Verizon or T-Mobile for me?

So I'm getting off my parents plan and going out on my own. But I need to decide on a carrier. I'm between T-Mobile and Verizon. I don't travel (except to Las Vegas once a year) and at work I'm always in a populated area (I work as a vendor in different costcos), and I don't call people much.

I was leaning towards T-Mobile since they were cheaper, but I'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences. Thanks.

I always wonder about how you would make any decisions without GB, whenever i see one of your threads.

If T-mobile is cheaper go with T-mobile, if it doesn't work out switch to Verizon later on.

So I think I'm just going with T-Mobile. If I don't like them I'll just go to Verizon. I mean, there's no contracts anymore anyway.

DO NOT GET T-MOBILE!

They are garbage. I work with my uncle, who has T-Mobile and he never gets reception anywhere. Half the time when you can get a call through he has to call you back because the reception keeps cutting out. It's a joke. I live in NJ, it's not like I'm out in the middle of nowhere where you don't expect to get service.

I have Verizon, and I am almost never without a signal. I can make calls from within walk-in refrigerators, elevators, basements, etc. without any issues. And the signal never disappears in emergencies either. I had no problems during Sandy, and every other major storm/blizzard. It's more expensive for a reason.

@ravensword: Have you tried looking up information through your employer to see if you get any sort of discount from one over the other? The amount I'm paying monthly along with phone models swayed me to go with Verizon when I re-upped a few months back.

Well, Verizon does do a buy back like T-Mobile does where they'll buy you out of your carrier. I could always do that I guess. But Verizon's still more expensive.

Like @i_stay_puft said check with your work to see if you get a discount. Many retailers in the US get some form of a discount and even some corporations do.

So I went by a Verizon store just now to ask. I do get a 7 dollar discount on my bill. Not much but it's still something. I really think I'm going with Verizon now. I guess the way there buy you out of you etf thing works is they give you whatever the trade in value for your phone is with them (in my case 350 dollars) and they knock that off the price of the device you get. Then, they give you remainder of what you owe on your etf as a Verizon prepaid Visa card. So I would get like 300 or whatever on that. Then, I can pay 200 or so out of pocket to just pay off the whole device, thus lowering my phone bill to 73 dollars a month for 6gbs of data and the charge for having the phone on the line. I admit it's more complicated than mobiles way of just giving you whatever you owe as a prepaid visa, but it still works out the same in the long run I think.

If there's one thing I've learned in years of working with a phone company, it's that people have super strong opinions about their phone service if they don't like the coverage. Talk to your neighbors or co-workers where you will actually use your phone and ask about stuff you think you'll do. Example: If you are planning on watching videos at work during breaks ask if anyone has issues with verizon or tmobile data speeds there.

Also, keep in mind that even though no one has contracts anymore, you are still probably going to get hit with a ton of hassle and fees when starting or stopping service and don't forget some of those promos can take literal MONTHS to "pay off" your other phones with credits and prepaid cards.

If you don't want to ask around, you can get prepaid service to make sure you're not screwing yourself. Both tmobile and verizon have them. Adds a little time/cost but also will let you know if it's adequate ahead of time.

I went from Verizon to T-Mobile and haven't had an issues. Bill is cheap, data speed is fast enough for me(I never stream netflix or anything though) and their free music streaming is nice for my commute. At the end of the day though most carriers are so similar; you could spin a wheel to pick one and end up fine.

T Mobile seems less strict and interested in data caps than Verizon, but Verizon is making some interesting moves, too. They recently said their video smartphone app will not factor into mobile data charges, so you'd be able to watch video on it without worrying about using too much data.

If you know someone who uses Verizon or T Mobile, ask them what their data coverage is like. Having a signal when you need it is more important than saving a few bucks.

Verizon would be better coverage wise, but you'd likely only notice if you traveled. Since you're not traveling I'd just recommend T-Mobile.

So I'm now the proud owner of a Verizon iPhone 6s Plus.

@ravensword: hope you enjoy!

I was going to say T-Mobile has that plan that lets you pay a extra a month to upgrade your phone anytime....but I think Verizon has a better network.