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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / ATT Wireless / August 2005Switch from AT&T to Cingular network
I was previously an AT&T Wireless customer. I know that I'm now part of the Cingular "network". My wireless coverage sucks when I'm inside of my office or my home, but some other people (other providers) have no problems. Someone suggested to me that AT&T sucks and Cingular is better, and that just because I'm using Cingular's "network" does not mean I'm getting the same coverage as real Cingular users. Something to do with using a different frequency? I'm not a wireless guru, so I'm not sure if it's true or not. Can anyone shed some light on this? Can I switch to a real Cingular plan and get better coverage? Thanks, Scott > I was previously an AT&T Wireless customer. I know that I'm now part of > the Cingular "network". My wireless coverage sucks when I'm inside of [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Thanks, > Scott Which handset are you using ? If it is a single-band then this may-be due to the phone. Where are you ? Some markets are 800Mhz orange and 1900Mhz blue (orange is old cingular towers and blue is old AT&TW towers). Your handset / plan maybe TDMA vs GSM which depending on location could effect coverage. Last which AT&T plan you have and it's cost may effect the change to orange, some people have a great deal like unlimited peek min they can not get from a new Cingular plan. >>I was previously an AT&T Wireless customer. I know that I'm now part of >>the Cingular "network". My wireless coverage sucks when I'm inside of [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > some people have a great deal like unlimited peek min they can not get from > a new Cingular plan. Nokia 3100, should be GSM, and I'm in the Houston, TX market. I have a family plan with two phones, XXX anytime minutes, free between phones, and free nights and weekends. It's pretty recent, so I'm not sure if it's flagged as an AT&T or Cingular plan (I would need to check my bill to see what it says). Is there any truth to the fact that I could get on a different (better) network if I was somehow on AT&T and did a real switch over to Cingular? Thanks, Scott > Nokia 3100, should be GSM, yes GSM and US model covers 850/1800/1900 bands , eazy to unlock with free caculator from : http://unlock.nokiafree.org/ If unlocked you can try sims from t-mobile and cingular the prepaid sims are cheap on ebay. >and I'm in the Houston, TX market. I have a > family plan with two phones, XXX anytime minutes, free between phones, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > on a different (better) network if I was somehow on AT&T and did a real > switch over to Cingular? No, you should get about the same service , you will need to shop around for better plans. You didn't give enought info to compare your current plan to current cingular plans but you can do that at www.cingular.com . Try t-mobile to see if they have better service at your home and office. Also try Verizon and or Sprint, your phones will not work but you should be able to get new phones. >> Nokia 3100, should be GSM, > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > be > able to get new phones. easy t-mobile street coverage maps are at http://compass.t-mobile.com Make an imformed decision! >>>problems. Someone suggested to me that AT&T sucks and Cingular is >>>better, and that just because I'm using Cingular's "network" does not >>>mean I'm getting the same coverage as real Cingular users. Something to >>>do with using a different frequency? I'm not a wireless guru, so I'm > Nokia 3100, should be GSM, and I'm in the Houston, TX market. I have a > family plan with two phones, XXX anytime minutes, free between phones, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > on a different (better) network if I was somehow on AT&T and did a real > switch over to Cingular? I'm also ATT (sometimes known as "Cingular blue" <grin>). I have a Motorola V180, which for ATT is quad band 850/900/1800/1900. I started with ATT TDMA & was about the only one, then, who got signal inside my office. When I needed to switch to a national plan, I also switched to a GSM ATT plan & phone. There was some degradation in signal due to the differences between TDMA & GSM. But I get Cingular (old ATT) coverage inside the building, Cingular Wireless (real Cingular) outside the building. There have been roaming agreements between ATT & Cingular for at least 5 years, if not longer. So, either one should give you equal coverage. on the older 32k sims. If you switch & get a newer 64k sim, I've read that it includes some tower load balancing logic which could put you on a tower with lower signal strength because that tower had a smaller load from phones in the area. According to Phonescoop's specs, the 3100 is triband, so you've got both of the US gsm bands. So, that's not your problem. You didn't say what other phones & carriers got better coverage in your office. Both could make a difference. As can the construction of the building. GSM is notorious for losing signal in block or brick buildings, which is why some large buildings &/or companies have invested in repeaters in their buildings for sales force use, with others benefitting. Before I moved to my present home, I had much better in home cell signal because most of the buildings were wood (some with siding) & lots of windows. My present home is in a brick duplex, surrounded by more brick homes, on the side of a hill -- none of which contribute to good cell signal. :-) If I'm inside my home, I can move my head very slightly & lose incoming audio. My roommate fairs a little better because he has a couple of large windows in his room. If it's Sprint or Verizon that have better signal in your area, then you need to remember that they use different cell technologies, which means you'd have to get new phones. And where else you'd be using the phones.