Making the Switch: Verizon to T-Mobile

Posted by john.olinda on July 28, 2012 10:25 am 14

I've been a customer of Big Red for ages. My very first phone back in high school was a cheap T-Mobile phone, but then we switched to Verizon for the family plans and largely didn't look back. However, now that I'm the one paying the bill and not my parents, I'm discouraged by the premium I pay for their services compared to some competitors.

Our contract expires in February and I've been shopping around to see what our options are. A friend of mine who moved from the midwest said that Sprint is an absolute failure out here in Delaware, so they were immediately removed from the list. Although AT&T has some great phones, I've never heard anything positive about their service, and their prices are basically neck-and-neck with Verizon.

Of the major networks, T-Mobile seems like the only realistic option. They have a good reputation, affordable prices, and they're GSM. I looked over some of the prepaid carriers, but they're designed for individuals, and we have three phones between myself, my wife, and a friend who is on our plan. For most of the local carriers we would pay almost as much as with Verizon. However, if you buy your own phone, T-Mobile offers the same features as what I get with Verizon (minus unlimited data) for $100 less per month.

If my wife and I buy brand-new phones (say the Galaxy Nexus, or even a refurbished iPhone 4s) we would save at least $1600 over the length of a 2-year contract, except T-Mobile wouldn't even lock us in. I've purchased a T-Mobile SIM to test in our area, and we get good reception.

Does anyone else who is either a T-Mobile user, or has switched from Verizon to T-Mobile have any input? Or do you have have a better suggestion? I'm looking for low voice minutes, no texting, and at least 2GB of data each. I've heard great things about T-Mobile's customer support and service, but also that their coverage is more limited than Verizon's. Network speed isn't a big deal for us since we're around wifi so much. Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks!