iPhone 4 on Verizon Announcement

[Convergent]

Check it out here... http://www.smartphoneforums.com/cont...-wireless.html

[neb1373]

Hotspot nice. Now will we be able to 3G/voice? Probably not that may be the deciding factor for myself.

[Convergent]

No, you won't be able to do voice and data together... its a CDMA phone, not LTE. They said that doing LTE at this point would have substantially delayed getting a Verizon iPhone out to the customers, so they chose the quicker option. The main thing you get here that isn't on the current iPhone is - CDMA radio, redesigned antenna, and mobile WiFi hotspots. Other than that, its identical to the current iPhone 4.

[Marctronixx]

i would not get it. i mean LTE is just about ready and to be stuck in a contract for 2 years or whatever as i watch newer devices come out thats LTE ready, i would not be happy. but, the main stream verizon users and new subs wont care for LTE and thats what verizon is banking on. their subsidy costs will be out of this world though! big red can afford it.

[Convergent]

The are going to allow buying the phone without a contract. If the Verizon iPhones hold their value the way the AT&T ones do, that might be the best way to go. This is also not an exclusive deal, so Sprint could pop up with the iPhone too.

[iProb8]

The lack of simultaneous voice and data, coupled with the ETF that I would need to pay AT&T, might be reason enough for me to refrain from jumping ships right now, especially as the Verizon iPhone 4 is pretty much (with some minor differences) the same as the AT&T iPhone 4 (though I do wonder whether battery life will be different with a CDMA device). I really detest AT&T's network, but it certainly has been bearable for me. I'm thinking it's time to let someone else be the guinea pig.

[neb1373]

As much as I'd love to be the guinea pig I still have a little time on my contract. Along with the fact that I'm really curious to see if the iPhone 5 will be released very shortly after. Nothing like buying a phone one day knowing that the next day it will be "laSt years model". They are also working on the data/voice issues and I think they will figure things out and make it possible. I will however go to a store and find out a roundabout monthly bill out of curiosity.

[Mark_A_K]

Jay, I'm with you.

I still have three original 3g iphones on a family plan. All devices are out of contract now. I will not be jumping back to VZW because of the following:

1. CDMA on VZW
2. VZW not offering LTE on iPhone when it comes out.
3. iPhone 5 to come out over the summer for AT$T and VZW.
4. Don't know if you can have calls and WiFi at the same time.
5. AT$T may offer something to is existing customer base to keep them.

Currently we only get 1 to 2 bars at my house with AT$T and I would like to jump to VZW but at this point I am going to seat this one out and observe.

[Convergent]

Mark, I'm kind of in a similar boat. We have a family plan with 5 people on it, and my iPhone 4 I think was the last one on... so I have about a year and a half to go to be out of contract. Do you know if AT&T prorates the ETF? I seem to recall something about all carriers having to do that a while back. That could make it a little more tolerable, but the coverage would have to be significantly better for me to do that.

I do believe you can make calls and use WiFi at the same time. If that works on the AT&T iPhone, it should work on the Verizon iPhone. The issue is a data connection and voice connection at the same time on CDMA. That you definitely can not do, and you won't be able to do with Verizon until they move to LTE, and that means the iPhone 4 CDMA will never do it. I don't see that as a huge issue, as its something I rarely use now. I don't use a headset hardly ever with my iPhone, so its very awkward to use the thing for data and voice at the same time. If you always use a headset, I can see it being a bigger issue since you'd be much more likely to want to talk and surf at the same time.

I really don't expect AT&T to do anything to try and keep their customers either. The ETA is really their incentive to stay, because anyone with an iPhone 4 is likely over a year away... which means the iPhone 5 will be the real point where people can jump.... unless you are still iPhone 3Ging it.

Have you tried an AT&T microcell? I have one and it definitely helps. We barely get 1 bar without it. Its kind of flakey at times, but its better than not, and there are no monthly fees.

[Mark_A_K]

The microdell....

I will NOT pay for a microcell to compensate for a level of service I am already paying for but not getting from AT$T
I will not use my Internet band width to compensate for a level of service I am already paying for but not getting from AT$T.
I don't like the fact that my minutes are used when a quest uses their phone on my microcell network.

If it was for free maybe I would consider it but I think I will just jump back to VZW maybe mid summer.

[Convergent]

Well I guess it all depends on where you are. No carriers work well in my house, so I'd have the same problem with all of them. I don't think that we can expect carriers to have 5 bars in every physical location on the planet.

If you have weak coverage, you have two options. Buy a microcell from your carrier, or buy a much more expensive repeater that will boost your signal by placing an antenna way up on your roof, and then repeating it down in your house. These run about $700 I think and boost everything... so not carrier specific, and nothing to do with your broadband network. With a microcell, it is sold by the carrier and only works with that carrier. It does use your bandwidth. With the AT&T microcell, you have to program it for which phones can use it... by phone number. So guests can't use it, neighbors can't use it... only the specific phones that you put into the configuration. And it does use your bandwidth, but not that much. If you want to pay $10/month, then all minutes used on it are unlimited and don't count against your plan minutes. For someone that may have a home phone that they talk on a lot, this is a pretty good way to lower the overall plan you have, and minimize cost.

