| Author | Message | ||
| sdh3 Rating: N/A |
What is the best cell phone service to cover the US. We currently have Cingular in Texas, and it looks to have great coverage in Texas and all the eastern US, but sparce coverage out west. I spoke with Sprint, and they said that if their towers dont cover, they use others, making their coverage broad. But how well does it work when its not actually their tower? | ||
| John Jewett (Jayjay)
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They are all liars...there is not a cell service in the United States that has the quality of service that they claim, and with a weak signal they all cross connect on whoevers cell tower is the closest. Choose whichever is the cheapest for the time frame you will access the most, and cry at the high bill and terrible service. Jeers..JJ | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
I don't know how Verizon Wireless's west coast coverage is (they're always adding to their service area), but I've had Verizon Wireless for a number of years. Always near perfect connections, even when other people with other companies complain of "no service".. We have the $79.95 America's Choice plan, with an additional phone (and number) for my wife (an additional $9.95 per mo). That plan provides 1,000 minutes of prime time. Nights and weekends free. All calls to all other Verizon Wireless subscribers are free, 24/7/365. The phone service will let you know before it goes to "roaming". I have yet to "roam", in any state between Massachusetts and Florida. I use the package to access the Internet also (at high speed access). It uses the same time allotment and free-bees as a normal call. | ||
| Mike (Busone)
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The companies I always worked for provided us with Verizon. I was very pleased with the service. I always had good service from Denver to Portland. My mom has Nextel and my dad has Qwest (Qworst) and they both have random service. Neither of them get a signal in most of Wyoming or Idaho. | ||
| Roy Strickland
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Personally, I'd have to mention Sprint. However, in mentioning Sprint, I only do so if the user is willing to fork over the $5/mo. for the expanded coverage area..... I love it.. It gives you like half of your package minutes in roam for free. (Probably only roam if you are in the boonies.... I love my phone, it's been good for over a year now! I used to install satellite dishes for Dish Network for about 5 years, and I went through several carriers and several phones.) I can't really say so much about any of the other carriers anymore, with all of the mergers and such. But, I give Sprint a thumbs up if you are willing to pay for the Expanded coverage. One more thing, I almost forgot... Look for a multi-band/mode phone and that will help to insure maximum compatibility with multiple networks!!!! | ||
| Kyle Brandt (Kyle4501)
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I drove from South Carolina to Montana & always had a signal from verizon when I needed one. The quality of phone makes a big difference in reception too. For me, there's been plenty of times when I was the only one with a signal. On the rare times that I couldn't get a signal, no other carriers could either. In my opinion, if you can't get a signal when you need one, you're wasting money on the wrong phone plan. Verizon seems to be the best for coverage if you're traveling all over. If you're just traveling regional, others may have better plans for your needs. Best of luck! kyle4501 | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Awsome cruiser, Kyle! | ||
| Gary Carter Rating: N/A |
I have had sprint for about 3 years now and have been a happy camper. You asked about data and I feel and have yet to be proven wrong that sprint has the best data coverage. You have to be on the sprint network for it to work, but when you are are it will have at least twice dial up speed. You can't do data when roaming. You pay a flat fee per month ($15?) and no minutes are used. I probably average 2-3 hours a day on the system. I can provide more information if needed. | ||
| Kyle Brandt (Kyle4501)
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John MC9, Thanks! kyle4501 | ||
| Craig (Ceieio)
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I have Cingular here in Oregon (Was Celluar One before the AT&T wireless buyout before the Cingular buyout). Celluar One was great, but that was analog days. The coverage is pretty spotty here on Cingular. I can get a clear signal on my OnStar line when my Nokia is a flatliner. I have friends with T-Mobile that can get signal when I can't. As an example was calling a buddy from the shore of the Columbia to bring the boat in (Sturgeon were biting) and could not get a signal. Called him from OnStar and he came in. I held his phone next to mine at the dock and his was working fine and mine was not able to contact the tower. Happens often. I think I will go over to T-Mobile and try the number portability thing. I am expecting that number portability will be on Dante's 3rd or 4th layer of hell but... Craig MC7 - Oregon | ||
