NFB:Need a new cell phone carrier, any opinions?

[Cerwin Vega Fan]

Right now I have a Virgin Mobile slider and it just flat out sucks. I received the phone as a gift so to be nice I use it but with a pre paid phone you always have to watch how much you talk. So now I'm looking for a normal carrier. As of right now I'm looking at Sprint, T-Mobile , Verzion Wireless, and Centennial Wireless. I was looking at Cingular but their customer service pissed me off to the point where they will not get my business even if they gave air time away for free. I was hoping to get some opinions from some of the people here that use (have used) these carriers. I don't need a big plan so odds are it will be in the $30-40 area.

Thanks for the input,

Chris

[Copernicus]

Cingular used to be a pain so I switched to AT&T but got sucked back in with the merger Actually the customer service lately has been great and I am quite happy with my service. Plus it helps that almost everyone I know was either AT&T or Cingular. Only service I ever had a complain with was T-Mobile. A former friend 'borrowed' the phone and made a few hundred dollars worth of calls and after three attempts to close my phone line they finally did but charged me for an additional two months afterwards for calls she was still making

[94 formula]

I had ATT for 2 years and got screwed a few times and was ready to switch to Verizon until I looked at the cingular plan and decided to stay for one more year and see what happened. I've had cingular for 3 months now and am very happy with them the only thing is if you text message at all get the $3 a month for 100 messages since they charge you 10 cents for every outgoing and incoming message. Also I get better service in my area than any of my friends with other providers.

[FlyerPoot]

Score one for Verizon

I've been using Verizon Wireless for two years, and haven't had a problem at all. I'm in Florida on the plan where you can call from anywhere in Florida without roaming charges. $49.99, plus tax and other government fees and such which takes you up to about $60. I get 800 minutes a month and free nights/weekends. The only time I ever went over the minutes was when Ivan hit Pensacola (my mom lives there).

I have a Motorola T720. I'm pretty happy with it but lately it's been a battery hog. I have the "New Every Two" option where you can get a new phone (up to $100) for free every two years, or you can use the $100 credit towards the purchase of a new phone. So I might see what they've got.

It's time to renew my contract, so they said if I signed up for another two years I'd get a month free. I don't have any reason not to, so I will.

[jerrysta]

I work for Cingular, and if you had a bad experience with our service that really dissapoints me. I have been in the industry a long time and have worked for AT&T as well as Sprint and now Cingular. I have to say Cingular has been awesome. They give us a much better way to handle issues that come up and give us the ability to handle it instead of handing people off to customer service.

Plus, since we bought AT&T we have the largest network in the country and we are the biggest and fastest growing carrier.

Our prices beat Verizon,too.

I think you will be dissapointed with Sprint or T-mobile because the networks they have are very limited.

If you have any questions let me know.

[Coop '02Z]

I second Jerry's opinion, I work for SBC and have seen the changes he is talking about, they have really turned things around. They have some really good phones too now that they have the AT&T options as well as theres.

[Christopherrr]

Been with Verizon for 5 years...no problems what so ever. Not the best phones in the world...but at least you'll know they'll work when you need them the most.

My office has three different carriers and it seems Verizon comes out on top.

They get my pick...

[Z Ya Later]

I disagree about Sprint. I've had them for over 3 yrs. now and have never had a problem that wasn't resolved quickly and easily. On top of this, since I''ve been with them for a while, I receive 5% off my bill every month (yes, its only a couple bucks, but its still a couple bucks I don't have to pay ) and my night minutes start at 8 PM for free. For under $60/month, I get only 300 anytime minutes, but also get unlimited night and weekend minutes, unlimited PCS-to-PCS calling, unlimited data minutes (wireless web), unlimited picture-mail, unlimited text messaging and amazingly-clear calls. The voice quality is WAAAAAY superior to GSM-based services (call me while I'm driving and see if you can tell ). Verizon is good from what my boss says, he has yet to have a major problem (did experience an annoying problem where he would get callers going straight to voicemail instead of the phone ringing while the phone was on). If you travel outside the US, then obviously you'll want a GSM-based service. But, if your travels are within the US, I highly recommend a CDMA-based service and recommend Sprint to everyone.

