Cell Phone reception experience

[Sigarms]

That may be the reason I will never consider their cell phone service. Over 30 years of poor service has made me sceptical of any of their advertisements.

My wife works in the telecommunication industry as a systems programmer (sp?). She has nothing but horror stories about Verizon and their land line service, which collaborates with your opinion.

Although I've had two phone calls to make to Verizon wireless in eight years (both issues resolved) so far, satisfied. I know nothing about the telecommunications industry, but from what my wife mentions, they (Verizon wireless and Verizon) seem to be two different business entities, or at least on how they handle issues and how they treat their customers.

You would be amazed at how the land line phone industry works, I know I was.

 

[crbr]

Sprint <SPIT >...

 

[tallyho8]

I use my cell phone very rarely but have it mainly for use as a lifeline. In my case it has proven to be worthless for this use. When I am in heavily populated areas where I could easily find help, the phone always works perfect, but when I am off in the boonies, hunting or trailriding, where there is no one around for miles to obtain help from, and when I would really need the phone if a situation arose, there is no coverage.

 

[jdbower]

...when I am off in the boonies, hunting or trailriding, where there is no one around for miles to obtain help from, and when I would really need the phone if a situation arose, there is no coverage.

Might I suggest the ultimate lifeline phone? Works everywhere (except for Cuba). I bought one for South Korea and Japan (neither of which have GSM networks) as well as just the neatness of being able to call someone from anyplace on the planet.

From a terrestrial mobile phone standpoint, the East Coast used to be run by Verizon and the south/midwest by Cingular/AT&T. With the recent mergers (Verizon+MCI, Cingular/SBC+AT&T plus the Sprint+Nextel merger) I have had very few issues in most spots with Verizon (old Motorola v60) or Cingular (newer CrackBerry). I think Verizon has a try-and-buy, you may want to give that a shot if you've got another provider since the network will have more to do with reception than the phone in most cases.

 

[Diesel-ME]

I recently switched from US Cellular, who has decent coverage in most of Maine, to T-Mobile. The one and only reason why I left a decent carrier for one that largely depends on roaming partners for rural coverage is their new HotSpot @ Home service. I have excellent cable Internet service at home, but no digital phone availability (Vonage, cable digital phone, etc). So we had been using the landline for LD calling. Meanwhile cell phone reception at my house is on the edge of usefullness...sometimes you drop calls and often times it's not great quality.

The HotSpot @ Home service is new as of late July and I LOVE it. You have to get one of their few WiFi capable phones and it connects up to your home WiFi and makes/takes calls via WiFi as opposed to cell radios. So we now have 100% perfect cell coverage at home. And better yet all WiFi use is unlimited - it does not count against your plan minutes. When you are out and about you can scan for free WiFi and use it too. You could even travel internationally and lock on to free WiFi and make free calls (to the US). All Starbucks (not that I go there) have T-Mobile HotSpots that are free when you are on this plan. I have WiFi at work too, so basically I use no plan minutes all day at work and all evenings/weekends at home. Plus I will eliminate $20-$30 a month in landline LD costs (gonna remove LD on the landline so no one can "accidentally" use it.

They have an informational site at: T-Mobile

~paul

PS - no I do not work for T-Mob... just like this new service for rural use!

 

[Phils]

Thanks, Tdog, for starting the thread.

I've had my two phones a LONG time.... they are hardwired in each car with an antenna and have 5 watts of power, vs the 1/2 watt of new phones. I get out better than any other person I know when we are in the hills. At our remote archery range, people use my phone to call their wives so they know the archer got there safely.

But all good things must come to an end. Verizon says they will no longer support analog phones after Feb '08, so I gotta find a phone and plan by then.

I quit whining about it tho, since a friend has learned that as of Feb '08 she's gotta buy a new car if she wants to still have OnStar.

I've had Verizon for decades (PacBell cellular then AirTouch, IIRC) but have no particular loyalty to them. My wife has a digital phone with them and there's an ATT/Singular store next door.

So far I've learned to get a Nokia or Razor. Before I get anything I'll take 'em on loan to try coverage in the locations I frequent.

Keep the comments coming.

Phil

 

[Tdog]

Phils - - how old were those phones?

You've got a good approach, if they will let you try-before-you-buy. The other suggestion is to talk to others from your vicinity, or whereever you will be needing your phone.
One thing I learned, after the fact, is that you can get better deals by going to the ATT wireless website you can find better deals on phones than you can by going to a store. - - or for that matter, Walmart! I would do that if I could do it all over again, especially once I knew what I wanted.

Jack

 

[milkman]

Anybody used the online places to get free phones like wirefly.com and such to get newer phones or sing up for phone srevice, I've used them once to update to a free Razr, and also for three other family members and had good luck.

 

[jinman]

Sprint <SPIT >...

...= Embarq?

 

[JazzDad]

My cell phone works pretty good, some days, under the Bar-B-Q shed. (You'd think the metal roof would impede signal.) I get excellent reception if I climb about 25 feet up the TV antenna tower.

 

[Phils]

Phils - - how old were those phones?

You've got a good approach, if they will let you try-before-you-buy. The other suggestion is to talk to others from your vicinity, or wherever you will be needing your phone.
One thing I learned, after the fact, is that you can get better deals by going to the ATT wireless website you can find better deals on phones than you can by going to a store. - - or for that matter, Walmart! I would do that if I could do it all over again, especially once I knew what I wanted.

Jack

Don't remember for sure, Jack. I'm guessing 16 or 17 years. Cellular was new. My wife had recently broken down and walked in the rain to a farmhouse from the freeway to use a phone (new to us '87 Taurus). Saw an ad for a used Motorola "bag phone" for $50 and had them install it. It was defective and after trying for a week to repair it they just gave me a brand new one for what I'd already paid. The new ones were selling for $300. Bought the second a year or two later for my truck. Been paying $25/month for both phones since (NO minutes included).

Verizon has been trying to get me to change for years: "Phil, 8-tracks are history. Beta tapes are too. You NEED a digital phone and a better calling plan!" I called a few times. "Nope, no plans even close to $25/mo for two phones". Obviously I don't use them much or the per minute charge would've made switching a better deal. For many years I've understood that if one or both broke, there'd be NO getting them repaired.

Like tallyho8, a lifeline phone might be good for me but, like tallyho8, it probably wouldn't get out when I needed it. I live in the hills and travel out of range of the little phones.

I've also found great deals on the net but have months to decide. I've been figuring that around Christmas some better deals will probably start appearing. Or maybe I'll just go without and borrow my wife's phone on occasion.

So keep the comments coming! The ATT store said they'd lend me one for a few days to try coverage.

Phil

 

[Diesel-ME]

Incidentally, any cell phone (not sure about the old analog ones) can be used for 911 dialing, even if the phone is not activated or under contract. I believe it's federal law. Of course you have to be able to get a signal AND the emergency has to be 911-worthy.

I found this out when a neighbor who worked with an abused women's shelter asked if I had any old cell phones I'd like to donate. I was glad to get rid of the numerous older but working digital phones that I had. They simply hand them out for free for 911 use I guess. In fact if you are sitting on a cache of them now - this is a great way to make use of such resources!

~paul