any reason NOT to switch to Verizon from AT&T network?...

Joined
Dec 3, 2013
Messages
805
Location
ChicagoLand USA
with the recent purchase of TracFone by Verizon, I have gotten an email to switch my AT&T network iPhone over to the Verizon network for use with my TracFone account...I've had very little difference going from an AT&T account to TracFone using the AT&T network but there are some minor coverage issues when using the AT&T network (just as there was when using the AT&T network with my AT&T account)...

does anyone see a downside with going with the new SIM card from TracFone and switching my service from the AT&T network to the Verizon network???...I have already confirmed that my iPhone SE (2) is compatible and I have a couple friends who use different phones on the Verizon network in the ChicagoLand area with no admitted issues but I'd like to ask here as well...

from the research I've done thus far, supposedly Verizon is better than AT&T for 4G and that is what my phone is capable of currently...for future, I've read that Verizon is catching up to AT&T for 5G or whatever form is above 4G but that shouldn't really matter to me for the foreseeable future...

Thanks for any information you care to share...Lastly, TracFone tells me that the change will come whether I make the decision or not but not until near the end of 2023...

Bill
 
I had AT&T many years ago. I switched to Version because, AT&T’s coverage area was spotty. Do some investigating before making the change. Check the service area maps of both carriers.
 
My experience with Verizon employee:

I was recently at my cousin's house working on her 20' flagpole.
The rope came off the pulley and I had no way to get it back on.
There was a Verizon truck with a lift-bucket across the street.

I asked the driver if he could come over and fix the rope, I also offered $20.
He said, "yea, I can come over, but I won't charge you $20."
That made my day.

It was more me dealing with an individual rather than Verizon, but still ....
 
Go ahead and make the switch on your own schedule.

AT&T has excellent service in my area and works better in my house than Verizon, but one carrier being better than another tends to be specific to small areas.
 
Need to go into it with your eyes wide open. I've been on the Verizon network for decades, and have been nothing but happy with them (except for the cost). I ride my motorcycle in some pretty desolate areas of West Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas... and rarely do I not have any sort of service.

That said, I have friends in what should be a solid Verizon service area (SW St. Louis metro area), who claim that Verizon is a bit flakey, and AT&T provides better service at their house.
 
whatever works for less $$$$ for YOU is best IMO. i switched from ATT GoPhone when i had to get a 4G phone + wanted to be able to do Pics now + then on the cheap! thanks to this forum i discovered AirVoice + use their pay-as-you-go plan about $10 for 90 days .10 a min + .10 per text, + data is available @ .0666 per gigabyte + of course wi-fi i never realized was already in my Verizon DSL box. took a bit but got it working, so being a very light user + i have a land line required for DSL + AirVoice MVNO works for me in Pa on my unlocked $99 TCL A30 smarter than me phone works on GSM my choice or Verizons network depending on the sim card choice, + a plus the nano sim from my cheap bloated moto E 2020 worked good, BUT of course the APN's in my new phone needed to be put in + AirVoice customer service helped me even though i copied the settings before removing the sim that rendered the settings not viewable!
 
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as noted Verizon like many big $$$ operations care less about you + customer service is VERY hard to contact as i found out when i had land line issues!
 
What @walterjay said.
I had them for like 4 decades..
The worst at CS.
During cv19 they were shutting off customers for late or lost payments when they shouldn't have.

My local repair guy was great but the company is a joke and I dumped them and never looked back.
 
as noted Verizon like many big $$$ operations care less about you + customer service is VERY hard to contact as i found out when i had land line issues!

Verizon's contractor hit a 200-pair cable in my front yard on a Friday while installing conduit for FIOS. (I have no Verizon service at my house).

Verizon didn't show up till Tuesday to fix it.

They left all of the landline customers on that cable without service on Friday. Saturday. Sunday. Monday. And part of Tuesday.

Doesn't seem acceptable to me.

They also left my drainage ditch a mess, which is definitely not acceptable to me.
 
Att has a robust network I've never had issues when I was on it.. currently on a shared vz plan with the wife. But yes switch when convenient for you. If they're giving you time let the clock burn.

If you're not afraid of change you can always switch off to another mvno or prepaid. Cricket wireless and now boostmobile run off ATT that's if you're happy with the Att network there is alternatives to ride Att network and not hurt the pocket.
 
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Big Red easily has the best coverage in the nation, you just pay for it. Plus ATT is literal trash so shouldn't even be with them in the first place.
 
I know there will be people who point out their special situations where one carrier "sucks" while another is "great", but for what it's worth, my brother-in-law works on the technical side of the wireless tower business. They build, maintain, lease, etc the towers for the carriers as the carriers no longer do this. He said the safest, most reliable, and best coverage option is easily Verizon.

Personally, we've had VZW for ~20 years and the only time we encountered signal issues was when crossing the Appalachians between WV and VA.
 
I know there will be people who point out their special situations where one carrier "sucks" while another is "great", but for what it's worth, my brother-in-law works on the technical side of the wireless tower business. They build, maintain, lease, etc the towers for the carriers as the carriers no longer do this. He said the safest, most reliable, and best coverage option is easily Verizon.

Personally, we've had VZW for ~20 years and the only time we encountered signal issues was when crossing the Appalachians between WV and VA.
My biggest gripe with Verizon is when on their prepaid they truly treat you 2nd rate. Forget being In a congested populated area you can barely get a phone call or text out. Data is rendered useless no good. Vz will eventually put all prepaid and mvno accounts on the cloud based vz network which their owned visible wireless does.
 
What @walterjay said.
I had them for like 4 decades..
The worst at CS.
During cv19 they were shutting off customers for late or lost payments when they shouldn't have.

My local repair guy was great but the company is a joke and I dumped them and never looked back.


The worst? Obviously you’ve not encountered AT&T. Even worse than Comcast.
 
Verizon's contractor hit a 200-pair cable in my front yard on a Friday while installing conduit for FIOS. (I have no Verizon service at my house).

Verizon didn't show up till Tuesday to fix it.

They left all of the landline customers on that cable without service on Friday. Saturday. Sunday. Monday. And part of Tuesday.

Doesn't seem acceptable to me.

They also left my drainage ditch a mess, which is definitely not acceptable to me.
As a recruiter for a mid size company that hires blue collar workers I can all but guarantee that this is because Verizon does not have enough employees to go out and fix things like this. It is the new reality and we just have to accept it.
 
We had ATT for many years . My wife kept complaining about dropped calls . I didn't have that problem myself . I told her to switch if she wanted to . She switched us to Verizon and now she's happy and I don't have to hear about it .
 
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