[Christopherrr]

I disagree about Sprint. I've had them for over 3 yrs. now and have never had a problem that wasn't resolved quickly and easily. On top of this, since I''ve been with them for a while, I receive 5% off my bill every month (yes, its only a couple bucks, but its still a couple bucks I don't have to pay ) and my night minutes start at 8 PM for free. For under $60/month, I get only 300 anytime minutes, but also get unlimited night and weekend minutes, unlimited PCS-to-PCS calling, unlimited data minutes (wireless web), unlimited picture-mail, unlimited text messaging and amazingly-clear calls. The voice quality is WAAAAAY superior to GSM-based services (call me while I'm driving and see if you can tell ). Verizon is good from what my boss says, he has yet to have a major problem (did experience an annoying problem where he would get callers going straight to voicemail instead of the phone ringing while the phone was on). If you travel outside the US, then obviously you'll want a GSM-based service. But, if your travels are within the US, I highly recommend a CDMA-based service and recommend Sprint to everyone.

Sprint is very good overall...cust service is strong and billing is easy, but their actual service isn't that great. Lots of service issue and drop calls...it could be the area I'm in, but their service isn't that good.

[Z Ya Later]

Sprint is very good overall...cust service is strong and billing is easy, but their actual service isn't that great. Lots of service issue and drop calls...it could be the area I'm in, but their service isn't that good.

That's strange. I actually get better service than most others around me in most areas. I have noticed some problems in certain cities and such, but with the merger between Sprint and Nextel I'm sure that will clear up as well.

[Gary94Formula]

Consumer reports just rated cell service and Verizon was tops in all categories. It depends on where you live. Go ask each service provider to give you a phone for a day to test with. Then go to all the areas you normally travel to and test the service. Be prepared to leave a deposit until you return the phone. I've had Verizon for 4 years and it's by far the best in the Rochester, NY area.

[MN6WS6]

I'm in the business too, and I have phones with both Alltel and Cingular. Cingular's customer service flat out sucks, period. I've been with them for 8 years and I try my hardest not to ever have to call them. I spent 4 days back and forth with them on the phone about their screw-up (trying to bill me $1,000 phone bill when they entered the rate plan wrong in the first place). They also haggle you over phone prices (I'm sorry, but if you've been an 8 year customer, the least they can do is give you a $49.99 phone for free). Nothing but problems with them. The only reason I keep them is because my brother is in Auburn and my mom is here in Mobile, and they're one the family share plan (which is cheapest with Cingular) and they have rollover (which only Cingular has). They also have a good Nokia phone that works with the 4 car kits I already have.

Alltel has been pretty good, but Alltel is dependent on it's local coverage area. Which brings me to the whole purpose of this post.

Who you choose should be based solely on two things: coverage area for the places you travel, and service. Verizon is king for service, no question about it. BUT, you need to go to your local cell phone providers and ask to see their REAL coverage map, which they have in the store, sometimes not in a place that customers can usually see. They have a map that is updated usually quarterly, that shows tower locations for their local coverage area, and all the "grey" areas and just flat out no signal. You need to see that map to see if it has no signal in areas that you travel. This map also has estimated tower build and turn-on dates to fill holes in the future. This is the ONLY way you can really determine who will be best for you.

Perfect example is here in Mobile. We have a lot of carriers here, and Cingular pretty much has a strangle-hold here, but Alltel has the better coverage area. Cingular has holes here that are in some of the busiest parts of town, yet Alltel maintains full bars all through the city and through most of the county. There are also some outlying towns and cities where Alltel is that Cingular has no service whatsoever. I suggest you take a look at the real service area maps for your local providers and then determine who's the best. I'd rather pay a little more for better coverage than go cheap and drop calls all the time.

As far as phones go, I use ONLY Nokia and Motorola. I've never had a bad Nokia phone, as a matter of fact, the 4 I've had all had 300-400 hours on them and never had to go in for service. My Motorola I currently have with Alltel is 3 years old, and considering it's my business phone that I use every day, that's a long time for a handheld phone to hold up, especially with what I do for a living (installing 12 volt electronics). If you go with Motorola, stick with the workhorses. The old V60i was a good phone, but the V60X2 that replaced it sucks. The 720, P270, and 120e are all good phones. I can't vouch for the reliability of the new bluetooth 700 series phones, but I have a couple of customers that have several of them and love them.

[jerrysta]

I have to say that your feelings about a particular company will vary depending on where you live and their coverage in that area. My experience of 7 plus years working in this business has told me a few things about each.

