WatchESPN on smartphones

[zibby]

I don't currently have a smartphone, but I'm thinking about getting one before football season starts. Anyone here use WatchESPN on their smartphone?

Probably the biggest question I need answered is...is 3G fast enough? Sprint and T-Mobile don't offer 4G where I live, so if 3G isn't fast enough, that would cut my choices in half.

Anyone have any thoughts on wireless provider or iPhone versus Android? I'd also like an idea of how big a data plan I would need if I wanted to watch 1-2 games per week on my phone.

 

[mountaincuse]

I watched a football game on 3G in the middle of the Adirondacks this past season. Choppy at times and had to restart a couple times but it did the trick.

As for carriers Verizon is the way to go in my opinion.

 

[Antz201]

3G on AT&T or 4G LTE is faster than verizon, although Verizon may have more coverage upstate. If 3G is your only choice the ATT is the best and fastest. I watch espn on my phone all the time and it's cristal clear with no issues on AT&T. My network speed is attached. Just have to watch your data usage as I have unlimited data and you can't get that from AT&T or Verizon

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[upperdeck]

I dont think you can buy a 3g phone thats new so you will be pretty much forced to the 4g phones anyway. they will work on the 3g fine short term until the providers shut 3g off which they have been trying to do for awhile now.

on verizon you will get 2gig by default. the best thing about 3g is that it wont use near as much data as the 4g does.

a 3g game will run around 3-400 mb on 3g. the same game on 4g will run 1-1.5 gig..

4g is a scam that makes web pages load faster and videos download faster but does very little to improve the quality of a stream of a compressed stream on a 3-4 inch screen.

the bigger screen the better as the choppiness of the video is the providers issue not usually caused by the 3g vs 4g. is stream to my droid x on 3g all the time and wont give up my unlimited plan until forced to..

you can check out if the phone will stay in 3g mode , some allow you to turn 4g off and that willl help stretch out your data plan when watching video.

 

[Moontan]

Before making the jump for WatchESPN, first make sure that you have access to that content. Access is determined by your video service provider. Access is included with most traditional cable video services and FiOS, it is not included with satellite video services.

 

[TexanMark]

I still have unlimited data on my Verizon...but my HTC Thunderbolt Droid is a POS. I assume when I get a new phone I'll go to 2GB. The only good feature on my Droid is it allows me to switch from 4G to 3G. 3G as upperdeck said slows the data consumption and another positive is the battery draw is also reduced. You'll find with a 4G smartphone (at least Droid) that the battery doesn't last that long during heavy data usage (sometimes only a couple hours). You have a solution though...get another battery.

I buy my phone extras from www.bargaincell.com Do not buy your accessories from Verizon, Best Buy, etc... you'll be paying 2 to 5 times what you have to spend. I recommend buying a battery pack, extended life battery or a spare generic replacement battery. I take my extra battery on trips where I think I might run out of power.

My Verizon Phone to switch from 4G to 3G
>Settings
>>Mobile Network
>>>LTE/CDMA (default to get 4G and 3G)
You can switch to CDMA only on my phone at this screen to only get data at 3G speed. So if you are in a 4G area like Syracuse/Onondaga County it will switch to 3G.

P.S. My wife's battery went bad on her phone after 22 months. I bought her a generic replacement for $8.99 with free shipping. Walk into Verizon and ask them if you can get a battery for $9 bucks.

 

[WickedOrange]

I dont think you can buy a 3g phone thats new so you will be pretty much forced to the 4g phones anyway.

Nexus 4.

With a 30 dollar monthly t-mobile prepaid plan, I get 100 mins of talk and 5gb data. For 32 bucks total, no contract, no bloatware.

Wife has same phone with straight talk Sim card (at&t backbone). 55 total, monthly prepay. No limits, no contract, no bloatware.


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[TexanMark]

Nexus 4.

With a 30 dollar monthly t-mobile prepaid plan, I get 100 mins of talk and 5gb data. For 32 bucks total, no contract, no bloatware.

Wife has same phone with straight talk Sim card (at&t backbone). 55 total, monthly prepay. No limits, no contract, no bloatware.


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

How is the Network? does Nexus share off one of the Big Boys? Is that what you mean by ATT Backbone?

 

[WickedOrange]

When I set this up last fall straight talk had two Sim cards. One that used T-Mobile and one that used Atts network. Service is the same as going directly with either of those carriers. It passed the wife test who was perviously on sprint with me. Our monthly cell phone outlay has gone from 160 to 87. Got the phones in Feb. No issues, very happy.

 

[TexanMark]

When I set this up last fall straight talk had two Sim cards. One that used T-Mobile and one that used Atts network. Service is the same as going directly with either of those carriers. It passed the wife test who was perviously on sprint with me. Our monthly cell phone outlay has gone from 160 to 87. Got the phones in Feb. No issues, very happy.

Hmm intersting...sounds like I should investigate this. Do you buy the phones at WalMart or some place like that?

