Help Me Choose A New Cellphone Carrier
 

Here is a question for cellphone-oriented gearheads (Halm?)

I am looking for the "ideal" mobile phone service. The ideal, for me, would be:
1. To get a Blackberry 8700
2. To be able to use it worldwide
3. To have high-speed data service (like EV-DO or faster)
4. To be able to use the Blackberry as a modem connected to my laptop
5. To have that high-speed data coverage in all major metro areas of the US and at least voice coverage in smaller US towns and rural areas
6. To be able to carry over my current cellphone number.

What do you suggest?

I have Verizon now, great US coverage and I liked the EV-DO, but their phone selection is terrible (still don't offer the 8700) and Verizon-suitable phones won't work abroad (that's what they told me, anyway). I used to have Cingular, that Blackberry worked all through Asia but they didn't have high-speed data and coverage in rural areas was poor (at the time, anyway). A long time ago I had Sprint, coverage was abysmal (but this was 6 yrs ago, things may have changed a lot).

Trying to research cellphone carriers and networks gives me a headache. A couple of good forums/websites would be very helpful too. Thanks!

Cingular is pretty good in my experience. . .

#2 knocks out verizon. I'm on verizon and t-mobile and don't notice that much difference. In major metro areas I think it is a wash. I won't go with verizon again because of cdma.

I don't think there is very much difference. Comes down to which phone you like and who carries it. I stick with t-mobile because I end up using the hot spot service. I may switch to cingular because of a work change.

+1 for Cingular. Used mine in Jamaica with no problems. Was also able to access high speed data through it.

I looked at the coverage maps and international roaming for Cingular and T-Mobile. Cingular seems to have much better coverage for me.

What's the deal with transferring my Verizon number? I have my 510 (Calif) wireless number, anyone know if I will be able to transfer it even though I no longer live in CA?

Quite happy with T-mobile. He have made all sorts of changes to our plan over the past few years, and they always seem to get it right, and do not overbill.

TMobile has international data service. Verizon doesn't. Not sure about Cingular and international coverage, so you probably need to check that.

I am happy with Cingular phone service. My blackberry is T-Mobile (through work) and it's good domestically....

Doesn't shed new light, does it? LOL.

I'm beginnning to think all cell phone companies suck in one way or another. I had Verizon and was happy with the connection quality, but they screw you royally if you go over your minutes. I had several phone bills that were over $200 because the wife and I didn't realize we had used up our minutes. Dumped them because of that and went to Sprint. Sprint has been much better with their billing structure, but the phone quality is not as good as verizon and I get more dropped calls.

I was thinking of switching to Cingular once we move, but apparently somebody here thinks they suck as well. LOL. Maybe I'll just go back to two cans with a string...

It's always reliable...until the wind blows really hard....LOL

T-mobile has (I think) the best customer service, I have never been over billed and they are very nice if you want to make changes to your plan. ( they also have hot representative :D )


Problem is with coverage, reception can vary greatly from state to state, city to city, house to house, room to room.


Best thing you can do is think of where you will use the phone the most and ask people in that area what provider give the best reception.

Just because you can not keep track of your minutes I don't see where this is the cell company's fault. They have this new fangled invention called the INTERNET, and it allows you to check on things like this.

On T-mobile you can text message #646# and it shows you minutes on that billing cycle.

And those coverage maps are okay for seeing what city/state they have some signal (don't all major carriers have coverage in every major city?) but otherwise they are useless... we have nextell at work and you can have five bars at one moment, take a few steps and have no signal.

My Nextel phone always works great for me but the billing department sucks big time. I am always calling to have the billing errors fixed. I wonder how many people they screw on their bill that never check it out. Then they are changing what my plan contains and how it is calculated. They tick me off. I would not recommend them to anybody.

Wow, Mr. Wizard, you sure decided to come and play today, didn't you?

There are certainly ways to keep track of your minutes on the internet, however how many people log on daily to check their minutes? When you have two people using the same account with separate phones the minutes can rack up pretty fast.

I didn't dispute the bill or fail to pay it in a timely manner. I simply chose to go with another service that does not charge you unGodly rates for minutes outside of your plan minutes.

See? And I didn't even need to insult you to post my response, either...