worth it to keep 4G, or should i reduce to 3G?

[JoeyBoy718]

So I live in Miami and I have a monthly (no contract) unlimited 4G cell phone phone with Metro PCS for $60 a month (flat rate). I'm trying to cut costs on monthly bills, and I'm thinking about going with the 3G monthly plan for only $40 a month. Well, it's first 500MB at 4G and then 3G beyond that. The only thing I do on my cell phone is internet and streaming music/radio. I bike and run a few hours a day, so streaming music/radio is pretty important. I use Spotify for albums, Pandora for artist radio, and iHeartRadio for local sports radio. Do you think I'd still be able to do all these things on a 3G network, or should I pay the extra $20 a month for unlimited 4G?

 

[Jammer]

So I live in Miami and I have a monthly (no contract) unlimited 4G cell phone phone with Metro PCS for $60 a month (flat rate). I'm trying to cut costs on monthly bills, and I'm thinking about going with the 3G monthly plan for only $40 a month. Well, it's first 500MB at 4G and then 3G beyond that. The only thing I do on my cell phone is internet and streaming music/radio. I bike and run a few hours a day, so streaming music/radio is pretty important. I use Spotify for albums, Pandora for artist radio, and iHeartRadio for local sports radio. Do you think I'd still be able to do all these things on a 3G network, or should I pay the extra $20 a month for unlimited 4G?

Do you go over the 500 MB limit and if you do go over the limit do you notice a reduction of the quality of your music? I'm guessing for the limited amount of bandwidth those programs use I would go to the 3G plan, but only if that's all you use. If you D/L videos and other high bandwidth things I would stick with the 4G. IMO.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Do you go over the 500 MB limit and if you do go over the limit do you notice a reduction of the quality of your music? I'm guessing for the limited amount of bandwidth those programs use I would go to the 3G plan, but only if that's all you use. If you D/L videos and other high bandwidth things I would stick with the 4G. IMO.

I do go over 500MB every month, but I have unlimited 4G so I can use however much I want. I've never experienced non-4G so I don't know if I'd hate 3G. But, like I said, I only use my data to surf the net and stream music (via Spotify and Rhapsody) and radio (via iHeartRadio). I don't download anything and I hardly ever watch videos.

 

[Jammer]

I misunderstood you. I thought the first 500MB was at 4G speeds and after that they throttle you to 3G speeds. If you're trying to save money I would go to the 3G speed because it seems you're not using the 4G speed economically and 3G would serve you well.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I misunderstood you. I thought the first 500MB was at 4G speeds and after that they throttle you to 3G speeds. If you're trying to save money I would go to the 3G speed because it seems you're not using the 4G speed economically and 3G would serve you well.

What would you say would be an economical use of 4G? Just curious.

 

[Jammer]

What would you say would be an economical use of 4G? Just curious.

Any time you would need the extra speed 4G provides. Things like video downloads, games, and other things you want/need the higher speed. If you're not using the full 4G benefits then you're paying for something you're not really using.

Think of it as the different tiers of ISP speed. I pay for a mid-tier service (15Mbps), which to me is fine. I could pay for the extra speed, but I would rarely use it, so I don't get it.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Whatever you do will be short lived.

The plan is to phase out 3G and/ or severely hamper it so that you want/need 4g.
This is also how they are going to get around grandfathered unlimited data users.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Any time you would need the extra speed 4G provides. Things like video downloads, games, and other things you want/need the higher speed. If you're not using the full 4G benefits then you're paying for something you're not really using.

Think of it as the different tiers of ISP speed. I pay for a mid-tier service (15Mbps), which to me is fine. I could pay for the extra speed, but I would rarely use it, so I don't get it.

Thanks for all your help. I really just want to stream music without long buffering and mid-song delays. If I can do that with 4G I'll be a happy man.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Whatever you do will be short lived.

The plan is to phase out 3G and/ or severely hamper it so that you want/need 4g.
This is also how they are going to get around grandfathered unlimited data users.

That's fine. I'm really just trying to save money these 5 months because I'll be relocating from Miami to Seattle in early June. I'm so happy. I went to my car insurance place to restructure the next 6 months of my plan. I was expecting to save $300. I ended up saving $830.

 

[Jammer]

That's fine. I'm really just trying to save money these 5 months because I'll be relocating from Miami to Seattle in early June. I'm so happy. I went to my car insurance place to restructure the next 6 months of my plan. I was expecting to save $300. I ended up saving $830.

That's pretty good. Did you have a 25th birthday or something?

 

[JoeyBoy718]

That's pretty good. Did you have a 25th birthday or something?

No. I'm about to be 28 in two weeks. It went down so much because the points on some past driving violations finally went away.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

That's fine. I'm really just trying to save money these 5 months because I'll be relocating from Miami to Seattle in early June. I'm so happy. I went to my car insurance place to restructure the next 6 months of my plan. I was expecting to save $300. I ended up saving $830.

Cool. Yeah go for it. It's more than sufficient.

 

[viman96]

I'd keep 4G. The difference in speed is huge. Seattle is a great city. Good luck with your move.

 

[Questfor6]

I've had a iPhone & iPhone 4 since they've been out and never had 4g until last week when I upgraded to a HTC One and man I'll tell you right now you don't want to downgrade to 3G if you dont have to. I always that the 4G talk was bogus until I found out for myself.