I'll be forced to go to GSM this month if I decide to stay on Tello. My phone is compatible.
My BF did this voluntarily a few months ago and the service was horrid with GSM.. the connectivity that is.
Any other services like Tello that will still work with cdma?
I am enjoying only paying $15 per month as I use very little data.
First, you're paying Tello $15/month and you say you're using "very little data". From what I can recall and remember of Tello's plans, 2GB isn't "very little data". 500MB is very little data, and I'll even buy 1GB as very little data these days... but 2GB of data is still a healthy chunk, even if it's still well below the national average, and data quantities like that outside of the T-Mo/Sprint MVNO ecosystem isn't near as cheap. AT&T and Verizon carry premiums on their... everything, and it carries over to MVNO pricing. I'm just setting expectations, here... so, either dial the data use down further and find out how many minutes you actually average a month instead of throwing an "unlimited" plan at it, or get used to having to pay more. If it helps, 500 minutes is 8 hours and 20 minutes of talk time, and around the national average the last I checked a couple years ago before the pandemic. YMMV.
Second, odds are, depending on the age of the Sprint handset, you may or may not actually be able to activate it on Verizon or AT&T. Despite both Sprint and Verizon using core CDMA technology in previous generation networks, both networks have used wildly different core service bands for both 2G/3G CDMA and 4G LTE. Some Sprint phones (typically newer flagships and iPhones) have included LTE Band 13, which is one of Verizon's core service bands. But without LTE Band 13, you won't be able to activate the phone with a Verizon SIM card. You can find out if it'll work on Verizon
by checking the device IMEI here. As for taking it to AT&T, they're shutting down their 3G HSPA network in under four months, and they're working on
an IMEI whitelist only model for VoLTE activation on their network, which means your handset probably won't work on AT&T by next January. This is because, outside of a handful of newer flagship phones from Samsung, Google and Apple, their device list is mostly AT&T branded handsets.
If your handset doesn't have LTE Band 13 or is on the list for the AT&T bouncer to let you in, your only other alternative is T-Mobile, which you say doesn't work in your area. Of course, newer T-Mobile handsets with all
their current LTE data bands and VoLTE certification might have far better reception than an older Sprint CDMA handset unlocked for GSM usage, or it may not... as someone living in the state shaped like an inverted lumpy ballcap, I'm willing to take your word for the fact that T-Mo voice coverage stinks these days, even with the newest, fanciest handsets. This saying, unless you have a T-Mobile handset that's got a VoLTE stack specifically certified and configured to operate on T-Mobile's funky VoLTE configured network, you're gonna lose that terrible and spotty 2G voice service next year, which is what an unlocked Sprint handset is probably going to get for voice service... so your boyfriend's gonna need a new phone sooner than later, too.
What I'm saying is, prepare yourself to potentially have to buy a new phone for this migration, no matter which network you use.
Third, I mostly just recommend people to RedPocket anymore. They have SIM cards for all three major networks, most of their plans are the same price on all three networks, their support is about average, they have plans with price points starting at $10/month and up, and annual plans through their Ebay store with a reasonable discount, even if annual billing can be a bit trying to get working depending on the network. As you can see, it's a good one provider for most option. As far as which network to go to between AT&T and Verizon anymore with handset shopping... it's a tough call. They both stink in their own little way.
Verizon's one of only four networks in the world that uses LTE Band 13 and they're actively buying out Tracfone's entire operation, which means the biggest MVNO operator that used to drive lower wholesale pricing from all the major network operators for everyone is now going to be owned by one of those major network operators... however, if you have LTE band 13 on your phone, activation and VoLTE's just gonna work.
AT&T has basically taken the VoLTE switchover as an opportunity to go from one of the most handset friendly and open networks in the nation to bring another network's phone over from to one of the most locked down and unfriendly network through IMEI restrictions, despite their VoLTE/IMS stack being fairly openly compatible from what I've seen.
Lastly, as far as used handset selection, you're going to have a lot more variety on the Verizon end than you are the AT&T end. If you want to try and stick with T-Mobile, you're just going to have to try and stick with T-Mo branded handsets or US handsets
specifically sold with T-Mo VoLTE certification and LTE Band 12 and/or made in 2019 and newer, like you are AT&T, to ensure VoLTE compatibility because all the MVNO IMEI checkers for T-Mobile are basically approving anything with a clean IMEI as working, despite this little hangup with T-Mo VoLTE compatibility.
TL;DR: Buy a newer handset for the network you're specifically wanting to go to since handset portability in this country will (still) be laughable for most anything that isn't a $1000 phablet or made before 2022 (or for anyone wanting to use a custom firmware ROM for their device, such as LineageOS) after everyone goes to LTE-only service. Verizon's the least objectionable of the three with the most used handset variety. RedPocket's got some of the best pricing you'll find and closest to the prices you're used to with Sprint/T-Mo's MVNO fire-sale pricing on both AT&T and Verizon's network.
Red Pocket support is Monday - Friday.
Uhh...(Mon - Sun 5 AM - 9 PM PST)
Their support is Monday through
Sunday, not Friday. It's a weird way to phrase it to an American audience, but that's still seven day a week support.