| niles steckbauer (Niles500)
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We are thinking of going from Nextel to T-Mobile primarily in Florida - any comments on their service ? - Niles | ||
| Mike (Busone)
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Like I mentoned before I don't care for T-mobile. My mom and wife have it here in Denver and service is spotty. My moms phone is a cheap POS and I figured that was the problem. Me wife got a quality phone and still has spotty service. When the contract is up we will get Verizon again. | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
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I always hesitate to jump in on these discussions, because the debate tends to be a religious one. However, since confusion is rampant, I'd like to, at least, clear a few things up. First, let me establish some credentials by saying that, before I retired in 2001, I was an executive in the telecommunications industry, having started my career in the Bell System back in the day, and having played with the very first cellular system in the world (the AMPS project at Bell Laboratories in Illinois). In the 23 years since AMPS was unveiled, the cellular wireless market has undergone many changes. The changes fall into three broad categories: technology, cooperation, and marketing. Marketing considerations dictate that it is flatly impossible to get the answer to your underlying question by asking the carriers. The name of the game in the industry is market share, and the carriers will do anything they can to attract it, then keep it. Many of the plan changes in the last year are direct responses to increased turnover due to mandated number portability. Accurate coverage maps are closely guarded trade secrets, and they are simply unavailable to you. The technology involved and the number of cooperative agreements a carrier has inked are the two largest factors that will determine the national coverage footprint of your phone. The single best coverage technology in the country is still AMPS, also known as "Analog." This is the oldest technology, and, like it or not, there are still quite a few rural areas where the only tower available is an AMPS tower. The carriers desperately want to phase AMPS out altogether, but two things keep getting in their way: 1. They will alienate (and lose) some number of customers who are served today by an analog-only tower that will not be replaced for some time and 2. the federal government has mandated continuance of AMPS coverage for a period of time. The mandated date is a moving target -- some carriers are still saying 2006, however the feds just *increased* the mandate from 2007 into 2008 (the carriers do not want you to know this). If you had asked me last year, I would have told you *unequivocally* that Verizon Wireless has the best nation-wide coverage. That's because they have an extensive digital network using the CDMA technology (more on this in a moment), and plenty of cooperative tower agreements with other CDMA players, but, more importantly, they also have an extensive AMPS network, plus cooperative agreements on the analog side as well. HOWEVER, analog roaming was killing Verizon ever so slowly, and they have, effective February of this year, TERMINATED access to both analog service and off-network digital roaming for all new accounts. To put it simply, the marketing end of things has trumped the technology end: you can no longer get a plan from Verizon that will let you roam off-network or make analog calls. Period. You can buy a "pay-as-you-go," also known as pre-paid, handset on the Verizon network that will still let you roam, for, of course, a much higher per-minute charge. **If you absolutely need the best nationwide coverage from a single handset, this may be the best way to do it.** I expect, now that the market leader has done it, the other carriers to follow suit in fairly short order. Back, for a moment, to technology. There are basically three digital technologies in use in the US, in addition to the analog technology. They are CDMA, TDMA, and GSM. I won't try to get into these here, but you can certainly look them up. These three digital technologies are not compatible with each other. When you buy a handset, it most likely will use only one of the three. If you are lucky, the phone will also have AMPS capability. Don't be fooled by marketing hype such as "Tri-mode." That usually means that the handset can use its one digital technology on both high-frequency (e.g. 1900 MHz) and standard-frequency (e.g. 800 MHz) towers, as well as analog on 850 MHz. (There are starting to appear multi-technology handsets, very expensive, targeted at business users who must be able to move their handsets across networks.) GSM is the most widely available technology *worldwide*, but is the *least* available