cell phones

[NySportsfan]

hey, I know this site aint ask jeeves, but being that I'm too lazy and drunk to go look it up..........which cell phone service do you all recommend, I've been using verizon, but have heard cingular is better, just want a middle of the road plan, and an average phone dont need the gadgets and that crap, just want the service to work, had some problems with verizons service, cingular could be better, dont know what others are out there, thanks, happy opening day soon to everybody, LOL cant come soon enough to most of us

Mike

 

[grey]

the best providers are generally regarded though region but t-mobile has been nothing but flawless for me.

 

[mjalam]

the best providers are generally regarded though region but t-mobile has been nothing but flawless for me.

i agree, i have t-mobile as well

 

[NySportsfan]

the best providers are generally regarded though region but t-mobile has been nothing but flawless for me.

you guys think the regional plan or national is better...i guess it depends, i think national for me b/c i have relatives and family all over, but dont know how much extra it is, guess it depends....t-mobil works well, good service most everywhere, etc? thanks guys so far

Mike

 

[gman2]

been with t-mobile and have nothing but good things to say about them. very polite customer service people as well. almost too polite, lol.

sprint is a bunch of motherfu/ckers. i think theyre a joke, was totally unhappy with their service and will never refer anyone to them.

 

[NySportsfan]

hey g, nice to hear from you in the general forum, have always appreciated and followed your posts in the various forums, thanks for chiming in man, i'll be sure to avoid sprint.......comes down to t-mobil or cingular I think, didnt like verizon much, found often times I didn't get good service

Mike

 

[TBONEZ0295]

NY sports fan I swear by cingular.........and we are pretty close I go to the shore often and my phone when I cross the bridge into Brigatine Island works when everyone elses doesn't.........even on the beach in the water I also noticed that last year when at Madjacks house "in the middle of no where land" my cingular phone still worked. I remember him saying to me when I went to make a call home that my phone may not work :shrug: but it did. I don't know much about T mobile, but have tried verizon THEY SUCK!!!!!!! + the cingular plan I have IS national with no additional costs for roaming and such!

Do yourself a favor though ..............LOL Insure your phone , its only a couple $$$ extra a month. I accidently dropped my "uninsured" cell in the toilet last week When you sign a contract you get your phone relitively cheap , but to replace it LIKE I HAD TO DO .................It cost me $300 and for what its worth , I don't care about all the extra gadgets either! Just let me call, answer, and collect my messages thats all I need!!!! GOOD LUCK

 

[bjfinste]

It's important to know where you will be in the near future, which seems to be a tough call with you. I always used Sprint at Madison in college with mixed results (there was like a month when service was just horrible, but then they added more towers and it was fine after that). When I moved to South Dakota, I had three months left on my Sprint contract and, despite the fact that I lived in a town right on I90 (the largest interstate in America and a direct gateway to national parks like The Badlands and Mount Rushmore), nothing in the state was included in its "Nationwide" long distance plan past Sioux Falls or up and down I29 along the state's east border. Great. So I had to honor my Sprint contract with a phone that didn't work where I lived, while switching to US Cellular so I could actually have a phone. In all, three months of paying two phone bills.

But then I moved here a year later, and what do you know, US Cellular doesn't service the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Thankfully I had only a 12-month contract with them so I was able to cancel after about two weeks here, but I ended up switching back to Sprint simply because it was the most convienent and, not having a landline at home, I needed a phone asap.

But as you can see, knowing where you'll be living can be a major factor in what company to go with.

 

[Blackman]

NY--- I work for one of the major carriers, but not in the Long Island market (I'm doing market expansion in NYC). Anyway - are you looking for mostly best coverage on the Island? If so, when I go in on Monday I can essentially look at all the charts we have up and see who's got the best coverage out there. And don't worry I won't be pushing our companies product - I see first hand in meeting how poorly we are covered on LI and what a hassel it is to get a bunch of sites built.

 

[freelancc]

I accidently dropped my "uninsured" cell in the toilet last week

 

[NySportsfan]

It's important to know where you will be in the near future, which seems to be a tough call with you. I always used Sprint at Madison in college with mixed results (there was like a month when service was just horrible, but then they added more towers and it was fine after that). When I moved to South Dakota, I had three months left on my Sprint contract and, despite the fact that I lived in a town right on I90 (the largest interstate in America and a direct gateway to national parks like The Badlands and Mount Rushmore), nothing in the state was included in its "Nationwide" long distance plan past Sioux Falls or up and down I29 along the state's east border. Great. So I had to honor my Sprint contract with a phone that didn't work where I lived, while switching to US Cellular so I could actually have a phone. In all, three months of paying two phone bills.

But then I moved here a year later, and what do you know, US Cellular doesn't service the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Thankfully I had only a 12-month contract with them so I was able to cancel after about two weeks here, but I ended up switching back to Sprint simply because it was the most convienent and, not having a landline at home, I needed a phone asap.

