I just quit SprintPCS due to poor reception/signal in my area. I'm
trying to find a cell provider with service in my area. Sprint PCS
claimed that they did. It was poor. I've learned I can't depend on
the maps for correct coverage info. I don't do anything extremely
fancy or sophisticated with the phones, just calls and voicemail (much
more voicemail talking with SprintPCS).
My wife and I need two phones with about 600-700 minutes.
We like the little flip-phones, color screens not necessary.
Getting a decent signal indoors is important (SprintPCS was poor about
this, everyone in my office gets calls on their phones, mine just go
straight to voicemail).
I had Voicestream/Tmobile for two years, but I moved and they don't
have coverage in my area. I didn't get ticked at them because I knew
beforehand, and that's ok. They did give a crapload of minutes, but
it looks like their area hasn't changed.
I dropped Sprint because they kept dropping my calls in an area where
they claimed to provide service.
I don't trust the store personnel, so I thought I would ask you guys.
It LOOKS like most of the other providers (Cingular, AT&T, Nextel,
Verizon) have coverage in my area, which is a little North of Dallas.
However, I've learned that all the maps have holes here and there and
I fully expect the salesman to tell me I'll have no problems whether
he knows or not.
What do you guys think? Any helpful tips or shopping advice?
Mark F - 21 Aug 2003 21:41 GMT
justin@cjteam.com (justin) wrote in article
<886c066.0308211157.52fc50d2@posting.google.com>:
> Getting a decent signal indoors is important (SprintPCS was poor about
> this, everyone in my office gets calls on their phones, mine just go
> straight to voicemail).
Why don't you ask the people in your office what providers they are on
and how the service is? Sometimes an opinion from another consumer is
worth its weight in gold!
> I dropped Sprint because they kept dropping my calls in an area where
> they claimed to provide service.
That's not new as there a lot of unhappy Sprint users on this board.
> I don't trust the store personnel, so I thought I would ask you guys.
It's kind of like walking onto a used car lot going into some of those
wireless stores..lol
> It LOOKS like most of the other providers (Cingular, AT&T, Nextel,
> Verizon) have coverage in my area, which is a little North of Dallas.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> What do you guys think? Any helpful tips or shopping advice?
First off no service provider can give you 100% coverage as I'm sure you
know. They all have their areas where they are supurb or they are
really bad.
800 MHz has much better penetration into buildings than the providers at
1900 (Sprint being one of them) so if you can, research what other
providers, other than NEXTEL who is all ready on 800, serves your area.
Maybe you can get some test phones for a few days to see if they get
into your work complex and places that you go on a regular basis.
Mark
Michael Arends - 22 Aug 2003 16:14 GMT
> justin@cjteam.com (justin) wrote in article
> <886c066.0308211157.52fc50d2@posting.google.com>:
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> That's not new as there a lot of unhappy Sprint users on this board.
Except this isn't a 'board'.
Steven J Sobol - 21 Aug 2003 22:59 GMT
> I don't trust the store personnel, so I thought I would ask you guys.
> It LOOKS like most of the other providers (Cingular, AT&T, Nextel,
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> What do you guys think? Any helpful tips or shopping advice?
a) Ask neighbors in your area which cellular provider they have and how that
company's service works for them.
b) Ask around in the newsgroups.

Signature
JustThe.net Internet & Multimedia Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Proprietor
888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net
John S. - 22 Aug 2003 00:32 GMT
>What do you guys think? Any helpful tips or shopping advice?
Well, just North of Dallas I haven't had any problem with Sprint PCS, AT&T WS,
Cingular, or T-Mobile.
South and East where I live T-Mobile can be removed from the above sentence.
Where do you work? It might be a good idea to see what your co-workers are
using and then maybe borrow their phone overnight to see what the coverage is.
Otherwise you are just going to get a lot of answers luke I just gave you and
as you can see I haven't had any problems all the way up to McKinney and North
a little.
--
John S.
e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net
Donald Newcomb - 26 Aug 2003 16:09 GMT
> What do you guys think? Any helpful tips or shopping advice?
If you want to avoid service holes, find out who the two 800 MHz
cellular A & B side carriers are in your area and get service from one
of them, including nationwide digital and analog roaming. It may be
more expensive than going with one of the PCS carriers (e.g. Sprint,
T-Mobile) but you will be buying the advantage of a ten-year head
start.
Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net