Verizon...Pre-orders...and Number Porting?

[DWS44]

Been on Sprint for years (15+), but finally looking at a move to Verizon. I'm just tired of the Sprint data network that is perpetually going to be better "soon", and seemingly degrading voice signals in my area. My brother has had Verizon equally as long, and never seems to have signal problems...hence the move to Verizon. (Not a fan of AT&T in general, so they aren't an option in my mind) With my latest two-year contract ending and the S6 release imminent, seems now is the time.

That said...does anyone know if Verizon typically allows phone pre-orders to new customers establishing new accounts, or is that reserved for existing customers?

As for number porting...having never been through this, how does that usually work? I was planning to have the the two accounts overlap for a couple weeks to make sure I'm happy with Verizon before killing off the Sprint acct...which leads to the last thought...does a number port have to happen when the Verizon acct is setup, or can it happen after a few weeks?

Just wondering folks experiences on those topics before I hit the Verizon store and start the CSR roulette in person. Thanks!

 

[Derwin0]

As always with cell phone service, depends on the coverage in your area.

I've had Sprint for 15 years, and never had a problem. But luckily everywhere I've lived coverage has been great. Work used to be spotty, but a new tower lit up nearby, so no problems after that.

 

[DWS44]

As always with cell phone service, depends on the coverage in your area.

I've had Sprint for 15 years, and never had a problem. But luckily everywhere I've lived coverage has been great. Work used to be spotty, but a new tower lit up nearby, so no problems after that.

Agreed! I was a big Sprint supporter for many years. In recent years though, they seem to have more and more signal issues in Charlotte and in Rock Hill where I live. I'm constantly losing calls or having calls go straight to voicemail with the phone having never rang. One day recently I was sitting at work, phone never made a peep...suddenly it popped up with three voicemails from my parents trying to call me over the prior four hours. Data-wise, I can't seem to keep 4G connections when I get them, and the resulting 3G just crawls. Had similar occurrences with three different phones, so that eliminates it all being device related. Shame they've gone downhill around here.

 

[TheForce]

I've always told people it all depends on your location which service. But, it is true that Verizon has more area coverage than the others right now. Not sure if there is a big difference in price anymore, except for T-Mobile which is desperate to churn customers, but they have the least footprint. I say if you travel Verizon followed by AT&T is your only consideration. It's been many years since I switched from T-Mobile to Verizon but porting my main number over was not a problem. Isn't there an FCC regulation on this now that prevents a carrier from holding numbers hostage like they did in the 90's?

You may find Verizon a bit more expensive, but if non-stop service is what you need, then those times you lose it with AT&T and another has it with Verizon, you'll curse the fact that you made the decision to save $4 a month.

Last trip to the west coast, along I-10 I had LTE service the whole way and used it as my car's nav screen accesses the internet through a connected phone. good high speed continuous service is becoming more important for travelers.

 

[jcrandall]

Verizon coverage blows away Sprint and T-Mobile nearly everywhere. Only AT&T is comparable. I switched from sprint to AT&T about 5 years ago and to Verizon about 2 years ago and haven't looked back. Both Verizon and AT&T have been very satisfactory and well over sprint.

This summer I will likely switch to Cricket which is an AT&T owned/operated lower cost provider, they do 4 lines of 2.5GB/mo for $100, which would cut my Verizon bill more than half. I likely will take up t-mobile on their switch offer for a few months to pay the ETFs and try their network, but unless it overwhelms me with surprise I'll likely end up on Cricket/AT&T.

Anyhow, a point on porting. It is easy if you provide the right info. Call Sprint TWICE - double check your account number and account passcode (generally 4/5 digit pin type). The passcode is the most mistaken part in porting. I say call twice because some reps may give you something else intentionally, they know the only reason you would want that is to leave sprint.

With the right info, porting generally takes no more than 4 hours.

 

[mdram]

see how the samsung line reception is where you plan on using it
in my experience the samsungs phones are great, but there reception falls below a motorola or htc phone
(based on samsung omnia, s1, s4 vs moto droid 1, 4, razrhd and htc thunderbolt)

 

[satgirl51]

I agree, while sprint and t-mobile have good coverage in certain areas, Verizon and AT&T are far and away the best for traveling. Verizon has the largest LTE network, and unrivaled great but slow 3G EVDO CDMA network to fall back on in the sticks. AT&T LTE network is slightly behind in coverage compared to Verizon but in the sticks their HSPA+ 3G network is very very large, and its so fast its actually labeled as 4G on their phones around 7 mbps.

Also since Verizon is basically using 2 different networks right now (CDMA and GSM based LTE) if you are using LTE to make a call and move into an area without LTE coverage the call will drop, and you will have to call back with the CDMA signal. You can disable LTE Voice so that all calls are over CDMA(no dropped calls) but you will lose the ability to use voice and data simultaneously. As verizon keeps building out their LTE network this will become less and less an issue, but in some parts here in oklahoma it can be frustrating.

Sprint is using 2 networks also like verizon(CDMA and GSM LTE) but with much much less LTE coverage.

AT&T has always been GSM(always used a sim card) so if you lose LTE voice it can transition to its other network without dropping the call because the networks are compatible.

