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My Transition from an iPhone to Android: Part 4-Back to AT&T

Submitted by parkernathan on Sun, 04/21/2013 - 10:31pm
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In Part 1 of my series on transitioning from an iPhone to Android, I gave the background on why I made the transition, as well as my general purchase experience on switching to the Samsung Galaxy Note II (the Android phone I ended up switching to). In Part 2, I gave an in-depth review of the Galaxy Note II’s hardware, comparing it to both my iPhone 4, the iPhone 5, as well as other popular Android smartphones (the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One). In Part 3, I touched on the heart of switching to an Android phone, the Android OS (Operating System) itself.

In this final segment of the series (Part 4), I want to explain what led me to switch wireless carriers from Verizon back to AT&T.

A little background first. I started off with AT&T as my wireless carrier when I purchased my first iPhone, the iPhone 3G. The iPhone was both my first phone and my first smartphone, and since AT&T was the exclusive wireless carrier for the iPhone at the time, obviously I knew which wireless carrier I was going with when purchasing an iPhone. Since I was living in Hot Springs, Arkansas, at the time (which didn’t have 3G at the time, but EDGE was still decent), and had landline phone and DSL through AT&T, it also made sense to have my wireless service through AT&T as well. I was happy as an AT&T customer. I had unlimited data, rollover minutes on my Nation plan, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to all my friends and family (most of them had AT&T), as well as the perks of being an iPhone customer such as Visual Voicemail and hitting a 3G area when I traveled to Little Rock. All in all, I was satisfied with AT&T as my wireless carrier.

That is, until I moved to North Georgia…

Verizon iPhone Tips EVERY Verizon iPhone Customer Should Know!

Submitted by parkernathan on Sun, 04/10/2011 - 10:40pm
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In my last post, I covered my review of the Verizon iPhone 4. While I’m on the topic, I thought I would post some tips I’ve learned during my switch to the Verizon iPhone that every Verizon iPhone customer should know about.

First thing's first: Porting Your Number Over to Verizon
The first question I get asked quite a bit from people interested in switching to Verizon is if their number can easily be ported over to Verizon from their existing carrier. The answer is, usually, yes. I was able to successfully port both of my existing AT&T numbers over to Verizon, and the move went extremely easy. There’s a quick way to check eligibility online, and it only takes a few seconds to see if your number will port. Chances are it will, and do so with ease.

Phone Numbers Every Verizon iPhone Customer Should Know

Here’s a list of phone numbers I keep in my contacts directory that every Verizon iPhone customer should probably keep in theirs. These phone numbers offer everything from customer service to carrier upgrades to checking usage:

*611: This is the phone number for Verizon Wireless Customer Service. This handles everything from technical support to changing plans and features to account customer service. When something’s amiss, or if you simply need to add more minutes to your plan, this is usually the number you’ll call.

Verizon iPhone 4 Review

Submitted by parkernathan on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 5:25pm
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3G Coverage in Georgia (AT&T Verses Verizon)

Many of you recall from my review of the Verizon Wireless MiFi the major reason I invested in the MiFi: to boost my data coverage on my iPhone 4 due to the fact that I live in an area with extremely sub-par AT&T coverage (you can read my lamenting over on that review, I'll spare you from having to re-live my lament again). I'll say that coverage with AT&T has only worsened up here, not improved. Text messages would take 20 minutes to send, and I'd miss many of my calls, and in some cases didn't even have enough signal to check my Voicemail to see who was trying to call me!

So when Verizon finally started selling the iPhone 4, I knew what I needed to do in order to free myself from my wireless coverage woes, and believe it or not, I could reduce my wireless bill dramatically (since I would no longer need the dedicated MiFi, my mother didn't want her iPhone anymore so I could put her down on a regular phone, and I could save money on my texting plan since I'm a moderately texting person but don't overly text). I knew it was time to jump ship to Verizon.

Since having a MiFi considered me an existing customer, I made it to the pre-order and was able to receive my Verizon iPhone before launch day (I also singed my mother up for an LG Accolade phone which was free with contract, and her part of the bill is only $10/month now!). I was able to sell my AT&T iPhone to a colleague, allowing me to recover some of the costs of having to purchase a new iPhone, as well as the hefty ETF I had to pay AT&T to jump ship (yes, I paid it too, but with our much lower bills and much better service, it's been well worth it).

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