here in the US. That will likely change, but it is coming very slowly. GSM has a much shorter transmission range than either of the other technologies, so it requires more towers for the same coverage footprint. I think you can see the difficulty in this. If you buy a new handset today from Sprint or Cingular, it will be GSM. For Cingular, if you are lucky, you can find one of the transition handsets that also support TDMA, which will give you better coverage at least during the transitional phase-out of TDMA (I do not know what their policy is on activating these). Until the GSM network gets up to the coverage levels of the xDMA networks, you will find digital coverage on these networks to be spotty at best. Sprint and Cingular, thus, are still relying on analog as a fall-back, and will for some time. **This MAY make these phones a better choice, right now, for nationwide coverage than Verizon, who has blocked customer access to analog signals.** TDMA was a losing technology that is now being phased out. DO NOT under any circumstances get a phone with TDMA as the only digital mode. So, long-winded bottom line: 1. This stuff changes daily -- the right answer today will NOT be the right answer in the future. Maybe next week, maybe next month, or maybe next year, but it WILL change. 2. Verizon WAS the hands-down winner for national coverage, and the no-longer-available National Single Rate plan was the best you could get. Today, this is unclear. 3. A Verizon pre-paid MAY be the best single-handset choice for national coverage. 4. Verizon is still the best for digital coverage. 5. Cingular has the best national coverage today on a handset that supports TDMA, GSM, and AMPS. I do not know if you can still buy and activate such a handset. 6. Sprint is a distant third, and NexTel is an even more distant fourth. T-Mobil doesn't even figure into the equation -- it targets its service strictly at urban hipsters with data-enabled devices; rural coverage is non-existant. 7. You MUST buy a new handset -- the FCC will not permit new customers to be activated on any network unless the handset is enabled for GPS location information, which rules out most handsets older than a year or so. Hope this adds some clarity, or at least causes you to question some of what you may be hearing from various sources. -Sean | ||
| WA David (Wacoastmci)
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I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile about three years ago. The T-Mobile features that I liked at the time were: national plan coverage, no roaming charges ever, no charge when doing family calling, internet hot spots and more understandable monthly bills than Verizon. Now, Verizon adopted similar plans, but the no-charge family calling is greatly expanded to include anyone else on Verizon (but only from a Verizon tower!). Verizon has the best coverage out west, by far, where we live and travel. From what I understand, Verizon bills remain as confusing as ever, however. T-Mobile data using an air card is flat monthly fee, (don't use it now, but I think it was $19 per month) but it was slow like dial up. T-mobile hot-spots like at Starbucks work great and are very fast, but, of course, you need to go to Starbucks, or at least to their parking lot. Verizon users can use their cellphones with proper cabling for wireless internet access (minutes count on your billing) or you can get a Verizon wireless air card but their monthly charge is something around $79 per month for unlimited data. I believe you must also be a Verizon cell-phone customer to use the aircard, so we are talking $150 per month for both. T-Mobile has been OK, but we often do not have coverage in rural areas and campgrounds, when others with Verizon do. We will probably make the switch back to Verizon with reluctance, due only to coverage out west, and use the data connection via phone only (no aircard) to access internet when travelling. I do want to check out Sprint/Nextel before making the change however. | ||
| WA David (Wacoastmci)
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Update to the previous message...visited a Verizon store an hour ago to discuss their service, particularly internet access via cellphone while travelling. They have a 10mb/mo plan for $24.99/mo and an unlimited plan for $44.99 per month. Speed is 60K to 80K with burst to 144K. In some of the larger cities in US, speed is 400K to 700K. Both data plan charges are in addition to whatever rate plan you are using for cell phone voice. You cannot buy/use just the data plan, you need both. | ||
| B"H"M (Dragon)
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If you stick to the free nights and weekends for computer use the Verizon works well I have been known to use 3000 min a month comp time on my verizon with no extra charges over my normal bill | ||
| R.C.Bishop