Sprint will have cheap prices and some cool phones and easier credit approval but they will have the worst coverage of the major companies. I don't mean to say these guys with Sprint are lying because where they live Sprint may be great, but the fact is among the major carriers they are among the worst as far as coverage, and let's face it, coverage is the bottom line. You want your phone to work when you need it. I worked for these guys, internally they knew it was a huge issue. Why did they decide to use a proprietary frequency (PCS) for their network knowing they would have to build the whole thing? If they would hve went with standard CDMA they could have got roaming agrrements with Verizon, Alltel and other regional companies.....makes no sense. Also, don't expect the merger between them and Nextel to do much....they are both smaller companies and it will take at least a year for the merger to be approved.

Verizon used to be the biggest. They are still quite good, with roaming coverage that kicks to analog outside of the CDMA network. Their plans aren't very good, and you have to be careful with the fine print....for example...for their IN network mobile to mobile calls you had better carry a second map to show that area since it differs from your normal calling area. The phones choices leave a lot to be desired. Also be prepared to use A LOT of analog service, so no caller ID, etc.

Cingular in my mind is the best. Our rate plans are among the cheapest, we have the largest selection of phones in the industry, our plans are all nationwide to avoid roaming and LD fees, our service in my experience has been excellent, we have the largest network in the country ( that is a provable fact ), and we have the most updated technology.

A couple of other things........every independent report I have EVER seen has rated our voice quality as the best. This has been proven numerous times. The GSM netwok is used as the standard system in 80% of the world for a reason.....usually the asian and european countires are way ahead of us on technology and still are, but at least now we have the same network available here. The only advantage of a CDMA network is it's abilty to hand-off to analog. That's it. It's a proven fact that GSM is the best network.

However, best FOR YOU wil depend on where you live. That's the way it has always been in wireless so really there is no right answer to this question, you have to research your own area.

I do encourage you to try Cingular, though, of course

I welcome any questions you may have.

[Z Ya Later]

A couple of other things........every independent report I have EVER seen has rated our voice quality as the best. This has been proven numerous times. The GSM netwok is used as the standard system in 80% of the world for a reason.....usually the asian and european countires are way ahead of us on technology and still are, but at least now we have the same network available here. The only advantage of a CDMA network is it's abilty to hand-off to analog. That's it. It's a proven fact that GSM is the best network.

That's kinda strange, because everyone I talk to on Cingular always compliments me on the voice quality of my phone and service (btw, its a Treo 600). GSM is used the world over because to upgrade that large of a scale of a wireless network to an actual 3G CDMA network would be expensive, thus the reason Sprint went with a CDMA hybrid. GSM will be phased out and replaced with CDMA accroding to many computer networking analysts, professors and aficionados. GSM wasn't built to handle much more than voice communication, whereas CDMA is designed around voice and data communication. There's still a bunch of Pentium 2 and 3 machines in use at the workplace simply due to the cost of replacing them vs. the budget available. Sprints coverage in a variety of areas isn't the best, yes. I have experienced this going to my parents' houses, but I still had decent signal theless. Cingular does have some perks to it (mainly the roleover plans), but I have not seen any reason to recommend them or switch to them from my experience and the experience of others. Take care everyone.

[jerrysta]

I don't want to get into an arguement about phones but Steve your info is completely wrong.

GSM supports the fastest DATA downloads and more DATA capabilites than any other system. Check the facts, they are available anywhere. We have phones that you can watch TV on through an internet connection. I am not aware of anyone else who has this ability. Our GPRS and EDGE data systems are the fastest available.

GSM will not be phased out. We own 44,000 cell sites with another 4 billion dollars of network build out planned this year. I appreciate all of us trying to help a fellow board member but if we are to argue points other than whos customer care sucks we should stick to factual information instead of what some computer networkers think. This is just completely false info.

BTW Europe and Asia use GSM because it is the most CURRENT and ADVANCED technology. They had already switched FROM CDMA and TDMA to GSM because it was newer and better. You see, they are 5-6 years AHEAD of where we are. Over there with their GSM equipment they can view TV and play internet based games on their phones. Heck, you can walk up to a vending machine and buy a coke with your cell phone. I can appreciate your own personal experience but it is hardly a rating of an entire network and your info on the systems is completely off.

Check the numbers of customers cancelling their accounts....

Take care