-- both are US or North America only. Only GSM has any chance of foreign coverage in a large number of areas. And, even in the US, different carriers vary in coverage quality in different areas. Many of the Cingular plans are comparable to the ATT plans, but switching would lose you any extra promotional minutes you may have. Lots to keep in mind. HTH Bill K > I'm also ATT (sometimes known as "Cingular blue" <grin>). I have a Motorola > V180, which for ATT is quad band 850/900/1800/1900. I started with ATT [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > longer. So, either one should give you equal coverage. on the older 32k > sims. I'm also Cingular blue, and I also have a V180. Within the last couple of months, something very drastic has happened with my service. Cingular has done something, but won't own up to it. And it's not just me; it's all over the country. Just to go Cingular's support forums (access them from your blue customer login main page) and you'll see. > I'm also Cingular blue, and I also have a V180. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > support forums (access them from your blue customer login main page) and > you'll see. Well, I see a mix of no problems & service degradation problems. Also a mix of total misinformation about the nature of service & some good information. I'm not fully convinced that all of it is Cingular's fault. There's not enough info to support or deny that theory. Besides the factors I mentioned in my previous message, there are five others I can think of. Battery life is one. An older battery in a phone will not hold a signal as well. Also, since cellular technology is basically radio transmission, service will vary with the season & the weather. As will your location in relation to the towers. And different phone models/brands will vary in how good reception is. Also whether you're gsm or tdma. If, at the point I needed to switch to a national plan, the cost of staying with tdma hadn't been so exorbitant, I'd probably have stuck with my Panasonic Duramax. My particular reception problems at home began when I moved (over a year ago), getting only slightly worse with the change to gsm. And reception is better off-summer, as it always has been with any cell phone in any of the locations I've lived. Nothing to indicate any devious moves by Cingular, but rather technological issues that are not beyond expectations based on the nature of cellular & gsm technology. Where I work is about 18 miles northeast of where I live. And it's in an area that has always been notorious for spotty coverage from all carriers. Our service & sales people all use varying carriers. Some get no signal inside our building, others have varying success. Cingular & Verizon customers seem to do better there than any of the others. And Cingular has actually improved coverage. The glitches, again, are nothing beyond what might be expected of radio & gsm technology. The one exception being a two day period when I could make calls inside our building, but not outside. A call to CS got a comment that there were no known problems. But, with location information, etc., the problem was gone 24 hours later. ;-) When I switched to a gsm national plan, I took a trip to Las Vegas for a wedding. A few of us, along with some local friends went to see some of the desert sights. My V180 had better coverage than any of the others (Verizon & T-Mobile). I had clear signal when the others were having problems. So, at least for the Baltimore & Las Vegas locales, I see nothing that tells me I need to change, except maybe wanting to "upgrade" my phone. I'll have to see what happens when I visit northern New Jersey, again. Bill K > > I'm also Cingular blue, and I also have a V180. > > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > phone models/brands will vary in how good reception is. Also whether > you're gsm or tdma. Let's see: I tried both my phone and my wife's phone with my SIM in it. Same thing. (both V180s) Then I had Cingular send me a V551. I put my SIM in it. While signal strength was better, call handling was not. I got the same behaviors at the same locations, regardless of signal strength. In fact, it may have been worse: at one point I was on the phone when the call dropped. I looked; 5 bars of signal. I sat there and waited for the other party to call me back. Two minutes later, I got a voicemail signal. Yep, it was the other party who tried to call me back but MY PHONE