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Verizon, hands down. Been with them since 1996 with *very* few problems....all of which were resolved easily, and near 100 percent in my favor. Took a trip to Nova Scotia last fall and had very few blind spots...some roaming, of course, but no complaints. FWIW...  RCB '64 Crown Supercoach (HWC) | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Correction- The Verizon America's Choice plan includes data calls. The connection to their "VZW" high speed network does not carry an extra charge; it uses the same minutes as provided in the plan. You -will- have to buy the connection cord (phone to pc) and the software, either from Verizon, Radio Shack, or any other source. There is no extra charge for the use of their service; it is treated as any other call. | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
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RC, Your experience would be very different if you subscribed today. Just to clarify my earlier remarks: the plan you are on is *not available* to new subscribers. There is *no roaming allowed at all* on America's Choice for new subscribers. In the past, if you strayed from Verizon's own network, your phone would indicate "Roam" and you would still have service, albeit at a per-minute charge. Today, in that same situation, your phone will now simply indicate "No Service," even though there may be a perfectly good tower within range. Users who subscribed prior to 2/21/05 have more options than anyone who has subscribed (or will subscribe) after that date. -Sean | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Sean- I've never read of any such thing. Is this that new? Can you please provide and link to that information? The VZW web site continues to display the same instructions regarding "roaming". Also, the Verizon Wireless web site indicates that their "America's Choice" plan continues as before. Wazzup, Sean? | ||
| R.C.Bishop
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Thanx, Sean.....'preciate your remarks. Every couple of years I have to change phones, therefore, renew with Verizon...right now, we have 4 phones on the America's Choice plan and have had no problems......however....I have not been "out and about" since last fall....to a place that Verizon does not serve. Occasionally enroute to the far northeast, we would encounter a no service area, but that lasted just a few miles, and the roaming came on soon thereafter. All of that, as I recall was either in Canada, or the far north of Maine. I cannot say we ever were without service, though we may have been. I only know that over the long haul, Verizon has taken care of us whenever there has been a quesion about charges or whatever. In our part of the country, we seem to be able to use the phone, no matter where we are. There is a small area outside of Benson AZ that is silent, between Benson and Tucson, but other than that, have had no problem. BTW...I am back in the Isolator/ House battery mode and, in fact, took pictures today that I intend to send to you on private email......Would appreciate your remarks. Thanx, RCB | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
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John, You most assuredly won't read this on VZW's web site -- this is not something they really want potential subscribers to know. The roaming instructions need to remain for existing customers who (for now, anyway) can still roam. However, I can assure you, if you walk into a Verizon store today, buy a new phone and a new service plan, there will be no roaming on the phone. Even the VZW web site makes some concession to this. If you pull up the coverage map page, the one that goes state-by-state, you will see a pull-down menu of service plans. On that menu are plans that are no longer offered, such as National Single Rate. If you look closely, you will find that America's Choice is listed twice - for subscribers prior to 2/21 and subscribers after 2/21. Here is a link to a representative page: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorController?requesttype=newsearch&zipcode =94088&city=Sunnyvale&state=CA&state=CA&mapType=VZW%20FOOTPRINT Note the two radio buttons at the top, both for America's Choice. This information has been circulating around industry insider forums for months. I may have left the workforce some time ago, but I try to stay "in the loop." Here is some of the list traffic on the subject, from back in May: Verizon Worsens America's Choice Calling Plan--No more roaming, even at extra cost, No more National Single Rate Plan. The original America's Choice calling plan from Verizon was a great plan. It included a lot of off-network roaming, at no extra charge, in areas where Verizon did not have a network. Where Verizon didn't have a roaming agreement, your phone could still be used, but at extra cost. Verizon has been worsening America's Choice almost from its inception. They began by abandoning roaming agreements, so that there was a lot less included roaming, and a lot more extra-cost roaming. When this was disclosed by people who were analyzing their PRLs (preferred roaming lists), they forced these people to take this information off the web. Now they have changed the plan again, and new subscribers will have no roaming at all, even at an extra charge. This means that you can only use the phone in areas where Verizon has service (except for 911 calls). If you're out of Verizon's coverage area, your phone is a paperweight except for 911 access. Driving from the San Francisco Bay Area to Yosemite? Your phone will stop working completely on the outskirts of Oakdale, where Golden State Cellular is the carrier, and you'll have no coverage inside the park. Driving up the California Coast to Mendocino? No coverage. Alaska? No coverage. The list goes on and on. To complete the service reduction, Verizon no longer offers the National Single Rate plan. According to their sales people, they have NO plans that offer off-network roaming (though their web site states that their Digital Choice plan (local plan), and their InPulse prepaid plan, allow roaming at 69¢ per minute). Verizon's web site is intentionally misleading. It states, for America's Choice, "Domestic Roaming (No roaming charges) (Coverage not available in all areas)," without stating that what they really mean is that you cannot actually roam onto any other carrier's network. Previous America's Choice subscribers will still be able to roam off Verizon, though there will be less and less included roaming, as Verizon abandons roaming agreements. And the follow-up: According to the Verizon CSR, they were having a problem with complaints about roaming charges. This stemmed from two issues. First, many people do not understand what the roaming indicators on their phone means. The little flashing or non-flashing triangle, or the solid or flashing :"Extended Network" message (complicating this is the fact that the flashing versus non-flashing is counter-intuitive, flashing should be used when you are being charged roaming, and solid should be used when you are on the Extended Network, but it's the opposite way around). Second, many people never update their PRL. As Verizon has reduced its extended network coverage, the phone will still indicate that you are not roaming, if you have an old PRL that included the area you're in as part of the extended network. So the solution to eliminating complaints about roaming charges is obviously to eliminate all roaming. Not having your phone work at all is obviously better than paying for roaming! The non-roaming AC does have a larger extended network than the old roaming AC, but there are still areas where the choice is roaming or no service. The solution is to carry a second phone from a prepaid provider, that allows roaming, when traveling. An old TDMA/AMPS phone on Beyond Wireless (http://gobeyondwireless.com) will work, and has no minimums, and no expiration (other than making one call every 60 days). So I reiterate my earlier point, which is that things change in this business almost daily. Reports about how good carrier X was last year are all but useless, as are anecdotal reports of what coverage is available from any given carrier based on that coverage having been available at an earlier date. A subscriber buying a VZW phone and plan today, John, will get different coverage than you have. I, personally, have the even older National Single Rate plan. I want to buy a new phone, but no way will I give up this (grandfathered) plan, since there is no way to get it anymore. I have to keep my fingers crossed (as should you) that VZW doesn't suddenly decide to force-upgrade us (which it can most assuredly do, once our contracts expire). Hope this helps inform. -Sean | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Sean- I recently convinced a friend to drop Sprint and move to Verizon Wireless. He changed about three months ago, and is very happy about the change. He's gone into "roaming" only twice, he told us. Once in Virginia and once in Connecticut, on his way to Massachusetts. I'm concerned, Sean.... Because as a retiree of Verizon, I do not want to steer any friends into a dark alley. I gave them information as good faith, not as a former employee looking to preserve his pension fund. I am fully aware that the "push to talk" function will not work in all areas, including the "roaming" areas. But in no manner have I been made aware of a situation where "roaming" would leave the phone disabled. I don't pay much attention to those "lists" and "blogs", since we can never know who is actually posting to them. Our newsletters and retiree information bulletins tell us more directly. Very often, what is posted to some web site, is totally the reverse of what is actually happening. There is still propaganda floating about, that claims there are extra per minute charges for using the connection for PC/web access. It doesn't happen; it's free with the plan. I'll have to make a few calls and get to the bottom of this, if I can? Sumptin's fishy! Stay tuna'd. | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
