Cell Phone Service Surveys

Overpaid Slacker · 12-09-2004, 12:32 PM

I've had AT&T, BellAtlantic and now, Sprint. Living in NYC, Sprint was the least bad; AT&T was constantly too "busy" and the BellAtlantic equipment was abyssmal.

I know different people in different areas rave about a particular service provider for that area -- ie Cingular might be great in the DC-NYC-Boston corridor, but pretty much sucks if you're not on the coast, whereas AT&T has better coverage "inland". Some companies invested in infrastructure and tech. in certain geographic areas more than others, so that makes sense.

I'm pretty fed up with Sprint now. It has next-to-no coverage on the shore (where I live, which is doubly fabulous) or upstate NY, where I spend a lot of my time.

Before I switch, I was wondering if Pelican knows of a site that rates cell service provder satisfaction by region. I'm all about cool toys and getting a neato cell phone, but I'd rather carry around last year's model and have it freaking work than have a sleek looking little trinket suitable only for hurling into the nearest wall when it lets me down for the nth time.

TIA,

JP

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

I have Verizon and am very satisfied with the service. I had AT&T and they were horrible.

concentric · 12-09-2004, 01:10 PM

I have great coverage with Verizon, but their billing shenanigans and the fact that they sell replacement equipment to existing customers at about 40% more than they charge new ones really pisses me off.

Halm · 12-09-2004, 01:45 PM

I am sure you know that Cingular and AT&T have merged. It is my understanding that they will make appropriate technical changes in January so that the two networks will really be one system. Theoretically, that should improve coverage.

But you nailed it when you described the carriers in your area. It is an area by area decision. FWIW, my wife is now with Verizon and I switched from AT&T to CIngular. Between the 2 phones, we can now go pretty much everywhere and have coverage.

jrdavid68 · 12-09-2004, 01:46 PM

http://onlinestore.cingular.com/html/Maps/nation_GSM_map.htm

RickM · RickM's Garage

I've had ATT for many years and it always was a poor performing network. Between the less than ideal cell site saturation and older technolgy it was a bear to deal with. I switched to Verizon two years ago and it is much better. Not perfect but much better.

EdT82SC · 12-09-2004, 02:00 PM

Try consumer reports. They did a survey of tens of thousands of cell phone users that was published earlier this year. I'm sure you can get the results on their web site (once you pay the anual fee). I find the web site so useful for purchases most every month that I pay for the web site plus subscribe to the paper magazine.

Oh. The results, as you would expect, varied by area, but the company that came out on top in quality of service in most areas was Verizon. You should check for your own area though.

RickM · RickM's Garage

Ed, Great suggestion. This led me to go to www.Epinions.com, which is free. I like it because people don't hold back on their opinions of products or services.....

Seven services in the NYC area:

http://www.epinions.com/elec-Comm-Mobileservice-All-New_York

Overpaid Slacker · 12-09-2004, 02:34 PM

Ed --
You know, for some reason I'd been putting off getting a CR account, buy everytime I ask a question like this (even if it's just to myself -- where am I going to find good comparisons) I think of CR.

So I just subscribed. $26/year. Big deal. I'm sure I'll get a lot more than $26 out of this info.

I just wish they tested high-end audio gear and did comparisons of a dozen different turbochargers in 930s. THEN it would be priceless!

JP

lendaddy · 12-09-2004, 03:21 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all the Cell companies share towers now? I mean the change in coverage would be "reception power" right? Atleast this is what I was told. Perhaps one brand of phone has better reception than another?

EdT82SC · 12-09-2004, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lendaddy
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all the Cell companies share towers now? I mean the change in coverage would be "reception power" right? Atleast this is what I was told. Perhaps one brand of phone has better reception than another?

It doesn't seem to work that way. My wife has Verizon. She gets great reception at our house. I have Cingular. I get no reception downstairs, and one bar upstairs. My sister in law has AT&T, and she gets nothing at our house (might change with the Cingular - AT&T merger). The contractor we had doing our remodel has Sprint. He got nothing in the house upstairs or down, but he could get one bar if he went across the street.

SLO-BOB · 12-09-2004, 05:12 PM

T-mobile and Nextel totally suck. Bad coverage-bad policys.

vash · vash's Garage

sprint sucks. unless you are not moving.....at all.

Moneyguy1 · 12-09-2004, 10:49 PM

We travel a lot in the southeast and the west, in areas where the deer and the antelope are the only mammals for miles. Verizon has been quite good at providing usable service even in remote areas of the west.

Overpaid Slacker · 12-09-2004, 10:52 PM

lendaddy -
The companies actually use different technologies to carry signals (TDMA, CDMA, GSM, etc.) and the transmission media are not necessarily compatible.

That's why a given serivce will work well in one area and not at all in another.

JP

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

I lost my cellphone (subsequently found it) and my friend gave me a like-new phone. I called Verizon, transferred the old phone number and activated the new phone and Verizon didn't charge me anything to do it. Not bad!

island911 · 12-10-2004, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Overpaid Slacker
lendaddy -
The companies actually use different technologies to carry signals (TDMA, CDMA, GSM, etc.) and the transmission media are not necessarily compatible.

That's why a given serivce will work well in one area and not at all in another.

JP

The thing is, that in addition to those digital standards there is the old stand-by, AMPs(Analog mode) and are also frequency standards (800, 900, & then 1900Mhz for sprint)

So, for good coverage, you need the right phone (one that can go-analog) and has the most standard frequency (not sprint, last I checked). Then, if your primary can't give coverage, there will be another cell-site ready to pick it up.

I've had great coverage with Verizon coupled w/ an upper-model Motorola.

Overpaid Slacker · 12-10-2004, 08:20 AM

It looks like Nextel and Sprint are close to merger agreement.

Logistics could be a problem, as Nextel uses the 800 freq's and Sprint is at 1.9. We'll see.

JP

lendaddy · 12-10-2004, 08:21 AM

Interesting JP I didn't know that. From a scientific standpoint, which transmition method has the best range? Which the best quality? Etc...

island911 · 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lendaddy
. .. From a scientific standpoint, which transmition method has the best range? Which the best quality? Etc...

That would depend more on base-station equipment, antenna placement, and even the handset, than which freq is used.

. . .does an FM radio-station sound better, depending on which end of the dial?