 

[WickedOrange]

I'll post some links tonight. PS also very happy with battery life. I went from needing to charge every six hours to once a day.

 

[Moontan]

Wife has same phone with straight talk Sim card (at&t backbone). 55 total, monthly prepay. No limits, no contract, no bloatware.

My son loves his Nexus 4 on T-Mobile.

Beware of StraightTalk... there are data caps around 1.5GB. If you're one who primarily talks and texts you should be fine. Data hogs will have issues.

 

[upperdeck]

t-mobile has been fighting the bankruptcy rumors for awhile now. no signal where i live only verizon works. same for much of our campus if you need to be indoors

 

[Shermthegeneral]

Someone mentioned this above but the key is you home TV provider. If you don't have a service that subscribes to it you are out of luck! You need to log in using your tv providers username and password. I would also recommend using wifi as much as possible, streaming video is such a data hog!

 

[Scooch]

To echo a couple points... Zibby, who do you get TV from? That's important.

Also, use wifi whenever possible. Better picture quality, no data concerns.

Last year on vacation I was streaming Mad Men episodes on my iPad via AT&T 3G. Blew through my data plan in 2 days. Gotta watch the data.

 

[WickedOrange]

My experience has been great with the following set up. There’s no contract so I’m not locked into anything. As a fall back, I have the option to go with a standard A&TT service agreement at the end of any month. There is very little risk.

I bought two phones directly from g 00 gle.

http://www.g 00 gle.com/nexus/4/

Signed one up with a monthly t-mobile account.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

the other with straight talk, which now looks like it’s t-mobile only (and has implemented stealth data caps, per Moontan -) I’ve had a good experience with them.

http://www.straighttalk.com

http://technofyi.com/2013/04/23/goodbye-contracts-hello-prepaid/

http://technofyi.com/2013/05/13/straight-talks-unlimited-data-plan-is-bullshit/

other options

http://www.net10wireless.com
on att network

att prepay
http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html

I also ported the numbers to g OO g le voice ($20 one time fee).
http://www.g OO gle.com/g OO glevoice/about.html


This provides voicemail, voice to text plus some other nice features. I’m able to jump from service provides without having to port my number every time. I just pop in a new sim card and reset the call forwarding on the phone.

Why does this forum convert g 00 Gle to "sex"?

 

[TexanMark]

Google

Awesome

Can we type "Rutgers" from now on and "B1G Leech" appears?

 

[Lawrinson14]

How do you get unlimited data on Verizon? They don't even offer that as a plan. It basically renders all these video services useless as I'm only able to watch it in places where there is wi-fi and most likely a TV or computer.

 

[Moontan]

How do you get unlimited data on Verizon? They don't even offer that as a plan. It basically renders all these video services useless as I'm only able to watch it in places where there is wi-fi and most likely a TV or computer.

You would need to have been grandfathered-in, same with AT&T.

The only national carriers that still offer unlimited data (though slowed down at some threshold) are Sprint and T-Mobile.

 

[upperdeck]

the biggest issue with the new 4g is that it sucks data and battery . services are offering up more stuff, its being sent out in HD for no reason on cellphones and that is increasing consumption of data plans. the data plans are huge profit centers and it gets worse when sites like ESPN stream video to your phone you dont even plan on watching . if you want to watch anything on verizon you need to get the 4gb plan or the family plan and then hope your family is small and they all dont want to use those features. the data plans are 2-3x more than they were a few years ago and you get to watch 75% less.

 

[WickedOrange]

the biggest issue with the new 4g is that it sucks data and battery . services are offering up more stuff, its being sent out in HD for no reason on cellphones and that is increasing consumption of data plans. the data plans are huge profit centers and it gets worse when sites like ESPN stream video to your phone you dont even plan on watching . if you want to watch anything on verizon you need to get the 4gb plan or the family plan and then hope your family is small and they all dont want to use those features. the data plans are 2-3x more than they were a few years ago and you get to watch 75% less.

prices are going up too

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/reports-expect-att-verizon-to-raise-fees.html/?a=viewall

 

[Pyle]

Nexus 4.

With a 30 dollar monthly t-mobile prepaid plan, I get 100 mins of talk and 5gb data. For 32 bucks total, no contract, no bloatware.

Wife has same phone with straight talk Sim card (at&t backbone). 55 total, monthly prepay. No limits, no contract, no bloatware.


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

T-mobile's coverage area stinks. It's fine if you stay in Syracuse, Buff, Roch, or Albany but take a drive out to Apulia or McGraw or anywhere in the 81/90 northeast quadrant to see what I'm talking about. Just make sure you print your directions first because your phone GPS isn't gonna tell you jack after you leave the highway.

T-mobile

Verizon

ATT

 

[BayonneOrange]

I have an unlimited data/talk/text plan here in NJ on T-Mobile and love it. I absolutely need unlimited data. Pretty much blanket 4G coverage in the tri-state area.