T Prepaid. It used to have a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This was terrible. Even Cricket, AT&T’s in-house prepaid subsidiary, had an 8 Mbps speed cap. I tried Cricket back in the day and that 8 Mbps limit (and 4 on uploads) was annoying. 3 Mbps would be unlivable.

But just as Verizon has made its prepaid plans so unreliable as to be unusable in a big city (or at the beach that the big city people overrun) now AT&T has gone and totally redeemed its prepaid plans!

There’s no more speed cap. You don’t get VoLTE or HD Voice calling, but that’s no big deal as AT&T’s 3G HSPA voice network is totally fine quality and allows background data no problem. And the price!

With the autopay and multi-line discounts, I’ll be paying $70/month for me and my wife to each have 8 GB per line. Unlike Verizon where this is all of a sudden an issue, voice & data will work at the same time most all of the time, and I won’t get throttled within an inch of my life in populated areas.

I’m not expecting miracles. But if it gives me service in most of the places I go and doesn’t straight up not work like Verizon prepaid, I’ll be happy.

This is exactly why I buy unlocked and universally-compatible phones. There’s too much variability in which network works the best in what location, and the prepaid plans often move around with what restrictions you’ll have to put up with. Being able to hop networks with all the options available is great.

UPDATE: When I went to the “contact us” link, it said there’s no chat available for prepaid plans. But when I just out of curiosity put in my IMEI and started trying to add a plan to my cart, a chat window popped up and I asked it some questions.

There is no congestion throttling or any other speed cap while using your 8 GB of data on the $50 ($40 after autopay discount) plan.

You can use hotspot and it counts towards your 8 GB cap.

There’s o ne annoying thing : the autopay discount takes 2 months to kick in so that means you have to pay for 2 months without it and then on your 3rd month you get the discount. When it does kick in, it ’s not retroactive.

The multi-line discount does kick in as long as you make sure to talk to someone in a store or on the phone when activating so they can put it on the account right away.

In my case that would be $9 0/month for 2 months and then $70/month after the autopay discount kicks in.

Oh, and they charge $0.99 for SIM cards on the website.

Looks like this is the move for me. So sick of Verizon prepaid congestion throttling BS. 

Tristan > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 15:00

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I went from Verizon post paid to Straight Talk, and now I've been on AT&T prepaid for almost a year. I've been completely satisfied, the service only seems to improve, and the prices keep going down... So the polar opposite of Verizon.

Textured Soy Protein > Tristan 09/10/2018 at 15:05

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I had been on Straight Talk and Total Wireless at various times in the past and was never thrilled with their customer service. Right now their plans are $34 for 2 GB or $44 for 10 GB. My wife might make due with 2 GB but it’s not generous and that’s no cheaper than what AT&T in-house prepaid is at for 8 GB for both of us now.

Verizon’s customer service also sucks for prepaid . T-Mobile was good, and so was this little Verizon MVNO Boom (not Boost) Mobile, but they as a 3rd party had even worse congestion throttling than in-house Verizon prepaid.

facw > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 15:37

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I’m thinking about switching depending on whether Sprint continues subsidizing my phone. Looks like they might not, but they were offering a $300 discount last I looked, which isn’t awful.

I pay $50/month for:

Unlimited data (I don’t believe there is any throttling here, it’s an old plan)

Unlimited text (including overseas)

500 minutes (yeah, limited calling, as I said, it’s an old plan. It has unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and weekends, and unlimited wifi-calling, so it’s pretty hard to hit, I’ve only gone over twice in the past decade)

I probably could save some with another carrier if gave up the unlimited data (I don’t usually use much data at all unless I’m tethering, which is rare), but probably not enough to justify giving it up.

Textured Soy Protein > facw 09/10/2018 at 15:53

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I roll with the unlocked phones and don’t do any carrier deals. Sprint still doesn’t have voice & data at the same time which is the whole thing that’s bugging me about Verizon. 

Tristan > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 15:56

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Don’t expect greatness from AT&T’s customer service, but it is better than Straight Talk. Their CS is what completely turned me off from them. My favorite CS call with Straight Talk went sort of like this:

Me: I’m unable to send or receive pictures via text on my phone.

ST: oh. Okay. First, press the menu button...

Me: it’s an iPhone... It doesn’t have a menu button.

ST: oh. Okay. P ress the menu button.

Me: there is no menu button.

ST: What kind of phone is it?

Me: it’s an iPhone... Made by Apple.

ST: oh. Okay. P ress the menu button.

Me: ...*hangs up*

The Dummy Gummy > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 15:58

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Wait so AT&T go prepaids are  $70 total for 2 phones with 8GB’s each?!

Textured Soy Protein > The Dummy Gummy 09/10/2018 at 16:04

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Yes that’s correct, perhaps with tax on top. 

The Dummy Gummy > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 16:07

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That’s nuts. I have a plan with AT&T now and it’s $87 for 6gb shared between the two phones. I need to switch. I could totally move to the 6gb per phone for $60 +whatever tax is and save $300+ a year... jeez

Do you know how often they raise their prepaid rates?

Textured Soy Protein > Tristan 09/10/2018 at 16:10

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They were ok for activating phones but that’s about it. Any issues, not so much.