 

[Mr Tony]

porting your number is easy. Done it many times

If you do it online they will need all the info from your current provider including passcode if you have one on the account. Make sure it matches EXACTLY as the bill says.
If you do it in a store they will set it up. Takes a couple hours max (but can take up to 24 hours)

 

[Mr Tony]

This summer I will likely switch to Cricket which is an AT&T owned/operated lower cost provider, they do 4 lines of 2.5GB/mo for $100, which would cut my Verizon bill more than half. I likely will take up t-mobile on their switch offer for a few months to pay the ETFs and try their network, but unless it overwhelms me with surprise I'll likely end up on Cricket/AT&T..

one note with Cricket (I had them). While they are AT&T owned, they only get PART of the AT&T network. So you may have no signal with Cricket while AT&T may have signal

 

[Bob Haller]

Get straightalk it uses the verizon network, is available at wallmart. straightalk drops calls excactly where verizon does/ most notably in the squirrel hill tunnel

do note straightalk has effectively no directory assistance.

other than that its identical to verizon

happily it costs less than verizon

 

[Poke]

Yeah I'm in the same boat been with Sprint for awhile and had AT&T in the past but Sprints management has made some poor decisions and now their in catch up mode. So I been happy with my U-Verse internet and Lan line for the house so I will either switch to AT&T or Verizon they both have the biggest network coverage with Verizon first AT&T second. But I will probably not make the switch until later this summer when our contract is up I will either go with the M9 or S6 at this point I'm leaning towards the S6 due to HTC has not changed to much with the M9 even though it sounds like they might have a plus coming out. I been happy with my M7 but the S6 looks like slick device. As far as porting you should not have any issues porting your number over to them and I would think they would let you pre-order the device..

I would stay with a main provider others are cheaper for a reason usually the Big 4 have similar ways on their plans. As far as the big red V I would see what plan they could get you on that would give you the most for your dollar. Also it's usually cheaper to pay up front for a 2yr contract instead of paying small payments on a plan for each device. Just do the math you end up paying more for the device in 24 months than you do paying up front on a 2yr contract. $199 for the device on a 2yr contract is cheaper than $25 a month for 24 months for the device you end up paying $600 per device. But it looks like on the S6 so far the Big 4 are going to handle it a little different over the M9 probably due to it will be more popular. So it will vary some from each provider but don't get caught on the cheap monthly payments for the device it adds up. Just something to think about..

 

[Wild Irish Rose]

Chris and I had Verizon. He dropped it for Sprint. He is sorry for that especially since he is now living in the Pocono's and service there was generally rough there. That old commercial about balancing on the file cabinet holding out one arm was pretty much how it was for us. Between winter and summer, I wouldn't make cell calls because I couldn't stand outside to keep from dropping calls. It was the ONLY service that semi -worked in the rural area. I still use Verizon and prefer it.

 

[mdavej]

I had Verizon for at least 20 years, since back when they used to be Bell Atlantic Mobile 5 years prior (*BAM is still the activation/update number). While I love the coverage, I could no longer tolerate the high prices. Ported all 5 of my lines to Cricket last year and couldn't be happier. Coverage is still very good on AT&T's network, and I'm paying a third of what I was paying Verizon and getting more text and data to boot. I wouldn't wish Verizon's extortion on anybody.

 

[Mr Tony]

Get straightalk it uses the verizon network, is available at wallmart. straightalk drops calls excactly where verizon does/ most notably in the squirrel hill tunnel

do note straightalk has effectively no directory assistance.

other than that its identical to verizon

happily it costs less than verizon

hmmm Straight Talk is 45 a month
I pay Verizon $45 a month for pay as you go.

And I dont go through a reseller. Also with Straight Talk depending on the phone its either GSM or CDMA and may not be Verizon

 

[Claude Greiner]

I pay Verizon $750/mo on a business account With 22 lines and 60 gigs of data

Keeps on getting cheaper as the smart phones drop out of contract and go from $40 each to $15 each.

 

[DWS44]

Thanks for the info, everyone!

I decided to make the jump, and pre-ordered the new S6 Edge for Verizon @ Best Buy this morning. They said it would be no problem setting up the new account, so I didn't have to wait till 4/1 for the Verizon stores, plus Best Buy is including the Samsung Wireless Charging Base for free with the early pre-orders. I've had good luck with phone purchases @ Best Buy in the past, so I'm glad it worked out this way. Looking forward to launch day!

 

[Claude Greiner]

I always order directly Witt Verizon. I got a dedicated account rep and she does pretty good on the discounts.

 

[DWS44]

Thought I'd post a follow up. I ended up pre-ordering through Best Buy instead of Verizon, since BB included Samsung's new Wireless Charger for free on pre-orders. Spoke to a manager before-hand, and they were able to do so, even though I wanted to switch to Verizon.

Phone came in yesterday (Samsung S6 Edge 32GB Black Sapphire )...Best Buy setup the new Verizon account, ported my number over from Sprint, and I was out the door. The port was completed and active on new acct before I left the store. Really enjoying the new phone AND the better signal so far!

 

[Juan]

Verizon is offering ridiculous trade-in allowances on old 3g droid phones ($100 for droid any model..more for recent ones)
www.trade-in.vzw.com

 

[Juan]

Thought I'd post a follow up. I ended up pre-ordering through Best Buy instead of Verizon, since BB included Samsung's new Wireless Charger for free on pre-orders. Spoke to a manager before-hand, and they were able to do so, even though I wanted to switch to Verizon.

Phone came in yesterday (Samsung S6 Edge 32GB Black Sapphire )...Best Buy setup the new Verizon account, ported my number over from Sprint, and I was out the door. The port was completed and active on new acct before I left the store. Really enjoying the new phone AND the better signal so far!

the samsung wireless charger is $20 buck on amazon..Verizon would have given you $100 for ported number + atleast another 100 for your old smartphone (If it works)