Discussion: Best Carrier and Phone to have as a student in Seattle/UW

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
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<h1>Hi, being a new international freshman, I am clueless about and need help choosing the best carrier + phone to have. I do not see any thread relating to my topic, so I would like to start one and hopefully generate a wave of discussions to help others and myself clear some doubts. For the first part, I'll babble about the common considerations when choosing a carrier, hope this helps some ppl and trigger some more thoughts and views from others. My real and personal question will only come at the very end. (So skip the front part if it's TL;DR or that you've already known all that.)</h1>

<p>The major carriers - Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile have their pros and cons each, but I understand that these pros or cons may not apply in Seattle/UW. For example, T-Mobile is said to have a poor coverage overall, but it's coverage is in fact quite good in Seattle, especially strong in the University District (as seen from their online "personal coverage check" service: Unsupported</a> Browser). On the flip side, while Verizon may have the best coverage, this does not help me as a UW student using it only in Seattle, unless I'm travelling alot out of town. </p>

<p>Before I continue, amateurs may want to look at the following link which provides a general comparison of the different carriers: Cell</a> Phone Providers Review 2013 | Best Cell Phone Companies | Mobile Phone Providers - TopTenREVIEWS</p>

<p>What are the most important look-outs/must-haves for a college student? (I understand that these may slightly vary depending whether you're in-state/OOS/International)...Is it unlimited texts/voice/data OR that the carrier has your dream phone OR that it must have the cheapest/most flexible plan? Most plans come with unlimited texts and voice, but included unlimited data and mobile hotspot are not a given. That being said, is it necessary to have unlimited data or will the usual included 4GB data suffice? As to mobile hotspots, how relevant are they with public wifis almost everywhere nowadays? </p>

<h1> The list of considerations to take when choosing a carrier goes on and on, and I've not even started on the phone considerations yet! But I shall stop here for now and give you guys - the experts - a chance to express your views. Anyone is welcome to speak your mind on the subject!</h1>

<p>NOW, I shall ask my question - What is the best carrier and phone to have for the following criteria that I have:
I need a carrier that has -
+ Good coverage in University District where I'll be residing in and spending most of my time in.
+ Unlimited texts and voice not necessary, but won't mind it if it comes along free or at a worthy price, 500 free texts and average amount of talk time will suffice.
+ I'm not sure about data usage amount as I was in the military previously and was not carrying a smart phone. I would think that I'll use the phone data for facebook app, email checking, google search, and occasional short youtube videos (less than 10 short videos per month), will the usual 4GB data plan be enough?
+ Fast streaming/browsing/network is a desirable quality that I would like to have. However, I will be willing to do without if it comes with a hefty cost.
+ Also, regarding mobile hotspot, will it be better/faster than public wifi, i'm using it for a laptop. If mobile hotspot is desirable, will my laptop usage (for researching online) 'eat up' alot of data? If so, I might consider going for unlimited data.
+ Early termination fee will not be a consideration as I feel that if the plan is good, why terminate prematurely? (I won't be moving elsewhere within the contract period nor will I purchase another phone with another carrier)
+ Last but not least - the plan COST... given that it satisfies my above needs and usage.
<strong><em>It would be good for anyone who sees this thread to leave behind their mobile carrier, plan coverage and cost so that others can have a rough guide on what to expect for what kind of price.</em></strong>
I know that family plan will obviously be cheaper if you have people to share the cost with. But I'm currently new to Seattle, do not have any friends yet, and would want to start with an individual plan.</p>

<p>Next is the phone that I need, will keep it short:
+ The only smartphone/new-generation phone that I have ever used is iPhone, iPhone5 would obviously be the easiest phone to adapt to. Although I know of other better ranked phone for this year (Best</a> mobile phones | Expert Reviews), since I've never used any other smartphones before, I have a phobia and reluctance to try out a new phone, hahaha... Having said so, I won't want this fear to narrow my opportunity/exposure to phones that can help me better....Gosh! I'm in a dilemma! Someone help me with this!
+ iPhone5 now comes with all the 4 major carriers, this is the comparison: (<a href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/26/iphone-5-rate-plans-compared/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://mashable.com/2013/03/26/iphone-5-rate-plans-compared/&lt;/a&gt;) If i'm getting iPhone 5, according to this article, T-Mobile seems to be the best carrier, any detractors?</p>

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<p>I’ve decided on T-mobile myself. Cost-wise, I think they have the best deal. For $60 you get unlimited talk and text and 2 GB of data for your smartphone. While there is an unlimited data plan, that is a bad idea as I’ve heard that you get stuck with a crappy cell tower. And, it doesn’t sound like you will need more than 2 GB of data. Plus you get a 15% student discount on your monthly service fee.</p>

<p>I looked at AT&T since they are unveiling no down payment smartphones but when I crunched the numbers, they don’t fare well against T-mobile even with their 10% student discount. Their plans are too expensive ($110 for unlimited talk and text and 4GB of data using Mobile share and $90 for an individual plan with 450 minutes talk, 3 GB of data and unlimited text*) and, as you said, coverage is not an issue in Seattle.</p>

<p>*I think unlimited texting is essential. I do not really text a lot. I just have two friends who I text with but I found out the hard way that pay per text REALLY adds up.</p>

<p>I don’t know much about Verizon and Sprint other than I know a lot of people switching over from Verizon to T-mobile. My family (outside of Seattle) uses Sprint but I found that Sprint’s web site wasn’t very user-friendly and that turned me off to them.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t use the mobile Hot-spot given how easily accessible good public wi-fi is. My guess is that you’d be using 40 to 50 MB of data an hour using mobile hotspot and really, why waste the data when wi-fi is available?</p>

<p>I can’t give advice on phones. I’m getting a Samsung S4 and I have no experience with iPhones but as you can get the phone with any carrier, it’s just a matter of finding the right deal.</p>

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<p>T-Mobile, for sure. The coverage is here is great since they’re based out of Bellevue, and LTE (especially if you’re on an iPhone) is SUPER fast. Also, you can either finance or outright purchase a phone (or just bring your own if it’s unlocked) and you won’t have to worry about a contract.</p>

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<p>Have been with T-mobile for a while, quite satisfied with it. $30 for 5GB of 4G data, 100 min voice, unlimited text. Too bad they’ve discontinued this plan.</p>

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<p>T-Mobile seems to be the most popular/common carrier at UW…and the best. I’d probably go for it.
@Seatac - I heard from a friend that T-Mobile has this PREPAID plan: “$30!!! unlimited text, unlimited data (slows down after 5GB), 100 min voice (10 cents for every additional minute), for unlocked GSM phones. Your phone will be able to reach up to 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network, and IT’S REAL. There are no strings attached.” Guess probably the plan that you were using has converted for only prepaid users. It is an online-only offer, for new T-mobile activations only. </p>

<p>The steps are:
Step 1: Buy a 99c T-Mobile SIM card, and wait for it to arrive. It might be possible to buy one in-store as well, but be careful not to activate it there.
Step 2: Follow the instructions to activate your SIM card on the T-Mobile website.
Step 3: Choose the $30 online plan! And that’s it!</p>

<p>Additional notes: The part that is not-so straightforward is if you want to port your old number over from another carrier. You will still be eligible to buy the T-Mobile plan as you are a new T-Mobile customer. If you are an existing T-Mobile customer, you cannot port your old T-Mobile number to your new SIM card. After Step 2, you need to call T-Mobile’s hotline and ask to port over your number. DON’T CANCEL YOUR OLD PLAN YET. When T-Mobile has completed the port, you will have your old number and but the old plan with the other carrier will be automatically cancelled. They will tell you that the port will take 48 hours, but it should be completed around 2 hours after you call them.
You won’t be able to buy a locked T-Mobile phone and buy this plan as well, because pre-paid plans are non-binding. However, depending on the price of the phone that you want, it may be worth it to buy a more expensive unlocked phone and purchase this plan in the long run.</p>

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<p>I still do have this plan, it’s just that apparently they aren’t offering this to new customers. Locked phones, by the way, work just fine. I got my from Tmobile, just paid the full price.</p>

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<p>T-Mobile: Cheaper plans and coverage is pretty good.
AT&T: More expensive than T-Mobile in terms of plans, but less expensive than Verizon. However, coverage is great and you can get signal from just about anywhere! </p>

<p>Choose from the above two…never ever go with Verizon!</p>

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<p>Went to my A&O last week and found out that Sprint is probably not the best to go with. Didn’t have much connection. Lots of issues, and my battery was drained so bad I had to turn the thing off after about 3-4 hours on campus.</p>

<p>Either way though, it would seem that the WiFi on campus is pretty great.</p>