So here's my situation. I live in the Southeast and have been using T-Mobile for about 4 years now. In this area, at least, I have found they have coverage at least equal to AT&T for less money. Still, I work out in marginal reception areas so coverage is important. When my T-mo contract runs out, I want to do one of 3 things:
(1) Stay with T-Mobile and get their Even More plan. The one I want is about $60/mo. for plenty of minutes (for me) and text and data. I would probably get a Cliq XT. Not ideal but close enough. Ideally, I would get a Nokia N8 when and if they offer it.
(2) Go with Southern Linc and get their Motorola i1 and their $50/mo. unlimited everything plan. More coverage in outlying areas (at least in Alabama and Georgia) plus PTT, which is not a big deal for me but a nice bonus. Downside: Tmo's 3G is faster than Iden data by far.
(3) Get a Straight Talk prepaid from Wally World and either one of their plans is good enough for me. They have only one 3G phone right now and their customer service is famously bad. Plus I have heard their internet ain't that great, either. Don't need YouTube but would prefer the phone be capable of it anyway. But it's on the Verizon network so coverage should be good.
Currently I have a basic voice/text plan with Tmo and am experimenting with a cheap prepaid on SouthernLinc. Since the Linc phone has an expensive per-day charge, I only use it when I have to.
Does anybody have experience with these carriers and devices? I would appreciate your input, thanks.
(1) Stay with T-Mobile and get their Even More plan. The one I want is about $60/mo. for plenty of minutes (for me) and text and data. I would probably get a Cliq XT. Not ideal but close enough. Ideally, I would get a Nokia N8 when and if they offer it.
(2) Go with Southern Linc and get their Motorola i1 and their $50/mo. unlimited everything plan. More coverage in outlying areas (at least in Alabama and Georgia) plus PTT, which is not a big deal for me but a nice bonus. Downside: Tmo's 3G is faster than Iden data by far.
(3) Get a Straight Talk prepaid from Wally World and either one of their plans is good enough for me. They have only one 3G phone right now and their customer service is famously bad. Plus I have heard their internet ain't that great, either. Don't need YouTube but would prefer the phone be capable of it anyway. But it's on the Verizon network so coverage should be good.
Currently I have a basic voice/text plan with Tmo and am experimenting with a cheap prepaid on SouthernLinc. Since the Linc phone has an expensive per-day charge, I only use it when I have to.
Does anybody have experience with these carriers and devices? I would appreciate your input, thanks.