NEVER RANG. Went right to voicemail instead. And this with 5 bars. So this is THREE phones exhibiting the exact same behavior. I didn't use the V551 long enough to see if it, too, waited 1.5 hours to signal me with a voice mail waiting ring like what happened a couple weeks ago on my V180. I signed up with ATTWS last June, and I've driven all over the state, and was VERY happy with the service--until about early May, when things changed DRASTICALLY for me. Cingular has done something. > Let's see: I tried both my phone and my wife's phone with my SIM in it. > Same thing. (both V180s) Then I had Cingular send me a V551. I put my > SIM in it. So, you've tried two phones of the same model & three from the same phone manufacturer. In the same or similar locations. All with similar results. Could Motorola phones have a problem in your location? > So this is THREE phones exhibiting the exact same behavior. I didn't > use the V551 long enough to see if it, too, waited 1.5 hours to signal > me with a voice mail waiting ring like what happened a couple weeks ago > on my V180. See above. > I signed up with ATTWS last June, and I've driven all over the state, > and was VERY happy with the service--until about early May, when things > changed DRASTICALLY for me. > > Cingular has done something. Well, other than the two day glitch I saw at my office, it's not happening in Baltimore. So, it could be any of the things I've mentioned (including the above). Or, perhaps, Cingular is doing something in selected locales. But remember that summer reception is always worse, just because of atmospheric changes. I'd be more inclined to agree with your assessment if that doesn't improve by mid October. Bill K > > Let's see: I tried both my phone and my wife's phone with my SIM in it. > > Same thing. (both V180s) Then I had Cingular send me a V551. I put my [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > manufacturer. In the same or similar locations. All with similar results. > Could Motorola phones have a problem in your location? The reason I tried the V551 was because in one spot, inside a building, I get "no service" on my V180, yet in the same spot a colleague with a new V551 spent an hour and a half on a conference call. It's not the brand of phone. I've been telling you, this behavior did NOT occur prior to May of this year. Prior to May of this year, I got plenty of calling ability in my basement, down my street, all along the major highway I travel for two hours, and so on. Right about the beginning of May, it all changed drastically. It's not the phone, trust me. It's not the individual phone, it's not the model of phone, and it's not the brand of phone. > Or, perhaps, Cingular is doing something in selected locales. > But remember that summer reception is always worse, just because of > atmospheric changes. I'd be more inclined to agree with your assessment if > that doesn't improve by mid October. I opened this account June 8, 2004, and had amazingly superb service from then--all the summer of 2004 included--until early May, 2005. I'm hanging on hoping that it's just part of the transition, and that things will improve. I'm also hanging on because it's one helluva deal on the plan I have, and can't come even close to being matched under the current pricing structure, even with the corporate discounts I get. But a few more months of service like this, and I'll move to Verizon. >Which handset are you using ? If it is a single-band then this may-be due to >the phone. Where are you ? Some markets are 800Mhz orange and 1900Mhz blue [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >some people have a great deal like unlimited peek min they can not get from >a new Cingular plan. He is on the old AT&T Wireless which likely means that he has a dual mode/dual band handset unless it's very very old. - - The networks are one in the same, it really does not make a difference if you have an ATT SIM or Cingular SIM. Cingular will want you to switch to one of their SIM cards, if you want to alter your plan in any way, so it will make bookkeeping easier for them to have all customers on Cingular SIM cards. A friend of mine who was on ATT wanted to upgrade his plan, and was told that he had to switch to a Cingular SIM and get a new handset, since his Nokia 6820 was locked to ATT. I simply unlocked his phone, went to a Cingular store, and got him a new SIM card. No need for a new handset. Hope I helped! -Nick >I was previously an AT&T Wireless customer. I know that I'm now part of >the Cingular "network". My wireless coverage sucks when I'm inside of my [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Thanks, > Scott >The networks are one in the same, it really does not make a difference if >you have an ATT SIM or Cingular SIM. That's *not* true. Frequency band issues aside, ATTWS (blue) handsets will only roam on the Cingular (orange) network if there is no "usable" ATTWS (blue) network signal, and vice versa, even with ENS. Thus in any given location a blue handset may get much better service than an orange handset, and vice versa. >Cingular will want you to switch to one of their SIM cards, if you want to >alter your plan in any way, so it will make bookkeeping easier for them to >have all customers on Cingular SIM cards. It's much more than that -- among other things, the new ENS handsets and SIMs make it possible for Cingular to manually change the "home" network (blue or orange) OTA (over the air), thus giving subscribers the better network coverage until the two networks are integrated. >A friend of mine who was on ATT wanted to upgrade his plan, and was told >that he had to switch to a Cingular SIM and get a new handset, since his >Nokia 6820 was locked to ATT. I simply unlocked his phone, went to a >Cingular store, and got him a new SIM card. No need for a new handset. Sure, but (band issues aside) no ENS, which can be a significant disadvantage, as I explain above.  SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> > The networks are one in the same, it really does not make a difference if > you have an ATT SIM or Cingular SIM. > Cingular will want you to switch to one of their SIM cards, if you want to > alter your plan in any way, so it will make bookkeeping easier for them to > have all customers on Cingular SIM cards. Actually, it depends on the market. In market that had only ATTWS or Cingular, that is true. However, in market that had both, Cingular is in the process of moving the ATTWS infrastructure over to the Cingular network. I was just in Minnesota, and I noticed that Cingular is now broadcasting at 310-410 instead of 310-380, and native coverage seems to have improved upon the old ATTWS footprint. It alsmost seemed like Cingular was filling in some GSM dead zones. TH > I was just in >Minnesota, and I noticed that Cingular is now broadcasting at 310-410 instead >of 310-380 310-38(0) is the MCC/MNC that AT&T Wireless used. - - I'm in your shoes too. I've recently done quite a bit of research on this topic. I own TWO Nokia 3100 phones. The phone that came with my ATTWS service is a 850/1900 MHz dual band phone. I just bought a second Nokia 3100 because I cracked the display on my other one. Nokia2 is tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz. ATTWS was a big user of the 850 band (No, not the 800 MHz band as some people erroneously say), while Cingular originally exclusively used 1900. Cingular now uses both bands (at least in TX) thanks to the merger. Yes folks, it's true. You get different performance depending on which band your phone is using. When I place my two Nokia 3100 phones side by side, the one broadcasting at 900/1800/1900 loses the network, while the one at 850/1900 holds the network perfectly. Long story short, you get better performance on Cingular (at least in TX) with a dual band 850/1900 phone because Cingular uses both bands. Therefore, when you lose one frequency, the other holds on to the network. >I was previously an AT&T Wireless customer. I know that I'm now part of >the Cingular "network". My wireless coverage sucks when I'm inside of my [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Thanks, > Scott >ATTWS was a big user of the 850 band (No, not the 800 MHz band as some >people erroneously say), No, they are not erroneous. 800 and 850 are the same "cellular" frequencies. In case you didn't know sending and receiving is not exactly 800 nor is it 850. Before you speak "authoritatively" you should first check your facts! - - > No, they are not erroneous. 800 and 850 are the same "cellular" > frequencies. In case you didn't know sending and receiving is not > exactly 800 nor is it 850. Before you speak "authoritatively" you > should first check your facts! Ok, Joe from Seattle. You're right, I'm wrong. Can't we all just get along? 800 AKA 850. But this much is true and "authoritative". Where I live. You get better Cingular reception with a 850/1900 phone than with a 900/1800/1900 phone. >>ATTWS was a big user of the 850 band (No, not the 800 MHz band as some >>people erroneously say), [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > - - >But this much is true and "authoritative". Where I live. You get better >Cingular reception with a 850/1900 phone than with a 900/1800/1900 phone. And your point is? (There is one yes?) - - >ATTWS was a big user of the 850 band (No, not the 800 MHz band as some >people erroneously say), It is actually 800 MHz. The term "850" is just to distinguish GSM from TDMA 800 -- the frequencies are the same. >while Cingular originally exclusively used 1900. For GSM, but not for TDMA, which it had in many areas. >Cingular now uses both bands (at least in TX) thanks to the merger. Cingular used both bands pre-merger, depending on location. >Yes folks, it's true. You get different performance depending on which band >your phone is using. When I place my two Nokia 3100 phones side by side, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >because Cingular uses both bands. Therefore, when you lose one frequency, >the other holds on to the network. What's different is the 850 band -- 1800 isn't used in the USA. If you have a handset that also supports 850, then you *may* (or may not) get better coverage and performance than a handset that supports just 1900, depending on the specific location. SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> |
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