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Darren in Millsboro, Delaware listens on Delaware 105.9 FM WXDE and asked: "A question regarding Verizon discontinuing the 4G support for phones. I currently have one of the old flip phone style Samsung Gustos from 2-3 years ago. I'm curious to find out how I can determine if I have a 3G phone or a 4G phone. And what is your thoughts on the new StraightTalk network that Walmart offers, vs. buying a smartphone from Verizon and doing the pay-as-you-go option?"

 

Darren, the Samsung Gusto 3 was a a CDMA200x1 phone and as far as we know there hasn’t been a Gusto 4. That means that you’re looking at a 3G phone. The next generation of the chip in the Gusto 3 never came to be because Qualcomm decided to just move on to LTE instead.

As far as Straight Talk vs buying a new Verizon phone, you will probably save money on Straight Talk and have better service on Verizon.

Straight Talk is a discount brand that rents space on other companies’ networks, so you if you bring in a Verizon phone, you’ll be using someone’s CDMA network. Straight Talk’s deal will make it second tier within the network, though, so you will get slower data than you would on a dedicated network. Obviously, that won’t be very significant for the type of phone you’re using, the concern will center more around dropped calls, and dropped calls don’t usually happen if the signal is solid.

If you don’t want to spend money on a new phone, Straight Talk may be worth considering for the kind of use that you seem to give cell phones, but also keep in mind that Verizon doesn’t intend to shut off the 3G and 4G services until December 31st of 2019, so you still have some time to look for a plan that you’re comfortable with. There’s no need to rush towards any choice you’re not fully on board with at this point.

 

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