For me, because I have poor service with all carriers in my house, I'm happy I have this option and don't mind the minimal bandwidth it uses from my broadband network.

[iProb8]

I'm 99.9% certain that the FCC mandates pro rated ETFs.

Right now, I've got 4 phones on my calling plan: Two iPhone 4s, an iPhone 3GS, and an iPhone 3G. One of the iPhone 4s and the iPhone 3G are being used by my parents, who live in another state and have great service with AT&T. Right now, the one thing that is nice about all of us being with AT&T is that our mobile to mobile calls don't use any minutes. If I switch to VZW, I would definitely end up incurring an ETF for my iPhone 4 (and probably a small one for the 3GS, which is not quite 2 years old). The question is whether my parents would want to switch also, or whether they would want to stick with AT&T.

I agree with Mark about the microcell. I've considered it and passed. If they offered me one for free, it would be a different story and might cause me to be less inclined to switch to VZW. I never had any coverage problems/dropped calls when I had my i730 or i760 with VZW.

[Convergent]

Well like I said, I have crappy service at my house with all of them. I don't have that many dropped calls, but the experience isn't quite as good as when I was on Sprint which I loved... great price and great data rates, but crappy customer service. I hope they get the iPhone too!

The thing with GSM is that from what I understand, you can only be connected to one tower at a time. So when they hand off from one tower to the next, it is a hard break. With CDMA, the device can actually be connected to two towers at the same time and do a soft handoff. I think this is why GSM has more dropped calls.

[mwfielder]

I am getting one. I have a 3GS still and am out of contract on May 2011. The ETF is $175 minus $5 for every month, so I'll pay about $70 to get out. I'm tired of AT&T and looking forward to go back to VzW. I am not sure VzW will get the iPhone 5 this summer, but they obviously will before 2 years. It will be interesting to see if VzW will allow you to upgrade phones at the discounted price after 1 yr like AT&T does...

Or, since I still have a line on VzW, I might just activate it on that line and forward calls for 3 months. Or use Google Voice.

But, I am ready for the iPhone on VzW. And if the 5 comes out this summer on VzW, then maybe the wife or son will get this one!

[cgilbert]

The microdell....

I will NOT pay for a microcell to compensate for a level of service I am already paying for but not getting from AT$T
I will not use my Internet band width to compensate for a level of service I am already paying for but not getting from AT$T.
I don't like the fact that my minutes are used when a quest uses their phone on my microcell network.

If it was for free maybe I would consider it but I think I will just jump back to VZW maybe mid summer.

Mark,
You should at least talk to customer service. I have a friend up here in NH, he had no coverage at his home. He tells me they agreed to rebate the cost of the unit back to him against his monthly bill (credit) and they don't charge him any monthly fee.

He swears it is not costing him anything for his microcell.

Chip

[Convergent]

That's not a bad idea. Its possible that they might kick it in if you were going to leave otherwise. There is no monthly charge, so its just the cost of the thing which I think is about $150 if I remember correctly. The monthly fee is an option for if you want unlimited minutes when using it, which we don't need.

[Mark_A_K]

I spoke to a service rep and a service manager. Both said no free Microcell.
That's ok we don't use our cell phones at home we have a land line for that.

The three phone (family plan) that we have are all 3G (not even 3Gs) and we are all out of contract.
I will be watching what happens with VZW for the next couple of months.

Its easy to stay with the older 3G phones as they work so well (except for coverage at my home) and the new features haven't made me want to jump yet.
When I do jump there will be a significant deference in the 3G phones I have now and the 5G phones coming out within 6 months.

[iProb8]

Well, I might end up eating my own words. According to my dad, he can only get about one day's use out my old iPhone 3G. Sounds as though the battery may be getting on in its years. I've told him not to rush out and buy a new phone. He told me that he and my mom would switch to VZW to stay on my family calling plan, and they would even pay the ETF on my mom's iPhone 4. So, now I'm back to thinking about switching to VZW. The lack of simultaneous voice and data and knowing the iPhone 5 will be announced in a few months are big drawbacks to rushing to VZW, though. I'm curious to see what VZW's pricing will be.

[Mark_A_K]

Jay on my 3g I plug it in every night so I have never run into a battery issues. I wonder if pluging it in every night is a bad thing? I know I can get 2 days with moderate usage and three days on stand by or little usage.

[iProb8]

My dad says he now is regularly plugging in the 3G nightly. It lasts him a day that way, but apparently if he doesn't plug it in each night, he ends up short of juice on the second day (and he is not using any data).

I've always understood that even lithium ion batteries have a memory effect. I believe Apple recommends a complete discharge of the iPhone's battery at least once a month.

Personally, I typically charge my iPhone 4 every other day, sometimes every third day. Unless I know I will have heavy usage the next day, I won't charge it if it has at least a 50% charge.