I kinda wish I knew about the AT&T prepaid plan change sooner. I’ve been putting up with crappy service on both Boom and Verizon prepaid, because Verizon postpaid works fine. It’s crazy how bad this congestion throttling is.

Textured Soy Protein > The Dummy Gummy 09/10/2018 at 16:19

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I’m not sure how long these would last but looking back thru news about it, these current rates started showing up around April of this year and they just made a slight tweak in August.

AT&T Prepaid used to have a ton of speed caps but those have been removed recently. You don’t get VoLTE, HD Voice, wifi calling, or phone financing deals.

But for me, I buy unlocked phones, and jump around prepaid deals based on what works best for me. The Verizon congestion throttling is killing me. Going to a phone where data actually  works in most areas and has background data while talking will be an upgrade. 

facw > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 16:31

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The calling/data thing has never really been an issue for me, but I could see it being annoying to others. I’m not sure how much longer it will matter anyway given that Sprint is supposed to be rolling out VoLTE this year, and presumably longer term will be doing things the T-M obile way going forward. Of course I have no idea what the merger will mean for my weird little plan either.

Textured Soy Protein > facw 09/10/2018 at 17:08

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The voice & data thing annoys me greatly. In DC, using Google Maps or Waze to get around traffic is crucial. But on Verizon prepaid, if the data gets congestion throttled, I kick down to CDMA calls. No background data means no traffic data, and awful voice quality.

Stapleface > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 17:15

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Damn, that is pretty cheap. I'm currently on Cricket and I might be able to switch over and save a few bucks. I pay around $70 a month now. But, I wouldn't need more than the 6gb plan for me, and my wife has a dumb phone so she doesn't need data at all. I'll need to look in to this. 

Textured Soy Protein > Stapleface 09/10/2018 at 17:28

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Cricket has VoLTE and HD voice on Cricket branded phones, while AT&T prepaid does not. But that's less important on AT&T because their HSPA network still does voice & data at the same time, and the voice quality is alright. On Verizon, VoLTE is the only way to get voice & data at the same time and on prepaid in a big city it keeps kicking me off VoLTE.

The Dummy Gummy > Textured Soy Protein 09/10/2018 at 17:50

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I buy my phones used at a quarter the price they are new because I’m lame haha. So I’m good there. I’m not even sure I have those other things right now haha .

ike301 > Textured Soy Protein 09/11/2018 at 09:34

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I moved to AT&T prepaid 3 years ago and have been extremely happy with the service. I tried Verizon prepaid on another phone for a month and the data throttling made the service unusable .

I need reliable data and voice coverage and AT&T wireless provides both. I travel a lot with my job and I have coverage everywhere I go. Sure, there are some dead spots in rural areas, but if you want coverage that’ s on par with Verizon, AT&T is the only other option.

I’ve been a subscriber to all the 4 major carriers and I will never again use T-mobile of Sprint service. Coverage is an issue with both. I chose the AT&T $65 plan with unlimited data ($55 after auto pay ) , and even when I reach 22 GB, , they don’t throttle me until the next billing cycle.

I’ve never experienced any data throttling at all, even du ring peek times. I refuse to be trapped in a 2 year plan paying off an overpriced phone. I just bought the LG Stylo 4 unlocked for $300 and this will be my phone for the next 2 years. B uying unlocked phones is the way to go.

ike301 > The Dummy Gummy 09/11/2018 at 09:48

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I’ve been AT&T prepaid for 3 years and there’s been a 5 dollar increase in that time span. The increase was when they introduced the unlimited plans.

ike301 > Textured Soy Protein 09/11/2018 at 09:51

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I use Google Voice as my primary number on AT&T prepaid and you can use WiFi calling within the Google Voice app. 

The Dummy Gummy > ike301 09/11/2018 at 10:10

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Thanks!

Textured Soy Protein > ike301 09/11/2018 at 10:27

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I do have a GV number but it’s separate from my main number. I use it for stuff like Craigslist. I don’t have a huge need for wifi calling as long as the network works where I need.

Of course I say this, and when I was on T-Mobile, it needed wifi calling at my house (particularly on the 1st floor) and my parents have been on Verizon forever and the signal at their house is just unreliable enough to be annoying.

My mom got a new Pixel 2 a while back and over the weekend I had some texts to her get delayed while she was just at home, in her house in a busy part of the DC burbs. I got her to turn on wifi calling and I bet it’ll help.

Textured Soy Protein > ike301 09/11/2018 at 10:27

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For various reasons, the AT&T prepaid plans didn’t quite line up with what I wanted at the various times I was looking, but now they do. 

Pepper > Textured Soy Protein 06/17/2019 at 09:40

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Verizon is doubling their data right now on prepaid plans. The 8 GB is 16 GB at the moment. 

Textured Soy Protein > Pepper 06/17/2019 at 09:53

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Verizon prepaid is a non-starter for me. Their deprioritization in busy areas is so aggressive it makes the phone unusable. I’m in the DC area and it happens too frequently to be tolerable.

MocoMobile > Textured Soy Protein 07/10/2019 at 08:38

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How has your experience with at&t prepaid been since you made the change? Currently on Verizon postpaid paying about $150 for 18gb shared. I’m looking to save a few bucks with the current extra data promos on the $50 plan, and can get 3 lines for $100 . I’m in Montgomery county and don’t really have any experience with other carriers since I’ve been with Verizon forever.