But as you can see, knowing where you'll be living can be a major factor in what company to go with.

bjfsnte, you're right. I guess you just have to check everything. Im probably going to end up in NY by the time I change my phone, so I guess I'll have to check all the plans, but my whole family lives in ny or fla, and have some friends in ca, so the national plan is probably the way to go........dont know about us cellular, Ill check it out.....but it can be tricky, hell I can see why south dakota was a problem though, not the biggest of states, but still

tbonez- my friend dropped his phone on the toilet also think he was pretty drunk and it fell out of his pocket, that sucks paying 300 bucks that's for sure, but apparently you've got a good one if works over the bridge, I routinely have trouble w/service in/around tunnels obviously and sometimes on the throgs neck bridge and such

blackman, where in jersey are ya at, north jersey, south jersey? Im about an hour from the meadowlands, w/o traffic of course. Thanks for the offer, I'd be curious of your findings, but you don't have to do tons of extra work as I may be moving anyway, as Ive been posting, I dont know yet....thanks bud, g luck rest of the tourny, Im curious who on the island has best coverage though, verizon is big but I havent been that pleased

Mike

 

[Blackman]

I'm in the northern part of central Jersey if that makes sense -- Union County.

Anyway I'll ask around it won't be a big problem to find out who is covered - I work in site developement so see firsthand who's on what building and what each site looks like.

 

[yyz]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by TBONEZ0295
I accidently dropped my "uninsured" cell in the toilet last week



Do you get "shitty" reception now?

 

[mjalam]

bjfsnte, you're right. I guess you just have to check everything. Im probably going to end up in NY by the time I change my phone, so I guess I'll have to check all the plans, but my whole family lives in ny or fla, and have some friends in ca, so the national plan is probably the way to go........dont know about us cellular, Ill check it out.....but it can be tricky, hell I can see why south dakota was a problem though, not the biggest of states, but still

tbonez- my friend dropped his phone on the toilet also think he was pretty drunk and it fell out of his pocket, that sucks paying 300 bucks that's for sure, but apparently you've got a good one if works over the bridge, I routinely have trouble w/service in/around tunnels obviously and sometimes on the throgs neck bridge and such

blackman, where in jersey are ya at, north jersey, south jersey? Im about an hour from the meadowlands, w/o traffic of course. Thanks for the offer, I'd be curious of your findings, but you don't have to do tons of extra work as I may be moving anyway, as Ive been posting, I dont know yet....thanks bud, g luck rest of the tourny, Im curious who on the island has best coverage though, verizon is big but I havent been that pleased

Mike

haha, i did the same thing as your friend....t-mobile replaced my phone for free since i am a "valued" customer

 

[Mjolnir]

i've had nextel for a while.
very average, but keeping number because of customers.

 

[TBONEZ0295]

quote
Do you get "shitty" reception now?

LOL yup! real shitty !!!!!!!!!

 

[Blackman]

Asked around at work and talked to a few guys that work for other carriers - and hate to say it, but results were inconclusive.

As was said before, different carriers are best in different areas, all pending on their priorities. As for Long Island, there isn't any carrier that I would say has top notch coverage. Due to different reasons (very difficult zoning statutes, expensive leases, resistance from citizens, and not a lot of actual customers comparied to the major cities) Long Island is not the easiest place to put up new sites. All the carriers are currently looking to expand out there, but nothing moves very fast through zoning on the island.

Anyway Nextel and Verizon were given mixed reviews, and AT&T/Cingular is up in the air since their merger. No one is sure how and when their systems will be integrated. Sprint and T-Mobile have a bunch of sites in the works, but as I said before a signed lease today doesn't mean that a site will be on air within the next two years.

Sorry for not having much of an answer, but there isn't one just yet. Good luck with your search.

 

[NySportsfan]

blackman,
thanks anyway bud. real estate assenine on LI, so much red tape, taxes, etc you hit the nail on the head, It's alright, leaning to cingular or If I move to fla alltel, but fkin alltel has some bs things and gives very few minutes, guess its all regional

Mike

 

[smoothie]

Reception all depends on what market / area you are in.

For heavily populated urban centers with a lot of high-rise buildings, you can' t beat CDMA technology (Verizon and Sprint PCS), and even within CDMA carriers, Verizon is a lot better because they use a lower 800 MHZ band vs Sprint's 1900 MHz band.

So, if you are in San Fran or New York City, Verizon is the best carrier. Nextel is next on the list because they also use 800 MHz frequency. (Sprint uses 1900 MHz frequency because Verizon and Nextel has bought the rights to 800 Mhz band before Sprint did). In these areas, Verizon can receive calls inside elevators, in the subways, etc where you would not even get signals from GSM carriers. This is a documented fact and it is based on certain technology limits that relate to the frequency band your carrier is using.

Now, if you are in a more sub-urban area, then GSM carriers (T-Mobile, Cingular, ATT) can be just as good as CDMA carriers. At this point, it comes down to which carriers have more towers in your area to provide coverage. For example, if ATT has more towers in yoru area, they will be better than Nextel, etc or vice versa.

So the answer is, it all depends on where you live. You have to just ask around in your area.

 

[NySportsfan]

good info smoothie, you seem to know a lot more than I about the technology and stuff, it's appreciated as always