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Cellular Phone Forum / General / General Topics / July 2003Best Overall US Coverage ?
My old cell phone just bit the dust and I need to replace it pretty quickly, hence my question. I tried Google but didn't get much useful information. I live in Southern California and travel throughout the country, mostly in the western US. Which provider will have the best overall coverage throughout the country, including rural areas? I have used AT&T in the past, but it's been nearly three years so I'm curious if things have changed. Thanks for any advice. -- Magnusfarce > My old cell phone just bit the dust and I need to replace it pretty quickly, > hence my question. I tried Google but didn't get much useful information. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > -- Magnusfarce Verizon Wireless is probably your best carrier for rural states and areas. It depends on the state. Alltel is probably a distant second, but has better coverage in select spots. It depends on your travel patterns. Hopper I don't think it matters who has the best coverage. I have service with a carrier who only has a network in MS and parts of S AL, & NW FL. However, the plan I have is nation-wide. I've only every been in one spot (about 20 miles off Key Largo) where I had any problem using that phone. It's the plan, coverage and services offered for what price, not "How big is your network?" that decides if it is a good value. -- Donald Newcomb DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net Remove 'NOT' from address to reply > My old cell phone just bit the dust and I need to replace it pretty quickly, > hence my question. I tried Google but didn't get much useful information. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > -- Magnusfarce CDMA systems cover more territory than TDMA, GSM or iDEN, and analog covers even more. IMHO you're best off with a CDMA carrier, a dual-mode, dual-band phone and a no-roaming-charges plan. I think Verizon has the best service, and surveys show they have the best coverage. >My old cell phone just bit the dust and I need to replace it pretty quickly, >hence my question. I tried Google but didn't get much useful information. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > -- Magnusfarce -- Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. >CDMA systems cover more territory than TDMA, GSM or iDEN, and analog covers >even more. IMHO you're best off with a CDMA carrier, a dual-mode, >dual-band phone and a no-roaming-charges plan. How about something to back up your claim that CDMA systems in the same band either cellular or PCS does better than TDMA or GSM? Air interface doesn't have anything to do with the territory covered. Distribution of transmitting towers and frequency used determine how well a signal propagates. What does air interface have to do with it? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group >>CDMA systems cover more territory than TDMA, GSM or iDEN, and analog covers >>even more. >How about something to back up your claim that CDMA systems in the >same band either cellular or PCS does better than TDMA or GSM? 1. I did not claim what you stated. I claimed more CDMA coverage, not 'does better', whatever that means. Please reread the original quote. However, for folks who will not do their homework, Network Magazine stated US users, CDMA major carriers: 41 Million served US users, GSM major carriers: 26 Million US users, TDMA major carriers: 20 Million US users. iDen carriers: 8 Million >Air interface doesn't have anything to do with the territory covered. Mostly true, especially in urbanized areas. However. GSM and TDMA time out at a specific distance from the tower, CDMA/IS-95, CDMA2000, iDEN and AMPS do not - so you get more range from a tower in isolated areas, which is kinda neat if you have a flat tire in East Jesus, Nevada. That's another reason I find TDMA and its bastard stepchild, GSM, lacking. >Distribution of transmitting towers and frequency used determine how >well a signal propagates. What does air interface have to do with it? I was using 'CDMA' as shorthand for 'those carriers who have selected CDMAOne and CDMA2000 as the most appropriate and most spectrum-efficient modulation system'. It's undeniable that those carriers have more coverage and more customers than TDMA or GSM. Nothing prevents T-Mobile from hadding Big Daddy in Bonn provide more credit and invest that in more towers and better coverage. The technical limitations of GSM and TDMA (although well documented) pale by comparison to the decisions of the carriers who use them to provide as much coverage as the CDMA and analog carriers do. iDen's a dead horse, and its major carrier, NEXTEL, has announced it will be replaced by CDMA2000. TDMA's a dead horse; all TDMA carriers are planning to migrate to other systems. GSM's a dead horse; whether the upgrade bath is through EDGE or W-CDMA, sooner or later, the 3G conversion will require folks to surrender their old handsets and convert to a CDMA-based system. Oh, and in the one nation where W-CDMA and CDMA2000 sell side-by-side, despite a head start, CDMA2000 radically outsells W-CDMA. <http://www.mobileinfo.com/News_2002/Issue25/KDDI_DoCoMo.htm> CDMAOne (AKA CDMA/IS-95) users can work on a CDMA2000 system, because backwards-compatability is built in. But, that's what you get when you use a system designed by a small group of engineers for profit, rather than a large group of PTTs and politicians who tell engineers how to do their work. -- Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. >>Distribution of transmitting towers and frequency used determine how >>well a signal propagates. What does air interface have to do with it? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >appropriate and most spectrum-efficient modulation system'. It's undeniable >that those carriers have more coverage and more customers than TDMA or GSM. Well, you should have known better than to use your "shorthand" when CDMA can be interpreted as the current incarnation of CDMA or CDMA2000 or W-CDMA. Since clairvoyance is an acquired skill you might think about saying exactly what you mean. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Replies are seldom read. Please reply in the group >>>Distribution of transmitting towers and frequency used determine how >>>well a signal propagates. What does air interface have to do with it? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >>appropriate and most spectrum-efficient modulation system'. It's undeniable >>that those carriers have more coverage and more customers than TDMA or GSM. >Well, you should have known better than to use your "shorthand" when >CDMA can be interpreted as the current incarnation of CDMA or CDMA2000 >or W-CDMA. Since clairvoyance is an acquired skill you might think >about saying exactly what you mean. Well, tell you what. You poll the users of this group, provide them my entire mesage with no editorializing, and see if _they_ understood it. I believe the context of 2G systems (i.e., "CDMA systems cover more territory than TDMA, GSM or iDEN") made it perfectly clear to the readers here. That's especially true in the context of the original poster's question about what he could choose; he can't very well choose W-CDMA, because it ain't a viable choice in the US, unlike the other aforementioned systems. Oh, yes, can we also have a show of hands, since you've raised the red herring of W-CDMA, to see how many W-CDMA users there are here? Flung that fish right back at ya, didn't I? -- Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT. On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:37:04 -0700, Joseph <joeofseattle@yahoo.com> >How about something to back up your claim that CDMA systems in the >same band either cellular or PCS does better than TDMA or GSM? Air >interface doesn't have anything to do with the territory covered. >Distribution of transmitting towers and frequency used determine how >well a signal propagates. What does air interface have to do with it? Technically there is that 35km limit for GSM due to time delay. > Technically there is that 35km limit for GSM due to time delay. It can be doubled to 70 km by halving the capacity. In the areas where you'd want one tower to cover a 140 km diameter (70 km each way), the loss of capacity is hardly an issue. Besides, 0.6 watt CDMA is vastly inferior to 3.0 watt AMPS, which is what one should really be using in such places. Interestingly, GSM 850 is 2.0 watts. Jim |
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