I am looking into getting a local cell phone (my mother is repossessing the one I have had since I was 17). I am wondering what company around here has the best range and coverage or if there are any I should be wary of. Right now I have cingular, and I don't have ANY reception inside my house, GRRR. I would like to avoid this happening again, so please, if anyone can give me some advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

i've been extremely happy with my US Cellular service. good rates too- my plan is 1100 anytime minutes, and free nights and weekends for $30/month.

Also, by law cellular companys have to give you 72 hours to return your phone and get a refund on your service so you might try it out and see if the reception is good. I would also shop around for the different price plans and coverages. If you have ANY tech questions or what not, I'll be happy to help. I worked for US CEllular for 4 years so I know the lingo.

we use and really like cricket.

and i happen to be a (subcontracted) engineer for Nextel (EXPENSIVE service - but arguably the best customer service in the industry) if you want to know anything about them....

I'm sure they are all comparable. I use Verizon, and I've been please with it. I live out in bumfuck and manage to get a signal. Plus they've got the new unlimited calls to other verizon users which is pretty cool. Free nights and weekends and such...

i have att which i have been very happy with. the range is awsome and everywhere i have visited from new orleans, florida, north caroline and virgina has had service. i have unlimited long distance, free nights and weekends after 8p.m., unlimited incoming and 400 anytime min for 45 a month. i only have 40 min, but i have never gone over that with the unlimited incoming.

i use sprint and have been pretty happy with it.

I've heard that cingular sucks nards. But I get a discount from them.

Not that I'd ever own an electronic leash. But still.

I dig Verizon....so far i've only found one place that i didn't have a signal, which is about a mile from my house...for perhaps 1000 radial feet there is no dignal....however i have also been in the mountains of kentucky and the curves of north carolina and had perfect reception....

I use cingular and love it......the only time i dont get a good signal is the bridge to oakridge in Solway and deep in the recesses of ACn where I am encased in concrete..........otherwise I really like mine....not getting reception could be a problem with your phone too...at which I advise that I had an shitty motorola and I went through 4 of the same model....every 4 months it would die. they finally gave me a good one and the only problems I have out of it now are a result of dropping/throwing it in anger Like I said I have cingular and I got reception in your house...(Wayne called me....) The company is VERY customer friendly but BEWARE OF THE MALL MERCHANTS

ok, I think I am going att, thanks for your input!!

ms.tangledwebs wrote:ok, I think I am going att, thanks for your input!!

eeek!!
no!
Don't go with AT&T Wireless what ever you do. First off, they are being bought out by Cingular, which will make them an unequalled goliath of bad customer & technical support. Soon they will be known as AT&Tingular, that funny feeling you get when talking to their CS.
AT&T had the highest churn rate in the top 6 companies in the industry, loosing 367,000 customer in the first quarter of this year. There are good reasons for that too.
They have major coverage gaps in any territory not considered a major metro area, and anywhere they do have good coverage, they have major capacity issues. They were the last to implement WNP (wireless number portability) of the top 6 (because their senior-level tech-support is full of condescending pricks, half are knowledgeable, half are incompetent) and the main company to be affected by it, with their customers taking their CTNs to other service providers like crazy.
They are TDMA and their Phones suck. Even if you get a TDMA phone now, you will need to buy a GSM phone soon, they still offer the Nokia 516x, their plans are confusing. On top of that anywhere they deploy their GSM network overtop their TDMA-Digital Network, both screw up royally.
Go with U.S. Cellular. Our service is CDMA, which is leaps and bounds better, and we offering great deals right now on Promos.
Or do what you will.

WOW! Zeo, I think that was the most caring post on the baord since I've been on it. I could se that you honestly didn't want Ms. Tanglewebs to get screwed over.Very very nice of you.






* OK actually I have to get a cell phone as well, so I'm just glad you said that, so i wouldn't get screwed over, but the wole Ms. Tangledwebs thing was a good bit*

The problem I've got with US Hellular is that they don't have data service. I'm probably going to dump them soon if they don't get it.

Their roaming setup is nice, though - as long as you're in your coverage region (mine is the 10 state plan) it doesn't matter what carrier you're actually using - there aren't roaming charges. I don't know if new phones have the feature I use all the time, though - my phone will allow me to manually switch carriers.

Sprint and Nextel are terrible. The features are nice enough - but the coverage area is crap. Never take a Nextel into Kentucky. It won't work.

Most people I know who have AT&T are happy with it - but if you go with them be sure to get a GSM phone. If you want to use it online, get a Bluetooth phone - it's really nice to be able to put your laptop online without having to plug in a cable.

Verizon is probably where I'm going if US Hellular doesn't add data service - but I'm holding out for bluetooth CDMA phones. Motorola is supposed to be shipping one soon.

I use US Cellular and have been pleased with it. But I don't have a single around parts of Lenoir City. [Excue my poor spelling, I'm highly medicated right now]

DarkVader wrote:The problem I've got with US Hellular is that they don't have data service. I'm probably going to dump them soon if they don't get it.

U.S. Cellular does have "easyedge" which is BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) which is technically data service. It allows the ability to download ringtones and games, check popmail, access to mapquest and various other applications.
Granted it's not true streaming internet on your phone, it still comes in handy.

Zeo wrote:

DarkVader wrote:The problem I've got with US Hellular is that they don't have data service. I'm probably going to dump them soon if they don't get it.

U.S. Cellular does have "easyedge" which is BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) which is technically data service. It allows the ability to download ringtones and games, check popmail, access to mapquest and various other applications.
Granted it's not true streaming internet on your phone, it still comes in handy.

I find internet ON my phone to not be a very useful concept. When I've got a laptop that does real internet with a real keyboard and trackpad sitting anywhere close to the phone, I think I'd find it completely infuriating to have to use a telephone with a tiny screen and numeric keypad to access the net. I don't think it would be worth getting a new phone to access it, and I don't think it would be worth the monthly charges.

I actually very nearly put a rant about "easyedge" in the last post. I saw it on the uscc web site when it was released, and I got excited - until I discovered that I couldn't use it with a computer. then I was pissed that there wasn't a big red flasing "WARNING - DOES NOT WORK WITH A COMPUTER" on the first easyedge page, and I wasted nearly 15 minutes to find the line in the FAQ that said it wouldn't work.

But at this point I'm probably not going to dump them until:

A: I really have to have data service. The first time I find myself really pissed because I can't get to the net and I need it, and there happens to be a Verizon store nearby, I may switch.

B: I have to get a new phone. I have an Audiovox CDM-4500. I also have 3 batteries for it. So, when those batteries finally die, I'm likely to replace the phone. Of course, nobody makes a phone that I really like to replace it - even the CDM-4500 is a bit small for my tastes, and newer phones are all SMALLER. Am I the only person on the planet who thinks smaller cell phones ARE NOT BETTER???

C: I need to make a change to my service. My family has all our phones in a group account, under my father's name. During the last service plan change, somebody at uscc got the bright idea to put a password on the account. they didn't bother to tell anybody what it was. Now, if somebody who works at uscc wants to either tell me what it is, or just delete it from the account, without my father having to make a trip to knoxville with 50 forms of ID, this reason would go away.

The data service is the big reason I'll switch, though. They have some time to fix it before I'm ready to switch, so if REAL data service is in the pipeline (preferably with a bluetooth phone) let me know. I've had a us cellular phone and the same phone number since the '80s.

Do you mean downloading applications with a computer onto the phone? If so, there are USB cords for newer phones and there is software out there that can be used to do so. I have them on disc.
I would recommend an LG-4400 or 6000.

Verizon over here!