So I recently moved away from the iPhone 3G to a Palm Pre, and as a result from AT&T to Sprint. This is something that I never thought would happen but the more time goes by the better I feel about it. To start with, AT&T’s 3G service is a complete joke unless you’re in the middle of nowhere and that place happens to have 3G service which are usually mutually exclusive. Why you ask? Because AT&T’s network is oversaturated with all the new iPhone users hungry for data.

There were many times when I would have a full 5 bars of 3G but the internet would be ridiculously slow to the point where it was useless. Then there were times where the much touted Visual Voicemail was a complete failure and I would get voicemail notifications hours after people left them.

It seems since I left AT&T, things are getting worse, no doubt because of all the new iPhone 3GS customers jumping on top of the already strained network. As TechCrunch stated in a recent blog post, AT&T sucks big time.

While Sprint has its share of problems, the one thing they do have going for them is that their data network, well, it actually works! The best way to quantify this is the fact that while I had the iPhone 3G on AT&T, the most data I ever used in a month was about 50MB. On Sprint, this month alone (and I still have a week left before the the next cycle), I’m already at 1,650MB. Sure, I could have used that much data on the iPhone but in order to do it, I’d have to have put up with AT&T’s crappy data network and by the time stuff loaded I would have probably poked my eyes out with sharp pencils.

So what’s the solution? From what I’ve heard any other carrier except AT&T including Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile haven’t completely dropped the ball with their data network and there’s actually a possibility you can make use of your fancy 3G smartphone whenever and however you want. While I’m still shocked to some degree I went from the #1 US wireless carrier to #3, the benefits are really starting to pay off.

Some other differences include less dropped calls on Sprint (even in bad coverage) than AT&T. Many times with AT&T I’d be sitting pretty with 5 bars of 3G and have a dropped call for no apparent reason. My wife still has an iPhone 3G and sees this occasionally, as do members of my family. I think it’s blatantly obvious that AT&T’s network needs an upgrade on the backend and not just the towers. They just recently upgraded the towers in my area so there’s always 5 bars of 3G (“most bars in most places”) but what good is that when the damn service is unreliable and doesn’t work half the time?!

Notice I didn’t mention anything about devices per se, and compare the iPhone 3G to the Palm Pre since I think that’s just personal preference. Both are excellent devices depending on what you want. At the end of the day, devices are extremely important in deciding what carrier I use but the reality is…devices can only be as good as the network they are on

Although it promises free unlimited storage you have to keep in mind, you are placing all your personal data onto someone else’s servers. I’m sure they have very strict security and access policies but the fact remains is that all your data is out there sitting on a server you don’t own.

It’s excellent for data that is not very personal such as backing up public pictures, maybe some music but I don’t think it’s the best way to go for sensitive personal documents you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands.

For safe, secure and reliable storage you can always go with a USB external harddrive. It’s mobile and you own it…

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