You can read this at: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.outdoors.rv-travel Or, at alt.cellular.verizon, using your usenet server, or here. The info, as it was posted, follows: (America's Choice plans 1 or 2, are referred to "AC1" or "AC2") ======================================= Here are the hard numbers for the AC2 plan: 1 SID = an area of from 1 to hundreds of cell sites Comparing AC2 to AC1, in AC2: -24 SIDs that were marked "Roam" were REMOVED from the AC2 PRL. -22 SIDs that were marked "Roam" were CHANGED to "Extended" in AC2. -13 SIDs were ADDED to the AC2 PRL. Notes: -Of the 24 removed, most of them were in areas where the carrier was a duplicate or triplicate of existing service, i.e. AT&T and Cingular analog sites. Sprint was removed from USVI which is already served by VZW. -Of the 13 that were added NEW, most of them replace coverage lost from the 24 that were removed, i.e. 5 analog systems removed in TX were replaced by a new set of roaming sites on Cingular analog. -A bunch of Commnet Wireless sites were added. Their specialty is to erect sites in areas ignored by other carriers. One SID added coverage in as many at 10 states where there were 'holes' insignificant enough for VZW to address before, but now find good reason to use now. There are only two areas where we SUSPECT there will be any loss of coverage, eastern OR/WA and 2 counties in south central CO. Even in these areas, we already know there are nearby sites that potentially serve these areas. The net effect is that VZW has created a PRL just for the AC2 plan. Previous PRL's were built to accommodate the National Single Rate user, and then other users would get the same PRL but with a Roam indicator to show where they will get roaming charges. With any change, some people will be thrilled, others may be disappointed. I believe there will be far more of the former. I took a 'wait & see' position and have already regretted it. For the foreseeable future, customers will be able to stay on AC1 as long as they want, but the PRL will be a subset of the Local and NSR plans. All new AC customers will get AC2. ======================================= I cannot yet comment on the validity of that information, but it appears logical. It appears Verizon may be trying to move to total digital, and some towers and cell sites are refusing to abandon their older analog technology. This move would put some pressure on them to move forward, or lose out. Verizon has never made a "wrong move". A "wrong move" to them, would be one that causes them to lose customers. I'm totally satisfied with their service, and would be, even if I wasn't collecting a pension... (but I'd rather have the money, too). | ||
| Chuck Newman (Chuck_newman)
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Sean, A two part question for you: About 1992 I purchased a Motorola PT-550 Flip Phone (AMPS only) to replace my older "transportable" 3 watt AMPS unit. I had been with Pac Bell Wireless (now Verizon) for several years and switched to AT&T in the mid-'90s due to fewer "system busy" due to channel over use, and better AMPS propagation in my area with AT&T at the time. About two years ago, I purchased a Nokia CDMA/AMPS phone for my wife via AT&T. It has been OK. We do very limited roaming with it. Two weeks ago I purchased a Motorola V551 GSM to replace my old flip phone. I selected this model primarily due to the external coax connector on it to allow using high gain external antennas. Interestingly, I typically had two signal strength bars or better, but suffered from 90% or more dropped calls. And it had some battery issues. I returned it yesterday to the Cingular store in Chico and had them re-establish the AMPS account on my old flip phone (which was not easy for them). My only complaint with the flip phone is 8 hours batery life, and significant system busy signals. I had long planned to keep it three years until retirement then dump it, but it is useless when I cannot get a analog channel. What would you recommend for an interim replacement, if any? Second issue. For some time I have been following the emergence of VoIP, and have been surprised at the marketing success and lowering cost of same. I look at the cost-vs-benefit ratio in some of the cell plan costs vs speed and coverage, and compare that to DBS Internet availability with Moto Sat or similar vendor. I look at combined Internet and VoIP coverage almost anywhere in North America for one hundred dollars a month, with coverage and speed for each buck spent as the best compromise. What do you think of that? What does your intuition tell you about the future of VoIP on DBS? Thanks for the input. Chuck Newman Oroville, CA PS: Don't know if you received my email last month on the Stanford site, but if you're ever in the area I still have access to the isolation xformer. | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
