question is which iphone is overall better att or vzw thanks

Solely dependent on what carrier has the best coverage where you live/use your phone.

Another thing is that with AT&T you can surf & talk at the same time on 3G. You can't do that on Verizon except for when on wi-fi. If that matters to you.

Good luck.

It all depends on where you are in the USA and how much travelling you do.

I personally have had pretty much constant Voice/3G coverage and signal strength on verizon in all the cities I visited in Alaska, FL, NC, TN mountains, and PA. Whereas at&t would drop 3G the moment I left city limits.

If you plan on staying in Alaska, at&t data is non-existent at Ketchikan, Skagway, Seward, Juneau and Hoonah. (Whereas Verizon had strong 3G coverage in all 5 cities) If you plan on visiting rural areas or live outside the typical metro or suburban area, you will not have 3G coverage on at&t. Voice and SMS work fine ouside of 3G coverage though.

Yes, Verizon data may be a little slower, but you can access it anywhere in the USA!

That in a nutshell is my personal experience on both at&t and verizon.

chattphotos wrote:Yes, Verizon data may be a little slower, but you can access it anywhere in the USA!

😝 Except at my house. My AT&T signal at home is useable but weak (I use a 3G microcell inside to get past that problem). I tried a Verizon iPhone for one week to see if reception was better, but it was actually worse (either carrier is fine in many other parts of the N.C. Traingle Area, just not my own neighborhood). There is no single cell phone company in the USA that can truthfully claim good quality reception anywhere and everywhere in the country, so anyone looking to try a new carrier should really take advantage of the trial periods and be sure the device actually works for them where they need it to.

Having used Sprint, Nextel, US Cellular, Alltel, Vrizon and AT&T over the years, it is still really disappointing how spotty and variable cell phone coverage from any carrier still is in the USA. They all keep saying they are filling in coverage, yet it is not hard to find someone for every carrier with knowledge of known bad reception areas for thier carrier (even when the official coverage map says everything is just wonderful).

That's really going to depend on a lot of factors.

To broadly over-generalize, AT&T has a faster data network while Verizon has a superior voice network.

That being said, which one has better coverage in your area may differ. Also consider where you travel to frequently and whether or not you intend to take your phone over-seas. If you're travelling internationally, there are only a handful of countries where the Verizon phone will work.

I have AT&T, while my co-workers have Verizon (through the company). For the most part, there is virtually no difference where I am. I seem to be able to get signal in places in the building where my V counterparts can not, but that's probably a fluke of construction.

The only gotcha, which may not matter at all to you, is the Verizon phone can NOT use cellular data and voice simultaneously. AT&T can.

outside of usb cdma that verizon is not that common

but with iphones being locked to att and roaming prices being somewhat

expensive it may not matter too much

Verizon has the best overall voice coverage in the USA. If you live in, or travel to, the boondocks on a regular basis, Verizon's your best bet. AT&T's voice service is overloaded in certain cities, and their overall voice coverage across the US is lower.

AT&T's data speeds and data coverage tend to be better than Verizon.

AT&T uses GSM, and if you travel chances are that it will work anywhere on the planet (and most of the rest of the planet has better GSM coverage than the USA). If you have a Verizon iPhone, it won't work in many countries. Actually, parts of Asia are the only places where you'll be assured some service.

That said, both are bad. Both companies charge you 2x - 3x what you'd pay for comparable service outside the USA. Both companies charge you $20/month to enable the HotSpot feature in your phone (which is not a service and costs them nothing). Neither company is particularly good at customer service.

Both companies provide your location data, call records, data history, access to your voicemail, and real-time access to your phone conversations to third parties.

Do you have a source for the information you are providing here?

Bandwidth costs money no matter how it is used, hence the charge for the hotspots. These companies have employees that must be made, and expansion of services costs money. And I've had pretty good luck with customer service with AT&T.

AT&T if you recall was actually sued by the US Attorney General because they would not provide information on customers to the government. Both companies will provide location data, call records, data history, access to voicemail (if it is still available), history of who you have sent or received text messages from, to a law enforcement agency that has provided the required subpoena. As will any of the other providers in the US. As will providers in most other countries. Which country do you live in where this is not done?

Providers bill you separately for bandwidth. AT&T, for example, charges $20 extra per month for the HotSpot feature even if you use 0 bytes of additional bandwidth (as does Verizon). They will also add a surcharge if they deem your usage for business purposes (see their TOS).

As far as monitoring, there's plenty of info out there (here's a start: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/faa-foia-documents). Note the PowerPoint slides on FISA section 702, "no longer need for probable cause; no need to go to court; no need to demonstrate agent of a foreign power; data collection doesn't expire". This week, the FBI provided a 32-page response to why they will not provide details on mass surveillance programs which gives, in part, the following justification: "Exemption (b)(4)-1, cited in conjunction with (b)(7)(D)-1, has been asserted because disclosure of the identities of electronic communication service providers would cause substantial harm to their competitive position. Specifically, these businesses would be substantially harmed if their customers knew that they were furnishing information to the FBI. The stigma of working with the FBI would cause customers to cancel the companies' services and file civil actions to prevent further disclosure of subscriber information."

Verizon coverage: http://www.verizonwireless.com/wireless-coverage-area-map.shtml

AT&T: http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/#?type=voice

I've used both and never had a problem with either one with iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4.

J D McIninch wrote:

That said, both are bad. Both companies charge you 2x - 3x what you'd pay for comparable service outside the USA. Both companies charge you $20/month to enable the HotSpot feature in your phone (which is not a service and costs them nothing). Neither company is particularly good at customer service.

why does it matter what someone would pay somewhere else if they don't live somewhere else? there are so many different factors affecting prices of goods and services all over the world it is ridiculous to compare.

as for customer service i've heard att's customer service isn't that good but in my experience they've been great. the times i've had to call them regarding my dsl or cell service i would grade them an 'A' every time.

Besides coverage, there are some other differences that you might want to know: GSM/CDMA Differences, iPhone: Understanding iPhone Features, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4515