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John, I think what you have dug up confirms what I said. The particular message you quoted came from a VZW employee, and, with all due deference to you having worked there, I take this sort of positive spin on the new PRL with a large grain of salt. I myself have been on Verizon (and its various predecessors) continuously since 1984, and I have managed huge corporate accounts (hundreds of employees in the field). I keep in pretty close touch with people who still do this for a living, and they are completely up in arms about the coverage issues. This time last year, most corporate field-force managers were unequivocally going to VZW for their needs, and, at this writing, most of them are scratching their heads about how to effectively manage this going forward (handsets on existing accounts, of course, do not have this problem -- yet). And I must forcefully disagree with you that VZW has never made a "wrong move" causing them to "lose customers." VZW is no different than Sprint, Cingular, or, for that matter, General Motors: They could not care less about losing any *individual* customer, so long as their *aggregate* subscriber base increases. Make no mistake -- Verizon is motivated purely by the bottom line, and will do whatever it takes to improve that, even if it means making changes that are cost-effective (for them) in the long term but piss off some number of subscribers. The marketing of this is partly about spinning things to minimize the number of angry customers. Trust me, I know whereof I speak. As director of operations for a major wireline carrier that had to co-locate facilities in Verizon CO's, I dealt with their management on a daily basis. (Also, I have Larry Babbio's home number in my rolodex, since we are in the same donor circle at a major engineering school). Additionaly, my cousin, who is young enough that he doesn't remember a world without cell phones, manages a group of VZW stores in upstate NY, and, while he constantly defends current practice (just as he has been trained to do) he is powerless to refute any of what I have related to you. You are right, of course, that VZW is trying to go all-digital, which is exactly what I wrote in my first post in this thread (http://www.busnut.com/bbs/messages/11/11106.html?1125251024#POST74073) but, as I wrote, they have been mandated to continue AMPS into 2008. When they do finally go all-digital, they will again tick off a bunch of subscribers: the ones with old handsets. None of which makes them any worse than any other player. These are just the facts of the market. My only point was that it is flatly impossible to say, for all time, that Carrier X is the best. Last year, VZW was, unequivocally, the best choice for all-around nationwide roaming. Today, the choice is much less clear. -Sean | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
Rating: N/A |
Chuck, Part 1, cell phone replacement: See my remarks above, in my first post, if you need truly nation-wide coverage. If, OTOH, what you are looking for is a replacement that works well mostly around Oroville, and nationwide coverage is secondary, then I would look at all the major carriers' coverage maps for that area. All-in-all, I still think VZW America's Choice is a good plan, especially if their coverage is good where you will use the phone the most. That being said, if you spend time in AMPS-only areas, you will have to go to Cingular, or get a Verizon pre-paid plan. And, in this case, whatever you do, make sure the handset you get has AMPS -- many, many current models do not. This web site may help you chose a handset and provider combination: http://www.phonescoop.com/ It is the most extensive database of cellular handsets available. You plug in what features you want (for example: must have AMPS) and it will give you your choices, broken down by feature. You can specifcy (or not) which carrier you want as well, since not all handsets are available for all carriers. Part 2, satellite VOIP: OK, this one's easy: Current .74M DirecWay terminals are unsuitable for real VOIP. You could not reliably replace cell phones with this technology. That being said, we spend so much time completely out of cell coverage, that I am shopping around for a VOIP carrier that will work at least half-well on the DirecWay. I have been using the budget-entry Net2Phone service thus far, but it is only useful for picking up my voicemail. I have yet to be able to have a two-way voice conversation. I hear the far end fine, but they can't understand me at all. This makes sense: upstream bandwidth is very low, and, combined with the horrible propagation delay, makes for dropped voice packets. I have just signed up for Crystal Voice, which claims to have better optimization for satellite users. Of course, they really mean business-class (1.2M dish) users, but some folks have reported acceptable results on the 74cm dish. My account is not yet active, so I can't report results. Any phone call involving a satellite is stilted at best: the full-second round-trip time makes every conversation sound like you are communicating with Apollo-11. However, if the party at the other end understands this, you can at least communicate. In addition to retrieving (and leaving) voice messages, we want to be able to use the satellite in an emergency, for example to call EMS or SAR if we are stranded somewhere, or one of us needs medical attention. Other than that, I would not consider trying to use it for normal conversations. -Sean | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Sean- I take the positive spin a bit more seriously than you, it appears.. The negative spin, that Verizon service for new subscribers will leave them totally without service, where they once could at least "roam", isn't quite as much of a problem as it is spun to be. Out of 24 sites that were terminated, 13 were added, and others are being contracted to provide the service. I seriously doubt the inconvenience of a temporary loss of service while things are upgraded, will be of any great problem to anyone. These moves always PO someone, but the overall gain makes up well for it. Verizon Wireless continues to provide better coverage than any other company; It's not by mistake or poor management that it does so. I stand solidly by my opinion that the company has never made a wrong move. You are correct, that they can leave an individual subscriber by the wayside in their quest for overall gains, but it is the subscriber that refuses to move forward with the technology, that is the one that loses. Any subscriber that refuses to buy into the newest cell phone technology (for the newest services available), will eventually be upset with any loss of services. The bottom line? Verizon continues to make leaps and advances, and as near all Verizon subscribers here (busnuts) have noted, the service has worked almost flawlessly for them, in spite of any changes to service areas and technological upgrades. New subscribers that I personally know, have not found any problem what-so-ever with the service. In fact, each one claims that the service is much better than with their old company. These "worrisome changes" that you noted, seem to me to be much to do about nothing. But as my caveat, I will admit that you are still road-bound and are experiencing each area's service, while I sit here in sunny downtown Florida, well abound with cell towers.. Take care; stay dry. | ||
| Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach)
Rating: N/A |
This thread has been very informative on the technical side of things but hasn't been that informative on the practical side of things. I recently went cross country from Providence, RI to Vancouver, WA. On the trip my el cheapo Nokia phone with Cingular service worked more times than not. About the only time it didn't work was in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming and Idaho. Interestingly, the others in the group who had Nextel and Verizon went out of service in those areas sooner and didn't pick back up until some time after my phone would work. Where I live in SW WA state I have found different carriers work better in different areas. Nextel doesn't work if you can't see I-5 in my part of WA. Go farther north towards Seattle and Nextel works great. Between where I live and the ocean beaches everyone has black holes although Verizon seems to have the best service at the beach. Where I live the only carrier that seems to work reliably is Cingular. I have had friends here at the house that have had service with Sprint, Nextel, Verizon, Qwest, and T-Mobile. The only carrier that will work in the house is Cingular. The rest you have to wander around the yard to find the "sweet spot". So in answer to the original question, I don't think there is any one carrier that is best all the way across the country. The best answer for each individual is what works best for them in the most places they go. For me, Cingualr seems to be the best although sometimes I have my doubts. Mark O. | ||
| Chuck Newman (Chuck_newman)
Rating: N/A |
Thanks Sean, I appreciate your input re cell coverage/phone issues and VoIP data. Considering my AMPS phone always has been mainly for emergency use only, it will serve me until they shut down AMPS service or I begin fulltiming. At that point, I'll make a decision based on the current technologies available vs cost. I have avoided the trend to wear cell phones and pagers in business life with no ill effects. That certainly will not change when we fulltime. And you state very well what most ex exec's won't, and certainly what what most of the public does not want to hear -- service, happiness, humanity, good will, environment -- it's all based on bottom line bucks today, and how to maintain the flow for the tomorrows. Chuck Newman Oroville, CA | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Chuck- "it's all based on bottom line bucks today, and how to maintain the flow for the tomorrows. " Maybe so? But how would a failing company provide all the high-tech services we desire? Ain't nuttin' wrong with keepin' a strong black bottom line. |